Chapter 289

Chapter 289: Chapter 289

"That’s right."

Kiriya gave a thumbs-up.

"So don’t worry about falling. I’ve got you."

Ais’s eyes immediately brightened.

Her fighting style became much more aggressive as she began leaping from one flying dragon to another, killing one with nearly every breath.

Even if she fell, there was nothing to worry about.

Kiriya kept his perception fully active, ready to appear behind her at any moment, wrap an arm around her waist, and return her safely to their Fire Dragon.

Riveria’s eyelids twitched repeatedly as she watched.

There were plenty of ways to rescue someone.

Why did he always have to grab them around the waist?

’This boy really isn’t behaving himself.’

Riveria pursed her lips.

They were still in the middle of battle, so she could hardly say anything right now.

She could only make a mental note and settle the score with Kiriya later.

The Valgang Dragons below roared and continued launching attacks in an attempt to burn them to ash, but against the clearly enhanced Fire Dragon, their bombardments still fell short.

The red dragon relied on its superior mobility to evade the incoming fire.

After several tense and exhilarating minutes of aerial combat, the battle finally ended with a large number of flying dragons dead and Kiriya’s group successfully reaching Floor 58.

"We... actually made it just like that."

Riveria could hardly believe it.

In the past, traveling from Floor 52 to Floor 58 had always meant either being forced to scramble around under constant bombardment from the Valgang Dragons or spending a great deal of time descending floor by floor.

She had never experienced anything as fast as this.

"Summoning Magic, transportation Magic..."

Riveria smiled.

"You really do have some unfairly convenient abilities."

She was extremely glad Kiriya was on their side.

Looking at the enormous red dragons growing closer below, Kiriya’s expression turned fierce.

"You guys gave us quite the warm welcome earlier."

He grinned.

"Let’s return the favor."

With that, he jumped from the Fire Dragon’s back.

Ais, Ryuu, and Jeanne followed immediately.

Using the Fire Dragon’s speed, they rapidly closed the distance with the Valgang Dragons before striking with swords and battle standard.

Shhk!

A Valgang Dragon’s head was severed, and its enormous body immediately dissolved into ash and disappeared.

Kiriya sheathed his weapon, ignoring the Black Rhinos, Venom Scorpions, and other monsters charging toward them.

He brought the three women back onto the Fire Dragon and continued toward Floor 59.

They were short on time.

Those monsters could wait.

Floor 58 was an enormous, spacious single cavern, making it perfect terrain for a flying creature like their Fire Dragon.

There were also fewer enemies in the air, and traveling by dragon was much faster, so they decided to remain mounted.

Before long, they reached the entrance to Floor 59.

The closer they came, the deeper Riveria’s frown became.

"What’s wrong, Riveria?"

Ais noticed the mage’s unusual expression and asked.

"Floor 59 is known as a glacial region. Even first-class Level 5 adventurers have difficulty enduring the cold there."

Riveria looked toward the passage ahead.

"But... do any of you feel cold wind?"

Everyone froze.

Their expressions immediately became serious.

"The information came from the Freya Familia, and they had no reason to lie."

Riveria’s voice lowered.

"So there’s only one possibility."

"Something unknown has already changed the entire floor."

The atmosphere instantly became heavy.

What kind of power could alter the environment of an entire Dungeon floor?

"Heh. Isn’t that convenient?"

Kiriya shrugged.

"At least we won’t have to freeze."

He looked toward the entrance.

"We’ve come this far. We have to see what happened."

"Agreed."

Riveria was not someone who would retreat simply because the situation had become difficult.

"We need reliable information, even if we can only obtain a little."

Since everyone had already made up their minds, there was no need to hesitate.

The passage leading to Floor 59 was relatively narrow and unsuitable for a large creature like the Fire Dragon.

Kiriya therefore released the summoning and continued on foot with the others.

Tap... tap... tap...

Magic-stone lamps dimly illuminated the dark corridor, making the crisp sound of their footsteps especially clear.

"It really... isn’t cold at all."

Jeanne frowned slightly.

"If anything, it feels a little stuffy."

Everyone had already begun to sweat faintly.

"Keep moving."

Kiriya’s voice remained steady, though his curiosity was impossible to completely hide.

"Those things really do know how to surprise people."

Perhaps influenced by his attitude, the tension among the women eased slightly.

Several minutes later, a faint light finally appeared ahead in the darkness.

Everyone’s spirits lifted.

They knew the exit was close and immediately quickened their pace.

At last, they reached the end of the passage.

The scenery of Floor 59 spread out before them.

"This..."

"What is this...?"

Everyone was deeply stunned by what they saw.

The floor was still an immense open space stretching endlessly into the distance.

But instead of glaciers and frozen plains, the entire area was covered in dense forest.

Ancient trees towered into the air, thick vines wrapped around their trunks, lush grass covered the ground, and colorful flowers bloomed everywhere.

The entire floor overflowed with life.

"This looks just like Floor 24..."

Ryuu stared in astonishment.

"Listen. There’s something ahead."

Ais’s ears twitched slightly as she pointed toward the forest.

Everyone present possessed strong perception, and they could all sense that something existed beyond the trees.

There were many of them.

And they were making a great deal of noise.

"Haa... looks like the owner of this place is inviting us over."

Kiriya exhaled lightly and smiled.

"Then let’s go."

Riveria answered calmly.

The group continued forward.

Walking through the forest, they almost felt as though they were exploring some island on the surface.

Only the faint light emitted by the crystal overhead reminded them that they were still inside the Dungeon.

Following the source of the noise, the group continued deeper into the forest.

Before long, the trees opened up, revealing a familiar gray plain—

Along with familiar Man-Eating Flowers and strange worms.

At the center of that grotesque monster swarm stood an unusual creature.

It had the upper body of a woman and a lower body resembling a plant.

The surrounding worms and Man-Eating Flowers spat brightly colored magic stones from their mouths and offered them to the female-shaped monster.

The creature extended tentacles similar to those of the worms, collected the magic stones, swallowed them, and absorbed their power.

Every time another magic stone disappeared into its body, the worm or Man-Eating Flower that had offered it immediately turned into ash.

If one looked carefully, a thick layer of gray powder had already accumulated around the female-shaped monster.

The sight was chilling.

"She... has been consuming those monsters’ magic stones this entire time?"

Jeanne spoke in disbelief.

"An enhanced species."

A bitter expression appeared on Riveria’s face.

Those monsters—each beginning around Level 4 or Level 5—were willingly offering themselves up to be consumed by this creature one after another.

There was no telling how many it had already devoured.

But the number had undoubtedly been staggering.

Which raised the obvious question—

How powerful had it become?

Crack.

Ais said nothing.

She simply stared fixedly at the female-shaped monster, gripping the hilt of Desperate so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Her heartbeat thundered.

Her blood seemed to boil.

The existence ahead radiated an overwhelmingly disturbing presence, one that affected Ais so strongly that even she struggled to remain calm.

"We can’t let it keep consuming them."

Ryuu looked toward Kiriya, her voice firm.

"We have to stop it."

Kiriya closed his eyes and took a deep breath, recovering slightly from the damage the grotesque sight had done to his sanity.

He was just about to give an order when something changed.

"Ah—"

The female body that had been in the middle of feeding suddenly raised its upper half.

Its hideously ugly head released a faint sound as its body began trembling in a strange, writhing manner.

Then its flesh abruptly swelled.

Under everyone’s shocked gaze, a completely new individual began emerging from the monster’s upper body like a butterfly breaking free from a cocoon.

Her figure was graceful and voluptuous.

Long hair fell all the way to her waist, gleaming brilliantly.

Her skin looked smooth and soft like water, though it was covered by a layer of vividly colored material.

She raised her head toward the sky.

Her facial features were beautiful enough to rival a goddess.

Only her golden eyes were wrong.

Their light was dull and empty, lacking the most essential trace of spirit.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH—!"

The green-haired, green-skinned "woman" spread both arms and released a cry of joy, like a creature celebrating its birth.

The tremendous sound wave generated in that instant tore at the adventurers’ eardrums and hammered painfully against their skulls.

"That..."

Jeanne stared at the creature and murmured under her breath.

"What in the world is that?"

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