Ais Wallenstein.
The Sword Princess was the second most trusted person by Noah in the entire team, with the first being, of course, Riveria.
If it came down to a critical moment where defeating the enemy could save his life, Ais was definitely more reliable than even Tsubaki.
Although it was currently only a 1v4, Ais could hold her own even against a 1v5 opponent, making her a veritable gold-tier fighter.
Thanks to the effect of his boots, Noah barely managed to keep up behind Ais as they rushed out of the cave one after the other.
The moment they emerged into the light, he barely caught sight of a figure crashing through the rocks, seemingly knocked to the ground.
'Appraisal.'
The Truth Seeker's effect fed the information back to Noah, causing his eyes to widen in shock, because the person who had been struck down was actually—
"Tsubaki!" he exclaimed, quickly moving toward her.
But before he could worry for more than a few seconds, Tsubaki emerged unscathed from the rubble, standing up as if nothing had happened.
"Ugh, dirt got in my mouth." Tsubaki shrugged her shoulders, looking exactly as she always did.
Only then did Noah notice that her sword was still sheathed at her waist, and she wasn't even holding a magic sword.
This clearly indicated she hadn't been serious at all.
"It seems she's fine..." Noah breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
However, to be able to physically repel Tsubaki who could easily handle a 1v5 situation, ordinary monsters could be completely ruled out.
If it actually was a monster, only a Floor Boss or a Strengthened Species could possibly achieve such a feat.
Noah looked up and saw a figure standing against the glowing crystals of the dome, its silhouette completely blurred.
Appraisal.
"???"
Level: ?
Familia: ?
Race: ?
Tch.
So, if visual contact is obstructed, it turns out exactly like this?
Backlit by the glowing crystals, Noah's mood soured slightly as he encountered this annoying situation for the very first time.
The absolute primary condition for visual contact was to see the target clearly enough, but that guy stood directly against the light, making it totally impossible for the skill to activate properly.
What a show-off.
How annoying!
But since there was a level officially displayed, it meant the other party was a mortal that had received a Falna.
The Truth Seeker could actually be used this way as well.
Even if the actual level was a question mark, the fact that it physically appeared meant at least that piece of information existed.
So, the answer was totally clear.
"Are there still remnants of the Evilus?!" Noah frowned deeply and decisively raised the Annihilator to quickly buff Ais and Tsubaki.
Tsubaki, instantly feeling the drastic changes in her body, exclaimed in surprise.
At the same time, she knew Noah had arrived.
"Whoa, this feeling is so strange."
Unlike Tsubaki, who was briefly immersed in the sensation, Ais, upon feeling the heavy enhancement, immediately activated her Ariel and charged straight toward the figure above.
...
Noah noticed that Ais had always been wearing a skirt—and a rather short one at that.
It didn't take much movement, just a strong gust of wind for it to lift.
From their current low positions, the girl's skirt was completely exposed.
'That Loki, does she seriously have no limits?'
'Letting an underage girl wear something exactly like this just to satisfy her own perversions?'
Noah quickly averted his gaze, his face flushing slightly.
"Hmm?"
The attacker immediately noticed the furious Ais rushing her, but instead of showing any fear, she simply burst into maniacal laughter.
"Hahaha, it's the Sword Princess! It's been a whole year, hasn't it?!"
It was a woman's voice.
Just from her totally unhinged tone, it was clear she was an incredibly irritable woman.
Every single word she spoke exuded pure malice and madness.
"If you're out here, that means those useless small fries inside have already been taken care of, huh? Tch, wasting my damn time."
The woman violently scratched her head, looking thoroughly displeased.
'A year apart? She knows Ais?'
There honestly weren't many major events or timeframes that perfectly matched that specific description.
Connecting the obvious dots, there was only one real answer.
The Great Feud!
She was one of the great sinners who had nearly destroyed Orario!
Noah raised the Annihilator, aiming it steadily at the woman's blurry figure.
Sure enough... he was absolutely right.
This time, he didn't even need to actively appraise her; Noah had already recalled the woman's true identity and name from his memories.
A core member of the Evilus, the captain of the evil god Thanatos's Familia—Valetta Grede!
A Level 5 enemy!
"Ha! What's exactly going on here? Your actual movements don't seem like those of a mere Level 4, Sword Princess! Hahaha, how totally interesting!" Valetta was actually easily trading blows with Ais head-on.
Even for a Level 5, this totally unhinged fighting style was simply pathological.
And that continuous maniacal laughter... Was she actively enjoying the pain?
This woman is completely broken!
With Ais's current strength, even heavily enhanced with buffs, she was still fundamentally at a severe disadvantage against Valetta.
They might be evenly matched for a very short while, but she absolutely wouldn't last long.
"Hey, Tsubaki, what are you spacing out for?!" Noah urgently called out to her.
He quickly turned to look, only to be totally met with a scene that completely surprised him—or rather, totally stunned him.
Tsubaki had actually taken off her upper garment, leaving only her tight chest bindings exposed.
'Why the hell is she undressing?!'
Tsubaki took a deep heavy breath, visibly expanding her chest and genuinely making one worry whether the thick bandages would actually hold.
BOOM.
She violently stomped the ground, effortlessly unleashing immense physical power as she rapidly leaped to a high position directly above both Ais and Valetta.
Valetta looked up in total panic, only to see an equally wild battle-crazed grin in front of her.
"Hey, that cheap hit from earlier was actually pretty effective. So this right here is your payback—catch!"
Tsubaki raised her arms high, bent one knee and focused absolutely all her raw physical strength entirely into one single leg.
The very next moment, it seemed as if the very air itself would totally explode from the sheer terrifying force.
The exact moment the sound barrier violently shattered, a highly destructive shockwave erupted.
Valetta, totally unable to dodge while being heavily restrained by Ais's relentless attacks, could only desperately cross her arms to brace for the incoming kick.
The sickening sound that rapidly followed absolutely wasn't like that of a human foot meeting a physical arm—it was honestly more like the deafening blast of a main tank violently firing!
BOOM!!!
The sonic boom exploded.
Valetta tightly gritted her teeth, barely supporting her completely fractured arms as her body instantly shot straight downward like a blurry black streak toward the solid ground.
With a deafening crash, Noah was completely astonished to see a massive reverse airflow erupting from the thick smoke.
"Cyclops! You bastard!!"
Only that furious curse echoed loudly from the deep crater.
Noah frowned and quickly ran forward to check the damage, only to find a massive gaping hole left completely behind.
Cold sweat slowly trickled down his forehead.
Valetta's violently kicked body had actually cleanly pierced straight through the entire thick floating island, plummeting into the seemingly bottomless abyss far below.
Witnessing the sheer absolute destruction Tsubaki had casually caused, Noah was utterly dumbfounded.
At the exact same time, he finally gained a much clearer understanding of what Level 5 truly meant in this world.
In his memories from the original story, there were honestly very few detailed depictions of actual battles strictly against Level 5 opponents, so only by clearly seeing it firsthand could one truly comprehend exactly what it really meant to be a superhuman.
And after taking a direct hit like that, Valetta could still shout curses?!
That is completely absurd!
Even though she had been brutally struck head-on by a physical attack powerful enough to easily kick straight through several sturdy buildings, it was strange enough that she simply wasn't dead on impact.
And purely judging by her furious voice fading into the abyss, she somehow seemed full of energy.
He absolutely didn't think she would actually die so easily just from the massive fall below.
Leaving aside whether the insane height was truly enough to kill an elite Level 5 adventurer, Valetta highly likely had plenty of other dirty means of escape.
Even Finn, who had solidly defeated her before, couldn't kill her and had somehow let her get away.
That was Finn using his destructive magic, with his total combat power nearly a full level higher, meaning he was vastly stronger than their entire current lineup.
Moreover, back then, nearly half of Orario was actively hunting her down, yet she still completely managed to escape.
It was honestly hard to imagine her dying so straightforwardly right here.
"Troublemakers always live long"—based entirely on Noah's personal experience, that old saying absolutely held true.
If there was any actual regret here, it was simply that the enemy didn't seem to realize Riveria's quiet presence this time, so there was actually a genuine solid chance to completely finish her off for good.
"She actually got away," Tsubaki said, looking somewhat highly embarrassed.
However, if she hadn't been standing safely outside with the mages, the fragile mages would have suffered heavy casualties from Valetta's ambush.
This entire chaotic series of brutal exchanges had happened in a very, very short amount of time.
When Riveria finally emerged from the smoking cave, she just barely caught sight of Valetta violently falling.
High-tier chanting absolutely takes time; even with her ultra-short chants, it was totally too late to intervene in that specific situation.
Tsubaki tightly clenched her fist a few times regretfully.
"I honestly really wanted to test my raw strength. If I'd actually known she was that tough, I would've just used my damn sword."
Noah definitely didn't blame Tsubaki and simply asked, "Tsubaki, do you think Valetta actually survived that?"
Tsubaki tilted her head in deep thought for a brief moment before replying, "I'm not sure, but I felt the heavy impact. I'm certain both her arms are totally broken, and she probably has several broken ribs."
Plus crashing straight through twenty to thirty meters of solid floating island rock...
Noah genuinely wanted to estimate the total damage, but he honestly couldn't accurately gauge just how strong a Level 5's physical endurance truly was.
The sheer kinetic energy from Tsubaki's violent strike was at least several times, if honestly not dozens of times greater than his most powerful Resonance Detonation.
By his understanding, even a Level 5 shouldn't be able to easily withstand that.
Ugh.
If only he hadn't urged Tsubaki to act.
Originally, it was purely just a massive grudge strictly between the Evilus remnants and the Loki Familia, but now, entirely thanks to Tsubaki's highly destructive kick, the Hephaestus Familia was definitely placed on their active hit list too.
That crazy woman had violently screamed "Cyclops" with all her twisted heart.
This matter definitely wouldn't just end here.
He absolutely needed to quickly find a highly effective way to send Valetta and all her perverted companions straight to their graves together.
Otherwise, he wouldn't feel secure in this Dungeon.
In an instant, Noah rapidly devised multiple complex plans to completely annihilate the artificial dungeon.
If raw firepower wasn't enough, then highly lethal biological weapons would absolutely do—poison all the Evilus members hiding inside!
That should absolutely ensure their safety in the future!
As the famous saying from his old homeland perfectly went.
"To properly eliminate true evil, one must eradicate it completely—only then can you truly be secure!"