Chapter 265

Chapter 265: Chapter 265

"The Dungeon... this is the Dungeon?"

On the thirty-seventh floor, in an exceptionally secluded corner, the air rippled almost imperceptibly before two figures appeared out of nowhere—Kiriya and Jeanne.

Jeanne immediately looked around.

Everywhere she could see, long, shadowy caverns stretched deep into the darkness, their winding passages disappearing far beyond sight.

She instinctively tried to extend her detection abilities outward, only to discover that her perception had been compressed to less than a tenth of its usual range.

When she attempted to probe farther downward, something even stranger happened.

Far beneath them, beyond the limits of what she could clearly perceive, Jeanne faintly sensed an obscure but overwhelming pressure.

It was so vast and oppressive that her breathing unconsciously tightened, as though something hidden in the depths had merely allowed the edge of its presence to brush against her awareness.

Kiriya placed a hand on her shoulder and lightly patted it, pulling her out of her momentary daze.

"Don’t probe too far downward. It’s dangerous."

Jeanne nodded, though a thin layer of sweat had already appeared across her forehead.

"I can hardly imagine what kind of existence could have created an underground structure on this scale."

"Who knows?"

Kiriya shrugged.

"Questions like that are still way too far beyond us right now. Rather than worrying about what might be sitting at the bottom of the Dungeon, it’s more practical to focus on getting stronger first."

"You have a point."

Jeanne smiled at that and quickly regained her composure.

"So what should we do next?"

"First, we’ll find Hestia and have her update my Status. After that, we can go try some of the local food."

Kiriya started walking forward.

"Hestia?"

Jeanne followed beside him, immediately curious.

"You mean the famous virgin goddess from Greek mythology?"

"Yeah. That Hestia."

Kiriya nodded while silently adding another thought to himself.

’Famous, definitely. As for the virgin part... that might be debatable now.’

"The legendary Goddess of the Hearth..." Jeanne’s eyes brightened with expectation. "I wonder what kind of goddess she is."

"She’s a good goddess. I think you’ll like her."

Kiriya grinned.

"Especially since you’re probably going to become part of her Familia."

That reminded him of something, and he turned toward Jeanne.

"Actually, do you want to try receiving Hestia’s Falna?"

The thought had occurred to Kiriya long ago.

Jeanne was far from weak.

Judging by physical ability alone, her current incarnated body was no worse than that of a Level 7 adventurer in this world.

On top of that, she still possessed powerful abilities such as detection, Revelation, her Saint-related traits, and Magic Resistance, as well as formidable Noble Phantasms like Luminosité Eternelle and La Pucelle.

Even so, they were going to travel across different worlds.

There was no such thing as having too many ways to grow stronger.

Receiving a Falna would mean Jeanne could continue improving her basic abilities through battle and accumulated experience, drawing out even more of the potential hidden within her blood, body, and soul.

More importantly, she might awaken entirely new abilities of her own, whether in the form of magic or Skills.

Of course, no matter how promising the idea sounded, Jeanne had to be willing.

"You don’t need to think of receiving a Falna as something overly grand or sacred."

Kiriya began explaining its nature to her as they walked.

"At its core, it’s basically a contract. A god gives a mortal the key and catalyst needed to unlock their own potential, while the mortal provides the god with resources, assistance, and the convenience that comes from having a Familia."

"A Falna..."

Jeanne considered the idea for a moment before giving him a bright smile.

"I think I would be willing to try."

"You agreed that quickly?"

Kiriya looked genuinely surprised.

"I thought you might struggle with it for a while, considering it involves another god."

"All things can be part of the Lord’s guidance, and all things may also be trials sent by Him."

Jeanne’s voice was gentle, but the conviction beneath it was immovable.

"If merely receiving this ’Falna’ you described were enough to shake my faith in the Lord, then that would only prove that my faith had never been very strong to begin with."

She looked ahead, her expression calm and resolute.

"If I wish to spread the Lord’s compassion to more people who need it, then I need strength."

Kiriya stared at her for a second before slowly raising a thumb.

As expected of the Saint.

Her conviction really was on another level, and she had no trouble reconciling the idea with her own beliefs.

"Works for me. We’ll give it a try, then."

Kiriya smiled.

"I’m actually pretty curious what kind of magic or Skills you’ll awaken."

"So am I."

By the time their conversation ended, the two had already passed through the long cavern passage and entered an enormous underground chamber.

A vast circular pit dominated the area before them. Its bottom was densely packed with jagged stone spikes, and countless adventurer skeletons still hung impaled upon them, silently testifying to how dangerous the place was.

The enormous pit divided the cavern into separate sections, with only four naturally formed stone bridges connecting the surrounding paths.

At the very center of the pit stood an isolated island.

Upon that island rose a vast, imposing arena.

Roars echoed continuously from within, overlapping one another as violent, savage auras rolled across the cavern.

Even before seeing what was inside, the sheer density of hostile presences was enough to make Jeanne’s expression turn serious.

"There are so many monsters... and they’re strong."

She could clearly sense that some of the creatures inside possessed physical presences surpassing those of relatively ordinary Servants.

Astolfo, for example, would rank only somewhere around the lower-middle range here if the comparison were limited purely to physical ability.

In a straightforward close-quarters fight, he would probably suffer badly against some of these monsters.

Naturally, Noble Phantasms were another matter entirely.

And this was supposedly only the thirty-seventh floor.

The deeper one traveled, the stronger and more numerous the monsters became.

That realization carried frightening implications.

The Dungeon was effectively capable of producing large numbers of magical beasts comparable to low- and mid-tier Servants.

If such a force appeared in Jeanne’s original world, it would be powerful enough to influence the balance of the entire world.

"It’s fortunate they’re confined here."

Jeanne stared toward the arena with lingering unease.

"If creatures like these escaped to the surface in large numbers, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"They actually did escape in the distant past."

Kiriya glanced upward as they continued forward.

"Later, Babel was built above the Dungeon, and a great god remained there in constant prayer. That’s more or less how the Dungeon has been kept in its current state."

His eyebrows suddenly lifted.

Because the monsters had noticed them.

Tap...

Tap...

Tap...

Several Peluda had emerged onto one of the stone bridges.

Their scarlet eyes locked onto Kiriya and Jeanne as they advanced with slow, heavy steps.

Their movements appeared sluggish, but Jeanne’s instincts immediately warned her that they were dangerous.

Her battle standard materialized in her hands before they had even closed much of the distance.

"Careful. They can fire poisonous needles."

Kiriya had barely finished speaking when the Peluda reacted.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Dense volleys of poisoned spikes erupted from their backs and poured toward the two of them like a storm of arrows.

Jeanne remained completely composed.

Her battle standard swept through the air in broad, fluid arcs, moving so quickly that the shaft and flag blurred into overlapping afterimages.

The force generated by each rotation pulled the surrounding air into violent currents, and the resulting gusts intercepted the incoming needles before they could reach either of them.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Poisoned spikes scattered across the stone bridge.

Kiriya, meanwhile, stood beside her and applauded at an unhurried pace.

"Impressive. As expected of a Saint who spent years on the battlefield."

"Is this really the time to joke around?"

Jeanne shot him an exasperated look while keeping her attention on the monsters ahead.

"There are too many of them. We should break through quickly."

Her senses had already detected more hostile presences approaching from deeper within the chamber.

At the entrance to the arena, monsters were beginning to pour outward in enormous numbers, almost like water being expelled from a drainage pipe.

It was Jeanne’s first time facing a situation like this, and even she could not completely suppress a trace of nervousness.

"Break through?"

Kiriya shook his head.

"No way."

Jeanne glanced toward him.

"I’ve been away for several days. It’d be pretty embarrassing to go back empty-handed."

A grin spread across Kiriya’s face as his hands began forming seals.

"Besides, dinner’s counting on these guys."

He drew in a breath and released a razor-thin stream of water toward the advancing horde.

At first, there was only one.

Then the stream split into two.

Two became four.

Four divided again and again until, within the span of a heartbeat, countless high-pressure water blades were sweeping across the stone bridge and through the arena beyond.

Shhk! Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!

The pressurized streams sliced effortlessly through the monsters’ thick bodies.

Flesh and armor that could have withstood ordinary adventurer weapons offered almost no resistance as the water blades crossed the battlefield from multiple angles, cutting through one monster after another before immediately shifting toward the next.

The entire wave of creatures was carved apart almost simultaneously.

By the time a single breath had passed, the roaring that had filled the arena was gone.

The battlefield fell silent.

Every monster inside had been eliminated, leaving only a floor scattered with magic stones as proof that the horde had ever existed.