Somewhere in a dark, undiscovered region of the Dungeon...
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"
Olivas Act muttered incessantly, his face twisted with rage.
Veins bulged along his neck, his teeth ground together, and his bloodshot eyes trembled with barely contained hatred.
"Those hateful Loki Familia bastards... I'll get my revenge. I'll tear them limb from limb..."
His breathing grew erratic as he continued, dragging his fingernails violently across the stone walls.
"Especially that werewolf fucker... I'll rip his flesh apart, feed him to my Violas, and make him scream in anguish."
From a distance, Revis watched him silently, her eyes narrowing as she ran a whetstone along the edge of her sword.
"Tsk... what a pathetic bastard."
She muttered under her breath.
"Oi! What are you doing skulking around like a creep?"
She barked suddenly, her voice sharp and cold.
"Didn't you have a job to do on the twenty-fourth floor?"
"Shut up, you bitch!"
Olivas snapped his head toward her and roared back.
"...Ha?"
Revis' voice dropped into a low, chilling tone... one steeped in raw killing intent.
"What did you just say? Say that again."
The pressure alone made Olivas flinch, his body reacting before his mind could.
'Dammit...'
He clenched his fists and lowered his head.
Olivas knew better than anyone that Revis was far stronger than him.
Though they were technically comrades... creations born of her will... he also knew her temperament all too well.
If he pushed her far enough, she wouldn't hesitate to kill him and devour his magic stone to grow stronger.
'Acting like you're better than me...'
'You're the one who got caught by those Loki bastards in the first place!'
Biting back his fury, Olivas turned around and stormed off.
'You too... you red-haired bitch. Just you wait.'
Watching him leave, Revis snorted and spat to the side.
For the next fifteen minutes, she continued tending to her weapon... a sword she had stolen from an adventurer she personally killed, after her previous one was shattered by Judas in their last clash.
It was then that a crystal orb beside her flickered to life.
A surveillance item.
Images formed across its surface... several figures sprinting through the Dungeon.
Under normal circumstances, Revis wouldn't have spared them a second glance.
However...
"That black-haired bastard..."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously as Judas came into view... alongside the werewolf Olivas clearly held a grudge against, and two female elves.
"It seems they're heading this way."
A slow, menacing grin spread across her face as she rose to her feet.
Her sword dragged against the ground, sparks bursting with each step.
"Aria isn't with them... but it doesn't matter."
Her gaze locked onto Judas, burning as if etching his face into her memory.
"Today will be your death anniversary."
With a snarl, she crushed the crystal orb in her palm, shards scattering as her fury boiled over.
...
The nineteenth through twenty-fourth floors are known collectively as the Large Tree Labyrinth.
The walls, ground, and ceiling were all composed mostly of wood, giving the eerie impression that one was traversing the interior of a colossal, living tree.
These floors contained vast stretches of unexplored territory and were the only known layers of the Dungeon to possess such a rich diversity of plant life.
The twenty-fourth floor alone was said to be at least half the size of Orario, with each successive floor below it being even larger... a fact that often made Judas wonder just how massive the Dungeon truly was.
'No matter how many times I've been here, stepping into the Dungeon still feels like I'm entering another world.'
'I remember the Xenos' village was somewhere around this area...'
It was then Judas felt his intuition flare.
A sharp, unpleasant sensation crawled up his spine, as though a pair of hostile eyes were fixed on him from within the shadows.
'What was that?'
'...Is someone watching me?'
He frowned and came to a sudden halt, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.
Noticing his stop, the others slowed and turned toward him as well.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?"
Bete barked, his brows knitting together.
Judas didn't respond immediately.
His eyes continued to scan the area until something faintly reflective caught his attention in the distance.
'There.'
He raised his arm and made a grasping motion toward a nearby tree.
Using his telekinesis, he tore something free from the bark.
The object floated toward his hand, hovering gently before settling into his palm.
"A magic item?"
'Is it similar to that?'
As Judas inspected the crystal-like object, he furrowed his brows
His thoughts drifted naturally to the time Fels had attempted to spy on them.
'I can't feel anything anymore... which means they've already cut off the connection.'
Bete and the others stepped closer, their expressions filled with confusion.
"What the hell is that?"
Bete asked, squinting at the crystal.
"I think it's a surveillance magic item. I felt someone watching us earlier."
Judas replied as he quietly cast a concealment spell over it.
'Just in case it can still be used to track our location.'
Turning slightly, he handed the item to Lefiya.
"Hold onto it for now."
"Ah... y-yes."
Lefiya nodded quickly and tucked the item into her bag.
"The fact that we found this kind of item in such a remote area of the floor is suspicious."
Filvis spoke with a frown, her gaze lingering where the surveillance item had been found.
"That's right. It means we're on the right track... and that our suspicions are becoming far more likely."
Judas agreed.
"Then why are we standing around wasting time? Let's move."
Bete snarled as he surged ahead.
The group quickly resumed their advance.
...
Meanwhile...
Somewhere on the twenty-fourth floor, the situation had spiraled into utter chaos.
Explosions rang out in rapid succession, shaking the terrain as shockwaves tore through the area.
"I can't believe we got separated."
Alise muttered, wiping the blood from the corner of her lips as she staggered forward.
Alarm bells screamed inside her head.
Her instincts flared violently, warning her of imminent danger.
But it was already too late.
The sickening sound of flesh being torn apart echoed through the air.
Blood splattered across the floor.
Alise froze, her breath hitching as she looked down.
A sword had pierced straight through her chest.
"Haha! What a big catch! To think the Scarlet Harnel of the Astraea Familia would fall right here!"
A deranged voice cackled from behind her.
Gritting her teeth, Alise slowly turned her head.
"...Olivas... Act..."
She muttered weakly before her legs finally gave out, her body collapsing to its knees.
His sadistic laughter grated mercilessly against her ears.
'Is this... where I die?'
'Lady Astraea... Lion... Kaguya... Lyra... everyone...'
Her eyelids grew heavier with each passing second.
'Judas...'
To properly understand how things came to this...
Let's turn back time a little.
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