Chapter 511 - 511: Advancing

Inside the Dragon's Vase, smoke hung thick in the air, and the Dungeon was a scene of devastation.

With the Valgang Dragon's barrage no longer raining down on them, the pressure on Bell and the others eased considerably. Under the teenager's command, the party quickly pushed through the 53rd Floor and reached the entrance to the passage leading to the next Floor.

"That Juggernaut didn't drop anything."

Taking advantage of the brief rest, Lefiya pulled out some Magic Potions and handed them to Ais and the others.

Heeding Riveria's advice, she had put matters of the heart aside and devoted herself fully to the tense Dungeon expedition.

"It probably has a rather unusual body structure. After all, it didn't even seem to have a Magic Stone."

Bell answered softly.

With his [Luck] Development Ability, if the Juggernaut had any chance of dropping weapon materials, Bell would most likely have been favored by good fortune and obtained a Drop Item.

Although there had been no tangible gains, Bell had acquired a portion of the Juggernaut's memories. That was undoubtedly the effect of his luck. His memories of that period were quite hazy, and he wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but the memories concerning Astraea Familia remained crystal clear.

Bell recalled the red-haired girl's cries and felt they might be an extremely important clue, so he committed them firmly to memory.

"If everyone's rested enough, let's keep moving."

Bell looked around at the women beside him. Once they all nodded in agreement, the party set off toward the 54th Floor.

As monsters descended upon them, roars and screams rang out without pause. Even though the Calamity had been reduced to dust, the Dungeon's malice had not diminished in the slightest.

"More than ten Wyverns on the left. Riveria, use frost magic! Ryuu, hold off the spider-like monsters behind us. Lefiya, prepare your artillery magic! There's a new type of monster up ahead. Ais, finish it quickly!"

Bell swept his gaze across the battlefield and rapidly issued commands.

The party possessed overwhelming magical firepower. With Ryuu keeping the monsters occupied, they fell one after another beneath the artillery magic, while the Viola and Virga drawn in by the Magic Power were all torn apart by Ais's gale.

The only real problem was the dragon-like monsters flying in from the void and the enormous opening on the left. They were also the reason Bell and the others couldn't simply ignore the Floor and leap straight down.

Dodging barrages of fire while airborne was troublesome enough, never mind having to protect the Supporters at the same time.

That was why Bell had chosen the safer approach, advancing steadily one Floor at a time.

Not long afterward, Alicia stared at the entrance to the 55th Floor and exclaimed in surprise.

"Aren't we getting a little too lucky?"

With most of the left-hand section destroyed, the normal route had disappeared along with it.

Yet astonishingly, because the pillars of flame fired by the Valgang Dragon had pierced straight through the Dragon's Vase, many of the walls on the right had been swallowed by fireballs as well, creating shortcuts that allowed the party to keep advancing.

Alicia was genuinely amazed.

First, there was the teenager's incredibly precise command.

He had probably memorized the entire map of the Dragon's Vase. No, that alone wasn't enough to explain how smoothly they were progressing. Alicia suspected that while moving through the 52nd Floor, Bell had memorized the location of every opening and combined that information with the map in his head, allowing him to guide everyone forward without hesitation.

Luck was just as important. If even one of those walls had failed to be blasted apart, the party's route could have been completely cut off.

"This is all thanks to Bell Cranel, Alicia. Maybe if you go over and give him a hug, some of the White Rabbit's luck will rub off on you."

Riveria joined in with a smile.

After the earlier conversation among the Elves, her approach to romance had changed.

The term "official partner" hadn't been something she said casually. Riveria needed to build up her own support if she wanted to withstand the fierce competition ahead. That was also why she had openly admitted her feelings to Lefiya and the others.

Riveria understood perfectly well that once the "enemy" was already at the gates, it would be too late. She had to seize the opportunity now and gradually draw supporters to her side.

Having the Elven women around her become genuine lovers of the young man was, naturally, one possible method.

"A hug?! I-I can't do that!"

Alicia hurriedly waved her hands in refusal.

She still hadn't gotten used to the relationship between Riveria and the young man. In fact, part of her still instinctively wanted to rush over and denounce Bell. Simply suppressing that urge was already taxing Alicia's composure.

"I don't think that would do much. Bell Cranel is really lucky, but I've had plenty of physical contact with him, and my luck hasn't changed at all..."

Lefiya replied without thinking.

The moment she felt the other women's gazes land on her, she realized just how suggestive her words sounded and immediately clamped her mouth shut.

She had let her guard down just because they were talking about how impressive Bell was!

"Maybe the contact simply wasn't intimate enough."

Riveria teased with a smile.

"Ugh... T-that's not it!"

Lefiya's face turned bright red as she shyly looked away.

Fortunately, Bell was busy carrying out his duties as a Supporter. Not far away, he was taking out food and potions for Ais and Ryuu to help them recover, so he hadn't heard their conversation.

"Hehe... I was only joking. Let's keep moving."

Riveria brought the idle chatter to an end.

She had noticed every change in Lefiya, but she had no intention of forcing the girl's relationship with the young man to change overnight.

This time, because they had reached the lower section of the Dragon's Vase, fewer monsters were flying in from other Floors. The party quickly crossed another two Floors and arrived at the entrance to the 57th Floor.

"I feel like my Magic has gotten stronger again. Lefiya, do you feel it too?"

Alicia clenched her fist, sensing the changes in her body.

Her words were like a stone thrown into a still lake, sending ripples across the surface.

"R-really? I'm not sure myself, ahaha..."

Lefiya brushed the question aside.

Of course she could sense the changes in her condition, but that was surely influenced by [Requited Love Bond]. There was no way Lefiya could openly explain that Skill in front of the young man.

"Mm..."

Ryuu's heart began pounding, and she nearly stumbled.

The bonus from [Astrae Serenade] was closely tied to the depth of her feelings. Without a doubt, after everything that had happened with the Juggernaut, Ryuu's affection for the young man had grown even stronger.

Ryuu couldn't even bring herself to say that she liked him, much less admit what her Skill actually did.

Her cheeks flushed red, and she completely avoided the subject.

"..."

Riveria picked up on something from Ryuu's reaction.

She had no idea what kind of Skill Ryuu possessed, but her instincts told her that it was undoubtedly connected to Bell.

Ais remained silent as well, clinging to the young man's side whenever she had the chance.

Over the course of their journey, no one could even count how many times Ais had called Bell's name.

"I'm afraid our small talk ends here."

Bell looked toward the entrance to the 57th Floor and got straight to the point.

"There aren't any shortcuts on the next Floor. We'll have to jump down to the 58th."

Riveria nodded thoughtfully.

"So the first-tier Adventurers will have to carry the Supporters down... In that case, how should we divide everyone up?"

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