The Delayed Return

This is a very familiar feeling.

It felt like my whole body was sinking into the seabed. It was dark all around, and I couldn't see anything. Something heavier than consciousness was squeezing my body, dragging both my body and consciousness deeper into the sea.

This feeling is very uncomfortable, especially for the head. It's not only uncomfortable and heavy, but also has a series of stabbing pains that are extremely torturous.

This is the feeling of completely draining one's mental energy, leaving oneself in a state of mental exhaustion.

I don't know how long this feeling lasted before it slowly faded away.

"Hmm----"

Leo's consciousness began to surface, and with a barely audible groan, he slowly opened his eyes.

"You're finally awake, Leo!"

It seemed someone was startled by Leo's low murmur; a surprised voice reached Leo's ears, completely waking him from his still somewhat hazy consciousness.

Leo reflexively opened his eyes, only to find himself lying on the ground, his head resting on someone's lap, fast asleep.

"---- Tiona?"

Leo finally managed to recover and recognize the innocent and romantic face that had entered his field of vision.

"You're finally awake!" Tiona sat down on the floor, letting Leo rest his head on her smooth thighs, a joyful smile on her face. She said repeatedly, "If you hadn't woken up, we would have carried you all the way back to the floor!"

Upon hearing this, Leo shook his still somewhat heavy head, forced himself to stay alert, and looked around.

This is a cave, and a rather familiar one at that.

The white, cloudy ceiling and floor told Leo that he hadn't left the 37th Floor yet.

The walls were also a muddy white, but they were riddled with cracks from weapons, and there were fragments scattered all around.

The cave wasn't very large, at least not compared to the Throne Room, and there was only one entrance, which Lefiya Viridis guarded to prevent monster attacks.

In the corner of the cave, there was a Magic Stone lamp that provided brighter lighting than phosphorescence. Leo's group's luggage was also piled up in the corner. This familiar scene made Leo realize in an instant that this should be a rest room that he and his group often used when they were conquering the 37th Floor.

Because the previous safe floor is on the 28th Floor, which is nearly ten floors away, Leo's team sometimes comes here to rest when they just want to take a short break. They use this not-so-large cave as their resting place.

This cave is located in a remote area, far from the main route, and rarely has monsters roaming around. Moreover, if you damage the walls or other parts, the Dungeon will usually prioritize repairing the damaged areas rather than allowing new monsters to spawn inside the walls. Therefore, as long as you destroy the walls of the cave like this, no monsters will be born in this cave until the walls are repaired.

Under such circumstances, as long as people take turns guarding the only entrance to the cave, the cave can become an excellent place to rest, free from monster attacks.

Therefore, during the week of conquering the 37th Floor, Leo and his group frequently used this cave, and now it was clearly brought here to rest by Tiona, Tione, Lefiya Viridis, and others.

How long have I been asleep?

After understanding the current situation, Leo did not rush to get up. He rubbed his forehead and asked a question.

"I don't know, I haven't calculated it precisely, but Lefiya Viridis said not long ago that it's probably already the second day on the ground."

Tiona spoke in her signature cheerful tone, soothing Leo's slight concerns.

The next day?

Leo murmured something.

Before encountering Udaeus, it was probably noon on the ground. If they had started their return journey then, they should have been able to reach the 28th Floor by nightfall.

If you rest there for the night, returning to the 18th Floor the next day will be no problem at all.

But now, most likely because of her relationship with Ais, Tiona and the others did not choose to return immediately, but instead brought everyone to this lounge to wait for the two to wake up.

And so they waited until the next day.

"By the way, where's Ais?"

Remembering a certain blonde girl, Leo suddenly sat up and spoke urgently to Tiona.

Before he lost consciousness, he clearly remembered that Ais's condition was not much better than his own; in fact, in terms of injuries alone, Ais's were probably much more severe than his.

After all, he had Protective Starlight and the Giant Battle Suit to weaken Udaeus's attacks, and he also carried a lot of elixirs. Ais, on the other hand, was only protected by a layer of wind and had hardly used any elixirs, so her injuries were naturally much more severe than Leo's.

Recalling how the other person had fallen from the sky with him, covered in blood, Leo became unusually anxious.

However, before Tiona could respond, a familiar, cool voice rang out.

"I'm here."

Along with the voice, a very familiar blond figure burst in.

Ais, whose clothes were tattered and torn, walked in from outside the cave with Tione.

She had a sword hanging at her waist and held a bunch of wild fruits she had picked from somewhere. Her appearance was not good, but the blood-soaked look was gone.

"You little rascal, you're finally awake."

Tione, who was standing next to Ais, was also holding a bunch of fruit in her hands, and her expression relaxed a little when she saw Leo.

Clearly, Ais had already woken up, but Leo remained asleep, which worried everyone.

Unfortunately, Ais was only seriously injured and could be healed with the Elixir, but Leo was so exhausted that he fell into a coma. To wake up, he would undoubtedly have to go through a deep sleep to recover most of his mental energy, just like last time, before he could slowly awaken.

Therefore, Leo woke up much later than Ais, so Ais and Tione had to go out to find food in order to stay there longer and wait for Leo to wake up.

If Leo doesn't wake up soon, they're really going to have to carry him on their backs and head back.

"Luckily, you didn't fall into a deep sleep for a whole day and night like last time."

Lefiya Viridis muttered something under her breath as she looked at the entrance to the cave.

If Leo were to fall into a deep sleep for a full day and night like last time, he might not even be on the 37th floor when he wakes up.

Layered.

With such a big man by their side, the group of girls had little confidence in making their return journey smoothly.

Who can blame them when this is a deep realm that even first-level adventurers dare not underestimate?

It's safe to say that everyone breathed a sigh of relief that Leo woke up at this time.

This is also because Leo is different from last time. Not only is his level higher, but he has also learned the development ability of "Mind Healing," which has made his mental energy recovery speed much faster, so he didn't sleep for a whole day and night.

"I'm sorry for the trouble."

Seeing that Ais had woken up and seemed to be alright, Leo was relieved and said these words to Tiona and the others.

That seems a bit too polite.

However, when they thought about the scene of Leo and Ais fighting Udaeus, everyone couldn't help but complain again.

"So you're causing us trouble now, huh?" Tione complained without any politeness. "We agreed to give it a try, and if it didn't go well, we'd just run away. And look at the state you've ended up in! It's hardly a 'try'!"

"Yeah, right!" Tiona chimed in, complaining, "I thought you two were doomed! I was so worried, and those Earthborn caught me off guard and slashed at me several times!"

"Seriously—you guys are really going too far." Even Lefiya Viridis couldn't help but speak up, muttering to herself, "Mr. Leo and Miss Ais are both pushing themselves too hard."

Only those who witnessed the battle from the closest distance knew how desperately Leo and Ais fought.

That was practically burning their own lives; if they weren't careful, they wouldn't be talking to two people today, but to two corpses.

The thought that Leo might have died in that battle Lefiya Viridis Ais dread.

Leo and Ais were aware of this as well, and sat there together with their heads down, looking ashamed.

The group only wanted to complain a bit; they didn't really have any complaints. So, seeing that Leo and Ais were both willing to learn from them, their resentment dissipated.

"Although it was reckless and suicidal, you ultimately succeeded in defeating Udaeus. Congratulations!" Tione said with emotion. "That was Udaeus, a floor master with potential exceeding Lv.6. Even our entire clan had to send out all its elite forces to ensure a zero-casualty victory, yet you two managed to take him down."

"Yes! That's really amazing!" Tiona's eyes lit up as she exclaimed with genuine joy, "One Lv.4 and one Lv.5 managed to defeat a Lv.6 floor master! If this gets back to Earth, it will surely amaze countless people!"

Upon hearing this, Leo and Ais exchanged a glance. One smiled slightly, and the other relaxed, no longer looking as bitter and resentful as she had a few days ago.

"Thanks to you all," Leo said. "If it weren't for you holding off those Earthborn, things wouldn't have been so easy for us."

"Yes." Ais nodded earnestly and said, "It's all because of everyone, thank you."

Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya Viridis felt a little embarrassed by such a sincere thank you.

"We didn't do anything, we just killed some Earthborn."

"That's right, we only dealt with a bunch of grunts. The real trouble is Udaeus."

"The defeat of Udaeus was due to the efforts of both of them."

Tiona, Tione, Lefiya Viridis each spoke up, which wasn't an excuse, but rather a statement of fact.

Aside from helping to stop the Earthborn, the three of them did not participate in the battle against Udaeus at all, or rather, they could not participate at all. They could only watch helplessly as Leo and Ais fought desperately.

This is hardly a merit; in fact, it's quite frustrating.

Fortunately, Leo and Ais were both tough and strong enough that the two of them together were enough to deal with Udaeus. Otherwise, the three women, who failed to play a key role, might have felt more than just frustrated.

"You two must have gained a lot this time, right?" Tiona asked with curiosity and concern. "So? Are you confident about leveling up?"

Tione and Lefiya Viridis both looked at the two of them.

Under the watchful eyes of the three, Leo and Ais reacted differently.

"----I hope so."

Ais clenched her fist quietly, making no attempt to hide her hopes.

She genuinely wanted to become stronger and use this opportunity to advance to the next stage and grow once again.

The reason Ais fought so desperately and rushed into the battlefield without hesitation to block the full force of Udaeus's black greatsword was, besides wanting to save Leo, that Ais wanted to challenge this powerful enemy who had been forced to unleash new power.

Leo wants to reach Lv.5 by challenging Udaeus, Ais also wants to enter a new stage by challenging Udaeus.

Therefore, she really hopes that she can get her wish this time.

In contrast, Leo remained remarkably calm.

"There shouldn't be any problem."

He was still somewhat confident about it.

In the original story, Ais successfully accomplished her great feat by challenging Udaeus, thus advancing to Level 6.

That battle was a near-death experience. Without using [Avenger], Ais had no chance of winning against Udaeus. In the end, she only survived with the help of Riveria Ljos Alf and finally defeated her opponent, securing victory.

Although Udaeus was defeated by him and Ais together, and the experience points were probably split between them, Ais in the original story was able to level up smoothly with Riveria Ljos Alf's help. Even if she had to share the experience points herself, she shouldn't be unable to level up.

Udaeus, as a floor master whose potential abilities even surpass Lv.6, is not someone that can be defeated by a Lv.4 and a Lv.5 teaming up. Once defeated, the experience points it provides will be endless.

Ais has already accumulated more than three years of experience at the Lv.5 stage. During this time, she has defeated countless powerful enemies. She certainly must have accumulated some high-level experience points, but it was just not enough to level up. Now, with the large amount of high-level experience points provided by Udaeus, even if the difficulty of reaching Lv.6 is high, it should be barely enough.

As for Leo, due to the existence of his unexplained special skill [People of the Alien Star], it seems that even the difficulty limit for leveling up has been removed, greatly reducing the difficulty of leveling up. Even if he only shares a portion of Udaeus's achievements, reaching Lv.5 should still not be a problem.

So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, both he Ais should get what they want this time.

Thinking about this, Leo was getting impatient.

Let's go.

He stood up, smiled at the girls present, and said something.

"It's time to go home."

19

Everyone stood up and nodded in agreement.

The group of five began packing their luggage and organizing their equipment, then left the cave and headed towards the entrance to the next floor.

This long-awaited return journey can finally begin in earnest.