Dungeon, 44th Floor.
On this floor, every corner was suffused with an extremely high temperature, as if one were inside a volcano, the stifling heat making it feel as though they had entered a steam chamber.
The ground of this floor was mainly a fiery red, with crooked rocks scattered everywhere, while the walls were cracked and darkened, resembling burned charcoal. In the cracks, a faint red light could be seen, suggesting that there might be flowing magma inside the walls.
The monsters active on this floor were primarily Level 4 Flame Rocks, a type of rock monster.
Yes, they were the very same monsters whose drop items, Kaenseki, had been used by those suicidal zealots to self-destruct on the 24th Floor.
Because the Kaenseki dropped by these creatures could be used as explosives without any need for further processing, they became illegal items for unauthorized use.
Consequently, even if adventurers on this floor defeated the Flame Rocks and collected Kaenseki, they could only sell it like magic stones: either to the Guild or to business-type familias like the Hephaestus Familia, which were allowed to process Kaenseki for important goods.
In other words, while these drop items were still valuable, there was no room for bargaining.
Adding to the danger, Kaenseki was unstable, as carrying it around could cause it to explode due to impact, leading to unnecessary casualties for adventuring parties.
For that reason, even adventurers who ventured to this floor generally avoided confronting the Flame Rocks unless necessary.
However, on this day, on this scorching floor, a group of vicious adventurers actually clashed fiercely with a group of Flame Rocks.
"OOOOOHHH—!!!"
A werewolf youth led the charge, his face contorted as he let out a fierce roar while he lifted his metallic boots, aimed them at the Flame Rocks, and kicked them aside.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
With explosive, firecracker-like sounds, the werewolf youth charged through the monster group with unstoppable force, smashing through the Flame Rocks as if he were a tornado, tearing them apart, causing them to burst apart on the spot.
"Hey! Don’t steal my kills!"
An amazoness girl, wielding a large double-bladed sword, yelled in frustration before leaping into the air and then began slashing down on the Flame Rocks, turning into a rampaging meat grinder, cutting every Flame Rock she encountered into two halves and reducing them to dust.
"Tch..."
Another amazoness girl, holding a pair of kukri knives, clicked her tongue in displeasure, yet she said nothing and instead charged forward, her body leaping and dancing through the air, stepping lightly from one foot to the other as she shredded the approaching Flame Rocks one by one.
They were none other than Bete, Tiona, and Tione, the three Level 5 First-Class Adventurers of the Loki Familia, who fought with such ferocity on Floor 44 that the entire monster group seemed to be intimidated by their presence, retreating in fear for a moment.
But this did not affect the three adventurers.
If anything, it made them even more vicious.
"Don’t let them run!"
"C’mon! Fight me! I’m fired up now!"
"You two, move aside! I got this!"
Bete, Tiona, and Tione surged forward again, their expressions varied, but their emotions in unison as they returned to mercilessly slaying the monsters—their overwhelming strength and energy cutting through the weaker Flame Rocks without mercy.
Facing these three Level 5 First-Class Adventurers, the Level 4 monsters were utterly helpless, being slaughtered without mercy and without a chance to fight back.
The other members of the expedition party, witnessing the brutal strength of their comrades, could hardly believe their eyes.
"B-Bete and the others... what happened to them?"
"Who knows..."
"What’s up with them?"
"They’re kinda terrifying..."
Nearby, members of the Loki Familia’s second strings, who had set up a perimeter around the monsters, stared in shock, unsure whether to engage and seeming paralyzed with fear.
Raul, Anakitty, Alicia, and the others exchanged glances, while Lefiya, clutching her staff, was visibly shaking, clearly frightened by the ruthless combat style of Bete, Tiona, and Tione.
Some of the Level 3 members of the second strings could only stand frozen, drenched in sweat, unable to act in the face of their terrifying comrades.
"Even Miss Ais is..."
Lefiya glanced in another direction, her face showing concern.
Over there, the golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman, Ais, was battling fiercely against a group of Flame Rocks.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
Her golden hair flying as she moved, Ais’s lithe figure darted through the monsters, cutting them down with a silver sword that moved so quickly that only silver afterimages could be seen. Each time the sword passed, a monster was sliced in half, dying instantly without any hint of pain.
At this moment, she had transformed into a war princess, slashing mercilessly through the monsters, her face cold and expressionless.
Her appearance was terrifying, and yet one couldn’t help but feel concerned for her.
"What the heck happened to them?"
On a raised rock, Gareth voiced his confusion, speaking to Finn and Riveria, who were also observing the scene below.
Behind Gareth, the members of the Hephaestus Familia, led by Tsubaki, whispered to each other as they watched Ais and the others slaughter the monsters—there was even a hint of fear in their expressions, as well.
It was clear that Ais, Bete, Tiona, and Tione were acting with an almost uncontrollable ferocity, overwhelming the monsters with their raw power, which unnerved Gareth, who had not been with the vanguard earlier.
"After we met up on the 18th Floor and stepped onto the 19th, these kids just rushed out and started wrecking monsters without saying a word. They’ve been doing this nonstop since then, and they still haven’t stopped."
"What’s going on with them?"
"Are they even gonna have enough energy for the brutal fights below the 50th Floor? Seriously, the other kids haven’t even had a chance to gain any excelia."
Gareth complained to Finn and Riveria.
It wasn’t the first time Gareth had expressed frustration.
As he mentioned, ever since they had entered the 19th Floor, Ais and the others had been rampaging, leaving no room for others to fight.
And this had gone on for four whole days.
Since the start of their expedition, they had spent four days reaching this point, with Ais and the others continuing their silent killing spree without speaking a single word.
It was no wonder Gareth was frustrated and confused—he genuinely had no idea what had gotten into Ais and the others.
Of course, he had some guesses.
"Is it because of the thing that happened on the 9th Floor?"
Four days ago, when Gareth and the second group had passed through the 9th Floor, they had been horrified to find that the floor had been destroyed, having lost all its original shape.
It had turned into a wasteland, with fires still burning in places and many areas blasted into craters and charred remnants, leaving him and his group stunned.
Later, they learned that there had been an anomaly on the Upper Floors, with a Minotaur from the Middle Floors appearing on the Upper Floors and causing a disturbance.
However, Middle Floor monsters were only around Level 2 at most.
Could a single Middle Floor monster really cause such destruction?
It didn’t make sense.
Gareth had already realized that something unknown had occurred on the 9th Floor that day.
Finn and Riveria, who had arrived earlier on the 18th Floor and were waiting for Gareth and the others at the entrance to the 19th Floor, explained it to him, but...
"We witnessed two battles."
"Yes, two battles of different scales, but both equally shocking."
Finn and Riveria explained briefly like this, and that was it.
At Gareth’s complaint, Finn, watching the chaos unfold below, smiled wryly.
"Don’t mind them. They’re just... stimulated..."
Indeed, Ais and the others had been stimulated.
The fierce battle between Riezel and Ottar, as well as the terrifying power displayed by both sides, was the first shock to Ais and the others.
And right after that, the rookie adventurer, far weaker than they were, fought a battle to the death against a Minotaur, only to emerge victorious, becoming the second shock to Ais and the others.
The first shock made them realize that, compared to those two monster adventurers, they were still weak.
The second shock made them understand that even the weak could challenge the strong and fight to the end.
Needless to say, these two shocks ignited the fire in Ais and the others, and once it was lit, it burned for four days.
As a result, Ais and the others were caught in a relentless cycle of battle, unwilling to stop.
Watching them, Finn reflected on the events of four days ago.
When that life-and-death battle ended, the rookie adventurer had collapsed, exhausted.
Hedin took him away, leaving Finn with a message.
"Although this foolish rabbit barely made it through his adventure, I’ll warn you, don’t get involved with him or meddle in his business."
"I hate to admit it, but he’s the one chosen by our goddess."
"If you don’t want to go to war with us, just pretend you didn’t see anything today."
With that, Hedin took the unconscious rookie adventurer and the pallum girl, who seemed to be the rookie’s companion, and left with Hogni and the Gulliver Brothers.
At that time, Finn had only asked one question.
"What’s his name?"
Hedin, without looking back, gave him an answer.
"Bell Cranel, huh..."
Whispering the name of the rookie adventurer, Finn committed it to memory and then turned his gaze to Riezel, who, despite being a match for Ais and the others, took a very different approach.
He was not frenziedly slaughtering monsters like Ais and the others but, in the astonished eyes of the mages around him, was instead testing out a newly learned magic spell.
"Firebolt!"
Surrounded by monsters, Riezel did not draw his sword but instead stretched out his hand, releasing a lightning-like flame.
Indeed, what he cast was none other than Bell’s magic.
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