"Pick up the pace! Time waits for no one!"
Shakti and the others urged the allied forces forward, pushing deeper floor by floor.
No one lagged behind. Every unit maintained uniform strength, with several first-class adventurers assigned to each team. This made the allied advance even more unstoppable than before!
The Green Flesh they encountered was instantly shattered by the first-class adventurers at the forefront. Magic spells were forcibly dispersed before they could even take form.
With no other threats in their way, the army swiftly crossed the 9th floor and reached the domain of the 10th.
In the vast chamber, towering vines oozed a sickly green hue. Tentacles formed branches, petal armor twisted into roots, and the upper body of a beautiful woman loomed high above.
This grotesque monstrosity burned itself into the eyes of the adventurers who stormed the room.
Gazing skyward, she paid no heed to the furious glares of the adventers below. Her face brimmed with longing and anticipation as she ceaselessly chanted a spell that resembled a song.
"Take her down!"
Without hesitation, Tiona hefted her massive dual blades and charged forward with a roar.
Don't get in my way!
The monster's face twisted with rage.
Crack!
Her chanting never stopped, but a blade of frigid ice suddenly materialized before her.
"Seen this trick before!"
Tiona smirked triumphantly, cleaving the ice blade apart with a single swing. The tip of her massive weapon descended mercilessly.
But then—
"—Veil of Bone Gouging!"
A light, almost airy chant echoed from the side.
Tiona shuddered violently, her entire body seized by a bone-chilling cold!
Crackle—!
High-temperature lightning instantly engulfed the monster's body.
Tiona's dual blades still struck true, splitting the monster clean in half with their immense weight.
"Gyaaaaaah—!"
Yet Tiona also screamed in agony, her body charred black as coal before being violently flung backward.
Tione's heart lurched in panic as she caught Tiona and immediately passed her to the rear support team for treatment.
"How... how is she still able to chant other spells?!"
Staring at the regenerating monster, Tione was horrified.
The hidden ice blade should have been her limit—beyond that, she could only attack and defend with tentacles and petals. So why had that lightning-enhancing spell appeared?
"That's... a face?"
Ais darted through the swarm of tentacles, her sharp eyes never leaving the monster's movements.
At one point, she gasped in shock.
"Be careful—the monster has three faces!"
Her urgent warning made Finn and the others instantly aware of the anomaly.
Indeed, the upper body of that beautiful woman bore three faces—something never seen in any previous encounter!
Only the central face was turned toward the adventurers, while the left and right faces remained concealed. Tiona, failing to notice, had fallen victim instantly.
"Three faces... Could it be?!"
Riveria's expression darkened with urgency.
"She's only using the central face to chant Spirit Hexagram! The other faces can still cast different spells! Stay alert—her magic isn't sealed at all!"
Not just unsealed—it had grown even stronger!
Everyone, including Finn, paled.
Their entire strategy had been built on the assumption that the corrupted spirit couldn't spare the focus to chant other spells!
Under such circumstances, a few first-class adventurers working together could still put up a fight—but if she could use other magic—
Zzzzt—!
A massive surge of lightning erupted from the monster's body.
The monster let out a shrill, maddened laugh, mocking the adventurers' naivety.
"Shit! Fall back! Don't let that lightning touch you!" Gareth roared, urgently shouting at the adventurers.
The power of that lightning was terrifying—any ordinary adventurer caught in it would be dead before they could even down a potion!
"This is bad!" Finn's expression darkened.
"Deploy the Spirit Clothes, now!" His urgent command echoed through the Eye Crystals to all corners.
Adventurers from each squad quickly pulled out sets of phosphorescent garments, layering them together and positioning them at the front of their formations.
The lightning struck the layered cloth, piercing through several layers but failing to destroy them entirely.
Spirit Clothes—magic items crafted by spirits, each offering resistance to different elemental attacks. For instance, Flame Spirit Clothes excelled against fire and scorching heat, while Water Spirit Clothes countered freezing cold.
By stacking dozens of layers, they barely managed to block the monster's assault.
Finn had the Guild expedite the procurement of these as a precaution. He hadn't planned to use them, but who knew they'd actually come in handy?
Seizing the opportunity, the adventurers roared and launched a fierce assault on the corrupted spirit's avatar.
Except for one place.
The Fifth Unit.
An eerie silence hung over this chamber.
Bete and the others stood at the entrance, the corrupted spirit's song and the distant battle cries of other units ringing in their ears—yet they hesitated to step inside.
The reason was simple.
A masked figure stood at the center of the room.
Clad in a violet cloak, wearing an ornate patterned mask, with limbs encased in silver metal—it was the same masked individual who had appeared on the 58th floor and in the underground waterways.
Bete, Raul, and the others parted, allowing the girl at the rear to step forward.
"Your underlings pulled too many stunts, making Lefiya's situation suspiciously safe. That's what tipped me off." Loki's voice echoed from the Eye Crystal in her hand.
"Enyo is the god Dionysus—that's what Loki told me." Lefiya's gaze remained fixed on the motionless masked figure.
"At first, I couldn't believe it no matter what. But this way, so many inconsistencies finally make sense. When you appeared at the Dragon Vase on the 58th floor, you weren't there to attack us—you wanted to confirm I was safe, didn't you?"
The masked figure had led a horde of new-type monsters to ambush the Loki Familia's expedition, only to vanish shortly after, leaving them utterly baffled at the time.
When trapped in the man-made dungeon, Lefiya had seemingly stumbled upon the entrance to the underground waterways by chance. She thought it was just luck, but in truth, she had been under someone's watch the entire time.
That someone had desperately wanted her to return to safety, even risking exposure multiple times to guide her back to the exit.
Now, the truth was laid bare.
"You're Filvis, aren't you?"
Lefiya spoke loudly, her gaze filled with intense stubbornness.
"No."
The masked figure replied coldly.
"You are!"
Lefiya pressed on, undeterred.
"I'm not."
The voice remained ambiguous, impossible to distinguish as male or female.
"You are!"
"Am not!"
"Liar!"
"I'm not lying!"
"Then take off your mask and let me see!"
"..."
The masked figure fell silent.
"Fine, I can't win against you."
This time, the voice that rang out was unmistakably that of a young girl.
The masked figure raised a hand and removed her mask.
A cascade of jet-black hair spilled down like a waterfall, and crimson eyes brimmed with resignation.
A pure-white elf.
Filvis.
She was none other than Enyo's sole subordinate.