Lord Thor, why are you lying on the ground?

Before the words had even faded, Thor moved!

He crouched instantly, and in the next second, he lunged toward the monsters ahead. The air beneath his feet seemed to be stirred by an invisible force, generating a faint yet exquisite current!

He used neither magic nor energy, relying purely on technique and his perception of airflow!

Steel-Cutting Dash!

Borrowing the turbulent currents stirred up by the charging Goblins, the wooden staff in his hand seemed to come alive.

His figure was so fast it left afterimages, moving like a butterfly through flowers or a ghostly phantom, weaving through the monster horde with impossible agility!

Every seemingly perilous brush with death was a precise evasion of every claw and bite.

With jabs, parries, and redirects, he skillfully exploited the monsters' own momentum and the gaps in their positioning, throwing them into complete disarray while they failed to touch even a thread of his clothing!

This elegant, fluid footwork, using weakness to overcome strength...

Ais watched with absolute clarity, her breath hitching.

This was entirely different from the wind element augmentation provided by her Ariel, which relied on surging magic!

This was the pure fusion of movement and swordsmanship!

A profound technique she had never imagined, one that required no magical support!

At the same time, Thor began to chant.

"...Unsettled obsessions, a contract of eternal silence. Intertwining and resonating here, becoming the final movement..."

What shocked Ais and Lefiya even more was that amidst such high-speed, dangerous maneuvering, Thor was simultaneously reciting an incantation.

His voice was low and steady, completely unaffected by his violent movements.

"Is that... Parallel Chanting!?"

Lefiya gasped in a low voice, her eyes wide, almost forgetting they were in mortal danger.

As a mage, she understood what this meant better than Ais!

To simultaneously divide one's focus to construct complex magical structures and precisely control every syllable of an incantation during such high-intensity close-quarters combat...

What terrifying physical control and magical micro-management did this require?!

What kind of magic was Thor preparing to unleash?

Lefiya was both shocked and suspicious.

She kept her gaze fixed on Thor, watching him weave through the monsters with peerless footwork while calmly knitting together that unknown power.

Above the chamber, as he chanted, a heavy and nihilistic aura permeated the air. A dark gray energy spiral began to slowly gather and rotate, like a deathly eye opening wide.

Everyone felt a lethal aura of death—not merely pressure, but an instinctive trembling from the depths of their souls.

The monsters went completely mad. They shrieked, instinctively turning all their attacks toward Thor. Dozens of Goblins, War Shadow, and Hellhound lunged like a tidal wave, their sharp claws and fangs glinting in the dim light.

Bell felt a tightness in his chest, cold sweat instantly soaking his back: "Lord Thor is in danger!"

Just as he moved to rush forward, a violent gust of wind slammed him back two or three steps, causing him to stumble.

Only then did he realize that the airflow within a hundred meters of Thor had become as chaotic as a vortex, with unpredictable trajectories as if space itself were twisting.

Thor's figure flickered uncertainly among the monsters, his chanting never ceasing: "...The beating of a heart is the loudest noise in the world... Let me play for you... the final requiem..."

As the incantation progressed, the death magic above the chamber suddenly condensed, forming invisible chains that precisely anchored themselves above the heads of every monster.

Yet, the crisis erupted at that very moment!

Several Hellhound surged with crimson flames in their throats, spitting out scorching fireballs. The fire nets intertwined, completely sealing off all of Thor's escape routes.

Flames rushed toward him, the heat searing.

At this critical juncture, Thor lightly spun the wooden staff in his hand, and the airflow in the chamber surged in response—

Wind Barrier!

An invisible wall of air stood tall out of thin air.

The moment the fireballs struck the barrier, they shattered like glass with a "bang," sparks flying everywhere!

The shockwave of the airflow swept across the rock walls, causing gravel to rain down.

Thor stepped forward, his chanting reaching its finale, his voice turning suddenly cold: "Shh—be quiet. Listen to this requiem, and then..."

"Fall into eternal sleep!"

The moment the words fell, a deathly shriek tore through the air!

The gray magic spiral in the air collapsed into a single point, and the massive magic power pierced through the monsters' skulls!

"BOOM—!!!"

A shockwave swept across the chamber, and every monster stiffened as their bodies were torn apart by death!

The roaring tide of the previous second ceased abruptly, leaving only Magic Stone scattered across the silent floor.

This is the chant of death—Requiem!

The aftermath of the Requiem explosion swept past with a whistling, swirling pressure of energy!

The three of them were pushed off-balance by the shockwave, instinctively raising their arms to shield their eyes as their clothes and hair were plastered against their bodies.

When the heart-stopping turbulence of energy finally subsided, the sight before them made them hold their breath in an instant—

The entire massive chamber had suddenly become empty and deathly silent; the swarm of monsters that had been surging like a tide just moments ago had been completely wiped out.

Nothing remained but Magic Stone fragments shimmering with a faint glow, scattered across the ground, with not a single trace of living breath left.

"Is... is this..." Bell's mouth hung open, the lingering shock leaving his mind a complete blank.

Lefiya felt as if her heart were about to leap out of her chest; the scene of instantaneous destruction had branded an indelible sense of awe into her soul.

Was this the magic Thor spoke of? Was this merely a glimpse of the power he possessed?

This had completely transcended the limits of her understanding of magic!

Amidst this shocking silence, Thor's voice drifted over, carrying a hint of exhaustion.

"This is the combat technique for the Wind-Riding Sword Art, Requiem, and Parallel Chanting that I will teach you next. I believe that after seven days, as long as you master these, your strength will surely advance by leaps and bounds."

Requiem! What incredible magic!

Lefiya looked toward Thor, the source of the voice, with a heart full of reverence.

However, the next second, a trace of confusion flashed through her bright eyes.

She tilted her head, observing Thor before her from a near-vertical angle, and subconsciously blurted out: "Lord Thor, why... why are you lying on the ground?"

Thor was currently lying flat on his back on a relatively level patch of rock, completely devoid of the awe-inspiring aura he had projected while casting that earth-shattering magic.

Hearing Lefiya's words, he laughed out loud, the sound frank and casual.

"My strength is currently weak; being able to cast Requiem once is already pushing it." He pointed to the scattered Magic Stone fragments on the ground, "The power consumption was too great; I need to rest for a bit."

The Stardust remaining within his body was dim, the stored energy almost completely drained by that single strike.

The quantity of Stardust determined the amount of magic power within him, and also dictated the upper limit of the final power each magic or skill could display.

That Requiem just now was clearly his all-out effort.

Thor swept his gaze over the three, who were still in shock, and asked in a relaxed tone: "Alright, which one of you will carry me? Let's call it a day; it's time for us to leave the Dungeon."

Bell was the first to react. Without a moment's hesitation, he immediately stepped forward: "Lord Deity, I will carry you."

His heart was filled with gratitude toward Thor, and he only wanted to share the burden of the other's exhaustion as quickly as possible.

However, a golden figure was faster than him.

Ais had already appeared silently at Thor's side. She knelt down with swift and gentle movements, her voice cool as she said: "Let me do it."

She was already deeply grateful that Thor was willing to teach her techniques without asking for anything in return.

If she could repay him even a little now, it would make her feel slightly more at ease...

At dusk, the golden sunset bathed the Labyrinth City Orario in a warm glow.

At the entrance of the Hostess of Fertility, Syr held a broom, absent-mindedly sweeping a few fallen leaves from the stone path.

Her gaze, however, kept drifting toward the end of the street against her will.

That was the direction leading to the entrance of the Dungeon.

Her slender fingers twisted the broom handle unconsciously, her eyes filled with a longing that was almost desperate.

She bit her lower lip gently, silently calculating the time in her heart: "At this hour... he should be back soon, right?"

Just as this anticipation was about to turn into a touch of disappointment, that figure she had been dreaming of finally appeared at the corner of the distant street.

Syr's gray eyes lit up instantly, like dust-covered stars regaining their luster, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but want to curl upward.

However, that smile, having only just begun to form, froze on her face as if solidified.

She saw Thor.

But what she had never expected was that Thor was not walking alone, nor was he being supported by Bell, but rather—

His entire body was draped over the back of Ais Wallenstein!

The golden-haired Sword Princess famous throughout Orario was carrying Thor steadily, walking toward this side with a calm gait.

Thor's cheek was even resting slightly against the hair falling by Ais's neck, his posture carrying a sense of near-intimate relaxation, as if he were sleeping soundly.

"Ah...?"

A short, light, and delicate sound of surprise escaped uncontrollably from Syr's slightly parted cherry lips.