"Hah—"
A flash of cold light streaked past. Blood sprayed outward, and even a blood dragon from the thirties collapsed to the ground.
That was only natural. After all, even the floor boss Amphisbaena and the Destroyer Juggernaut had fallen to the Astraea Familia. These monsters, whose average Level was even lower than theirs, stood no chance.
"We're pretty much at the limit of Level 3 now. With the Great Feat of defeating a floor boss, we should be able to level up once we return, right?"
Sensing their own growth, the members of the Astraea Familia were filled with excitement.
Some people spent their entire lives without ever reaching Level 2. Yet this group of girls, averaging under eighteen years old, were already on the verge of reaching Level 4 at their current age.
The difference in talent was truly staggering.
"As long as your ability values are maxed out, leveling up won't be a problem. But..."
Seeing everyone's excited expressions, Elise smiled along with them.
However, her smile seemed slightly out of place compared to the others. It wasn't the kind of smile one would show from being happy about others leveling up...
It was pleasure.
"You... what are you planning to do?"
Seeing that all-too-familiar expression, who wouldn't know what Elise was about to do?
"Of course, I'm going to give you all some special training." Even with the eyepatch covering part of her face, that sense of delight was impossible to hide.
"After we return, if anyone's ability values are just a little short, I'll personally step in to help."
Who asked for your help?!
Although they screamed internally, if even a hint of that showed on their faces, they would definitely receive "special treatment."
"Um... thank you very much, captain..."
It was obvious how forced those words were, and Elise naturally noticed.
"No need to thank me. Helping my members grow stronger is the captain's responsibility! I'll make sure to carry it out seriously and responsibly!"
Who wants you to take responsibility for that?!
We'd rather you be an irresponsible scumbag than take responsibility for this kind of thing!
"Hm?"
At that moment, Elise's expression suddenly changed. She raised her head and looked upward, and her reaction immediately drew everyone's attention.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Elise's strength was undoubtedly immense, and her perception was no weaker.
Perhaps she had sensed something unusual above?
"Something very bad seems to be happening up there..."
Her voice carried a hint of heaviness. Those who knew her well could tell—Elise was not pleased.
What exactly had happened?
"Around the twenty-fourth floor... there seems to be a monster uprising... no, not just that. It's a Monster Feria! A large-scale Monster Feria!"
The members of the Astraea Familia were all shocked. A Monster Feria itself wasn't particularly terrifying—the frightening part was its scale.
The deeper the dungeon, the fewer adventurers there were. After all, adventurers formed a pyramid structure—the higher their Level, the fewer their numbers, and the deeper they could explore.
Thus, at a depth of over thirty floors, only the Astraea Familia could operate here.
As for the twenty-fourth floor...
Originally, very few adventurers could reach that depth. But after the emergence of Stigmata, a large number of Level 1 adventurers comparable to Level 2 appeared, and more people began exploring that area.
However, that wasn't necessarily a good thing. As the number of people increased, so did trouble—and naturally, danger.
Just like the current situation...
"Given the situation there, it's highly likely that Evilus is behind this!"
Evilus?
At those words, many veteran members who had joined earlier grew solemn. Only newcomers like Ryuu and Ais, who had joined after the end of the dark era, didn't fully understand what Evilus represented.
"If it's Evilus, then we have to hurry and provide support. The surface may have already dispatched reinforcements—we should head over and help as well!"
"Right. If Evilus is involved, we absolutely cannot underestimate this. We can't allow tragedies like the past to happen again!"
"Then there's no time to waste. Let's move out!"
"We can't let Evilus do whatever they want!"
...
Meanwhile, on the twenty-fourth floor.
"We can't hold on any longer!"
These adventurers, with an average Level of only around 2, simply couldn't withstand the assault of so many monsters. Not only were there land-based monsters pouring down from the nineteenth to the twenty-fourth floors, but also all the aquatic monsters from the Water City Labyrinth.
On top of that, members of Evilus were watching from the sidelines like predators. These adventurers were completely surrounded on three sides—trapped prey in a jar. Even if they wanted to escape, there was no way out.
"Reinforcements! How long until reinforcements arrive?!"
"We've held out this long—they should be here soon, right?!"
The adventurers still clung to a sliver of hope. After all, they had no other choice but to fight to the death, and it was that resolve that had allowed them to last this long.
This was also where Evilus' plan had fallen short.
After all, their strategist, Valletta the Executioner, was no longer present. The fact that they had managed to come up with a plan like this was already their limit.
If Valletta had been in charge, she would have surrounded three sides while leaving one path open.
As the saying goes, never drive your enemy into a corner.
As long as there is a way out, even the bravest soldiers will try to escape. But if all paths lead to death, even the most cowardly will pick up a weapon and fight.
The adventurers had already been pushed into a dead end.
"Give up. With Orario's mobilization speed, even at its fastest, it would take more than half a day to get here. By then, you'll already be monster dung! Hahaha!"
Not only that, the Evilus members nearby continued to attack their morale with mocking words—even though everything they said was true.
There was no way Orario's reinforcements would make it in time.
The only ones who might make it would be from Rivira on the eighteenth floor—but did Evilus not consider that?
They had already used the same method to block the entrance to the eighteenth floor, preventing adventurers from the safe floor from coming to assist. If the monsters were fierce enough, they might even break into the safe floor itself.
Besides, these adventurers who had been driven down here weren't even suited to fighting in the mid-level floors to begin with...
They had merely been driven down here by the surging tide of monsters.
In terms of raw strength, they were absolutely no match for the monsters of the Water City Labyrinth.
A dead end!
No matter how one looked at it, it was a dead end!
There was no way anyone would come to support them anymore!
Many adventurers were already growing dizzy. They had been fighting nonstop for more than two hours. Compared to their bodies, it seemed their minds were the first to give out.
"I... can't... hold on any longer..."
"Damn Evilus! Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you off!"
The adventurers began to hurl vicious curses. If looks could kill, those members of Evilus would have died thousands of times over.
Perhaps it was precisely because they could do nothing that they resorted to such futile curses.
"Hahaha, so this is what Orario's adventurers are like? That's all you've got?"
"Go ahead, curse all you want. How could such useless curses ever work?"
"We were planning to show you something even more terrifying, but this is all you amount to?"
The Evilus sub-leader put the magic stone back into his pouch. It had originally been prepared as insurance in case a powerful adventurer appeared.
But now, it seemed that such insurance was unnecessary.
Then again, most adventurers in Orario were only Level 1 or Level 2. Only a handful of Familias possessed high-Level adventurers.
How could they possibly encounter them so easily?
And recently, there had been no news of any major Familia conducting an expedition into the dungeon, which was why Evilus had dared to carry out this attack with confidence.
"Hahaha! Just sleep forever in the dungeon! Don't worry—no one will disturb you!"
The adventurers had already lost the ability to resist. Whether physically or mentally, they were at their limits. Even their defensive line against the monsters was steadily collapsing.
If this continued, they would truly die.
Could it be that the kind of heroes in storybooks didn't exist after all?
Of course not!
Swish, swish—
At that instant, the expressions of everyone present changed.
On the side of Orario's adventurers, there was shock and wild joy. On the side of Evilus, their faces darkened.
"What's going on? What is this?!"
The leader who had been about to leave panicked instantly. He felt something extra on his body. Because of that something, his strength... had decreased!
In contrast, the adventurers felt a noticeable increase in their power, and even their mental state improved significantly.
What was happening? Had reinforcements arrived?
Just as the adventurers were still trying to figure things out, a white light suddenly shone from beneath the waterfall.
"What is that?"
Under everyone's puzzled gazes, the light grew brighter and brighter, forcing them to shield their eyes with their hands.
"Don't worry, everyone."
"We've arrived. From this moment on, not a single person here will die!"
As the light flickered, countless figures descended from within it.
One after another, young women fell from the sky. Some rushed toward the monsters, launching fierce attacks that quickly drove them back.
Others moved to the adventurers' side, preparing wide-area annihilation magic and healing spells.
"Everyone, follow us and counterattack against Evilus!"
Bright, refreshing smiles appeared on the girls' faces, bringing the final glimmer of hope to those who had fallen into despair.
Among all the Familias in Orario, those composed solely of women were rare—and among them, none shone brighter than these.
Not a single member was over twenty years old, yet many had already reached Level 3. Their captain had even defeated a Level 7 opponent. Though their Levels were not the highest, no one dared to underestimate them.
They were...
"It's the Astraea Familia!"
"The righteous Familia actually came to support us?!"
"As expected of the Astraea Familia—they arrived so quickly!"
"This is great! We're saved!"
"Everyone, follow the Astraea Familia! We can definitely make it back to the surface alive!"
The appearance of Orario's strongest Familia forcefully turned this desperate situation around. Hope filled everyone's eyes once more, and they quickly rejoined the battle against the monsters.
"Aaaah!"
A young werewolf kicked the monster in front of him, shattering the magic stone inside its body. The monster vanished instantly.
But he failed to notice the shadow that had appeared beneath his feet...
Damn it—there's a monster behind me!
His mind reacted, but his body couldn't keep up. He had no time to deal with the monster behind him.
At that moment, a golden pillar of light descended from the sky. The surging particles of light erased the monster—and even the ground—entirely.
Cold sweat ran down the adventurer's face. In Orario, there was likely only one person capable of unleashing such a terrifying attack.
The Saintess of Scales, Elise Holiness!
He looked up into the sky. What entered his vision was a saintess radiating golden light.
"So beautiful..."
He murmured his thoughts aloud, but quickly snapped out of it.
"Tch, what am I thinking?"
"Instead of staring at that, I should be killing more monsters!"
In the blink of an eye, the boy let out a ferocious wolf howl and charged back into the surrounding monsters.
High above, Elise—though blindfolded—still turned her gaze toward the young werewolf.
"I didn't expect to see a familiar face at a time like this... but it makes sense. He's also a survivor of the Nightmare on the twenty-seventh floor. It's only natural for him to be here."
Elise withdrew her gaze and refocused on the battlefield—or rather, on the black-robed members of Evilus.
"However, to encounter that thing here... what an unexpected delight."
"I don't mind playing with you for a bit! Est!"
Calling out Est's name, a platinum-white sword quickly appeared in Elise's hand.
She did not immediately eliminate the Evilus members. She also wanted to test the strength of that thing...
...
On top of a rocky outcrop.
"There's no helping it—the Astraea Familia has arrived! We've failed!"
"Run! We'll deal with these adventurers next time!"
With the situation turning against them, it was only natural for Evilus to attempt to flee.
However, their leader stopped them.
"Wait. Have you forgotten the treasure in my hand?"
"I thought it would go to waste without a chance to use it, but now that this opportunity has come... if we're lucky, we might even push the Astraea Familia into a dead end!"
A strangely colored magic stone appeared in his hand once more. This time, without hesitation, he threw it into the monster horde...
Almost immediately, a vine burst out from behind the monsters, dragging back those creatures that had brought endless disaster to the adventurers. A strange voice echoed out.
"Ah..."
"Ai..."
"Aeria—!"
In the distance, Ais, who held her sword, had her expression change at a visible speed.
That was...
A stirring born from deep within her bloodline!