BOOM!!
Roy unleashed "Heavenly Blaze" three times in a row, the crimson flames of the Holy Sword battering the rubble. Debris flew in every direction. Each blast cleared a meter of the path, but all they saw was more stone.
Roy was 100% certain this was the tunnel back to the 29th floor, but it had suffered a cave-in. The Dungeon was actively trying to kill them. Roy panted, sweat stinging his eyes in the suffocatingly humid jungle air.
They were trapped. The path up was sealed, and the monsters from the Jungle Gorge were closing in. Once their stamina failed, they were dead. Astraea wasn't doing much better; as a god with sealed power, her mortal body was at its limit.
"Roy," Astraea said, her lips thin. "I have an idea."
"Do you remember the pillar of light when Lord Rudra was sent back?" she asked softly.
"What are you saying?"
"That pillar destroys everything in its path to ensure a god's return to the Heavens. If I unseal my divine power, this floor and everything above it will be destroyed. It will open a path directly to the surface."
The world went quiet between them. The monsters nearby seemed to fade into the background. The plan was sound; Roy remembered Thanatos's return light shattering even Orichalcum walls. But it meant Astraea would be gone forever.
Roy reached out and gripped her hand firmly, his face dark. "I will not allow it!"
He was likely the first follower in history to be so forceful with his goddess. Astraea winced as he squeezed her hand, but she didn't get angry. She looked at him with her deep blue eyes, full of a mother's resolve. She would not let this child die, even if she had to leave the world forever.
Just then, a sound cut through the forest—a low, continuous scraping, like sandpaper on hard wood. Roy's heart stopped. He turned to the shadows of the giant ferns.
A massive blood-red silhouette loomed there. It was a Blood Dragon—a rare species of the lower floors and, aside from Floor Bosses, one of the most powerful monsters in the Dungeon. Its golden vertical pupils locked onto them with freezing indifference.
It moved. Without a roar or warning, the dragon lunged with the speed of a released spring.
Bzzzt!
Roy pushed Astraea aside and summoned a thick lightning shield. CRASH! The dragon's massive body slammed into the shield like a falling redwood. The impact sent Roy flying, his world spinning as he crashed into the dirt.
The dragon lunged again. Roy's survival instinct flared. He transformed the shield into a dagger and rolled, driving the blade deep into the dragon's hide. Squelch! The blade tore through scales and muscle up to the hilt. Hot, acrid dragon blood sprayed onto Roy's face, smelling of rust and salt. The dragon let out a piercing, high-pitched shriek of pure rage.
Astraea's lips parted as she spoke softly, "Roy... tell Ryu I'm sorry I couldn't stay until the end. And to Daphne and Cassandra... I wasn't a good enough goddess to teach them much..."
She spoke with no fear, only a quiet, unyielding determination. Roy felt a surge of fury. Was every member of this Familia obsessed with self-sacrifice? First Ryu, now her!
Wait. Ryu. The Floor Boss Amphisbaena?
Roy took a deep breath and shouted, "Lady Astraea, release your Divine Aura!"
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Danmachi : Starting with an Elf (388 Chapter – Ongoing)
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