Soon, the Ligerfang crashed onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Done!" Charles clapped his hands.
Lili took the drop items, a fang and the magic stone, and put them into the side pocket of her backpack.
Then, the party continued to advance forward, passing through the last section of the passage.
17th Floor.
The ceiling became higher, the dark blue moss on the rock walls became increasingly sparse, and the cold, damp atmosphere permeating the air became increasingly intense.
Looking around, the view was excellent. The openness of the entire floor far exceeded the average of all previous floors. The words "wide passage" simply couldn't describe it.
"Next is the area where the Monster Rex, Goliath, is located." Lili reminded them.
"According to the intelligence released by the Guild, its specific strength should be at Level 4."
Charles's expression became somewhat strange.
Just the Crab Pig from earlier was very difficult. Now, facing an even stronger Level 4 monster, could they win?
He craved a hearty battle, but that didn't mean he was stupid. He knew very well that wanting to go head-to-head with a Lv. 4 Monster Rex was basically a suicide situation. Most importantly, Charles didn't want his friends to take such risks.
"Is there any way to go around? I feel that with our current party strength, it's very hard to defeat Goliath."
"Yes. Just bypass that area." Lili nodded.
Recalling the specific details, she explained, "After the Goliath is defeated, it will only reappear after half a month."
"And it only appears from the walls of the Wall of Sighs. As long as we bypass the main passage and head to the 18th Floor, there won't be any problems."
"Perhaps the Goliath has already been defeated by another party."
"That's good."
Hearing this explanation, Kate let out a sigh of relief.
She looked at Lili, her expression relieved. "Lili, inviting you to join the party was the most correct choice."
After spending this time exploring together, Kate had long since seen through Zephyr's true nature—just like Charles, he was an absolute battle junkie. Just thinking about it made her head ache.
If it weren't for Lilly's intelligence support, given Zephyr and Charles's personalities, they would definitely have stubbornly gone head-to-head with the Monster Rex.
Kate could understand that for Zephyr, the purpose of killing powerful monsters and devouring them was to increase his stats—that mindset was understandable.
If she had Zephyr's skill and could make monster meat taste good, she would likely want to work just as hard.
Hearing Kate's praise, a hint of shyness appeared on Lili's face.
This was her first time reaching such a deep floor. All the information she possessed had been pieced together during her free time.
Worried that her intelligence might not be accurate, she had spent the entire journey repeatedly double-checking the details in her mind. Only by doing so could she provide the maximum level of assistance to the party.
"Then let's head to the safe floor." Zephyr said.
Honestly, when he learned that the Goliath's actual strength was Level 4, he had already abandoned the idea of facing it in his heart.
The Crab Pig alone had required him to play all his cards, let alone a monster with even greater strength. A slight misstep could lead to the entire party being wiped out. The risk was too high.
After confirming their destination, the party continued forward along the side passage indicated by Lili, passing the corridor that connected to the Monster Rex's room along the way.
Zephyr couldn't help but pause his steps, his gaze drifting toward the inside.
The most conspicuous thing was the pure white wall. It was extremely smooth and vast, seemingly without bounds. The surface of the wall emitted a faint glow, illuminating the dim surroundings.
Wall of Sighs.
Lefiya stood by his side, her gaze also fixed on the wall. "The Goliath should have appeared from here, right?"
"Probably." Zephyr said, carefully examining the wall in front of him.
The system didn't provide any alerts, which meant that there were no threatening entities ahead.
A Level 4 monster would definitely contain a wealth of Gourmet Cells, and if he could successfully kill it, the boost to his stats would surely be quite good.
But every stage has its own challenges to face. Being too eager for success would only lead to a complete face-plant.
"Let's go."
The party continued their exploration on the 17th Floor. They pushed deeper along the passage, dealing with the lone Minotaurs and Ligerfangs encountered along the way.
The passage ahead began to narrow. In front of them was a staircase leading down to the 18th Floor.
"As long as we keep walking along this passage, we'll be at the 18th Floor, right?" Charles stopped at the stair passage, his eyes filled with excitement.
Having been in Orario for 10 days, they had basically been diving into the Dungeon every single day. The process hadn't been smooth, and they had stumbled their way to this point. Finally, they were about to reach the end of their journey.
Of course, this also meant that Charles and the others's time in Orario was nearing its end, and they would soon have to bid farewell and return to the School District.
Thinking of this, Charles couldn't help but feel a bit sad. However, when he recalled Zephyr's previous words: "No party lasts forever, all farewells are just for better encounters in the future," it made a lot of sense.
He even thought that Zephyr was much more cultured than his dad. At the very least, his dad couldn't say such philosophical things.
"That should be correct." Lili answered.
"Finally."
Upon receiving a confirmed answer, Charles's expression was filled with excitement.
Recalling the rumors he'd heard about the 18th Floor back in the School District, he rubbed his hands together.
He looked at Zephyr beside him, asking, "Have you guys been here before?"
Upon hearing this, both Zephyr and Lili shook their heads.
The former had only just transmigrated not long ago and hadn't even explored all the streets and alleys of Orario.
As for the latter, she knew exactly how poor the overall strength of the Soma Familia was, and combined with the chaotic environment of the Familia, they could never explore down to the 18th Floor.
As for Kate and the others, there was no need to even mention them.
Charles didn't mind at all and started introducing it on his own, "I've heard that its huge, about half the size of Orario. Most importantly, it's a world with its own ecosystem inside."
"How about we stay in Rivira tonight? Or we could choose to camp outside. Anyway, leaving Orario is a matter of these next two days, so we can just take the opportunity to relax properly."
"The lighting in the 18th floor is provided by crystals. Do you think we could mine some crystals and take them back to Orario as souvenirs?"
Putting the latter part aside, Zephyr had no objections to camping. After all, he was actually quite curious about the 18h Floor. Besides, this could also count as fulfilling Charles's wish before leaving Orario.
"No problem. Let's do as you say."
...
The party continued to advance deep along the stairs, the fluorescent fruits on both sides of the walls illuminating the extremely dim passage.
Finally, after traversing this long staircase, the light ahead gradually brightened.
Just as Charles had said earlier, this ecological world existing within the Dungeon was about to appear before everyone.
However, as they gradually approached the end of the passage, what permeated the air was not the fresh scent of forest soil as expected, nor the damp moisture peculiar to the Dungeon.
What flooded into everyone's nostrils was an enticing aroma exclusive to food, so strong it made the stomachs of the party members start to churn.
Is this really the 18th Floor?
Zephyr had never been here before. However, just by the smell, he could tell that something was very wrong.
Although it was mixed up messily, it was perfectly intertwined. It didn't have the slightest appearance of what a Dungeon should be.
He walked past the last step at the end of the passage, and the scene in front of him opened up.
Looking out, the space was extremely vast, the dome so high that its end couldn't be seen, with crystal rock plates embedded deep in the rock walls, emitting a soft light.
Regarding the surrounding environment, no matter how Zephyr looked at it, he felt something was not quite right.