"What is that?"
Outside the dungeon, adventurers stationed there looked up at the sky.
To their astonishment, they saw a dazzling golden light streaking across the distant sky, heading straight for the dungeon behind them!
Like an arrow spanning dozens of kilometers, splitting the heavens!
Boom!
The atmosphere was violently parted, roaring like thunder.
Under everyone's dumbfounded gazes, the golden light descended from the sky and plunged straight into the dungeon!
The ultra-hard metal walls couldn't withstand that golden light, torn apart like cloth as it continued its vertical descent!
"Sorry, I didn't expect awakening magic would take three grimoires!"
From the eye crystals held by adventurers in the southeast, northeast, due north, and other directions, Eiji's delighted voice rang out.
"Three grimoires?"
Riveria froze.
"Yeah, so it took some extra time!"
Otherwise, he should have arrived with the Freya Familia.
"Why three?"
Riveria was deeply puzzled.
Theoretically, shouldn't one grimoire be enough to awaken one magic?
Otherwise, they wouldn't be priced at ten million valis—enough to buy a first-class weapon.
"Uh... let's skip that part!"
The golden light continued its straight descent, piercing through floor after floor of the dungeon's ceilings.
Eiji broke out in a cold sweat, glossing over the topic.
He'd also thought one grimoire would be enough to awaken magic, so he hadn't been in a hurry. That afternoon, he'd immediately set out for a building in the Beol Mountains north of Orario's outskirts.
There, he met the goddess Demeter.
Her honey-colored curls and ample bosom left their usual deep impression on Eiji, though her face had grown noticeably haggard.
"It's you?"
She looked utterly surprised upon seeing him.
"It's me."
Eiji nodded with deep affection.
"You've grown so thin. These days must have been hard for you."
Demeter instantly lost her composure.
She sniffled, nearly bursting into tears on the spot.
"Cut the act! I'm Enyo, and I'm going to destroy all of Orario. If that's why you're here, then go ahead and strike me down!"
But gritting her teeth, she resisted his charms.
"Stop lying!"
Eiji shook his head, his expression pained. "If you were Enyo, where are all your guards? And most importantly—where are all your Familia members?"
That was right.
In this mountainside building, Demeter was completely alone. None of her Familia children could be seen anywhere.
Demeter's expression darkened.
"Let me guess—Enyo took your Familia hostage, forcing you to impersonate him as a decoy, right?"
Eiji's mind worked quickly.
"No!"
Demeter started, hastily denying it.
"I'll definitely save them."
But his next words left her frozen in place.
"I promise you—I'll uncover Enyo's true identity and rescue every last one of your Familia members!"
"...Really?"
His resolute expression gradually softened Demeter's heart.
At the same time, it indirectly confirmed that Eiji's speculation was indeed correct.
Eiji quickly persuaded Demeter with his exceptional eloquence.
Then he received a message from Finn, instructing him to gather reinforcements from the Freya Familia.
Eiji hurriedly rushed to Freya's side and spent considerable effort coaxing her before she finally agreed to send troops with satisfaction.
"Ah, persuading two goddesses in a row has left me feeling a bit sore in the back!"
Eiji chuckled as he patted his lower back.
Although his Level 6 physique could easily handle dozens of such tasks in a day, he just wanted to play it up a little.
Could an ordinary person manage to, well, persuade so many high-quality goddesses in a single day?
After convincing Freya to send troops, Eiji decided to stay in the Battlefield Wilderness. With Freya's generous support, he found a few magic books, intending to awaken his magic in preparation for the decisive battle that evening.
After using up one magic book, nothing happened.
Undeterred, he tried a second one, but still no response.
It wasn't until the third book that he finally caught a glimpse of magic.
"Finn, which side should I support first?"
"The First Unit, over here!"
Eiji landed in the passageway of the 10th floor.
He then lowered his head, focused his mind, and chanted a certain spell as if it were second nature.
"—Portray!"
"Hum!"
With a sharp resonance, brilliant golden light materialized before him, forming several one-meter-long golden swords of light.
Boom!
The golden swords shot forward with a piercing shriek, spinning like drills as they collided with the labyrinth walls, shattering them instantly as if they were paper.
Eiji controlled the golden swords and swiftly followed.
Magic: [Aurora Blade]
·Sword-Shaping Magic
·Light Attribute
·The number and power of the swords shaped depend on the amount of magical energy output.
·Chant: "Portray."
...
The First Unit was Finn's team in the southeast.
Aside from Finn, the only first-class adventurers here were two Level 5s from the Ganesha Familia, with reinforcements from Freya Familia's Four Flame Metals.
In other words, there was a severe lack of Level 6 adventurers, making it impossible to deal effective damage to the corrupted spirit clone.
"Hold on a little longer!"
Finn shouted to the adventurers as he slashed through the relentless onslaught of tentacles.
"Reinforcements are on their way! Once he arrives, this monster will be nothing!"
"Him?"
"You mean...?"
"Super annoying!"
"I want to kill someone!"
The Four Flame Metals exchanged words, their eyes filled with frustration.
Swords, spears, hammers—various weapons swung in succession, deflecting attacks as they charged forward, only to be blocked by the petal armor. By the time they shattered the armor, bolts of wild lightning rained from the sky, forcing them to retreat.
The four of them roared in unison, filled with resentment.
They wanted to quickly defeat the monster and mock the arriving reinforcements, but no matter what, they couldn't get close to the creature!
Boom!
Just as the four were seething with frustration, the room's wall was violently shattered!
Golden swords of light shot out, streaking toward the monster high above from all directions before anyone could react!
The Corrupted Spirit was jolted with shock.
Instinctively, she enveloped herself in crackling thunder, retracting all her tentacles and armor.
But the golden light sword suddenly accelerated. Before she could react, it transformed into a streak of light—piercing straight through her body in the blink of an eye!
The multicolored magic stone in her chest shattered instantly. With a look of utter disbelief and fury, the monster dissolved into nothingness.
A Level 7 Corrupted Spirit clone—annihilated in an instant!