After surveying the area swallowed by the light of destruction, Bell was now certain that the "Corrupted Spirit's Fetus" had been completely annihilated.
Not even the residue of its soul remained. It seemed the earlier strike had inflicted damage so severe that even its spirit had been wiped out beyond recovery.
"Ochd Deug Odin" — this was Bell's first time using that technique directly in real combat, so its exact effects had been impossible to predict in advance.
"The first test subject… what a waste."
It really was. If possible, he would have liked something to remain. A faint sense of regret stirred in Bell's chest.
At the same time, he had gained an important realization.
"The higher the level, the harder it is to challenge monsters above your tier."
"And as levels rise, the gap between each tier becomes wider and wider." There had already been signs of this before.
"So the higher your level, the harder it becomes to take on monsters beyond your rank using personal skill alone."
Bell could feel this clearly during the fight against the "Corrupted Spirit's Fetus."
The Corrupted Spirit's Fetus excelled in magic power, but its close combat, speed, and agility were far inferior to his. Yet despite that, it could use magic power to raise itself to nearly his level.
Which meant that the higher an adventurer's rank, the fewer weaknesses they had, and they could even use their own combat techniques to cover what weaknesses remained.
Bell had truly learned something from this.
But a pure melee fighter couldn't replicate what the Corrupted Spirit's Fetus did. Magic power was still something special.
Magic power could be used to reinforce one's basic physical capabilities, but a warrior without magic power simply didn't have that option.
So warriors still lagged behind mages to some extent.
At least among high-level adventurers, mages were much stronger than warriors.
...
As the last echoes of the battle faded, Ais stepped out from the barrier.
Riding the wind to the edge of the battlefield, she saw a crater hundreds of meters wide and dozens of meters deep.
"That was the destruction caused by the magic earlier!"
Her first thought was the blinding white flash from before.
She immediately searched the pit for a presence, and her wind soon found it.
Her teacher stood somewhere within the crater, as if searching for something.
Ais strengthened the wind around her and quickly reached his side.
"Teacher!"
"You're here, Ais."
Bell had sensed her the moment she left the barrier he'd set.
He'd created that barrier to keep Ais from being caught in the aftermath.
And also to keep the "Corrupted Spirit's Fetus" from sensing Ais's presence.
If it had gotten any ideas it shouldn't, that would have been a real problem for Bell.
Ais definitely couldn't withstand the Corrupted Spirit's Fetus's speed right now, so he had to take precautions.
"How do you feel?"
Ais gave a small shake of her head, disappointment showing on her face.
"The gap is even wider than I imagined."
After comparing herself to her teacher and the "Corrupted Spirit's Fetus," Ais could clearly feel just how great the difference truly was.
"It can't be helped. The higher the level, the harder it is to cross that boundary. A one-level gap up here may be far greater than a two-level gap down below."
Bell couldn't help but sigh.
At the same time, he found himself thinking about the story between "Silence" and "Empress."
How had Level 7 "Silence" managed to fight Level 9 "Empress" to a draw despite the overwhelming gap in their stats?
It was hard to imagine what kind of Skills and Magic "Silence" possessed to overcome a two-level difference.
His earlier excitement from killing the "Corrupted Spirit's Fetus" had already faded completely.
He had no right to be proud or complacent yet.
The Empress's overwhelming power — and Silence's even greater strength — left Bell with a sharp sense of urgency.
What he had now still wasn't enough. Not even close.
He had to keep pushing forward.
Bell's gaze swept over the ravaged pit around them, his brows tightening slightly.
This kind of battlefield simply wasn't suitable for further exploration today.
"Ais, that's enough for today. After this floor recovers tomorrow, we'll come back and explore it again."
"Today…"
Ais had barely spoken when she noticed the way her teacher's eyes moved across the devastated surroundings.
She looked around as well. This huge crater had been caused by her teacher and the "Corrupted Spirit's Fetus" moments earlier.
Just that fight alone had inflicted massive damage on the dungeon.
Nothing here was ready. There was no need to rush into exploring a floor that might erupt into chaos.
"I understand, Teacher."
Seeing that Ais grasped his point, Bell didn't explain further.
"Let's go."
Just like when they'd arrived, the two of them left the 80th floor — now after having caused it considerable damage.
They were just reaching the entrance when a roar echoed from behind them.
"Raaah! Raaah! Raaah!"
The cry was sharp for a dragon, but from the sound of it, the creature was still far from the entrance.
"Juggernaut."
"Looks like leaving early was the right choice."
The cleaners on the 80th floor were monsters on a completely different level from those in the upper floors.
And considering Juggernaut's cleaner traits — and the fact it dropped no materials and was extraordinarily difficult to deal with — Bell doubted anyone would want to face this dungeon cleaner.
"Juggernaut?"
Bell had encountered it before, but this was probably Ais's first time hearing it.
"It's one of the dungeon's 'abnormal incidents.' Its role is to act as the dungeon's cleaner."
"Whenever the dungeon suffers large-scale destruction that threatens its structure, it temporarily stops its normal repairs and instead spawns Juggernaut to clean the affected floor."
"Looks like my 'Ochd Deug Odin' earlier damaged the floor's structure badly enough for the dungeon to treat it as extensive destruction — and so it sent out the Cleaner."
This made Bell fully realize just how powerful "Ochd Deug Odin" truly was. It had even inflicted structural damage severe enough to trigger the dungeon's deployment of Juggernaut.
But Bell had no intention of stirring up more trouble on this floor, so even though the dungeon had sent Juggernaut, it had nothing to do with him now.
To avoid further complications, Bell concealed his and Ais's presence, ignored the Juggernaut wandering in search of a target, and led Ais back to the 79th floor.