Chapter 286

Chapter 286: Chapter 286

As Orario’s strongest mage, Riveria’s full-powered bombardment was naturally devastating.

Within only a few breaths, the strange worms that had nearly covered the entire area were burned away, reduced to clouds of ash that scattered on the wind.

"Hahaha! As expected of Riveria!"

Tiona planted both hands on her hips with a triumphant expression.

"See that, you stupid bugs? Now you know how strong we are!"

"Idiot. That was Riveria’s work. What the hell are you acting proud for?"

Bete immediately shot her an irritated look.

"Huh? Stupid wolf, you wanna fight?"

Tiona glared right back.

"Ha? You think I’m scared of you?"

Bete refused to back down.

Crackle—

The instant their gazes collided, it almost seemed as though invisible sparks were exploding between them.

"Bete-san, Tiona..."

Lefiya looked between them anxiously.

"All right, that’s enough. We need to deal with the aftermath first. Save the arguing for later."

Finn finally stepped in before things could escalate.

"Exactly, Tiona. We have more important things to do."

Tione immediately backed him up.

"Hmph."

The werewolf and Amazon girl both turned their heads away with matching snorts.

"Sorry you had to see that."

Finn turned toward Kiriya with a helpless smile.

"Hahaha, not at all. Your Familia has strong bonds and plenty of energy. I’d say that’s a good thing."

Kiriya casually brushed it aside.

Finn chuckled before leading the Familia members over to regroup with Riveria and discuss what had happened.

As first-class adventurers and senior members, Tiona, Tione, and the others began directing the lower-ranking members as they cleaned up the battlefield.

Even Ais went around checking on the younger adventurers of the Familia.

Kiriya, meanwhile, found Raul and began asking him about what had happened earlier.

"We were fighting Black Rhinos, Venom Scorpions, and the other monsters around here when those worms suddenly appeared. They swallowed all the monsters in one go, then tried to eat us too. That’s when the fight started."

"I see. Thanks."

"No, no, I should be the one thanking you! You really saved us back there."

Raul hurriedly waved his hands and thanked Kiriya sincerely before leaving to help the others.

Seeing the thoughtful expression on Kiriya’s face, Ryuu and Jeanne approached him.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. I just thought of something that bothers me."

Kiriya’s tone became somewhat meaningful.

"A monster that devours other monsters. What does that make you think of?"

"An enhanced species."

Ryuu answered without hesitation.

"Have you ever seen this many enhanced species of the exact same kind?"

Kiriya countered.

"And they’re an entirely new species nobody has ever encountered before."

"You mean... these things weren’t naturally produced by the Dungeon, but were created... deliberately?"

Jeanne looked startled.

Ryuu’s pupils contracted sharply.

"Who could possibly do something on this scale?"

Kiriya naturally knew who stood behind the creatures.

The Corrupted Spirit.

In the ancient era, before the gods descended to the Lower World, monsters pouring out of the Dungeon had ravaged the surface.

Some gods who were compassionate and unwilling to watch mortals suffer sent Spirits to aid and guide the people of the Lower World in their struggle against those monsters.

In that age, Spirits had played a role almost equivalent to the Falna of the modern era.

It could be said that the history before the gods descended was a history of heroes being guided by the gods through Spirits as they fought against the monsters.

In an attempt to eliminate the threat of the Dungeon at its source, some Spirits had even accompanied the heroes of that age into its depths, hoping to conquer the birthplace of the calamity once and for all.

Unfortunately, the dangers of the Dungeon were beyond even those Spirits and legendary heroes.

Many of them were buried within that deadly place.

There had, however, been exceptions.

Among those Spirits was one that had been swallowed by a monster and yet somehow retained its sense of self for an extraordinarily long time, surviving in a bizarre state.

Over the long years after being devoured, the once-pure and righteous Spirit had been contaminated by the monster’s omnipresent impulses toward violence and slaughter.

Eventually, it degenerated into a creature ruled only by primitive desires such as consumption, plunder, and indulgence.

A being known as the Corrupted Spirit.

And these strange worms were creatures made by that Corrupted Spirit—tools designed to devour the magic stones of other monsters and gather power for it.

"A Spirit?"

Ryuu felt a chill run down her body, goosebumps rising across her skin.

Those disgusting worms could not have looked further removed from the beautiful and pure Spirits described in legends.

But compared with their appearance, something else bothered her even more.

"How do you know all of this?"

She looked suspiciously at Kiriya, who sounded far too certain.

"Well..."

Kiriya grinned.

"I have a special source of information."

The smug expression immediately made Ryuu’s fist itch.

Jeanne lowered her head thoughtfully.

"If this Corrupted Spirit has existed for such a long time, yet no information about it has ever surfaced, that itself is unusual."

Kiriya and Ryuu both looked toward her.

Jeanne continued.

"The Freya Familia has also reached this depth before and spent a considerable amount of time here, yet they never encountered anything like this. But now... the Corrupted Spirit’s creatures are appearing openly and in such large numbers on higher floors."

She paused.

"What does that suggest?"

"It means that thing has accumulated enough power that it no longer needs to hide."

Ryuu finished the thought for her, and urgency immediately appeared in her heart.

Spirits were already known as the children most beloved by the gods, possessing magical talent beyond comparison.

After falling and becoming driven by desires for slaughter and plunder, such a being would only become more dangerous.

And after nearly a thousand years of growth...

Just how powerful could that monster have become?

Level 7?

Or even...

Level 8?

Neither possibility seemed impossible.

It might not even need to appear personally.

If these strange worms simply continued climbing upward through the Dungeon, they alone could wipe out many mid-tier Familias.

Ryuu wanted to head deeper immediately and eliminate the creature before things worsened, but doing so would obviously carry enormous risk.

"Looks like we really do need to investigate the deeper floors."

Kiriya reached over and rubbed the elf’s head, smiling casually.

"If the conditions are right, getting rid of that monster wouldn’t be a bad idea either."

Ryuu blinked, looking adorably stunned.

"Would that... really be all right?"

Concern crept into her voice.

There were only three of them.

"With everything I can do, even if I can’t beat it, you think I can’t run away?"

Kiriya continued rubbing Ryuu’s head, clearly enjoying how it felt.

"Besides, I never said the three of us would be going alone."

Hearing that, Jeanne and Ryuu instinctively turned their gazes toward the Loki Familia’s camp.

...

"What? A Corrupted Spirit?"

Inside the command tent at the center of the Loki Familia’s camp, Finn and the others were visibly shocked after hearing Kiriya’s theory.

"Are you certain?"

Riveria’s emerald eyes fixed sharply on him.

"Nope."

Kiriya shrugged.

"That’s exactly why we need to investigate."

He looked around at the assembled executives.

"If it really is that thing, and the situation allows it, we’re planning to kill it. I came here now because I wanted to ask one thing."

Kiriya smiled.

"Do you want to come with us?"