Chapter 278

Chapter 278: Chapter 278

With a Fire Dragon serving as their mount, the efficiency of their advance through the Red Lotus Mountains rose another level.

Under normal circumstances, Jeanne and Ryuu continued relying on their exceptional speed and refined technique to eliminate the Flame Rocks.

Whenever the number of Flame Rocks became too dense, or flying monsters like Fire Dragons appeared to interfere, Kiriya would immediately transform into a dragon rider and take both women into the air for all kinds of dangerous, exhilarating aerial maneuvers.

In this way, the three tore through the Red Lotus Mountains at astonishing speed and soon reached the final stretch of Floor 48.

"We already made it through?"

Ryuu looked back at the vast region engulfed in flames behind them and felt a strange sense of unreality.

She had originally expected the Red Lotus Mountains to be an exhausting ordeal.

At the very least, she had assumed all three of them would emerge covered in soot and thoroughly worn down, with their equipment and stamina heavily depleted by the time they successfully crossed the area.

Instead, it had ended almost effortlessly.

’An unexpectedly powerful companion.’

Ryuu glanced toward Jeanne.

The girl’s considerable strength had greatly reduced the burden on Ryuu as a fellow party member.

Of course, an even greater contribution had come from the Fire Dragon carrying them.

Thanks to it, they had avoided being constantly harassed and chased by airborne monsters, making the creature an undeniable contributor to the expedition.

"Are we really just going to leave it here?"

Ryuu found the idea somewhat wasteful.

"It definitely needs to stay here. This environment is the most suitable place for it to grow."

Kiriya took out a scroll.

"But if I ever need some help, I can always call it over."

"Hm? How?"

Both Jeanne and Ryuu immediately became interested.

"Hehehe. By making it a contracted summon, of course."

Kiriya spread out the summoning contract scroll and instructed the Fire Dragon to extend one claw.

He cut a small wound into it, then had the dragon press its bloodied claw directly onto the contract.

Because the Fire Dragon remained under the control of Kiriya’s Sharingan, the entire process went smoothly without even the slightest resistance.

The instant the contract was completed, Kiriya felt a strange connection form within his mind, its source unmistakably linked to the Fire Dragon before him.

He tossed several magic stones into the dragon’s mouth and watched it crunch them down before giving it a few instructions.

"All right. You’re free to do whatever you want for now. Don’t pick fights with human adventurers, and make sure you train properly and get stronger."

Kiriya raised a fist threateningly.

"If I summon you next time and you haven’t improved at all, I’m going to beat the hell out of you."

The Fire Dragon visibly shuddered.

It let out what sounded suspiciously like an ingratiating cry before spreading its wings and flying away.

"You just... deliberately created an enhanced species."

Ryuu stared after the departing dragon, thoroughly stunned by Kiriya’s actions.

Other adventurers saw monsters and immediately tried to kill them.

Kiriya had instead deliberately allowed one to survive and encouraged it to devour magic stones so it could continue growing stronger.

"Aren’t you worried about raising something that might eventually turn against you?"

Ryuu warned him.

Enhanced species did not merely increase their physical strength by consuming magic stones.

Their intelligence could improve as well, making them increasingly troublesome the stronger they became.

"You’re overthinking it."

Kiriya grinned.

"If I ever get surpassed or betrayed by some oversized lizard, then I might as well quit being an adventurer and smash my head against a rock."

Ryuu thought about it and realized he had a point.

Kiriya had only been an adventurer for several months, yet he had already reached Level 5 and become a first-class adventurer.

When he fought at full strength, his combat power probably reached around Level 8.

With that kind of talent and growth rate, there was little reason for him to fear a monster whose main method of getting stronger was simply consuming magic stones.

And Jeanne had even less reason to worry.

Ryuu had personally seen the strike Kiriya unleashed against Karna, an attack powerful enough to contend with that god-slaying spear.

Compared with something like that, these so-called monsters were hardly worth mentioning.

"If it ever rebels, I’ll cut it down."

Kiriya put away the scroll and smiled toward the two women.

"Since we’ve already come this far, want to take a look at the deeper floors?"

"Let’s go."

Ryuu raised her chin slightly.

"I want to know where my limit is too."

Jeanne had no objection either.

Wherever Kiriya went, she would go with him.

And so, the three continued toward Floor 49.

...

Floor 49 of the Dungeon was also known as the Great Wasteland.

The entire floor consisted of a single gigantic cavern whose area was roughly one and a half times the size of Orario.

Violent winds howled endlessly while yellow sand filled the air, creating an exceptionally harsh environment.

The recommended exploration standard for this floor was Level 5.

The reason was simple.

It had a Floor Boss.

Balor, a Level 7 monster whose overall abilities reached the Level 7 range, was several orders of magnitude stronger than Udaeus, the Floor Boss of Floor 37.

Aside from a handful of powerful Familias such as the Loki Familia and Freya Familia, almost any other Familia unfortunate enough to encounter it would be in serious trouble.

However, the stronger a monster was, the longer its respawn period tended to be.

Balor required a full nine months to regenerate after being defeated—three times the respawn period of Udaeus on Floor 37 and nine times that of Amphisbaena on Floor 27.

It had been less than two months since the Loki Familia last defeated Balor, meaning Kiriya’s group was destined to miss out on this enormous bundle of excelia.

Of course, even without the Floor Boss, Floor 49 was still far from safe.

Powerful monster groups roamed everywhere.

"ROOOAR!"

The moment Kiriya, Jeanne, and Ryuu arrived, the ground began rumbling violently.

Mounds rose one after another from the earth before enormous monsters as tall as buildings emerged from beneath the sand.

Their bodies resembled a bizarre combination of camel and elephant, massive and thick enough that a single glance made it obvious how difficult they would be to bring down.

They were Fomors, large monsters native to Floor 49.

Their overall abilities exceeded Level 5 and leaned toward the upper end of that range. Even an adventurer who had already reached Level 5 could easily suffer serious injuries if careless.

Because of that, Ryuu fought with exceptional caution.

She pushed her agility and dexterity to their limits, constantly circling the monsters and refusing to engage in a direct contest of strength.

Even then, it usually took several attacks before she could finally bring down one of the thick-skinned creatures.

Jeanne, by comparison, was far more straightforward.

"Haaah!"

She slammed her right foot against the ground and used the resulting force to launch herself forward.

The spearpoint of her battle standard drove directly into the monster’s chest and shattered the magic stone inside.

One strike.

That was all it took to kill the extraordinarily durable Fomor.

Ryuu’s eyes widened slightly.

She had originally assumed Jeanne’s ability was around the level of someone who had only recently reached Level 5.

But judging from this performance, Jeanne might already possess high-Level-5 combat ability.

Perhaps even...

Level 6?

Kiriya being unfathomably strong was one thing, but now some supposed newcomer had suddenly appeared and surpassed her as well.

How could Ryuu accept that?

The elf had her own pride too.

Her attacks immediately became even more aggressive.

Compared with the two women, Kiriya fought with almost insulting ease, moving at an unhurried pace even when one of the Fomors brought down a massive blunt weapon resembling a siege ram directly toward his head.

"Blade Storm."

Kiriya murmured the chant.

The sword in his hand instantly transformed into a dazzling mass of sword light.

This time, however, those countless flashes did not spread across different targets.

Kiriya deliberately controlled every slash and concentrated them all onto a single point—

The enormous weapon held by the Fomor.

"..."

The monster directly in front of Kiriya suddenly stopped moving.

So did several Fomors standing behind it.

Shhk—

A cloud of blood erupted from the forelimbs of the Fomor closest to Kiriya, and its enormous body began sliding apart diagonally.

That seemed to trigger something.

The Fomors standing behind it split apart in exactly the same manner.

Looking carefully, one would discover something astonishing.

Every cut lay upon the exact same plane.

"As expected."

Kiriya slowly exhaled, excitement flickering through his eyes.

The greatest effect of Blade Storm was allowing its user to swing a sword at an almost unbelievable speed.

In the past, Kiriya had mainly treated it as a large-scale clearing technique.

But as his strength continued increasing and he accumulated more and more methods for destroying groups of enemies, Blade Storm had gradually been pushed aside and left unused.

Recently, however, while reorganizing and reviewing all of his abilities, Kiriya had discovered another potential application for the spell.

If Blade Storm allowed him to release dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of sword strikes in an instant...

Then what would happen if he concentrated every one of those attacks onto the exact same point instead of scattering them?

Could the destructive force be stacked together and multiplied?

Now that he had actually tested the idea, the answer was obvious.

The power had increased by more than tenfold compared with an ordinary sword strike.

And this was only the result of roughly a hundred strikes compressed into a single instant.

What if he could reach a thousand?

And what if every one of those thousand sword strikes carried the power of a finishing move on the level of Afterglow?

Gulp.

Kiriya swallowed hard.

His anticipation for the future rose even higher.