"Is that... Udaeus?"
Riveria frowned as she sized up the newly arrived enemy.
She was no stranger to the skeletal giant's appearance; it looked exactly like the 37th Floor Labyrinth King, Udaeus.
But unlike the Udaeus she had seen before, this one was not only much larger, but also had a complete lower body for movement, and that giant sword in its hand was unheard of.
The terrifying aura it exuded with every movement completely surpassed the realm of Level 6, enough to rival a Level 7 adventurer.
Even more startlingly, facing the mutated Udaeus, the spirit born from the monster showed not the slightest hint of cowardice and even took the initiative to chant an incantation.
"O Darkness, arise. Consume the light and bring the peace of night. I am the proxy, the Dark Spirit, the incarnation of darkness, the Queen of Darkness."
A massive Magic Array bloomed on the ground.
Ominous red-hot patterns and a crimson mana glow enveloped the spirit clone's entire body.
Relying on high-speed chanting techniques, the unimaginably fast incantation reached its end in an instant.
"Darkness Roar!"
Mana erupted, and darkness surged out like a torrent.
At the same time, Udaeus, who had been watching Cain, withdrew his gaze and raised his black giant sword to slash at the torrent of darkness.
The two attacks collided, producing a deafening roar that made the earth tremble.
A terrifying shockwave slammed in all directions, and even the Level 6 Revis was affected, being sent flying into the air.
The wind howled.
On the other side of the battlefield, Riveria's brow was tightly furrowed, and the emotions in her heart were indescribable.
A battle from an epic tale.
That was the only description she could think of after seeing the battle before her.
"E-everyone, should we be running now?"
Even Riveria was shocked by this sight, let alone Lefiya, who was only Level 3; her voice was starting to tremble.
"Run? Why run?"
Just then, Cain stepped forward.
Looking at the two massive monsters ahead, the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.
"These are monsters rarely seen even in the Deep Floors."
"As long as you kill them, Lefiya, you'll definitely accumulate enough deeds to break through to Level 4. With some luck, you might even level up multiple times."
"What am I supposed to kill them with?!"
Lefiya let out a wail.
She had a clear understanding of her own strength.
As a backline mage specializing in offense, her firepower could at most threaten a Level 6 adventurer with no defenses.
Neither of the two monsters in front of her was something she could contend with.
"It's not like I'm asking you to go in alone, what's there to be afraid of?"
Cain looked at the blonde girl on the other side, who was still in a daze.
"Stop daydreaming. The experience you need to break through Level 6 has arrived. Go take out these two monsters."
"...I might not be able to win."
Ais snapped out of it, her voice somewhat hesitant.
Although she was Level 5 and stronger than Lefiya...
It didn't make much of a difference in front of these two monsters.
Tiona chimed in, "Cain, stop joking. While these two monsters are busy with each other, let's hurry and retreat."
"Don't be afraid. I'm here to help you level up. It's not my style to return empty-handed."
Cain snapped his fingers. "Haruhime, it's time for your performance. Give them a buff."
"This one is ready."
Haruhime stepped out from the crowd.
Under everyone's gaze, the fox girl raised the folding fan in her hand.
"Kokonoe- Snow of Love."
"Crimson of Love, White Light of Love."
"May I be permitted to stay by your side, the wish of love found at the end of two thousand nights."
A crisp incantation rang out, and mana transformed into points of light gathering at her tail, forming five glowing fox tails.
Along with her original tail, the six tails swayed slightly, capturing the attention of Lefiya and the others.
"[My name is the Fox Demon, the destruction of the past. My name is the Ancient Song, the longing of the past. Merely a noble who flaps wings like a bird, let the Nine Demons dwell within me.]"
Unlike the usual Uchide no Kozuchi, Haruhime was now chanting her second Magic, Kokonoe, which she had awakened through the Grimoire. It was an auxiliary Magic capable of applying effects to multiple allies simultaneously.
"[Resonate, Golden Song, Poem of Tamamo's Summoning.]"
"[White-faced Golden Hair, King of Nine Tails. Devour all, fulfill all, Tail of the Auspicious Beast]"
Finally, the chant reached its end, and the mana on Haruhime's body surged to a peak.
However, in the next instant, a new chant followed immediately without any pause.
"[Grow big.]"
"Linked chanting Magic?"
A flash of surprise appeared in Riveria's eyes.
With her understanding of Magic, she could tell that Haruhime was using two different spells back-to-back.
Chanting two spells linked together was clearly not a scene that would occur under normal circumstances.
"So this is the real reason he brought her."
Recalling their experience from not long ago, Haruhime had not shown any combat performance on the way to the Pantry.
The only things she had displayed were a movement speed not much worse than Lefiya's and a certain degree of self-defense capability.
Performance like that alone was clearly not worth Cain specifically bringing her to the 37th floor.
If she had any trump cards, they were surely these two spells she was currently chanting.
"Uchide no Kozuchi!"
While thoughts flickered, Haruhime's Uchide no Kozuchi was also ready, and the five fox tails made of mana behind her back broke off simultaneously.
With the help of the linked Magic Kokonoe, the five fox tails turned into white particles and fell upon Riveria and the others at the same time.
"Power... is surging!" Tiona could feel a massive amount of power appearing in her body.
"What a terrifying Magic." Riveria finally understood why Cain had brought Haruhime along.
This power could no longer be explained by simple strengthening; it was a complete level-up.
"It's not over yet." Haruhime stepped in front of Tiona and swept her folding fan across her palm.
As blood dripped onto the weapon, a cluster of eerie blue flames flared up, radiating intense heat.
"Eh! What is this now?!"
"My newly awakened ability."
A smile appeared on Haruhime's face.
Under Cain's training, she had not only met the requirements to break through to LV2 these past few days,
but she had also received an injection of Cain's blood evolution and awakened a new skill.
[Fox Fire: Can use blood as a medium to ignite flames and release high temperatures.]
It was a simple and violent combat skill.
But after brief development, Haruhime had researched a supportive use: using the blood to enchant weapons.
Quickly stepping in front of Ais, she dripped the blood from her palm onto the weapon.
Just like before, Fox Fire bloomed on the weapon once more, the high temperature causing the surrounding air to distort slightly.
It can work.
Feeling the power within her body and holding the sword of Fox Fire, Ais felt confident for the first time.
Now, she had a chance to defeat those two terrifying Monsters.
"Which one do you plan to fight?"
As if sensing her confidence, Cain's voice rang out from the side.
"That spirit clone."
Ais gave a decisive reply.
"No problem."
Cain took a step forward.
Haruhime's Kokonoe could apply Magic effects to a maximum of nine people.
With plenty of slots available, he naturally received the strengthening as well, taking his strength a step further.
The ground instantly shattered as Cain streaked through the air of the Pantry like a meteor.
Udaeus and the spirit clone, who were in the middle of fighting, seemed to sense danger approaching and stopped their clash simultaneously to look at Cain.
The ground shook as Udaeus activated its ability, causing massive bone spikes to erupt from the floor.
But in just an instant, these bone spikes snapped amidst a series of booms as Cain crashed head-on into Udaeus's torso.
Terrifying physical force erupted instantly; the bones at Udaeus's torso shattered, and its massive body retreated several steps.
Afterglow: Raikiri!
Sword aura that had been gathering for a long time crashed down.
Udaeus raised its massive black sword to block its front, yet it still couldn't stop it completely, being pushed all the way to the back wall by the sword aura.
On the other side, pushing Hamon and Ariel to their limits, Ais charged all the way in front of the spirit clone.
As a mage specialized in Magic, fighting in close quarters was not an easy task for the spirit clone; she had already sustained some injuries from her previous fight with Udaeus.
Now facing Ais head-on, she controlled her lower body to create a large number of vines to block the attacks while chanting short-verse Magic to counterattack.
The Magic released through high-speed chanting was incredibly fast, and in just a few breaths, Ais fell into a disadvantage.
Fortunately, Tiona and Riveria joined the battlefield in time to assist, and with Lefiya hiding in the rear to launch sneak attacks, they managed to barely maintain the situation.
"Gros, which side do we help?"
Watching the heated battle ahead, the Xenos in the rear looked toward Gros and asked.
Gros glanced at the battlefield: "Don't worry about Cain, go help that group of Loki Familia adventurers."
In terms of relationship, he was naturally closer to Cain, but the other party simply didn't need help.
Facing the mutated Udaeus, Cain, who had also been strengthened, was constantly suppressing his opponent, his slashes even cutting through the bones.
Meanwhile, Ais and the others, despite also being strengthened, were not only failing to gain an advantage in a four-on-one situation but were instead being pushed into dangerous situations by the already injured spirit clone.
It was obvious which side needed help.
Under Gros's command, the Xenos swarmed forward and joined the battle.
After their development over the past few days, these Xenos who followed Gros to the deep floors already had LV4 strength, and the already powerful Arachne Ranye was even comparable to LV5.
Although they couldn't compare to the spirit clone, playing a supporting role like Lefiya was not a problem.
Just like now, Ais was accidentally sent flying by a vine whip, followed immediately by several ice spikes radiating a powerful aura.
Seeing that she was about to be hit, Ranye spat out a mass of spider silk that wrapped around Ais's waist, and with a flick of her head, she yanked her over.
"...Thank you."
Ais's expression was somewhat complex.
Although she was protected by Riveria's defensive Magic and wouldn't die on the spot if hit, injury would have been unavoidable.
She hadn't expected that at the critical moment, the one who protected her would be a Monster.
"If you want to thank me, leave her Magic stone to me after you kill that Monster." Ranye ran toward the other side.
The spirit clone focused her attention on Ais.
Seeing Ais being saved, she immediately released her next Magic, aiming a bombardment at the spot where Ais was.
Watching the incoming Magic, Ais composed her feelings and rejoined the battle, serving as the front line along with Tiona.
At the rear of the battlefield, Riveria, temporarily strengthened to LV7, waved her staff, continuously releasing Magic bombardments.
As time passed, the spirit clone's injuries grew heavier, and the scales of victory began to tilt toward Ais and the others.
However, neither the Xenos nor Riveria noticed that at the same time they were fighting so intensely, a figure slowly stood up from a corner.
"I didn't expect her to be suppressed."
Revis picked up her weapon from the pile of rubble.
With LV6 physical stats and a Monster's self-healing ability, she naturally wouldn't be defeated by a mere shockwave.
Previously, because of Udaeus's intrusion, she had lost her trump card, the spirit clone, and could only wait for an opportunity.
Now that Cain was dealing with Udaeus and Ais and the others were dealing with the spirit clone, the initiative had come directly into her hands.
Retreat? Or join the battlefield?
Two options were laid out before Revis.
Without the threats of Cain and Riveria, Gros blocking the entrance to the Pantry was not worth worrying about.
If her luck was good, she could even save Olivas and take him with her as she retreated.
But the question was, would the Corrupted Spirit agree?
[Kill them! I want Aria!]
"Tch, stop shouting, I can hear you."
Revis muttered with some irritation.
Since a short while ago, the main body of the Corrupted Spirit located deep within the Dungeon had been repeating Aria's name.
And after Ais used Ariel, this repetition became more and more frequent, making her head start to ache from the noise.
"Fine, it's a good opportunity anyway."
Giving up on the idea of retreating, Revis's figure blurred as she charged toward Riveria in the rear.
In a team fight, take out the backline first.
Having watched the previous battles, Revis was very clear that Riveria was the biggest threat.
As long as she was cleared out, even the already injured spirit clone could still reverse the situation.
"Enemy!"
"Watch out! Lady Riveria!"
Gros, who was guarding Olivas, and Lefiya, who was also at the edge of the battlefield, noticed something was wrong immediately.
Hearing their warning, Riveria, who was chanting an incantation, frowned and ran toward the other side.
An incantation wasn't something that could be stopped just by wanting to.
Abruptly interrupting it would only cause the mana in the body to go haywire, which would in turn injure the user.
However, as Orario's strongest mage, Riveria naturally possessed the technique of parallel chanting.
While kiting Revis, she quickly chanted an incantation and summoned a blizzard to crash toward Revis.
"Damn it, she runs fast enough." Revis didn't dare take it head-on, her figure blurring as she dodged to the side.
Boom!
Just then, a massive boom echoed from afar, and the ground began to shake along with it.
Glancing toward the direction of the sound out of the corner of her eye, Revis happened to see a sword aura split Udaeus in two.
"Are you kidding me! How is he so fast!"
A look of shock appeared on Revis's face.
Not long ago, this mutated Udaeus had suppressed the spirit clone in close combat and injured her.
Without any reinforcements, to annihilate the mutated Udaeus alone in such a short time, could he be LV8?
Looking at the figure standing on the remains of Udaeus, Revis's eyes met his.
"You seem to be without an opponent."
A smile appeared on Cain's face: "It just so happens I don't have an opponent anymore either. Let's trade some blows."
Revis: "..."
Is it still in time to run away now?
...
Re@d adv@nce ch@pters on p@t
guilt_free_daoist
Jo!n d!sc0rd I!nk in synops!s.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.