Dungeon, 51st Floor.
Riezel was not unfamiliar with this floor at all.
Even if one ignored the many times he had come here using Gate after returning to this world, he had already visited this floor once before leaving this world the last time, together with Ais, Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione.
Back then, to obtain the water from Cadmus's Spring and complete the adventurer quest assigned by the Dian Cecht Familia, he had encountered those caterpillar monsters on this floor, and he had also been chased all over the place by their corrosive fluid together with Ais, Finn, and the others.
But this time, this floor could no longer stop the First-Class Adventurers of the Loki Familia.
*SCREEECH—!*
When the familiar broken-gong-like screech echoed from the cave-like labyrinth passage ahead, the expedition party that had charged into the 51st Floor had already cleared out many monsters along the way.
"Fuck, the gross caterpillars are here!"
"Whoa! So many!"
"Even more than last time!"
Bete, Tiona, and Tione, who were running at the very front, shouted first, causing everyone behind them to narrow their eyes one by one.
Especially Riezel and Ais: when they heard that screech, they almost reflexively thought of the Violas.
However, what appeared ahead were not Violas, but the caterpillars that had forced them to retreat during the previous expedition.
Many of these colorful, yellow-green blob-like monsters flooded the wide passage. With flat arms that reminded one of fish, they wriggled countless stubby legs beneath their bodies while advancing like tanks or war chariots.
Several caterpillars had even raised their upper bodies, gathering corrosive fluid in their mouths as if they were ready to spray at any moment, nearly making Raul cry out.
He couldn't help it.
During the last expedition, this unfortunate 'High Novice' had been completely drenched by that corrosive fluid and had nearly melted. Now, seeing the same scene again, his psychological trauma was on the verge of resurfacing.
Fortunately, this time, the Loki Familia was fully prepared.
"Lefiya! Raul! Aki! Alicia! Stay ready with the magic swords!"
"Riezel! Ais! Be ready to support!"
"Bete! Tiona! Tione! Go!"
Finn issued his commands with extreme calm, his voice clearly echoing in everyone's ears.
At his command, the three vanguards rushed forward without hesitation.
"Raul! Toss them!"
"Throw them here!"
Tiona and Tione shouted while charging ahead.
"Yes!"
Raul, who was running beside Gareth, responded loudly and immediately pulled two weapons out of the heavy backpack on his back.
They were weapons polished to a sharp silver shine, beautiful, like works of art—one was a greatsword, the other a halberd.
Both were heavy, large weapons that were difficult to wield.
Raul hurled the two weapons with force, throwing them toward Tiona and Tione, respectively.
"Nice! Got it!"
"With this, then..."
Tiona caught the greatsword, and Tione caught the halberd.
After weighing the weapons in their hands, the two immediately charged fearlessly toward the caterpillars.
""HAAAAAHHH—!!!""
With the amazoness twins' shouts, the silver greatsword and the silver halberd began to whirl like windmills, leaving silver trails as they slashed toward the caterpillars.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
As the two weapons cleaved the caterpillars, the sounds were clean and decisive.
Tiona and Tione wielded the massive weapons as lightly as if they weighed nothing.
Like tigers among sheep, they began a dazzling slaughter, cutting down caterpillar after caterpillar beneath their spinning, meat-grinder-like weapons.
"!!!"
Meanwhile, the caterpillars did not even have time to utter screams before their bodies were severed one by one by Tiona and Tione, their corrosive fluid bursting out on the spot.
What was surprising, however, was that the weapons in the twins' hands were not melted by the corrosive fluid at all—their sheen barely dulled, demonstrating astonishing durability.
"Yosha!"
"Finally, we don't have to worry about our weapons melting!"
One sister cheered, the other smiled.
While swiftly dodging the splashing corrosive fluid, they continued to charge into the swarm of caterpillars like two living meat grinders, slaughtering relentlessly.
"Hmph, what are you getting so cocky about?"
Bete had charged into the caterpillars even faster than the two.
Seeing the amazoness twins wreak havoc, he grinned ferociously, a pair of silver twin swords already in his hands.
"As if I can't do the same..."
*Swish!*
With a low growl, Bete's twin swords turned into two streaks of silver light—the strikes were fierce, fast, and razor-sharp. Combined with his top-tier AGI within the familia, the number of caterpillars he killed alone was no less than the twins' combined total.
In his hands, the silver twin swords, just like Tiona's and Tione's weapons, were completely unaffected by the corrosive fluid.
Besides, the caterpillars' self-destruction at the moment of death could not even keep up with his speed, as by the time they exploded, he had already vanished into a blur, without even sparing them a glance.
"Excellent."
Watching the three First-Class Adventurers slaughter the caterpillars freely and easily, while the three silver weapons remained completely unscathed by the highly corrosive fluid, Tsubaki, who was running beside Finn, felt deeply satisfied.
"I reinforced the Durandal attribute, so the power kinda doesn't hit first-class levels, but they're still my work. You don't have to worry about them melting. Just keep cutting!"
Indeed, the three's silver weapons were special equipment bearing the Durandal attribute, all personally forged by Tsubaki, Orario's greatest blacksmith.
Given that ordinary weapons would melt when striking the caterpillars, Finn had commissioned Tsubaki to custom-make a batch of Durandal attribute weapons to deal with this swarm of caterpillar monsters.
All of these weapons were crafted by Tsubaki herself.
Even though their power did not reach the level of First-Class Special Equipment due to the focus on reinforcing the Durandal attribute, they were still on par with Second-Class Special Equipment.
More importantly, it was the Durandal attribute that mattered.
Only weapons with the Durandal attribute could withstand the caterpillar monsters, so this batch had been deliberately enhanced in that aspect, which made their durability extremely high, enough to rival Riezel's Fool, and even surpass Ais's Desperate.
At this moment, aside from Riezel, Ais, and Riveria, who already possessed Durandal attribute weapons, the other First-Class Adventurers in the expedition party had all equipped themselves with these unbreakable weapons carried by the supporters.
Finn wielded a silver spear.
Gareth held a silver battle axe.
Bete used silver twin swords.
Tiona carried a silver greatsword.
Tione wielded a silver halberd.
All five unbreakable weapons, named the 'Roland' series by Tsubaki, were now showing overwhelming power on the 51st Floor.
Naturally, Riezel and Ais, who were positioned in the middle for support, were not idle either.
Since both of them were already wielding Durandal attribute weapons, they immediately began chanting magic after the vanguards charged into the caterpillar swarm.
""Tempest.""
*Splash!* *Splash!* *Splash!*
As Riezel and Ais approached, the caterpillars that had raised their upper bodies finally sprayed out the corrosive fluid they had been charging—the fluid transformed into high-pressure streams, tearing through the air as they shot forward.
"Ais!"
"Yes!"
Riezel and Ais exchanged a glance, then moved in perfect unison.
*BOOM!*
A blast of wind erupted beneath their feet, launching both of them into the air, where they quickly positioned themselves directly in front of the incoming streams.
*BOOM!*
In an instant, the corrosive fluid streams struck the two in rapid succession, but fortunately, the attacks were blown away by the raging winds that surrounded them.
While blocking the attacks for their companions, the two twisted their bodies midair.
""Wind Breathing - Ninth Form - Idaten Typhoon!""
Riezel and Ais unleashed sharp wind blades together—the blades turned into a storm-like barrage, sweeping toward the caterpillars at the rear that had raised their upper bodies and were preparing to spray.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
As expected, their fierce wind slashes severed the caterpillars one by one—some were cut in half, some into quarters, and some into countless pieces, shredded on the spot by the storm of slashes.
The same magic.
The same swordsmanship.
The same movements.
The same attacks.
The level of coordination, synchronization, and similarity displayed by Riezel and Ais in that moment reached an astonishing peak, leaving everyone staring in shock.
"What kind of swordsmanship is that?"
Tsubaki's eyes widened in surprise since it was her first time seeing Wind Breathing.
"They really have amazing chemistry—they look really good together..."
Alicia could not help but comment.
"Mr. Riezel! Miss Ais!"
Lefiya seemed both envious of their pairing and in awe of their dignified figures, her eyes sparkling.
"..."
Anakitty said nothing, but she looked somewhat conflicted, causing Raul beside her to feel an awkward urge to pat her shoulder.
Riveria also said nothing, but for some reason, as she looked at Riezel and Ais, this elven royal showed an expression that was both gratified and complicated.
"Good! Keep moving!"
"Don't stop! I've got your back!"
Finn and Gareth finally spoke up in succession, snapping everyone out of it and making them quickly suppress their extra thoughts to continue forward.
With that, the expedition party advanced in this way, slaughtering monsters while following the proper route toward the entrance to the 52nd Floor.
"There!"
As usual, Bete was the first to spot the entrance to the 52nd Floor and informed everyone.
"Riezel! Riveria!"
Finn called their names decisively.
Riezel and Riveria began chanting magic at the same time.
"Follow blindly the sun in the sky."
"Blossom, armor of laurel, so that all will flee from thee."
"Raumure."
Riezel completed his chant first, which showed that his mastery of high-speed chant had reached an extreme level and once again astonished those who had not seen it before.
"Assemble, breath of the land - my name is Alf."
"Veil Breath."
Close behind Riezel, Riveria also completed her magic.
As the two released their magic spells simultaneously, green light garments and light membranes appeared on everyone.
As a result, everyone's speed immediately increased by a great margin, and they surged straight toward the entrance to the 52nd Floor and entered the next floor.
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[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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