Charles's sensing abilities were actually weakened inside the Dungeon.
No one understood the idea that "the Dungeon is alive" more deeply than he did, because ever since entering it, Charles had constantly been aware of its endless, boundless malice.
Moreover, the special materials filling the Dungeon not only disrupted magnetic fields but also interfered with the flow of magical energy.
Therefore, within the Dungeon, Charles could only pinpoint the locations of monsters when they got very close or were about to attack.
This ti, however, the reason he detected the anomaly was because Fal sensed a distinct, special kind of power.
Through their contract, Charles received the sa sensation Fal had experienced.
"Filth."
That was Fal's only description of the aura—like it had encountered the most vile thing imaginable. For the first ti, Charles felt emotions like disgust and anger coming from Fal.
Recalling the original storyline, Charles naturally knew what had ignited Fal's fury.
A new-type monster, born from the corrupted divine fragnt known as the Fallen Spirit.
According to Uranos, who oversaw Babel Tower, the Fallen Spirits were originally divine fragnts of spirits who had entered the Dungeon a thousand years ago and were devoured by monsters.
Having been devoured, their once-noble state as divine incarnations had reversed, becoming monsters enslaved by base desires like devouring, stealing, and indulging.
Fal, being the Fire Salamander—one of the four great elental spirits—was, according to Hephaestus, an existence comparable to these spirits.
If Charles was correct, the spirits in this world were also beings born from the most fundantal elental forces—essentially the sa kind as Fal.
Sensing the corrupted aura of its kin, it was no surprise Fal reacted so strongly.
Unlike Dungeon-born monsters, those created by Fallen Spirits carried dark green magic stones instead of the usual deep violet ones.
What was appearing now was one such creature—a massive worm-like monster born from a Fallen Spirit.
Even without activating any powers, Charles's physical speed alone was already remarkable, and he quickly arrived at the entrance to the 51st floor.
Though in the original plot, Loki Familia's most severe losses to this new-type monster were a few first-grade weapons, the incident still forced the expedition to retreat early.
For Charles, the war spoils from accompanying Loki Familia were secondary; what he truly wanted was experience navigating the deep levels.
After all, he would eventually need to complete feats worthy of an upgrade, and the deep levels would be a necessary challenge.
So at the very least, he couldn't allow the expedition to end here. Even if he couldn't reach the 59th floor where the Fallen Spirit fragnt resided, retreating at the 50th floor would be unacceptable.
At the entrance, he saw Raul and several others standing guard.
Raul was among the most senior mbers of the Familia, aside from the original founders like Finn and the others who had ford it with Loki. Despite reaching Level 4, he hadn't awakened a single spell or skill, and the gods had dubbed him "the Transcendent Commoner."
Despite having a nearly blank status sheet, Raul was soone Finn acknowledged as an elite. Most importantly, Raul had a sincere and grounded personality—Charles had spoken with him a few tis before.
When Raul saw Charles approaching, he asked, "Charles, why aren't you resting at the camp? What are you doing here?"
Charles stared into the dark void of the tunnel and said, "Be careful. Sothing's coming out of there."
Raul waved his hand dismissively. "That's impossible. I've been watching this spot the whole—"
Before he could finish, Charles grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him backward. At the sa ti, he shouted loudly, "Get back, now!"
Raul saw, with his own eyes, a splash of purple liquid fall where he'd just been standing, instantly corroding the ground into a pitted ss.
He was stunned—if Charles hadn't pulled him away just then, the result would've been catastrophic.
The others, upon hearing the warning, instinctively scattered, successfully avoiding the falling acid.
Now, no one doubted Charles. All eyes were on the entrance, watching with bated breath as the attacker erged.
What they saw was a gigantic worm-like creature nearly ten ters long. Its body was green and covered with chaotic, writhing patterns. Unlike normal worms, this one had two prominent forelimbs near its front end.
Its mouth was a gaping circular hole, from which it had just spewed the corrosive liquid.
More crucially, it wasn't alone. Countless others of the sa kind were wriggling out of the tunnel behind it, an overwhelming swarm.
"Watch out!"
One adventurer raised his shield to protect a nearby ally from the falling liquid.
When the liquid struck the shield, he was horrified to see it rapidly corroding. Panicked, he threw down the half-destroyed shield, only to see the remaining half disintegrate entirely monts later.
Charles wasn't surprised. These worm creatures had body fluids corrosive enough to lt even Tiona's massive twin-bladed Urga—crafted entirely of adamantine and worth 120 million valis.
How could an ordinary shield possibly hold up?
He shouted, "Fall back! Their blood can lt equipnt—use only ranged attacks!"
Raul protested, "We can't! If we don't stop them here, they'll break into the camp—it'll be a disaster!"
Charles grinned and threw back his cloak. "That's why I'm here. Leave it to !"
Raul was about to object. He didn't know Charles's exact level, but it was hard to believe soone without even a title could hold back these terrifying monsters.
But then he saw what was hanging from Charles's waist.
"A… magic sword?"
Charles nodded. "Yes. My own creation. Let's see what this baby can really do."
Raul wanted to say that even magic swords wouldn't be much help.
After all, it was common knowledge that magic swords were rely inferior substitutes for real magic. Their power was usually only on par with short incantations—far weaker than the long incantation spells of proper mages.
But with the worm creatures already approaching, Raul had no other choice but to place his faith in Charles.
The sword in Charles's hand was his first creation—a short sword he had nad "Dragon Roar."
Sensing Charles's intent, the blade began to glow.
"Roar!" Charles shouted, as if commanding the weapon.
It just felt wrong to activate it without so kind of callout.
As his words fell, a roaring torrent of fla erupted from the sword, a massive firestorm that completely engulfed the tunnel entrance.
Not just Raul—even Finn and the others who had just arrived were stunned by the sight.
Riveria murmured, "That output… it's about as strong as one of my full-powered spells!"
Finn's expression turned odd. "Charles did say it was his proudest work, but I never imagined it would be this…"
Gareth added, "Unbelievable, right? A magic sword like this… there's only one other that compares—the one from the legends."
Everyone knew exactly what he ant.
The Krozo magic sword—the mythical weapon said to have the power to burn the sea.
They'd always thought the legends were exaggerated.
But today, they realized—maybe they were true after all.
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