"Release your Divine Aura!"
Astraea froze, her hand hovering over the seal of her power. Then, a spark of realization lit up her eyes. This child...
She was brilliant enough to realize what he was thinking, though a wry smile touched her lips. Roy's choices were always outside of anyone's expectations. This was no different—asking her to provoke the Dungeon was as insane as everything else he did.
Unsealing her power meant destroying the ceiling to send him back to the surface. Releasing her aura, however, was a different path—more dangerous, but it offered a slim chance of a different outcome.The choice was in her hands.
"Roar!"
The wounded Blood Dragon let out a hysterical roar, lunging at Roy in a blind frenzy. Roy's expression didn't flicker. When the dragon had first ambushed them, it had caught him off guard, but in truth, he had no respect for a beast with zero intellect. Roy feigned fear, backpedaling rapidly.
As expected, the Blood Dragon charged headlong, acting like an apex predator seeing its prey's back. At the precise moment it drew close, Roy drew the Spirit Holy Sword and drove it straight into the dragon's forehead.
"SCREEEEEE!!!"
This time, the shriek was no longer one of rage, but a mixture of unimaginable agony and a death rattle. The sound was sharp enough to shred the soul, echoing through the humid jungle and making the leaves tremble. The massive frame convulsed as if struck by an invisible hammer, lost all strength, and dissolved into ash with a heavy thud. A massive magic stone shard fell to the ground.
"Hah..." Roy exhaled.
Throughout the kill, Roy had maintained eye contact with Astraea, showing her his unwavering resolve. A helpless yet proud smile touched Astraea's beautiful lips. With her child being this stubborn, how could she refuse?
Release Divine Aura!
Astraea's eyes ignited with brilliance. Her gown fluttered without wind, and her entire presence underwent a tectonic shift. The space around her warped as a terrifying Divine Aura erupted. Even a blind man would know a god stood there without needing to see.
The crushing pressure of divinity followed. Humans, elves, and spirits would not dare move before this weight. But this was the Dungeon! In an instant, the entire floor went silent. Not even the wind dared to blow; it became a void of stillness. Every monster froze, sensing the fury of their mother—the Dungeon. A god had entered their forbidden realm!
"Let's go!"
Roy activated the Gale Boots, wind coiling around his legs. He lunged forward, scooping Astraea up—one arm behind her neck, the other beneath her knees—and bolted. By having Astraea release her aura to navigate this danger, the "Adventure" ability finally triggered.
Roy's stats, luck, and attributes surged. Even his battered body felt half-restored. This was the terror of the "Adventure" ability: as long as Roy chose to take a risk, it granted him the spirit and stamina to surpass his limits in the face of despair. It was the Goddess of Fate's gift to the brave.
As Roy sprinted with Astraea in his arms, a horrific transformation occurred. A madness-inducing silence reigned, broken only by their drum-like heartbeats. Time seemed to freeze.
The next second—RUMBLE!!!
It wasn't an explosion. It was a roar from the bottom of the abyss! The entire ceiling of the Jungle Gorge disintegrated! It was no longer a static stone dome, but a cascading, roaring waterfall of death. Millions of tons of boulders and gravel broke free like demons imprisoned for eons, tearing through the air and bringing a suffocating tide of dust.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Debris—the size of fists, basins, and larger—rained down upon the 30th floor. Trees, monsters... everything was annihilated under this "storm." The Jungle Gorge turned into a wasteland.
But Roy and Astraea had already found cover. Heavenly Blaze! Roy swung the Holy Sword, its sharp edge carving a small grotto into the stone wall. Roy dove inside with Astraea, dragging a massive rock to seal the entrance. Through a tiny crack, they watched the world end outside.
Roy sat cross-legged, his arms around Astraea's slender waist, holding her close. He leaned forward slightly, resting his chin on her shoulder. It wasn't that he was trying to take advantage; the space was simply that cramped. Yet, it provided a powerful sense of security.
In the dim cave, feeling Roy's heat behind her, Astraea's cheeks burned. She recalled the "accident" during her resuscitation and decided to change the subject.
"Will we die?" she asked.
"Depends on our luck. Whether it's Udaeus from the 37th floor or Amphisbaena," Roy said with a faint smile. The Dungeon would send a "God-Killer"—usually a Floor Boss or the strongest monster nearby. If it was the former, they were done for. If the latter, they had a chance.
A massive collapse in the Dungeon opened paths upward and drew attention from the surface. It was a flare to Ryu and Finn: We are in the lower floors, come save us!
Roy was lucky—or rather, luck was a given after activating "Adventure." The collapse extended from the 27th floor down to the 30th. The waters of the Water Capital cascaded down like a celestial river, quickly flooding the gorge.
And with the water came a gargantuan monster—Amphisbaena!
Unlike the standard version, this one was massive, reaching a hundred meters, and shrouded in an eerie black aura. Its scales were a mosaic of dark green and brown, like mossy rock. Most terrifyingly, its two heads had mutated into nine heads rising like giant pythons! Each head bore a different distorted face, with eighteen eyes glowing with cold hunger as they scanned the gorge.
It locked onto the small cave. The target was the god! The God-Killer sent by the Dungeon—an Aberrant Amphisbaena! Original Level: 5. Current Level: 6!
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Danmachi : Starting with an Elf (388 Chapter – Ongoing)
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