Time rewinds, just slightly.
When Riveria and Ais located the so-called "Incubation Room" on the 12th Floor of the Artificial Labyrinth, they encountered the executive of the Dark Familia turned Creature, [White-Haired Ghost] Olivas, along with a Deep Floor monster parasitized by a Jewel Fetus.
The battle proceeded quite smoothly.
The golden-haired young girl wielding a massive tachi faced the parasitized Deep Floor monster alone, while Riveria led her Familia's Elf unit, using magic to blast the aberrant freak, who was also Lv.5, into smithereens. The aftershocks of the battle nearly destroyed the entire "Incubation Room."
This also meant that when the tremors from beneath their feet arrived, Riveria did not notice them immediately, assuming they were aftershocks from her own or her companions' magic.
Until—
The masonry began to collapse. Subsequently, the massive female-form monster in the distance, which had originally been dead, climbed back up from among the rubble. That colossal body, originally split in two, was connected and pulled by pitch-black threads. It moved like a walking corpse, devoid of any aura of life. On the other side, the same mutation occurred with Olivas.
The Magic Stone within his chest had already been shattered. The man, who should have turned to ash and died like a Monster, stood up again in a daze.
It was as if, in the darkness, countless pairs of hands had lifted him up. Or perhaps, in that unseen corner, countless pitch-black threads had strung him together like a marionette. The man's broken body was sluggish and blank, yet visible to the naked eye, boundlessly brilliant colors surged from within him.
"So beautiful..."
It could even speak.
Those colors lacked substance, resembling clusters of stars, or perhaps rainbows entangled together. Slowly, they grew from inside the body, filling the gaps in his incomplete flesh and blood, ultimately granting him a somewhat human-like appearance.
The change was also bottom-up. Therefore, Riveria and Ais were the second group, apart from the Xenos, to realize that a problem had arisen in the Artificial Labyrinth. And immediately, the Elf Princess issued the most correct command.
"Retreat!"
At the same time, Riveria was still using the [Oculus], attempting to inform others of the mutation occurring here. However, the Dungeon's power had already spread to this point. Before she could finish half her sentence, it was entirely drowned out by static noise. The communication was intermittent; effective exchange was completely impossible.
Damn it, what is the situation?!
Riveria quickly determined the direction. Next, in order to evacuate at top speed, she ordered the Mages beside her to directly bombard the wall directly in front, forcibly opening a passage connecting to the Dungeon. The plan went smoothly. The bricks crumbled piece by piece behind them, yet there was no shaking, nor even the slightest sound. It was as if something were slowly eroding this spectacle built over a thousand years from below.
Within the soundless interior, amidst the dim fluorescence, only the somewhat heavy, nervous breathing of the people beside her could be heard. The Mages leading the way at the front occasionally looked back at Ais and Riveria, who had volunteered to take up the rear. As Elves, they were all willing to use their lives to protect the Princess of the royal family.
However, in the middle of the evacuation, as if attracted by something, both Ais and Riveria simultaneously noticed something.
It was a mural.
In the dim, monotonous Artificial Labyrinth that was almost devoid of any variation, even a mottled drawing eroded by time was so eye-catching. Ais and Riveria saw it at the same time. Painted upon it was a colossal Great Dragon. It destroyed cities, turned forests into wastelands, and razed mountains to the ground...
That hideous, incomparably colossal posture looked as if it were about to destroy the world.
Is it the [Black Dragon]?
The Elf woman and the golden-haired girl were both puzzled at the same time. But obviously, that was incorrect. Because after the Black Dragon crawled out of the Dungeon, it had already been defeated by the [Great Hero] Albert and fled. Subsequently, the Spirits seized the opportunity to seal it in the distant northern [Dragon Valley], and it did not cause chaos across the world.
Furthermore, the subsequent content of the mural explicitly showed the Great Dragon being surrounded by six Great Spirits. Seemingly using some kind of magic, eventually, a thick pillar of light descended from the heavens, completely annihilating it.
The mural appearing here naturally held special significance. This was originally part of Dionysus's "stage," a masterpiece the Wine God was proud of.
This was the legendary [Doomsday Dragon · Nidhogg]. In the distant past, even more remote than when heroes had yet to arrive in Orario to build the fortress. A Demonic Dragon that was even stronger than the so-called Three Great Quests, once causing the Gods of the Heaven to fall into panic, truly believing the Lower World would be destroyed because of it, had appeared.
The Deities fell into an argument for the first time.
There were those who believed they must go to the Lower World immediately to exterminate the Monster, and those who believed that no matter what, they could not intervene and could only let the mortals solve it themselves. The two sides argued endlessly. Finally, it seemed a certain Deity quietly, alone, solved this incident together with the Spirits.
In the records of ancient legends, six Great Spirits activated a magic named [Spirit Six Rings]. This was a "miracle" approaching divine power, prayed for at the cost of sacrificing their own lives. A massive pillar of light descended from the sky, completely annihilating Nidhogg.
It is said that because of this—from within the Dungeon, "Black Monsters" that feared no divine power began to be born, even including the [Black Dragon]...
Naturally, Riveria and Ais could not understand these ancient legends that almost no one remembered anymore, save for the Gods with their long lives. They would not understand that Dionysus's original plan was to deliberately guide the adventurers entering the Artificial Labyrinth to discover these murals, and subsequently learn the story of Nidhogg.
And then. When Dionysus activated the avatars of those Corrupted Spirits and made them begin to sing loudly, the adventurers of the city and the Guild would believe that his "conspiracy" was to utilize a magic like the [Spirit Six Rings] to raze the entire Orario to the ground.
At that time, the adventurers would naturally come to stop all this. All the high-level adventurers of the entire city would join the crusade against the six Corrupted Spirit avatars. And it was at this moment that his true objective would surface.
Located on the 12th Floor of the Artificial Labyrinth, beneath the feet of the Corrupted Spirits on the 10th Floor, existed "Nidhogg."
At this moment, with the collapse of the labyrinth, Ais and Riveria both saw it. In that incomparably massive pitch-black space ahead, an indescribably colossal existence, like a mountain range, stood there amidst the darkness. It was in a specially modified space, composed of multiple halls combined together, even penetrating the floors below.
A super-giant Monster with a body exceeding a hundred meters quietly, constantly, and greedily devoured "energy"—the flesh and blood of Monsters and adventurers, the Magic pervading the air, the Magic Stones piled like mountains... It had long utilized countless dark green tentacles like vines to combine itself and the entire Artificial Labyrinth into one. Greedily absorbing everything within. It was still growing.
This was, of course, not the true "Nidhogg."
Dionysus did not have the ability to truly reproduce that ancient Monster powerful enough to destroy the world in this era. In reality, the guy before them was merely a false "Nidhogg" obtained by utilizing a Jewel Fetus to capture a certain dragon-type Monster of immense size located in the Deep Floors and parasitizing it.
But this was enough. Because Dionysus's objective was actually an "explosion."
This so-called World-Ending Demonic Dragon was nothing more than a big bomb that had accumulated uncountable energy. It possessed no combat power whatsoever. It would simply, at the critical moment—when the city's adventurers gathered together to crusade against the Corrupted Spirit avatars acting as bait—go "BOOM"!!!
At that time, all the high-level adventurers in the city would be blown sky-high. Dionysus deeply understood that the reason Orario was Orario was entirely because of the powerful adventurers. Therefore, as long as they all died out, naturally, the Dungeon could not be suppressed. This was the Wine God's true plan, and also his top-tier "battle of wits"!
However, now, all of this only existed in his delusions. Because the situation had long since changed. The current "Nidhogg" had long since—
"..."
Unable to breathe. Riveria and Ais, as if they had seen something, felt their thoughts and brains come to a complete halt in that instant. In the darkness, they both saw only a giant eye, slowly opening.
Within that incomparably colossal, resplendent eye, inside that light as magnificent as a planet, the women realized their own insignificance, and—
"Lady Riveria! Miss Ais!!"
From behind came the shouting of the other Elf Mages.
"Don't come over!"
Riveria shouted loudly. She abruptly closed her eyes. Perhaps it was her Lv.6 status, and the mental strength honed until now, that allowed her to finally reclaim her self from that trance.
There was not a moment of hesitation, because the Elf woman had already noticed "that existence." The guy located in the pitch-black, profound darkness... was the Dungeon!!
It. It had noticed herself and Ais. Why?
Suddenly, Riveria thought of a very absurd reason. Could it be because both of them had been to that [Dark Hall] in Isagi's dream? Abruptly grabbing the young girl's slender arm, she threw her back from the edge of the abyss.
"Go, quickly!"
The Elf woman shouted. Subsequently, black arms surged like a tide. In just an instant, they pulled her into the massive void behind her. Simultaneously, countless pairs went towards Ais, seemingly intending to drag her into that darkness as well.
The young girl originally wanted to go over voluntarily. No matter what, regardless of what "Mama" Riveria encountered, she wanted to be by her side. The Loki Familia, and the Elves beside her, would absolutely never abandon Her Highness the Princess just like that.
However. It was in this instant, as if already satisfied with something, that those "arms" dancing in the pitch-blackness suddenly retracted.
"?"
By the time Ais and the Elves arrived at the edge where Riveria had just been standing, all they saw was an incomparably pitch-black, massive void. There was nothing inside. Even the "Nidhogg" from just a moment ago had vanished...
Isagi grasped Ryuu-senpai's hand tightly, trying hard to recall what exactly had just happened. First, two Deities were sent back. The God of Death Thanatos and the Wine God Dionysus. The two Gods who had turned into BOSSes—their bodies clearly still existed, and the BOSS fight hadn't even started yet—but the pillars of light symbolizing divine power suddenly burst forth.
Why? Isagi didn't understand. Perhaps because, having been parasitized by the Jewel Fetuses, their original "selves" had already died, leaving them to turn completely into monsters?
Regardless, Isagi clearly remembered. The instant the two Deities were sent back, the space that had originally stabilized collapsed once again.
Beneath his feet. amidst the rubble originally suspended over a dark void, countless black hands surged like a tide. They grabbed him, and they grabbed Ryuu-senpai. They even proactively threw Lefiya, who was on his back, away—
Isn't that a little too intelligent?!
And in the instant of touching them, Isagi also understood what exactly was grabbing him. [Dungeon]! It was the Dungeon itself!!
As for why it was like this... Isagi suddenly thought of something bad. Could it be that because two more Gods were swallowed by It, this guy's "Favorability" towards him had risen again?! That's why such a thing happened?
So, where is this? Isagi shook his head. Amidst the trance, he finally regained some sense of reality. At least his body seemed to be leaning against hard ground. Simultaneously, one hand could touch the rock wall behind him, as well as the slender hand of the Elf girl beside him.
"Ugh... Isagi..."
Ryuu-senpai also slowly woke up. Just like him, she looked blankly at the completely unfamiliar environment around them—
[Abandoned Defiled Land · Old White Blood Sanctuary]
No matter what, no matter how powerful the Dungeon's power was, it could not change the "Laws of Physics and Space." The Artificial Labyrinth was directly above the 19th Floor of the Dungeon.
So. When the Xenos, who had evacuated first from the Artificial Labyrinth, were receiving the retreating adventurers on the various floors connected to the Dungeon while simultaneously heading to the 19th Floor to check the situation according to Fels's instructions...
Then, sure enough. In a corner of the [Great Tree Labyrinth], the Lizardman Lyd, acting as the leader of the Xenos, saw the pitch-black, profound void broken open in the ceiling. At the same time, an incomparably massive pit remained on the ground, penetrating the floor and leading further down.
The Dungeon was slowly repairing itself. However, the fine, fragmented scales remaining at the edge of that massive pit seemed to prove something.
"It is [Great Serpent Well]."
There could be no mistake; the scent remaining in the pit was left by it. A rare monster capable of moving between the Lower Floors and the Deep Floors. It seemed to have just responded to the Dark Mother's call, entered the Artificial Labyrinth, and subsequently took "many things" from inside down to the Deep Floors...
____
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