“Crack!”
Only then did Kroe, who was wielding daggers and standing in front of Riveria, breathe a sigh of relief and lower his weapons.
At the same time, Riveria's magic was also ready to be unleashed.
Kroe smashed the monster that had solidified into an ice sculpture and took out the magic stone: "Speaking of which, is it really okay to just leave the dropped items like that, meow? Don't you think it's a waste, meow?"
In deep-level adventures, unless it's a powerful enemy like the [Labyrinth Lonely King], most monsters' magic stones are not large. Even a powerful monster like the [Black Rhinoceros] has a magic stone that is only the size of a pebble.
The number of monsters killed was simply too many, and Kroe had no choice but to gradually discard the dropped items he had worked so hard to collect in order to free up space to load the magic stones.
As the distance to the target room gradually decreased, the adventurers' nerves tightened. They held their breaths and proceeded cautiously, gripping the weapons in their hands tightly.
“Roar—!”
A deep and wild roar came from the front, and the sound waves spread around like ripples, deafeningly loud.
The moment the adventurers stepped into the room, the powerful and proud dragon-type monster let out an earth-shattering roar.
This was their target, the [Strong Dragon Cadmus].
This was a typical winged Western dragon, with black scales covering its entire body. The scales had a dim luster, as if they had been tainted by the abyss.
Although it was on all fours, it could stand up at any time and lunge forward, wielding its powerful wings.
The azure water flowed with a faint luster, and the clear spring water appeared particularly clear under the sunlight.
Ais stared at the strong dragon in front of her, her heart beating rapidly. She remembered the last time she faced a strong dragon, she rushed out impulsively. Although she eventually killed the dragon, it also left herself and Grays, who was protecting her, seriously injured.
“Snap!”
“M-Master?”
“Calm down.”
Weiying said, "Alise—"
She summoned the Ice Giant, wielding two ice swords in the giant's hands, and rushed to the front without hesitation, confronting the strong dragon head-on.
“Ais, attack!”
“Yes!”
Ais also realized that now was the best opportunity for her to strike.
[—Gather, breath of the earth—My name is Alf]
In fact, the most efficient strategy was to have Ais and the others suppress the strong dragon, while Riveria used magic bombardment to finish it off.
And the strong dragon in front of them was the perfect opponent.
Weiying did not project the Dragon-Slaying Holy Sword for Ais to use, precisely based on this consideration.
Light robes also covered Lunova, Kroe, and Angie.
Lunova's gauntlets, especially the [Crimson Hound Modified], seemed to faintly glow with blood as her fists moved.
Riveria said, "The reason is—the strong dragon has no companions."
Therefore, although the strong dragon's power was comparable to that of the Labyrinth Lonely King Udaios, the difficulty of subduing them was completely on different levels.
Ais, on the other hand, was agilely searching for the strong dragon's weaknesses. With the agility of the [Storm King], her figure was like a gust of wind, and her sword light flashed, directly striking various parts of the strong dragon's body.
In the field of "dragon slaying," the combat power she could exert was equivalent to the top of .
At the same time, Angie focused on interfering with the dragon's movements. Her agility and dexterity allowed her to constantly wander around the strong dragon, looking for opportunities to attack the dragon's limbs or tail, disrupting its balance and buying time for Ais's attacks.
And among all the attacks, the one that caused the most damage to the strong dragon was Kroe's attack. She aimed at the opening the strong dragon revealed, raised her hand, and threw a [Law-Breaking Dagger].
Ais's sword continued to leave new wounds on the strong dragon's body, each strike becoming sharper and more ferocious.
As the battle progressed, the strong dragon's left wing had been shattered by Ais, preventing it from flying again, and the scales on its left forelimb had also been deeply cut open by her sword, almost severing it.
From the moment Ais and the others began their fierce battle with the strong dragon, Weiying had not provided any more ranged support.
In response to Riveria's inquiry, Weiying slowly shook his head.
“No need.”
His voice was calm: “They have already won.”
The huge dragon body trembled for a moment, and then, as if its power had been drained, it crashed to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Ais's sword trembled slightly, and the agile wind on the [Storm King] gradually dissipated. She stood in front of the dragon's corpse, her golden hair fluttering in the wind.
Several girls were panting heavily, sweat dripping from their foreheads, their faces showing a hint of exhaustion and satisfaction.
Especially Alise, who had been maintaining the Ice Giant's summoning, consuming a great deal of mental energy.
She lowered her head and looked at the [Ice Scathach] in her hand. The magic gem embedded in the top of the staff still emitted a faint light, and the ice-blue luster had no cracks, which calmed her heart.
“This expedition is going too smoothly to be true.”
Finn exclaimed.
Their battle with the strong dragon was even less suspenseful—two adventurers, one of whom, Grays, could directly confront the strong dragon in terms of strength, making the battle almost a one-sided crushing.
At the same time, Finn, Bert, and Tiona, the three first-class adventurers, went all out to attack, and there was also Leffiya, whose magical output was not inferior to that of a first-class adventurer.
When fighting the strong dragon, Ais could be regarded as an upper-level adventurer—therefore, the Loki Familia was equivalent to having four combatants to subdue two strong dragons.
“It’s a pity that there were no dropped items this time.”
Riveria shook her head helplessly: “It would be nice if the strong dragon’s dropped items were as easy to obtain as the [Black Rhinoceros]’s horns.”
“So, what do we do next?”
Finn asked: “Have you decided?”
The fifty-second floor was where the dungeon began to undergo qualitative changes.
Riveria nodded: “The targets are the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth floors. To be on the safe side, I will use ‘that’ magic this time.”
“From now on, the use of magic swords is unrestricted.”
Finn said, first releasing the key resource for this expedition—the restrictions on the use of magic swords.
However, since they entered the dungeon, up to and including the killing of the strong dragon on the fifty-first floor, they had not used a single magic sword.
It was not because they were reluctant to spend the money on magic swords, but because relying on magic swords before entering the deep levels would cause the adventurers to lose necessary training opportunities and weaken their fighting will.
“Everyone above , advance together.”
Directly advance to the fifty-eighth floor—although some people were slightly doubtful about this arrangement, in the end, no one questioned Finn's decision.
The blade accurately struck the monster's magic stone. The hard magic stone shattered instantly. Losing its support, the two-headed monster let out a shrill roar, then both heads drooped powerlessly, and its entire massive body crashed to the ground.
Anqi explained, "There's no way around it. The [Black Rhino]'s horn takes up too much space. Our knapsacks will fill up quickly. We can only prioritize collecting magic stones; they're more cost-effective."
Unlike the situation in the upper levels, where dropped items were far more valuable than magic stones, on the current battlefield, higher-level magic stones that take up less space are clearly more suitable for collection as spoils of war.
She looked at the faintly glowing dropped items on the ground, feeling a pang of regret, but there was nothing she could do.
Fortunately, dropped items will only gradually be absorbed by the dungeon and won't trigger the creation of strengthened species.
Ais walked in the forefront, her eyes sharp, focusing intently on what lay ahead, her hand gripping the sword hilt tightly.
"This is...?"
"Yes, we've arrived at the area where the Cadmus Spring is located."
Aricia nodded.
An existence at the apex of all monsters—a dragon.
Before them appeared a dragon—an existence at the apex of all monsters. The dragon species' pressure bore down on them.
Its body was enormous, its limbs thick and powerful, its body resembling a small mountain. A single horn extended from its head, extremely long and sharp. Its four massive claws dug into the ground, the tips deeply embedded in the rock, leaving obvious marks.
And behind this powerful dragon-type monster was a beautiful spring.
From the cracks in the wall, a very small amount of spring water slowly trickled out, the mysterious liquid harboring a pale blue light flowing along the grassy cracks of the depression.
And this time, seeing the black dragon monster, the intense emotions in her heart surged up again, as if the desire to fight was burning.
However—
The sword hilt slammed into her head, causing Ais to gasp.
As soon as she finished speaking, Aricia immediately took action.
The dragon let out an angry roar and charged head-on. It swung its huge tail violently. With just one sweep, it nearly cracked the Ice Giant's left arm, sending ice shards flying.
At the same time, Riveria also began chanting, but this time it wasn't an offensive spell.
This was a support spell that increased physical and magical defense, starlight-like radiance weaving into a cloak that enveloped Ais.
However, the Loki Familia's expedition was not just for obtaining rich spoils of war, but more importantly, for accumulating experience and improving the team's overall combat capabilities.
"Roar!"
Lunoire shouted and, together with Anqi, launched an attack on the strong dragon from the other side.
"Although the strong dragon's potential is extremely high, the difficulty of defeating it is not as high as imagined."
It was a lone dragon, guarding, or rather, dominating the spring, not allowing any other monsters to set foot on its territory.
Especially when facing an adventurer's "team."
Aricia controlled the Ice Giant, enduring the strong dragon's fierce attacks. The Ice Giant raised its ice sword, using its massive body and powerful strength to protect its companions, creating opportunities for them to attack.
[Avenger Princess], this skill allowed Ais to receive a super-domain boost to her attack power when facing dragon-type monsters.
Lunoire could also rely on her super-high durability, Riveria's defensive magic, and high-quality weapons to barely withstand the strong dragon's attacks. When Aricia's Ice Giant was almost shattered, she could temporarily replace it.
The poison-coated daggers sliced through the air, accurately striking the gaps in the strong dragon's scales, deeply piercing the dragon's body.
The strong dragon let out a violent roar, its body swaying, the irritating toxin causing its movements to become erratic.
[Tempest King] shimmered with agile magical power, the blade concealed within the wind, making its trajectory impossible to see, but each strike pierced through the strong dragon's scales.
Seeing the battle situation gradually tilting towards the adventurers' side, Riveria slightly turned her head, looking towards Weimiya, who was gathering power in the rear: "Are you going to fire it?"
He switched the bow and arrow to a giant sword held in both hands, which was [Fake Spiral Sword (Caladbolg)], created by projection magic. Weimiya was continuously accumulating power.
As the black wind swirled up, the airflow in the air seemed to freeze for a moment. That streak of black wind was like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, accompanied by a muffled sound, the strong dragon's already battered neck was completely severed.
Seeing the black wind that Ais unleashed in the final blow, Riveria's eyes couldn't help but narrow, but seeing that the black wind only lasted for an instant and then dissipated, her expression relaxed slightly.
Seeing the strong dragon finally fall, her legs went weak, and she sat directly on the ground, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Weimiya steadily hung the dragon-slaying holy sword he had projected on his back.
Riveria looked at him, a hint of a smile on her lips, and said softly, "The way you woke Ais up just now was very handsome."
After speaking, she turned her gaze to the back of Ais's head, and little Ais subconsciously trembled.
Relying on the highest level, ability, and physique even among the strong dwarf race, Grais as the vanguard was more solid than Aricia's Ice Giant.
He stood firmly at the forefront of the line, fearlessly resisting all of the strong dragon's attacks.
Facing such an invincible team, the strong dragon had no chance of winning at all.
In the end, it fell under the barrage of the elf girl. Although the whole process was intense, it hardly posed any threat to the adventurers.
At the same time, there were also several adventurers coordinating and linking up. Such a lineup almost destined the battle to be victorious from the very beginning.
Finn listened to Riveria's sigh from the side and chuckled: "This is also expected. The strong dragon's dropped items are originally extremely rare, and we can't be so lucky every time."
Until now, this expedition can be said to be extremely smooth, but the real challenge is still ahead.
Fourth Tier Magic, Absolute Defense—[Lost Faraway Land]
222
Chapter 222 Lost Faraway Land.
In the fiftieth floor's camp, Finn was making the final battle arrangements.
The Loki Familia brought a large number of magic swords when they entered the dungeon this time, including those purchased themselves, those lent to them by the Hephaestus Familia, and those provided by Weimiya through projection.
Finn placed strict restrictions on the use of magic swords, requiring adventurers to avoid using them as much as possible in non-emergency situations.
Until now, as they entered more dangerous deep areas, this restriction was finally completely lifted.
Finn continued to announce: "Next, we will head to the fifty-eighth floor in one go."
