Within the Dungeon, Leon and his companions resumed their journey after resting for half an hour.
Originally, Finn and the others would have had to carefully trace along the wall, painstakingly searching for the hidden entrance to the 60th floor. But now, thanks to Leon's intervention, there was no longer any need to waste time.
Leon simply spread out his Veins of Light, and very soon located the entrance to the passage leading to the 60th floor. But what surprised him was the location of the entrance, it wasn't on the wall like before. Instead, it was situated on the ground.
Leon hadn't bothered to investigate the ground thoroughly with his magic before, and now he realized his oversight.
Standing at the edge of the newly discovered passage, Finn, clad in a full set of equipment made of salamander wool, turned toward the group and asked with deep seriousness, "So, is everyone ready?"
"Yes! We're ready!" The group answered in perfect unison.
At this moment, every single member of the party was similarly clad in Salamander Wool, enchanted garments infused with cold resistance attributes, necessary for surviving the intense cold of the 60th floor.
Even Leon, who often defied most preparations, wasn't an exception this time.
The 60th floor of the Dungeon, was a world of ice and snow, so frigid that even first-class adventurers would struggle to function without magical protection.
Even the usually scantily dressed sisters, Tione and Tiona, were now bundled tightly, wearing layers of ordinary clothing beneath their Salamander Wool cloaks.
"Then, let's go!" Finn shouted, rallying the team.
In the next moment, everyone stepped into the dark, narrow passage.
Even before fully entering, they could already feel the chill seeping from the passage's depths.
But as soon as they crossed the threshold, the temperature plummeted even further. A harsher wave of biting cold blasted them in the face, forcing everyone to shiver involuntarily.
"Aaaah! It's so cold!" Tiona groaned aloud, her voice shaking.
Her body was wrapped in layers, but her face was exposed. When the freezing air struck her cheeks, it felt like being stabbed by icy needles. Goosebumps rose all over her skin.
"It's hard to imagine how the Zeus and Hera Familia managed to explore this place before…" Tione muttered, clutching her Salamander Wool cloak tighter around her body.
The others all shared similar thoughts.
"Yeah, that's why the Zeus and Hera Familias used to say that the floors beyond the 59th were places where even first-class adventurers could barely move." Finn remarked.
"The next part will be a fierce battle. Don't let your guard down." Finn reminded with a calm smile.
Despite the biting wind, the group continued pushing forward.
Ten minutes later, they reached the end of the passage and emerged onto the 60th floor.
This time, unlike their chaotic entry onto the 59th floor, they were not ambushed. No monsters rushed them the moment they stepped onto the ice. They entered the 60th floor smoothly.
But the moment they did, they could feel the environment shift dramatically. The air outside was even colder than in the tunnel.
Leon quickly judged that the temperature here must be at least – 30° C.
"It's truly a world of ice and snow…" Alise whispered as she stared out at the landscape before her.
The view was surreal. Everything their eyes could see was pure white, an endless expanse of snowy terrain. The howling wind blew flurries into their faces, while glaciers and jagged icebergs loomed over a vast, frozen wasteland.
Crack… crack…!!
Before anyone could properly observe the environment, the sharp, echoing sound of breaking ice cut through the air.
In the ground ahead, long fissures formed and widened until a massive, snow-white figure burst forth from the frozen layer. It was at least five meters tall and wielded a colossal, frozen giant axe.
"Snowman… it's enormous. It doesn't feel like a typical Level 5 monster."
"Let's go!" Finn's lips curled into a grin as he shouted.
Without hesitation, Finn charged forward, leading the offensive. The others quickly followed suit, except for Leon, Riveria, and Lefiya.
Riveria had already begun chanting, her voice low and steady, while Lefiya waved her wand. A dazzling magic circle manifested, and a brilliant white beam of light surged.
The monsters on the 60th floor were roughly equal in strength to those on the 59th, Level 5 and Level 6. The majority were Level 6 monsters. However, unlike the abnormal frequency of monster spawns on the 59th floor, this time, everything seemed far more natural. A regular monster spawn cycle.
It became clear to everyone that the surge on the 59th floor had been caused by a mutation. The 60th floor was different, it was normal. All the monsters here were creatures of ice and snow.
Snowmen, snow wolves, white bears, frost giants, ice elves…
Altogether, there were twelve types, two more than what they encountered on the 59th floor.
Still, even though the 60th floor didn't spawn monsters with the same overwhelming speed as the mutated 59th, the challenge level was no less intense.
Finn and the others fought fiercely. As the battle continued, Leon chose not to explore beyond the 60th floor just yet. Instead, he decided to move forward with the team.
He recalled what the Guild had told him.
"There is a gap between the 60th and 61st floors. Something strange is happening there but no one knows exactly what."
"That's because the entrance to the gap is not fixed, it moves."
"Back when the Zeus and Hera Familias were advancing, they fell into disaster there."
"Riveria's mother, once a proud adventurer of the Hera Familia, perished there."
"This intel was uncovered by Fels, after great difficulty."
"But even Fels only managed to stay there for a few minutes, before fleeing in panic."
"He didn't even have time to explore fully. He only managed to bring back a few relics."
According to Fels, some unusual force protected that mysterious gap. Even Ouranos, wielding divine power, had failed to perceive it.
While quietly watching the ongoing battle, Leon's mind returned to that troubling thought.
Leon was genuinely intrigued by this so-called gap, after all, even Ouranos had failed to detect its existence using divine power. That alone made it an unknown region shrouded in mystery.
Standing at the front, Leon pointed in the direction where the passage was located. Everyone followed his lead, battling through monsters along the way.
But despite their strength and teamwork, the harsh environment and overwhelming number of monsters took their toll. It ended up taking over eight hours before they finally reached their destination.
"Huuuh..."
Standing in front of the passage, Riveria exhaled deeply, and her breath immediately turned into visible white mist under the freezing air.
"Don't exhale like that, Riveria." Leon reminded her gently. "This kind of open breathing could be fatal in these conditions."
Riveria quickly realized her mistake and nodded with a faint smile. "Yes, thank you."
"Let's go." Finn's voice cut in firmly.
No one objected.
Even as they stepped into the enclosed passage, the temperature remained just as bone-chilling. There was no relief, not even inside the walls of the corridor.
Everyone moved forward, brows furrowed, eyes scanning their surroundings with unease.