At that precise moment, two mages stepped forth—wands raised, eyes narrowed.
The air beneath them shimmered with magic circles, and in a flash, lightning and flame fused together. A searing torrent of elemental destruction roared through the ranks of monsters, wiping them out in one synchronized strike.
But the calm did not last.
The clash intensified as new waves poured in, driven by the noise of combat. Unlike the monsters of the middle and upper floors, these were aggressive, intelligent predators who actively hunted their prey.
The relentless sound of steel and magic became a beacon, drawing even more monstrosities from every direction. The battlefield was plunged into deeper chaos.
Formations broke down. Coordination faltered. The clean synergy of the Astraea Familia started to show cracks.
The most vulnerable spot—the center—bore the brunt of the assault. A gap opened.
Given the sheer numbers, it was only a matter of time. After all, they were just thirteen against an endless tide.
Then, like vultures drawn to a wounded beast, the winged gargoyles spotted their chance.
A flock of them pierced through the faltering defenses, descending in a storm of obsidian wings and claws. They dove straight for the rear guard, where the elf girl with glasses had just completed a support spell.
A cold shadow fell across her.
She turned just in time to see a towering, one-meter-tall gargoyle looming above her—its jet-black stone body gleaming, its crimson eyes burning with murderous glee.
Its presence radiated pure malice. A frozen chill spread in the air around it, and Celty could only gasp—caught in that final moment before impact.
Celty's beautiful emerald eyes clearly reflected the terrifying figure of the monster pouncing at her with its sharp claws raised high.
For a moment, fear occupied her entire heart and her brain went blank.
But the magic wand in her hand was made of branches of the sacred tree. It was highly compatible with the magic power of the elves and also had the property of being tough.
This made her instinctively clench her wand with both hands, and she thrust it at the sharp claws that were coming at her, using the hook on the wand to grab the monster's claws. Then she quickly finished the chant.
As the last syllable fell, a dazzling bolt of lightning gushed out from the tip of the wand and hit the monster hard.
There was a loud bang, and the monster screamed and was blown away by the powerful impact.
Don't be fooled by her weak appearance and poor melee combat skills, but she is also a level 3 adventurer.
What's more, most of the familia members are experts in close combat, and she has learned a few moves from them.
Swish!
A fleeting flash of light suddenly appeared in sight.
The sword was moving so fast that the mind could only capture the afterimage left by the sword due to its fast speed.
Looking closely, it could be noticed that it was Akira holding a one-handed sword that pierced through the gargoyle's chest and knocked it several meters away, and shattered the magic stone inside it.
"Attribute transformation."
In an instant, the power of thunder and lightning began to surge wildly.
Not only did the lightning tightly wrap around Akira's body, but even the one-handed sword in his hand was flashing with dazzling lightning.
Celty stared blankly at Akira's black hair, which flashed silver under the lightning. At the same time, the hair was slightly puffed and stood up. Akira, who was surrounded by thunder, exuded a brilliance that was difficult to look at.
Accompanied by a crackling sound, dazzling white thunder suddenly bloomed and turned into an extremely sharp light.
The light was as fast as lightning, rushing away at a speed that was almost impossible to capture with the naked eye. It was like a huge vortex cloud, emitting a chilling aura.
In an instant, it was not just one slash that was swung out. It seemed as if seven slashes were rushing out at the same time.
The densely packed and intertwined slashes seemed to form an indestructible net.
Those gargoyles, which were originally extremely aggressive, were now completely powerless in the face of Akira's dense slashes.
Only crisp breaking sounds could be heard all around, and they were instantly cut into more than a dozen pieces and scattered all over the ground.
Slash after slash, forming a storm that would cut any monster that came close into pieces.
No matter how ferocious the monster was, if it dared to approach this area, it would be ruthlessly cut into pieces in the blink of an eye and turned into powder and dissipated in the air.
At this point, the crisis was resolved.
"Phew, I'm saved." Celty patted her chest with a look of palpitations on her face.
Ryana, who was about to draw her sword to fight, comforted her, "Don't worry, there are very reliable people here, and you have to slow down."
Then she waved her wand again to use magic to protect the vanguard.
"Yes!"
Celty, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, responded immediately by clenching her wand upon hearing the reminder.
After resting for a while at the entrance of the 36th floor, the expedition team moved forward again.
The environment changed again. The walls here were a somewhat creepy white turbid color, and the structure was incomparable to the previous buildings.
Although there were exceptions in some areas, most of the passages and caves were very wide, and the width of almost all areas was at least more than ten meters.
Although the dim light source made it impossible to visually estimate the height of the zenith, it should not be underestimated.
Although it was no longer a square-like terrain and monsters were unlikely to gather together, if one got lost here, they might be trapped in the dungeon for the rest of their life.
So on the way in, Lyra began to trace the route she had taken and placed small objects in the corners to use as landmarks.
While Akira and his companions were clearing out the monsters, they were heading towards the entrance to the next floor.
As they walked, they encountered a group of monsters that theoretically should only be found on the next floor.
[Lizardman Elite].
As the name suggests, it is an advanced species of [Lizardman] that appears in the Large Tree Maze, and the abilities of the two are very different.
The scales changed from red to blue, which were as hard as armor, with no flaws in both offense and defense. Its hands could flexibly use the two natural weapons, the white rock axe that looked like white bones.
Although there are differences between individuals, the guild has set its threat level at Lv. 3 to Lv. 4, which is specialized in hand-to-hand combat.
At these levels, it is no longer possible for everyone to waste energy fighting monsters. They should try to eliminate the enemy with a single attack.
In other words, it means one hit kill.
The moment one of the monsters impatiently raised its rock axe to chop down, Ais instantly switched from defense to offense and launched a lightning-fast attack.
Ais stepped forward steadily, and with her right arm, she thrust out with her rapier like a spear. She aimed at the Magic Stone hidden in the monster's chest, and stabbed it right into the center of its defenseless chest.
As the monster let out a "woooo", Ais could feel that the sword in her hand had pierced through the hard magic stone. The lizardman's eyes bulged out, and after a huge spasm, it slowly turned into dust and collapsed.
(End of Chapter)
Read 40 Advanced Chapters on patreon.com/astralicity