With Ais in tow, Leon descended several floors, reaching the 85th floor. The number of level 8 monsters was still extremely small, and they had not found any trace of Aria. This made Ais very disappointed.
Leon didn't know how to comfort Ais, who was feeling down.
After a moment of silence, he reached out and patted her shoulder, saying softly, "Let's move on to the next level."
"Mm." Ais glanced at the floors behind her, then nodded.
Then, the two started walking towards the next floor.
On the next few floors, Leon and Ais still couldn't find any trace of Aria.
Although Lv. 8 monsters appeared, it was nothing to Leon and Ais. They ignored the monsters and made their way from the 85th floor to the 89th floor.
As they went deeper into the floors, the number of level 8 monsters increased from single digits to double digits, reaching ten in total. This was actually a pretty good training opportunity for Ais, who hadn't received any buffs from Haruhime. However, Ais was focused on finding Aria and had no interest in dealing with these monsters.
On the 89th floor, Leon and Ais stopped.
"I didn't expect there to be a new Monster Rex here."
"The previous Monster Rex, Hydra, was Level 9, so this one should be Level 10."
"Ais, want to give it a try?" Leon glanced at the enormous creature lying in the middle of the floor and asked softly.
What appeared before Leon and Ais was a giant dog with three heads. Leon recognized it at a glance, it was Cerberus, a mythical creature he knew from his previous life.
At this moment, the three-headed dog was lying quietly on the ground, looking as if it were asleep, seemingly unaware of Leon and Ais at all. However, Leon didn't think that the three-headed hellhound hadn't noticed him and Ais.
He just didn't understand why Cerberus reacted this way.
A Monster Rex should definitely attack any adventurer they encounter. Cerberus's situation was somewhat unconventional.
Is it because their level is close to that of a god that they are treated differently?
Leon had some guesses in his mind, but he wasn't sure.
Speaking of which, the previous Hydra, the current Cerberus, and all the other Monster Rexes encountered before, are almost all monsters from mythology and legends that Leon knew in his previous life.
Upon hearing Leon's question, Ais remained silent for a moment, then shook her head.
The sudden appearance of a new Monster Rex stirred something within Ais, making her want to take action. But this time, she was venturing so deep into the dungeon to find her mother, Aria, and didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble.
Since the Monster Rex on this floor had no intention of making a move, she wouldn't either. Of course, if her mother could be found later, she could fight it on the way back.
"Alright, since we're not going to fight, let's move on to the next level."
Hearing Ais's reply, Leon nodded slightly and then began searching for the key.
Before long, the two of them followed the direction given by the key to the location of the passage to the next level.
As the two hurried toward the entrance of the passage, one of the sleeping Cerberus's heads slightly opened its eyes, glanced at their backs, and then closed its eyes again, showing no intention of making a move.
Leon, who had just withdrawn his detection magic, did not notice this scene.
Leon and Ais quickly opened the passage and headed towards the next level.
After walking through the long, dark passage, the two quickly entered the next level, 90th floor.
The moment Ais entered this floor, her heart skipped a beat, her pupils contracted, and she froze on the spot.
"What's wrong, Ais?" Leon noticed this and asked with concern.
"I have a feeling that mother is staying on this floor. Leon, please help me search."
Upon hearing Leon's words, Ais quickly calmed her wildly beating heart, turned to look at Leon, grabbed his sleeve with both hands, and pleaded in an urgent tone.
Upon hearing this, Leon was taken aback, then nodded seriously.
The next second, his detection magic spread out. Soon, the entire 90th floor appeared in his mind.
After taking everything from the 90th floor into his mind, Leon was slightly taken aback.
"Found her. Ais, come with me."
The 90th floor is a safe floor.
Why?
When Leon used detection magic to explore the entire floor, he didn't see a single monster.
On a small hillside, he spotted a wooden cabin of moderate size, and a golden figure inside. She was a woman with long blonde hair and a face that bore a resemblance to Ais.
Upon seeing this person, Leon instantly recognized her.
Aria, the spirit that had appeared in Ais's memories in the Sword Oratoria that Leon had read in his previous life.
Leon took Ais's hand, and the two of them transformed into a streak of light and flew towards Aria's direction.
Spirits are extremely sensitive to magic. When Leon used the Veins of Light to probe Aria's location, Aria had already sensed it.
"It's been over a thousand years. Has someone finally come here? It's been too long."
On the low hillside, Aria murmured softly, looking in the direction of Leon and Ais.
A thousand years ago, in order to completely solve the disaster in the dungeon, she and Albert had taken the lead in uniting heroes and Spirits to form an expeditionary force, fighting their way from the surface to here.
Along the way, due to various battles, her companions dwindled until, by the time she reached the 90th floor, only she, Albert, and four other Spirits and heroes remained.
Just as they were preparing to go deeper, they encountered a black dragon that rushed out from the 91st floor.
They fought their way through to completely eliminate the disaster in the dungeons. Naturally, they wouldn't let powerful monsters go, and once they encountered one, they would eliminate it.
They had fought powerful beings like the Black Dragon before. They even killed the Cerberus on the 89th floor, though they lost two companions in the process.
She, Albert and the others believed that they could kill the black dragon this time as well, even if it meant death. However, this battle was beyond their expectations.
The black dragon possessed a very special ability that instilled a strong sense of fear in them. Even though they were all strong-willed individuals, the black dragon's special ability still greatly reduced their combat power.
Thus, they were unable to defeat it in the same way they had dealt with Cerberus, and instead, the black dragon escaped. The black dragon was severely injured by their combined efforts, losing an eye, and rushed out of the dungeon with its wounds.
On their side, their already small team was completely crushed in this battle. Apart from her and Albert, the others were dead. She and Albert were also severely injured, and given the special nature of the floors after the 65th floor, they were simply unable to give chase.
After fighting their way through, they had almost no supplies left, and even fewer medicines to treat their injuries.
Her injuries were not too serious and did not affect the root cause, but Albert, as the main force in this battle, suffered more than 50% of the damage in the battle with the black dragon. Even though he was not killed by the black dragon like the others, he was still seriously injured.
Although he survived, he couldn't hold on any longer and passed away after struggling for half a year.