"Lower-level adventurers, fall back toward the entrance."
"Ais, provide cover."
After clearing the monsters before them, Finn immediately issued the next command.
Quick-thinking as always, Finn had already realized why they were facing such a massive wave of monsters. They had simply gone too deep.
The jungle belonged to the monsters. Once adventurers trespassed far enough, the monsters would retaliate.
What surprised Finn, however, was that they hadn't appeared right away. Instead, they waited until the party had advanced deep inside before choosing to encircle them.
'Just as Ais said, the monsters here act more like humans. They know how to hunt efficiently and how to put themselves at an advantage.'
The 64th floor had taught Finn a harsh lesson. The monsters here had shown him—through very real action—that Deep Floor monsters were not to be underestimated.
Liliruca gave a small nod. She also felt the number of monsters was overwhelming. They were barely holding on, unable even to maintain a proper defensive formation. Clearly, they had misjudged the strength of this place.
On top of that, Liliruca noticed the difference between the monsters her group faced and those Finn's group was handling. She also understood the real reason they were gradually losing ground.
Her gaze swept through the surrounding woods. From the depths of the darkness, it felt as though countless eyes were watching them.
A shiver ran down Liliruca's spine.
If things were truly as she feared, then the difficulty of training here had just increased by another level.
"Archers, use fire Rune Stones. Fire indiscriminately into the woods on both sides."
The archers hesitated for only a moment before quickly loading the prepared fire Rune Stone arrows.
"Fire!"
The archers loosed their arrows, which shot out at incredible speed.
"BOOM!!!"
Flames burst out, bathing the forest in a red glow—while also illuminating the darkness hidden within.
"!"
Everyone finally saw them: countless monsters lurking in the shadows.
Anyone in the expedition who saw this felt their scalp crawl.
Liliruca felt her heart twist uneasily.
'I didn't expect it to really be like this.'
'This forest has always been hiding this many monsters… they were waiting for us to go deeper.'
Now she fully understood why the pressure on their side had increased bit by bit.
'These things have been evaluating our strength all along, just to hunt us more effectively.'
As that answer formed in her mind, a cold chill crept down Liliruca's back.
If… if they had waited until we went even deeper before attacking… Liliruca's face went pale. She knew that if things had gone that way, their deaths would have been miserable.
"Emily, there are tons of monsters hiding throughout the woods! Don't worry about wasting supplies—fire flaming arrows along both sides of the path and try to keep them from getting close!"
"Understood!"
Squad Two immediately moved into action.
Explosions thundered throughout the forest. After nearly fifteen minutes of nonstop noise, Loki Familia's expedition finally managed to escape the edge of the woods.
The monsters that had been chasing them stopped at the forest boundary, turning back and melting once more into the darkness.
The forest returned to silence.
But having experienced that terror firsthand, everyone in the expedition understood that the true threat was hidden within the forest's darkness.
"Phew…"
Seeing that the monsters did not pursue further, the entire group let out a collective breath.
Even Finn felt cold sweat down his back.
"What a blunder. We never sensed any presence before… I didn't think so many monsters were hiding in that forest."
Ais, standing nearby, looked at him strangely.
"I told you there were many monsters in the forest."
She had wondered earlier why Finn insisted on leading the group inside despite her warning. Now, seeing his reaction, she finally understood—he hadn't taken her words seriously.
Ais's remark hit Finn squarely.
Fine—this really was his fault. He remembered Ais saying it, but he hadn't paid much attention. After all, a forest having many monsters wasn't unusual.
But he never imagined that Ais's "many" meant this many.
Gareth and Riveria both covered their faces. They, too, remembered Ais saying those words. At the time, they hadn't thought much of it either. They hadn't realized that "no problem" was actually the biggest problem.
Just as Finn was about to admit his mistake, a sudden voice cut him off.
"Ais, next time you say 'a lot,' remember to mention an actual number. Without a sense of scale, it's hard to make a proper judgment for what's ahead."
The unexpected voice drew everyone's attention.
"Teacher!"
Ais's eyes lit up instantly, and she appeared before Bell faster than anyone else could track.
"Ah, long time no see, Ais."
Seeing those sparkling eyes, Bell instinctively wanted to step back. But remembering how Ais had taken the blame for him earlier, he couldn't bring himself to refuse her request.
Yes—this was Ais's request. Her exclusive head-pat request.
Whenever Ais felt she had grown and wanted to be doted on, she would stand before Bell. And once Bell judged that she had indeed grown, he would reward her with a head pat.
…Though Bell felt her preferred reward was becoming increasingly childlike, he didn't object to this form of encouragement.
"Thanks for helping draw the gods' attention away from me these past two months."
As he spoke, Bell gently patted Ais's head.
Several people in the crowd twitched violently at the sight—Bete, Sanjouno Yashunhime, and Lefiya among them.
After patting Ais's head, Bell turned to Finn and Vice-Captain Riveria with a light smile.
"Looks like you ran into a big oversight this time."
"…Yeah. I assumed 'a lot' meant something manageable, but who knew the forest situation was this complicated?"
Finn had regained his composure. Though Bell teased him, Finn could only smile bitterly. He knew the blame lay with him, so he wasn't about to avoid responsibility.
"That's just how Ais talks. When you ask her things in the future, pay attention to the points she emphasizes. The situation on the lower floors differs a bit from your past experience in the deep floors."
"Think of this as a pretty good practical lesson."
Hearing Bell say that, what else could Finn say?
"I suppose so."