*BOOM!*
Amid a thunderous tremor, a grotesque fountain of green flesh surged out from the entrance of the Man-Made Dungeon Knossos and rushed toward the support group of the Loki Familia stationed here.
"Wynn Fimbulvetr!"
Riveria released an ice magic, sending three blizzards sweeping forward that froze the muddy torrent of green flesh and sealed the entrance of Knossos, blocking that grotesque substance inside.
*Ka-cha!* *Ka-cha!* *Ka-cha!*
However, before long, the ice sealing the entrance began to crack before everyone’s eyes, as though sothing bloated was slowly forcing its way through and crushing it piece by piece.
*PENG!*
In the end, the filthy torrent of green flesh still burst out from Knossos, turning into a devouring, toxic swamp that swallowed everything around it.
"What on earth is this?"
Seeing this scene, not only did Riveria’s expression beco grave and uncertain, but the other mbers showed the sa reaction.
One after another, they stared in shock and disbelief at the green flesh continuously pouring out of the Man-Made Dungeon. So of the female mbers even showed expressions of nausea, as if they were about to vomit.
It was easy to imagine how severely this sight challenged a person’s ntal tolerance.
"Riveria!"
Loki, who was being protected behind the group, had not closed her usually half-shut eyes even once as she shouted toward Riveria.
"We can’t let that thing get outta here!"
Although they had not yet grasped the true nature of the green flesh, Loki’s divine intuition told her that this thing was extrely dangerous—sothing that should not even be touched.
And the facts proved it.
Soone had been caught by several tendrils that suddenly sprang from the green flesh and was nearly dragged into the mass and devoured. Others tried slashing with daggers, hacking with axes, and even bombarding it with magic swords, yet the damage they caused was almost negligible.
Much like the colorful monsters, the green flesh also reacted violently to magical energy. Several people who used magic, including Riveria, beca targets of its attacks and were nearly swallowed by sudden surges of flesh.
Needless to say, the nature of this thing was far too vile, as its rate of growth greatly exceeded the damage it received. Not only had it begun to erode the entire Man-Made Dungeon, but it was now preparing to invade the surface.
In the end, the mbers of the Loki Familia were forced to retreat again and again, since no matter how they attacked the green flesh, they could not stop its spread. In the blink of an eye, the green flesh devoured the passage and the stairway, forcing Riveria and the others back into the sewers beneath Daedalus Street.
Seeing their situation, Riveria was extrely anxious.
"The surface has already beco like this... then inside..."
Riveria began to worry about the mbers of the advance group who had entered the Man-Made Dungeon.
On the surface, they could at least still find ways to retreat, but inside the Man-Made Dungeon, once their path was blocked, the advance group would be in grave danger.
"Finn... Ais... Lefiya... Riezel..."
Riveria could only softly call out the nas of her companions, her concern plainly visible.
*Swish!*
In that mont, a figure suddenly appeared in front of everyone as if teleporting.
"M-Mr. Riezel!"
"Riezel!"
"Mr. Riezel!"
Seeing the figure that had suddenly appeared out of thin air, everyone first jumped in shock and instinctively tensed their bodies in caution. Once they clearly recognized who it was, they cried out one after another in surprise and joy.
"Riezel!"
Riveria’s eyes lit up.
"Kiddo!"
Even Loki could not help but shout.
*BOOM!*
anwhile, the green flesh eroding the surroundings seed to be provoked, erupting violently as it suddenly ford a wave of flesh that surged toward Riezel.
"Maximize Magic - Stream of Lava."
What answered that grotesque wave of flesh was a cold chant, and in the next second, a torrent of fla appeared, erupting like volcanic lava.
*BOOM!*
A vermilion magic circle appeared in front of Riezel, unleashing lava-like flas that burst forth and slamd into the flesh wave, instantly blasting it apart. Large masses of fla devoured the green flesh, burning it into charred remains.
Stream of Lava, a fire-attribute 10th-Tier Magic and one of the highest-ranked fire system magic spells, possessed extrely powerful fla damage and a wide area of effect. In Riezel’s hands, it was powerful enough to rival Tactical-Class Magic.
Consequently, when the flas surged out like a stream of lava, the green flesh was almost completely unable to resist. It was swallowed by the fire and gradually burned away, no matter how desperately it struggled.
"What..."
Led by Riveria, everyone stared at the scene in shock, their faces illuminated red by the firelight.
Riveria, in particular, was extrely surprised to see that Riezel had cast this unfamiliar magic without even chanting.
’Its power and range have already surpassed my Rea Laevateinn...’
Riveria could not help but look toward Riezel, whose face remained expressionless.
She knew that when Riezel was still Level 5, he already possessed attack power comparable to Level 7. Now that he had advanced to Level 6, the attack power of his magic must have risen again.
Still, she had not expected it to be this overwhelming.
Even Riveria herself, who had just reached Level 7, had her magic attack power greatly increased and had already begun to approach the Level 8 range, yet she still could not help but smile bitterly in self-deprecation.
If Riezel were a pure mage, he would already be qualified to take the title of ’Orario’s Strongest Mage’ from her.
Unaware of Riveria’s thoughts, Riezel ignored the lava flas raging behind him and walked to the front of the group.
"Ais and the captain still haven’t co out yet?"
Riezel swept his gaze over everyone and asked the mont he arrived.
"Not yet," Riveria replied, shaking her head as she ca back to her senses. "Weren’t you together?"
"We separated halfway," Riezel said with a frown, then tossed the two goddesses he had been carrying onto the ground. "Well, these are the spoils. Keep an eye on them. I’m gonna find Ais and the captain."
After saying this, he activated teleportation magic again and disappeared before everyone’s eyes.
"Wait—"
Riveria instinctively tried to stop Riezel, but she was too late and could only watch as he vanished into thin air, her heart once again shaken.
’What kind of magic was that...? No... was that even magic?’
Because Riezel had cast teleportation magic directly without chanting, using the tamagic Enhancent of Silent Magic, Riveria began to doubt what she had seen, as she could not determine what kind of power it actually was.
Could it be a newly discovered skill?
But magical energy had indeed flashed for a mont just now, so it should be magic.
’Riezel... he’s becoming harder and harder to understand...’
Riveria could only sigh.
anwhile, the others began whispering among themselves as they looked at the two goddesses Riezel had thrown onto the ground.
"Huh? Isn’t this Ishtar?"
Loki stepped closer and looked at the sleeping Goddess of Beauty on the ground, blinking her eyes.
"And where’d this little goddess co from?"
Loki turned to Kali, who was rubbing her sore backside with an unhappy expression, and narrowed her golden, divine eyes slightly.
"You must be Loki, right?" Kali raised her head and t Loki’s gaze with a judging look. "You were quite famous back in Heaven. I had even heard about your bad reputation. But looking at you now... aren’t you pretty ordinary?"
As she spoke, Kali’s gaze shifted downward toward Loki’s chest.
Upon noticing Kali’s words and gaze, the string of reason in Loki’s mind snapped instantly.
"Hey, shorty, where the hell are you even lookin’ at while you’re talkin’? Y’know what, keep that up and I swear I’ll punch you and send you flyin’!"
"I’m rely telling the truth. From appearances, I should be the child here, yet you actually have even less... are you really a goddess?"
"Alright, I’ve decided. You’re the next unlucky one gettin’ sent back to Heaven!"
"Your reaction ans I struck a sore spot. How pitiful."
"Ughhh—!"
Just like that, the two goddesses imdiately began arguing as if no one else were present. Loki beca completely furious and raised both hands, letting out strange cries as she lunged toward Kali.
Seeing this, the mbers hurriedly grabbed her arms, hugged her legs, and even held her from behind. Yet the rampaging Loki burst out with astonishing strength, dragging several high-ranking mbers along with her and causing them to scream as well.
Riveria could not bear to look directly at the disgraceful scene, so she could only turn her gaze forward, where the raging lava flas continued to clash violently with the endless green flesh.
"It seems there will be quite a lot to deal with next..."
===
*Swish!*
Inside the Man-Made Dungeon filled with writhing green flesh, Riezel’s figure appeared here once again.
’Good thing that earlier pillar of light ssed Knossos up pretty bad, wrecking the interference of the anti-magic stones. Otherwise, there’s no way I could’ve pulled off a teleport this precise.’
As soon as he entered the Man-Made Dungeon, Riezel imdiately assessed the situation.
"Force Explosion!"
A violent, invisible shockwave burst outward, blasting away all the green flesh around Riezel that had begun stirring due to his sudden appearance. It was torn apart into countless chunks of flesh that fell like heavy rain, covering the ground.
After clearing the green flesh in this area, Riezel activated a surveillance magic capable of locating his teammates.
"Locate Object."
What Riezel used was a surveillance magic that could detect specific objects. As long as the caster had previously touched the item, this magic could be used to find its location. And the target he locked onto with this magic was Ais’s Desperate.
Among all his companions in the familia, the ones who spent the most ti around him were Ais and Lefiya, so naturally, he had touched their weapons before. In particular, Ais’s Desperate had collided with his Fool countless tis during their training sessions.
Hence, the first thing Riezel chose to locate was Ais’s Desperate.
Unfortunately, perhaps because the anti-magic stones inside Knossos were still functioning, after Riezel activated Locate Object, the location of Desperate did not appear imdiately, producing a very long delay.
During this long delay, torrents of green flesh surged once again from the passages on both sides.
"Shining Burst!"
Riezel activated a 7th Tier Magic, causing light to burst from his body like the sun.
It was magic that inflicted extrely serious damage on evil creatures and undead, where the lower the target’s justice value, the greater the damage it dealt.
Coincidentally, the source of the green flesh was Demi Spirits, who were fragnts split from the Corrupted Spirit, who was already a twisted and fallen monster, undoubtedly a creature with an extrely low justice value and unquestionably an evil being.
As a result, the radiant light easily tore through the green flesh, causing it to gradually disintegrate within the light until it vanished completely.
It was originally sothing extrely troubleso to deal with, yet before Riezel—who had removed all restraint and was freely unleashing various Tier Magic—it could only suffer defeat.
After bombarding the green flesh once more, the surveillance magic Riezel had activated finally reacted.
"Greater Teleportation!"
Riezel imdiately teleported away again, leaving the passage behind to be gradually swallowed once more by the invading green flesh.
===
*BOOM!*
Inside a battered passage made of adamantite tal, green flesh that grew like rampant tumors raged, subrging countless fragnts of stone and debris as it chased a group of people running desperately ahead.
"Quick!"
"Run faster!"
"Faster!"
The battered adventurers shouted desperately as they ran through the passage with all their might, trying to escape the green flesh surging toward them like a mudslide.
"Miss Ais..."
Lefiya had already collapsed and was being carried on Ais’s back, her consciousness hazy as she muttered weakly.
"Y-You should run... Just leave behind."
In her half-conscious state, Lefiya murmured these words.
"...I will take you out of here, Lefiya."
Hearing the unconscious murmuring of her junior, Ais tightened her grip on Lefiya, her gaze growing firm.
If she had wanted to escape alone, she could have fled far away long ago.
Needless to say, with her Level 6 status, as long as she abandoned everyone else, her speed would increase several tis over, allowing her to shake off the green flesh chasing behind them completely.
But could she really do that?
Of course not.
If she had to abandon her companions, she would rather die here alone.
Yet if this continued, everyone would inevitably be caught.
It was inevitable, given that the others simply could not match Ais’s speed. Even worse, they were all injured and had already consud a great deal of stamina, so the fact that they could still keep running was already remarkable.
Moreover, not only had the potions been completely used up, leaving no way to recover, but the effects of Raumure and Veil Breath that Riezel had cast had already expired.
At present, Ais could think of only one way to save everyone.
’At the next intersection, I’ll lure away this thing.’
Although she did not know exactly what the green flesh was, it was clearly related to the Corrupted Spirit. If it were related to the Corrupted Spirit, then once she summoned her ’wind,’ it would definitely abandon the others and chase her instead. As long as she lured the green flesh away, everyone else would still have a chance to escape.
With this determination, Ais prepared her magic, ready to activate Ariel at any mont.
"As long as we reach the next fork..."
Ais unconsciously murmured these words, and just then—
"No need."
*Swish!*
Behind Ais and the others who were sprinting forward, a figure suddenly appeared.
"Triplet Maximize Magic - Fireball!"
Three enormous fireballs imdiately shot out and slamd into the surging torrent of green flesh.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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