Chapter 349

Chapter 349: Chapter 349

The endless frozen plain was packed with monsters, divided into two clearly distinct factions locked in a brutal war.

One side consisted of the native monsters born on the ice fields—Blizzard Bears, Snowfield Wolves, Quick-Freeze Birds, and countless others.

Some were enormous creatures possessing monstrous physical strength, while others specialized in frost breath capable of unleashing torrents of freezing air with ease.

Opposing them was an army composed of insectoid monsters and man-eating flowers.

These invaders slaughtered the native creatures without restraint and devoured their magic stones, while the monsters of the frozen plain naturally refused to simply wait for death and fought back with everything they had.

For a time, enormous beasts roared, acid sprayed through the air, and waves of frost exploded across the battlefield.

The fighting was so savage that even the Colosseum on the 37th Floor seemed tame by comparison.

Yet on the 60th Floor, a battlefield this horrific was little more than background scenery.

Everyone had already seen too many similar scenes on their way here to pay much attention.

What truly sent a chill down their spines were the six enormous pillars rooted deep into the ground and extending all the way to the ceiling of the floor.

They were neither stone nor metal, nor were they anything resembling ordinary plants.

The pillars were made entirely of green flesh.

Their surfaces constantly writhed and pulsated as thin tendrils branched outward, blooming into strange flowers colored blood-red and deep black.

Every part of them radiated an oppressive aura of corruption and ill omen.

Embedded near the base of each fleshy pillar were three female faces.

Beautiful, grotesque, chaotic, depraved—countless disturbing qualities seemed to overlap within those expressions.

One glance was enough to make the adventurers feel as though their sanity were being scraped away.

"What the hell are those things?"

"That’s disgusting..."

Every adventurer entering the 60th Floor, regardless of sex or race, frowned in revulsion.

At the same moment, the Corrupted Spirit clones noticed them.

Unlike the adventurers, who instinctively recoiled from the sight of them, the Corrupted Spirits reacted with overwhelming delight.

They stretched their arms toward the expedition as though welcoming a beloved family member home and began calling the same name with obsessive affection.

"Aria... you finally came to see us."

"I missed you so much."

"Let me eat you. Then we can stay together forever."

Their obsession was not limited to words.

The countless tendrils extending from the green flesh pillars began reaching frantically toward the expedition, writhing with the desperation of travelers dying of thirst in the desert reaching for water.

Ais and Riveria had already fought another Corrupted Spirit alongside Kiriya before, so they were mentally prepared.

Their expressions tightened, but their emotions remained under control.

The rest of the Loki Familia was considerably less restrained.

"What does that thing think it’s going to do to Ais?"

"Disgusting bastard! Kill it!"

The entire Familia erupted in fury and immediately began advancing toward the position assigned to them.

"Why are those Corrupted Spirit clones so obsessed with the Sword Princess?"

Hedin adjusted his glasses, a thoughtful gleam passing through his eyes.

"Move."

Ottar’s low growl cut through the battlefield.

Fierce fighting spirit burned in his gaze as he charged toward his assigned target.

Hedin temporarily set aside his doubts and headed west with Allen, Hogni, and the other executives.

The rest of the Freya Familia’s battle-hardened warriors formed a defensive line around them, preventing the swarms of man-eating flowers and insectoid monsters from interfering with their battle against the Corrupted Spirits.

Kiriya, meanwhile, created three Wood Clones and sent one to accompany each of Jeanne, Ryuu, and Esdeath.

His main body remained where it was, expanding his perception to its absolute limit and carefully tracking the flow of magical energy beneath the floor.

The Sixfold Spirit Ring itself did not consume the power of the six Corrupted Spirit clones.

That was the key to Dionysus’s entire plan.

The six Spirits would continue feeding their power into a hidden seventh clone.

By the time the pillar of heavenly light descended, most of their accumulated magical energy would already have been transferred.

The seventh clone would then be unable to withstand the enormous quantity of power forced into its body and self-destruct, burying all three of Orario’s strongest Familias alongside it.

That meant the simplest way to locate the hidden seventh clone was to follow the direction of the energy flow.

Where all that magical power converged—that was where it would be.

It did not take Kiriya long.

Within his expanded perception, an enormous concentration of energy appeared clearly in the distance, and it was still growing rapidly.

"There you are."

A smile tugged at Kiriya’s lips.

He pushed off the ground and shot toward the energy source like a gale.

Such an obvious movement immediately attracted the attention of countless monsters across the floor.

They surged toward him like a tidal wave, trying to bury him beneath sheer numbers.

"Eight Gates—Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit, Open!"

Kiriya drew the new weapon Hephaestus had personally forged for him.

The Dragon Fang Sword.

"Blade Storm—Afterglow!"

Under the amplification of the dragon-fang blade, countless brilliant slashes erupted in every direction, transforming the area around Kiriya into a merciless meat grinder.

Every monster caught in the storm was cut into pieces before dissolving into smoke.

Some attempted to stop him with long-range attacks, but Kiriya’s extraordinary reflexes and speed made every attempt meaningless.

Projectiles and magical attacks tore through empty air while he continued advancing without slowing.

Before long, he reached the point where the magical energy had been gathering.

It was a valley buried beneath snow and ice.

Steep cliffs surrounded the area, and freezing winds howled through the narrow terrain.

The extreme cold seemed capable of freezing everything solid, yet compared with the violent battlefield outside, the valley possessed an eerie and unnatural silence.

At its center lay an enormous insectoid monster the size of a small mountain.

Its body was swollen and bloated, resembling some gigantic worm enlarged countless times.

"That’s you."

Kiriya raised the Dragon Fang Sword, preparing to finish the creature with a single Afterglow.

Before he could strike, however, the previously motionless insect suddenly went berserk.

Its enormous body twisted violently before smashing toward him with astonishing force.

"Afterglow!"

Kiriya did not hesitate.

A brilliant ranged slash tore through the monster and severed its body cleanly at the waist.

Ssssss—!

Corrosive blood sprayed everywhere, eating deep pits into the surrounding ice and stone.

Yet even after suffering such a catastrophic wound, the creature did not dissolve into ash like an ordinary Dungeon monster.

Instead, something began moving inside its swollen abdomen.

Riiip—!

A massive arm tore through the insect’s belly from within.

The limb was covered in pitch-black dragon scales and ended in long, razor-sharp claws.

Then came enormous wings studded with bone spurs, a huge draconic body, and finally a vicious, demonic-looking dragon head.

Every feature revealed the creature’s identity.

A monster in the form of the Black Dragon Nidhogg.

It was not comparable to the legendary dragon from the Valley of Dragons known as the "End," but even so, it stood among the highest classes of monsters the Dungeon could produce.

"ROOOOOAR—!"

It might only have been an immature specimen, but the oppressive presence of a creature standing at the very top of the food chain erupted across the valley.

Cracks spread through the frozen cliffs, while nearby monsters whimpered and recoiled beneath the pressure.

Immediately afterward, destructive dragonfire began gathering inside Nidhogg’s mouth.

Then it fired.

BOOOOOOM—!

A blazing pillar of flame engulfed Kiriya’s position.

The temperature was so extreme that glaciers, earth, and monsters alike were instantly reduced to ash wherever the beam passed.

The attack tore across the 60th Floor for dozens of kilometers before finally crashing into the distant wall of the Dungeon.

The power of a single breath was horrifying.

First came a roar powerful enough to shake the soul.

Then came dragonfire with destructive force resembling a natural disaster.

Even veteran adventurers who had survived countless battles felt their morale drop beneath the sheer pressure of the creature’s presence.

"W-What the hell is that thing?!"

Even Tiona, normally fearless to an almost unreasonable degree, found her teeth beginning to chatter.

"That presence... damn. Don’t tell me it’s Level 8?"

Gareth could not help worrying about Kiriya.

"He can win... right?"

For perhaps the first time in quite a while, genuine anxiety entered Riveria’s mind strongly enough that her chant nearly broke.

Fortunately, her exceptional magical control and years of experience allowed her to recover immediately and continue without interruption.

"Dragon..."

Ais cut through an incoming tentacle with one swing of her sword.

Then hatred flashed through her eyes.

’Kill it.’

’I have to kill it.’

The magical power surrounding her grew increasingly violent as those thoughts screamed through her mind.

Such an intense emotional reaction was extraordinarily rare for the normally expressionless girl.

"Don’t!"

Finn was close enough to notice immediately and had already anticipated that something like this might happen.

"Trust Kiriya!"

His shout cut through Ais’s rising fury.

"Trust him!"

Almost at the same moment, another voice thundered across the frozen valley with enough arrogance to overwhelm the dragon’s roar itself.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU ROARING AT?!"

A sword slash far brighter and more savage than before erupted through the air.

"Afterglow!"

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