The radiance of the crystal ceiling gradually bled into the surroundings, gently enveloping the "Under Resort" in a simulated daylight.
Solon dispelled the [Leomund's Tiny Hut] that had guarded them through the night. As the glimmer faded, Alise, Ryu, Kaguya, and the other members of the Astraea Familia finished packing their gear, ready to descend into the deeper floors.
Right then, a heavy, violent roar—like muffled thunder from the depths of the earth—pierced the artificial tranquility of the paradise, rolling in from the far distance.
Everyone froze instantly, exchanging glances. The air grew thick with a stagnant, uneasy tension.
Alise looked toward the source of the sound, a look of worry clouding her beautiful face. "That direction... is it Rivira?"
"No mistake about it."
Gojouno Kaguya crossed her arms, her expression grim. "I visited once. They have a Level 3 administrator stationed there, along with a significant number of Level 2s and some Level 4 adventurers. Logically speaking, that should be enough to handle any standard situation in the middle floors."
"...Logically speaking," Solon repeated in a low voice, his brow furrowed.
This was highly irregular. As a Safe Zone, the surrounding monsters in the Under Resort were supposed to be cleared periodically. The roar reaching them now was filled with a primal wildness; these were no mere stragglers that had slipped through the net.
He strained his eyes toward the horizon. Suddenly, his pupils constricted.
At the edge of the skyline, a writhing "black line" was slowly becoming clear. It wasn't a shadow—it was a tide formed by countless swarming bodies, reflecting shells, and waving claws!
"Dammit!"
Solon's voice carried a rare sense of urgency. "Those aren't mid-level monsters! They've surged up from at least the 19th floor or deeper! How are there so many?!"
"A monster... tide?!" Alise's face paled, and Ryu's eyes instantly sharpened like blades.
Kaguya gripped her sword hilt. "An 'Abnormality' of the Dungeon... Rare, but not without precedent. The history of Rivira being rebuilt countless times is proof of that."
There was no time for hesitation. Solon abruptly raised his hand, and incantations poured out like a rushing stream. Magical brilliance enveloped each member of the Familia in succession.
[Bless]!
[Longstrider]!
[Expeditious Retreat]!
[Shield of Faith]!
[Darkvision]!
The complex and powerful buffing spells were completed in the span of a few breaths. The very aura of the team shifted; their agility and endurance were instantly pushed to their absolute limits.
"Everyone, get ready!" Solon turned, his gaze sweeping over every companion. "Follow me! Destination: Rivira. Full speed ahead!"
The Astraea Familia turned into streaks of wind, blurring past the crystal groves as they charged toward the center of the crisis.
By the time they arrived, the so-called "Town" was already a shambles of a front line.
Flimsy fences had been smashed, buildings were covered in claw marks, and the air was thick with the scent of blood and the pungent musk unique to monsters.
Bors, the administrator—a lean, hardened middle-aged man with a black patch over his left eye—was shouting himself hoarse, directing the remaining adventurers to construct a temporary defensive line.
He caught sight of Alise and the others racing toward them. His single eye widened in shock before erupting with a light of complex emotion.
"The Scarlet Flower of Justice! Gale! And Thousand-Change Solon!" Bors roared. His voice was raspy. "You're just in time! A monster tide! Dammit, I don't know where they came from—they're all things from the lower floors!"
He spoke incredibly fast, bordering on incoherent. "About an hour ago! Our people tried to go down through the central Great Tree, only to find the path below was completely blocked! There weren't just a massive amount of monsters gathered there—we saw at least three goddamn Enhanced Species! They didn't seem like they wanted to attack our people; it was more like they were... waiting for something!"
Solon's heart sank.
That feeling of being targeted again... Every time he went deep into the Dungeon, that invisible malice followed him like a shadow.
Was it his skill? Or was his very existence attracting the "hostility" of the Dungeon? The mystery remained.
"That's enough!" Solon suppressed his churning thoughts and looked into the distance.
The black tide had approached close enough to make out the hideous individuals. Shadow Mushrooms were spitting spores, Bugbears brandished sharp claws, Gun Libellula skimmed the air like a deadly spear formation, and Giant Worms plowed through the ground... Mixed with other twisted forms he couldn't name, there were easily over a hundred of them, with no shortage of Enhanced Species emitting exceptionally violent auras.
Bors grit his teeth. "We'll try our best to evacuate and resist... but if we can't hold them..."
"If we can't hold them and they rush to the upper floors, the casualties among adventurers up there will be immeasurable," Solon interrupted calmly, his eyes already locked onto the battlefield's terrain. "We must establish an interception point here."
Ignoring the mix of gratitude and embarrassment on Bors' face, he turned to his companions, speaking rapidly.
"Listen! I'm going to use spells to reshape the terrain and force the monster tide into a single direction. Our goal is to fall back to the entrance of the 18th floor. The terrain there is relatively narrow, allowing us to maximize our advantage by striking from a defensive position!"
Then, Solon's mana surged violently, and a powerful magical ripple erupted from within him. He chanted his incantations clearly and swiftly.
"Wind Wall!"
"Wall of Sand!"
Howling gales rose in response, condensing at his designated locations into translucent, screaming barriers of solid wind. Almost simultaneously, the grit on the ground underwent a massive transformation.
A large area of the surface ahead trembled violently as a thick wall, composed of countless dancing grains of sand, rose from the earth, tightly flanking the Wind Wall.
Solon was fully focused, casting spells in succession, precisely manipulating both mana and terrain. The Wind Wall and Wall of Sand worked in tandem, extending and interlocking to form a staggering composite barrier over fifty meters long in a short time.
This barrier wasn't airtight; it was cleverly shaped into a giant funnel. It forcibly squeezed and herded the scattered, surging monster tide. It compelled them to charge in one narrow, preset direction—the path leading to the entrance of the 18th floor.
Alise watched this feat of forcibly altering the monster tide's direction through magic, the light in her eyes growing brighter. She nodded without a moment's hesitation.
Her voice was decisive. "Everyone, follow the route Solon planned! Use alternating cover and fall back to the entrance position! Ryu, you and I will take the rear! Kaguya, lead the others and maintain the formation!"
"Understood!" Kaguya responded crisply. The members of the Astraea Familia were highly trained and moved immediately, retreating along the safe corridor Solon had opened.
While maintaining his focus on controlling the Wind Wall and Wall of Sand, Solon laid down more "traps" for the upcoming interception battle. He quickly cast other spells to perfect this death funnel.
"Spike Growth!"
On the path of the monster charge, sharp, hideous magical thorns erupted from the soil, spreading wildly.
"Fireball—Upcast Metamagic: Twin!"
Two blazing spheres of fire screamed through the air, pre-emptively slamming into the front and sides of the Wind Wall. They left behind burning craters and scorching air, further compressing the monsters' movement space.
"Protection Circle!"
A faint protective halo enveloped the chosen final interception zone at the 18th-floor entrance, bolstering the defenses of his comrades who were about to face the enemy there.
Having completed this series of rapid deployments, Solon stepped back steadily into the Astraea Familia ranks, who had already begun setting up defenses using the entrance terrain.
He took one last look at the battlefield he had shaped. The Wind Wall shrieked, knocking small flying monsters off balance. The thick Wall of Sand effectively obscured the vision of the monsters behind it and severely hindered the movement of those caught within.
In the distance, the enraged monster tide slammed hard against the composite magical barrier. Roars mingled with the screaming wind and the crackling of flames. The black torrent was finally twisted into a single stream, surging toward the carefully prepared death funnel filled with thorns and fire.
The surging monster tide flowed through the gap deliberately left in the magical barrier like a dam breaking.
Solon did not hesitate. He raised his hand and unleashed the metamagic techniques he took pride in.
"Fireball—Metamagic: Upcast, Empowered, Maximized!"
He shouted in a low voice, Pale Justice swirling in his hand. A blazing fireball the size of a carriage suddenly condensed. Then, under the effects of metamagic, the fireball ballooned against the wind, instantly expanding into a gargantuan sphere over twenty meters in diameter.
Dragging a trail of scorching exhaust, it slammed into the densest part of the monster vanguard.
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion rang out. Flames and shockwaves completely swallowed, shredded, and threw the first wave of monsters aside. This terrifying strike was like a heavy cannon, carving out a charred vacuum at the front of the tide.
Solon's expression was grave. Though the first wave of the offensive had been dismantled, the dark mass of monsters in the rear still threw themselves forward fearlessly to fill the gap.
Just then, Ryu's clear and steady chant rang out.
"The far-off forest canopy. The infinite stars set in the boundless night sky. Respond to the voice of one as foolish as I, and grant me the protection of starlight once more."
She clasped her hands, and brilliant starlight began to gather around her.
"Grant light and mercy to those who have forsaken you—Come, wandering wind, roaming traveler."
The points of light grew more numerous and dense, as if she were holding the starry river of the night sky in her hands.
"Fly across the sky, race through the wilderness, and run swifter than all things. Smite the enemy with the radiance of the stars!"
The moment the chant ended, Ryu thrust her hands forward.
"[Luminous Wind]!"
A torrent of light, condensed to the limit, erupted forth. It transformed into an endless sea of brilliant light motes, pouring through the gap Solon had opened.
This stream of pure mana instantly submerged the monsters surging up behind. The light motes slammed into shells, fur, and flesh, triggering a continuous series of explosions and wails. Like a barrage of the heaviest artillery, it shattered the front of the monster tide and pushed it back.
Meanwhile, the other Familia members displayed their own prowess. Kaguya's sword light flashed like a crescent moon, precisely cutting down flying monsters attempting to scale the flanks. Alise held her longsword, violent flames wreathed around the blade as she cleaved through and repelled the approaching enemies.
As for Solon, he had completely transformed into a human turret. He raised his hand again.
"Fireball!"
Another blazing meteor plunged into the monster crowd. He didn't stop for a second. Supported by the large quantity of mana-restoring and spirit-restoring potions he carried, he pushed simple, brute-force third-level spells to strategic-level power.
"Fireball!"
"Fireball!"
"And Fireball!"
The continuous roar of explosions echoed within the narrow passage. Ruthless flames became the most effective wall; terrifying explosions became the most heartless scythe. The subsequent tide, originally composed of dozens or hundreds of monsters, was repeatedly shattered, incinerated, and repelled before this hard "reef" of spells, sword skills, and light motes.
The monsters' roars were gradually replaced by wails. The black torrent finally showed signs of waning. The surviving monsters began to retreat, lingering outside the flames and charred corpses, not daring to step forward again.
A brief silence descended upon the entrance position, which was filled with smoke and the stench of burning.
Solon slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, stopping the casting motions that had almost become instinctive. He turned to Alise.
"Captain, are we still going down?"
Hearing this, Alise looked at the entrance to the deeper floors behind them, then at the messy battlefield before her, falling into thought. "What do you think?" she asked back.
"We enter the Dungeon, ultimately, to achieve a 'Great Feat' and rank up. Most of everyone's abilities have been trained to the limit of their current levels. If we can't obtain a 'Great Feat' sufficient to cross the bottleneck, it will indeed be very troublesome."
Her gaze swept over her companions, finally settling on Solon. "As for those Enhanced Species entrenched in the passage to the lower floors..." Alise's voice turned firm. "Leave them to us."
At that moment, a cool and soft hand gently grasped Solon's hand, which was trembling slightly from the continuous spellcasting. It was Ryu. The elven girl's emerald eyes gazed at Solon tenderly, and she shook her head slightly.
"Don't be so tense, and there's no need for such haste," she said in a calm voice, possessing a power that soothed the heart. "We still have some time, and..."
Ryu looked toward the central Great Tree leading to the depths in the distance. "If I'm guessing correctly, as long as we resolve all these Enhanced Species that have gathered due to the abnormality, the subsequent passages of the Dungeon should return to normal, and we won't have such a large-scale surge of monsters anymore."
Hearing Ryu's analysis, Solon felt it made sense. Thinking back over these months—specifically, the time since he rose from Level 1 to Level 2—aside from a few encounters with Enhanced Species, most of the monsters they met, while numerous, were within the expected strength for their floors.
Furthermore, the strength of their team was no longer what it used to be.
"I understand." Solon nodded, giving Ryu's hand a squeeze before looking at Alise. "Then let's keep moving. No problem."
A bright smile appeared on Alise's face. "Good! Everyone, check your gear, replenish your potions. In thirty minutes, we head for the 19th floor!"
Later, they arrived at the entrance area of the 19th floor. There, three Enhanced Species with vastly different forms stood waiting.
The first was a "Giant Fool." Normally, this monster resembled a pink gorilla, but the one before them had undergone a startling mutation. Its body was eerie and slender, closer to a tall gibbon. Standing over five meters tall, its muscles were knotted and corded, radiating a dangerous aura.
The second was a "Killer Bee," the famous venomous bee monster. But it didn't appear as part of a swarm; it hovered alone in the air, its body as large as a carriage. Everyone's expression shifted. A giant venomous bee appearing solo like this was an upper-tier version of the "newbie killer," far more dangerous than a swarm.
The last monster was a Stag, an entity that was supposed to appear only on the 24th floor. This Stag looked like a massive Wendigo, its body entwined with countless vines and branches. It didn't look like an ordinary stag at all; it looked like a twisted hybrid of a Treant, a Wendigo, and a Megaloceros.
Alise's face became exceptionally grim. If she hadn't truly felt the strength of these Enhanced Species before, she could now conclude with 100% certainty: every one of these three monsters had reached the power level of a potential Level 4.
Three Level 4 Enhanced Species.
The most critical thing was that, according to common sense, these Enhanced Species would kill each other until only one remained; that was their nature. But that was exactly where the problem lay.
Solon looked at these monsters. Though they were several kilometers away, with his superior adventurer eyesight, he could clearly judge the level they possessed.
Great doubt rose in his heart. There was no way these monsters could coexist peacefully, yet here they were, standing guard like soldiers at the entrance leading from the 18th floor to the 19th.
This could only mean one thing. These monsters were definitely following orders.
Was it a Corrupted Spirit? Theoretically, it didn't quite seem like it. Or was it because he, as a "butterfly," had flapped his wings, causing certain plotlines to shift and leading the Corrupted Spirit to use different monsters?
Just then, the carriage-sized Killer Bee moved. In an instant, the sharp, spear-like stinger at its tail thrust out, turning into a gale that ripped through the air. It instantly skewered the bodies of several ordinary monsters in the distance that were trying to retreat. Then, the wind kicked up by the stinger actually whirled up all the magic stones inside the monsters, sucking them into the bee's mouth.
On the other side, the Stag didn't perform any complex moves; it did the simplest thing: a charge. Its pair of massive, antenna-like antlers rammed forward, directly sending dozens of monsters flying. Not only that, the Stag unceremoniously lifted its hooves and trampled down heavily, crushing the unfortunate monsters along with their magic stones. Then, its terrifying antlers acted like a battering ram, piercing through a large swath of monster bodies once more.
As for the slender and tall "Giant Fool," it seemed to stand dumbly in place, making no move. But the tension in everyone's hearts only increased.
They had to defeat these monsters. If they let them continue to block the way, a massive number of adventurers would eventually fall victim.
Alise took a deep breath, and the chant for Agarutium rose from her lips.
"Burn! Burn! Burn! Flame power, full release!"
Blazing fire erupted from her body, covering her like a cloak, and leaping tongues of flame entwined around her limbs. Thanks to the fireproof armor she had obtained earlier, Alise's body could bear and control this attached flame, doubling its power.
The other members of the Familia also focused intently, preparing to deal with these three Level 4 monsters. If they launched a collective charge, even they would only be able to barely hold their ground.
Thus, the best way was to divide and conquer.
Right then, the three Enhanced Species seemed to act as one, simultaneously turning their gazes toward the members of the Astraea Familia. Each monster let out a roar—not of man, nor of beast—that was utterly, transcendently brutal.
That roar transformed into a terrifying shockwave visible to the naked eye, sweeping toward the group.
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Danmachi: My Magic Style is Different from Yours (Simulpub – Ongoing)
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