Looking at the slime left behind by the moving rocks, one which she was currently on top of, Scaly could not help curiously observing the slimy substance as it slowly changed color and turned into rocks. More specifically, the same rocks that the island was made out of.
That is to say, these moving rocks were most likely the reason for the island’s existence in the first place and from the looks, it almost looked like they were slowly repairing the gaps between the pillars that pierced into the ceiling above. Making the island with over a dozen massive stone pillars into a single massive pillar that supported the ceiling and prevented it from caving in on the underground ocean.
The reason why she had not moved from the moving rock so far and was still just laying on top of it was not just because she was exhausted, but also because she sensed no threat whatsoever from the moving rock below her, as it seemed to just move along without any change since she had landed on top of it.
Along with her earlier guess of it and the rest of the moving rocks being in process of building up a giant pillar, Scaly decided to inspect the rock beneath her.
[Dungeon Construction and Repair Snail, lvl 70]
[Description: One of the few known subordinates of a dungeon that is involved in the maintenance of the dungeon itself, the dungeon construction and repair snail is almost completely invulnerable to any attacks below A Rank Adventurers. Even A Rank Adventures find even a single one difficult to kill, thus resulting in the nickname of immortal snails.
Outside of their seemingly almost immortal status, the dungeon construction and repair snail are completely harmless with no way to attack and is the main way for a dungeon to repair damage to previously constructed environments made out of rocks and add something new on a smaller scale.
Much is still unknown about them, as they only rarely appear and mostly only in the most dangerous parts of dungeons. Making them difficult to research, as mostly only A Rank Adventures even gets a chance to see them and that is in areas filled to the brim with monsters that can kill them if they are the slightest bit careless.]
Reading through the description of the rock beneath her, Scaly was first terrified upon noticing the level of the monster, but quickly calmed down as she finished reading through the description.
Even though the rock- or snail beneath her turned out to be terrifying in its own way, it seemed like it was pretty harmless and wouldn’t attack her.
Outside of that, the description of the immortal snail also confirmed her earlier guess that these snails were indeed repair the massive pillar that should have once stood where there were now dozens of smaller pillars and enough space for an island to form between these pillars.
Although, the realization that these snails were in the process of repairing this giant pillar that should have once been there also caused her to think about what kind of monster or monsters could have damaged the massive pillar to this extent.
Even if she used all of her strength to try and attack the remaining dozen or so pillars, she was certain that she would at most be able to chip off small parts of the pillars, as they seemed to be made out of some kind of extremely durable rock that even she had a hard time damaging.
A massive monster lurking beneath the water?
In the end, her thoughts could not help turning towards the dark waters that made it impossible for her to see what was hidden beneath the surface.
For some reason, she felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked into the dark waters, her imagination already running wild picturing some kind of massive monster hidden just below the surface.
Unable to stop her imagination from picturing all kinds of large and scary monsters, Scaly unconsciously moved from the snail she had landed on at the edge of the island towards one of the snails at the center of the island.
Even if she managed to calm herself down over the next few minutes as she rested and recovered her mana on top of one of the snails, she had already started developing a fear towards the deep waters and what might be lurking below.
In other words, the former water dragon, now tempest dragon, had started to develop a bit of thalassophobia.
...
"The situation on the third floor should be secure at this point in time..."
At the same time that Scaly was recovering her strength on the small island in the middle of a massive and seemingly endless ocean underneath the ground of the fourth floor of the dungeon, back up on the third floor of the dungeon, the branch guild master in charge of the management of the Howling Caverns and its continued operation, could not help letting out a sigh of relief as he looked towards the guardian barrier that had been rebuild.
"Secure? Forgetting about that cultist from the Holy Flower Sect? Even if he died and we managed to deal with the situation on the third floor, the situation on the four floor is still out of control and not something I can handle on my own.
If the monsters start migrating up the recently established passage directly at the center of that mountain range, the third floor will be doomed."
Not showing the same level of happiness as his friend upon seeing the barrier reestablished, the crimson flame knight who had personally been to the fourth floor of the dungeon and had gone there again over the past few days. Clearly saw that the situation down there was starting to grow unstable.
What made him truly fearful was the fact that he clearly sensed several monsters that were stronger than him on the fourth floor of the dungeon, something that had never happened before outside of the drake that seemed to reside on the largest mountain peak without doing anything more than hunt for food every now and then.
"I understand what you mean, but I can’t do much about it even if I know about the current dangerous situation of this place, I have already sent information to the main branch in the capital."
"Hmph! Those stuck-up fools won’t bother with the situation here unless a dungeon break occurs, it would be better for us to go and ask those people from the Holy Flower Sect for help over those greedy people.
The only people you can rely on in this kind of situation are the headquarters of the Adventure Guild located in the Free City, but getting information there will take at least a few months, by then, it would be too late. Even if an S Rank Adventurer personally stepped in."
"This... I have tried informing most of the other nearby branches and A Rank Adventurers for help, but most of them also seem to be busy dealing with problems in their own dungeons or recent monster problems."
"Everyone is busy... Looks like this might be a scheme of the Holy Flower Sect, it’s just that we managed to thwart their attempt to cause problems inside the dungeon while the rest seem to have been less fortunate..."
"Holy Flower Sect... They have been silent for so many years without doing anything... Just what could they be planning?"
"No idea, maybe they want to take control of the Great Sky Kingdom. After all, it’s not like they haven’t tried to do so in the past- Ah!"
"This..."
As the two old friends began chatting with each other about the current situation, both of them could not help freezing on the spot as they suddenly seemed to have realized the reason behind all the problems that were now taking place across the Great Sky Kingdom.
It was not just a single attack from the Holy Flower Sect aimed to create a bit of trouble for the Adventure Guild like they had done in the past. Instead, it seemed like they were aiming to create instability across the entire Great Sky Kingdom with the goal of taking down the entire Great Sky Kingdom.
Even though this would normally be close to impossible considering that the Holy Flower Sect was enemies with not just the Great Sky Kingdom, but also countless other powers across the world that would do anything to erase them if possible, one of them being the Adventure Guild, it seemed like the recent chaos related to monster spreading through the Great Sky Kingdom might really give them an opportunity to do so.
"I... I will have to inform the other guilds!"
Not wasting any time as he realized just how serious the current situation was, the branch guild leader in charge of the Howling Caverns Dungeon charged back towards the surface to inform not just the wider Adventure Guild about the immediate danger, but also the other guild, as they too would likely be targeted in the attack that was about to take place on the Great Sky Kingdom.
Unfortunately, he would not reach the surface in time, as the attack of the Holy Flower Sect had already started moving after losing contact to one of their important members inside the Howling Caverns, believing that they might have already been noticed and had to act immediately...