She scratched her head blankly, looking a little embarrassed as she explained:
"I've been putting all my energy into tracking Evilus. I only did a rough check to confirm they hadn't made any major moves recently, so I threw this Expedition together on short notice. Besides... on top of the Familia being almost broke, we've also got the Guild's mandatory periodic Expedition quota to deal with."
Kaguya: "..."
Lyra: "..."
Ryuu: "..."
Everyone: "..."
A collective internal wail rang out in perfect unison: Of course that's what happened!
When facing criminals, Alise was the most dependable person you could ask for as a champion of justice. But the moment the Dungeon was involved, her reliability nosedived off a cliff.
If it weren't for Kaguya and Lyra constantly watching her back and patching the gaps as her two resident strategists, god only knew what kind of disaster Alise would stumble into one day.
Just look at the current situation. Case in point.
Ryuu's expression didn't change. Between her hood and her mask, only her pale blue eyes were visible, and they hadn't left the two-headed dragon gliding through the waterfall for a single moment. She asked in a cool, measured voice:
"So... what do we do now? The Two-Headed Dragon Amphisbaena is the Monster Rex of the Lower Floors. Its potential power reaches Level 5, and with the Water City's environment boosting it on top of that, the actual difficulty of fighting it is in the upper range of Level 6."
Kaguya narrowed her eyes, a self-deprecating smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.
"Level 6 difficulty? Forget Level 6. Even if it were Level 5, we'd have zero chance of winning with what we've got. And this thing isn't some random mob, or a Rare Species, or a Strengthened Species, or an elite. It's a Monster Rex."
She spun on her heel, the divine robe draped over her shoulders flaring with the motion, and made a calm, decisive call.
"This isn't an opponent we can pick a fight with."
"We retreat."
But before she'd even finished speaking...
The Two-Headed Dragon Amphisbaena, frolicking in the waterfall, suddenly twisted both of its heads toward them.
Four draconic slit-pupils, each larger than a person, locked onto the members of the Astraea Familia in an instant.
The soft clack of a wooden sandal. A white tabi-wrapped foot had barely taken a single step before Kaguya's entire body went rigid.
Almost simultaneously, cold sweat slid silently down from her temple.
"Damn it..."
...
...
Dungeon, Floor 27.
In a complex cavern system some distance from the azure waterfall and its embankments, Leon's party was locked in a fierce battle against swarms of Raider Fish that kept launching themselves out of the waterways.
"Kureha, fall back! You've pushed too far ahead, you're cut off from the formation!"
Kureha heard Jeanne's shout and glanced back instinctively. Sure enough, monsters were already closing in to flank her from both sides behind her.
If Jeanne hadn't called it out in real time, she'd have been in real trouble.
The moment that registered, she carved through the monsters in front of her with both blades and used a nimble backflip to pull back inside the defensive line.
"Sorry, Jeanne!"
Jeanne held the center, steadily handling the endless waves of monsters crashing in. Without even turning around, she called back:
"Watch your positioning at all times. Do not break from the formation. It's too dangerous!"
Kureha's cheeks flushed slightly. She nodded firmly.
"Right!"
Given Kureha's nature as a combat junkie who lost herself the second a fight started, Jeanne turned to the elf girl providing ranged support with wind-enchanted arrows and added another order:
"Laurier, you're on Kureha's cover. Keep an eye on her positioning too."
The elf girl had just drawn an arrow from her quiver and nocked it on her shortbow. At the command, her expression sharpened and she answered crisply:
"Understood."
A deep rumble rolled through the cavern. Just as the group finished clearing a massive wave, another horde of Raider Fish and Blue Crabs burst from the waterways, with a handful of rare Mermaid-type aquatic monsters mixed in among them.
"Tch... it never ends."
Jeanne's brow furrowed slightly. The Banner Lance in her hands became a blur of silver afterimages, not just blocking the swarm's assault but carving through them in what was practically a one-sided slaughter.
"Aura, is the bombardment ready?"
Aura had finished her chant ages ago and had been holding the spell on standby. The moment she heard her name, her eyes lit up and she called back immediately:
"Ready!"
"Bombard the right flank waterway!"
"On it!"
A deep hum filled the air. The emerald magic circle hovering in front of her, its glow slightly dimmed from holding so long, suddenly blazed with brilliant light. The surge of magical energy whipped up an invisible wind that sent her red-and-black battle dress snapping wildly.
"Leon, once Aura locks down the right flank, shift your fire there immediately!"
"Got it!"
Leon hadn't stopped hurling fireballs for a second. The instant Jeanne's order landed, he was already redirecting toward the right flank's water surface.
"Fireball!"
"Feast of the Bacchanal Harvest!"
A chain of massive explosions ripped across the right flank, detonation after detonation shaking the cavern to its foundations.
...
The barrage of blasts and tremors from the right side of the defensive line made the monsters charging the center falter in unison.
In that split-second opening, Rose seized the moment to counterattack with the precision of a seasoned veteran running on pure combat instinct.
Steel Knight, activate!
Strength and Endurance boost.
Parry, deflection, and evasion enhanced in melee combat.
Attack power and attack speed boosted on counter.
Rose's half-lidded eyes snapped wide open, her gaze razor-sharp.
The next instant, the one-handed sword in her right hand became a storm of cold silver light, annihilating every Raider Fish in her attack range in the blink of an eye.
Chunks of fish, sliced into neat, uniform blocks with surgical precision, rained through the air before splatting to the ground and carpeting the floor in every direction.
Leon: "..."
Absolutely terrifying.
That was the only way to describe the combat power Rose displayed after reaching Level 3.
Her magic and skill loadout at 2.4 had already been straightforward and brutally effective. A pure stat monster through and through.
On top of that foundation, once she activated Steel Knight, her attack speed after a successful block received an insane amplification. During that window, her perception, reaction speed, attack speed, Dexterity, Agility, and every other factor relevant to counterattacking would spike explosively, generating devastating killing power.
Even Kureha, a swordsmanship expert who specialized in Agility and speed, couldn't hold a candle to Rose in raw speed while Steel Knight was active.
After a full week of intense Expedition training, Leon's party was a completely different beast from before.
Compared to where they'd started, the team now consisted of one Level 4, three Level 3s, and three Level 2s.
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