The Safe Floor.
Compared to how it was depicted in the original DanMachi, only seeing it in person could truly convey how breathtaking it was. The environment here was completely different from the previous Floors.
It was unbelievably spacious.
Under the vast clusters of crystals overhead, warm sunlight poured across the entire region, forming a unique ecosystem deep within the Dungeon.
At the very least...
When Ron arrived on this Floor, he didn't feel that familiar sense of danger.
Which only proved one thing—
After his [Despicable Outsider] effect had already forced him into an early showdown against the Fire Giant, there was no way the Dungeon would immediately pull another massive stunt on Floor 18.
Breathing in the scent of leaves and damp earth mingling in the air, Ron finally felt his tightly wound nerves ease for the first time.
The exhaustion brought by nonstop combat crashed over him like a tidal wave.
"I seriously need to rest my ass off..."
As for when they left Floor 17—he hadn't forgotten the figure watching him from behind.
But he could tell one thing: the other party hadn't radiated any strong hostility.
Otherwise—just like when he encountered that earlier group of adventurers, he definitely would've felt a bad premonition.
"We'll rest on the Safe Floor for today."
"We're only four Floors away from our expedition target. Our progress is already much faster than expected."
As for what came next—
Since this was his first time reaching this area, Ron didn't really have any concrete plans. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Daphne.
Leave this kind of thing to her, and there absolutely wouldn't be any problems.
She had extensive experience leading parties,
and she was willing to help others when danger appeared.
Those two points alone had already proven she was a trustworthy companion.
"Then we won't be going into Rivira."
Anyone who had ever reached Floor 18 knew exactly how absurdly overpriced everything there was. Equipment repairs and food supplies were sold at outrageous prices.
And because their expedition had progressed ahead of schedule, there wasn't really any need to restock supplies at all.
Daphne shifted her gaze toward the wide-open grasslands outside Rivira.
This was the area adventurer parties usually used for temporary campsites.
"As for the rest..."
"Just treat it as free time."
Her eyes swept across the group.
After all, with adventurers from the Loki Familia still present, she didn't make any further arrangements. Even Mikoto's earlier suggestion about visiting the hot springs was postponed.
At the very least, it would have to wait until evening.
Logic told her that during a Dungeon expedition, it was best to avoid unnecessary complications whenever possible.
But only those who had actually fought these mutated monsters could understand how exhausting it truly was.
The deeper they explored, the stronger the monsters they encountered would become.
And now that they had an opportunity to relieve some of that fatigue, there was no way she intended to let it pass by.
"Later tonight..."
"Senior Mikoto will lead the way. Anyone who wants to visit the hot springs can gather together then."
"..."
Ron naturally had no objections to this arrangement.
No one understood better than him just how utterly cursed a Soulslike Dungeon could be.
The fact that the goddamn Dungeon hadn't already killed him could only be considered proof that he was unusually hard to kill...
So—after working nonstop for so long, Master Ron taking some time to enjoy a little relaxation and its accompanying perks absolutely wasn't a problem!
...
"Little sister."
"What's the plan now?"
It was a rare moment of downtime.
More importantly, Tione had a lot she wanted to talk to her sister about—about assisting the Hestia Familia during this expedition, and about everything that happened after they got separated.
Naturally, none of that was appropriate to discuss in front of Ron.
So she used the excuse of needing to restock supplies and headed toward Rivira to find somewhere else to talk.
Though calling it a "town" was inaccurate—it was closer to a giant shantytown.
Compared to Orario, the architectural style here looked completely makeshift—like some slapped-together amateur construction crew had thrown it up overnight.
Walking through Rivira, the Amazoness girl looked at the adventurers on both sides of the street, busy hammering away at equipment and preparing potions, before Tione was the first to break the silence.
"Tiona."
"Can you tell me... what exactly you and Ron ran into while acting separately?"
As for why she wasn't asking Lefiya—don't make me laugh.
As much as she hated to admit it, Lefiya's relationship with Ron would only remain neutral as long as Familia interests were involved.
"..."
Sure enough, it was this critical, impossible-to-ignore issue.
After all, following such a short separation, Ron had somehow ended up with a spiral greatsword out of nowhere. Anyone paying even slight attention could tell their exploration hadn't been simple.
Under her sister's gaze, Tiona only felt a headache coming on.
Fortunately, Ron hadn't forbidden the information from being shared. After finding a completely quiet area where no one could spy on them, her expression turned complicated as she answered seriously: "In Ron's words... we basically went to another world that was on the verge of destruction."
"..."
"?!!"
Since she had never personally experienced the world beyond the Fog Gate, Tione frowned in confusion the instant she heard that answer.
She recognized every word individually—
but when combined together... she couldn't understand it at all.
"Mm..."
"That's basically what happened. Back then, the mechanism transported us to Floor 17, where we encountered a lot of monsters we'd never seen before, along with that..."
"Fog Gate?"
"After passing through that Fog Gate, it really felt like we'd gone to another world."
Worried that her sister wouldn't understand, Tiona explained everything in extreme detail.
But when she recalled the Ash Judge after the outbreak of the Pus of Man virus, a deep chill rose uncontrollably from within her heart.
"Over there... we encountered a completely unprecedented Floor Boss—the Ash Judge. It was terrifying. After the virus outbreak, its body became horribly mutated..."
"And—after Ron killed the Floor Boss, the virus started spreading like a plague!!"
"..."
The overwhelming flood of information came one after another, leaving Tione standing there blankly with a grave expression.
A Fog Gate leading to another world.
A virus capable of causing grotesque mutations.
A world on the brink of destruction...
It sounded like pure fantasy.
But Tione knew perfectly well that her sister would never lie to her.
And that meant—the secrets Ron possessed, even the things currently being shown to them, were merely things he had no intention of hiding?!
"But..."
"It's better not to go to a place like that. It's way too dangerous!"
Recalling the black tadpole-like creatures swarming toward them after the Pus of Man aberrations were killed, Tiona felt her scalp go numb all over again.
Those things were the contamination source responsible for spreading the Pus of Man virus.
If they had been even slightly careless...
Just remembering that scene was enough to make her shudder.
"Once infected with the Pus of Man virus, there's absolutely no way to cure it. Once the virus erupts... you'll become a mutated creature that loses all consciousness and gets controlled."
Even after saying that, she still didn't forget to add: "This absolutely cannot be leaked to anyone else!"
"..."
Why was she the one being warned by her little sister now?!
Even from the brief description alone, Tione could already sense how dangerous it was.
And what her deep gaze was currently pondering was whether the choice made by the Loki Familia had truly been the correct one.
She lightly shook her head.
If Captain Finn were here, he definitely would've thought through the matter much more thoroughly.
And just as the girl decided to change the subject and ease her mood a little—the corner of Tione's eye suddenly caught sight of several adventurers entering Rivira from the distance ahead.
They looked familiar...
"Hey."
"If I remember correctly, those guys... are the same group that tried to make a move on us inside the Floor Boss chamber before getting scared off and running away, right?"
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