So heavy...
With his Level 1 adventurer strength, trying to swing this thing was unexpectedly difficult. It seemed he needed to add points... ah, no, he needed to continue raising his Ability Scores.
Barely able to drag the Glimmer Greatsword, Isagi simply threw it onto the ground, sat down to rest, and downed two stamina recovery potions.
The battle was over.
Lefiya also sat directly on the ground in exhaustion, her face written all over with the expression "I feel completely drained."
The Elf girl's magic was overdrawn.
This caused her Mind to run dry, her entire brain turning into a blank whiteness, unable to condense her thoughts or even think about anything.
This is the weakness of Mages.
Whether chanting spells, gathering magic, or completing the precise control Isagi demanded just now to hit specific monster parts...
All of it consumed Mind.
Although it could be replenished via potions, there was a limit. In a short period, the potions' effects would worsen until they stopped working, leaving one to wait for natural recovery.
In severe cases, one might faint or cause irreversible damage to the body.
It was time to go back. From entering the Dungeon until now, more than ten hours must have passed—without a watch, precise calculation was impossible, but physically, it felt like a very, very long time.
However.
Before returning to the surface, Isagi wondered if he should take a look at the Fog Gate on the 3rd Floor.
Because he still had one use of "Resurrection" left.
So, looking shouldn't hurt, right?
Even if he couldn't win, he could at least see what was inside.
Moreover...
Isagi looked at Anya, who was also sitting on the ground, nibbling on a fried potato snack.
With the Cat Person girl here, a safe retreat was definitely achievable.
"Anya, that guy just now, you could beat it, right?"
"I'd win, nya!"
"..."
People who say that usually don't win.
But watching Anya finish the potato snack, run curiously to the Glimmer Greatsword he had discarded, and then easily pick it up with one hand to play with—as if it weren't a greatsword nearly three meters long, but a withered tree branch...
Level 4 strength truly far exceeded his Level 1 self.
The Level gap was too obvious, so it should be fine. Thinking this, he rested on the spot for a while longer.
Only then did Isagi call out to the dazed Lefiya to get up, preparing to check the situation at the 3rd Floor Fog Gate before returning to the surface.
Anya would help carry the Glimmer Greatsword for now.
Otherwise, his own encumbrance would be maxed out. As for Lefiya, although the Elf girl was Level 2, her [Strength] was even worse than his.
She was a pure Mage; aside from [Magic], her other stats were pitifully low.
Perhaps because the "BOSS," the [Faithless Glimmer Knight], had been defeated, the 2nd Floor returned to normal. The Goblin Knights riding Kobolds and the rolling boulders had all vanished.
Thus, spending some time, the three returned to the Fog Gate on the 3rd Floor.
Inside was definitely a "BOSS Room."
When they arrived, Isagi suddenly saw a Ghostly Idol burning with spectral fire grow out of the wall in the cavern—originally filled with monster "fragments" and sky-blue flowers—as if reacting to him. He instantly felt reassured. Giving a save point at the BOSS room entrance—what a civilized mechanic.
Isagi told Lefiya and Anya to wait outside while he went in to look first.
The result was...
About a minute after the boy entered the Fog Gate, Anya saw wisps of smoke drift out from inside, lingering around the Ghostly Idol. The next second, the boy suddenly appeared, standing up from the ground in exhaustion.
Only, compared to when he went in, the current Isagi looked much more wretched.
His full-body armor suffered "Great Destruction," and that was the least of it.
The brass greatshield on his back was shattered, and the spear was snapped outright, the tip twisted into a pretzel shape of scrap iron as if corroded.
"Let's go, we're heading back."
Isagi said.
He didn't explain what he encountered inside, only silently signaling Anya and Lefiya to leave.
However, as the backs of the three gradually distanced themselves from this anomaly-filled cavern, the figure of a golden-haired girl suddenly appeared at a side fork...
...
Ais watched the backs of Isagi and his party leaving. Then, her gaze was quickly attracted to the Fog Gate not far away.
What is that?!
The girl could sense a dangerous aura from within—not dangerous to herself, but that the existence inside was a terrifying entity.
This was the intuition cultivated by years of traversing the Dungeon and constantly hunting monsters.
Should she go in and look?
The boy had already left, implying he gave up on subduing the monster inside, so this wouldn't count as kill-stealing, right?
Moreover, Ais knew that if the other party went too far, the anomalies here might completely disappear.
And she had rushed here with such difficulty!!
Upon hearing news in Rivira about "Anomaly Monsters" appearing in the Upper Floors, Ais immediately remembered the peculiar boy she saw fighting a [Giant Goblin] a few days ago.
So she set off immediately, coming here all the way from the Adventurer Town on the 18th Floor.
Normally, general adventurers need at least a day to travel from Rivira to the Upper Floors or surface. High-level ones might take seven or eight hours.
Ais made it in at most two or three hours.
Because she was fast enough, and the monsters along the way posed no threat. Concentrating on travel, she was naturally several times faster than normal adventurers.
Of course, more importantly, because she could fly.
The 12th to 16th Floors were the area known as the "First Dead Line" and "Cave Labyrinth." It was exceptionally dangerous for veteran Level 1s or those just upgraded to Level 2.
Because it contained a large number of vertical pitfalls, generated randomly and closing at any time.
One slip of care.
And one could fall from the 12th Floor straight to the 13th or deeper.
For ordinary adventurers, this was undoubtedly terrifying. But for Ais, it was convenient, again because she could fly.
So as long as she drilled straight upwards, she could pass quickly and return directly to the Upper Floors.
As for those special Goblins and Kobolds that could stop ordinary adventurers, they were naturally unable to withstand a single blow before the Level 4 Ais.
"Hu..."
Without hesitation.
Her desire to temper herself led the girl to the Fog Gate that hadn't yet vanished, and she walked straight in.
Inside was a massive chamber.
Not far away, within a crimson blood pool, dirty monster "fragments" churned—Goblins, Kobolds, Dungeon Lizards...
Yet surrounding it was a sea of beautiful deep-blue flowers.
Countless fluorescent lights floated among them, composing this bloody yet beautiful, grotesque scene.
At the same time.
Ais suddenly felt the Dungeon tremble. Almost instinctively, she looked up. On the ceiling, about four meters high, hung a massive [Dungeon Lizard].
It had a pale coloration, looking incredibly conspicuous against the light green walls.
Its body was huge, over five meters in length alone, and...
Heads at both front and back?
The giant lizard heads had no eyes, as if two lizards had been cut in the middle and then stitched together using their upper bodies.
The front was a head, the back was also a head.
Just then, suddenly, the drooping lizard head opened its mouth. From that massive pink maw crawled out figures wearing gorgeous priestly robes—female Orcs, Kobolds, and Minotaurs.
Holding various weapons, only their upper bodies emerged from the lizard's large mouth. Then, just like that, they fell from the ceiling, smashing into the pool full of deep crimson blood.
——————!!!
Accompanied by a silent roar, Ais inexplicably knew the opponent's name in her heart.
[The Strongest Saints].
"?"
She didn't understand the situation at all, having never seen such a twisted monster in the Dungeon. But right now, the girl had absolutely no time to think.
Because the attack had arrived.
The giant lizard charged wildly. The female Kobold emerging from its mouth, holding a spear, pointed straight at the girl's heart in an instant.
Simultaneously.
The female Minotaur raised twin axes high, chopping down fiercely, while the female Orc on the other side swept a large club horizontally, her other hand raised high, ready to grab the girl at any moment.
Facing the frenzied raid, Ais simply spoke calmly.
"Awaken."
A breeze rose abruptly.
The Ultra-Short Chant magic empowered the girl's body in an instant. Thus, all attacks missed completely, because at this moment, Ais, flying in mid-air, had already arrived far behind the colossal monster.
However, the girl quickly discovered that the drooping head at the rear of the great lizard suddenly lifted and opened its maw as well.
Appearing from inside this time were several tender pink tongues, shooting toward her like sharp arrows.
"Chi"!
The sharp sound of breaking air could even pierce one's eardrums. In the blink of an eye, these long tongues were sliced apart, exploding into blossoms of foul-smelling blood in mid-air.
Because Ais had already drawn the [Desperate] at her waist. This was a "First-Class Armament" that only adventurers Level 5 or above could possess.
Although the girl was currently only Level 4.
As the youngest and most outstanding genius of the Loki Familia, one of the city's strongest, [Sword Princess] Ais Wallenstein possessed such "privileges."
Although, to specialize in the [Indestructible Attribute], the weapon's power and sharpness were lowered.
But there was no helping it.
Because Ais's method of using weapons was too rough, and due to the existence of the skill [Avenger], which drastically increased the girl's output when facing monsters, ordinary longswords would always be easily broken in her hands.
She was too strong.
Normal weapons simply couldn't withstand the girl's own power.
But the monster before her knew no fear; instead, it became even more berserk due to the injury. Or perhaps, it was incredibly insane to begin with.
The large lizard head, mouth full of blood, howled miserably.
Subsequently, the other head containing the female monsters turned around, stretching its neck to launch a violent attack at the girl in mid-air.
Ais intentionally did not use her full strength.
So, after a few seconds, she quickly reached some "conclusions."
"Strength and speed are at the level of a Level 2 monster. Vitality is enhanced but not by much; far from the level of a Monster Rex. But the destructive power and force are indeed much stronger than average monsters. An ordinary Level 2 adventurer probably couldn't withstand a single blow..."
Information collection complete.
Ais realized with hindsight that this was the 3rd Floor, yet the monster before her was an extremely thorny existence even for the Middle Floors and beyond.
Casually, the girl moved to slay the monster before her.
But it was exactly at this moment.
Suddenly, the monster that was fighting her just a second ago turned directly into blue-purple crystal dust the next second, piling on the ground and slowly "melting," reabsorbed by the Dungeon.
A few seconds later, the chamber, the passage, and even the Fog Gate just now, along with the monster, all vanished completely.
The battle came to an abrupt halt.
"..."
The girl, holding her longsword in mid-air, was suddenly a little dazed.
She knew this was because that boy had walked too far away.
So this was also...
She felt inexplicably uncomfortable!
Could it be... could this be the "Edging" that Loki talked about all day?!
No!
Ais suddenly remembered the most important thing.
That was, she still didn't know what the boy was called, or which Familia he belonged to! If these special monsters in the Dungeon appeared because of him, then next time, wouldn't it be fine if she just followed him all the time!!
___
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