The thrust of the sword edge, wrapped in the tempest, traversed the monster, successfully piercing its massive body.
*ROAAA—*
The monster's roar abruptly ceased.
*Peng!*
The slender sword, wrapped in the wind, suddenly exploded and shattered into pieces.
Riezel passed through the monster's massive body and fell to the ground. Behind him, the monster slowly toppled, its massive body revealing a gaping wound.
Its life was finally extinguished.
"..."
Silence.
*Cough!*
It wasn't until the sound of Riezel's cough echoed that he, who had also fallen to the ground, struggled to get up. Only then did everyone in the vicinity react, and their attention immediately focused on his body.
Especially Ais and Lefiya, realizing what had happened, hurriedly ran toward him.
"M-Mr. Riezel! Are you okay?!" Lefiya looked visibly distressed as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm fine..."
Riezel shook his head, but his body was tormented by a wave of pain, causing his knees to buckle, almost falling to the ground again.
Luckily, a delicate hand reached out from the side, supporting him just in time.
"Don't move recklessly."
Ais, with her translucent golden eyes fixed on Riezel as if wanting to engrave the image of him bravely fighting with blood all over into her heart.
"You used Ariel too much. Your body can't handle such a heavy burden, coupled with your injuries. It's best not to move around casually."
As the true master of Ariel, no one understood the side effects of this magic better than Ais.
Being able to unleash such a special and powerful enchant-type magic with a short chant, the side effects were obvious and placed a significant burden on the enchanted target.
Whether it was the body or the weapon, as long as it was enchanted by the wind force of Ariel, it would bear this burden.
Therefore, in the situation where Riezel had just released Ariel's maximum output, his weapon shattered, and his body endured an unimaginable burden, making him look precarious.
"Ri-Right! We have elixirs!"
Lefiya spoke with a flustered tone and immediately took out an elixir from her backpack. She opened the bottle cap and awkwardly fed it to Riezel.
He didn't refuse; after taking the elixir, he immediately felt a clear stream flowing through his body.
The visible injuries on his body began to heal at an astonishing speed, while the burden on his body, which had endured immense stress, finally eased.
"Hahh..." Riezel exhaled gently, standing upright with Ais's support.
"Don't move recklessly." Ais scolded him again, with a faint hint of blame on her face, as if reproaching him for not listening to her advice.
"Okay..." Riezel had intended to shake her off, but seeing her frowning in reproach, he had no choice but to give up.
"Lefiya." Ais finally turned towards her junior, who stood there looking a bit lost. "Help him tidy up the loot and then we head back."
Understanding that Riezel needed rest the most right now, Ais decisively made this decision.
"Got it!"
Lefiya, feeling like she'd been granted a reprieve, finally found something to do and hurriedly ran over to the massive monster's corpse.
Coincidentally, the corpse had turned into a pile of dust, scattered into the air, leaving only a transparent crystal and a faded claw.
Lefiya picked up the crystal and the claw before running back to Riezel and Ais's side.
"Let's go, back to the manor."
Ais glanced around, looking at the adventurers who seemed to be approaching them. She supported Riezel, who was still having trouble walking, and decisively turned to leave.
Lefiya soon followed them.
The adventurers who had wanted to get closer to Riezel stopped in their tracks when Ais took him away directly.
"Who's that adventurer?" One of the adventurers asked.
"No idea."
People shook their heads in succession.
"Judging by the appearance of Sword Princess, could it be from the Loki Familia?"
"Why haven't we seen him before?"
"Maybe a rookie?"
They exchanged opinions, showing that Riezel's recent battle had indeed affected and impressed many, creating a stir.
"Let's go, spread the news."
Some people exchanged glances and then left one after another.
The rest either prepared to spread the information or gathered intelligence.
The scene suddenly became deserted, gradually returning to silence. Only the damaged terrain was slowly repairing itself, appearing strangely eerie and untouched by mortal knowledge.
===
An irregular appeared on the 6th Floor of the dungeon.
This incident not only spread rapidly in an extremely short amount of time but also caused quite a commotion.
It resulted in significant casualties.
At the time of the irregular appearance, many adventurers were on their way back, directly passing through the 6th Floor and encountering this unexpected event.
Coincidentally, this irregular appeared on the 6th Floor, relatively close to the surface, within reach of novice adventurers.
In other words, many of those who encountered the irregular were low-class adventurers with limited strength.
These low-class adventurers met their demise without any surprises. Some died, others were injured, and the resulting commotion naturally became quite significant, making the entire night in Orario lively.
People hurriedly shared the news, and the Guild was promptly alerted, dispatching personnel to investigate the scene and gather information from those who witnessed the irregular.
Not long after, the Guild released some announcements to the public.
—The irregular is an unknown monster suspected to be a rare species never seen before. It is temporarily named Crocodile Dragon, classified as a dragon species monster, and will be categorized as Level 2.
—The monster has been resolved by the Loki Familia. In the coming days, the professionals from the Guild will conduct surveys to confirm safety and ensure there is no further danger before releasing the investigation results.
—During this period, we recommend that Level 1 low-class adventurers temporarily avoid the 6th Floor.
Announcements like these were not only posted on the bulletin board at the Guild headquarters but also sent to various familias.
On this night, many people were destined to lose sleep.
===
Loki Familia's Base, Twilight Manor.
In the divine room, Loki looked at the Guild announcement that had just been handed to her, examining the contents written on the parchment before tossing it onto her desk.
"So, what do you all think?" Loki asked the three top executives of her familia whom she had summoned to this room.
Finn, Riveria, and Gareth, the higher-ups of the familia, had been brought to the divine room and were now informed about the entire situation.
"Hmm, classified as Level 2?" Gareth crossed his arms and spoke in a muffled voice. "What's more, it appears on the 6th Floor, so close to the surface... It seems like low-level adventurers won't be able to enter the dungeon for a while."
"It doesn't affect us much. After all, most members of our familia are high-class adventurers." Finn said while biting his thumbnail. "But, to think a dragon species would appear on the 6th Floor and a rare one at that. That's something we didn't expect."
In the various dungeon floors, rare species were a small fraction, with numbers far lower than common monster types. These were known as rare species, not necessarily stronger but possessing some unique characteristics.
Dragon species or dragon-type monsters, on the other hand, were a different story.
Dragon species were widely recognized as the most powerful monster type in the dungeon. Whether appearing on the deeper floors or, as in this case, on the upper floors classified as Level 1, if monsters were connected to the legendary creature 'Dragon', their power would be unimaginable.
For example, the Crocodile Dragon that appeared this time was both a rare species and a dragon species, classified as Level 2. Its strength might even surpass that of an Infant Dragon, a rare species appearing only on the 11th and 12th Floors, known for being able to wipe out parties of low-class adventurers.
Such powerful monsters should typically appear in the middle floors from the 13th Floor onward. Yet, here was a Crocodile Dragon appearing on the classified Level 1 upper floors, as if the dungeon were playing a malicious joke on them.
"As expected, it's the dungeon after all. Unexpected events are not surprising to happen at any time..." Finn muttered to himself.
Having battled in the dungeon for decades, Finn knew well that this mysterious labyrinth held many unsolved mysteries. While it attracted countless explorers, it also posed unimaginable threats to the people.
No one knew if one day the dungeon might rebel or riot, allowing once-suppressed monsters to surge back to the surface. Therefore, no matter how vigilant and prepared one was, it wasn't an exaggeration when it came to this labyrinth.
"Just didn't expect a monster of that caliber would be taken care of by that kid, guhahaha!" Gareth laughed. "That kid's got some talent, eh..."
At his words, everyone joined in laughter.
Who could have anticipated that a dragon species, classified as Level 2, would be defeated by their familia's rookie who had recently joined?
Finn, having learned the details from Ais and Lefiya, smiled slightly.
"Only a week since receiving the blessing, he already challenged a Level 2 dragon species, and not only succeeded but returned unscathed. Our rookie is quite something..."
Finn could imagine the uproar this event would cause once it became known.
"How is he doing now?" Riveria showed some concern.
"According to Ais and Lefiya, after coming back, that kid just went straight to sleep."
Loki spread out her hands.
"Can't blame him, challenging a monster like that, even dying wouldn't be surprising. It's already good that he came back in one piece. His body isn't seriously injured; the main issue is the heavy burden of using Ais's magic. He needs some good rest."
Finn, Riveria, and Gareth exchanged glances.
"As I thought, it's not because of the monster; it's all because of Ais's magic, isn't it...?"
Riveria's whisper plunged everyone into silence.