The Mutated Culprit
On the other side, Leo had just emerged from the gradually healing wall of flesh when he immediately saw the Hermes Familia entangled with the Man-Eating Flower plants.
"Archers, prepare! Fire!"
Asfi threw out a large amount of explosives and gave instructions to the defenders to fire arrows.
The arrows weren't aimed at the Man-Eating Flower, but rather at the explosive charges flying towards Man-Eating Flower.
As the arrow struck, the explosives detonated on the spot.
--",,,,,,,,., Flames suddenly erupted everywhere, and bursts of flame bloomed in mid-air, affecting the oncoming Man-Eating Flower monsters. Some were injured, and others were blown away, their wailing cries filling the air.
The Hermes Spring Familia, who were originally surrounded, immediately seized the opportunity to break out. With several strong dwarves and orcs clearing the way, they broke out of the encirclement.
During the breakout, the central defenders, led by Asfi, swung their swords at the Man-Eating Flower monsters around them, slashing their bodies and making their howls even louder.
The vanguard was responsible for defending and breaking through, the center-backs were responsible for inflicting damage, and the rearguards provided support. The entire Hermes Familia team dealt with the attacking Man-Eating Flower in an orderly manner and managed to hold on for a while.
Some people were injured during the process, but the Hermes Familia had prepared ample elixirs and supplies for the trip. Asfi would arrange for rotations from time to time, allowing those who were exhausted or injured to retreat to the rear to recover.
In this way, the adventurers of the entire Hermes Familia adapted to the battlefield at an unexpected speed, and also to the strength and characteristics of the Man-Eating Flower monsters, slowly beginning to turn the tide and gain the upper hand.
"You're quite capable."
Leo was somewhat surprised, but when he thought about the background of the Hermes Familia, he understood.
Although they are not as powerful as the Loki Familia, Freya Familia, or Ganesha Familia, the Hermes Familia is an adventurer team that has reached the 37th Floor and is capable of venturing deeper into the layers.
Such Hermes Familia would have a true factional rank of at least B, and possibly even A.
Furthermore, with Asfi Al Andromeda, a rare master of magical artifacts, assisting in the creation of various magical artifacts, she can even unleash combat power comparable to Lv.5. A group of Man-Eating Flower monsters with obvious weaknesses are not enough to pose a significant threat to them.
But----
"The resolution speed is still too slow."
Leo flashed by, his entire body sweeping past like a storm.
A black sword light flashed, transforming into a jet-black sword dance. As Leo darted around like a storm, it slashed in all directions, instantly creating a series of "splattering" cutting sounds. It chopped all the Man-Eating Flower in its path into pieces, turning them into corpses that fell to the ground on the spot.
"Eligos!"
Seeing this, Lulune, who was fighting a Man-Eating Flower monster, was overjoyed.
"Leo Eligos!"
He's back!
The others' eyes lit up and they became excited.
"Is it just you?" Asfi breathed a sigh of relief at first, then asked, "Where's [Sword Princess]?"
"She's still on the other side." Leo flashed to the front of the team, confronting a large group of Man-Eating Flower, and said without turning his head, "There are enemies over there too, she's dealing with them, I'm coming to support you."
As he spoke, Leo unleashed a magic circle, shooting out countless flying meteors that blasted the Man-Eating Flower that were charging towards him with a roar like broken gongs, blasting them to pieces with a deafening boom.
Seeing that the Man-Eating Flower army that they had worked so hard to deal with was being suppressed by Leo's firepower alone, Asfi couldn't help but gasp in amazement. However, she still decisively gave the order, allowing the Mage in the rear to finally begin chanting magic.
Originally, because the Man-Eating Flower monsters were unusually aggressive towards Demonic Power sources, the Mage on the rear had been using bows and arrows to avoid being targeted.
But now, with Leo's powerful Demonic Power reaction attracting the Man-Eating Flower monsters, the Demonic Power reactions produced by the Hermes Spring Familia Mage when chanting spells were insignificant and didn't attract the monsters' attention at all.
Thus, through the chanting of Mage, countless spells came into being.
Fire, Lightning, storms, ice and snow—various different types of attack magic were unleashed, streaking across the sky like Meteor Shower and landing in the center of the Man-Eating Flower plant swarm.
Violent explosions erupted one after another, sending the Man-Eating Flower plants flying and crashing into the ground.
Leo also used magic to attack, abandoning the incantation to unleash [Meteor Dance]. Even with a strong Demonic Power reaction, the Man-Eating Flower monsters were unable to react and attack under such circumstances, and were pierced, blasted, and exploded one by one by the thick meteor.
"Pfft!"
The black longsword ripped through the air for what seemed like the umpteenth time, severing the head of a Man-Eating Flower that was attacking from the side, causing the headless body to crash to the ground.
This is the last one.
Leo casually finished off the last remaining Man-Eating Flower, signaling the end of the battle.
Asfi and the others immediately gathered around and came to Leo's side.
Should we go support [Sword Princess]?
Asfi asked Leo for his opinion.
"No, let's leave that to Ais." Leo shook his head and said, "Let's move on."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Lulune asked with some concern, "That woman is very strong, isn't she?"
As a participant in the Rivira Town attack, Lulune had witnessed Revis's power firsthand.
At that time, even though Leo and Ais took turns fighting, they couldn't defeat their opponent and were even suppressed by them, which made Lulune worry about Ais's safety.
"It's alright, Ais isn't the same Ais used to be."
Leo offered a word of comfort.
That is indeed the case.
Ais is now at Lv.6, much stronger than she was ten days ago. She can suppress Revis even without using [Ariel], not to mention that Ruivis has [Ariel] as her trump card.
If you push her too far and make her use all the sealed [Avenger] skills like she did on the 37th Floor not long ago, then Revis will be in big trouble.
Therefore, Leo is not worried at all that Ais will get into trouble now, unless Revis has other helpers to assist her.
But is it possible that the hot-tempered woman would get someone else to help her deal with Ais?
It's obvious that it's impossible.
If she doesn't take Ais down with her own hands, Revis will definitely not give up.
"Let's hurry to the grain depot; addressing the root of the problem there is more important than anything else."
Upon hearing this, Asfi nodded.
Since Leo, a fellow member of the same clan, had said so, they naturally had no reason to object.
Although losing a Lv.6 main combatant is somewhat unsettling, with Leo around, we're not too insecure.
"Let's go then."
Asfi immediately rallied the people of the Rolling Clan and followed behind Leo, continuing their journey.
Without Ais, Leo naturally became the team's strongest fighter, taking the lead and clearing the way for the team.
Along the way, the Man-Eating Flower monsters kept attacking, sometimes in large numbers and sometimes in small numbers, but Leo alone basically drove them back, Hermes Familia had little chance to make a move.
As the intensity and frequency of the battles increased, Leo had basically adapted to his current level of strength and adjusted his mind and body to prevent any mental or physical dislocation.
This made him increasingly adept at fighting, and his performance became stronger and stronger. Later, he didn't even need magic anymore. With just a sword, he could kill countless Man-Eating Flower monsters that attacked like a storm. The Hermes Familia were terrified when they saw this, and they felt more and more that this legendary monster newcomer was a prodigy.
"Look ahead!"
At one point, Lulune, spoke up.
Following the sound, everyone looked and saw a faint phosphorescent light, different from the faint light emitted by the withered flowers on the walls and ceiling, appearing ahead of the endless passage.
The light was blood red, which looked somewhat ominous, yet also somewhat beautiful.
Is it the light of quartz?
Someone said this.
Located at the very edge of the Dungeon, in the food storage area stands an enormous quartz pillar. This crystal pillar seeps out nutrient solution to provide for the monsters and emits a mysterious light, forever illuminating that space.
The light emanating from that large red crystal pillar was indeed red.
In other words, they have arrived at their destination.
"Walk!"
Leo narrowed his eyes, slashed down a Man-Eating Flower monster with his sword, and led the way through the green wall maze, running through the increasingly stench of the fleshy walls, and into the end of the passage that was emitting a red glow.
The view suddenly opened up, and the group successfully entered the grain depot, arriving at their destination.
However, upon entering the grain depot, everyone gradually stopped in their tracks, speechless with shock at the sight before them.
This place, which usually provided nourishment for countless monsters, had been eroded by the green fleshy walls, just like the road ahead, turning into a vast space resembling a tumor.
Instead of the withered flowers that grow on the walls and ceilings of the outside passageways, countless flower buds of all sizes hang down here.
At the deepest part of this enormous void, three gigantic monsters were entwined around a massive red crystal pillar over thirty meters tall.
The monster's appearance closely resembled Man-Eating Flower, but its flower head was extremely bright and dazzling. Its size was at least ten times larger than that of Man-Eating Flower. Its huge body clung to the red crystal pillar like a snake, and the vine-like tentacles that grew from its body also covered the surface of the main pillar. Under the illumination of the red glowing quartz, they looked like blood vessels, extremely dazzling.
If you listen carefully, you can hear a series of "thumping" sounds, like the beating of a pulse. Each time this sound appears, a sensation as if some substance is being drawn away from the quartz column will be heard.
The three enormous, strange flowers resembled parasites clinging to the red crystal pillar, slowly sucking away every drop of nutrient solution seeping from the crystal. Their tentacles and roots not only covered the surface of the large stone pillar but also extended to the walls, ceiling, and ground of the large cavity, forming a green, fleshy wall.
Seeing this, how could anyone not understand?
These monsters are the culprits behind the mutation on the 24th Floor.