"Awaken!"
Shing—
A streak of azure sword light flashed past.
The golden saintess moved through the horde of monsters. Every strike was like a passing breeze, yet its terrifying power left countless monsters collapsing into pools of blood.
After advancing to Level 2, this was Elise's first time reaching the thirties. She had not expected such a tremendous increase in strength.
Of course, Est deserved no small portion of the credit.
After all, the Sacred Demon Sword formed from Est was the most powerful armament in the world of Elementalists. Its sharpness was not something the highest-grade weapons of this world could compare to.
Even in the deep floors past the thirtieth—where the monsters possessed average potential equivalent to Level 4—they were unable to withstand Est's terrifying edge.
When Elise cut them down, it was like slicing melons and vegetables. One sweep took down a whole batch.
Even when she encountered monsters specialized in defense, at most they could only endure half a strike—that is, the blade embedding into their bodies.
But the moment Elise infused a trace of Prana to enhance the sword's sharpness, their defenses became as fragile as paper, splitting apart at the slightest touch.
More importantly, her speed far surpassed theirs. Most monsters never even caught a glimpse of her shadow before dissolving into ash amid flashes of azure light.
However, this ability was something Elise had rarely used before. Today was the first time she had brought it out.
Pseudo—Ariel.
As everyone knew, Elise had a particular hobby of imitating others' abilities. Back when she possessed faith, her imitations were nearly flawless, indistinguishable from the originals.
But after arriving in this world, faith could no longer be used. So she had to rely on other powers to replicate them.
For example, the ever-versatile Prana.
With further development, it truly seemed capable of accomplishing almost anything.
Whether magic or skills, so long as they were not excessively complicated or dependent on specific conditions, Prana could reproduce them.
But this time, Elise wanted to try something different.
For instance—the divine might of Est.
With this move, she drew upon the power of the Wind Elemental Lord contained within the Sacred Demon Sword.
Just like Ais' Ariel in the original story, wind wrapped around her body, greatly enhancing attack, defense, and speed, even allowing short-distance flight.
Of course, for Ais—who could not fly—it was an extremely powerful ability. On Elise, however, it felt rather ordinary.
Still, it was more than sufficient for slaughtering these monsters. Elise was someone who could defeat Ottar—how could mere mobs possibly break her defense?
Besides, Elise had come up with an absolutely brilliant plan.
In the future, she would use this very Ariel in front of Ais.
She really wanted to see what kind of expression Ais would make upon witnessing a magic so similar to her own. What would she think? What would she do?
Would she assume Elise was also a human with fairy blood? Or something else?
Either way, Elise was very much looking forward to that moment.
"Decided! I'll add this to my must-do list. When the time comes, I'll record Ais' reaction in high definition!"
Then years later, she could show it to her.
"Look, Ais-tan. Back then you thought I was XXX and made that face. You were so cute!"
It was not only future Ais. Even now, Elise had already stored away a large collection of treasures—many of which absolutely could not be shown to others.
For example, recordings of her goddess helping her cleanse herself. A pure goddess and a pure Saintess snuggling together—no further elaboration needed.
There were also photos and videos of all Familia members bathing together. Though there were only four members at present, that was fine. Every time a new member joined in the future, Elise would take another set.
Even if she were discovered, it did not matter. She had backups.
Of course, there were also items that could be shown.
For instance, videos of her thoroughly beating Alise. Several uninterrupted hours from beginning to end—perfectly preserving the entire scene of Alise being pummeled. Those could be shown to future Familia members. Ideally, each of them would keep a copy...
Since she was imitating Ais anyway, why not go all the way?
Elise remembered that Ais' Great Feat for advancing from Level 5 to Level 6 had been soloing the Floor Boss of the thirty-seventh floor.
If that was the case, then she absolutely had to pay tribute.
Prepare yourself, Udaeus!
Today, you will be eliminated once by Ariel. In the future, it will happen again!
That is fate!
Having made up her mind, Elise no longer hesitated. The wind coiling around her suddenly grew violent, like a gentle breeze transforming into a fearsome tornado.
"Sweep everything away!"
Of course, she did not need to shout to control the wind's intensity.
But didn't it look cooler that way?
And besides, the area around her was quite open. Was she not allowed a little chuunibyou moment?
Thus, with an excited heart, Elise set off to subjugate the Floor Boss Udaeus.
It was bound to be a splendid battle.
Elise glanced back over her shoulder, a mysterious smile appearing on her face.
Even the rats hiding in the shadows were beginning to lose their patience...
"But don't worry. Once Udaeus is dead, it'll be your turn."
"That time won't be far off."
Elise departed, heading toward the thirty-seventh floor.
Not long after she left, a black-clad figure emerged from the entrance to this floor.
The man moved forward cautiously. With every step, he looked left and right for a long while, as though wary of something.
This continued for quite some time. In the end, however, he finally relaxed completely. There was indeed no longer any danger here. Elise had already left.
"Come out. It's safe now."
The man in black called out behind him. Before long, a large group of similarly dressed figures emerged.
They appeared to have come prepared. Nearly every one of them carried a large crate on their backs, within which flickered a light resembling flame.
The black-clad figures slowly set their crates down and opened them. A crimson glow grew increasingly bright, illuminating the entire area.
"Next, what we need to do is bury the ignis stones here."
"When the Saintess of Scales returns, she'll definitely pass through this place. That's when we strike. We must blow her to pieces!"
"Even if she survives the explosion, she'll be gravely injured. We'll still have a chance to finish her off!"
With that, the group began moving, carrying the ignis stones out of the crates one by one and burying them underground. Without careful inspection, it would likely be impossible to notice.
At least, that was what they believed.
"Justice will be destroyed by our hands!"