"It was the wind."
---------------------------
Thanks to the bond between Fron and Ais, the resonance produced by the Falna had reached an almost terrifying degree.
Of course, Fron could not determine Ais' location with that alone. But don't forget, where was this place?
This was underground, inside the man-made dungeon Knossos. Just like the Dungeon, there was absolutely no way for natural wind to exist here.
Yet, at the very moment Ais unleashed her wind magic, the breeze that brushed past him became Fron's opportunity, and naturally, he rushed straight toward it.
The metal gate blocking the way might have stopped the others, but with the Daedalus's Eye in his hand, Fron was the greatest variable.
When he saw Ais, kneeling on one knee, her light armor already in tatters, blood trickling from her lips, her figure in complete disarray, Fron's delighted expression instantly stiffened.
"Heh. Those guys kept boasting they could take you down. Too bad, I knew they weren't reliable."
Revis paused mid-step, sword in hand, and turned her head slightly, casting a glance toward Fron with the corner of her eye.
"The plan was indeed thorough, splitting our party apart, picking us off one by one. So… it was you who volunteered to deal with Ais, wasn't it? What's wrong, was your obsession from losing to her last time really that deep?"
Fron walked up to Ais with a playful smile, ignoring Revis' gaze. He gently helped the girl up, pulled the cork off a potion with his teeth, and poured it down her throat.
"Th-thank you."
"No need to be so polite with me. Protecting you is my duty, as a man."
"....." At those words, Ais' face flushed bright red from her neck all the way to her ears.
The two of them flirted as though no one else were present, completely disregarding Revis. Even someone like her, with no emotions in her heart, felt her blood pressure rising in fury!
But just then, a loud rumble echoed from deeper within the passage.
Revis suddenly turned her head toward the darkness of the tunnel and saw countless adventurers rushing in.
"The Loki Familia, huh, "
She drew back her gaze, shot a cold glance at the smiling blond youth before her, and spat out sharply: "You're as vile and cunning as ever."
Fron curved his lips, his golden eyes narrowing.
"To deal with remnants of the Evilus and monsters of the Dungeon, the means don't matter. What I care about is only the result."
"Heh, so self-righteous. That's exactly why I despise you adventurers. This time, I'll admit you've won. But… your time is running out."
Casting one last meaningful look at the Loki Familia members charging to join Fron and Ais, Revis lightly tapped her toes against the ground and vanished into the darkness.
"Hey, stop right there!"
Tione and Tiona rushed forward to chase her down, but with Revis activating another gate using the Daedalus's Eye, they could only watch helplessly as the path closed.
"Come back, Tione, Tiona. Now's not the time to waste on her. We still need to find Gareth and Bete."
"Tch, fine." Tione clicked her tongue in frustration, but she kept her cool.
With Fron unconscious, Fron's actions and presence had already established him in the hearts of the others as a capable commander.
He glanced around at his companions, quickly recalling the maps he had explored before. After comparing their current position, he roughly located Gareth and Bete.
"We're not far from the exit we came through. Since Gareth fell into a vertical shaft, he should be below us. If I'm not mistaken, judging by the depth, he should be on the fourth level. And as for Bete…"
At this, Fron pressed his hand against the wall nearby.
Sensing faint vibrations from the other side, a smile spread across his face.
"He's right here."
...
"So this is the so-called great miracle your ancestors spent over a thousand years trying to build and still couldn't finish, the man-made dungeon Knossos? You swore up and down that once someone entered, they could never get out, my dear Barca. But why do I feel like that boy Fron is swimming through it like a fish in water?"
"..." Barca's face darkened. Even when mocked by a god, he gave no favorable response.
He glared hatefully at the blond youth who had once again smashed through walls and so easily reunited with the werewolf Bete. Barca's heart was ready to explode with fury.
"The Night Weaver…" His cracked lips moved, gritting his teeth as he spat out the words.
Clearly, as a descendant of the legendary craftsman Daedalus, he now utterly hated Fron, the one wrecking his creation.
"To reach the fourth level, we need to follow this passage, go up a hundred steps, then circle three times, and we'll find Gareth."
"Tsk tsk tsk, you bastard… you've got the same ability as Fron, huh? Like memorizing maps inside your head?"
Everyone knew Fron wasn't just a capable commander, his wisdom and memory were extraordinary.
Now Fron displayed the same ability to construct maps in his mind, leaving his companions astonished.
"Fron's skill Reader can greatly enhance mental strength, and at night, it even doubles."
The one who spoke was none other than the blond girl who knew him best.
"..." Everyone exchanged glances, shock written all over their faces.
"So mental power can be used like that? I knew it, those mages like Riveria just love showing off tricks."
"..." Fron's lips twitched as he cast a pitying look at the noisy Tiona.
He thought inwardly: What does this have to do with you being an idiot? It's because you're dumb, obviously.
Under Fron's command, the squad of more than twenty advanced quickly toward Gareth. With Ais, the human radar for monsters, joining the team, their scouting ability and pressure resistance grew stronger.
As a result, their pace quickened even more.
"It's been half an hour without encountering any monsters, and the gates haven't moved either. Looks like the enemy commander gave up."
"Tch, once we catch up, I'll crush them all into paste." Bete twitched his ears, baring his teeth viciously.
The memory of being cornered by monsters, and that goggle-wearing trash, made his blood boil again.
"Found it, Fron. Gareth's presence is just ahead."
Ais suddenly spoke up to alert Fron.
"So he's here."
"Something's off. Gareth's aura… it's very weak. And… there's another strong aura there. It feels, it feels like…"
The girl bit her lip, her eyes flickering, unable to believe it.
Fron and the others stood before the gate, activating the Daedalus's Eye.
At the same time, Fron patted the girl's head lightly and chuckled: "That familiar aura, right? Then there's no mistake. This must be their final trump card, something like…"
Clang, the gate rose fully, revealing the massive chamber beyond.
Inside lay crumbling ruins, a devastated battlefield filled with rubble.
And in the very center of the vast room stood a monster that shattered everyone's understanding, raising its head with a roar.
All members of the Loki Familia participating in the artificial dungeon Knossos's conquest, after finding Gareth, had finally gathered together without a single one missing.
However, the monster that appeared before them did not allow them to happily celebrate. On the contrary… not even a smile was shown.
The group poured into a rectangular space far larger and emptier than any room they had seen before. Reflected in their eyes was a gigantic silhouette.
This monster, while fighting Gareth, had once charged so violently that it smashed through every obstacle in a straight line.
With a roar through the partition wall, countless stone slabs and fragments of ultra-hard metal exploded with deafening blasts, boulders and rubble flying through the air, the ground quaking, the ceiling trembling, cracks spreading endlessly along the wall from the point of impact.
"Clang!"
Huge hooves crushed the stone slabs numbered "6", "7." Even first-class adventurers like Ais, Tione, and Tiona couldn't help but hold their breath.
Staring at the monster before them, Fron gripped his staff tightly. His golden eyes shone brilliantly in the dim space, circles of blue light endlessly flowing within them.
Combined with the hooded cloak covering his entire body, he appeared eerie and mysterious.
His main weapon, forged through repeated upgrades, responded to its master's emotions as complex patterns of magic circles wound around the shaft.
The exquisite top-grade purple magic crystal at the staff's head seemed to sense something as well, flashing continuously with mysterious glyphs as if it were breathing.
And all of this was simply Fron's instinctive reaction upon seeing the monster before him.
Especially the magic power surging within the creature's body, even his weapon reacted instinctively with feedback.
"Cluck… cluck cluck…"
As Fron's mind wandered, the monster before him let out a chilling laugh.
The aura was still so familiar, the composition still so familiar.
Yet with slight changes overall, that once-seen form was recognized at a glance by Fron and the others who had fought it before.
Overly robust and durable limbs, massive twisted horns, steel-like skin with a rusted hue peeking through the strange green covering its head.
Judging by the adventurers' dynamic vision, its massive bulk clearly exceeded what had come before.
Behind it, its tail split into two, each ending with a hard, sword-like spike. Its impatient swaying made the weaker companions shiver inside.
On the bull-like body, there was only one anomaly: a "woman" embedded in its forehead.
A strange woman, smiling eerily.
That intense sense of déjà vu made Tiona mutter tentatively: "Another spirit… clone?"
No one replied, but from their grave expressions, and from Gareth's injuries, the answer surfaced immediately.
"Ha, artificial dungeon, Evilus, red-haired freak, and now even spirit clones are showing up! Interesting, way too interesting. These bastards, just a bunch of rats hiding in the sewers, if you've got guts, face us head-on! Playing dirty tricks, what kind of skill is that!"
Tione's face twisted with fury, her clenched fists cracking loudly.
Clearly, she had had enough of the enemy's despicable schemes.
This fury, upon seeing the spirit clone here, exploded violently.
"Pa." A hand pressed on the Amazoness's shoulder. Fron's calm voice stopped her.
"Tione, don't be reckless. Maybe that's exactly what the enemy wants, to make us angry. And… although I don't know why their factions allied, I'm sure they're not of one mind. They must be scheming against each other too. And this spirit clone…"
Saying this, under everyone's gaze, the young man smiled.
"This spirit clone isn't much different from the one we fought on the 59th floor. Judging by its aura, it's about level 7. But…"
Raising his hand to stop the others' movements, Fron added with a sly tone: "Back then, we were all level 5, while the opponent had a monster horde blocking us, plus infinite magical recovery, it had every advantage."
"But today is different. Back then, I was level 5. Now I'm level 6. Meanwhile, your strength hasn't changed. And… this bull avatar looks like a melee type? No monster horde blocking us either. So, in my opinion…"
He didn't finish, but the crazed smile tugging at Fron's lips gave everyone the answer.
"[Face your end! (Ragnarok)!]"
With Fron's low chant of a short spell, pitch-black flames entwined with crimson lightning erupted violently from his small frame. From the ground, ring after ring of shockwaves spread out. The fierce wind lashed against them, roaring.
Feeling the surging power filling his body, Fron's eyes sharpened, and once again he chanted:
"[Face your end! (Ragnarok)!]"
"..."
", Boom!"
From inside out, a mysterious purple energy began to corrode the flames and lightning. On Fron's body, tricolored fire and lightning rapidly formed, surging violently.
Gradually expanding, the flames grew so vast that Fron's figure disappeared within them. Only a dark shadow twisted and swayed amidst the eruption.
Shadows on the walls stretched long, bluish magic-stone light illuminating the enormous dim chamber.
At this moment, Fron had become the embodiment of fire and lightning, his physical form seemingly fused completely into the magic.
Of course, the others knew it was just an illusion, Fron's explosive magic breaking past a boundary into another domain.
[Hero Domain]!
But was that all? Knowing how dangerous the enemy was, Fron had no mood or time to probe.
From the start, he would go all out. If one strike could finish the opponent, he would never need a second!
"『Infinite Super magic』, activate!"
"『Magic Dominator』, activate!"
With Fron unleashing every amplification skill, the destructive nature of his magic essence unfolded before everyone.
The backlash on his body almost crushed him instantly, his spirit nearly collapsing.
Intense pain flooded into his brain, his very lips trembling.
"『Thinker』, activate!"
...
The world, in Fron's eyes, slowed down.
No adversity? Then create adversity for oneself, entering that state where full power could be drawn out!
[Full Concentration] state, manifest!
At this moment, this was Fron's full power.