The Threat Revealed

The comet that had streaked across the sky had vanished, causing its trail of light to slowly fade until it disappeared completely.

The Corrupted Fairy, its entire body pierced through, leaving a large hole, let out a mournful howl that shook the very air and echoed throughout the 59th Floor.

The scream, though terrifying, jolted the adventurers awake, finally bringing them to their senses.

"A great opportunity!"

Finn's eyes glowed red, and he held a golden spear in one hand and a silver spear in the other, shouting at Ais.

"Now's the time! Let's go, Ais!"

Upon hearing this, Ais's eyes sharpened, and her figure suddenly shattered the ground, soaring upwards and riding the wind into the sky, crossing the hard petal armor.

Upon seeing this, the colorful monsters around them let out anxious, broken cries. Some prepared to spray out dissolving liquid, while others prepared to swing their tentacles to intercept them. However, they were all desperately blocked by Bete Loga, Tiona, Tione, Raul, and Chun's group.

The group was already covered in wounds and blood, but their fighting spirit and will to fight remained undiminished. Their madness was still there, and they completely disregarded life and death, constantly slaying these colorful monsters. When they were outmatched, they even used their bodies to block attacks aimed at Ais, so that all five of them were more or less doused in the dissolving liquid, hit by tentacles, their bodies were covered in smoke and sprayed with blood.

With such a desperate effort, coupled with the belated magical support from the three elven Mage behind them, they finally managed to hold off this astonishingly large army of monsters.

Finn and Gareth stopped the green pillars, green walls, and long, thick tentacles that were falling from the sky with a death-defying spirit.

Finn's twin pistols danced like the wind, his former calm and composed demeanor gone, replaced by a ferocious rage. Each swing of his pistols transformed into countless spear beams, striking the tentacles and sending them flying.

Gareth, wielding two axes, wielded them with immense power and unparalleled might. Each swing of his battle axes seemed to shatter the earth, creating a deafening roar that smashed down the green pillars and walls that descended from the sky.

The two would sometimes be blasted away by tentacles, and sometimes be smashed down by green pillars or green walls, but they would immediately rush back to clear a path for Ais.

Thanks to this, the blonde, golden-eyed girl was finally able to leap high into the air and see the Corrupted Fairy hiding behind the petal armor, its body riddled with holes.

"[Tempest!]!"

The next moment, Ais unleashed the maximum wind power.

Just like Leo before her, Ais recklessly drained all her mental energy, filling the converted Demonic Power into [Ariel], causing a violent hurricane exceeding a category 10 typhoon to explode and roar.

"[Icicle Edge]!"

Seeing this, the Corrupted Fairy, writhing in agony, widened its eyes to their maximum, its face contorted in pain. In the end, it could only chant the only spell it could manage at this moment, sending the giant ice pillar shooting out.

This was an ultra-short spell incantation. Under the super-fast incantation of the Corrupted Fairy, even the spell was so fast that it was almost omitted. As a result, Ais could only hear the name of the spell before she saw a huge ice pillar shooting towards her.

However, this hastily formed magic was simply no match for Ais's all-out, maximum-output attack.

"[Little Tempest]!"

When the city's strongest female swordsman unleashed her ultimate technique, a raging hurricane surpassing a category 10 typhoon instantly transformed into a powerful vortex hurtling towards the earth, colliding violently with a giant ice pillar launched into the sky.

"!!!"

The impact lasted only half a second before the powerful vortex of wind hurtling towards the earth shattered the giant ice pillar, sending ice shards flying everywhere.

The powerful vortex pierced through the giant ice pillar, shattering it, and continued its relentless descent, finally piercing the head of the Corrupted Fairy, filling her skull, and continuing its descent, shattering her neck, chest, and alluring body, even penetrating the lower half of the giant plant-shaped body, all the way to the bottom.

A powerful hurricane flashed, piercing through the entire massive body of the Corrupted Fairy from top to bottom.

Including— the Magic Stone located within the body of the Corrupted Fairy.

"Boom!!!"

The powerful vortex struck the earth directly, as if the entire typhoon had crashed into the ground, instantly stirring up a vast expanse of dust and unleashing a deafening storm that blew everything away.

The astonishing shockwave transformed into an explosive blast, raging wildly and blowing away all the adventurers and colorful monsters around them.

The wind howled, the air pressure surged, and shockwaves filled the entire wilderness, as if an unseen behemoth was roaring.

The entire Dungeon was thrown into a prolonged tremor at that moment, which only subsided after a very long time.

"Cough cough cough----!"

Without exception, the adventurers, all lying on the ground, coughed violently in the lingering dust and wind, and struggled to lift their heads to look ahead.

"Did it... succeed?"

This thought crossed everyone's mind. Even veterans like Finn, Riveria Ljos Alf, and Gareth, and even those with fiery tempers like Bete Loga or Tione, couldn't help but feel uneasy.

They had all fought desperately to the point of near exhaustion, and now they lay on the ground, clearly exhausted and unable to move. Their bodies were wracked with pain, indicating that they were seriously injured.

If they still can't defeat the enemy after all this, then they might really be unable to stand up and continue fighting.

If Ais succeeds, victory can be declared immediately.

If Ais fails, this battle will be declared a complete failure.

Under the tense gaze of everyone, the dust storm finally subsided, revealing a huge crater.

That was the original place where the Corrupted Fairy resided.

But at this moment, that filthy presence had completely vanished.

Only a girl with dust-covered blonde hair, swaying unsteadily, stood up and looked over with her golden eyes.

Silence descended upon the wilderness.

A moment later, a grand cheer erupted.

Finn, Riveria Ljos Alf, and Gareth all wore undisguised smiles.

Tiona, Tione, Lefiya Viridis, and Alicia hugged each other tightly, tears streaming down their faces.

Bete Loga was slapped on the back by an excited Chun, coughing painfully, while Raul was crying and laughing beside him, completely losing his composure.

The joy of overcoming life and death flowed through everyone's hearts, making them cheer and beam with delight.

The cheers lingered for a long time, but Ais remained completely uninvolved.

She pulled the silver longsword stuck in the ground, and, swaying her body which was throbbing with pain from the maximum force of the wind, stepped out of the pit.

Just as she was about to step out of the hole, a hand reached out from the edge of the hole.

Ais paused slightly, then reflexively looked up.

The next second, the familiar boy, with his familiar smile, came into her view.

Looking at that smiling face, Ais was stunned for a long time before she relaxed and reached out her hand.

The boy and girl held hands in the wilderness.

That scene seems to last forever.

Since the 59th Floor has been completely transformed into Seedbed, no other monsters are born on this floor except for those colorful monsters.

--

After the Corrupted Fairy was defeated, the colorful monsters here became leaderless and could only roam around in various corners of the building, no longer as ferocious as before when they constantly attacked Leo and his group.

Of course, if the two meet, only one side can survive, and those colorful monsters will attack without hesitation.

So, after the initial cheers subsided, the group calmed down, regrouped, and began the next phase of their operation.

They first found a secluded corner to hide in, then pieced together their remaining supplies and began to heal and recover.

It has to be said that this encounter with the Corrupted Fairy was truly the most dangerous one in history. Not only were they severely injured in a single encounter, but if it weren't for Leo taking the lead and Ais taking the opportunity to heal the injured group, every single one of them might never have seen the sunlight on the surface again.

After Leo was exhausted, the group fought a fierce battle to cover Ais, and each of them suffered considerable injuries. If it weren't for the amazing willpower of everyone present, they probably wouldn't even be able to crawl now.

But they cannot give up.

After all, they were still on the 59th Floor, surrounded by colorful monsters that could appear at any moment. They needed to get back to their base on the 50th Floor as soon as possible to be safe.

They are not completely out of danger yet, and if they want to return to the 50th Floor, they will need to continue fighting the monsters.

Therefore, the most urgent task is to use the remaining supplies to heal and restore everyone's health. We don't need to fully recover from their injuries or return them to their peak condition immediately, but at least they need to be able to continue fighting.

Fortunately, the group had brought a fairly complete set of supplies this time, and even after so many battles, they still had quite a few left.

So everyone began using elixirs to restore their physical strength, injuries, and even mental energy, and made the most of every second to rest.

The process went relatively smoothly, to some extent.

Although some mischievous, brightly colored monsters managed to sneak over along the way, these monsters posed no threat to the group, who had already recovered somewhat, unless they swelled to a certain size.

They cleared away the monsters that rushed in along the way while healing themselves. Only when they had used up most of their supplies did they stand up again.

"Return to camp as quickly as possible, gather all your companions, and begin the return journey."

Finn then gave the order, directing everyone to the entrance leading to the 58th Floor.

"Bang!"

With the green wall blocking their way broken down, the path ahead became clear, and they were finally able to head back.

At this time, the monsters on floors 52-58 were still in a production rest period, and there were very few monsters appearing on these floors. Finn naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity and kept urging everyone to hurry on their way.

"Isn't there a need to be in such a rush?"

Along the way, Tsubaki continued to collect the materials she hadn't had a chance to collect before. Seeing Finn urging her and the others to hurry on their way, she couldn't help but complain.

Tiona, Tione, Bete Loga, and the others were in the vanguard position, fighting off the few remaining monsters, so they did not participate in the subsequent conversation.

Under these circumstances, Finn gave a wry smile.

"I didn't want this either, but what happened here is too serious. We must return to Orario as soon as possible and report what happened here, so that Loki —and even the guild—would be aware of it."

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Finn.

"Uh... is it that serious?"

Raul, confused, spoke cautiously.

In response, Leo, who had been running alongside Ais on the side, suddenly spoke up.

"Haven't you realized how urgent things have become?" Leo said calmly as he ran, "You saw that Corrupted Fairy yourself, it's ridiculously strong. Even with the entire Loki Familia's main force fighting together, they're still in this state."

"And that thing, in fact, evolved from a green Jewel Fetus that could parasitize monsters."

"That green Jewel Fetus, isn't this the first time we've encountered it?"

In Rivira Town on the 18th Floor, Leo and his companions first encountered the green Jewel Fetus, watching helplessly as it parasitized the Man-Eating Flower plant and transformed into a giant octopus-shaped female body.

In the food storehouse on the 24th Floor, Leo, Ais, and the Hermes Spring Familia once again saw the green Jewel Fetus. This time, it was parasitizing the quartz pillar, recklessly absorbing the nutrients from the Dungeon to grow.

"This shows that there are quite a few of those green Jewel Fetus."

Leo's voice clearly reached everyone's ears.

"If that's the case, are there other Jewel Fetus, like that Corrupted Fairy, evolving by devouring Magic Stone collected from various monsters like man-eating Man-Eating Flower, or... have they already completed their evolution?"

These words were like a chill running down everyone's spine, sending shivers down their spines.

Riveria Ljos Alf and Gareth both paled in shock.

"Could it be that the purpose of those eccentrics and the remnants of the Evilus is—"

"So, you take the easily transportable Jewel Fetus to the ground, let them complete their parasitic growth, and then they emerge as adults?"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the know recalled the intelligence that Leo and Ais had brought back last time.

Please point out in the newspaper that those people's ultimate goal is to destroy Orario.

So, how do we destroy it?

The answer is obvious.

"They're preparing to summon the Corrupted Fairy from the ground!"

Leo's words, spoken one by one, instantly chilled the atmosphere to a freezing point.

"Hey, hey, hey! You're kidding, right?"

Tsubaki, unaware of the existence of the freak, the remnants of the Evilus, and even "Enyo," was utterly astonished.

The members of the Loki Familia are different.

They remembered those beings, and they remembered the Corrupted Fairy they had just fought to the death with.

Even the strongest faction in the city, with all their main forces deployed, was reduced to this state when facing their opponent. What would happen if such an entity suddenly appeared on the ground, and there were more than one of them?

"---- Power of Destruction the Labyrinth City, it seems, isn't just some far-fetched joke."

Gareth spoke in a deep voice, finally making everyone understand the seriousness of the matter.

Let's get going as soon as possible.

Finn licked his thumb and said something.

"We need to get back to Earth as quickly as possible."

To this, no one raised any further objections.