The Dungeon is an underground city located in Orario. It suddenly appeared in the lower world three thousand years ago and is the source of fierce monsters spread throughout the continent, as well as one of the world's three great secret realms.
After the Adventurers' Guild was established, people created new rules.
The entire Dungeon is divided into the Upper Floors (1-12), Middle Floors (13-24), Lower Floors (25-36), and Deep Floors (37 - Unknown).
The further down one goes, the larger the area of the floor becomes.
According to Adventurer measurements, the 5th Floor is already as wide as the Central Plaza, and by the 40th Floor, its area is equivalent to the entire urban area of Orario.
Although some floors do not conform to this rule, in principle, it can be concluded that the Dungeon is built around a conical shape.
The most intriguing aspect is the constituent material of the Dungeon.
It is similar to a Magic Stone, thus able to emit light in the sunless underground world, illuminating complex passages or wide plazas.
As the floor numbers increase, the danger level also continuously rises.
And now, Ais Wallenstein arrived alone at the 'Deep Floors', which is the 51st Floor.
She held her sword in her right hand, looking at the monster in front of her.
The types of monsters on different floors are fixed; this is common knowledge among Adventurers.
But something was different now… The monster in Asuna's vision was humanoid, its body covered in black steel-like carapace, but it would deform during each battle, like an insect mimicking a human.
At first, Asuna was very confused, not remembering such a monster on the 51st Floor.
But she didn't think much of it and charged forward.
Unknown enemy = unknown challenge.
To break through a bottleneck and overcome obstacles, one must push oneself to the limit!
Ais Wallenstein chose to go all out!
Orario's Sword Princess transformed into a flash of light in the next moment, closing in on the enemy!
The monster's body suddenly changed, its twisted limbs growing multiple arms, with bone blades at the ends aiming at Asuna.
She immediately lowered her center of gravity, and a whistling sound passed over her head, avoiding a potentially fatal blow!
Seeing this, the monster's spontaneously split lower body sprouted hundreds of centipede legs, allowing it to move quickly, even traversing walls and cave ceilings as if on flat ground!
Looking at the monster with its bizarre movements, Asuna tightened her grip on the sword in her right hand.
She began to chant softly.
"「Awaken」, 「Engulf」!"
This was Asuna's magic, Ariel.
This ultra-short wind-attribute enchantment magic took effect immediately!
Asuna wrapped herself in wind, enhancing her attack, defense, speed, and short-distance flight ability!
In the next moment, she seemed to walk on air, approaching the enemy from the front.
The humanoid monster with hundreds of legs and multiple arms sensed the threat, and its black carapace immediately expanded, using it as a shield.
"So many tricks…"
Clean attacks, movement that ignored terrain, and extremely fast defense.
Asuna praised the versatility of this new monster in her heart, but she didn't stop her actions.
The Sword Princess's sharp blade landed on the black carapace, and a crisp collision sound was heard, followed by sparks!
The monster, protected by its shield, thought its chance had come!
Relying on its armor to deflect the blade, the monster dropped its guard, and its extended bone blades whistled as they slashed at the space in front.
As a result, the monster found no one there?!
The moment before—!
Relying on the inertia from the blade deflection, Asuna rotated her body and retreated, using the left wall as a foothold to dissipate force while simultaneously generating power!
The Sword Princess was like a deadly spring, swiftly counterattacking after dodging!
The monster, whose attack missed, had no time to construct a shield again, and with its guard wide open, it was struck by Asuna's blade.
The sword light shining in the Deep Floors of the Dungeon cleanly cut through the monster's body, knocking it to the ground.
"Hmph!!"
Asuna let out a long breath, looking at the monster in front.
The heavily wounded monster struggled to get up, but before it could, the labyrinth floor seemed to dissolve into a swamp, directly swallowing the monster!
Asuna was not surprised.
She knew this was the 'protection mechanism' that Chen Hai had mentioned at the 'Gods' Assembly'.
Regardless of winning or losing, monsters would be 'recycled' by the labyrinth.
The reason for using 'recycled' is because the Dungeon's monsters all hatch from within the labyrinth walls.
The stronger the monster, the longer its regeneration time.
Asuna believed that the monster she had just defeated must have been a superior being on this floor.
Clatter~
Where the monster disappeared, a Magic Stone was left behind.
This could be seen as a consolation prize after the battle.
Asuna did not despise its low value but picked it up and put it in her pouch.
For her, although the battle just now was short, it was very dangerous.
If the difficulty were to increase by another notch… it would probably be difficult to achieve victory in a short time.
However, what Asuna sought was challenging battles.
She had reached LV.5 three years ago, which meant she had been at this stage for three years without any change.
Her stats had indeed grown somewhat, but she saw no possibility of becoming LV.6.
Asuna thought of this, her gaze falling on the passage to the next floor.
"Oh, oh, found it! Found it!"
On the other side, Loki, who emerged from behind a protruding rock, threw the water in her hand to Asuna.
"Loki?"
After receiving the water, Asuna was somewhat surprised.
"This is my first time exploring the Dungeon, thanks to Little Brother Chen Hai, otherwise I would have missed such an interesting place."
The Dungeon Lord stated that the labyrinth was open to the Gods, and no 'god's assassin' would appear.
Therefore, besides Loki, main Gods like Demeter and Hermes also entered the Dungeon.
"You've worked hard."
Riveria, who came with Loki, also greeted her.
Asuna took a sip of water, thanked them, and then asked the two,
"I plan to go to the lower floors, what about you?"
"If you keep going down and keep fighting, it might not be effective; what if you encounter powerful and gregarious monsters? How will you deal with them? You can't fight them head-on, you can only escape, and then there's no point in training."
"What should I do…"
"If you ask me, Chen Hai might have a way."
Loki walked up to Asuna.
"He understands the Dungeon and definitely knows where is best for training."
In Loki's opinion, Chen Hai could very well be the key for Asuna to break through her bottleneck.
After all, the Dungeon Lord came to Orario to change everything.