"Huh? Finn just killed it?"
Tiona was a little dumbfounded. She'd thought she'd get a shot at this floor boss too.
"Idiot. Think about why the captain acted immediately," Tione said, seeing it more clearly than her naïve sister.
"That Goliath was obviously different. Every wound Finn dealt healed almost in the next second. And from the damage his spear managed, its hide was clearly tougher than usual. Even first-rate weapons would struggle to break through."
"A hardened hide that can blunt first-rate weapons, with a body that rapidly regenerates. In that case, only overwhelming damage can kill it. The two of us—even if you add Bete—aren't enough."
"…Yeah." Bete's eyes narrowed. He had to admit Tione's read was spot on. The mutated Goliath's strength exceeded Level 4; its hide was thicker, and it regenerated. That kind of Goliath wasn't something the three of them together could handle.
"Riveria, what do you think?"
Gareth stroked his beard and turned to the elven mage.
"It evolved into something even more dangerous than expected. To handle it, you'd need at least Tiona, Tione, Bete—and Ais. Without Ais, the three of you don't have the firepower to deal a lethal blow."
This "abnormal incident" was getting more and more targeted. Even Riveria and Gareth would find such a Goliath troublesome; the matchup was simply poor.
"Finn was decisive," Riveria added. "If he hadn't seized the opening to end it in one strike, we might've been stuck."
"Let's move. Next we need to cross the Great Waterfall quickly. If the Goliath was affected, who knows whether the Amphisbaena is too."
"Alright! Move out!" Gareth bellowed.
The whole party set off at once.
The transport crew gathered up all the Goliath's drops. There was no need to hide them now; the next stop was the safe floor on the 18th—Rivira.
With little attempt to conceal themselves, the group marched straight into Rivira. Once the Dungeon's busiest hub for adventurers and the largest trading post, it was where deep-floor materials—too hard to send to the surface—were bought and sold. The rates there were worse, of course. If there weren't profits to be made, Rivira wouldn't keep cycling through destruction and rebuilding.
Months ago, Rivira had been thriving. Now it was a wreck.
The stone streets were shattered. Buildings were pocked with craters, patched over with rough boards. On either side of the road, adventurers hammered away at quick repairs. The pace of reconstruction was… disheartening.
No wonder Rivira hadn't been able to muster a team to handle the Goliath. Tsunayoshi could still smell the ruin across the entire safe floor. Given how the "abnormal incident" was developing, Rivira getting overrun might have been a blessing—if they'd rallied a team against that Goliath, it would've been a march to the grave.
That mutated Goliath had been enough of a problem that even Finn had to end it instantly. Rivira's top strength barely reached Level 4—far below Tiona and the others—let alone enough to lead a hunt on a mutated floor boss.
"Loki Familia! It's really the Loki Familia!"
The procession was impossible to miss. Eyes from all around locked onto the Familia—and, more than anything, onto the massive magic stone on the transport cart.
"So the earlier tremors were a Goliath after all. That was fast—figures it's the Loki Familia."
The commotion a Goliath caused was always first felt on the safe 18th floor. Its birth throes and pre-battle racket were impossible to hide.
The chorus of awe and praise washed over the group. Anyone in the squad could feel a flush of pride at that sound. They weren't the ones who had earned the glory this time, perhaps—but they shared in it, and that glow made them stronger. This was the Loki Familia's way forward:
Climb ever upward, centered on the worship of glory.
Tsunayoshi scanned the faces around him; smiles bloomed everywhere—the excitement of belonging to the Loki Familia. Different goals birthed different paths; adventurers gathered into the groups that matched them.
The Loki Familia was a clan built around glory and ascent. No surprise it kept pulling in the capable.
"Yo, long time no see, Finn."
A one-eyed adventurer stepped in front of them, halting the procession. Judging by his bearing, he knew Finn well.
"Bors. It has been a while. Looks like things are busy here—you still short on hands in Rivira?" Finn asked.
"Short, yeah. But thanks to you, that Goliath is off our backs."
From his tone, Finn could tell he meant the mutated one—and that piqued his curiosity.
"Sounds like you already knew about the Goliath."
"Knew a bit," Bors admitted, then drew a deeper breath and delivered the warning he'd meant to give Finn:
"Lately the Dungeon's been rougher than expected. Maybe it doesn't show much on the upper floors yet, but in the middle floors it's obvious. Rivira got overrun because monsters surged."
"That started about a week ago. At first we could handle it, but in the next two outbreaks the numbers spiked. We felt the shift—so we stopped pushing and switched to defense. The result was… Rivira got overrun again."
"I see. That was the right call," Finn said. From what he knew, Bors's decision had saved Rivira's living strength. If they'd tried to face the surges head-on, they might not have held—and the losses could have been fatal. A temporary retreat was the correct choice.
"Not 'right'—just experience," Bors sighed. "It keeps you alive."
"Finn, I'm not joking with you. Listen carefully: a week ago, when our people went to the Great Waterfall to gather on a commission, they found that thing… looks like it's come back."
Tch. The worst-case scenario. It was the one report Finn least wanted to hear.
(End of Chapter)
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