1069. The Power of a Top-Tier Familia / 1070. An Unexpectedly Powerful Foe

It was Bell, Hestia, and their clan members who came to say goodbye to Shirou.

Bell had just reached level 3, and although his strength had increased dramatically compared to before, Shirou still did not agree to his idea of joining the expeditionary force.

"Big brother, are you really alright?" Bell looked at Shirou with concern. He had seen Shirou with white hair before, and it seemed unusual.

"It's alright, let's all get together again when I come out!" Shirou agreed with a light laugh, nodding to Hestia and the others.

Then, following the Loki Familia's guards, they entered the passageway.

"Big brother..." Bell watched Shirou's departing figure with a sense of unease, because the way he left was so resolute, as if he had given up all hope of returning.

"What kind of monster is the fire giant in the hidden passage on the fiftieth floor? This mission to subdue it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event."

"Although I'm not sure, we have the Mighty Ota, the Goddess's Chariot Allen, and the Nine Demon Princesses Riviera here, along with so many level 5 monsters. No matter what kind of monster we encounter, it shouldn't be a problem!"

"That's right, maybe I can become one of the legendary ones too."

"Demeter of agriculture, also provided enough food for everyone to make two round trips."

"Speaking of which, have you decided how to use the generous bounty offered by Shirou, the Demon Sword Forger? I haven't had such a lucrative opportunity in a long time."

The clansmen chatted idly as they advanced. In the first dozen or so levels of the path, the monsters that occasionally appeared were no match for the adventurers and were easily eliminated.

The Loki Familia members walking in the center, overhearing these conversations, all wore expressions of doubt. Were the expedition members perhaps a little too optimistic...?

"Riviera ...is this really okay?" the catgirl asked.

"It's alright, Ota is there. He'll soon be teaching the others how to do things," the green-haired Elf royal family said calmly.

Shirou nodded calmly. Leaving this to Ota and the others was enough; there was no one more reliable than them.

"Shirou, what do you know? Tell us!" the Amazon twins asked.

The team made it smoothly to the twentieth floor, a vast wilderness large enough to accommodate all members of the expedition.

"Then let's do it here." Ota turned around, looked at Shirou, and raised his hand.

Shirou nodded in agreement.

"Okay, notify everyone! Prepare for descent!" Allen instructed the members to shout back.

"Huh? Descent?" Some members were confused.

"Drink it!!!"

Ota suddenly shouted and stomped his foot on the ground. The ground shook violently, and the wilderness, which served as a platform, sank into a deep pit. The immense force seemed to pierce through the ground itself.

Then the entire twentieth floor collapsed, as if an earthquake had occurred. All the adventurers swayed and the ground beneath their feet continued to sink.

"Whoa!! Freya Familia, what are you doing?!"

"Taking a shortcut! Descending to the 40th floor in one go! Wow!!!"

Ota stomped down again, and the ground of the twentieth floor collapsed, falling to the twenty-first floor and crushing all the monsters below. Then it crashed down to the twenty-second floor. The dungeon's space automatically repairs itself.

However, with immense force, it could be broken through in a short time. In pursuit of efficiency, Ota used brute force to smash through the ground, and the entire group was sent flying like they were on a drop tower, heading straight to the fortieth floor.

"Listen up, Elf Squad! Prepare for area-of-effect attacks! Once we reach the fortieth floor, launch a full-scale attack!" Riviera leaned on her staff and turned to address the elven race following her.

"Yes!!" the elves answered in unison.

As a member of the Elf royal family, Riviera held a noble status. Even the elves, known for their arrogance and disdain for others, were willing to obey her commands and considered it an honor.

The True Magic elves squatted down on the ground and began chanting spells.

Chapter 1069 The Strength of Top-Tier Families

"Shirou, let us Elf Race clear the way from now on!" Riviera said to Shirou, the person she was protecting.

"Yes, thank you." Shirou nodded.

"[Release that light, the longbow of the sacred tree. You are called the Sharpshooter!]!"

Her long green hair danced in the air, Magic Circle of the same color formed, and magical light surged rapidly.

The elven force, led by Riviera, consisted of girls possessing exceptional 'magic power.' They chanted the same incantation, creating a resonance-like amplification.

Amplified by the True Magic, it transformed into the most powerful 'spear' possessed by the Elf Race!

"Aim, Elf Race archer! Pierce through, arrow that will surely hit!"

As the ground continued to break through the underground levels, by the time they reached the fortieth floor, the ground beneath the adventurers' feet was on the verge of collapse.

At this moment, below the fortieth floor, fireballs began to appear and crash down on the platform where everyone was standing in the sky.

With a series of booming explosions, the already fragile platform shattered and scattered in all directions, leaving no place for people to stand.

Fireballs continued to rain down from the ground. Some people used the capes on their backs to float in the air, while others clung tightly to the remaining stones that hadn't been scattered, blocking the fireballs.

However, the logistics support troops, carrying huge backpacks, were too sluggish to even perform these actions.

The fortieth floor is a gathering place for dragons, and the dragon king who rules this place possesses destructive power close to that of the floor master.

A blue arc appeared in the air, like a flower petal blooming beneath all the adventurers.

"[I humbly beseech you to transform into a colossal wall of forest light to protect us—my name is Alf.]"

Riviera finished her incantation, putting the 'True Magic' into standby mode, while the Magic Circle remained open.

The Elf Race felt a surge of warmth in their hearts, deeply moved by the king's blessing bestowed upon them.

Riviera raised her long staff high, as if it were a commander's battle flag, and the Elf Race surrounding her bent their knees.

Bang!!!

The dragon smashed through the thirty-ninth floor and entered the fortieth floor. The dragon inside immediately sensed the adventurer and reacted, opening its mouth to spew fireballs.

"Now!!!" Riviera commanded!

The Elf Race troops shouted in unison:

"[Arc Bow - Light Arrow]!"

From the center of the adventurer army, enormous beams of light shot out in all directions, annihilating all monsters in their path.

Then, Riviera quietly and sharply extended her staff forward, pointing it at the Dragon King.

Below, there was Dragon King, ten times larger than an ordinary dragon. It had clearly mutated, with flames burning on its tail. It was more like a fire dragon king than a Dragon King, and it roared towards the sky.

Riviera's wand emitted a pillar of light that engulfed the enormous Dragon King.

The flash of light and the roar of battle subsided, the moment the obstacles blocking the path ahead were cleared away.

"Wow, that's amazing..." The adventurers who landed on the ground were stunned as they looked around at their surroundings, which had been completely devoured.

"Well done, Loki Familia!" exclaimed Freya Familia, who was leading the way.

"Snort!!"

"Wait! How are we supposed to land now?" Several other level 4 adventurers from other clans asked in a panic; things had come to this all too suddenly.

Now they understood why Shirou had stipulated that only level 4 players could join this mission—because if their physical enhancements weren't at that level, they wouldn't even be able to keep up with their current mobility!

In contrast, Shirou simply sat in the air with his eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to the commotion.

He said from the beginning that it would be enough to leave it to Ota, Allen, and Riviera.

There's no need to worry about how to land. The real issue isn't how to stop, but how to protect yourself during a rapid descent.

"Then let's continue!"

Ota and the members of Freya Familia were the first to descend, stomping hard on the ground and falling to the lower level.

As a member of the royal family, Riviera displayed extraordinary talent when commanding the Elf Race. (Monthly fee group 694936135) The Elf Race showed no signs of fatigue; on the contrary, their fighting spirit continued to rise because they could fight alongside the royal family.

Whenever Riviera begins her incantation in response to a situation, the Elf Race form a formation, floating precisely within her Magic Circle. The light from the circle illuminates the emerald glow on the girls' faces—a light that blesses the Elf Race.

"Don't stop, you guys! Lefia!!"

"Yes! [Penetrating, Arrow of Certain Strike]!" The Loki Familia's elven girl, who had recently reached level 4, unleashed her True Magic. Relying on her talent, along with Riviera's enhancement True Magic, she acted as True Magic turret, continuously outputting powerful True Magic attacks.

The forty-first floor, the forty-second floor—they kept sinking, and on the next floor, hordes of monsters would appear. Although True Magic continued to bombard them, its efficiency gradually decreased because the monsters were becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. When they reached the forty-sixth floor, an army of man-eating plants and poisonous insects had appeared underground, almost filling the entire floor.

These are the new monsters that caused Loki Familia so much trouble before. The vines of the man-eating flower have the hardness of steel, while the poisonous insects can spray strong acid that can dissolve even high-level weapons.

"Greatshield soldiers, prepare!!!" Ota shouted.

"Yes!!"

The members of the melee unit were all equipped with giant shields, each holding one end. They raised the shields in front of them and came to the front of the dismounted crowd! They lined up side by side, each holding one side of the shield, making sure the shields were pressed tightly together.

"Caw caw!" The poisonous insect raised its front half and sprayed purple venom at the people in the air.

The shield completely blocked the venom; the venom fell off, and the shield Old Man Gil and smooth.

This is the armor that Shirou made after gathering the information.

Lefia swiftly floated to the front of the halted troops. After drawing the monsters over, she unleashed her True Magic.

"[Arc Bow - Light Arrow]!!!"

The incredibly powerful light True Magic cannonball bypassed the shield array and landed on the ground, easily annihilating the monster army below.

"Lefia, don't stop chanting! Prepare for the next shell!" Riviera's ears twitched, sensing something, and she gave the order.

"Yes!" Leifya had learned the skill of using it in parallel, allowing her to move and chant at the same time. She quickly wove together the elements of the magic cannon.

When the extermination group's numbers dropped to a certain level, a large number of plant monsters once again emerged from the land, opening their mouths to bite at the people.

Leifya immediately unleashed her True Magic, using a massive flash of light to wash away the surging monster army along with the passage, turning all enemies to ashes.

The ground, softened by the bombardment of the magic cannon, allowed everyone to land safely.

Chapter 1070 An Unexpectedly Powerful Enemy

The deeper they went, the more solid the underground environment became, making it impossible to use the previous descent tactics anymore, as it would only waste more energy.

The monsters on the next few floors became increasingly stronger, but they still couldn't withstand the relentless bombardment from the top adventurers. Finally, the group arrived at the deepest part of the fiftieth floor, in front of the lava cave that appeared on the rock wall.

Just by standing outside, you can feel the scorching heat inside.

"Ah! It's so hot! This is the target we're going to raid!"

"No matter what, we can finally go all out and do something big!"

Everyone's spirits lifted upon seeing their destination. Riviera, however, grew increasingly serious and stern as they drew closer.

Riviera recalled what she had discussed with the group leader and Heavy Master during the previous meeting.

Finn took out a piece of parchment from the drawer.

The painting depicts the monster 'Evil Dragon Níðhöggr', surrounded by several young girls.

This is the parchment Finn obtained during his battle with the dark forces in Orario. It represents the monster they believe most closely resembles the fire giant Surtr.

Gareth and Riviera looked down at the drawings spread out on the desk.

It is said that 'Nidhogg' is a monster that actually existed in the distant past.

When Lefia submitted this copy, Finn also tried to investigate, but could only deduce that it belonged to one of the "Oldest Calamity" released from the "Great Cave (Dungeon)" before the appearance of the three major adventurers' targets: 'Land King (Behemoth)', 'Sea Hegemon-King (Leviathan)', and 'Black Dragon'.

It is called speculation because Finn did not find any detailed documents and only inferred this from the historical context.

According to scattered accounts that describe 'Nidhogg'.

Its power was overwhelming, enough to plunge the entire world into an abyss of despair. It was so powerful that ancient humans were undoubtedly no match for it. As for how 'Nidhogg' was defeated, no history book mentions it.

Abstract expressions such as 'the light fell, and then it was all over' or 'the song of the son of prayer purified the evil dragon'.

In other words, such monsters were not dealt with by human power back then, but now they have to shoulder the responsibility of facing beings of the same level as that evil dragon.

"Bring the equipment over here!"

At the entrance to the lava cave, Shirou had the logistics team bring out the equipment crates they had brought. These were fully sealed bronze armors, from boots to helmet, completely protecting the wearer inside.

Each suit of armor is inlaid with twenty-eight gems, one part to absorb external heat and the other part to release cool air to maintain the temperature inside the armor.

Shirou stepped forward, emitting a white light, and began enhancing the equipment there. Then he addressed the adventurers:

"With this equipment, even if you're submerged in lava for a short time, you won't be in any danger. However, if the gem breaks, you must retreat! Preserving your life is the most important thing!"

Anyone who gets here is considered to have completed the mission, and will receive a reward regardless of the outcome. We'll try our best to force Surtr out before engaging in battle."

"Wow! As expected of Shirou, so generous!" the adventurers exclaimed in admiration.

"Wow, it's so light! Yet it seems very sturdy. It's truly top-notch."

"Let's go inside!"