The Dungeon, 19th Floor.
This domain was known as the Large Tree Labyrinth. The walls, floors, and even the ceiling were constructed from massive, interlaced tree roots. Luminescent moss flowed through the wooden grain, bathing this expansive space in the light of a dark, fantasy kingdom.
However, the tranquility of this place had long been shredded by the frenzy of battle.
"Ha!"
Aiden's figure cut like white lightning. The longsword in his hand traced a fierce arc, effortlessly splitting a charging Mad Beetle—and its hardened shell—cleanly in two.
The roaring sword wind instantly cleaved several smaller beetles nearby into pieces.
For Aiden, who had already reached Lv.3, these standard monsters on the 19th Floor posed little to no threat.
At the very front of the formation, a not particularly tall but incredibly steadfast figure stood like a mountain.
"Don't even think about getting past me!"
Jeanne d'Arc gripped her banner of justice and let out a sharp cry. Swinging her battle standard with explosive force, she forcefully held back the tidal wave of Gunmeganes and Bugbears.
Her stance in that moment was akin to an invincible battlefield commander—a single warrior holding the pass against an army of ten thousand.
Specks of starlight swirled around her body like crushed diamonds, the blessing of Robin's level-boosting magic, Vox Harmonique, Opus Cosmique.
Fighting the brutal monsters of the middle floors head-on as a Lv.1 was still too strenuous for Jeanne. Therefore, Robin cast the level-boost specifically on her, temporarily granting her the strength of a Lv.2.
Given Robin's terrifyingly fast Mind regeneration, sustaining the boost for just one person was barely a burden. It allowed Jeanne to maintain a Lv.2 status for extended periods, reaping massive amounts of experience to quickly catch up with the main group's pace.
After all, within the Focalors Familia, Jeanne was currently the only Lv.1 rookie left.
On the flanks of the battlefield, red and silver sword lights flashed intertwiningly. Aiden and Daphne carved a path in and out of the monster horde seven times over. Wherever their sword points aimed, nothing could stand in their way.
"Hah!"
With a flawless roundhouse kick carrying earth-shattering momentum, Tifa slammed her heel into the side of a Bugbear's face. The massive bear was sent flying backward on impact.
In almost the exact same instant, Aiden—who possessed a "god's-eye view" via the Family of Harmony mental network—fired a sonic blast backward without even turning his head.
"Gospel."
The condensed sound wave perfectly struck the Bugbear while it was still mid-air, blasting its massive head into a mist of blood.
Above them, a large swarm of Gunmeganes circled. Opening their hideous mandibles, they fired metallic projectiles like a barrage of bullets—Thud! Thud! Thud!
But under the shared "god's-eye view," the trajectories of these attacks were as clear as slow motion. The party easily shifted their positions, dodging all the incoming fire as casually as if taking a stroll in the park.
However, the number of enemies continued to surge, and new types of monsters began to appear.
Round and stout Golden Cloud Toads hovered in the air, spewing toxic mist carrying weakness curses. Obedient Dracolions, shaped like a bizarre fusion of lions and bells, unleashed soul-shaking roars. Illumination Dragonfish, looking like ornate lanterns, spewed wide-area waves of fire.
This was the true weight of the middle floors. Both the variety and sheer volume of monsters were completely incomparable to the upper floors.
From the middle floors onward, the difficulty of the Dungeon leaped qualitatively. The strength and number of monsters vastly increased, leaving adventurers with fewer and fewer moments to rest.
Because of this, any adventurer capable of operating long-term in the middle floors possessed endurance that was practically inhuman, regardless of their actual combat power.
Continuous, high-intensity combat—endlessly swinging swords, dodging, keeping the mind on high alert—would leave an ordinary person utterly exhausted in minutes.
Seeing the monster horde multiplying to the point of nearly clogging the entire tunnel, Aiden made a prompt decision.
"Tifa, Daphne, everyone, fall back."
Hearing the command, the party retreated backward without hesitation.
Aiden stood his ground alone, extending his hand, his palm aiming straight down the pitch-black tunnel where the monsters continued to pour out.
"Gospel."
It was still that incredibly short, minimalist chant.
Time seemed to hit the pause button.
What appeared as merely a fleeting instant in the eyes of others was infinitely stretched within Aiden's perception. He retrieved all the elapsed time since the beginning of this battle—along with the kinetic potential of every sword swing and every magic chant embedded within it—and poured it like a tidal wave into the single magic spell he was about to unleash, stacking it layer upon layer.
This was no longer a single spell; it was the simultaneous detonation of dozens, even hundreds of "Gospels" superimposed upon one another in a single fraction of a second.
This wasn't simple addition where one plus one equals two.
The terrifying sonic impact visibly warped the air, producing a dreadful crack, crack sound like shattering glass.
In the next second, the entire tunnel was utterly engulfed by this apocalyptic force.
Every single monster standing in its path, regardless of species, was blasted into the most primal blood mist the instant they came into contact with the shockwave. Not even a shred of their remains survived.
The sturdy walls of roots shattered and disintegrated as if made of wet paper. Finally, with a violent tremor, the entire tunnel completely collapsed, buried under countless rocks and splintered wood.
With a single strike, heaven and earth were swept clean.
Staring at the thoroughly obliterated tunnel, Daphne's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
Even though she had seen Aiden experiment with this new skill more than once on their way down the Dungeon, it still shocked her to her core every single time.
"This kind of destructive power is practically indistinguishable from the strategic magical bombardment of a top-tier Lv.5 mage," she muttered to herself. "And this was a super short chant..."
The power of a magic spell was usually directly proportional to the length of its chant. Daphne knew very well that Aiden kept a super-long chant, wide-area annihilation magic hidden as his ultimate trump card.
She couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of world-ending, apocalyptic scenario would unfold if he combined that magic with this new skill.
Thinking about this, the look Daphne gave Aiden couldn't help but carry a trace of envy and complexity.
He possessed powerful annihilation magic, convenient enchantment magic, and now this rule-breaking buff skill... All of his stats were practically maxed out. It was a literal cheat code.
This is the kind of skill and magic loadout a hero should have.
As for ordinary adventurers like her, perhaps their entire lives would amount to following behind a hero like him when crises struck, shouting praises from the sidelines.
After all, what adventurer didn't have a dream of becoming a hero? It was just that reality was always so skeletal.
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