My mind went into overdrive, trying to think of what the best possible course of action we could take.
"It's fine, Arin, leave them to us!" I heard Raul's voice from behind, and looked back to see him, Aki, and others readying their weapon and magic swords as well, their expression tight, looking over at the wyverns ready to take them head-on.
Right, how could I forget they are not helpless beings, they are adventurers. "Alright, I am leaving my back to you!" I said and looked back at the dragon. "Come on then," I muttered.
The dragon charged, and I met it head-on. My enhanced speed allowed me to dodge its initial bite, and I struck at its neck as I passed. The blade bit deep, but not deep enough to reach anything vital.
"Tiona! Tione! I could use some help here!" I called out to the twins.
"On our way!" Tiona's cheerful voice responded. The Amazon twins appeared on either side of me, Urga and daggers at the ready.
"Three on one?" Tione smirked. "Now it's a fair fight."
"For the dragon!" Tiona added with a laugh.
The Valgang dragon didn't appreciate the joke. It reared back and released another breath attack, but this time, we were ready. I created a wind barrier that deflected the flames sideways towards the dungeon walls, and the twins used the opening to attack.
Tiona's Urga crashed into the dragon's front leg with enough force to shatter bone. The dragon's leg buckled, and it fell to one knee. Tione immediately capitalized, her daggers finding every vulnerable spot she could reach—joints, gaps in scales, anywhere that would cause maximum damage.
"Now, Arin!" Tiona shouted.
I gathered my magic, blue flames spiraling around me. I launched myself upward, flames trailing like a comet, and brought my blade down on the dragon.
The beast had no intention of going quietly. It let out an enraged roar and slammed its head into me, flinging me back into the wall. Stone cratered behind me.
I shook off the impact and used the wall as a launchpad, jumping back into the battle.
Tione and Tiona were doing well, holding the wounded dragon back, while Raul and others were working together to hold back the wyverns that had emerged from the ceiling above, but we needed a decisive strike to take it down.
I decided to do just that, letting Tiona and Tione battle with the dragon while I charged my attack.
Blue flames and wind tornadoes wrap around my sword, creating a screeching sound as the atmosphere burns hot, compressing it further and further until my whole blade burns bright.
"Back off!" I gave the signal, and the Amazon's sister ran left and right. The dragon seemed confused for a moment, seeing them run away like that, but soon its eyes landed on me. The dragon tried to charge another breath attack, but it was too late. I swung my sword forward, and all the charged-up heat was released at once, consuming the dragon's whole body, even some wyverns that were in the path. The monsters disintegrated into ash, leaving nothing but their magic stone behind.
"One down!" I called out, breathing hard, my mind was bordering on exhaustion, I shook my head, trying to keep my eyelid from closing up.
Across the battlefield, the others were making similar progress. Finn and Gareth had brought their dragon to its knees through sheer overwhelming force and tactical precision. Ais, Ryuu, and Kaguya had systematically dismantled their opponent, targeting joints and vital points with ruthless efficiency and speed, giving the wounded dragon no chance to land a strike on them.
The dragon fighting Riveria's group was the last one standing, but it was heavily wounded and surrounded. Asfi was hovering on top of the dragon, blocking all the escape paths, while Alise and Lydia continuously attacked from below.
"Harbinger of the end, the white snow. Blow with the wind before the twilight. Closing light, the freezing land. Blizzard, the three severe winters - my name is Alf!" Riveria chanted her magic as others kept the dragon at bay, giving Riveria ample time to finish her chant.
"Wynn Fimbulvetr!" Extreme cold burst forth from around the magic circle Riveria had created and wrapped around not only the dragon in front of her but all the wyverns that had poured out from the ceiling as well, encasing them in ice.
Wow! Now I understand why it's not me, nor Ryuu, nor even Ais or Finn, that is our trump card, but her. I thought in amazement, looking at Riveria's magic turning all the monsters present into ice statues, the wyverns that were flying around the room fell to the floor like flies, unable to move.
"Now!" Riveria commanded, and everyone leaped into action: Alise from the front, Lydia from the side, and Asfi from above. The dragon, already wounded and frozen, was just prey to them as the light was lost from its eyes, and it dissolved into ash. Raul and others, led by Lyra, did the same, attacking the immobile wyverns and killing them easily with their combined might.
For a moment, there was only silence, broken by heavy breathing and the sound of weapons hitting the floor.
"Everyone... status?" Finn called out, his voice strained as the battle, while short, had been extremely exhaustive for everyone. I could even see some beads of sweat forming on Riveria's face as she had used her magic in rapid succession.
"Alive," came the general response from various points around the room.
"Barely," Raul added.
"That's good enough," Gareth laughed, though he was leaning heavily on his axe. "We're all still standing, and the dragons aren't. I'd call that a victory!"
Riveria was already moving through the group, checking for injuries and performing healing magic. "Everyone, drink your recovery potions. If anyone is injured, do let me know."
"You should first drink your own potion, Riveria," I said, handing her one of my magic recovery potions.
"Thank you," she said before gulping it down.
"This is it," Finn said, surveying the massive chamber we were in. "The deepest floor ever reached by an organized expedition from Orario."
The weight of that statement settled over everyone. Against all odds, through dragon fire and endless monsters, we'd reached the fifty-eighth floor, the first one to do it after the fall of Zeus and Hera familia.
"We're making history," Alise breathed, her eyes wide with wonder.
"We are," Riveria agreed, though her expression remained serious. "But our work isn't done yet. We need to map this floor, document what we've learned."
"And then?" Lydia asked.
"And then," Finn said with a small smile, "we go home. We've pushed far enough for one expedition. We've proven it can be done, and we've survived to tell the tale. That's victory enough."
As everyone began to rest and recover, I looked around the chamber—at the high ceiling, at the massive space that had held four Valgang dragons.
But as I looked deeper into the chamber, toward passages that led even further down, I couldn't help but wonder: what else is waiting in the depths below? Just when that thought passed through my mind, I felt a shiver go down my back. My instinct warned—screamed—not to go deeper.
I quickly shook that thought aside and settled near the girls, their presence calming my heart, but my mind just couldn't help but wonder what that feeling could be.
We rested for a while, recovering our strength. Eventually, we decided to check the passage leading to the fifty-ninth floor.
"What do you think it's like down there?" Raul asked.
"According to the information we have, it's all glaciers starting from floor fifty-nine," Ryuu answered.
"I don't doubt it." Even with our protective cloaks, the cold permeating from below prickled.
"Let's not go further for now," Finn said, licking his thumb. "We've achieved our goal. Time to head back and report to Loki and the others." He must have felt it too—that sense of wrongness.
"We have extremely limited information about the floors below," Riveria said. "It wouldn't be wise to push further when we're already exhausted."
With that decided, we prepared to return to camp on the fiftieth floor.
"Ughhh... we have to fight through those monsters again," Alise groaned.
"But… we don't have to worry about breath attacks," Ais said, trying to cheer her up. Seeing the usually silent Ais trying to cheer her up was quite adorable, to which Alise responded.
"Ais, you're so cute! Almost as cute as Lion!" Alise pulled her into a hug. "I don't get why they call you the Sword Princess!"
Being hugged so suddenly, Ais's cheeks turned red.
"No fair! I want to hug Ais too!" Tiona latched onto Ais's other side.
Caught between them, Ais squirmed, trying to escape, but they held firm.
"Alise, you're troubling her—kya!" Ryuu stepped forward to separate them—and got pulled into the group hug.
Asfi and Riveria sighed but didn't object to the girls' bantering, and with a light and happy mood, all of us climbed the stairs and made our way back to our camp.