"The thousand-year curse, engraved in blood, turns into a violent heart. O rising Great Serpent, thou shalt devour justice and cast it into the abyss. The light of the broken blade is hope, yet also a gateway to despair..." Cassandra recited her decoding of the prophetic dream to Roy.
"The first half?" Roy's pupils constricted. He had almost forgotten about the prophecy in the heat of battle. What did it mean?
The dream was inverted, but the new content was far clearer. Combining it with his knowledge of this world, Roy could interpret it: The "thousand-year curse" likely referred to the Daedalus lineage. "Engraved in blood" and the "violent heart" pointed toward Dix or his curse magic. But the rest was terrifying.
"Justice will fall into the abyss..." Roy muttered. What was the "abyss"? And who was "Justice"?
He held the title "Sprout of Justice," Ryu had just reclaimed her heart of justice, and Astraea was the literal Goddess of Justice. There were too many targets. A cold shiver ran down Roy's spine. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The Ikelos Familia lured them into the sewer to rob and kill them. Roy and the Loki Familia set up a counter-ambush. It was all going... too smoothly. Roy felt like he was trapped in a Russian nesting doll of schemes. Was there a larger, invisible hand reaching out from the darkness to snatch him?
Cassandra's dreams were warnings of disaster. Could anything that had happened so far truly be called a "disaster"? Cold sweat broke out on Roy's forehead.
"Miss Ryu, get back here! Now!" Roy shouted at the top of his lungs.
In the distance, Ryu—who had just subdued a Level 3 adventurer—heard Roy and started to turn her head.
BOOM!
At that exact moment, the ground beneath them disintegrated with a deafening roar. A gargantuan entity erupted from the depths. The resulting shockwave sent Roy, Astraea, Daphne, and everyone in the vicinity flying backward. Cries and screams erupted everywhere.
The sheer scale of the disturbance instantly drew every eye. But the horror truly set in when they saw the monster's form.
"A Lambton?!"
Finn, Riveria, and Ryu stared in disbelief. It was a rare species, a monster born from the Deep Floors. Its head narrowed to a sharp point, and its massive jaws were large enough to swallow a Large-class Orc whole. It had nine holes on the sides of its mouth—organs unseen on any other monster. Its eyes glowed with a ferocity and savagery that monsters of the upper and middle floors couldn't dream of.
Its official name was the "Great Serpent Well," though it was more commonly known as an "Omen." Usually dwelling on the 37th floor, the Guild rated its potential at Level 4. Their sizes varied, with some reaching a hundred meters in length.
But this was the surface! Seeing a Deep Floor monster emerge here was nightmarish.
The Lambton's goal was surgical. It ignored everyone else and lunged straight for the disoriented Lady Astraea. It unhinged its jaws, swallowed her whole, and dove back into the earth. Its movement was so swift that no one could react in time.
Only Roy, who was tumbled nearby, managed to lunge forward as the Lambton's tail was about to vanish. He channeled golden lightning into his hands, forming claws with jagged barbs that he drove deep into the monster's flesh, anchoring himself firmly.
The man and the beast vanished instantly. All that remained was a massive crater over five meters wide, looking like a bottomless pit leading to the center of the world.
The sudden turn of events left everyone in shock. The chaotic passage fell into a terrifying silence.
"NO!" Ryu's face turned deathly pale. She let out a piercing, agonized scream and charged toward the pit. Riveria had to physically tackle her to keep her from jumping into the void.
Finn's expression was grim. "Everyone! Finish them off quickly!"
A few minutes later, the monsters and thugs were cleared. As Dix fled, the effects of his curse began to fade. The adventurers regained their senses, but as they looked at the massive hole, no one spoke. Everyone knew.
Something catastrophic had happened. Roy and Goddess Astraea were gone, taken by a Lambton to an unknown location. It could lead to the return of a god—or worse, their death.
The only saving grace was that they had captured several high-ranking Ikelos members.
Finn grabbed a middle-aged adventurer by the throat. "Where did that Lambton take the Sprout of Justice and Lady Astraea?"
The man trembled under the狼人 (werewolf) Bete's murderous glare. "I don't know! We didn't prepare a Lambton! That serpent was traded—Dix used it to buy the Spirit Soldier from him!"
"Traded with whom?! Speak!"
"A god! I don't know his name! Only Lord Ikelos, Dix, and the executives know!"
Finn's face was dark. There was a third-party power involved. Someone hidden deep in the shadows. The situation had spiraled out of control. Without a location, rescue was impossible.
Ryu's eyes lost their light. She was consumed by a hollow, gnawing guilt. The moment she heard "Evilus," she had been blinded by hatred, wanting only to kill. She had prioritized her revenge over the safety of Roy and Astraea. It was the most foolish sin she had ever committed.
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