On the 15th floor of the Dungeon, Judas walked through the dimly lit corridors with a leisurely stride.
The faint glow of luminous moss clinging to the walls cast long, warped shadows across the stone, stretching and shrinking with each step he took.
Today, he had decided to descend into the Dungeon for reasons unrelated to valis.
It wasn't for training.
Nor was it to gain experience.
It was for something far simpler.
'It's good to come here... to clear my head after all the shenanigans earlier.'
Judas exhaled slowly.
The Dungeon, for all its dangers, had a strange way of quieting his mind.
Crack.
His ears twitched.
The sound came from the wall to his right... stone fracturing, something forcing its way through.
Roar!
With a violent burst, a monster tore free from the dungeon wall, shards of rock scattering as it landed on the ground, its roar filled with raw hostility.
"A Ligerfang..."
Judas identified it instantly.
A massive tiger-like monster, its muscles coiled beneath striped fur, fangs dripping with saliva.
On these floors, it was one of the apex predators... overall not inferior to a Minotaur in terms of raw power.
A monster that commonly spawned between the 15th and 17th floors.
For most adventurers, an ambush like this would've meant an immediate, frantic battle.
Judas didn't even flinch.
He didn't spare the monster more than a glance.
The moment the Ligerfang took a single step forward...
Judas casually swiped his hand.
A prepared spell discharged instantly, a blade of condensed energy tearing through the air with a sharp whistle.
Slash.
The Ligerfang was split cleanly from top to bottom.
There wasn't even time for it to react.
Its massive body froze for a heartbeat before crumbling into ash, scattering across the dungeon floor.
Silence returned.
At the edge of his vision, Judas spotted the remains left behind... a gleaming mana stone, and beside it, a thin layer of cloth-like material.
"Ligerfang fur."
With a thought, Judas activated his telekinesis.
The mana stone and fur lifted gently from the ground and floated into his open bag.
Though he was, by all accounts, obscenely wealthy now, that didn't mean he would ignore loot found in the Dungeon.
Part of it was simply his nature... he disliked wasting anything.
But more importantly, leaving mana stones behind was dangerous.
A monster that consumed another monster's mana stone could grow stronger, mutate, or even give rise to an irregular or enhanced species.
If that happened... and an unprepared adventurer party stumbled upon it...
'People would die.'
That lesson had been drilled into him early on, one of the first things any adventurer learned when stepping into the Dungeon for the first time... whether from an advisor, a senior familia member, or through grim experience.
Just as Judas finished tucking the magic stone and Ligerfang fur into his bag and took a step forward...
Crunch.
A loud, unmistakable sound echoed from behind him.
"...Ais."
He turned his head just in time to see the blonde swordswoman calmly munching on a Jyagamarukun, her cheeks puffed slightly as she chewed.
His gaze drifted downward to the paper bag she was holding.
'It's almost empty.'
When they had first entered the dungeon, that bag had been filled to the brim with fried potatoes.
Yet Ais had demolished them at such a terrifying pace that even Judas... someone who had seen all manner of absurd feats... briefly entertained the thought that she could enter a Jyagamarukun eating contest and win by an overwhelming margin.
'...Is she stress eating?'
As they descended through the dungeon floors, Ais had done little besides eat.
She hadn't drawn her sword once.
That was because she didn't need to.
Judas had been the one handling every monster unfortunate enough to cross their path, dispatching them with clean, efficient movements before they could even pose a threat.
When he had asked why she decided to come with him in the first place...
"Because I want to?"
She had answered while tilting her head, her expression utterly innocent.
Judas hadn't pressed the matter after that.
They simply continued downward.
However, there was one more person accompanying them... someone Judas hadn't expected to join them.
"Is that the telekinesis magic Lefiya told me about? How convenient."
Riveria's calm voice rang out as she observed him from behind, her sharp eyes lingering briefly on the items floating into his bag earlier.
She sounded genuinely impressed.
Judas didn't bother asking why she was here.
'She's worried about Ais.'
He had been around long enough to understand that, while Riveria cared deeply for all members of the Loki Familia, her concern for Ais went far beyond that.
If the others were children under her guidance...
Then Ais was the daughter she watched over most closely.
Whenever it came to Ais, Riveria's so-called Mama Mode activated without fail... a fact Loki never missed an opportunity to tease her about.
Which, in turn, always earned Loki a sharp smack on the head with Riveria's staff.
Thus, without any formal discussion or declaration...
A temporary party had been formed.
Judas.
Ais.
And Riveria.
"We're already at the 17th floor, huh?"
Judas glanced around as another monster's body dissolved into ash and magic stones clattered against the dungeon floor.
"Thanks to your magic, we don't even have to pause to collect the loot."
Riveria's voice was calm as ever, even as she stepped forward and drove the pointed end of her staff cleanly through a Minotaur's throat.
The massive creature stiffened, eyes bulging, before collapsing with a heavy thud.
With a small flick of her wrist, the corpse began to fade, its magic stone and drops already drifting toward Judas under the influence of his telekinesis.
"I truly wish you had joined the familia sooner."
Riveria continued, her tone uncharacteristically candid.
"Having you on our previous expeditions would have made things considerably easier."
It wasn't flattery.
It was an honest assessment.
"Thanks."
Judas responded with a faint smile and an appreciative nod, his focus never leaving the battlefield as the materials were neatly stored away.
"Well... monsters in the middle floors are barely a challenge."
He said it casually, almost offhandedly, as Ais stepped past him and cleaved another Minotaur clean in half.
Her blade flashed, and the monster didn't even have time to roar before it split apart.
'It seems like she's all better now.'
He could tell just by watching her movements.
Her swings were sharp, precise... free of hesitation.
Whatever had been weighing on her earlier had already faded away.
For Ais, it seemed that a few clean kills and the familiar rhythm of combat were all it took to steady her heart.
From there, their descent was swift.
Floor after floor passed without incident, the trio cutting through monsters with frightening efficiency.
It didn't take long before they reached the eighteenth floor.
Since they were well aware that the Goliath wouldn't spawn this time, breezing past the seventeenth floor posed no issue at all.
And even if it had appeared...
With this lineup, it would have been nothing more than a very large punching bag.
The moment they stepped onto the eighteenth floor, the oppressive atmosphere of the dungeon vanished.
They were greeted instead by a vast, lush expanse... towering trees, flowing streams, and greenery that felt almost surreal after the stone corridors above.
Artificial sunlight filtered down from the ceiling, casting a warm glow over the land.
Following the marked path, Judas and the others soon arrived at their destination.
The town of Rivira.
"It's been a while since I've been here."
Riveria lifted her gaze toward the wooden structure at the entrance, her eyes settling on the carved text displayed prominently above it.
"334th..."
That single number told a story.
It meant Rivira had been destroyed and rebuilt over three hundred times by now.
The resilience... and stubborn dedication... of the people who maintained this place was nothing short of remarkable.
Even though the eighteenth floor was considered a safe zone, monsters would occasionally crawl up from below and wreak havoc.
When that happened, the adventurers of Rivira would either fight back or retreat.
And once things settled down...
They returned and rebuilt everything that was lost.
As Judas, Ais, and Riveria walked through the town, they quickly noticed something was off.
The usual liveliness was muted.
Conversations were hushed.
Groups of adventurers stood clustered together, whispering among themselves.
"The atmosphere in this town is a bit strange."
Riveria voiced the thought as her sharp eyes swept across the surroundings.
It didn't take long for the reason to reveal itself.
"...Is it true there was a murder?"
"Yeah. It happened at Viri's Inn. People are already gathering there."
The trio exchanged glances.
Silence lingered for a brief moment before Riveria spoke.
"Let's go take a look."
Without another word, they changed course and headed toward Viri's Inn.
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