Fron pressed his lips together and calmly spoke words that instantly put everyone on high alert.
--------------------------------
"Here, the changes are almost exactly the same as those caused by the 24th floor 'Pantry.' I remember [Vendetta] Olivas Act, this kind of environment is called…"
"[Flower Pot]!"
"..."
"Flower Pot!?"
Finn, Riveria, and Gareth exchanged glances, their expressions turning slightly grave.
This information, after Ais and Fron returned, they too learned of the change. Sure enough, it was that parasitizing monster sand the red-haired women's work...
"Then this gigantic [Flower Pot] before us, which has altered the entire floor's scale, is no laughing matter!"
"..."
The excitement of reaching the 59th floor instantly plummeted to rock bottom due to the appearance of this 'abnormal situation.' A heavy atmosphere spread throughout the team, slightly affecting morale.
Sensing this, Fron's eyes flickered.
"Everyone, don't think too much. So what if it's an enormous [Flower Pot]? Are we, the [Loki Familia], going to stop in front of the unknown? Don't forget… we are all adventurers!"
Finn's lips curled upward, looking appreciatively at the youth who lifted everyone's spirits, secretly thinking,
'This guy Fron… has already grown to this level, huh.'
"Yeah, Fron is right! No matter what lies ahead, our goal won't change, right, sister?"
"Hmph, if even my silly little sister is saying that, then of course as her big sister, I'll be even stronger than you!"
"What was that? You just called yourself silly, didn't you! I'm definitely not silly!"
"..."
Again!
Fron's mouth twitched, he covered his forehead and shook his head.
Sensing that the slightly low morale had been instantly reignited, Finn smiled as he glanced at everyone, then gave the order.
"Follow the regular route, move forward!"
"Yes!"
...
Walking through the 59th floor's strange "Rainforest" deep underground, as the party ventured further, Ais narrowed her golden eyes, carefully observing the surrounding environment.
Familiar flowers, plants, and vegetation, that faintly rotten stench, and the muggy atmosphere, all overlapped more and more with the scenery of the cavern in her memories, causing Ais to tense herself.
Bete and Lefiya, who had also witnessed this scene before, squinted their eyes as they observed carefully. But with their keen senses, the stench tormented them greatly, making even their facial features twist in pain.
"Damn it, it's getting stronger!" At that moment, Anakitty suddenly spoke.
"Captain, there's a strange sound ahead. Bete must have heard it too."
Both beast-humans nodded at Finn, raising everyone's vigilance again.
Piecing together fragments of memory, Fron knew… the real deal was just ahead.
"Creak, creak, creak, creak, "
Soon, that eerie sound, like something chewing, terrifyingly unsettling, reached everyone's ears clearly.
Not only that, but mixed within were thudding crashes and sharp shrieks.
The sinister sounds enveloped the team, halting their advance. At the same time… everyone's eyes turned to their small pallum leader carrying the long spear.
Finn licked his slightly aching thumb, his emerald eyes gazing toward the depths concealed by the dense forest, the direction of the mysterious sounds, and his lips curled upward.
"Keep moving." The leader issued a firm order, and the others no longer hesitated, stepping forward again.
Still leading the vanguard, Bete and Tiona walked at the front of the group, slashing through the dense vegetation with their weapons to clear a path.
Those in the center guard remained extremely alert to their surroundings while moving quickly, guarding against any surprises.
Fron once more fell back into the rear guard position, his gaze equally scanning the environment carefully.
The ceiling of the 59th floor was astonishingly high, estimated at nearly 50 meters, still glowing faintly with the dungeon's signature phosphorescence.
Through gaps in the dense canopy above, weak phosphorescence filtered down, casting dappled light and shadows on the ground.
Only in moments like this… when gazing at that pseudo-dome that wasn't a true sky, did those lost in the forest recall that they were not in an actual surface forest, but in the underground labyrinth.
"Rustle, rustle, "
As they moved, the strange sounds grew louder. Everyone knew they were nearing the source.
At the rear, Fron narrowed his eyes slightly, silently realizing… they were already deep within the 59th floor's core.
"Crack, "
Tiona and Bete once again chopped away branches, and then… their vision suddenly opened up.
"..." But at that moment, both Tiona and Bete froze in their tracks.
When the rest of the group caught up and saw the scene ahead, they too were struck dumb, their limbs cold, their scalps tingling, goosebumps rising all over!
"Wh-what is that!?" Anakitty and Alicia stared blankly ahead, their terrified voices trembling.
...
Fron too fell silent. Knowing about it was one thing, but when that blurry vision appeared vividly before one's eyes, the unparalleled realism and the shock to the spirit was truly overwhelming.
Ahead lay a vast expanse of gray earth. No forest, no vegetation, like the barren wilderness of the 49th floor, now unfolding before them.
But that wasn't the most shocking part. What made their scalps prickle most were the monsters covering the vast expanse!
As far as the eye could see, countless newly-emerged giant worm-type monsters writhed as though in worship toward the center. At the core and the periphery, Violas swayed their vine-like tentacles, the scene resembling a chaotic dance of demons.
Yet the most terrifying of all was what stood towering in the very center of the land, the object of the monsters' "worship": a grotesque creature with the lower body of a massive flower-shaped plant, and an upper body like a thick, bloated humanoid monster.
"Th-that, isn't that…"
Recalling the half-octopus, half-woman monster Tiona had once split in half on the 18th floor, everyone instantly guessed the being's identity!
"That's… the parasitized [Jewel Fetus], fully matured into its complete form?"
Fron and Riveria, the two well-informed about monsters, immediately recognized the species of the parasitized monster.
"That is the [Titan Alm], a large-type monster that only appears in the Lower Floors. It's been parasitized by the [Jewel Fetus]… and this is the final evolved form."
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T/N: I'm not sure is flower pot is the right word; tried finding about it, nothing came up, let me know if any of you know about it~