Chapter 615 The Battle for the Divine Rings

"Eighteen floors of hell, huh…"

Laxus muttered the comparison under his breath, then raised his voice toward the empty corridor around him.

"What happens to people who don't inherit anything? Are they still allowed to leave?"

Falutbeth heard him easily.

"Of course."

Her voice drifted through every level of the dungeon.

"Anyone who successfully reaches the eighteenth floor may leave safely, whether they obtain an inheritance or not."

She paused.

Then her tone turned distinctly more enticing.

"However…"

"Throughout this dungeon are many hidden chambers guarded by dangerous magical beasts. Inside them are all kinds of treasures, magical artifacts, and ancient relics."

"You are free to explore as much as you like."

"And as long as you can carry something out…"

"Anything you obtain here is yours to keep."

Laxus frowned.

Something about the god's tone bothered him.

It almost sounded as though she were deliberately tempting everyone to stay inside the dungeon longer.

Sure enough, Falutbeth's next words made the hearts of every mage scattered throughout the ruins start pounding.

"Among those treasures are seven rings."

"Each ring contains a different form of functional divine power and would be considered priceless in the mortal world."

"Even a powerless child who obtained just one of them would possess the potential to rise among the strongest humans alive."

"And if one person manages to gather all seven rings, reach the eighteenth floor, and leave the dungeon…"

Falutbeth's voice rose dramatically.

"Then every inheritance contained within these ruins will pass to that person."

"In other words…"

"For the seven rings…"

"For the chance to become a second-generation god…"

"Fight!"

...

Ankh and Yuluye stood beside her in the observation realm.

Both looked embarrassed.

Falutbeth, however, seemed quite pleased with herself.

And judging by the reactions below, her theatrical announcement had worked.

...

On the fifteenth floor of the dungeon, a cloaked figure sat slumped against a wall, breathing heavily.

A strand of golden hair had slipped loose from beneath her hood.

It was Dimaria.

After Ishgar began hunting her down, she had chosen to take one final gamble before retreating.

Falutbeth's speech was nothing new to her.

She had already heard the rules when she first entered.

"So someone really did come after me…"

Dimaria shook her head with a tired smile.

"What a shame. I was still too slow."

Her chest rose and fell heavily.

Her War God Soul attire was torn in several places, dirt streaked her face, and exhaustion hung visibly over her features.

Then she slowly opened one hand.

Resting in her palm was an ancient ring engraved with dark violet patterns.

Faint divine light shimmered across its surface.

And within that glow, the image of a serpent could just barely be seen.

"The monsters guarding these rings are nearly as strong as dragons…"

Dimaria glanced toward a corpse lying nearby.

It was an enormous, grotesque serpent whose dead body was still leaking venom across the stone floor.

"Figures."

"A trial created by gods wouldn't use ordinary monsters."

Even as one of the Spriggan 12, Dimaria had nearly died when the creature ambushed her in this pitch-black environment.

She stared at the ring.

"This makes three."

She slipped the serpent-patterned Divine Ring onto her finger.

Two other rings were already there.

One bore the image of a bear.

The other, a ram.

The moment the new ring settled into place, fresh power surged through her body.

Knowledge of its ability appeared naturally in her mind.

A few seconds later, hesitation flickered through Dimaria's eyes.

Then she sighed.

"It's a good ability, but for me…"

She stopped.

Her expression changed.

"No."

"Maybe it would be useful against that man."

Something she remembered made excitement flash across her eyes.

She brushed one finger over the serpent ring, stood, and continued searching.

Unfortunately, finding the Divine Rings was clearly far more exhausting than she had expected.

Before entering, Dimaria had been brimming with confidence.

One day later, she looked half-dead.

"Damn it…"

"Would it kill this dungeon to have some signs?"

Dimaria wasn't the only person being driven to despair by the search rather than the fighting.

...

On the twelfth floor, another pair of women wandered through the maze.

One wore a revealing formal dress that left her shoulders bare, with black-and-white hair braided neatly behind her and tall combat boots reaching up her calves.

At the moment, however, none of that elegance helped her mood.

"This ring is way too hard to find…"

She groaned.

Standing across from her was an older-looking woman dressed even more boldly.

A fitted, backless qipao clung closely to her figure, with a diamond-shaped opening at the chest and high side cuts that made her look far more prepared for a banquet than a dungeon expedition.

Her expression remained cool.

"Stop complaining."

"Let's check the next floor."

The younger woman sighed but obediently followed.

Barely a few minutes later, she started grumbling again.

"Seriously, though…"

"How are we supposed to find these things?"

Her sister didn't answer immediately.

But the impatience in her own expression showed that she wasn't much happier.

After a moment, she spoke softly, seemingly reassuring both of them.

"We've already been inside for several days and only found one."

"Just keep going."

"We can ask Sai and the others later and see if they've found anything."

The younger woman looked toward the only ring currently in their possession.

It rested on her sister's finger.

A Divine Ring engraved with a fox.

She sighed again, massaging her aching calves.

'This stupid divine trial…'

'Would it really be too much to ask if I could just step on one of the rings while walking?'

...

On the sixth floor, Laxus was still lost.

Completely, hopelessly lost.

The twisting corridors branched in every direction, and at this point, finding the route downward seemed harder than finding one of Falutbeth's precious rings.

"Hm?"

Inside a chamber so dark that even Laxus could barely see his own hand, something suddenly brushed the top of his head.

Cold.

Instinctively, he reached up.

His fingers closed around something hard and cool.

"What the hell is this?"

Laxus snapped his fingers.

Golden lightning gathered at the tip, briefly illuminating the room.

He opened his hand.

There was an ancient ring sitting in his palm.

A strange aura clung to it.

Laxus brought it closer.

Carved into the surface was the lifelike image of a dragon.

A dragon ring.

Which had just…

fallen out of the sky.

He stared at it.

Then stared upward.

"Don't tell me this is one of the seven rings."

Divine power was clearly radiating from it.

Laxus scratched his head.

He had no idea what had just happened.

But Laxus had never been the type to overthink good fortune.

After a few seconds, he simply stuffed the ring away and resumed wandering through the maze.

The ring hunt could wait.

Finding the damn staircase was apparently his real final boss.

...

One minute after Laxus left, a young man came sprinting through the darkness.

He skidded to a stop.

Looked around.

And immediately broke down.

"DAMN IT!"

"WHERE DID THAT MONSTER THROW MY RING?!"

Just moments earlier, the young man had finally discovered one of the Divine Rings.

To obtain it, he had fought a vicious guardian beast—

a flood dragon.

The battle had been brutal.

He had finally pushed the creature to the brink of death.

But just before he could kill it and claim the treasure, the furious flood dragon had grabbed the ring and hurled it as far away as possible.

The young man had no choice but to finish killing the monster first.

Then he chased after the ring.

And found…

nothing.

Not even a trace.

The Divine Ring had vanished so completely it might as well have turned into some legendary fruit and sunk into the earth.

The young man stared into the darkness.

His expression slowly collapsed.

He had fought half to death for that ring.

And someone else had apparently picked it up without even trying.