__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With no monsters left blocking his path, Alex shot straight into the air and flew toward Aiz and the others.
At the same time, Aiz's group had been stopped by the mysterious assailant.
The moment she moved, the strange woman appeared right in front of Lefiya and grabbed her by the throat with one hand. With a casual swing of her other hand, Lulune Louie was sent flying.
It was obvious she planned to kill the mage first.
At the critical moment, Ais stepped in, forcing the assailant back with a single sword strike. The two immediately clashed.
But the gap in strength was clear. On top of that, Ais had already been affected by the monster inside the orb earlier, and her condition was noticeably worse.
Although Ais possessed the skill Avenger Princess, which greatly boosted her attacks against monsters and dragons, the enemy in front of her looked exactly like a human.
Ais didn't realize she was facing a monster. Believing her opponent to be human, she couldn't activate the skill.
That was the only real drawback of Avenger Princess.
Of course, that weakness was also its strength. The skill was driven by perception. As long as Ais believed someone was a monster or a dragon, the skill would activate even if they were actually human.
Seeing Ais being pushed back, Lefiya struggled to her feet and hurriedly began chanting, releasing the spell Spirit Bow: Light Arrow.
Unfortunately, the strange woman caught the magic barehanded and crushed it.
"How is that possible? She grabbed it with her hands…" Lefiya stared in disbelief.
Before she could even react, the shattered magic was thrown straight back at her.
"Ah!" Lefiya couldn't block it at all and was blasted away by her own spell.
"Lefiya!" Ais lost focus the instant she saw it.
Right then, Alex arrived and caught Lefiya midair.
The elf, who normally showed little emotion toward men, unexpectedly flushed bright red as she ended up in his arms.
The strange woman frowned when she saw Alex.
The man-eating plant monsters she controlled hadn't managed to stop him. That meant his strength was anything but ordinary.
Wanting to end the fight quickly, she intensified her attacks. Ais was completely pushed onto the defensive.
Seeing this, Lefiya anxiously shouted, "Mr. Alex, please help Ais!"
Alex nodded calmly. "Don't worry. She'll be fine."
He didn't rush in to help. This battle was important for Ais. It would accelerate her growth.
At the same time, Alex's eyes glowed faintly as he copied the black battle blade in the strange woman's hand into his Unlimited Blade Works space.
Another weapon added to the collection.
Ais was suppressed again and again, until she finally activated Aerial Wind Run. A layer of green wind wrapped around her body, and her speed surged instantly.
In combat, speed was everything. If you were fast enough that your enemy couldn't hit you, while you could strike them freely, then no matter how strong they were, it wouldn't matter.
After using magic, Ais was no longer overwhelmed. She and the strange woman fought to a standstill.
However, the instant Ais activated her magic, the orb in her backpack reacted. It began to glow.
Seeing this, the strange woman exclaimed in surprise, "That wind… I see now. So you're Aria?"
The moment Ais heard that name, something snapped inside her.
Her expression turned agitated, and the hand holding her sword trembled.
Seeing her reaction, the strange woman smiled. "Interesting. Consider it a gift."
As soon as she finished speaking, the orb flew out of the backpack on its own. The small monster inside rapidly expanded, bursting through the shell.
The creature leaped onto a man-eating plant monster and fused with it.
In the next instant, the plant swelled in size, and from its top grew a faceless female body.
The creature let out a shrill roar as countless vine-whips sprouted from it, lashing out indiscriminately.
"Get out of the way!" Ais shouted.
"It's fine." Alex raised a hand, and a barrier appeared in front of everyone, blocking the attack.
After becoming a godslayer, he could now cast low-level spells and magic without chanting. Even higher-level magic required far less incantation time.
Of course, casting without chanting reduced power, but even weakened spells were far stronger than anything these monsters could produce.
"A chantless barrier spell? That's impossible…" Lefiya was so shocked she could barely speak.
She had already seen Alex use multiple kinds of magic back on the forty-eighth floor. Adding today's display, he clearly had far more than three spells.
Could he be like Lady Riveria, with multiple high-tier magics?
That was beyond unfair.
His close combat strength was already terrifying, and now he had this many powerful spells on top of it.
"Now isn't the time to be amazed," Alex said to Lefiya.
As soon as his words fell, another change occurred.
The entire eighteenth floor shifted in color. The crystal ceiling turned from a night-sky hue to blood red.
The next moment, a black Goliath descended.
Alex immediately knew this was his own fault.
The divine aura leaking from the boar had triggered the Dungeon's response.
He issued a command to the boar, ordering it to kill the black Goliath.
At the same time, the Loki Familia finished clearing the man-eating plants in Rivira Town and arrived at Ais's position.
When they saw the massive female monster, shock spread across their faces. Still, they didn't hesitate and jumped straight into battle.
Seeing the Loki Familia arrive, the strange woman realized today's plan had failed.
The seed of the corrupted spirit had already hatched early. There was no way to take it away now.
She immediately changed targets and aimed to capture Ais instead.
Without the slightest hesitation, she attacked again.
This time, even with Aerial Wind Run, Ais was completely suppressed.
She stood no chance.
On Alex's side, the boar slammed into the Goliath and killed it in a single blow. He obtained the magic stone of the mutated Goliath.
After dismissing the boar, he turned his attention back to Ais.
By now, Ais was covered in wounds. The Loki Familia was tied down by the corrupted spirit and couldn't help her.
"This farce is over," Alex said as he flashed in front of Ais. With a spinning roundhouse kick, he sent the strange woman flying.
The blow inflicted severe injuries, smashing her hard into the ground and leaving a deep crater in the solid earth.
Ais stared in shock. She knew Alex was strong, but not like this.
That woman was at least Lv.6, yet she had been defeated in a single strike.
To accomplish that, Alex had to be at least Lv.7.
Just as he was about to finish her, another strange woman appeared.
She wore tight black clothing beneath a black cloak, her appearance completely hidden. Judging by her figure, she was likely female.
Instead of fighting Alex, she picked up the heavily injured woman and immediately fled into the nineteenth floor.
Alex could have stopped them, but he chose not to.
He had already guessed who she was. The Dionysus Familia's banshee, Filvis Challenghe.
On the surface, she was Lv.3, but her true combat power rivaled a high Lv.7.
As for the one he had injured, she was Revis from Sword Oratoria.
If he killed them here, the future storyline would fall apart. The Loki Familia would never venture into the deep floors to hunt the corrupted spirit.
Without that great feat, the Familia's overall strength would drop significantly. The Amazon sisters and Bete, among others, wouldn't gain enough experience to reach Lv.6.
Besides, Alex had already placed marks on them. Finding them later would be easy.
Although this battle had ended, Finn and the others were still fighting.
Even as an incomplete being, the corrupted spirit was terrifyingly strong, with absurd regenerative abilities. No matter how badly it was injured, it recovered almost instantly.
Its massive body also made it impossible for Finn's group to locate its magic stone.
Alex had no intention of stealing the kill. As dangerous as it was, Finn and the others could handle it.
Ais, however, rushed in to help.
Against monsters, her strength truly shone. Working together with Finn and the others, they quickly finished off the corrupted spirit.
All the monsters were slain, the strange women escaped, but the eighteenth floor was left in ruins.
Rivira Town was destroyed, and everyone had no choice but to return early.
Alex had enjoyed the show and even managed to kill a black Goliath, obtaining a Lv.5 floor boss magic stone.
All things considered, it was a huge win.
Watching everything unfold was far more exciting than watching anime. Being part of it in person was on another level entirely.
Finn and the others approached Alex. Before Alex could speak, Finn asked, "Where did the black Goliath and that giant boar go?"
Alex smiled. "The boar was something I summoned. You can think of it as one of my skills. The black Goliath is already dead."
Finn nodded. "I see. I didn't expect you to have such a powerful summoning ability."
"Just good luck," Alex replied casually.
Seeing he didn't want to dwell on it, Finn changed the subject. "Given what happened on the eighteenth floor, we're planning to head back early. What about you, Captain Alex?"
"..."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________