"[Advanced Sword of Victory - Rea Laevateinn!]"
In less than ten seconds, Fron finished chanting Riveria's signature ultra-wide-area annihilation magic.
Then, under the stunned, slack-jawed gazes of everyone, Fron casually lifted the index finger of his right hand and pointed forward.
Immediately, the crimson magic circle transformed into a violent magical cannon.
An eye-searing crimson beam erupted with a suffocating gale and, with a deafening boom, struck the green flesh barrier blocking the large hole!
"BOOM BOOM , "
"AAAAAAA, !"
Several adventurers who didn't even have time to react were blown away before their minds could catch up!
"Dammit!"
"Seriously, couldn't you at least warn us before firing!?"
A few members of the Ganesha Familia, who had been blasted into bizarre angles on the walls, complained endlessly at Fron, looking as if they'd lost all will to live.
Even Finn, Riveria, and Gareth were a little dumbfounded.
Finn sucked in a cold breath, raising a hand to his forehead, unable to watch. His mind buzzed as he wondered how the fat pig down at the Guild would react once they saw this mess.
Even if they were here to investigate abnormalities in the artificial labyrinth, they couldn't just break the rules this blatantly.
This was the surface of Orario, where the use of magic was strictly forbidden. In modern terms, this was the same as firing heavy weapons inside a city, like ballistic missiles or RPGs.
The Loki Familia, skipping right past Gatlings and RPGs, had directly launched a missile instead, how could this not cause an instant explosion?
"Uh, Fron… do you think you may have been a bit careless?" Finn carefully chose his words as he spoke to Fron's ear level.
Standing atop the magic circle with one hand pointing forward, Fron stared straight ahead as if he hadn't heard a thing.
Anyway, if the sky fell, the taller ones would hold it up. Weren't Finn, Riveria, Gareth and Loki standing in front?
He, Fron, was just an ordinary adventurer obeying orders from above to investigate the enemy's conspiracy. His methods might have been a little crude and direct, but everything was technically within legal boundaries.
"Fat-pig, he doesn't want Orario getting blown to the heavens, does he?"
Fron tilted his eyes and spoke slowly, dragging out every syllable at the end.
His attitude made the three executives instantly darken.
"…"
Shakti, standing nearby looked at the pallum who the Loki Familia captain.
"Finn, could you all please hold back a little? If this continues, you're only making our job harder!"
The Ganesha Familia was guarding this place. Besides monitoring Knossos, their more important task was to conceal this horrifying situation from the general populace and any uninformed adventurers to maintain order in Orario.
But with Fron's blast, the entire Daedalus District shook. Who knew how far that cannon sound had echoed? And don't forget, this was a powerful, wide-area annihilation magic.
Anyone with even a little strength would notice that pillar of crimson flame.
Thinking of the chaos to come, the Ganesha members' faces twitched.
"Ahem… sorry, Shakti. The situation was urgent, you know how tight our timing is… To verify the hypothesis, Fron had no choice but to use such unconventional means."
Shakti sighed. What else could she say? She wasn't a stubborn old adventurer who couldn't be flexible.
"…Fine. Just watch the fallout."
She signaled her members to strengthen their guard and block all scouts attempting to sneak in.
...
"Phew-"
Exhaling a long, white breath, Fron gradually calmed the violent magic inside him.
He looked at the entrance he had blasted into mush, and at the completely scorched passageway whose walls were now pitch-black. After taking a deep breath, he stepped forward.
Finn and the other two exchanged looks, then followed behind.
Upon entering the passage, what they saw was… a deep, empty void. No trace of the green flesh tide remained.
Everything had already been obliterated under Fron's overwhelming bombardment. And of course, fire was the natural enemy of plants.
Even if those green lumps were derivatives of the "Fallen Spirits," under Fron's irregular-rank abilities and skill amplification, there was nothing a single blast couldn't solve. If one wasn't enough, well, two blasts…
Clearly, these were merely obstacles meant to slow adventurers, not opponents for Fron.
However, there was also another possibility, the most troublesome one.
Exactly the possibility Fron had suspected.
The "Fallen Spirits" might have diverted most of their strength into performing some kind of ritual, which explained the weak resistance.
"Fron?"
"Mm."
No unnecessary words were exchanged. Their long-honed combat teamwork needed no explanation.
Fron closed his eyes, and another massive magic circle formed beneath his feet.
But, this time, he kept the magic in a "standby state," not releasing it. Using the circle's resonance, he extended his senses outward, letting them penetrate deep into the hidden structure.
Faintly, his irregular-rank perception sensed threads of magic essence flowing, all subtly converging toward a certain direction.
Not fast, not slow, yet full of order.
This only happened when a preset ritual or spell was being activated.
"Ah, aaah, aaahh, "
Faintly, a sacred, serene yet unsettling singing echoed through his perception, entering Fron's mind.
With the "blessing" of the song, the magic essence flocked like moths to a flame toward that single point.
Fron's body trembled, and he snapped his eyes open.
This scene overlapped with one in his memories, yet experiencing it in reality, the omen of a coming calamity crashed into him.
Even with his abilities, it felt like his heart was being squeezed hard, as if an irresistible force had pushed him underwater and he was desperately struggling for air.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Seeing Fron drenched in sweat, pale-faced and clearly not okay, Finn and the others quickly rushed to him, drawing him back from the entrance.