Chapter 350

Chapter 350: Chapter 350

"ROOOOOAR—!"

The slash landed, and an instant later, the dragon’s furious roar shook the entire floor.

Even the most oblivious adventurer could hear the intense pain mixed into that bellow, and although the sound sent a chill through everyone who heard it, the feeling quickly gave way to something almost reassuring.

"If it’s him... he can win."

Kiriya possessed that kind of aura.

No matter how overwhelming the enemy looked, simply knowing that he was the one fighting it made victory seem possible.

At the center of the 60th Floor, however, Kiriya himself was nowhere near as optimistic as the people watching from afar.

His previous slash had certainly been powerful.

He had unleashed it while strengthened by the Eight Gates, and even Ottar would have been brought to his knees after taking something like that head-on.

Unfortunately, his current opponent was a genuine Level 8 monster, and worse, a high-ranking dragon species whose defensive ability stood at the very top among monsters.

Afterglow shattered the black dragon’s scales and cut deeply through muscle and bone, but the attack finally exhausted itself there.

In other words, the immature Nidhogg had been badly wounded, but nowhere near enough to decide the battle.

"Haha... hahahaha!"

A girl’s clear, bell-like laughter suddenly came from the dragon’s body.

It should have been a youthful and pleasant sound, yet there was something so unnatural about it that hearing it only stirred an instinctive desire to silence the source.

The dragon raised its head, exposing the female Spirit embedded in its chest.

Unlike the relatively intact female faces on the six fleshy pillars, this one had become so distorted that nearly all of her facial features had disappeared, leaving little more than a mouth.

She twisted within the dragon’s flesh while releasing disturbingly delighted laughter.

While Kiriya observed her, power from the other Corrupted Spirits flowed through the underground conduits and poured into the dragon.

The deep wound that had exposed its bones regenerated at a horrifying rate, and within only a breath or two, most of the damage had already disappeared.

Its vitality was absurd!

Worse still, the female Spirit immediately began chanting.

"Roar, roar, vortex of flame, crimson cliff, howl of hellfire... By the name of the proxy, the name bestowed upon me is Salamander, Spirit of Flame..."

Kiriya’s expression changed.

He recognized the chant.

It belonged to the wide-area annihilation Magic Firestorm.

Without hesitation, he hurled a Flying Thunder God kunai toward the Spirit embedded in the dragon’s chest.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu."

The single kunai multiplied into hundreds, then thousands, filling the air with a shrieking storm of steel that seemed capable of piercing anything in its path.

The immature Nidhogg did not panic.

It merely opened its mouth toward the incoming kunai—and toward Kiriya behind them.

The Spirit’s chant had been bait.

The true killing move was the dragon’s breath.

It required no chant, activated almost instantly, and possessed enough destructive power to pierce across the entire floor.

BOOOOOOM—!

Another enormous scar was carved across the frozen plain.

A charred ravine stretched for dozens of kilometers, filled with the ashes of an unknown number of monsters caught in the blast.

When the dragonfire finally faded, Kiriya’s original position was empty.

The dragon tilted its head slightly, murderous eyes showing a trace of confusion.

Had that human really been that easy to kill?

Then Kiriya appeared only a few meters beside it.

He had used one of the Flying Thunder God kunai from his earlier attack to turn the dragon’s own feint against it.

"Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder—Open!"

Violent blue vapor erupted around his body as his power climbed explosively.

Then he swung the Dragon Fang Sword.

"Afterglow—Secret Art: Annihilating White Tiger!"

A magnificent tiger’s roar resounded across the vast and chaotic frozen plain, powerful enough that both sides of the battle across the 60th Floor seemed to falter for an instant.

Adventurers with sufficiently sharp vision looked toward the distance and saw the immense phantom of a white tiger descending from the sky before transforming into a torrent of sword energy that seemed capable of annihilating everything before it.

"ROOOOOOAAAR—!"

"AAAAAAAH—!"

The dragon and the Spirit screamed together, their voices filled with hatred and unwillingness.

It changed nothing.

The immature Nidhogg, born only moments earlier and already powerful enough to dominate the battlefield, was completely erased by the overwhelming flood of sword energy.

"W-We won?"

Raul’s lips trembled, his voice coming out dry and hoarse.

"Yeah... he won."

Tione stared blankly into the distance.

Their own group had barely reached its assigned target and begun clearing away the monsters protecting it, yet Kiriya had already disposed of what was probably the strongest enemy on the entire floor.

The difference in progress was almost absurd.

"I was planning to destroy these Corrupted Spirit clones as quickly as possible so the seventh one would receive less power," Riveria said with a helpless smile. "Instead, he simply removed the problem at its source."

"Isn’t that even better?"

Finn’s calm voice carried clearly to every member of the Loki Familia.

"Our companion has already secured the first victory. Are we really going to allow ourselves to fall behind?"

He raised his spear and charged toward the fleshy pillar.

"Loki Familia, advance!"

The Familia immediately surged forward behind him, while Finn began chanting without slowing his sprint.

"The discarded true name, the engraved brilliance. The severed right arm..."

His conspicuous charge naturally attracted the attention of the Corrupted Spirit clone.

Thick, resilient vines erupted from the pillar and shot toward Finn and the others.

"Not happening!"

"Where the hell are you looking?!"

Tiona, Tione, and Bete rushed forward, tearing apart or deflecting the attacking vines before they could reach Finn and buying him the time he needed to complete his chant.

Apparently enraged by their interference, one of the Spirit faces embedded in the fleshy pillar immediately began chanting as well.

"Flash forth and race, pierce the darkness. I am the proxy, Lux, Spirit of Light, incarnation of radiance, sovereign of light..."

"Luminous Explosion!"

A magic circle formed overhead as soon as the chant ended, releasing an enormous beam of concentrated light directly toward Finn.

"Dimension Curtain."

Riveria’s prepared Magic activated at exactly the right moment.

A broad magical barrier unfolded in front of Finn and the others, meeting the incoming beam head-on.

Crack... crack...!

The barrier groaned beneath the overwhelming pressure, fractures spreading visibly across its surface. At this rate, it would collapse within seconds.

Finn and the others did not panic.

This had all been anticipated.

"HRRAAAAH—!"

A short but enormously broad figure tore through the tangled network of vines, swinging a massive battle axe as he charged directly toward the fleshy pillar.

Gareth’s weapon belonged to the very highest class of first-tier axes, possessing extraordinary weight and destructive power.

Even most first-class adventurers would struggle simply to wield it properly, but Gareth already possessed S-rank Strength, and Dvergr Enhance further amplified his physical power to an absurd degree.

In his hands, the enormous axe moved with terrifying ease.

Every vine that touched its edge was torn apart as though made of paper.

Gareth transformed into a living whirlwind and charged straight toward the Spirit that had cast Luminous Explosion.

"Icicle Blade!"

The Spirit immediately switched Magic, creating enormous frozen blades intended to skewer him.

"Don’t underestimate me!"

Gareth roared and twisted his axe across his body, blocking the incoming ice blade.

The sheer force behind the impact still launched him backward, but his attack had already created the opening the expedition needed.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!

Several Level 4 adventurers immediately activated Magic Swords, bombarding the Spirit with flames, lightning, wind, and other elemental attacks to cover Gareth’s retreat and keep the enemy occupied.

By now, the Corrupted Spirit clone had clearly become irritated.

Apart from the uppermost Spirit face, which continued maintaining the chant for the Sixfold Spirit Ring, the other two simultaneously began preparing large-scale annihilation Magic.

"Advance, spear of roaring thunder. I am the proxy, Tonitrus, Spirit of Lightning, incarnation of thunder, sovereign of lightning..."

"Roar, roar, vortex of flame, crimson cliff, howl of hellfire..."

The enemy’s magical artillery was preparing to fire again.

Finn remained completely calm.

His own chant was finished.

"Tír na nóg!"

With a roar, Finn unleashed his full-power spear Magic.

The weapon in his hand transformed into a brilliant golden beam and shot toward the Corrupted Spirit with terrifying speed.

"AAAAAH—!"

The two Spirit faces immediately sensed the danger and abandoned their offensive chants, instead forming defensive barriers of wind, flame, ice, and lightning.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!

Finn’s golden spear pierced through three layers of magical defense before finally exhausting its momentum against the last barrier.

He showed no disappointment.

His attack had never been intended to deliver the final blow.

It had only needed to break open the enemy’s defenses for their true trump card.

"Awaken, Tempest!"

A clear young voice rang across the battlefield.

The wind surrounding Ais instantly intensified to its maximum output.

Wrapped in the full power of Ariel, she had already advanced to within several dozen meters of the Spirit.

Her sword rose as Avenger burned with murderous force inside her, amplifying her power against the monstrous enemy before her.

Then she unleashed Afterglow.

Afterglow.

Avenger.

Ariel.

Three layers of enhancement stacked together, elevating the destructive power of Ais’s strike to a level she had never reached before.

The attack leapt across two entire tiers.

Level 8.

Perhaps even the upper reaches of Level 8!

Faced with that transcendent slash, the Corrupted Spirit clone desperately reinforced every remaining magical barrier in front of itself.

Wind, flame, ice, and lightning overlapped into a multilayered defense, but against Ais’s fully amplified finishing blow, each one shattered in rapid succession.

"AAAAAAAH—!"

The Spirit’s shriek tore through the 60th Floor.

Then the sword light passed completely through the fleshy pillar.

The enormous structure split apart, collapsed, and dissolved as the Corrupted Spirit clone was utterly destroyed.