"The number of Deadly Hornets here is a little off..."
Elise had been fighting alone in this area for over ten hours, yet the hornets remained densely packed, with no sign of their numbers decreasing.
"Even if the Dungeon constantly spawns monsters, it shouldn't be this fast."
"Unless... there's some special reason I haven't discovered yet..."
Prana began spreading outward from Elise as the center. Before long, she located the source from which the Deadly Hornets were continuously pouring out...
Though it looked like an ordinary wall, this section was clearly different from the others in the Dungeon.
Could this be... a rare species?
Rare species was a general term for monsters that appeared extremely infrequently within the Dungeon.
And the situation Elise was facing now was strikingly similar to a certain rare sea-type monster.
Rare Species—Bloody Hive!
"It's said that drops from rare species are incredibly valuable. Not only are they worth a lot, but they also have a chance of carrying additional effects..."
"My luck really isn't bad."
"If that rare species drops some useful material, it should add something to the future of the Astraea Familia, right?"
Just as Elise was about to make her move against the hive, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
Since this thing could spawn monsters endlessly, why not make use of it for a while longer?
Back when she encountered that underground ruin, she had felt a little regretful that she didn't have something to farm monsters continuously. And now, wasn't this the perfect opportunity?
"I remember... in MC, there was a type of mob tower built using monster spawners, right?"
"If I build it myself, I should be able to achieve the same effect."
The moment the idea formed, she acted.
Elise directly covered the area where the Bloody Hive was located with her Prana. With ease, she tore the entire hive straight out from the Dungeon wall.
"Wow... that's ugly..."
Viewed up close, the Bloody Hive looked like a giant pinecone. It stood about seven meters tall, and with its dark purple-black exterior, the more one looked at it, the more it resembled a grotesque, rotting fruit.
Even so, the hive continued to spawn killer bees without pause, sending them hurtling toward Elise at high speed.
"First, limit its range!"
Walls formed from Prana surrounded the hive completely, creating a massive cubic barrier. When the killer bees crashed into the Prana walls, they immediately clung to them, hacking away with their sharp claws in an attempt to break through the translucent prison.
But how could Elise's Prana be so easily breached?
For monsters that were generally only Level 2, even those at the peak of Level 2 strength could not possibly break through Elise's barrier. They were doomed to remain trapped inside.
"Next, open up a passage."
Once again, she constructed small Prana cubes, hollow in the middle.
She adjusted them to be just large enough for a single killer bee to pass through, assembling a translucent tunnel.
At the end of the tunnel floated Elise herself, sword in hand. All she needed to do was continuously unleash sword energy forward, and it would be enough to kill any killer bee that entered.
And just like that, the simple mob grinder was complete!
One killer bee after another crawled through the Prana tunnel Elise had constructed. But once they advanced a certain distance, powerful sword energy would slice them cleanly in half!
This was something Elise could maintain even in an unconscious state.
It was like setting a program on a computer—it would operate according to the instructions you configured.
What Elise had done was similar. It was equivalent to installing a protective mechanism upon her own body.
Because this technique consumed relatively little Prana, it could be sustained for a long time. Gradually, Elise herself closed her eyes.
She had fought without sleep or rest for quite a while now, and her mind was somewhat fatigued.
But Elise had no intention of wasting even a single moment of monster farming time in the Dungeon. That was precisely why she had created this mechanism. Even during the night while resting, she could continue maintaining her "farming" state!
She could also hide within the Prana barrier herself. Even a Floor Boss would not find it easy to break through.
"It's getting late. Est, let's rest for now."
Elise opened her arms. Est reverted to her human form and immediately leapt into Elise's embrace, her small head rubbing back and forth against the two soft mounds of flesh.
In the end, the white-haired little girl chose to lean against the location of the spirit crest.
"Sister... sleep together..."
Even though Est had returned to human form, Elise's slaughter of monsters showed no sign of slowing.
Thus, within the sea of trees, the roars of monsters echoed continuously—only to abruptly cease moments later.
Such sounds repeated at regular intervals.
Any adventurer who heard those strange noises would immediately flee in fright.
Only a very small number of braver adventurers dared to approach and investigate. But after seeing the strange floating object suspended in midair, they too chose to leave.
And so, within the twenty-fourth floor, a rumor began to circulate.
It was said that in the forest late at night, in the latter half of the twenty-fourth floor, a new type of rare species had appeared.
This monster resembled a cube (hive) with a long, massive tail (tunnel). Its threat level was still unknown, and the Guild was currently investigating.
They would probably assign some powerful adventurers to look into the matter, right?
The next day, Elise woke up early. However, since Est had not yet awakened, she chose to remain within the barrier for a little while longer.
If Elise had been alone, she might not have dared to sleep so casually in the Dungeon—especially while floating so conspicuously in midair!
But after forming a contract with Est, things were different.
She now possessed far greater endurance!
There was no need to worry about being ambushed by monsters.
And... did anyone really think Elise had only prepared this single layer of defense?
The outermost barrier surrounding both the monsters and herself would instantly awaken Elise the moment it was disturbed.
The middle layer consisted of rampant sword energy cutting down everything, along with protective Prana enveloping her body—a total of three layers of defense!
If one also counted the additional protection she had placed over vital areas such as her heart and brain, there were even more!
Even if ten Juggernauts were born here, Elise was confident she could kill them in her sleep!
From this alone, one could see just how confident—and how cautious—Elise was regarding her defenses.
But...
Crack—crack—
Even under such circumstances, the barrier Elise had absolute confidence in began to fracture.
Seeing that the barrier was on the verge of shattering, Elise's expression finally turned serious.
To be able to break her barrier within the Dungeon...
At the very least, it would require strength above Level 5!
So outside was...
A muscular giant wielding a massive hammer?