Udaeus's upper body alone rose above the ground, but that did not mean its lower half was meaningless.
No—the truth was that Udaeus did have a lower body. It had simply transformed that lower body into the most suitable weapon possible.
Like the sprawling roots of a colossal tree buried deep underground, countless skeletal extensions spread from its pelvis beneath the floor of the entire chamber. In other words, beneath everyone's feet lay a vast field of blade-like bone traps prepared by Udaeus.
It could be said that this entire enormous chamber was itself the enemy. The bone spikes it launched made the whole battlefield part of its attack range.
Once someone advanced into Udaeus's immediate vicinity, escape became nearly impossible. The moment they tried to retreat, the exits would be sealed by forests of black spikes.
Until the massacre ended, the King of Bones would not let its prey leave the chamber.
"ROOOOAAARRR—!"
"Urgh!"
Its upper body moved with the weight and slowness one would expect from such a giant, but the bone spikes it launched were unimaginably fast.
Before they realized it, countless black pillars had already sprung up around the party.
Like a silent whisper telling them come here, the black spikes subtly herded them, forcing them to dodge again and again until, before they knew it, they had all been pushed back in front of Udaeus.
No one could respond cleanly, because the spikes varied wildly in size and shape. Some were short lances less than a meter long, jutting out sharply just to block movement. Others were thick pillars over three meters tall, rising up to cut off routes or restrict mobility. Some were needle-like, some rectangular, their forms chaotic and irregular, making them impossible to predict at a glance.
And that was not even the worst of it.
As dangerous as the continuous barrage of rising stakes was, Udaeus's direct attacks were even more terrifying.
Whenever its enormous palm rose and smashed down, it crushed the surrounding forest of spikes to pieces and blasted a crater into the ground beneath.
If someone were struck directly by that sort of power, they would likely be turned into paste on the spot.
Its strength and abilities more than justified the title of King of the Labyrinth.
The ghostly flames burning in its eye sockets flared brighter as the floor boss swung both arms without mercy.
Faced with this double assault—spike fields erupting from below and massive blows descending from above—the adventurers could only grit their teeth and force a path forward.
And even that was not the most desperate part.
The giant bone sword that Gareth had been holding back finally broke free and rose once more.
But his shield was already ruined, and the sea of spikes had silently cut off the path between everyone. There was no time to switch to a spare shield and rush back into position.
Riveria's spell was still in preparation, leaving her unable to provide immediate support.
At that instant, Xien finally understood the price of a single mistake.
If his first strike had gone all out, the situation should have been reversed already.
But he had no intention of regretting it.
Because for the current him, this still did not qualify as despair.
A predicament like this only needed to be overturned.
Finn's sharp mind instantly recognized how dire the situation was. Faced with an assault that had all but sealed off every avenue of retreat, he still tried to search for a way to break through.
"Riveria, your spell still isn't—"
Before Finn could finish, a sudden orange-gold aura burst from Xien's body, enveloping everyone around him and spreading outward in a radius of several meters.
Every single person froze in shock.
Xien slowly raised his eyes. Bloody tears ran down his face as the three tomoe in his Sharingan spun together and fused, becoming a windmill-like Mangekyo pattern.
Staring straight at the flickering soul-fire in Udaeus's sockets, he curled his lips into a grin.
"Trash. Let's see you arm-wrestle with this."
Then, accompanied by an eerie creaking sound like grinding bone, an astonishing sight appeared before everyone's eyes—
A strange skeletal giant of pure energy began to take shape within that flame-like aura.
"Susanoo."
The spikes crashing toward them were stopped cold by that nearly absolute defense, unable to advance another inch. The fist descending toward them was caught by a rapidly forming skeletal arm.
For a split second, Udaeus was startled by the sudden appearance of this monstrous "kindred" creature.
That was all the opening Susanoo needed.
Its other arm shot out like lightning and struck the elbow joint of the limb holding the sword—
Crack.
With a crisp shattering sound, the arm that had been raised to deliver a killing blow was ripped clean away and sent crashing to the ground.
And just like that, the seemingly hopeless triple-layered crisis was effortlessly shattered.
"What is that?!"
The members of Loki Familia stared in utter disbelief at the horrifying scene before them.
Was that magic?
Why was it so different?
It was more terrifying than the floor boss itself.
But no one was given time to process it.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
With Xien's furious roar, the Mangekyo in his eyes spun wildly. The skeletal Susanoo bellowed with him as strands of chakra-like energy emerged from between its bones, wrapping around its frame and becoming something like muscles.
In the next instant, Susanoo's muscled left arm swung out, while its right held Udaeus's remaining limb in place.
A single chop—
And the floor boss's second arm was severed as well.
The spectacle was too overwhelming.
These seasoned adventurers could only stare, stunned, as the two gigantic monsters exchanged what might as well have been mutual elbow strikes.
Reality did not stop to let them catch up.
With both arms gone, Udaeus staggered backward, almost helpless.
But Xien had no intention of letting it recover.
Strike while it's down.
Under his command, Susanoo's hand shot forward in a brutal thrust, shattering the cracked ribs guarding the magic stone and plunging straight into its chest.
Then it tore the giant crystal free.
In that instant, all strength left the floor boss. The red flames in its eye sockets dimmed, and with countless unanswered questions, its brief existence came to an end.
Once its core was gone, the rest of its body began to collapse. Before it even hit the ground, the once iron-hard bones broke apart into black dust and exploded outward.
A moment later, the dust settled.
The floor boss was gone.
All that remained was the orange-red half-body of Susanoo, and directly beneath it, the figure of the boy standing at its center.
Everything had happened too fast.
The sudden emergence of the skeletal giant. The floor boss's near-instant death. The entire battle had lasted only seconds.
Even these battle-hardened veterans could not process it.
Countless questions crowded their minds, but all of them eventually became one:
Who exactly is that boy?
Xien set the giant magic stone down. The flame-like energy around him gradually faded, and the skeletal giant vanished with it, disappearing in barely a second, leaving everyone wondering if they had hallucinated the whole thing.
His eyes returned to normal, and the blood tears dried instantly under the effect of his Abundance power.
Seeing everyone staring at him in stunned silence, he tilted his head in confusion.
"What's wrong? Aren't you happy the floor boss got taken down?"
It was the same familiar voice. The same familiar tone.
It was almost impossible to connect the harmless, smiling boy before them with the monstrous figure they had just witnessed.
As captain, Finn was the first to recover. With surprise—and a somewhat bitter smile—he answered,
"Well… it's not that. I think everyone's just still shocked by what you did."
Xien nodded as if he understood, then gave a simple explanation.
"That? It's one of my new abilities. Pretty useful, as you saw. The downside is that it eats through my energy."
Useful?That thing crushed a floor boss.At that kind of power, who cares what it costs?Damn, I'm jealous…
Finn could only laugh weakly inside.
He had thought he was already overestimating Xien.
He had been wrong.
That ability of his was beyond anything Finn had prepared for. If used against him, he would not have liked his chances either. He had assumed he was the one still holding trump cards, only to find the other side had them too.
At this point, Finn was forced to admit something.
With everything Xien had revealed so far, in a one-on-one fight fought at full strength, he himself might not be able to beat him.
The times really had changed.
He looked around at his longtime companions.
When, exactly, had they all been left behind so easily?
Still, that power was an undeniable benefit to this expedition. Finn had already begun revising his plans in his head.
Maybe, just maybe, they could even challenge the next floor boss.
With Finn's command, the group began regrouping at once. Broken weapons were swapped out, injuries treated, and excess loot abandoned on the spot. Carrying unnecessary weight deeper into the dungeon was suicide. They could always pick it up on the way back—if they made it back.
Soon after, the expedition resumed.
Now that Xien's combat strength had been fully acknowledged, everyone's morale visibly rose.
It felt like having a top-tier veteran leading a dungeon raid. The deeper they went, the less pressure they seemed to feel.
Meanwhile, in a hidden and familiar corner unknown to them—
Several figures had gathered in secret.
For them, this was practically a historic meeting. As beings hunted and rejected by the world, even gods had no choice but to tuck in their tails in the face of sudden upheaval and harsh reality.
"Forget assigning blame for the last failure," said a handsome god. "The little brats from Loki's side have already gone into the deep levels, and that irritating kid who ruined our last plan went with them. Seems like a good opportunity. Anyone interested in making the trip?"
The other gods were momentarily stunned, their expressions shifting.
"You mean to use the Dungeon itself…?"
"What else do we have at this stage?" he replied. "Those two 'monsters' are still being hunted down, and our good ally has only managed to find a few leads."
If they had enough other means, they would not have needed to meet in a dark place like this. They represented darkness, yes—but that did not mean they feared the light.
After a brief silence, a voice full of unrestrained madness rang out.
"Then I'll go. I know none of you dare. No help from Knossos this time, after all. Besides, I've got a score to settle with that bitch. If we kill that brat, I bet she'll make a wonderful face. Ahahahaha…"
The hatred in that voice could not be hidden.
"Then we're leaving it to you, Rudra…"
Back in the Dungeon, the enemies from here onward finally provided Xien with something he had been craving—
Real pressure.
Wave after wave crashed into him. Some were monsters he knew, others entirely unfamiliar. By paying for experience in blood and wounds, he rapidly learned their habits, their strengths, their weaknesses—and then turned that knowledge into methods to kill them.
The potential of his body, stimulated by the divine blessing, continued to unfold, inching ever closer toward its true limit.
These monsters, any one of which could instantly kill a lower-class adventurer, came at him in swarms—
Yet none of them could halt his advance.
Without realizing it, Xien had become a blade that split open the enemy net itself, to the point that it almost felt as though he were leaving the rest of the group behind.
Still not enough.
Still not enough pressure.
If he wanted to reach that domain, this much still was not enough.
Like a machine built solely for slaughtering monsters, he left behind only loot and the increasingly strange expressions of the people following him.
Frankly speaking, the members of Loki Familia were beginning to suspect that boy was drifting farther and farther away from being human.
Was he really just Level 3?
"By the way, isn't his stamina kind of absurd? How long has he been cutting things down like that?"
"Most of the day already. And look at him—not even breathing hard. He could probably keep going another whole day…"
"...That's your assessment?"
"It is."
"Well, that's… quite something."
Hearing Gareth's prediction, Finn could only smile awkwardly.
He did not doubt it for a second. Gareth was not the sort to exaggerate without cause, and among all of them, no one understood physical conditioning better than he did.
Unlike the two of them, who were openly discussing Xien's ridiculous stamina, the elven princess said nothing at all.
But her eyes betrayed her.
She was staring fixedly at the increasingly distant figure ahead, with a strange mix of yearning and dazed fascination, her feet unconsciously trying to follow.
If the rest of the group had not already been hurrying after that same figure, her abnormality might have been noticed on the spot.
At last, they reached the forty-eighth floor.
After clearing out the monsters in the surrounding area, Finn gave the order to halt and rest in place.
It was not that they did not want to keep pushing forward.
It was that what came next would not merely be another battle.
It would be another gamble with death itself.
....
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