Must Become Stronger
Night fell quietly.
When the adventurers left the Dungeon and emerged from the Babel Tower, the events that had occurred in Rivira Town were inevitably reported back to the surface, becoming known to the guilds, various clans, and even the citizens.
Upon learning that Rivira Town had been attacked by monsters and nearly destroyed, the city buzzed with discussion for a while, but it didn't cause much of a stir.
"That black town has been destroyed again?"
This is the most common first thought.
There was no way around it; Rivira Town had already been destroyed 333 times before this, and the Rivira Town that Leo and his companions arrived at was actually the 334th generation. This shows just how common it was for Rivira Town to be attacked by monsters and destroyed before.
Therefore, upon learning that Rivira Town had been attacked by monsters and nearly destroyed, the people in the city not only did not make a fuss, but even seemed to take it for granted. What's more, some people were secretly—no, openly gloating—which shows how bad the town's reputation was in the industry.
Although it is an essential supply and rest stop when exploring the Dungeon, people still feel that they have been suffering in Rivira Town for too long.
Countless people have been scammed there, and even more have been cheated out of their money. Even the Loki Familia, the strongest faction in the city, looks at it with a burning hatred. Not to mention the rest of the population.
Therefore, when they learned that Rivira Town had almost been destroyed, no one took it seriously. Instead, they made fun of it at the dinner table, completely ignoring what had actually happened behind the scenes.
The guild reacted rather strangely. They immediately sent people to Rivira Town to investigate, but upon their return, they made no further plans, as if they intended to let the matter drop, which was quite intriguing.
The Loki Familia also received a letter sent back by Leo and the others. The letter clearly recorded the whole incident, including the deaths caused by the existence of the Green Orb, the existence of Lulune, the receiver from the Hermes Familia, and information about the mysterious woman who commanded many Man-Eating Flower monsters and was stronger than a human.
Loki, Finn, Riveria Ljos Alf, and Gareth, the leaders of the Familia, already knew about this, but because Leo and the others were still in the Dungeon, they didn't know how they had reacted. Only a letter was delivered to them overnight while they were resting on the 18th Floor, containing only a short sentence.
"We'll discuss this in more detail when we get back."
That's how it is.
So Leo and the others stopped thinking about it. Seeing that there was no need to pay attention to the matters in Rivira Town, the group went straight into the back floors and began their plan to explore the deeper levels, according to the original plan.
They traversed the Great Tree Labyrinth levels 19-24) and the Water Capital (levels 25-27) in just one day, skipping the safe floor Labyrinth Garden on 28th Floor and directly entering the Dense Forest Ravine (levels 29-32), finally even reaching level 33-
The 36 levels of the Desert Labyrinth were quickly traversed, finally arriving at the main destination of the strategy: the 37th Floor, the "White Palace."
As its name suggests, this floor is filled with walls stained a muddy white and a complex maze.
The labyrinth here is not only complex but also enormous. Its scale is vastly different from the floors we have seen so far. The passageways, rooms, and walls are all wide and large. Although there are some small rooms, almost all the paths and chambers are more than ten meters wide.
The building is circular in shape, consisting of five layers of ring walls, resembling a castle with each layer encircling the previous one, hence the name "White Palace." The staircase leading to the next floor is located in the center. If adventurers want to reach the central area, they must traverse the open passages between the ring walls, climbing up and down several uneven surfaces. Even if they find the best route, it would probably take half a day to reach their destination.
This floor is almost the size of the entire Orario area. The space overhead is so high that even advanced adventurers cannot see the ceiling. The entire space is filled with dim darkness, making it particularly gloomy. Only the phosphorescent lights that occasionally illuminate the white walls provide negligible lighting. Staying there for a long time would undoubtedly make people feel very depressed.
As for the monsters here, they are among the best in terms of both quantity and quality on floors above the 40th Floor.
The 37th Floor will feature many warrior-type monsters, which are species that pride themselves on their melee combat abilities.
There are Barbarian with muscular physiques like the Minotaur, elite Lizardman Elite of advanced breeds that begin to appear from the 19th floor onwards, and Obsidian Soldier with black stone bodies. These medium-sized monsters with the same structure as humans are everywhere in the White Palace, making it almost impossible for pure Mage to move an inch.
They often don't even have time to chant before these enemies with outstanding melee abilities quickly close in and attack. Unless they can skillfully use Parallel Chanting, pure Mage simply cannot use their skills here. Even with the protection of companions, it cannot be said to be foolproof, because the Obsidian Soldier here have black stone bodies that can effectively resist magic and greatly reduce the power of magic.
Their production intervals are also very short, keeping the entire floor constantly full of monsters and making them difficult to clear. If the 37th Floor weren't so large that the monsters could only be evenly distributed throughout the floor, even a small team of first-level adventurers would find it very troublesome.
This is the value of the 37th Floor, and also the value of the deeper layers.
Starting from this level, even first-level adventurers need to be extremely vigilant to cope. The guild recommends that the minimum level for tackling this area is Lv.4.
These are just the most basic requirements. If you are really trying to conquer this area at level 4, it would be best to form a ten-person team. The team should have capable people in the front, middle and back positions, as well as forward warriors and back Mage. It would be best to even have a healer. The entire team must be without any obvious weaknesses in order to make it relatively safe to venture here.
In other words, given Leo's rank, he's at best a basic unit here, a common soldier who would be just another ordinary soldier anywhere.
Yet this very soldier, when faced with the hordes of warrior-like monsters swarming from the front of the vast passage, charged forward without hesitation.
"Woohoo!"
A large group of Barbarian rushed out from around the corner of the murky white passage, roaring as they raised their natural weapons.
Not only do they possess a physique on par with the Minotaur, but they also have curved horns and enormous jaws, wielding clubs and maces. Each one exudes an aura far surpassing the ferocious bull monsters that strike fear into the hearts of lower-level adventurers, demonstrating the vast difference in ability between monsters dwelling in the deeper levels and those on the higher levels.
This melee monster, which even a level 4 adventurer would find difficult to deal with, can smash walls and dent the ground with a mere swing of its club, creating a crater two or three meters wide—it's incredibly violent.
"Clang!"
Leo lowered his body and charged forward like a ghost, illuminated by the phosphorescent light that flashed at intervals on the white, cloudy wall. With a flash of his Dragon Fang Sword, he deflected the club that had been violently snatched away and repelled the Barbarian's attack.
If any other Level 4, Tier 2 adventurers were here, they would be utterly astonished to see this.
Just as the orcs on 11th Floor 12th Floor, though not yet classified as Lv.2, possess "Strength" values so high that even many Lv.2 advanced adventurers are unwilling to engage them head-on, the Barbarian's "Strength" value is definitely not an ordinary Lv.4.
What could have been a direct confrontation, Leo easily met head-on, even deflecting it with a flick of his wrist.
This is only natural.
Even though it's not as high as the "Demonic Power" parameter, Leo's "strength," "endurance," "dexterity," "agility," and other abilities have all been trained to SS level at each level, breaking through the theoretical limit and exceeding the highest rating of S by one stage.
Under such circumstances, after several levels, these abilities had long since become his latent potential, allowing him to reach Lv.4.
He possessed abilities far exceeding those of adventurers of the same level. Even dwarves, who were strong and skilled at training their "strength" and "endurance," could hardly compare to him without the aid of skills or development abilities.
Therefore, Leo could easily defeat Barbarian that would be difficult for an ordinary Lv.4 to fight head-on.
"Pfft!"
The Dragon Fang Sword flashed with a chilling light, slicing deep into the flesh of the Barbarian whose club had been deflected, severing his massive body in two.
"Woohoo!"
Seeing their comrade's tragic death, the remaining Barbarian roared in fury, swinging their clubs one after another and attacking Leo. However, as Leo dodged left and right, their attacks missed repeatedly, only managing to strike the ground or walls, creating craters.
"Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!"----
While dodging, Leo continuously wielded the Dragon Fang Sword, sometimes using lightning-fast flashes, sometimes unleashing powerful slashes, sometimes slashing diagonally, sometimes hacking horizontally, forcefully cutting, severing, and shattering the bodies of the Barbarian, sending limbs and blood flying everywhere.
This may seem cruel, but compared to another figure who rushed forward without explanation, Leo's actions were already considered merciful.
Yes, as Leo rushed forward without hesitation, the blonde female swordsman also resolutely charged forward.
With a cold expression, she charged into the monster horde like a storm, unleashing a massacre that stained her silver saber with blood.
In an instant, she unleashed dozens of sword strikes, each sharp enough to easily sever the body of a Barbarian. When the Barbarian raised his club, Leo would deflect it, dodge, and parry, but the blonde swordswoman ignored all of that, directly severing the Barbarian along with his club, cutting him in two with a single stroke.
The Barbarian would also open its enormous jaws and shoot out a long tongue to attack nearby enemies. Leo's usual approach was to deflect, block, and dodge, but the blonde swordswoman would sever it with a single sword strike. Then, as the severed tongue flew into the air, she would unleash another lightning-fast sword strike, cleanly slicing through the still-open jaws in front of her, causing the Barbarian to let out a silent scream.
Cold, sharp, and ruthless— Ais's sword remains true to its style, but its intensity has only increased.
Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya Viridis looked at Leo and Ais in bewilderment.
"They must have been provoked by something, right?"
Tiona said this as if to confirm it.
Tione smiled wryly and did not refute, while Lefiya Viridis looked worried.
This is because, throughout the journey, both Leo and Ais maintained the same fighting style. While it seemed no different from before, it was clear to anyone with eyes that both of them had become more silent and more desperate than before.
Starting from the 19th floor, no matter what kind of monster they saw, the two of them would rush out immediately and start slaughtering without saying a word. Compared with their previous style of clearing the map, they were noticeably more silent and repressed.
Especially Leo.
Ais is alright. Although the feeling she gives off has changed, she has always had this style of silently killing enemies; it's just that it's become more pronounced than before.
But if Leo also becomes like that, then something is very wrong.
What exactly happened to Mr. Leo and Miss Ais?
Lefiya Viridis originally wanted to practice her Parallel Chanting skills on this floor. The monsters on this floor were not very friendly to pure defensive Mage, and only those who were proficient in Parallel Chanting could barely cope with them. That's why Lefiya Viridis wanted to practice here.
But now, seeing that Ais and Leo were acting strangely, she couldn't care less about training anymore and could only watch them with a worried expression.
"Is it because of what happened in Rivira Town yesterday?" Tione said, frowning. "Those Man-Eating Flower monsters and female-shaped monsters are indeed suspicious, and we must investigate their connection to the new monsters we encountered on our expedition, but surely it shouldn't have caused them to become like this?"
"I think it's probably because of that mysterious attacker." Tiona's words came true, perfectly guessing the truth. She muttered, "Ever since meeting that person, Ais's emotions have been acting strange, and Leo has become strange too."
That is indeed the case.
The thought of the mysterious woman who called her "Aria" made Ais's heart race.
Leo, however, always remembered what the other person had said.
"Next time, I will definitely kill you."
Leo knew very well just how dangerous the mysterious woman who made this declaration was.
Therefore, he must become stronger in order to deal with that murderous intent that could arrive at any time.