Bell, who had been quietly moving within the group, naturally overheard the conversation between Finn and the others.
'As expected of Loki Familia… they figured it was me just from how I acted.'
'So now being overly cautious has become my trademark...'
He let out a sigh. He hadn't left behind any clues—but it was precisely that lack of clues that tipped them off.
Maybe being too cautious actually made him more suspicious. If he'd acted more naturally, perhaps no one would've noticed.
Bell couldn't help but wonder if he should start handling things differently. After all, caution had always been his approach. But the way Loki Familia reacted made him realize that even his caution wasn't perfect.
'No... better not to change how I operate so easily.'
Though a bit shaken, Bell had no intention of changing his methods.
Maybe this time things went wrong because of his caution, but that didn't mean caution itself was a mistake.
The truth was—he'd been impatient.
Yes, the real problem was his own impatience.
He'd wanted to earn "Excelia," and he had also been hoping this last effort would push him into a level-up. That greed had gotten the better of him.
And that greed was exactly what led to him getting exposed.
After sorting through his thoughts, Bell sighed again.
'Greed ruins everything…'
He pulled out a notebook from his four-dimensional space and, on a fresh page, wrote the words: "Greed is dangerous."
It wasn't in the language of this world, but in the language of his previous life—so he wasn't worried about anyone understanding it.
He had prepared brand-new notebooks before setting out, specifically to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Bell now clearly understood the consequences of letting his greed take over.
The next time he felt tempted, he'd remind himself of this. If he didn't let go of greed, he could end up in an even worse situation than now.
It was still manageable that only Loki Familia had figured things out. But if anyone decided to dig deeper, all the little oversights he hadn't paid attention to might become glaring flaws.
With a shake of his head, Bell tossed the notebook back into his four-dimensional space and continued moving forward with the team.
...
From the 20th floor onward, monster encounters became more frequent. Their hides grew tougher, and ordinary attacks struggled to break through.
Daphne was the first to feel the pressure. Her weapon could no longer slice cleanly through flesh like it had above the 18th floor, and that added strain weighed heavily on her.
"Damn it...!"
She stepped back with a practiced retreat.
"Rear guard, stay alert! Two bows, enchant with wind attribute!"
"Frontline, advance!"
"Yeah!!"
The shield-bearing vanguard pushed forward, holding the line against the monster horde, keeping them pinned behind their shields.
Behind them, the archers pulled out enchanted Rune Stones from their pouches and began applying them to their bows.
"Huuh!"
A swirl of pale wind wrapped around the bows. The archers quickly drew their strings, aiming precisely. Even the arrows shimmered with a faint breeze.
"Fire!"
Daphne, seeing the signal, shifted positions and gave the command.
Thwip!
Two arrows, carried on the wind, shot forward and pierced the heads of the monsters at the front. The force and enchantment didn't stop there—the wind-infused shots tore through the front line and punched into the monsters behind.
An entire row of monsters fell where they stood.
Since the arrows hadn't struck their magic stones, the corpses remained intact.
"It's that powerful?"
Daphne's eyes went wide. A whole row of monsters had just been taken out by two arrows?
"Wow, that's insane!"
The two archers who had fired them were just as stunned. This was their first time trying enchantments on their bows. Cassandra had told them wind enchantments could boost their power, but for one arrow to wipe out an entire row of monsters? That was beyond their expectations.
Daphne snapped out of it first.
"Vanguard, stay alert!"
The frontliners, who had been staring in shock at the fallen monsters, scrambled to refocus—but it was too late. A worker bee had already slammed into them.
Bang!
The bee, about the size of a young girl, sent one of the vanguard staggering. If not for the sheer weight of his shield, the line might've collapsed right there.
The dwarf next to him quickly reached out and caught the tilting shield.
"Focus, man! This isn't a game."
"Sorry, I didn't expect the arrows to be that strong..."
"Yeah, no one did. But this isn't the time to lose our heads."
The shaken vanguard, face flushed, gripped his shield tighter and locked his eyes on the monsters ahead, pushing all distractions aside.
Daphne let out a breath of relief, but caught a glint of danger from the corner of her eye and instantly dodged. A worker bee's sharp stinger barely missed skewering her.
Unfazed, she swung her wooden sword in a clean arc, slicing the bee clean in two.
When she turned back, the formation was holding—but the team's focus was unraveling.
"Frontline, halt advance! Reorganize the formation!"
"Archers, prepare for round two!"
The frontliners dug in, planting their shields firmly to form a wall that kept the swarm of worker bees at bay.
Once she saw the archers ready, Daphne pulled a fire-red Rune Stone from her space pouch and hurled it forward at the right moment.
The stone burst midair into a fireball, slamming into the approaching bees.
"Fire!"
Two arrows launched, both enchanted with wind. As they passed through the flames, the breeze caught the sparks and triggered a secondary explosion—turning the arrows into blazing projectiles.
BOOM!!!
The mix of wind and fire transformed them into explosive arrows, detonating amid the monsters. Dozens of worker bees were incinerated instantly, breaking the swarm's momentum.
"Prepare flame-enchanted arrows!"
Seeing a chance to wipe out the hive, Daphne didn't hesitate and gave the next order.
The two archers knocked arrows tipped with pre-attached fire Rune Stones and aimed directly at the hive.
"Fire!"
With the path clear, the arrows flew unimpeded and hit the hive dead-on.
A massive explosion rang out.
BOOM!!
Even stronger than the previous blast, the explosion obliterated the hive in the tree, leaving nothing behind.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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