"This kind of battle… It's my first time experiencing anything like it. It's so fluid."
Daphne stared at the Kairagi: Fiery Might that she had just pierced through the neck, watching it erupt in blood before dissolving into a magic stone. She was still riding the high of that elevated state of combat.
Within the sensory network shared by Robin, every breath and muscle twitch of the Kairagi had been laid bare. She could predict its next move perfectly through that omnidirectional perspective, causing her combat efficiency to skyrocket.
Normally, encountering a Kairagi alone meant a grueling, life-or-death struggle, even if she won. But this time, even when surrounded by several Kairagi, she fought with absolute ease, finding the perfect openings to assassinate them one by one.
She finally understood why Robin was the Vice-Captain.
Aside from her game-breaking group EXP buff, this command-oriented telepathy was equally beyond the realm of common sense. It was hard to fathom how one person could possess so many insanely overpowered abilities.
Daphne felt incredibly fortunate to have joined the Focalors Familia. It was the best decision she had made in her entire life.
Cassandra felt exactly the same.
Throughout the entire dive, she had only cast [Saul Light] a single time to heal a minor scrape Daphne took from a stray blade of wind.
With the "God-mode" perspective, she never had to worry about being ambushed. And Jeanne held the backline with an iron defense; no monster could ever step past the battle standard fluttering in her hands.
At one point, a Hellhound had burst from the flank, spewing a massive fireball straight at the backline.
Jeanne simply turned her body slightly, letting the iron-melting flames crash directly into her. After the violent explosion cleared, the silver-white armor bore nothing but a faint scorch mark—not a single dent. Jeanne herself hadn't budged an inch.
That horrifying, logic-defying magic resistance left Daphne and Cassandra trembling in awe.
And Tifa truly lived up to the alias [Starlight].
The moment she activated her enchantment magic, [Meteor Plume], her movements became like a shooting star in the night sky. She moved so fast she left behind trails of starlight. The vast majority of the monsters they encountered were cleanly dispatched by Tifa's martial arts alone; Daphne only picked off the stragglers.
Meanwhile, Aiden essentially functioned as a mobile artillery turret. He casually trailed behind the group, occasionally raising a finger to fire an invisible, hyper-fast, and devastating sonic blast. He accurately sniped out Samachurls perched on distant high ground, or blew up Archer Hilichurls and Whopperflowers trying to sneak attack from the shadows.
With the wind at their backs, they faced very little trouble and quickly reached the 16th Floor.
Here, they encountered the formidable enemies that had once forced Aiden into a bitter struggle—the Elite Ninja Zombies.
But this time, facing them as a Lv.3, Aiden handled them with effortless grace. Through pure, overwhelming stat suppression, the speed and blade work the zombies took pride in were reduced to a bad joke. In just a few exchanges, Aiden cleaved it in half.
Even Tifa was now capable of soloing an Elite Ninja Zombie. Granted, she had to activate her enchantment magic to do so.
The raw power of enchantment magic was undeniable—it provided a massive boost to all of the user's base stats. Ais's [Ariel] granted her extreme speed, Aiden's [Everlasting Flames] brought unparalleled destructive power, and while Tifa's [Meteor Plume] was non-elemental, its boost was exceptionally pure. It provided an all-encompassing enhancement to speed, strength, and defense simultaneously.
"Next is the 17th Floor. Everyone, stay sharp. We don't know if the Floor Boss has respawned yet," Aiden warned, glancing back from the entrance of the spiral staircase leading down.
The 17th Floor was the final and greatest hurdle they had to overcome before reaching the safe haven of the 18th Floor.
Both Daphne and Cassandra had been to the deeper floors with the Apollo Familia before; in terms of raw experience, they actually had more than Aiden and his original party.
"Captain," Daphne analyzed calmly. "The 17th Floor Boss, Goliath, has a potential equivalent to a Lv.4. With our team's current strength, fighting it head-on won't be an issue. The only thing we need to watch out for is taking a direct hit from the giant. The raw power behind its strikes is no joke."
Of course, that assumed Goliath had actually respawned and hadn't already been killed by another party.
Aiden nodded.
Was he worried about Goliath? No. What he was truly worried about was his own skill. He had a very strong premonition that [Abyss Gazed Back] was absolutely going to give him a massive "surprise" on a special floor like this.
Taking a deep breath, Aiden led the way down the stairs. The party followed closely, stepping onto the 17th Floor.
But the next moment, a cacophony of noise assaulted their ears.
It wasn't the roar of monsters. It wasn't the bellow of Goliath.
In this massive expanse, stretching hundreds of meters in both width and depth, what filled their vision was a massive crowd of fully armed adventurers standing in scattered formations.
"What… is going on?" Aiden and Robin froze at the sight.
"Those are… adventurers from the Town of Rivira. They actually chose today to subjugate the Floor Boss," Daphne realized instantly and explained.
"The Floor Boss, Goliath, respawns every two weeks. It frequently blocks high-level adventurers from passing through to the 18th Floor. When the main route to the safe zone is blocked, the 'thugs' running the inns and shops in Rivira lose their income from price-gouging travelers. So, they band together regularly to form a raid party and clear out the roadblock."
"Simply put," Daphne summarized, "it's like scheduled spring cleaning, except they're cleaning out the Floor Boss."
Clearly, the adventurers gathered here were the Rivira raid group.
"Whoa, isn't that [Flamescion] and the [Saint of Battle Rhythm] from the Focalors Familia? Holy crap, you guys made it to the 17th Floor already? Not bad."
Someone in the crowd had sharp eyes and immediately spotted Aiden's group. After a brief murmur, the adventurers quickly recognized the rising stars who had dominated the War Game.
A massive, bear-like human man wearing a black eyepatch over his left eye parted the crowd and strode over. With every step he took, his heavy armor clanked loudly.
"That guy is Bors Elder, the actual boss of Rivira. A Lv.3 second-class adventurer. He's probably the one who organized this raid," Daphne whispered into Aiden's ear.
"[Laurel Escaper] and [Pessimist], huh?" Bors's gruff gaze swept over Daphne and Cassandra. He flashed a malicious, toothy grin. "So you joined the Focalors Familia? Man, I'm jealous. But wait, didn't the Focalors Familia destroy your old Familia? Is that really okay? Hahaha."
"Shut up. It's none of your business," Daphne snorted coldly, clapping back without hesitation. Cassandra instinctively shrank behind her.
Bors didn't mind. The people he was truly interested in were the other two.
He shifted his gaze to Aiden and Robin, his tone noticeably warmer. "What do you say? Wanna subjugate the Floor Boss with us, [Flamescion]? Let us bask in the [Saint of Battle Rhythm]'s light a little. We can cut you guys in on the loot."
Before Aiden could even answer, the crowd of adventurers behind Bors erupted.
"Oooooh! It's the [Saint of Battle Rhythm]! For real?! The one with that legendary skill that speeds up growth?!"
"Saint of Battle Rhythm?! That's her?! Is that skill really as godly as the rumors say? I don't even want the loot! I just want to know if it actually boosts your stats faster!" shouted one adventurer, clearly skeptical of the rumors.
"Idiot! The gods themselves certified that skill! How could it be fake?! Apologize to Lady Saint of Battle Rhythm right now, you moron!" The man next to him slapped the back of his head.
"Lady Saint of Battle Rhythm, we revere you! Please fight with us! We don't even want Goliath's magic stone; you can have the whole thing!"
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