"Go to hell!"
With a roar, Tiona darted back and forth through the monster horde.
The enormous Great Double Blades whirled magnificently in her hands, leaving no opening.
Moving with incredible speed, Tiona showed no awareness of danger as she endlessly cut down the monsters before her.
"That makes five!"
A powerful slash cleaved the enemy in two, her decisive attacks constantly embodying her title.
Great Cut!
After killing the enemy before her, she ignored its corpse and charged straight toward the next monster.
"That idiot! Keep up with her, Ais!"
"Understood!"
Hearing Tione's command, Ais flashed past like a streak of silver, instantly smashing the monsters that had tried to surround her into pieces.
This was the fifty-first floor of the Dungeon, an extremely rare labyrinthine area.
Terrain like this was uncommon even in the deeper levels.
Its walls, floor, and ceiling formed flat surfaces, while countless neatly arranged natural underground passages created numerous corners and crossroads.
The pitch-black walls were neither stone nor soil. Here, the only source of light came from the phosphorescence overhead.
In the spacious, straight passage, Ais and the others were fighting the monsters of the fifty-first floor.
Black Rhinoceros!
They were monsters with forward-leaning bodies that walked on two legs. Though less than two meters tall, their entire bodies were packed with sturdy muscles.
Their durability was far greater than that of the Formor on the forty-ninth floor. The Formor were practically children before them.
But their opponents were no ordinary people. They were the elite team of the Loki Familia.
"Ha!"
Leaping down from midair, Tiona wielded the Great Double Blades and cleaved one head-on in two. With a follow-up smash, she sent another Black Rhinoceros beside it flying.
Before the Black Rhinoceros she had sent flying could even land, a flash of silver appeared. The moment Ais targeted it, it turned into Magic Stones.
Relying on her unparalleled speed, Ais's figure flickered constantly among the monsters.
Every time she swung her sword, another Black Rhinoceros was cut down.
[O liberated light arrow, bow of sacred wood, I am the master of the bow.]
[Fire, elven archer!]
[Penetrate, sure-hit arrow!]
About ten meters away from Ais, Tiona, and the monsters, the elven girl chanted the spell in an elegant, rhythmic voice.
"Arc Ray!"
A golden beam then shot from Lefia's hand. Its dazzling radiance crossed the distance in an instant and struck the monster's enormous body in the blink of an eye.
The huge spider monster that had secretly emerged from the ceiling was destroyed by Lefia's Arc Ray before it could do anything.
"Ais, Miss Tiona, watch out for the Aberrant Spiders on the ceiling!"
"Nice work, Lefia!"
Hearing Lefia's shout, Tiona answered loudly.
Even Ais found an opportunity amid the battle to nod at Tiona.
Seeing their responses, Lefia smiled shyly, her face flushing red.
Lefia was extremely pleased with the change in herself.
"You're getting more and more confident, Lefia!"
After shooting an arrow at a Black Rhinoceros, Shirou Emiya lowered his head and smiled as he praised Lefia.
If this had been the old Lefia, she probably would not even have been able to finish chanting!
The moment Shirou Emiya finished speaking, an explosion erupted, and the destructive power of Illusionary Collapse swept through everything around it.
As the power of Illusionary Collapse continued to fall behind, Shirou Emiya had been searching for a way to change it.
In the end, Shirou Emiya found a new method of attack.
By using increasingly powerful arrows and shooting them into the enemy's body to detonate them from within, he could inflict damage even on someone with the durability of a Level 5.
And this attack was exactly that.
"Shirou, four more are coming from the passage on the right. I'll leave them to you!"
"Don't worry, Tione. I'll take care of every one of them."
Abandoning his attack, Shirou Emiya re-Projected an enhanced greatsword version of Gan Jiang Mo Ye and charged straight ahead.
As the middle guard, Tione directed the battle while supporting the attack by throwing daggers.
With Lefia's magical attacks—she was no longer timid—added to the mix, the monsters here were soon wiped out.
"Good work, Lefia. This is all thanks to you!"
"That's right. Lefia did a great job!"
"Indeed. You're far more reliable than I expected!"
As seniors facing such a dependable junior, Tione and the other two did not hesitate to praise her.
"I'm not that good!"
"Don't be modest, Lefia. Just obediently accept your seniors' praise!"
After lightly patting Lefia on the shoulder, Shirou Emiya praised her as well.
After all the praise, the five of them began collecting the Magic Stones and dropped materials.
Tione had originally not intended to collect materials, but this expedition was different. With Shirou Emiya and Lefia as their two supporters, the team had enough leeway to gather some dropped materials.
After finishing the collection, the five once again set out toward Cadmus Spring.
Among the five-person team, Tiona led the way at the front as the vanguard.
Tione served as the middle guard, protecting Shirou Emiya and Lefia as they walked in the center.
Ais, the strongest of them all, brought up the rear.
Facing the monsters of the fifty-first floor, the five continued deeper at an unstoppable pace.
"I feel like hardly any monsters have come out today!"
"Isn't it better if they avoid us? If we can complete the commission without fighting, that would be a blessing!"
"That's not what I meant! Whatever!"
After that, although they encountered monsters several more times, the five dealt with them without difficulty.
But the deeper they went, the more uneasy Shirou Emiya became!
"This is too strange!"
"What's wrong?"
Hearing Shirou Emiya suddenly speak, everyone was startled, but they quickly asked him seriously.
"The number of these monsters is far too abnormal! They completely lack the intensity the fifty-first floor should have. Could we have encountered an Abnormal Situation?"
"An Abnormal Situation!"
At those words, everyone's heart tightened involuntarily.
For adventurers, the most dangerous thing was an Abnormal Situation.
It could always lay an inescapable net around adventurers without them realizing it, then take their lives.
Tione's heart sank as she began to think.
This place was indeed far too abnormal. It was completely different from when they had come here before.
"Quick march. Don't linger here too long. Reach Cadmus Spring as quickly as possible!"
"Yes!"
Not only Tione—even after hearing about the Abnormal Situation, everyone had grown tense.
If they encountered an Abnormal Situation here, even they would have trouble enduring it!
Especially since they were already very close to Cadmus Spring. If the Abnormal Situation drew over the guardian dragon protecting Cadmus Spring, things would become truly troublesome.
Their pace grew faster and faster. As the road beneath their feet narrowed, Tione knew they were about to reach their destination.
Just then, she ordered the party to stop.
"We're about to reach Cadmus Spring. Before that, let's review the precautions!"
Before you continue