The twisted green leaves rolling through the sky melted into a mass, constantly raining down onto the flesh-like ground and completely carpeting the entire space.
This place was the twenty-ninth layer of the monster rift.
[Azure Green Sky Path]
On the green, flesh-covered earth, sharp, bent dead trees burst upward, standing densely packed.
Their branches split apart like the arms of dried corpses.
A squad of demi-humans wearing bone armor formed into a line and continued advancing forward.
Each demi-human gripped a blade in hand, their eyes firm and calm.
They had already passed through many layers and fought all kinds of vicious monsters.
Even though many of the lower-layer monsters had already been cleared out by the Adventurers' Guild, within the rift, all sorts of strange monsters would continue to spawn endlessly.
Yet even with purple blood staining their armor and strange-colored fluids dripping from their blades, not a single person in the squad showed any sign of fatigue.
Their eyes were bright and spirited, full of drive.
In less than a day, this demi-human squad had already explored down to the twenty-ninth layer of the monster rift.
The deeper they went, the stronger the monsters that appeared.
At the beginning layers, only low-tier monsters would spawn, like weeds before a well-equipped demi-human squad, offering no pressure at all.
But the closer they got to the thirtieth layer, the stronger the monsters became.
Some of them had even reached the strength of tier three.
This place was like a tireless monster-generation machine, endlessly producing foes.
Suddenly, more than a dozen powerful monsters burst out from beneath the flesh-covered ground.
They swung their sharp claws with both hands, spat out mouthparts two to three meters long, and fixed their gaze on the demi-humans ahead.
Under the overwhelming green light, their massive bodies looked especially bizarre, making it impossible to tell what their original colors had been.
Dragging bodies like half-slugs, they slowly closed in on the demi-humans.
Seeing the monsters drawing nearer, the demi-humans exchanged glances. The long formation spread out, forming a formation shaped like two concentric circles.
They held their blades horizontally in front of them, cold light flashing in their eyes.
The monsters extended their mouthparts, trying to stab into the demi-humans' chests.
But the moment danger reached the front line, the inner-circle demi-humans swung their blades forward, instantly severing the long mouthparts.
Dozens of monsters cried out in pain, their eyes turning blood-red as they retracted the mouthparts dripping green blood. They raised their claws and rapidly twisted their bodies, weaving past the dense dead trees as they charged at the squad.
The outer-circle demi-humans flipped their bodies, blades flashing in their hands. After cutting through the tendons of one side, they stabbed straight into the backs of the monsters' necks.
The remaining demi-humans seized the timing as well, breaking through the monsters' attack methods, then quickly bending down to thrust into their chests.
From both the front and back, they pulled downward violently at the same time, and a tier-three monster was instantly torn in half.
Green blood gushed out, staining the already greenish ground with a darkened hue.
In the blink of an eye, all the monsters were wiped out.
They had experienced countless skirmishes like this.
Their methods of dealing with monsters were already second nature, and compared to when they first arrived, their experience had grown far more refined and effortless.
Among them, Gwen and Elsa did not take part.
Even tier-three monsters were far too easy for the two of them.
Even if there were more than a dozen monsters, a single strike would be enough.
If the two of them acted, this squad would face no battles that could even count as a challenge.
That would actually be bad for training.
Gwen stayed tightly by Aurelian's side.
Only in moments of urgent necessity, to ensure the princess's safety, would she choose to act.
After dealing with the monsters, the squad continued forward, soon arriving before the staircase leading to the thirtieth layer.
Beyond the stairs was the thirtieth layer of the monster rift, the end of the Azure Green Sky Path.
Before the gate at the top of the stairs, the dead trees erupting from the ground became even more twisted and grotesque.
Faces bearing expressions of sorrow were embedded in the dead wood, faint ghostly light seeping out from within.
The demi-humans stood in place, waiting for Gwen's instructions.
After passing the thirtieth layer and reaching the thirty-first, they would enter the lower levels of the abyss.
The monsters would become even stronger, and there was even a strong chance of encountering tier-four monsters.
Even though the demi-human squad was equipped with very powerful gear and had plenty of combat experience, dealing with terrifying tier-four monsters would still be extremely difficult.
So their mission was to enter the thirtieth layer and explore it to the very end.
They would not enter the thirty-first layer.
The squad lined up in a long formation, preparing to continue deeper.
But suddenly, Cocotte, who had been sleeping sprawled on a cloud, sneezed, her entire body hair standing on end.
A chill shot up from her feet and spread through her whole body.
Aurelian noticed Cocotte's discomfort and asked with concern, "Councilor Yard, are you feeling unwell?"
Although Cocotte was no longer a member of the Mage Council, those who knew her identity still addressed her respectfully as "Councilor Yard."
Cocotte sat up, blinking her eyes groggily.
"It feels kind of strange."
"It's like that weird feeling of my dad fighting my mom."
Aurelian, "?"
As everyone knew, elves did not have parents.
So Cocotte's extremely abstract description left Aurelian completely confused.
Fortunately, Cocotte had already woken up fully.
Recalling the strange words she had just muttered in her daze, she felt a bit embarrassed.
She scratched the back of her head and chuckled.
"Ah, don't mind it. That's just how we elves show respect for the power of nature."
Elves were born of nature, and their power came from nature.
Wind, water, earth, wood, fire, and lightning, the six great natural elements were all gifts of nature to the elves.
And right now, she could clearly sense that within the abyss, three elements were violently surging.
The turmoil of fire and wood was something Cocotte could understand.
After all, Viktor was in the abyss. Anyone who had truly seen him fight would naturally know where those two forces came from.
But that wind element… she couldn't make sense of it.
'Could it be that up above, some unprecedented calamity-level battle was taking place?'
Suddenly, Cocotte seemed to understand why Viktor had chosen to leave ahead of time.
Calamity Slayer, his reputation truly wasn't exaggerated…
But Aurelian was still puzzled.
Cocotte simply smiled gently at the little girl before her, who was over a hundred years younger, and said calmly, "Your teacher is doing something very important. We can't fall too far behind in our progress either."
"Let's keep moving."
She had a very strange premonition.
Perhaps Viktor already knew something in advance, that was why he had her accompany this little girl into the depths of the abyss.
Layer 30 underground.
Why had Viktor deliberately designated this special layer?
What exactly was he planning to do?
Perhaps only by entering it personally could the answer be revealed.
Hearing Cocotte's words, Aurelian's eyes also grew more resolute.
Facing the even more terrifying scene beyond the gate, she showed not the slightest hint of fear.
Step by step, they passed through the stairs and crossed a twisted green gate.
The surrounding space became unstable, the green grew thicker, and the rolling colors became even more restless.
———
Four sky-piercing colossal beasts tore at each other, making the entire space quake violently.
The battle situation grew incomparably intense.
Sun-like flames ignited the dense branches and surged toward the gloomy storm. A spiraling fire tornado shot upward and exploded violently.
The powerful wind waves became scorching hot. The green leaves swept into the air seemed to turn into sparks and blades, carving shocking purple wounds into the flesh-covered ground.
"Th-this… what even is this?"
"Is this… the end of the world…?"
The adventurers sat far away in the spectator stands, staring blankly at the horrifying scene in the distance.
They couldn't control their bodies to leave, and no one dared to leave.
Under a battle like a descending apocalypse, anyone who stepped outside the protection of the stands would be torn to ashes by the aftermath of this epic clash.
Yet Viktor, the master who had summoned all those colossal beasts, stood motionless, as if time itself had paused, calmly watching the battle unfold.
The white giant bird carrying him on its back looked incredibly small and fragile before those four beings that defied common sense.
At this moment, Viktor looked less like a mage and more like a summoner.
He had personally summoned terrifying entities from the rift abyss, then casually summoned two world-shaking, fearsome monsters.
The entire arena was completely enveloped by those four awe-inspiring colossal beasts.
They tore and grappled, trying to annihilate the entire space itself.
The incarnation of wood raised its gigantic body and reached toward the white dragon.
The void entity riddled with empty eye sockets rotated the tentacles beneath it, winding them toward the dragon's head.
Breaking through layers of storms, the wood incarnation felt increasingly violent gales. Its massive multi-eyed head tilted skyward, and a glow burst forth from its body.
In an instant, green spread across its back like a rippling lake, from which countless sharp long spears emerged halfway.
With a massive swing of its arm, the spearheads instantly blotted out the purple sky, piercing through thick clouds as they shot toward the dragon.
Doragon twisted its body, white scales rotating as it deflected as many of the green arrows as possible.
The storm gradually expanded, black shards forcing several incoming tentacles back bit by bit.
Even the sharp cries could not pierce the overwhelming roar of the wind.
The more fiercely the three beasts attacked, the higher they rose into the sky.
The incarnation of fire, however, stood alone on the flesh-covered ground, looking up at the sky.
Its pupils constricted, filled with endless rage.
Only when the gales around Doragon weakened slightly, exposing its body as it drew closer to the ground, did it spit out two molten fireballs, symbolically contributing a bit of damage.
The purple sky grew increasingly chaotic. The ground trembled constantly, bursting with purple-black blood.
The void construct and the wood incarnation covered for each other, continuously closing in on the dragon and seizing opportunities to strike its weak points.
Gradually, Doragon seemed to realize that its advantage was slowly slipping away, and retreat actually began to cross its mind.
If it were only Viktor alone, Doragon could still tangle with him for a long time.
But now, the surrounding terrain couldn't be destroyed, and it had no numerical advantage either.
And standing before it was a fellow being born from the same source, so even in terms of attack power, it was relatively weaker.
Fortunately, the attacks landing on its body still didn't cause any particularly obvious effects.
After all, Doragon's level far exceeded that of Viktor and his magical creations.
Even so, amid the humiliation of being struck again and again, its anger only grew fiercer.
It was clearly the freest incarnation of the storm, so why had it been forced into such a stifling situation?
Finally…
The surrounding storm seemed to gradually calm. It allowed the countless arrows to rain down upon its body.
Completely ignoring the pain.
The white scales gradually lifted, drawing all the storm winds into its body.
A faint white glow flickered over Doragon's form, making the entire dragon appear hazy and indistinct.
The next second, airflow erupted violently. A vortex appeared behind its body, lifting swirling white mist.
Doragon curled its body and transformed into a streak of daylight, piercing through the void.
It slammed straight toward the void construct that was swinging its tentacles.
After all, it remembered clearly. It was this very monster that had driven it into desperation.
The void construct also sensed Doragon's hostility. Purple mist spewed from the holes on its face, wrapping around its body.
Tentacles covered in giant eyes rose neatly in front of it, as if trying to block the terrifying impact.
But the high-speed arrow of compressed air pierced through everything, instantly severing the tentacles at their bases, black blood bursting out as it punched through the thin body's chest.
The airflow spread through the body, as if it were about to make it explode from the inside.
The void construct was like a fly with broken wings, instantly blasted away and slammed straight into the rising walls around it.
Bang!
Dust and smoke surged violently. Seeing this crushing scene made the group of tier-four adventurers break out in cold sweat.
Fighting one against three and still producing such an advantage, sure enough, that terrifying roaming dragon was the stronger one.
But suddenly, their attention was drawn by a flash of red.
Their gazes turned toward the incarnation of fire, Guldon, standing on the flesh-covered ground, filled with confusion.
'This giant magma-covered monster, why wasn't it flying up to fight?'
'Everyone else was pretty fierce.'
'So why, when it came to you, were you this useless?'