"Ais! If you keep this up, I won't cook dinner for you!"
"No!"
The haze in Ais' eyes vanished instantly as she snapped back to her senses, hurriedly retreating.
This move was truly effective. After all, as the saying goes, nothing is more important than a full stomach.
It was just a not-so-important dragon anyway, not the black dragon she hated the most. There was no need to gamble her future meals over it.
The members of the Astraea Familia nearby couldn't help their eyelids twitching at the sight, but after thinking it over, they could understand. If it were them, they would probably make the same choice.
All they could say was—Elise's cooking was irresistible!
"Ah!"
"We finally took down the floor boss!"
"We're amazing!"
Many of them had exhausted themselves during the battle with the floor boss and collapsed directly onto the ground.
Even though large portions of their bodies were exposed, no one cared anymore. The girls just wanted to rest properly.
After all, there was no one else around.
"Congratulations on successfully defeating Amphisbaena!"
"As a reward, I brought a feast!"
Casually storing Amphisbaena's body into her storage space, Elise walked over to the resting group with Est.
Ever since discovering her talent for cooking, Elise had begun carrying over a dozen full-course banquets in her bag, ensuring she could enjoy delicious meals anytime, anywhere.
Moreover, her spatial storage had an incredibly useful property—whatever went in would come out exactly the same.
Even piping hot dishes remained fresh and steaming when taken out. The storage from the Lord God Space was truly remarkable. Even though it was already broken, it still retained this time-related power.
"Oooh!"
"A feast made by the captain? I'm really looking forward to it!"
Seeing everyone so excited, Elise simply smiled. Her feasts weren't so easy to obtain—there was definitely something she needed them to do.
Since Alise and the others had successfully defeated the floor boss, they now qualified to face that monster...
"Well then, no time to waste. Let's eat!"
With that, Elise casually opened a hole in the dungeon wall and led everyone inside to sit down together.
Such a seemingly careless action would be disastrous for other adventurers. After all, they wouldn't know what kind of monster might appear or when they might be attacked.
But with Elise here, such concerns were unnecessary.
Monsters appearing?
Heh!
She could simply use Prana to seal off the surrounding walls. Even if monsters were born within them, they would be trapped inside and unable to emerge.
And even if they did get out, so what? They would only end up being killed anyway.
"Just relax and eat. You don't need to worry about keeping watch at all."
With Elise's assurance, everyone finally felt at ease and focused on enjoying the food she had prepared.
"While you're eating, I'll explain what we're doing next. Consider it a training session... you'll need to deal with a very powerful monster."
A very powerful monster?
From the way Elise said it, could it be even stronger than a floor boss?
"It might not be stronger than a floor boss, but it might not be weaker either. If I had to say, it's probably about the same level."
"Its name is Juggernaut."
Juggernaut?
At the mention of this name, every member of the Astraea Familia looked confused. Even Celty, who loved reading the most, had never come across any information about this monster.
"In a sense, the Juggernaut is extremely effective against you. It has incredibly fast attack and movement speed. If you can't restrict its movements, it will be very difficult to hit."
"If that's the case, then we use wide-area annihilation magic..."
Facing such a fast opponent, Celty gave the standard answer any Orario mage would reach.
If you can't improve your accuracy, then increase your range. No matter how fast you are, I'll just cover everything with firepower!
"Unfortunately, if you used that kind of magic, you'd already be dead, Celty."
Huh?
Everyone was shocked, completely unable to understand what Elise meant.
Elise sighed. She had to explain the Juggernaut's abilities, or they would still end up getting wiped out if they encountered it in the future.
"That monster can reflect magic. The more powerful the spell you use against it, the more damage you'll end up dealing to yourself."
"If your magic is strong enough, you might even kill yourself."
Reflect... magic?
Thinking about it that way, wasn't this monster the natural enemy of mages?
Fast movement, fast attacks, and the ability to reflect magic...
The more they thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
If you didn't know its abilities beforehand, anyone facing it for the first time would be extremely likely to die!
But why?
"I have a question," Ryana said seriously, voicing everyone's confusion as she looked at Elise. "If such a monster exists in the dungeon, why isn't information about it made public?"
If everyone knew how to deal with it, they wouldn't panic upon encountering it.
"Unfortunately, even the Guild might not know about it. Perhaps only the founding god Uranus knows a little."
"And this monster rarely appears in the dungeon. It only shows up under very special circumstances."
Since Elise put it that way...
"Have you seen this Juggernaut before?"
"Yes. When Evilus attacked me back then, it unintentionally caused this monster to be born."
After that, Elise gave a very detailed explanation of the monster known as the Juggernaut.
For example, it only appears when the dungeon is heavily damaged.
It has no magic stone in its body, meaning it cannot be defeated by destroying one.
The deeper the floor it spawns on, the stronger it becomes, and so on.
Although they had already expected this monster to be beyond their imagination, hearing the full details still left them deeply shocked.
"Hey... how are we supposed to fight something like that?"
"Mages are completely useless. We can only rely on close combat and skills... but its speed is insanely fast!"
"Even if we went to subjugate it, we'd likely lose one or two people, right? So why do we have to fight it?"
"Because we are a Familia of justice!" Elise answered decisively. "When people are in trouble, we cannot stand by and do nothing."
"If Evilus appears again and brings this monster out once more, who knows how many casualties there will be."
"So we have to prepare in advance. This time, I just want you to face the Juggernaut once. I will protect you."
"That way, if you encounter it again in the future, you'll at least have the strength to fight back."
"..."
The atmosphere instantly changed.
"Alright, since you put it that way, I guess we don't have a choice. After all, we are the Familia of Lady Astraea! Walking the path of justice is only natural!"
Alise placed her hands on her hips with a grin—but the others immediately exposed her.
"You're only saying that because the captain said she'd protect us, right?"
"Don't say it out loud! You're ruining my image!"
"What image do you even have?"
Within the Familia, Alise's dignity had long since been trampled countless times.
"Then it's settled. We accept this training battle!"
...
Deep within the Guild, at the altar.
Uranus sat upon his throne as usual.
It had originally been just another ordinary day, and the old god had nothing in particular to do.
Until...
Hummm—
As if sensing an abnormality within the dungeon, Uranus' tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open.
"The same as before... the dungeon is rejecting my divine will. Could it be that thing has appeared again?"
"Last time it was Evilus... who will it be this time?"
Uranus knew very well that Orario had grown to an astonishing level. Compared to the era of Zeus and Hera, it was not inferior in the slightest. Even if Evilus reappeared, it would not be able to stir up much trouble.
As long as Elise took action, those people would be wiped out within a single day.
That was precisely why Uranus chose to cooperate with Elise. It saved a great deal of trouble, and Orario could remain stable.
"By the way, where is she now, Fels?"
The "she" naturally referred to Elise.
A voice came from behind the altar as Fels stepped out from the shadows.
"Some time ago, the Astraea Familia went on an expedition into the dungeon. Right now..."
Fels paused, sounding somewhat uncertain.
"They should be at the location of this disturbance. It's probably related to them."
"I see... so it's related to her."
Whether Elise caused it or not, as long as she was nearby, this disturbance would not amount to anything.
"By the way, how is that matter progressing?"
"Arrangements have already been made. Among them, the Astraea Familia and the Ganesha Familia are the most suitable. What is your decision?"
"...Then let the Ganesha Familia handle it."
After thinking for a moment, Uranus decided not to choose the Astraea Familia.
"Although Elise is indeed strong, we can't assign everything to her. People get tired."
"And the Ganesha Familia has been developing well recently. He will definitely support it."
Ganesha...
In Fels' mind, the image of a certain elephant-headed god gradually appeared.
As protectors of the city, the Ganesha Familia was indeed highly capable. And Ganesha, as the god of the masses, truly lived up to that title.
Just... a bit too noisy.
"Go inform them, Fels," Uranus said as he closed his eyes once more. "Ganesha will understand."
"This operation cannot be known by too many people or gods."
"Understood."
With that, Fels disappeared back into the shadows.
Just as Uranus said, she immediately set out to find them—hopefully without running into any troublesome gods.
...
Dungeon, Floor 29.
Compared to the Water City, the monsters here were significantly stronger.
But strangely, even as the entire Astraea Familia passed through, not a single monster appeared.
And not only that—every time Elise and the others passed a wall, parts of it would shatter, and blood would seep out from within.
"..."
Those following behind Elise remained silent. They all knew this was her doing. The monsters didn't even have the right to break out of the walls.
"So... just how strong are you now? Can you give us a clear answer?"
Even though they were members of the same Familia, they had only ever seen Elise beating others. They had never seen her fight seriously, so they had no real understanding of her strength.
If they could get a clear answer, their usual approach to things could change drastically.
"Hmm..." Elise hesitated for a moment before looking at everyone behind her. "I suppose it's fine to tell you now."
"But let me say this first—if anyone uses this as an excuse to cause trouble outside, I won't let you off, alright?"
"Of course! Just tell us already!"
"Although my Level is only Level 5, my combat strength... is probably around Level 10? I'm not entirely sure. There's no precedent in this world, so I don't know how strong Level 10 actually is... why are you all looking at me like that?"
The reactions of the members surprised her. There was no shock, no disbelief—just a sense of inevitability, and something... indescribable.
Their expressions were a mixture of too many emotions, even Elise couldn't fully read them.
"It's nothing... it just feels like..."
"As expected of our captain. You've effortlessly done something we could never achieve."
There was no emotion in her tone. It was clear she had long since grown numb to it.
"Anyway, there's no need to worry. I'm your captain, after all!"
"Without further delay, we'll use this place as the location."
Since they hadn't reached the 30th floor yet, the space here was only moderately large—not like those massive floors with vast open areas. This would help restrict the Juggernaut's movement.
"I've already checked the surroundings. There are almost no adventurers nearby, so this time, it's up to you."
"Remember, your goal isn't victory—it's to familiarize yourselves with this monster. If I'm ever too late to save you in the future, you'll have to rely on yourselves."
After seeing everyone nod, Elise no longer hesitated and directly activated her ability.
An extremely intense wave spread outward from her, triggering violent explosions throughout the entire floor.
Countless monsters were wiped out in the flames, their magic stones shattering along with them.
In an instant, smoke filled the entire floor.
Not just dust—but also the thick scent of blood released as the monsters died.
For a moment, the entire floor resembled a living hell.
And under these conditions, a long, drawn-out sound emerged.
The sound was piercing, almost like crying—it was as if the dungeon itself was wailing!
Hearing this, the members of the Astraea Familia tightened their grips on their weapons. They knew the enemy they were about to face was anything but ordinary.
Carefully sensing the changes within the dungeon, Elise waited until something began to take form before finally speaking.
"It's here!"