Chapter 284

Chapter 284: Chapter 284

While watching the deadlocked battle, Lefiya could not help growing worried.

"Will Jeanne-san and Ryuu-san be all right?"

She tightened her grip on her staff, her clear eyes fixed firmly on the battlefield.

"That’s a Level 6 Cadmus Dragon. Ryuu-san is only Level 5, right? And Jeanne-san... doesn’t look like she’s Level 6 either."

"Idiot, you’re worrying too much because you care about them."

Tiona looked at the elf girl speechlessly.

What was with Lefiya, anyway? The moment she saw a girl with exceptional looks and presence, she completely lost her composure.

Had she somehow forgotten that Kiriya was standing right there?

Tione also spoke up.

"Exactly. Haven’t you noticed that Kiriya has barely moved this entire time?"

Only after the sisters pointed it out did Lefiya finally realize the obvious.

Right.

That boy was someone who had defeated Ottar.

Taking down a Level 6 Cadmus Dragon could hardly be beyond him.

He was clearly letting Ryuu and Jeanne fight because he wanted them to gain more excelia and experience.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Jeanne and Ryuu’s weapons repeatedly struck the Cadmus Dragon, but they could only leave superficial wounds across its body and were unable to reach any truly vital point.

Seeing that, Ryuu decided to use Magic.

"The heavens of the forest now distant. Infinite stars embedded in the endless night sky..."

The elf began concurrent chanting in the middle of the fierce battle, magical energy boiling around her body.

The Cadmus Dragon sensed the danger and immediately tried to interrupt her chant, only for Jeanne to pin it down relentlessly.

The battlefield Saint wielded her banner so tightly and continuously that the Cadmus Dragon could never fully break away from her.

Eventually, Jeanne even maneuvered behind the dragon and drove a powerful kick into it, knocking the beast down from above and smashing it heavily into the ground.

"Luminous Wind."

By then, Ryuu’s spell was complete.

Under her precise control, thousands of green spheres of light converged on the fallen Cadmus Dragon and completely swallowed it.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The dragon’s shrill howls echoed through the cramped cavern.

Even the body of a Level 6 strength-enhanced variant could not take a full-force spell like that without serious consequences.

By the time the bombardment ended, the Cadmus Dragon’s body had been blasted into a miserable state, covered in torn flesh and wounds.

Realizing that the two girls were far more troublesome than expected, the dragon decided to look for another opening.

The human male by the spring seemed like a good target.

He had not attacked at all so far, so he was probably weak.

Kill him first to throw the others into confusion, drink the spring water to recover its injuries, and then wipe out the rest while their formation was disrupted.

Perfect plan!

Having made up its mind, the Cadmus Dragon spread its wings and charged toward Kiriya.

Driven by sheer survival instinct, the dragon pushed its speed to the limit and stretched out its claws toward him.

"Watch out!"

The girls’ alarmed cries came from outside the cavern.

Kiriya’s response was—

"Blade Storm."

"Thousand Strikes in an Instant—Secret Art: Instant Hell Slash."

In that single instant, Kiriya swung his sword at full speed.

With the aid of his Magic, more than a thousand slashes were unleashed in the blink of an eye, all concentrated onto the exact same point.

After several days of repeated practice, his mastery had improved dramatically.

By combining his full-speed swordsmanship with the amplification of Blade Storm, he had finally reached the point where he could truly unleash a thousand strikes in an instant.

Shhk!

The blade tore through the Cadmus Dragon’s claw and continued without losing momentum, cutting straight into the dragon’s body and splitting it open from the abdomen upward.

Splash—!

Dragon blood poured down like torrential rain.

The Cadmus Dragon only managed a single short cry before its enormous body disappeared from the cavern, leaving behind nothing but a magic stone the size of a human head and a sheet of dragon membrane.

Kiriya calmly lowered his sword.

Unfortunately, he did not have a cigarette or anything similar.

For some reason, it felt like the scene was missing something.

Ryuu and Jeanne both wore strange expressions.

If the Cadmus Dragon had continued fighting them, it probably could have lasted quite a while longer.

But of all the people it could have chosen to attack, it had gone after Kiriya.

There was really only one thing to say.

Some creatures truly brought disaster upon themselves.

"S-So strong...!"

Lefiya stared with wide eyes, feeling as though she were dreaming.

"Whoa! Kiriya, that slash was incredible!"

Tiona bounced over and immediately jumped onto Kiriya’s back in excitement.

"That was super cool!"

"A Level 5 adventurer killing a strength-enhanced Cadmus Dragon in a single strike..."

Tione walked over and looked at the enormous magic stone on the ground.

"That really is hard to believe."

"That slash..."

Ais replayed the image of Kiriya’s attack in her mind, momentarily fascinated by it.

"All right, all right. Stop standing there staring at me."

Kiriya calmly rose and glanced toward Lefiya.

"Hurry up and collect the spring water."

"O-Okay!"

Lefiya snapped out of her daze and hurriedly nodded. She took out the bottles and began filling them with the water.

Their timing had been fortunate.

The Cadmus Dragon had not yet drunk from the spring, so there was still plenty available.

They managed to fill two large bottles.

A rich harvest was naturally something to celebrate, but the bottles themselves were fragile.

If they were accidentally shattered during battle, everyone would be heartbroken.

"If you don’t mind, I can hold onto them for now."

Kiriya smiled and held out a hand.

Ais and the others had no objection, so Kiriya took out his summoning scroll and performed the summoning technique.

Poof!

The bottles vanished into white smoke, leaving Ais and the others staring in surprise.

"Hey, hey, Kiriya, what was that?"

Tiona immediately asked out of curiosity, only for her older sister to tug her back slightly.

"Summoning Jutsu. It’s a type of ninjutsu."

Kiriya rolled up the scroll.

"It’s very convenient for storing things."

He stretched lazily.

"Now that we’ve collected the spring water, I guess it’s about time we headed toward Floor 52."

Everyone nodded and set off together toward the entrance to the next floor.

They had barely gone a short distance when something unexpected happened.

They were attacked by a monster none of them had ever seen before.

It was an enormous creature with a yellow-green body covered in strange, vividly colored patterns that were almost painful to look at.

Countless short legs extended from its underside, giving it the appearance of a gigantic worm.

Its upper body looked as though it had been piled on top of its lower half, forming a disgusting swollen mass.

Flat organs so thin they almost lacked thickness extended from either side like arms.

The creature stood four or five meters tall, scraping a thick layer from the ceiling of the passage as it moved.

Its width was even worse.

Its massive body completely blocked the corridor.

Every time it crawled forward, those countless little legs moved together, enough to trigger anyone’s fear of dense clusters on sight.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Tiona shuddered visibly.

"It’s disgusting."

The other girls did not look much better.

That creature was seriously unpleasant to look at.

"No idea. I’ve never seen anything like it before."

Tione frowned.

"Who cares? I’m gonna beat the crap out of it!"

Tiona shouted and charged forward with her enormous double-bladed weapon.

"Wait, Tiona!"

Tione tried to stop her, but her younger sister was already too far ahead.

Tiona reached the monster and brought her weapon down with tremendous force.

Squelch!

The creature’s surface split open and blood sprayed outward.

By pure instinct, Tiona tilted her head aside and avoided most of it, with only a small lock of hair being splashed.

Sizzle...

The moment the blood touched her hair, it began dissolving in an unnatural fashion.

"What?!"

Tiona’s eyes widened in shock.

She immediately kicked off the ground, pulling her weapon free as she tried to retreat.

What happened next nearly made her cry.

Her double-bladed weapon was dissolving.

Not only had the blades that entered the creature’s body begun melting away, the corrosion continued spreading upward as though it would not stop until the entire weapon had been destroyed.

"What the heck is this?!"

Tiona yelped and threw away the remaining handle before quickly ripping out the lock of hair that was still dissolving.

Her eyes were already watering.

"What kind of monster has blood like that?!"

She nearly cried as she stared at the ruined weapon.

Her double-bladed sword...

A first-class weapon that had cost more than a hundred million valis to forge.

Gone just like that.

"Idiot Tiona! I told you not to rush in!"

Tione looked both distressed and exasperated.

She was about to continue scolding her sister when the monster suddenly sprayed a large volume of the same liquid from its body.

Tione immediately grabbed Tiona and jumped aside.

Everyone else reacted just as quickly.

Ais pulled Lefiya away, while Kiriya, Jeanne, and Ryuu all scattered in different directions to avoid the corrosive spray.