Crossing through space, Bell arrived inside the shelter he had built on the 64th floor.
This one, too, was constructed high along the wall. From the window, he could look down across the entire floor.
"Found it."
Bell stepped to the window, his gaze quickly locking onto a particular spot within the forest below.
The forest was in an uproar. Even from the sky, countless Iguazu could be seen flying above the treetops. These Iguazu were incredibly fast flying monsters native to the region of the Great Fall. Their signature attack was to use their tremendous speed to ram into adventurers, dealing frightening damage.
"If it's inside the jungle, those killer bees should be there. There might also be Werewolves, Hellhounds... and if they run into a bunch of War Shadow, the battle will get even more chaotic."
Once monsters of various types gathered together, facing them became a huge challenge for adventurers.
Most adventurers investigated which monsters inhabited each floor, then adjusted their tactics based on that information. When they knew what they would be facing, the difficulty naturally dropped.
But when monsters from different floors converged in one place, their differing traits could easily cause real trouble for adventurers.
For example: getting caught off guard.
Without knowing in advance what type of monsters were present, they had no way to prepare. As Bell was thinking this, he noticed the Iguazu in the sky starting to cluster together and dive toward the ground.
"...Mm, just like that."
No sooner had the thought surfaced than the Iguazu gave him a perfect, immediate demonstration. Bell couldn't help but mentally give them a thumbs-up for their impeccable timing.
Of course, he didn't think such sudden incidents would actually injure high-level adventurers. At most, it would throw them into brief disarray. Thinking they would be harmed was underestimating high-level adventurers far too much.
High-level adventurers had top-class combat experience and adaptability. The ones he was really worried about were the low-level adventurers.
With little combat experience, and with high-level monsters mixed into the horde, the low-level adventurers would have a very hard time coping.
Even a moment of inattention could turn monsters that were easy to handle on earlier floors into
the most dangerous threats.
And on the other side, everything unfolded exactly as Bell had expected.
Loki Familia's high-level adventurers dealt with the intruding monsters calmly, but the low-level adventurers were struggling badly.
"Ah! The Iguazu are coming!"
Known for their speed, the Iguazu excelled at suicide charges.
Once they accelerated, they aimed straight at the adventurers and slammed into them. At that speed, each Iguazu carried enough force to pierce a massive stone.
For adventurers with low mobility, these swift attackers were absolute nightmares.
"Boom!" *N
The shield-bearing dwarf in the front row was instantly hit by countless impacts. Before he could react, the Iguazu lifted both him and his shield clean off the ground.
The breach in the vanguard naturally affected the formation behind them.
"Roooaaaar!"
A burst of flame shot through the opening straight into the adventurers' ranks.
"Ahhh! I'm on fire!"
The searing heat ravaged the unprepared adventurers. Overwhelmed by the burning pain, they could only scream and roll on the ground, trying to smother the flames.
"Whoosh!"
An arrow struck a Hellhound just as it charged toward the formation.
The shot hit it square in the head. Before it could react, it let out a whimper and collapsed. But before the elves could fire again, new threats emerged elsewhere.
Killer bees rushed in from all directions, their wings buzzing violently.
Each killer bee was as tall as a person, and they charged in fearlessly. The already unstable formation was pushed to the brink of collapse.
"Haaaah!"
Just as the low-level adventurers' line was about to break, Tiona swept her massive double blades through the air, slicing down every incoming killer bee and temporarily relieving the pressure.
"Phew..."
Tiona had barely caught her breath when the ground began to tremble irregularly. The entire surface started shaking.
Looking up, Tiona saw a group of rhino-men ready to charge straight at her position.
"Damn!"
Cold sweat formed on her forehead.
Rhino-men weren't low-level monsters—they were high-level monsters from the forty-ninth floor. Their specialty was gathering in groups and charging.
Their sharp rhino horns were deadly weapons during a charge. Once they locked onto a target, either they died or the target did.
"Captain! Something's wrong!"
Tiona had sensed something off, and Finn naturally felt the pressure as well.
"Indeed, something is wrong."
Finn looked at the forty to fifty Minotaurs gathering ahead, immediately understanding the source of this abnormality.
"The monster density here is ridiculously high."
He didn't dare waste another second. Finn dashed straight into the Minotaur pack. If these things were allowed to charge, the entire expedition party would be trampled flat.
His silhouette shot into the Minotaurs as his spear swept in rapid arcs. Each swing killed several Minotaurs; each thrust pierced through multiple bodies.
In just a few dozen seconds, the forty to fifty Minotaurs were all dead on the ground.
Finn stopped, breathing slightly heavily.
But he couldn't afford even a moment of carelessness. Even though he knew these were low-level monsters, Finn understood that even he could be severely injured if he made a single mistake.
The others weren't any better off.
Swarms of flying wyverns closed in from every direction in the sky, while numerous hidden Valgang Dragons erupted from the ground.
The flames building within their bodies were already on the verge of release.
Gareth raised his axe and brought it down hard toward the Valgang Dragons.
"STOP IT!!!!"
The axe slammed into the earth, sending an invisible shockwave racing outward in a web of cracks toward the Valgang Dragons.
The violent impact knocked the Valgang Dragons off balance.
But all Gareth managed was to halt their attack momentarily.
Two figures immediately followed up.
One leapt high from the ground and delivered a fierce kick to a Valgang Dragon's jaw, sending its entire head flying.
The other also sprang upward. Two streaks of silver flashed, and a Valgang Dragon's head was cleanly severed.
Although the immediate crisis had been pushed back, Loki Familia was still in a dire situation.
This danger was already threatening the safety of the entire familia.