*BANG!*
In a dark hall where a pale water screen stood upright beside a stone-made pedestal, the sound of Ishtar slamming her palm onto the pedestal rang out with striking clarity, clearly revealing her current state of mind.
"You have to give me an explanation!"
Ishtar glared at Thanatos with an ashen expression, her voice filled with extreme irritation.
"You people claimed this is the monster no one could stand against—even King could only die fighting it?!"
Pointing at the scene displayed on the water screen, Ishtar loudly questioned Thanatos.
"Isn’t it about to be taken down by some greenhorn brat who only just debuted?"
On the water screen, within the spacious square-shaped area now engulfed in a sea of flames, as participants from both sides withdrew one after another, the fierce battle between Riezel and the Demi Spirit Gugalanna instantly reached its most intense phase.
Riezel, now fully unleashed, had entered a completely unrestrained state.
Wrapped head to toe in raging wind, he displayed terrifying acceleration, darting back and forth across the battlefield like a flash of light. Sword strike after sword strike crashed down upon the Demi Spirit, while he repeatedly unleashed high-speed chant magic with massive attack power.
Blizzards, torrential rain of fire, and huge bursts of dazzling light erupted nonstop, bombarding the Demi Spirit’s body and forcing her to scream incessantly in agony.
Having no choice but to recklessly expend magical energy, the Demi Spirit let the residue of that magical energy form particles that rose from her body like steam. While repairing her injuries, she rampaged across the battlefield like a mad bull, stomping wildly and triggering thunderous explosions and shockwaves that filled the area with rolling clouds of dust.
At the same time, the Demi Spirit also cast magic with ultra-high-speed chants, launching indiscriminate magic bombardments just like Riezel, gradually destroying the terrain.
However, against Riezel, who streaked across the battlefield like a flash of light, freely dodging and shifting positions, the Demi Spirit’s magic missed again and again.
When faced with magic that could be evaded, Riezel sometimes dodged at godlike speed, sometimes used teleportation magic to relocate instantly, and at times even countered with magic such as Magic Destruction to directly clash with the Demi Spirit’s magic, firmly suppressing it.
Even more frightening was that throughout this process, Riezel remained calm enough to continue chanting magic and launching further attacks, fully demonstrating the techniques of concurrent chanting and high-speed chant to their utmost limits—his performance was genuinely shocking.
Kali had already been completely captivated by Riezel’s combat posture.
Watching him slash again and again and relentlessly bombard the Demi Spirit’s massive body, forcing her to scream as blood exploded across her form, Kali wore an excited expression with eyes shining brightly.
Barca, hiding in a corner, on the other hand, looked both furious and deeply afraid.
He was a descendant of the master craftsman Daedalus, inheriting the long-held wish of his ancestor to complete the Man-Made Dungeon Knossos and bring a second dungeon into existence on the surface.
For someone like him, anyone who caused damage to Knossos was an enemy he hated with every fiber of his being.
Consequently, when Riezel smashed through the orichalcum door, Barca was furious, and when Gugalanna rampaged and caused destruction, he was furious as well. Now, with Riezel also using high-attack-power magic to destroy a section of the labyrinth, his anger only grew even stronger.
However, the power Riezel displayed also filled Barca with fear.
At this point, Barca truly regretted it, regretting that he had allowed Riezel to enter Knossos.
Unfortunately, everything was already too late.
As for Thanatos, when faced with Ishtar’s accusations—or rather, her verbal abuse—he also felt the urge to complain.
"You think he’s some greenhorn who just debuted?"
Thanatos suppressed the urge to explode in anger as he pointed at Riezel on the water screen, who looked like a cold and merciless god of slaughter.
"What kind of greenhorn can do something like this? I seriously suspect that King would be the easier one to deal with if he stood in front of this kid, you know?"
"Open your eyes and look carefully. This isn’t because Gugalanna is weak, but because this kid is far beyond normal!"
"I can tell you very clearly that compared to Gugalanna, even the Monster Rex Balor on the 49th Floor counts as weak. Yet this kid can suppress Gugalanna to this extent. It’s completely abnormal!"
In the past, as Orario’s sole Level 7 and a figure known as both ’the one who stands at the peak’ and ’the strongest,’ Ottar’s most eye-catching achievement was his duel with the Monster Rex Balor on the 49th Floor of the Dungeon, a monster whose classified level had also reached Level 7.
In that duel, Ottar failed to defeat Balor and only managed to beat it to the brink of death before retreating himself, his body covered in wounds.
In the eyes of everyone else, Ottar’s result was already astonishing.
In all of Orario, only a handful of individuals could duel a Monster Rex of equal level, not to mention that Ottar had challenged the strongest Monster Rex discovered to date. Being able to beat that Balor to near death was proof enough of his strength.
Only Ottar himself regarded it as a disgrace, viewing that battle—which had ended in his retreat—as a personal failure.
However, regardless of how Ottar himself felt, in the eyes of others, the former sole Level 7 of Orario was considered evenly matched with Balor, with no clear winner determined between them.
Now, faced with a Demi Spirit even stronger than Balor, Riezel was suppressing the Demi Spirit in a one-on-one fight.
No matter who witnessed it, the sight was undeniably shocking.
Thanatos had never imagined that this monster rookie, who had joined the Loki Familia not long ago, would be this strong, leaving his thoughts in complete disarray.
"He was only Level 6, wasn’t he?"
"Even if the rumors are true and this monster rookie really can fight above his level, and even if that ability still applies now, at most, he should only be comparable to Level 7, right?"
"But Gugalanna absolutely shouldn’t lose to a Level 7!"
Ottar was already considered the pinnacle of Level 7, even infinitely close to Level 8. Yet even someone like him had failed to subjugate the Monster Rex Balor on the 49th Floor, let alone Gugalanna, which was even stronger than Balor.
In other words, Gugalanna was unquestionably stronger than Ottar, stronger than the peak of Level 7.
Given that, how could such an existence be suppressed so completely by an adventurer who was barely comparable to Level 7?
Lost in these thoughts, Thanatos had no idea that even in his current state, Riezel had already surpassed Ottar.
Besides, although Gugalanna was indeed strong, compared to the Demi Spirit on the 59th Floor that parasitized a large plant monster known as Titan Alm, she was actually far easier to deal with.
Because the Demi Spirit on the 59th Floor was a magic-specialized type, not only could she use overpowered magic for overwhelming bombardment attacks, she also possessed petal armor that prevented enemies from getting close, massive tentacle-like vines, and an army of caterpillar monsters to block incoming attacks.
As long as the First Class Adventurers of the Loki Familia failed to break through those defenses, they would merely become moving targets, being one-sidedly bombarded by super-powerful magic that surpassed Level 8, with total annihilation being a very normal outcome.
By contrast, the Demi Spirit parasitizing a Power Bull was clearly a strength-specialized type, possessing overwhelming destructive power and defensive strength, but lacking the protection the Titan Alm Demi Spirit had, and her attack methods were extremely limited. Setting magic aside, she could only charge and stomp, obviously nowhere near as troublesome as the Titan Alm Demi Spirit.
Hence, Gugalanna was only strong in terms of potential ability, while in all other aspects, she was severely lacking. In adventurer terms, her status was extremely high, but her combat skill, methods, tactics, and strategy were all seriously insufficient.
Gugalanna might indeed be stronger than Balor and stronger than Ottar, but in terms of actual threat level, she might not even compare to those two.
Like a giant infant that only knew how to mindlessly waste its excessive strength, Gugalanna was not only no match for the Titan Alm Demi Spirit, but even before any enhancement, the Titan Alm Demi Spirit on the 59th Floor was far more formidable than she had been.
As a result, Riezel easily suppressed Gugalanna and slaughtered her in a completely one-sided manner.
"Tch!" Ishtar clicked her tongue irritably, staring at Riezel on the water screen before muttering in a low voice. "A hero’s vessel even more outrageous than King? Why doesn’t such a child belong to me? If this child were mine, what would I have to fear from the Freya Familia?"
A trace of jealousy toward Loki inevitably rose in her heart, and now this jealous goddess might have even come to hate Loki as well. If she truly managed to deal with the Freya Familia, then the next one she set her sights on might very well be the Loki Familia.
To make matters worse, Kali actually agreed with her.
"It really is a pity. Such a warrior, yet he does not belong to my Telskyura. If he were there, Argana and Bache wouldn’t have to worry about lacking opponents to fight, right?"
’Damn lunatic! Who would use such a treasure for internal slaughter!’ Ishtar cursed inwardly. ’You brainless, muscle-bound idiot, always thinking about fighting!’
Just as Ishtar opened her mouth, wanting to retort, Kali suddenly let out another cry of amazement.
"OHH!"
Everyone subconsciously looked toward the water screen and immediately understood why Kali was cheering.
Apparently, she was not cheering for Riezel’s battlefield, but for her own children.
On the water screen, the people who had just withdrawn from Riezel’s battlefield plunged straight into fierce combat without hesitation.
===
*Clang!*
Inside a labyrinth corridor surrounded by walls made of adamantite metal, a dull impact rang out as Argana’s punch slammed into the kukri that Tione had just raised, sending Tione flying backward.
"You again!"
After barely stopping her retreat and steadying herself, Tione looked at Argana, who was blocking her path with a fanatical expression, her beautiful face twisting slightly.
Nearby, Tiona and Bache had already engaged each other as well.
"I really don’t wanna fight you! Bache!"
Tiona shouted loudly, and this time, Bache actually stopped.
"Huh?"
Seeing Bache suddenly stop, Tiona froze in surprise.
Bache glanced in the direction they had just retreated from and suddenly spoke.
"Who was that man just now?"
For some inexplicable reason, Bache suddenly asked something that seemed unrelated to their current situation.
"...Who?"
Tiona asked blankly, looking confused.
"It’s the brave warrior who fought that bull monster just now. I didn’t know there was such a brave warrior by your side."
Bache looked straight at Tiona and spoke each word clearly.
"Tell me."
"What is his name?"
"I want to know his name."
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
[Support me and read next Chapters early at: /VALRRR]