"What?"
"What is going on here?!"
"It's huge!"
Seeing such an enormous monster for the first time, Tiona cried out in surprise.
Then she stared in shock and said, "Wait, that thing is dead, right?"
Tione nodded and said, "Judging by the shape of the wound, it was probably a slash?"
"..."
She startled herself with her own conclusion.
"Hey, hey, how big would the sword have to be to do that?"
Even Bete, the ever-defiant werewolf, was staring at the scene before him in shock.
Unlike the Amazon sisters, he had already been in Orario for several years and was no rookie anymore.
Precisely because of that, he understood.
Goliath had clearly been killed in one hit.
From the moment they heard the roar to the moment they arrived here, only about a minute had passed.
During that time, there had been no other sounds at all, not even the slightest noise of battle.
And now, after seeing Goliath's miserable state with his own eyes, he could already guess why.
Honestly, this was ridiculous.
Even for a Level 6 adventurer, killing Goliath instantly would be extremely difficult unless they used a fully chanted high-tier attack spell, and even then, it would probably have to be an ultra-long chant.
But just as the Amazon over there had said...
This wound looked like a slash.
Could it have been some kind of cutting-type magic?
"Captain!"
"Finn."
There were seven members of Loki Familia in this group.
Finn led them, followed by Ais, Bete, Tione, Tiona, and the supporters in charge of carrying the bags, Raul and Anakity.
Aside from Finn, everyone here belonged to Loki Familia's new generation.
[Braver] Finn Deimne, Level 6.
[Sword Princess] Ais Wallenstein, Level 4.
[Vanargand] Bete Loga, Level 4.
[Background Character] Raul Nord, Level 2.
[Noble Cat] Anakity Autumn, Level 2.
With the two Amazon warriors who had yet to receive titles added in, this was an extremely luxurious team in terms of combat power.
They could even crush most mid-tier Familias in a War Game.
The two Amazon girls had only just arrived in Orario. Although they had fought monsters outside before, this was their first time entering the Dungeon.
They still had no clear understanding or concept of what the Dungeon, or a labyrinth, truly was.
Because their starting point was so high, Finn had decided to personally act as commander and bring everyone into the Dungeon for hands-on learning and testing, while also deepening their understanding of one another.
Although this team was luxurious, it also had more than a few problem children.
Ais naturally went without saying.
The Amazon twins were also quite troublesome, and then there was the extremely short-tempered Bete...
Aside from Raul and Anakity, everyone else was someone who needed watching over.
That was also why Finn had set aside his busy schedule and personally come here.
Riveria and Gareth probably would not have been suitable for this.
Bete looked somewhat tense as he asked Finn for instructions.
Although the floor boss had been defeated, in the Dungeon, anything incomprehensible was usually bad news.
Even Bete was silent now, staying alert to their surroundings.
Finn pinched his thumb and found nothing unusual, but he did not relax immediately.
Whenever danger appeared, his thumb would ache faintly.
Since there was no reaction now, perhaps that meant they were not currently in danger.
Of course, he would never entrust his judgment entirely to such an unstable ability, even if it had never failed him before.
Suddenly, Ais let out a soft "Eh?"
She walked forward a few steps, as if wanting to see or feel something more clearly.
Raul called out worriedly, "Ais-san!"
In his view, acting rashly was dangerous.
Even if Ais was very strong, whatever had caused this scene was probably an unbelievable monster in its own right.
There was nothing wrong with being cautious.
Finn hesitated for a moment, then led the others after her.
The group arrived before Goliath, and the giant body began to collapse.
Its magic stone had also been cut open.
For monsters in the Dungeon, that was an absolutely fatal wound.
It was only because its body was so massive that it had not disappeared immediately.
Watching the giant turn into ash and be absorbed by the Dungeon, Ais's golden eyes shone faintly.
"As I thought..."
"Hm?"
"Did you find something, Ais?"
"Mm."
Ais raised her hand and caught something in the air.
Only, apart from her, no one present could see the glowing threads of Reiraku.
"There are traces of Reiatsu left here."
The girl displayed the trace of Reiatsu she had caught in her hand to everyone, but in everyone else's eyes, there was clearly nothing there at all.
However, Finn understood immediately.
Because of his knowledge of Zanpakutō—or rather, because of his understanding of Ais—he knew that the nature of a Zanpakutō user's magic would undergo a unique change.
Though it was similar to Mind at its core, it possessed many characteristics that Mind did not.
This energy was different from Mind.
It was called "Reiatsu" or "Reiryoku."
The basic element that formed Mind was magic essence.
The thing that formed Reiatsu was Reishi.
Whether Reishi and magic essence were the same thing, Finn did not know.
Riveria was far more professional in that field.
In short, through observing Ais's training, he had come to understand one thing. This so-called Reiatsu was a unique characteristic possessed by Zanpakutō users.
It had been quite some time since Ais obtained Gonryōmaru.
Ais's control over Reiatsu had clearly become more deliberate, and that was a trait that could not be obtained no matter how one trained ordinary Mind.
According to Gonryōmaru, controlling Reiatsu could allow one to do all sorts of things.
For example, using a high-speed movement technique called Shunpo, or adding Reiatsu to a Zanpakutō and releasing a long-range, wide-area slash...
'Wait.'
Thinking up to that point, Finn suddenly froze.
He looked again at the terrifying scar carved into the Wall of Grief.
"Could it be...?"
There were traces of Reiatsu here.
That meant the person who fought here just now was a Zanpakutō user. At the very least, they had participated in the battle, which was why they left traces behind.
If that was the premise, then there were two possibilities behind what had caused all this.
The first was that this was the ability of that person's Zanpakutō.
Finn had used Bakusaiga during the Great Feud.
If he were the one using it, he should be able to accomplish something similar. Because of that, he felt it was very likely caused by a Zanpakutō's ability.
Other than that, the second possibility was...
The other party was simply that strong, killing Goliath instantly with sword pressure alone.
Among every adventurer with a Zanpakutō that Finn knew of, perhaps only Ottar could do something like that.
By now, Finn already regarded Zanpakutō as strategic-class weapons.
Because of that, he paid special attention to Zanpakutō users as well.
He had even ordered the intelligence department within the Familia to closely monitor information about every known Zanpakutō wielder.