A massive vine armor stood imposingly before the corrupted spirit.
The one-meter-wide green barrier resembled the mythical Wall of Lamentation, blocking all enemies and creating a sacred sanctuary.
"Did it emerge from below?"
Finn, who had been observing the entire battlefield, immediately focused his sharp gaze on the roots of the vine armor.
An attack from the lower floors had pierced through the ceiling, reaching the 59th floor and forming a protective wall in front of the corrupted spirit.
That was how the traces appeared.
"Are monsters from the 60th floor—or even deeper—protecting her?!"
Finn's eyes widened.
Unbelievable.
Though unbelievable, it made sense.
The cannon dragons of the 58th floor already possessed the trait of ignoring floor boundaries. It wasn't entirely impossible for monsters from even deeper floors to pierce through ceilings and attack adventurers above.
When the Demi Spirit was in danger, the monsters there would use their floor-ignoring trait to protect her!
In terms of strength, those monsters likely rivaled Level 5 or even Level 6 adventurers!
For the current Loki Familia—no, for all adventurers in Orario—that was an absolutely forbidden zone.
It was only natural that Eiji couldn't break through.
His strength was undeniable, but it lay more in his speed.
His movements were swift and peerless, but his raw power remained at Level 5. Even with his acceleration magic, his offensive capabilities were still limited!
To shatter that vine armor, they needed—
"Gareth!"
"I know!"
Gareth roared.
He abandoned his attacks entirely, raising both shields in front of him.
Enduring the relentless strikes of the tentacles, his burly body charged forward like an unstoppable tank.
Over a dozen tentacle impacts crashed against his shields, yet not a single one could force him back!
"Finn, I'll go too—"
Riveria, watching the desperate frontline charge, couldn't help but raise her staff.
"No, wait a little longer, Riveria."
Finn wasn't joining the frontline assault. Instead, he remained in the rear as the commander.
"For some reason, my thumb is throbbing—badly. Something is coming. You shouldn't use your magic now. That's what my intuition is telling me!"
He gnawed fiercely on his thumb, his eyes filled with an anxiety Riveria found startlingly rare.
"To think it's shaken you this much?"
Riveria was stunned.
When acting as commander, Finn wore a mask of cold detachment, guiding his comrades with unwavering calm to dispel their doubts and fears.
In this state, Finn seldom showed agitation.
At least, Riveria hadn't seen it in years.
Because the commander's composure was the anchor in the eyes of the Familia—as long as Finn remained calm, there was still hope ahead.
But now...
Frontline.
"RAAAAAAAAAGH!!"
With a furious roar, Gareth, his defenses unbreakable, ignored the tentacles and broke into the Demi Spirit's domain.
Left with no choice, she redirected all the tentacles she had been using against Eiji to stop this new threat—Gareth.
"Not a chance!"
Berto kicked out, the explosive flames destroying several of the obstructing tentacles.
"Won't let the old man—"
"Steal all the glory alone!"
The Amazon sisters swung their great twin blades and kukri knives, demolishing several more blocking tentacles.
"Hah!"
Meanwhile, emerald winds broke through multiple obstacles as Ais charged toward the corrupted spirit from another direction, using the wind as her blade.
Although the onslaught of tentacle rain was terrifyingly formidable, the Loki Familia executives who had reached the peak of Level 5 were certainly no pushovers! Given the slightest opportunity, they would launch counterattacks with astonishing coordination!
Eiji stood behind the group, watching her intently like a tiger eyeing its prey.
The moment an opening appeared, he would pierce through her body with godlike speed!
However—
His expression remained grim.
Because his instincts kept screaming warnings in his mind, leaving him unable to stay calm.
Facing the dual assault from Gareth and Ais, the corrupted spirit curled her lips in mockery, sneering at their efforts with her eyes, ridiculing them as utterly futile.
Amid this increasingly deadlocked situation—
"Flames, come forth—"
A smile spread across her face.
An enormous magic circle unfolded at the feet of her massive lower body, with crimson magical light rising from the calamitous formation.
"The monster is chanting?!"
"No way!"
Tione and Tiona shrieked in shock.
Magic was the privilege of rational beings—monsters completely dominated by destructive instincts shouldn't be capable of chanting. This was common knowledge among adventurers.
Even if her origins were that of a spirit, the fact that she could still cast spells after fusing with a monster left everyone stunned.
"Riveria, deploy a barrier!"
Finn's expression changed drastically, barking orders at the elven royalty without restraint.
"Everyone else, bombard to interrupt the spell! All frontline fighters, fall back immediately!"
"U-understood."
Shaken by the unprecedented situation, Riveria hastily raised her staff and began chanting.
The entire frontline retreated.
An intense pain throbbed in his thumb—Finn was overwhelmed by a dreadful premonition, so terrifying that he ordered everyone, even those who had advanced within twenty meters of the enemy, to withdraw.
"What do we do?"
"Follow the captain's orders!"
Led by Tione, Ais and the others reluctantly retreated, their faces filled with frustration.
Meanwhile—
Eiji glanced at the flower armor, vine armor, and hundreds of tentacles before abandoning his assault and retreating as well.
These three layers of defense anticipated every possible attack. Unless overwhelming force could break through, even his lightning-fast strikes wouldn't suffice—the distance was simply too great.
At the same time—
"Fire Lance Barrage!"
Lefiya's spell finally completed, manifesting a massive magic circle in the sky.
Unlike the wide-area annihilation used on the 58th floor, this time she concentrated the flaming arrows into a focused bombardment. While covering the executives' retreat, she assaulted the Demi Spirit's multiple armors head-on.
In this concentrated form, even a Level 5 cannon drake would be obliterated in a single strike.
Yet—
"Not even a scratch?!"
Lefiya gaped in disbelief.
The flower armor on the monster's lower body and the vine armor shielding its front remained pristine despite the violent bombardment.
Countless green tentacles were repelled, many severed by the flames.
But then—
Bzzzt—!
A misty haze of red particles emanated from the fallen spirit's body.
Immediately, the severed tentacles thrashed violently as fresh buds of flesh squirmed out from the broken ends.
"...It regenerated?"
"What terrifying regenerative ability!"
Everyone was shocked.
Not just the tentacles.
Even the flower armor that Eiji had previously blasted apart and the vine armor he had cracked—after receiving the Falna from the red particles—were restored to their original state in the blink of an eye.
Powerful defense, astonishing regeneration, and large-scale magic.
There were simply no weaknesses to exploit.