Boom—
Around the thirtieth floor of the Dungeon, a violent explosion erupted.
The firestones that should have been detonated by Evilus were instead ignited by Elise herself.
The entire thirtieth floor was engulfed by the thunderous blast. Even several adjacent floors could hear the roar of the explosion.
"You crazy bitch, what the hell are you doing?"
"You've ruined our entire plan!"
The members of Evilus began shouting in fury. No matter how they thought about it, they never expected Elise to detonate the firestones on her own—and at a time when no one was within the blast radius.
Evilus knew where the firestones were buried, so they had carefully avoided stepping into the explosion zone.
And Elise, with her vast perception, had located the firestones as well, ensuring she would not be affected by the blast either.
This explosion... had resulted in zero casualties?
The members of Evilus were already cursing wildly. Those firestones had cost them a fortune. They had planned to blow Elise to pieces—only for it all to amount to nothing.
But was that really the case?
This was where the gap in information revealed itself.
Evilus was merely furious.
Elise, however, already knew what was about to happen next.
The explosion had ended.
Yet the Dungeon's regeneration did not begin.
Because something... was being birthed by the Dungeon itself.
At that moment, a mutation occurred!
Zzzrt— Zzzrt—
This was not the cracking of walls that accompanied a monster's birth.
Nor was it the tremor brought about by the Monster Feria.
It was an unbearably piercing, shrill wail.
Which meant that the Dungeon...
Was crying.
It was the anguished cry of the Dungeon after sensing massive destruction inflicted upon itself.
At the same time, deep within the Guild of Orario.
The aged god seated upon the altar, Uranus, suddenly raised his head in astonishment.
"The Dungeon... has rejected my divine will?"
A phenomenon he had never witnessed before caused even the creator god of Orario to grow solemn.
The Dungeon was crying?
Why was it crying?
Uranus did not know the reason—but he had to uncover it.
If such an anomaly were to happen again in the future without understanding its cause, it would be far more difficult to deal with.
...
The Evilus members, who had been cursing moments earlier, all fell silent when they heard the abnormal sound.
They did not understand what was happening and could only look upward toward its source.
Crack— Crack!
A massive splitting noise rang out.
A gigantic fissure tore open across the ceiling of the floor.
This was completely different from the usual method of monster births. It was as if the Dungeon had pried open its own flesh to release something...
A pair of crimson eyes appeared within the crack, like a ferocious beast about to escape its cage, staring down at everyone present.
In the next instant, a black shadow dropped from the fissure, landing squarely among the Evilus members and kicking up a storm of dust.
"Not good—run— uwaaaah!!"
Someone seemed to realize what it was and shouted a warning—but before he could finish, his words turned into a horrifying scream.
When the dust finally cleared, everyone saw what had happened.
A monster resembling a giant locust fused with the fossilized skeleton of a dragon stood there, its jaws clamped around the upper half of an Evilus member.
The moment their eyes met its gaze...
Crunch!
The monster bit down hard. The lower half of the man dangling from its mouth dropped to the ground, blood splattering everywhere.
"R‑Run!!!"
At that instant, no one could remain still. They all fled toward other floors in panic.
But how could the monster possibly let them escape so easily?
Some of the Evilus members did not even see its movement before they were mercilessly torn apart by its razor‑sharp claws.
Heads flew through the air. Blood‑gushing torsos collapsed to the ground.
The sight only deepened the terror in their hearts, driving them to run even more desperately.
They would even shove the person beside them toward the monster just to buy a few more seconds of life.
From that perspective, it seemed as if the monster had truly been delayed by them?
Thud!
Just as the ones in front were about to escape, a dull sound rang out. Those who should have fled seemed to collide with something invisible and were stopped in place.
"What is this?!"
One Evilus member frantically pounded at the unseen wall before him. He even drew his weapon and slashed at it—but nothing could penetrate the barrier.
Then he felt heavy breathing behind him.
And the low growl of a monster.
"Aaaaah—!"
He did not dare turn around. He could only bolt sideways, screaming in an attempt to dispel his terror.
But less than two seconds later, his head was devoured like an exploding meatball.
It wasn't just him.
Every Evilus member encountered the same situation. Whenever they attempted to flee, an invisible wall blocked their path—until the monster slaughtered them.
Elise floated in the air, silently channeling her Prana to form an invisible hemispherical barrier, sealing all the Evilus members and the suddenly appeared Juggernaut together inside.
Since they were the ones seeking death, she would simply grant their wish.
She had originally planned to send them off gently, without pain.
But now that she knew everything was orchestrated by Evilus, things could no longer end so simply.
With that thought, Elise turned her gaze back to the interior of the barrier.
For the Juggernaut, the thirtieth floor had become nothing more than a sealed cafeteria.
All it had to do was stretch its limbs a little to obtain a large supply of food... and toys.
As expected, how could a group with an average Level below 2 possibly stand against the Juggernaut?
It was said that a Juggernaut's strength was tied to the floor on which it was born—the deeper the floor, the stronger it became.
And this was the thirtieth floor.
This Juggernaut's strength was at least around Level 6.
Wasn't this nothing more than a massacre?
In less than thirty seconds, every Evilus member within the hemispherical barrier had been slaughtered.
Its speed was simply too terrifying. Even without ambush tactics, a frontal assault was enough to crush Evilus entirely.
After killing everyone present, the Juggernaut seemed to sense something.
It lifted its head and roared toward the sky.
That sight caused Elise's expression to turn serious.
Because the direction the Juggernaut was roaring toward...
Was precisely where she was.
The Juggernaut... could actually detect Elise's position?