Dungeon, 50th Floor.
When Riezel and the others returned to this floor, the sight before them immediately told them that the worst-case scenario had come to pass.
"Boom!"
An explosion rang out from atop a cliff, whose rocky face was covered everywhere in yellow-green slime.
People were roaring.
People were screaming.
Monsters were shrieking, destroying, and ravaging everything.
"So they were attacked after all."
Finn stared at the black smoke rising from the cliff, his expression grim.
"Riveria!"
Ais reacted even more fiercely. No longer holding back her speed, she shot forward like an arrow.
"Miss Ais!"
Lefiya cried out in alarm.
Yet at almost the same moment, another figure beside Lefiya turned into afterimages and darted away.
"Mister Riezel!"
Seeing Riezel charge out as well, Lefiya could no longer hold herself back and chased after him.
"Damn it!"
Bete, Tiona, and Tione went without saying. Even Finn, Gareth, and Raul, who had only just caught his breath, stopped restraining themselves. Driven by emotion, they all rushed toward the cliff.
Ais was the first to reach the destination.
She raced up the cliff and through the forest, then caught sight of an open clearing and a flat rock platform where a campsite had been set up.
However, the once orderly camp had nearly been reduced to ruins. The Familia members had gathered together and were fighting enormous Worm Monsters that clung flat against the rocks.
"Quick! Raise your shields!"
Riveria, protected at the center, shouted in a rare tone of urgency.
Around her, all the Familia members had formed a circle. Dwarves and beastmen stood at the very front with shields raised, blocking the Corrosive Liquid sprayed by the Worm Monsters and protecting everyone behind them.
Unfortunately, they could not hold out for long.
The Worm Monsters' corrosive Dissolving Liquid