Navigating the maze of the White Palace was no longer the nightmare it had once been.
For the veterans of Loki Familia, this floor was familiar territory. Traps were identified before they were triggered, hidden mechanisms dismantled with calm efficiency, and monsters were dealt with in clean, practiced motions. The labyrinth tried to confuse them with its scale, its endless white corridors and deceptive symmetry, but experience cut through it like a blade.
Damien, meanwhile, had his own priorities.
As they advanced, shadows rose and fell behind him, his army constantly shifting. He dismissed the normal Lizardmen he had acquired back on the twenty ninth floor, their usefulness finally eclipsed. In their place, new figures rose from the battlefield.
Lizardman Elites.
They looked similar at a glance, but the difference became obvious the moment they moved. Their scales were thicker, darker, hardened like layered armor. Their equipment was superior, weapons forged for war rather than survival, their posture disciplined and sharp. They stood straighter, breathed steadier, and radiated a presence far closer to trained soldiers than monsters.
Damien observed them with satisfaction.
He briefly considered going further. The White Palace offered tempting alternatives. Loup Garou stalked the halls with predatory intelligence, and Obsidian Soldiers marched with brutal durability. Replacing some of his Adventurer Shadows with monsters of this floor would have been easy.
But he chose not to.
Humanoid fighters offered versatility that monsters could not. Coordination, tactics, adaptability. And more than that, Damien knew what lay ahead. Far deeper floors waited beyond this place, and with them, monsters that would make these pale in comparison.
There was no need to rush.
Floor thirty eight took nearly an entire day to traverse, even with their experience. By the time the corridors finally opened, Damien's anticipation had sharpened into something almost eager.
Then they saw it.
At the end of the path, standing motionless in the vast white expanse, was Udaeus.
A towering black figure nearly ten meters tall, its form resembling an enormous version of the Spartoi, those skeletal humanoid soldiers that haunted the lower floors. Its body was pitch dark, jagged and solid, as if forged from compressed shadow and bone. A massive blade rested in its grip, silent, patient, waiting.
Damien's eyes gleamed.
"Oh," he said, pulling out his daggers, shadow rippling faintly along their edges. "I like the look of this guy."
He took a step forward.
Then ice flashed in front of him.
Riveria's new staff blocked his path, the air around it cooling instantly. She stood tall and composed, her expression calm but absolute.
"You had Amphisbaena," she said evenly. "So we will take care of Udaeus."
Damien stopped, then smiled slowly.
"Oh," he replied, stepping back with clear amusement in his voice. "I like it."
He gestured toward the towering Monster Rex.
"Show me."
At the center of the labyrinth, Udaeus shifted.
The Monster Rex raised its massive blade and took a single step forward, the sound echoing like a funeral bell through the white halls. Its hollow eyes burned with a dull crimson light as killing intent flooded the chamber.
Finn did not hesitate.
"Formation Alpha," he ordered calmly, spear lowering as his mind mapped the battlefield in an instant. "Tione and Tiona, pressure from the flanks. Bete, break its rhythm. Ais, with me. Gareth, anchor the center. Riveria, Lefiya, prepare suppression."
The response was immediate.
Tione cracked her knuckles, grin sharp and feral. "Finally. I was getting bored."
Tiona laughed, already moving. "Race you to the first hit."
Bete clicked his tongue, fangs bared. "Don't get in my way."
Udaeus roared.
It charged.
The monster's blade came down like a falling tower, cleaving the air itself. Gareth stepped forward without fear, planting his feet as if the floor belonged to him. His axe rose, muscles bulging, and the impact exploded outward in a shockwave that rippled through the palace.
Steel met bone.
"Too light," Gareth boomed, shoving the blade aside with raw power.
Before Udaeus could recover, Bete vanished.
A blur of silver streaked across the ground, his claws scraping sparks as he darted in and out, striking joints, tendons, weak points that only a beast among beasts could see.
"Try hitting something that moves," Bete snarled as he raked across its leg.
Udaeus twisted, backhand swinging wide.
It never connected.
Ais was already there.
Her blade flashed, Wind howling as Avenger sang through her body. She struck clean and precise, carving a glowing arc across the Monster Rex's torso before leaping back, eyes locked and calm.
"Finn. Now."
Finn moved with her.
Spear and sword danced in perfect synchronization, one distracting, the other piercing. Finn's spear struck pressure points, forcing Udaeus to shift, to guard, to react. Every movement it made was already accounted for.
Tione and Tiona hit next.
Tione crashed in like a living cannon, her blade biting deep as she laughed, wild and relentless. "Come on! You're bigger than this!"
Tiona followed with brutal grace, spinning and slashing, every strike amplified by her sheer joy for battle. "Smile a little! This is fun!"
Udaeus roared again, summoning dark energy.
Black blades erupted from the ground, spears of death aimed to impale everything in their path.
"Gareth!" Finn called.
Already done.
Gareth slammed his axe into the ground, aura flaring as he intercepted the attack head on. The shockwave shattered the summoned blades mid rise, fragments clattering harmlessly across the floor.
Behind them, magic surged.
"Lefiya," Riveria said calmly.
"Yes!" Lefiya's fear burned away, replaced by focus. She raised her staff, chanting faster than any mage her level should have been capable of. Light gathered, stabilized, and unleashed in perfect control.
A cascade of magic rained down, pinning Udaeus in place.
Riveria stepped forward.
Her new staff gleamed.
The temperature dropped instantly.
Ice spread across the battlefield, not wild, not chaotic, but precise. Controlled. Absolute.
"Impressive," Riveria murmured, eyes shining not with arrogance, but with certainty. "But this ends here."
Udaeus tried to move.
It failed.
Ice wrapped around its legs, its torso, its arms. Even its monstrous strength could not break free. The Monster Rex struggled, energy flaring desperately as it attempted one final attack.
Riveria raised her staff.
Mana roared.
The ice answered.
A colossal mass of condensed frost formed above Udaeus, pressure so immense the air screamed. Then it fell.
The impact was catastrophic.
Ice crushed down with surgical brutality, shattering bone, obliterating resistance, and finally collapsing inward as Riveria directed the spell with flawless precision.
The skull cracked.
Then it exploded.
Silence followed.
Udaeus collapsed into fragments, its massive body reduced to nothing more than lifeless remains scattered across the white floor.
No one was injured.
Not a scratch.
Finn exhaled slowly. "Clean."
Gareth laughed heartily. "Now that was a proper hunt."
Ais sheathed her sword, gaze lingering on the shattered remains. "Strong. But not enough."
Tione grinned. "That was almost unfair."
Tiona stretched, satisfied. "Yeah! I wanna do that again!"
Bete scoffed, turning away. "Tch. About time."
Lefiya stared at Riveria with wide eyes, awe written across her face.
Riveria lowered her staff, expression composed once more, though her fingers lingered on the polished surface for just a moment longer than necessary.
"Looks like you're used to in now?" said Damien
Riveria smiled and said "Yes...It is has opened it's heart to me...."
"All right everyone...Let's head down to floor 38....and finally settle down in the Under Bridge....You all deserve some rest time" spoke Finn and everyone smiled
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