"Fortunately, no major accidents occurred this time," Finn concluded, "So our schedule remains unchanged; we'll continue the exploration of uncharted territory."
"However," He added, "Before heading to the 59th Floor, we also have an Adventurer commission to fulfill."
Adventurer commissions referred to tasks issued by the Guild, merchant associations, or various Familias. Completing one would yield generous rewards from the client.
This particular commission had been issued by the Dian Cecht Familia. Since they frequently collaborated with Loki Familia, refusing was out of the question. The mission was to travel to the Spring of Cadmus on the 51st Floor and collect a specified quantity of spring water.
Finn ultimately decided to send two elite teams:
Team A: Finn, Gareth, Bete, and Raul
Team B: Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya
Riveria would not be joining. She had expended a great deal of Mana during the battle on the 49th Floor and needed time to recover. Plus, considering the upcoming expedition to the 59th Floor, she also needed adequate rest.
"Riveria will stay behind at the base."
"No helping it."
As for Ryoji, a mere Level 2, this had nothing to do with him.
In fact, the upcoming exploration of the 59th Floor would only be undertaken by a select few executives. The rest of the team would remain behind on the 50th Floor.
That was because, starting from the 51st Floor, the difficulty would sharply increase. Monsters of Level 5 or higher would start to appear, raising the danger level significantly. Aside from essential Supporters and rare cases like Lefiya, who functioned as a mobile fortress, low-level Adventurers wouldn't even be taken along.
For Ryoji, this marked the end of his role in this expedition. From now on, his focus should be on how to improve his Proficiency as much as possible on the journey back.
After dinner, everyone scattered.
The patrol squad circled the camp. Finn and his team organized themselves and departed through the flat cavern passage leading down to the 51st Floor. The remaining members, including Ryoji, returned to rest.
"Hm…"
Ryoji stood at the edge of the base, staring out at the distant corridor.
That flat cavern slope led down to the 51st Floor, where Finn and the others had recently descended.
"What are you doing standing out here?" A cool, ethereal voice, typical of the Elves, came from behind as Riveria, dressed in her signature green mage's robe, walked up beside Ryoji.
Seeing that he hadn't returned to rest, Riveria had taken the initiative to approach him.
"I've got a bad feeling," Ryoji said.
"A bad feeling?" Riveria's tone immediately sharpened.
She had heard from Lefiya that the only reason they had uncovered Ishtar Familia's scheme last time was because of Ryoji's intuition. During this expedition, he had accurately predicted the appearance of monsters several times.
Even Finn had praised his danger sense repeatedly, claiming Ryoji possessed the potential to be a future Captain.
After all, Finn himself had a similar sixth sense and had relied on it to avoid countless crises.
That made Riveria take Ryoji's warning very seriously.
"You mean Finn's team is in danger?"
"It's hard to say. I just feel danger is approaching… from below."
Danger approaching, from below? Could it be that monsters from lower floors were migrating upward?
While the 50th Floor was technically a safety floor, just like the northern wetlands of the 18th Floor had monster overflow from the 19th, it was still possible for monsters from the 51st Floor to spill into the 50th.
"Everyone, assemble! Prepare defensive formation!" Riveria didn't hesitate. She turned back toward the camp and issued a sharp command.
At once, everyone moved. With tense expressions, they rushed out of their tents, retrieved their weapons, and headed to the front of the camp, forming a defensive formation in preparation.
The reaction was as swift as that of trained soldiers, because everyone knew that in the deep floors of the Dungeon, terrifying threats capable of causing massive casualties could appear at any time.
"With this kind of manpower, if we're up against a swarm of high-level monsters, we'll hardly be able to handle it…"
Riveria returned to the center of the formation, protected on all sides by the others. She glanced over the team, made up mostly of Level 3 and Level 4 adventurers, her face showing a worried expression.
Due to the commission, nearly all the executives had left. There wasn't even a single Level 5 left behind. If they were to face a group of Level 4 monsters and the formation broke, it could mean severe casualties.
"Should I prepare magic in advance?"
"…That might be our only option. You'll signal me."
Riveria paused in thought, then nodded and accepted Ryoji's suggestion.
She raised her favorite magic staff, its hard shaft embedded with nine magic crystal gems, a weapon capable of maximizing the power of magic. In the lower world, it was among the highest-tier staff: Magna Alfs.
Crafted by the blacksmiths of the magical nation Altena, it was effective even for physical strikes. With Loki's help in negotiating the price, it had still cost a staggering 340 million valis.
Ryoji emptied his mind as much as he could, ignoring the ambient noise and flickering lights, focusing his judgment solely on intuition.
He could feel it clearly: a terrifying threat was rushing toward the 50th Floor with alarming speed.
"Start chanting!" Ryoji suddenly shouted.
"----Harbinger of the end, the white snow. Blow with the wind before the twilight!" Riveria didn't hesitate for a second and began chanting her magic spell.
This was a different spell from the one she had used on the 49th Floor. Ryoji didn't recognize it. But he trusted Riveria's judgment. With her skill, the chant should take about a minute to complete.
A dazzling golden magic circle spread out beneath Riveria's feet, lighting up the dim space with its brilliance.
"Hm?" Ryoji's eyes suddenly narrowed. A hint of surprise appeared on his face.
"The danger's getting closer fast. They're speeding up, get ready for impact!"
"Understood!"
The moment Riveria began chanting, the looming danger in Ryoji's senses intensified rapidly, reaching its peak in mere seconds.
And then,
The monsters appeared.
"What the hell is that?"
"Is that… a caterpillar…?"
It was a massive creature.
Yellow-green overall, with a limp, soft-looking hide covered in vivid, poisonous-looking stripes that clearly screamed "toxic." Its lower body had countless stubby legs, while its upper body arched up like a hill, standing tall atop the rest of its body. Two flat, thin flaps extended outward from its sides.
As soon as it emerged from the flat tunnel, the giant caterpillar monster turned to look toward them, as if drawn by something, then began rapidly squirming its way forward.
One after another, more of the same caterpillar-like monsters appeared behind it, quickly filling the adventurers' field of vision with an overwhelmingly dense formation that made everyone's scalp tingle.
"They… don't look that strong?"
"That's nowhere near the pressure those Fomoire gave us!"
"Looks like we can handle these!"
Even though they were giant monsters, the seasoned adventurers of Loki Familia weren't the least bit afraid. Who hadn't slain a few hundred giant monsters by now? These green caterpillars didn't give off anywhere near enough pressure to be intimidating.
Just as they were speaking, the frontlines made contact with the caterpillar monsters.
"Wait! Don't approach them rashly, "
"Argh, AAAHHH!!"
Before Ryoji could finish his warning, a scream suddenly rang out from the front lines.
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
PS-"For every 100 power stones, I'll release one bonus chapter (Current-01)!"