The effect of the Spirit Devouring Barrier was very strong.
After the Freya Familia left, Lynn reviewed the battle he just had.
In terms of physical fitness, there was still a gap between him and a top-tier LV6 like Allen.
The reason he could grow stronger with the fight and even defeat Allen with an overwhelming advantage was largely thanks to the Spirit Devouring Barrier.
By frequently inflicting damage, he only took three minutes to reduce Allen's physical fitness from a top-tier LV6 level to that of an entry-level LV6.
If he activated Domain Expansion, combining its guaranteed hit effect with the Spirit Devouring Barrier, he already had the possibility of defeating Ottar head-on.
"Too bad he isn't here."
After lamenting his slightly poor luck, Lynn arrived at an alley on Daedalus Street.
At the corner of the alley stood a two-story pavilion. Lynn walked over and pushed open the pavilion door.
"Lord Dix, you've arrived."
Gran, sitting in the first-floor hall, saw Lynn and immediately rushed over to greet him.
Lynn walked past him without looking back: "Where are the Xenos now?"
"They are all on the second floor."
Gran, having been ignored, was not angry; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed Lynn up to the second floor.
The second floor of the pavilion had a total of three rooms. The master bedroom on the left contained no furniture.
Pushing open the door, cages containing monsters appeared in Lynn's sight.
There were many types of monsters: Saber-toothed Lion-Tigers with huge fangs, Fatal Hornets the size of adults with black shells, and Metal Blue Crabs with massive pincers.
Monsters that should have been distributed across various floors, from the upper to the middle levels, were all gathered here.
However, the most eye-catching among them was a girl with long red hair and feathers growing from both arms.
Noticing Lynn and the other man entering, she instantly erupted with intense killing intent, and a faint fire glow emanated from her body.
But just then, the chains binding her emitted a faint light, and the girl slumped onto the ground with a thud.
"Damn it, if it weren't for this magic item..."
"Shut up! Did I give you permission to speak?!"
Gran glared at her, then quickly turned back to Lynn with a fawning smile.
"Lord Dix, this one is... is a monster you led the team to capture last time. Its race is the rare Firebird."
"Unlike ordinary Firebirds, she consumed many magic stones, possessing the strength of a top-tier LV4."
"Top-tier LV4?"
Lynn stared at the girl, examining her.
Her strength was considered mid-to-upper tier even among the Xenos group, yet she never appeared in the original story.
Considering the timeline, her ending in the original story was most likely being sold outside Orario.
"What is your name?"
"..."
The girl remained silent, only glaring fiercely at Lynn.
"There's no need to be so vigilant; I'm not a bad person."
The girl's gaze became even fiercer.
Perhaps worried that Lynn would make a move, the other Xenos in the surrounding cages also stood up, looking wary.
"Forget it. I wasn't planning on building a good relationship with you anyway; I'm just using this to gain a favor."
No longer attempting to chat with the girl, Lynn instructed Gran to stay and watch, while he himself left the room and took out a crystal.
As mana was injected, the crystal emitted light, and after a moment, a figure cloaked in a black robe appeared on it.
"What is it you need, Lynn?"
"I need to ask you about someone."
Lynn recalled the girl's appearance: "Do you know a Xenos with red hair, feathers growing on her body, and whose race is a Firebird?"
Fels: "?"
If he remembered correctly, he hadn't mentioned anything about Xenos to Lynn.
Staring at Lynn with his pitch-black eye sockets for a few seconds, Fels finally replied.
"I know her. You must be talking about Lena."
"But I remember she was captured a week ago by a group specializing in hunting Xenos. How do you know her?"
"I met her when I infiltrated the Artificial Labyrinth."
"She's in the Artificial Labyrinth?!"
Fels was startled, stood up with a bang, and her voice became agitated.
In fact, after learning about the Artificial Labyrinth, she had suspected whether the group hunting Xenos came from the Artificial Labyrinth, as they were always elusive, and she couldn't find any information no matter how much she investigated.
Now, with Lynn's confirmation, Fels's doubts were finally answered, but it was followed by a sense of urgency.
"Lynn, which floor did you see Rena on? Were there other Xenos around her?"
"Yes, including Rena, there were seven Xenos in total. They are currently all on Daedalus Street."
"Daedalus Street? Wait! Have those people already found a buyer and are preparing to sell Rena and the others?"
"Not at all, I had someone transport them up."
"Huh?"
"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you, my current identity in the Artificial Labyrinth is a descendant of Daedalus."
Lynn raised his hand to touch his face, and when his palm fell again, his appearance had changed, even his hair had turned from black to red.
Taking out a pair of goggles from his pocket and putting them on, he casually picked up a spear from a nearby shelf, a playful smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Hello, Fels."
"I am Dix Perdix, captain of the Ikelos Familia."
"...?"
Fels stopped thinking.
...
As the legendary sage who invented the Philosopher's Stone, Fels was undoubtedly a genius.
Over eight hundred years, she had witnessed the rise and fall of countless heroes, making her incredibly experienced.
But even the Empress who once stood at the pinnacle of Orario had never shocked her as much as Lynn.
Arriving at the two-story building on Daedalus Street according to the coordinates, the red-haired man in front of Fels hesitated.
"Are you really Lynn?"
"Of course, it's me, no doubt."
"Then who is Dix?"
Fels took out a document from her bag.
"I investigated on my way here. Dix's records can be traced back ten years. Could it be that you've been impersonating him all this time?"
"Not at all. I arrived in Orario two months ago. You don't need to doubt that."
Lynn changed his appearance back to normal: "You can understand it as me awakening a special magic. After capturing Dix alive, I used his identity to infiltrate the Artificial Labyrinth."
Who uses magic without any magic fluctuations?
Fels didn't believe a single punctuation mark of Lynn's explanation, taking it all as lies.
Of course, she wasn't someone with excessive curiosity.
After a brief chat with Lynn, she and Lynn went to the room on the second floor where the Xenos were kept.
"Gran, go wait downstairs."
After sending Gran to wait on the first floor, Lynn and Fels approached the cage where Rena was imprisoned.
"Fels! Why?!"
Staring intently at Fels, the killing intent emanating from Rena was even stronger than before.
"I always thought you were a good person! So you're in league with these bastards?!"
"I'm not, you've misunderstood." Fels quickly waved her hands in explanation: "I'm here to save you all."
"Then what about him?!"
Rena's gaze turned to Lynn.
She remembered Gran; he was among the group who captured her.
And from their recent conversation, it was clear that Lynn was Gran's superior and part of the same group.
"Are you trying to say this guy is an informant or something?"
"Uh, he actually is."
Fels felt a little strange.
However, she also understood that a simple explanation wouldn't suffice, so she looked at her partner beside her.
"Lynn, why don't you give her a demonstration?"
"A demonstration of what?"
"Just changing faces... Yes, exactly that!"
Before she could finish speaking, Fels saw Lynn swipe his palm, once again donning Dix's disguise.
But before she could speak, she heard a bang, and Rena grabbed the bars of the cage with both hands, her eyes filled with killing intent.
"So, it was you, you bastard! You killed Niel and Corea, and you still dare to show your face in front of me!"
"No! Rena, you've misunderstood!"
Fels quickly explained: "Lynn isn't the one who captured you; he's just using his identity."
"Using his identity?"
Rena frowned, still somewhat suspicious.
However, just as she was about to say something more, she saw a cold flash pass through her vision.
Crack—!
A crisp snapping sound rang out, the sturdy cage was split in two, and Rena's chains also broke.
"Fels, are you getting senile?"
Lynn casually splits open all the surrounding cages.
"If you don't let them out and just stand outside the cage chatting, who would believe you're here to save them?"
Fels: "..."
It seemed he had a point.
Fels awkwardly coughed, also realizing how foolish her actions had just been.
"Are you really here to save us?"
On the other side, Rena slowly came to her senses.
She looked at the chains on the ground with uncertainty, feeling a bit lost now that she was free.
If Lynn was really here to save them, then hadn't she been hissing at her savior all this time?
"I'll leave the rest to you."
Lynn ignored Rena's reaction, and after releasing these Xenos, he looked at Fels beside him.
"You don't need to worry about Gran; I've controlled him with a special method, so no information will be leaked."
"You figure out a way to send these Xenos back to the Dungeon. You should be more familiar than I am with where to meet Xenos."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to the Artificial Labyrinth."
Lynn sheathed Raikiri.
The Spirit Devouring Barrier has two effects in total.
Wounding enemies and absorbing power to strengthen oneself.
Killing enemies and accelerating one's own growth.
He had already tested the former on Allen; the latter's effect needed to be tested in the Dungeon.
However, going through the Artificial Labyrinth was faster than taking the regular route to the Dungeon.
Taking a shortcut, he could reach the Eighteenth Floor in an hour, and a few more floors down would lead to the lower levels.
Ottar wasn't around, so he planned to level up by fighting monsters while testing the Spirit Devouring Barrier.
"See you later."
"Uh, see you later."
After watching Lynn leave, Fels finally looked at Rena and the others, thought for a moment, and took out an eye crystal from her Bag.
"Do you want to talk to Rayd and the others?"
"...Then I'll trouble you."
Rena withdrew her gaze from the door.
She had many questions now.
But before asking Fels about Lynn, she should first let her other companions know she was safe.
...