While Leon's group was debating whether this new species of monster was an Enhanced Species, the worm-like monsters in the center of the chamber continued their assault on the Cadmus, causing it to unleash earth-shattering roars of fury over and over again.
It swung its claws, lashed its long tail, and even used its entire draconic torso to crash around like a massive chariot, knocking away and even crushing the encroaching worm monsters. Yet, far from intimidating them, this action only drove the worm monsters into an even greater frenzy of attacks.
The worm monsters crushed beneath its weight burst like overripe melons; every single one exploded the instant its body ruptured, spraying vast quantities of a purplish-black fluid everywhere, splattering across the ground and over the dragon's body.
Then, both the ground and the Cadmus's massive frame began to emit smoke and a sizzling sound the instant they came into contact with the purplish-black liquid, dissolving away at a visibly rapid pace.
"GAH-ROAAARGH!"
The Cadmus's scales were instantly dissolved into a ragged mess by the purplish-black fluid, exposing the flesh beneath and oozing large pools of fresh blood, causing it to howl toward the ceiling in agonizing pain.
Worse still, the surrounding worm monsters pressed their attack, using the very method it feared most.
They let out unsettling clicking and popping noises, their cries as grating as a cracked bronze gong. Turning their eyeless visages toward the Cadmus, they opened what appeared to be mouths on their faces and violently spat out torrents of the purplish-black fluid.
This terrifying liquid, a mixture of purple and black, formed stream-like lances of fluid that rained down upon the Cadmus. Amidst a chorus of sizzling sounds, it dissolved the Cadmus's body, causing it to wail in agony repeatedly.
This rare species monster, lauded as a "Mighty Dragon"—a terrifying entity so formidable that even Finn had to pair two Lv.6 adventurers together just to handle it—had actually been reduced to a state where it could only be brutally dissolved to death before a pack of disgusting worm monsters.
This scene caused the pupils of Leon's group, who were hiding behind a distant rock formation, to contract sharply.
"What a horrific dissolving fluid!"
Lefiya let out a small gasp of fright, and even Ais, Tiona, and Tione could not help but assume grim expressions.
"The Mighty Dragon is completely outmatched by those worm monsters," Tiona remarked, finding it somewhat hard to believe.
"It can't be helped. That worm's dissolving fluid is too terrifying. Even the Mighty Dragon's scales and flesh can't withstand it; if we charge in, we'll probably be dissolved too."
Tione analyzed the situation calmly, though a trace of irritation flickered in her eyes.
"Very dangerous," Ais provided the most direct assessment.
It was indeed very dangerous.
Putting aside the creatures' inherent capabilities for a moment, that dissolving fluid alone was enough to make first-tier adventurers break out in a cold sweat.
The Mighty Dragon, Cadmus, was completely helpless against the fluid and could only thrash around frantically. Yet, no matter how much it struggled, its fate was sealed.
Whenever it attacked the worm monsters, the dissolving fluid within the slain creatures would erupt all at once, splattering over its body and eating away at its scales and flesh. Even if it refrained from attacking them, the worm monsters would spray the fluid on their own, targeting the Cadmus and dissolving its body piece by piece.
Its frame was simply too massive to dodge the fluid, and its attempt to flee was thwarted by the encirclement, as the worm monsters blocked all the entry and exit points of the chamber, leaving it with absolutely no avenue of escape.
The worm monsters' repulsive, yellowish-green bodies continuously oozed bodily fluids, dissolving the ground beneath their feet as they dragged themselves forward. The Cadmus could not break through the perimeter at all.
Thus, under the watchful gaze of Leon's group of five, the cries of the Mighty Dragon—whose strength was sufficient to surpass the 37th-floor boss, Udaeus—grew weaker and weaker. Its struggles diminished in intensity until it was completely and utterly submerged by the countless worm monsters.
The sound of flesh being corroded was far from pleasant. The massive frame of the Mighty Dragon, Cadmus, finally collapsed. Looking as though it had been eaten away by sulfuric acid, only a fragmented skeleton remained as its breath faded completely.
Shortly after, the Cadmus's massive corpse disintegrated into ash and vanished, leaving behind nothing but a huge magic stone on the ground and a glistening, golden wing membrane that drifted down, looking exceptionally conspicuous.
"That's... the Cadmus Membrane!" Tiona and Tione's eyes lit up slightly.
This was the expression unique to adventurers when beholding rare spoils of war.
The Cadmus Membrane was a drop item that had only a set probability of appearing upon slaying a Mighty Dragon. It was not only an excellent defensive material for crafting first-tier equipment, but also served as a raw ingredient for recovery items, making it an extremely rare drop.
Even after defeating a Mighty Dragon, such a drop item rarely appeared. Furthermore, the number of Familias capable of reaching an ultra-deep territory like the 51st floor with the power to slay a Mighty Dragon could be counted on one hand in Orario. Consequently, the Cadmus Membrane ranked among the very highest tier of rare drop items produced by the Dungeon, enough to make countless commercial Familias drool with desire.
Selling this drop item alone would net a massive fortune. If the resulting funds were used to purchase equipment, it would be entirely sufficient to outfit an entire large-scale adventurer squad.
Its market value was at least in the tens of millions of Valis, and it was a commodity where demand far outstripped supply. Thus, even first-tier adventurers would be delighted to see such a drop item.
However, faced with such a precious material, the worm monsters ignored it entirely.
Their sole target was the magic stone. The worm monster closest to it extended a tentacle, snatched the magic stone, and swallowed it whole, paying absolutely no heed to the membrane dropped by the Cadmus.
"Could they really be an Enhanced Species?" The exact same thought flashed through the minds of all the girls.
Then, they noticed it.
After devouring the Cadmus's magic stone, the worm monsters instantly seemed to be drawn by something else, turning their eyeless visages in unison toward a single direction.
That direction was precisely where Leon's group was hiding.
"Oh no!"
"We've been spotted!"
The faces of Ais, Tiona, and Tione changed instantly.
In the next second, the worm monsters unleashed grating, gong-like roars and shifted their short, multi-jointed appendages, charging toward Leon's group like a pack of repulsive, yellowish-green chariots.
The purplish-black dissolving fluid was sprayed out ahead of them, raining down directly upon Leon's group's hiding spot.
"Watch out!"
Without a second thought, Ais, Tiona, and Tione blurred into a series of afterimages, leaping clear of the descending fluid.
Even before that, Leon had scooped up Lefiya, who was closest to him, and shot away like a bullet, ignoring her startled shriek.
The next moment, the dissolving fluid struck the massive boulder. Amidst a plume of white smoke and a corrosive hiss, it dissolved the huge rock, leaving a massive crater that emitted a foul, caustic stench—a horrifying sight to behold.
Seeing this, the worm monsters quickly sprayed more dissolving fluid in rapid succession, blanketing the area toward Leon and the others.
"Don't try to block it!"
"Evade!"
Leon, still holding Lefiya, and Ais, clutching her silver rapier, called out warnings simultaneously, leaping continuously to dodge the incoming fluid.
"Dammit!"
"This stuff is too annoying!"
The Amazon twins, who had initially intended to use their weapons to deflect the incoming fluid, halted their movements abruptly, cursing as they dodged.
They had already witnessed the terror of that dissolving fluid and knew it could dissolve even the Cadmus's scales and body. If they used their weapons to counter it, their armaments would likely be dissolved into nothingness as well.
"Can I hack at them?!" Tiona shouted even as she dodged frantically, only to be answered by Leon.
"If you aren't afraid of your weapon dissolving, or of them exploding and showering you in dissolving fluid the moment you kill them, then go ahead and hack away!"
Leon's words instantly crushed Tiona's intentions, causing her to flee in a rather disheartened manner.
"Bastards! Disgusting things! Get away from me!"
Tione was also dodging desperately. The situation of being unable to attack or fight back, forced into a miserable retreat, gradually chipped away at her meager patience, causing her expression to turn savage as her true nature surfaced.
As rage accumulated in her heart, the worm monsters kept coming one after another, pushing Tione to the brink of a rampage.
Without a word, she hurled one of her kukris. The sharp blade transformed into a flash of cold light, piercing straight through the worm monster closest to her and killing it instantly.
Almost at the exact moment of its death, the worm monster exploded. All the dissolving fluid accumulated within its body erupted at once, dissolving the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling of the chamber, causing a massive chorus of sizzling sounds.
Tione, being close by, had the hem of her skirt caught by the fluid, which immediately left scorched, singed marks as if catching fire.
As for the kukri she had thrown, it was already covered in the dissolving fluid under everyone's gaze, melting at a visibly rapid pace.
"It really can dissolve weapons!" Tiona shuddered all over, no longer daring to entertain any thoughts of attacking.
她的 Giant Greatsword, Urga, was a first-tier armament worth 120 million Valis! If it were dissolved, she would have nowhere to cry.
In contrast, after seeing Tione use a ranged throw to kill a worm monster, Ais immediately hurled her own weapon, the Desperate Sword.
She threw it toward Leon and Lefiya's side.
Ais, whose perception of monsters was exceptionally acute, had strangely noticed that the majority of the worm monsters in the chamber were actually charging toward Leon and Lefiya.
Leon, holding Lefiya, could only barely manage to evade the incoming dissolving fluid. He was, after all, only a Lv.3; even with impressive latent capability, his speed could not possibly match that of first-tier adventurers at Lv.5.
He was already in a perilous situation. Had he not frequently sparred with Ais and specifically practiced movement and evasion during his concurrent chanting training with Riveria, he would have been struck by the dissolving fluid long ago.
Seeing the situation, Ais did not hesitate to lend a hand, throwing her silver rapier to pierce and detonate the two worm monsters closest to Leon and Lefiya.
Those two worms also exploded amidst grating wails, their dissolving fluid splattering across the ground like blood. Ais's Desperate Sword was also covered in the fluid, yet it did not melt like Tione's kukri.
This was the special attribute of the Desperate Sword taking effect.
The "Indestructible" attribute. A weapon possessing this attribute would never break, so even if it were stained with the dissolving fluid, it would not be dissolved away on the spot.
"That's not fair!" Tiona, terrified of her weapon dissolving, cried out again.
"Stop babbling! Find a way to save them quickly!" Tione's rage abated slightly with the reduction of monsters, but seeing that the creatures were all heading toward Leon and Lefiya, she immediately scolded her sister and dashed toward them.
"Why are they all heading toward Leon and Lefiya?" Tiona was entirely perplexed, but she followed closely behind anyway.
Needless to say, Ais had already leapt high into the air, landing directly in front of Leon and Lefiya to block the worm monsters.
"M-Miss Ais!"
Lefiya, cradled in Leon's arms, finally reacted at this moment. First, her face flushed crimson due to the close proximity of his masculine scent, and then she displayed an anxious expression as Ais shielded the two of them to face the worm monsters directly.
"Light of the heavens, sword of the stars," Leon chanted his magic without a second thought.
"Meteor Dance!"
A magic circle radiating brilliant starlight expanded beneath his feet, and countless meteors shot forth, swirling around the three of them.
This sight, far from causing the worm monsters to retreat, only drove them to charge forward with even greater frenzy.
This made a realization strike Leon suddenly.
"Are they reacting to magic power?"
Leon's gaze shifted, instantly locking onto the supporter backpack strapped to Lefiya's back.
This supporter backpack held not only supplies like elixirs, but also some spare weapons, tools, and the magic stones they had gathered along the way.
Along this journey, Leon's group had slain quite a few monsters. Because the drop items from large monsters were too bulky and took up too much space, and they needed to leave room in their bags for the water from the Cadmus Spring, they hadn't picked up any drop items, but they had gathered all the magic stones.
Recalling that the worm monsters were completely uninterested in the Cadmus Membrane and only swallowed its magic stone, and how his group had been hidden perfectly well yet were suddenly discovered collectively, coupled with the fact that the worm monsters were all heading toward him and Lefiya and had just reacted to his magic power, Leon understood everything in an instant.
Right then, Leon grabbed Lefiya's backpack, unbuckled it, and threw it in another direction.
Sure enough, the worm monsters' attention was almost entirely drawn by the backpack containing the magic stones, leaving only a few still glaring at Leon, who had activated his magic.
Without a second thought, Leon released the trigger in his mind and fired his magic.
A booming explosion resounded across the entire chamber.
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