The next day—
As the first hazy light of dawn began to touch the horizon, Leon was already awake and finishing his morning routine.
"This should do it, right?"
He buckled the Dragon-Fang Sword in its scabbard to his left hip and the Emerald Staff in its case to his right. With two sleek, non-restrictive pouches fastened to the back of his waist, Leon stood before the full-length mirror. He scrutinized his reflection, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes.
He wore a custom combat suit lined internally with shock-absorbing monster hide. Over it, he threw a hooded cloak inscribed with mysterious runes along the inner lining. One look was enough to tell that this was far from ordinary attire.
Both the combat suit and the cloak were tailor-made. The former provided formidable defense, while the latter was designed to dampen kinetic impacts. Leon had purchased them from a magic item shop in Babel. Their quality was equivalent to Third Tier armaments, costing him nearly a million Valis in total.
To prepare for the grueling battle ahead, Leon had spared no effort. The combat suit and specialized cloak were just the beginning; the contents of the two pouches at the small of his back were where the real fortune lay.
One pouch contained exactly thirty vials of magic potion. Each vial was a specially crafted high-grade version, costing three times more than a standard magic potion. Their advantage lay in their ability to restore significantly more mind power at a much faster rate, draining another million Valis from Leon's savings.
The other pouch held ten high potions and four elixirs. The former cost thirty thousand Valis each, while the latter commanded a staggering price of five hundred thousand Valis per vial. Combined with twenty standard potions for stamina recovery, Leon had spent over two million Valis on consumables alone.
This single set of equipment and potions completely wiped out the wealth Leon had accumulated through his non-stop adventures and daily, relentless exploration of the Dungeon over this recent period.
Yet, he had no choice. His opponent was a Floor Boss whose level exceeded his own by two tiers. These preparations were the absolute baseline. If he hesitated to spend the money now, his already slim chances of victory would plummet straight to zero.
Leon double-checked his gear and supplies one last time. Satisfied that nothing was missing or forgotten, he stepped out of his room, walked down the corridor, and headed downstairs.
He encountered no one along the way, smoothly exiting the tower and arriving at the courtyard.
He and Ais had agreed to meet here early this morning to head into the Dungeon together.
However, the moment Leon stepped into the courtyard, he froze.
"He's here, he's here! Leon is here!"
Tiona stood in the middle of the courtyard, waving enthusiastically as she spotted Leon walking down from the tower.
"You certainly took your time."
Tione stood right beside Tiona, her arms crossed and a knowing smile playing in her eyes as she looked at Leon.
"Good morning, Mr. Leon."
Line wasn't carrying her usual massive Supporter backpack today. Instead, she had only a small satchel slung across her shoulder, holding her staff as she greeted Leon with a timid smile.
"Hmph."
Lefiya clutched her long staff and gave a small hinf at Leon's arrival, her attitude remaining as unfriendly as ever.
Finally, there was Ais. She was already clad in her usual Dungeon exploration gear, Desperate hanging at her waist. Surrounded by the group of girls, she wore a thoroughly innocent expression on her face.
"What are you all doing here?"
Leon looked at the uninvited girls, completely dumbfounded for a long moment before finally finding his voice.
"What do you think? Surprised?" Tiona bounced forward, placing her hands on her hips with a smug, proud expression. "We specially cleared our schedules just to accompany you on this trip, you know!"
"A Floor Boss... You're actually planning to challenge that kind of monster alone at Lv.2?" Tione size up Leon, shaking her head. "I really don't know what goes on in that head of yours."
"Don't misunderstand, I'm not worried about you at all," Lefiya said, tilting her chin up righteously. "I'm only here to keep Miss Ais company."
The girls chimed in one after another, finally giving Leon a clear picture of the situation.
It seemed that the news of his impending solo challenge against the Floor Boss had leaked out.
Leon turned his gaze toward Ais, an inquiring look in his eyes, but she simply shook her head in response.
Evidently, she wasn't the source. She had only received Leon's invitation the previous evening and hadn't left her room afterward, so she couldn't have said anything.
"I-It wasn't me either!"
Seeing Leon shift his gaze to her, Line frantically waved her hands in denial.
Leon only intended to challenge Goliath on the 17th floor today and had no plans for extensive exploration, so he had told Line yesterday that he wouldn't need her services today. Line had gleaned a few details of Leon's plan from that conversation and had even expressed her worries. If anyone had let it slip by accident, it would have been her, but she was denying it now.
Since it wasn't Line and it wasn't Ais, how on earth did Tiona and the others find out?
Leon was entirely bewildered.
"It was Loki," Tione said, stepping in to solve the mystery. "She went to the Captain's office last night and brought it up. I happened to be present at the time."
As for why she was present at that hour, Tione felt no explanation was necessary. Why should a fierce Amazon explain her late-night raids to anyone?
Unfortunately, Finn hadn't been asleep at that hour, and a certain fierce Amazon's midnight infiltration plan had been utterly thwarted. Even so, Tione maintained that the trip hadn't been a total waste. At the very least, she had come away with the fascinating piece of news that Leon intended to solo a Floor Boss.
Once Tione knew, her twin sister, who shared the same room and was practically attached to her hip, naturally found out as well. And once the loose-lipped Tiona found out, it was hardly surprising that the rest of the group caught wind of it.
Thus, several girls had spent a restless night before waking up exceptionally early to gather here, crossing paths with Ais who had arrived as scheduled, and finally catching Leon who arrived last.
"So, you're all planning to come with me?"
The astonishment on Leon's face refused to fade.
Tiona, Tione, Lefiya—these three were core members of the Familia. Two Lv.5s and one Lv.3 whose firepower could rival a Lv.5, plus Ais. The combat strength of this lineup was absurdly high. Compared to these four, Line's presence as a rare healer felt almost diminished.
"We couldn't help it, we're just too curious!" Tiona bounded to Leon's side and wrapped her arms around one of his without the slightest hesitation, speaking with sheer excitement. "A solo challenge against a Floor Boss across a two-tier gap! How could we possibly miss that?"
"If it were anyone else, we wouldn't bother, since it would just be a suicide run. But you're different, aren't you?" Tione walked slowly in front of Leon, clicking her tongue in wonder. "Though I have my doubts that you can pull it off, the Captain seemed quite intrigued by your proposed feat. So of course, I have to witness it myself."
Lefiya remained silent, but the look she gave Leon carried a complex swirl of emotions he couldn't quite decipher.
In truth, she felt Leon was taking a massive, reckless gamble. Soloing a Floor Boss—to someone like Lefiya, who still grew nervous during direct combat with ordinary monsters, the concept sounded like pure fantasy.
She had seen the Floor Boss before. Precisely because she had witnessed it, she believed that kind of titan was never meant to be faced by a lone adventurer. Its colossal frame alone vastly eclipsed even large-scale monsters, and a casual strike from it could cause the earth to shake and mountains to shatter. Lefiya simply couldn't comprehend what kind of person would dare stand before it completely alone.
An army of ants could bring down an elephant, but that required a massive swarm. If there was only a single ant, could it still kill the elephant? The answer was an obvious no.
Therefore, when she first learned of this, Lefiya had been deeply shocked and even angry. She viewed Leon's actions as reckless and disrespectful to his own life. Even ordinary monsters could claim lives, let alone a Floor Boss. One slip-up—or rather, given the sheer level gap, there was a very high probability that Leon would die.
Lefiya's anger was merely a cover for her genuine concern.
Initially, she had planned to storm into Leon's room, drag him out of bed, and give him a thorough piece of her mind, but Tiona and Tione had held her back.
"He already ran this by Loki, and Loki gave her approval. Even if you go try to talk him out of it now, he won't give up, right?" This was the reasoning of the usually more grounded and composed Tione.
"It's a solo fight against a Floor Boss! I want to see it! Come to think of it, I've never actually seen Leon fight!" This was the logic of Tiona, who remained eternally simple-minded like a little angel.
Rather than worrying, the twin sisters were far more curious about why Leon possessed the confidence to challenge a Floor Boss at Lv.2. Had his rapid, smooth growth made him arrogant?
If it were anyone else, Tiona and Tione might have assumed so. But while their understanding of Leon wasn't exhaustive, it was substantial enough for them to be certain that he wasn't that type of person. If he were, Loki would never have agreed to his proposal, and Finn and the others would have stepped in to stop him long ago.
In particular, Riveria, their Vice-Captain, was naturally a worrying type. If she felt Leon's mindset was warped and that this was indistinguishable from a suicide run, she would have long since called him in for a severe lecture.
Tiona and Tione had been with the Loki Familia for a long time. They might not fully understand Leon, but they understood their own deity and the three executives perfectly. They knew that since Loki, Finn, and the others had all chosen to tacitly permit this, it likely pointed to a single conclusion.
That conclusion was that Leon truly stood a chance of defeating the Floor Boss alone. Otherwise, if there truly weren't a shred of hope, that deity and the three leaders would never have sanctioned it.
This realization filled the sisters with a mixture of shock and curiosity. They desperately wanted to know what made Leon so special and just how much combat power he possessed to make the Familia executives agree to such an absurd undertaking. Furthermore, since the ripples of his achievement—rising from Lv.1 to Lv.2 in less than a month—hadn't entirely faded, Tiona and Tione were highly eager to discover the secret behind his unprecedented growth rate.
Thus, after a quick discussion, the sisters had reached an agreement with Lefiya to head into the Dungeon with Leon today.
As for Line, she had simply come along out of pure, unadulterated worry. Her reasoning was incredibly straightforward: though she couldn't assist Leon in combat, she could immediately provide treatment if he got hurt.
The four of them had gathered in the courtyard, only to find Ais waiting there ahead of them. The five girls had been chatting for a while before Leon's arrival; had he delayed any longer, they might have gone to fetch him themselves.
"What? Is it forbidden for us to visit the Dungeon now?" Lefiya snorted as she watched Leon stand frozen there. Her tone made Leon sorely tempted to tell her that the tsundere act was a bit outdated and there was really no need for it. The girl only acted this prickly when facing him; in front of anyone else, she was perfectly well-behaved and gentle.
Leon also knew the elf girl was simply worried about him in her own way, but since she refused to admit it openly, he had no reason to call her out.
"I never said you couldn't go," Leon said with a wry smile as he felt everyone's eyes on him. "Besides, could I even stop you if I tried?"
None of these women were easy to manage. Forget about him; even Finn and the executives frequently nursed headaches over their independent streaks. Therefore, Leon tactfully dropped the subject. Their legs belonged to them; even if he objected, what difference would it make? Furthermore, having several powerhouse figures present to back him up was something anyone else would celebrate. Leon had no intention of being ungrateful.
"That's the spirit!" Tiona said cheerfully, still clinging to Leon's arm. "Don't worry, we won't get in your way. Unless you're literally about to die, we absolutely won't intervene."
"You're a man," Tione chimed in with a smirk, throwing down a challenge. "Since you dared to boast about soloing a Floor Boss, show us what you've got. Otherwise, you won't deserve to call yourself a member of the Loki Familia."
"...I will be watching from the side," Lefiya said, staring intently at Leon for a moment before turning her head away. "Just make sure Miss Ais and Miss Tiona don't have to waste their energy saving you."
"I-I will also be paying close attention the entire time," Line added hurriedly, eager to state her position now that everyone else had spoken. "If things truly turn bad, let me handle the healing, Mr. Leon."
The girls spoke up one after another, leaving the usually quiet Ais standing to the side, looking as though she wanted to say something but held back.
In truth, she felt a little put out. Leon had explicitly invited her, so how had it turned into a massive group outing? The little Ais inside her mind was practically puffing out her cheeks in frustration. But since she was naturally unexpressive and had no valid reason to prevent the others from tag-along, she could only stand there silently, keeping her thoughts to herself.
"Then let's move out."
Seeing that the matter was settled, Leon stopped dwelling on it and gave the order.
"Getting from the surface down to the 17th floor will still take some time."
He didn't want to arrive at the boss room only to find that his target had already been defeated by another party. Therefore, it was best to hurry.
The girls raised no objections and nodded in unison. The group promptly exited the headquarters in an organized manner, heading toward the Dungeon.
Shortly after Leon and his companions departed, several more figures quietly emerged from the headquarters one after another, following at a distance.
This day was destined to be anything but ordinary.
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