[Chapter 277. Efficient Slaughter]

They looked at the two dead Striders lying before them, then out into the distant reddish-brown haze, before finally looking at each other.

"Contact me if there is anything of importance—what do you think she meant by that?" Lana asked as she brought Wavebreaker up in front of her, her fingers gripping the leather straps with a newfound confidence that hadn't been there hours before. The silver of her Valkyrie armor gleamed under the eerie pale glow of the Labyrinth's perpetual sun, making her seem almost ethereal despite the protection it provided.

"Probably that she doesn't want to be bothered unless one of us is about to die," Vanessa said as she prepared her spell, a faint blue light already dancing between her fingers. The magic began to coalesce, forming a matrix of intricate patterns in the air above her head. Each symbol pulsed with raw energy that made the very air hum with power. Her business-like demeanor was still present, but now it was sharpened by the potency flowing through her enhanced gear.

"You're probably right," Carmen replied as she readied herself for the next attack, her hand tightening around the grip of her staff. The weapon felt different now, she could feel the difference the jewelry's elevated stats had made. Reluctantly she switched out the Intermediate Earring for the one given to her by Iris. With it gone she could feel her body becoming slightly heavier her mind ever so slightly more clouded than before.

The four women stood in formation: Lana at the front with her shield held high, the feathers from her armored cape flowing gently in the air despite the lack of wind. Vanessa and Carmen stood behind her, their postures radiating a strength that belied their recent transformation. Sarah flanked them to the side, her daggers gleaming in the light of the Labyrinth, their steel edges catching the glow like captured stars.

The Stonehide Striders charged forward, their massive bodies shaking the very ground beneath them with each thunderous step. Their rocky hides cracked and shed dirt as they moved, their glowing eyes fixated on the women with mindless aggression. Lana braced herself. A shockwave of force rippled through her shield, but she held her ground, her feet planted firmly on the cracked earth. The impact sent vibrations up her arms, but they were duller now, less punishing than before. The difference was astonishing; where she once would have stumbled backward or even slid back, she now stood like an immovable object.

Ever since Searanox had given her these items, she felt lighter and more durable. The impacts of the monsters charges were not nearly as devastating as they had been before. She could also see that Sarah was moving much more smoothly now, her form blurring as she dodged and weaved between the creatures attacks, her movements enhanced by the agility granted by her new rings. The bolts of Vanessa's Starfall Matrix was far more destructive than before, striking the Striders with explosive force that shattered their rocky armor in ways her previous attacks had barely managed.

She could still remember the first time they had been in here with Searanox, the tang of fear still sharp on her tongue as they faced their first Stonehide Strider. They had all been forced to fight together in a chaotic dance of desperation where every strike was a gamble. It had taken Vanessa and Sarah several seconds, up to a full minute, to take down a single one of them, their attacks seeming to bounce harmlessly off the creature's rocky hide more often than not. Lana could vividly recall the way Sarah had gasped for breath after each fight, her face flushed with exertion, while Vanessa's spells had been less precise cracking the stone-like armor before doing any significant damage.

Now, there were times Lana didn't even have to step into combat; the Strider would die before it could even charge at them. She would stand there, shield held loosely at her side, watching in awe as distant bolts of energy streaked across the battlefield and arcs of steel descended with lethal precision. The creatures would crumble before her, their life force extinguished before they could even register a threat. But that only happened on rare occasions when they encountered two or three at a time, when the Labyrinth seemed to be taking a breath between its relentless onslaught.

They spent a good amount of time hunting down the beasts on this floor. After each herd they killed, they moved on to the next. The cycle became monotonous but necessary, each victory bringing them incrementally closer to the strength they needed. The pale white light of the sun shone down on them, ever-present and unmoving—a constant reminder that time was both their enemy and their ally in this training ground.

On a few occasions, they looked over toward the distant teams of silver-ranked citizens that Iris had brought in here with them. They appeared to struggle quite a lot against even a single monster, their attacks coordinated but lacking the raw power that the four women now commanded. Lana watched one team retreat from a single Strider, their formation breaking as panic set in, and felt a strange mixture of pity and superiority that unsettled her.

They began to split up the larger herds, drawing individual beasts away and directing them toward the different silver-ranked teams. The strategy felt almost cruel—like shepherding lambs to the slaughter—but necessity had stripped away any qualms they might have once held about efficiency.

Meanwhile, the four of them took on herds of up to seven at a time by themselves. Vanessa would attack from a distance, while Sarah was already beside the creatures before the bolt of arcane energy even hit its target. The coordination between them had become almost telepathic, a dance of death where Sarah's Riftsteps seemed to anticipate Vanessa's Starfall Matrix with uncanny precision.

By the time Sarah finished off her target, Vanessa had already killed the one she had initially attacked. That left three of them charging toward Lana. The ground shook as their heavy bodies thundered toward her, their rocky hides cracking and shedding dirt like the skin of some terrible beast.

Before they reached her, she used her Sepulchral Anchor skill to draw their aggression. She felt the familiar surge of power as her feet rooted into the earth, ethereal energy gathering around her shield and growing into a barrier larger than the shield itself. Their eyes shifted, their rage now focused solely upon her shield-bearer form. In the next moment, Sarah would stab another one while Vanessa attacked her second target. Lana simply stood there and kept her shield up, letting them ram into her while the other two finished them off. The impacts came like thunder, but Wavebreaker absorbed the force with unnerving efficiency, turning blows that would have shattered bone into dull thuds that resonated through her body. She could feel the vibrations through her boots, but her stance remained unbroken, her feathered cape flowing behind her.

She felt a bit sad for Carmen; the healer had not done anything in the last hour. There were no wounds to mend, no clever ways to use her spells to aid them. Carmen stood at the rear of their formation, her golden staff held loosely in her hand, her eyes scanning the horizon for threats that never materialized. Lana could see the frustration in Carmen's posture—the slight slump of her shoulders, the way her fingers kept tightening and relaxing around her weapon's grip. But on the other hand, Lana was glad that Carmen had nothing to do, because if she did, it would mean one of them was injured. Their efficiency had become so surgical that Carmen's healing talents had become redundant—a luxury rather than a necessity.

The next group of beasts fell, and Carmen stepped closer, picking up the silver coin left behind by one of the creatures. The currency gleamed in her palm before disappearing into her storage ring with a faint blue shimmer.

"Have you noticed that the rate we gain experience has increased since Iris left?" Carmen's voice carried a note of analytical observation, her mind processing the data of the improved gain of experience.

"I noticed, but it's nothing compared to the time when Searanox was with us," Vanessa said, her tone clipped and professional as she began forming her next spell matrix. Her fingers moved with practiced precision, tracing glowing patterns in the air that would become their next volley of destruction. The rate at which experience had flooded their systems when Searanox was present had been overwhelming.

"She is killing them faster than we are, and at times even slaying three at the same time," Sarah said while wiping down her daggers on a piece of cloth, removing the viscous residue that passed for Strider blood. Her movements were graceful, the newfound power flowing through her enhanced gear evident in every calculated motion. The image of Iris moving through herds of Striders with lethal efficiency, her dark blade leaving trails of frost in its wake, remained fresh in their minds—a standard of performance that both inspired and intimidated them.

"We could head down into the canyon, there are more beasts down there than up on the plateau." Lana added, her voice thoughtful as she gestured toward the jagged precipice. "Last time we got nearly thrice as much experience from the predators closer to the tree." She remembered the ferocity of Searanox, the way the canyon had echoed with desperate bestiary cries and the satisfying crunch of bone and sizzle of flesh.

"That wouldn't make much of a difference, we are missing thousands. Do you know how long it takes to kill three hundred of them?" Vanessa said from the back, her voice sharp with analytical precision. She had been tracking their progress with the same meticulous attention to detail she once reserved for corporate reports, calculating experience gains versus time spent. Her fingers, now spellcasting rather than performing keyboard work, traced patterns in the air as if rehearsing her next incantation. "At our current rate, even with the canyon's increased spawn density, we're looking at hours of non-stop combat. And that's assuming we don't make any mistakes or encounter larger packs."

"Still better than killing a thousand of these." Sarah poked the remnants of the corpse next to her with her boot, the leather making a soft squishing sound against the disintegrating flesh. The remains were already beginning to crumble, blue light pulsing beneath the creature's rocky hide as the System reclaimed its materials. "I swear these things are getting dumber with each kill." Her tone was flippant, but her eyes kept darting toward the distant teams, a flicker of something—pity? superiority? —crossing her features before being masked by her usual bravado. She adjusted her stance, feeling the weight of her new rings on her fingers the armor perfectly fitting her slender body, a constant reminder of the power that now surged through her veins.

Carmen looked over towards the blackened tree in the distance, its skeletal branches clawing at the turquoise sky like the fingers of some long-dead giant. The tree stood as a silent sentinel, marking the boundary between the first and second floors of this nightmare realm. "We might head there now, in the end we have to go there anyways. You heard Searanox, we are meant to head to the second floor." Her voice was measured, each word chosen with deliberate care, as if she were solving a complex equation rather than discussing their next moves. The logical part of her mind calculated the most efficient path, while another, quieter part wondered what horrors awaited them beyond that twisted threshold.

They killed all the beasts that appeared on their way towards the towering tree, their movements now a well-choreographed dance of death. Each woman fell into her role with an instinct born of countless repetitions. Lana's shield became an immovable wall, deflecting charges that once would have sent her flying. Vanessa's spells arced across the battlefield with precision, their impacts resonating with thunderous finality. Sarah moved between strikes like a phantom, her daggers finding vulnerabilities in the creatures armor that they themselves didn't know existed. Even Carmen, though rarely needed now, stood ready, her golden staff humming with power as she monitored their vitals with the focus of a field medic.

As they reached the path that sloped down into the canyon they became more focused. The air grew thick with the coppery scent of spilled blood and the acrid smell of something burning. From that point on they were no longer fighting the docile beasts but the constantly hunting Ridgeback Ravagers, creatures with intelligence in their eyes and murder in their hearts.