It was a spectacular bombardment.
Countless meteors flew through the air like a torrential downpour, resembling a continuous meteor shower streaking across the night sky. They systematically blasted every single worm monster charging toward Leon, even vaporizing the corrosive fluids that splattered out from within their bodies. The entire chamber trembled violently under the relentless meteor strike.
After detonating the worm monsters, the meteors continued forward with undiminished momentum, crashing into the ground, walls, and ceiling, blasting crater after crater into them.
In an instant, dust swirled and rubble filled the air. The entire cavern rocked violently as if struck by an earthquake, presenting a scene of fracturing ground and collapsing mountains.
Under this kind of indiscriminate bombardment, while Ais—who stood right in front of Leon—and Lefiya—whom he held in his arms—were safe for the moment, Tiona and Tione, who were still tangled with the worm monsters, were nearly caught in the crossfire.
"Whoa! That was close!"
"Hey! Watch where you're aiming!"
The Amazon twins scrambled in panic to evade the incoming meteors. It looked incredibly perilous, but in reality, these meteors would automatically alter their trajectories upon drawing close to them, preventing direct hits. Otherwise, faced with such a dense barrage, the twins might not have been able to dodge them all.
Just like that, the countless worm monsters were thoroughly annihilated by Leon's magic, vaporized alongside their corrosive fluids, causing a major crisis to dissolve into nothingness.
"Phew..."
Only then did Leon, still holding Lefiya, let out a long breath, an uncontrollable weariness surfacing in his eyes.
Evidently, with a large-scale magical attack like this, simply adding to the number of attacks without raising the raw power had still drained a significant amount of his mind.
"Are you alright?"
Only now did Ais turn around, half-kneeling by Leon's side to support him as she asked softly.
"H-Here is an elixir!"
Seeing the irrepressible exhaustion in Leon's eyes, Lefiya was also startled. She hurriedly broke free from Leon's embrace in a fluster and fumbled to pull out a magic elixir from her person.
This was a specially crafted high-grade magic elixir, possessing a mind-replenishing effect that was far superior to the high-quality elixirs Leon had previously prepared for the battle against the floor boss.
"Thanks."
Leon didn't refuse either. Accepting the elixir, he downed it in a single gulp.
"I say, that magic just now was way too amazing, wasn't it?" Tiona leaned closer, looking at Leon as she spoke with quite a bit of excitement. "To think you wiped out so many monsters all at once. It felt like the area of effect was even larger than Riveria's magic!"
"Your magic is indeed convenient," Tione praised as well. "A spell that can increase the number of attacks at will... as long as you're willing to spend the mind, its area of effect is probably larger than many large-scale wide-area annihilation spells."
"The prerequisite is being willing to burn through mind," Leon said with a bitter smile as he tossed aside the empty bottle. "With just that single shot, more than eighty percent of my mind evaporated instantly. It was far more exhausting than raising the output to the Lv.6 tier."
It couldn't be helped. To eliminate all the worm monsters in one go, the additional attacks Leon appended to the magic this time were simply too numerous. The meteors fired just now numbered at least a thousand. The only reason his mind hadn't been completely drained on the spot was because Leon had undergone systematic training and learned methods to utilize his mind more efficiently. Otherwise, given his previous condition, using the magic like this would have driven him straight into a state of mental exhaustion.
"I-I'm sorry." Lefiya fell into a slump once more, speaking dejectedly. "It's all because of me that you—"
The elven girl blamed the entire situation on herself.
After all, those worm monsters were clearly targeting the magic stones she carried on her back. Yet her performance had been so poor that she couldn't even manage to flee, forcing Leon to come to her rescue.
If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have had to act so recklessly.
"What kind of nonsense is that?" Leon glanced at Lefiya. "Isn't it common sense to prioritize protecting the rear-guard mages on a battlefield?"
His underlying meaning was that saving her just now was merely a matter of course.
"But you're a rear-guard mage too."
Lefiya spoke instinctively.
"I am only assigned to the rear-guard mage position during collective Familia operations. By trade, I am still a magic swordsman, a vanguard-capable mid-guard class. Whether it's supporting the vanguard or supporting the rear guard, it's all something I can or should do."
Leon, who had recovered a significant amount of his mind, stood up and patted Lefiya on the shoulder as he spoke.
"Alright, stop overthinking. The matter is already behind us. Let's take care of our main objective first."
Hearing Leon's words, Ais and the others, who had wanted to comfort Lefiya, instantly snapped out of it.
"Right! We still need to collect the spring water!"
Tiona hurriedly scanned the surroundings, and her eyes lit up immediately as she pointed in a certain direction.
"Over there!"
The group followed Tiona's finger to look over.
There, in a corner at the deepest end of the heavily cratered and ruined cavern, a pool of clear spring water flowed quietly, possessing a solitary beauty of its own.
From a crack in the adjacent wall, a mysterious spring water bearing a deep blue radiance was slowly trickling down, accumulating in a low-lying area overgrown with flowers and vegetation, forming a beautiful, clear spring rippling with faint waves. The water's surface was a crisp, pale blue, bringing a refreshing sense of peace to anyone who looked at it.
"Fortunately, the spring wasn't destroyed."
Tione let out a sigh of relief.
She had genuinely been worried that during the fierce battle between Cadmus and the worm monsters, or under Leon's map-wide magical attack just now, this Cadmus spring would have been destroyed, which would mean they had come all this way for nothing.
"There is still a lot left."
Ais retrieved her Desperate Sword, shook off the corrosive fluid clinging to it, and walked to the edge of the spring to observe, speaking quietly.
"L-Let me fill them!"
In order to be of even a shred of use, Lefiya gathered her emotions, hastily retrieved the backpack Leon had tossed aside, and ran over to the spring water.
It had to be said that fortunately, the backpack hadn't been damaged, otherwise they still would have returned empty-handed.
The water from the Cadmus spring required specialized containers to retain its efficacy, failing which its effects would deplete over time, ultimately rendering it ordinary, useless water.
The specialized containers were currently resting inside the backpack. Lefiya pulled out the bottles one by one and began to draw the spring water.
Originally, the moment the spring water welled up, it would be downed completely by the mighty dragon Cadmus. Thus, even if people came here to collect the water, they could usually only obtain a tiny fraction. For this reason, Finn had decided to head toward two separate Cadmus springs simultaneously to gather the water from both locations, piecing together the required amount.
But this time, the mighty dragon Cadmus had been eliminated beforehand by the worm monsters. As a result, Lefiya filled the exact amount specified by the adventurer request in one go, causing her expression to turn slightly complex.
"Come to think of it, what exactly are those worm monsters?" Tiona guarded Lefiya out of boredom, knitting her brows in confusion. "Since when did the 51st floor have monsters like that? Is it really a new species?"
"—Who knows." Tione twirled her remaining falchion, curling her lip as she spoke. "Maybe they crawled up from the lower floors?"
"That's unlikely, right?" Tiona countered directly. "We've been to the 58th floor, you know. There are no monsters like that from the 52nd to the 58th floors. Could they have come up from the 59th floor, which we haven't visited yet?"
This was indeed highly improbable.
It wasn't that monsters couldn't cross floors to enter other levels, but the vast majority of them still confined their activities to specific floors. At most, one or two might wander into a different level by mistake. It was generally impossible for monsters to travel to other floors in massive packs.
Furthermore, when monsters did venture to other levels, they typically moved only a few floors above or below their designated floor, never crossing multiple levels at once.
And from the 59th floor to the 51st floor, there was a gap of seven entire levels.
To traverse seven or eight floors all at once was something that almost never occurred.
"It's only 'almost,' it doesn't mean it's completely impossible," Tione said with a trace of impatience. "The Dungeon isn't some law-abiding place. Any kind of anomaly can happen here. Maybe this is just an irregular event?"
"Then this is a bit too irregular. A massive swarm of what looks like a new species killed a mighty dragon and even devoured its magic stone. Has the Dungeon truly given birth to an enhanced species race?" Tiona looked toward Ais and asked, "Ais, what do you think?"
Ais shook her head, remaining silent.
She merely stared at Lefiya drawing the water, and then looked toward Leon, her mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.
Unaware of the conversation among the girls, Leon was currently inspecting a piece of hide in his hand.
It was precisely the hide of Cadmus.
"It would be a waste not to pick this up."
That was exactly what Leon thought.
Granted, they hadn't picked up any of the item drops along the way to the 51st floor, but the hide of Cadmus was an ultra-rare item valued at over ten million valis. If they left this behind, it wouldn't just be wasteful; it would be foolish.
Thus, Leon retrieved the hide of Cadmus and stuffed it into Lefiya's backpack.
"Once the water is drawn, let's leave immediately," Leon spoke. "Those worm monsters might appear again. We'd better return to the camp to report this."
"W-What?" Having packed away the spring water, Lefiya couldn't help but say in surprise upon hearing Leon's words, "Are there more of those monsters?"
"Obviously," Leon reminded them. "Have you all forgotten that the 51st floor has been far too quiet today?"
This single sentence caused a flash of realization to cross everyone's minds.
"You mean——the reason the 51st floor was so quiet today was entirely because of those worm monsters?"
Tione's expression shifted drastically.
Leon responded with a question of his own.
"Since they can even target Cadmus's magic stone, do you think those worm monsters would ignore the numerous monsters and readily available magic stones across the rest of the 51st floor?"
The group fell silent, a chill creeping into their hearts.
Recalling that the number of monsters along this route was far lower compared to their past visits to this layer, everyone finally understood where the missing monsters had gone.
They had undoubtedly been consumed by those worm monsters.
The 51st floor was larger than the entire territory of Orario, yet so many monsters were missing along the way. How could there be only this small handful of worm monsters hunting around?
The spawning interval for monsters on the 51st floor was very short, and the number spawned was immense. For a massive reduction to persist without new monsters taking their place by the time the group arrived proved that this hunting was proceeding at an exceptionally rapid pace.
Therefore, there had to be a vast number of worm monsters hunting across the 51st floor right now, failing which it would never lead to such a phenomenon.
Furthermore——
"If those worm monsters truly came up from the lower floors, will they continue to climb upward and head toward our camp?"
Leon's words, one after another, caused the girls' expressions to pale.
"Also, we encountered worm monsters on our side, but what about the Captain's side?"
The moment these words left his mouth, the girls could no longer sit still.
"Say no more!" Tione growled, her face turning grim. "We're heading back immediately!"
Unfortunately, this decision was still made too late.
"Ah!!!"
Extremely abruptly, a piercing, agonizing shriek rang out, echoing across the entire 51st floor and entering the ears of Leon and the others.
The sheer agony in that cry caused everyone, including Leon, to experience a dramatic shift in expression.
"That voice is——!?"
Lefiya's face went white in an instant.
"Raul!"
Tiona and Tione spoke simultaneously, their features twisting.
Without a second word, Leon and Ais launched themselves forward, instantly charging toward the exit of the cavern.
"Captain!"
Tione let out a shriek that was hardly any better than the cry from a moment ago. She burst forward with unprecedented speed, leaving even Leon and Ais, who had charged out of the cavern first, trailing behind her.
"Wait——!"
"Miss Ais! Miss Tione!"
Tiona and Lefiya hurriedly kept pace.
The party of five ran at their absolute maximum speed, leaving behind even the monsters that materialized along the way as they dashed toward the source of the sound.
Before long, they caught sight of their objective.
"Captain!"
"Finn!"
"Old man!"
"Mr. Bete!"
Indeed, they had encountered the members of the first group.
Finn, Gareth, and Bete were sprinting frantically toward them. Raul, who had just let out the shriek, was slung over Bete's back, appearing to be at death's door.
Finn and the others also spotted Leon's party of five, but they didn't halt their steps.
"Run!"
Finn bellowed in an unprecedentedly urgent voice, causing the expressions of Leon and the others to shift wildly once again.
Without any hesitation, Leon and the others spun around, initiating a fresh round of frantic running.
Because they had all seen that behind Finn and his group, a massive swarm of monsters with yellow-green bodies was pursuing them relentlessly.
They jostled and crowded against one another, undulating violently as they advanced. Their massive frames slammed into the four-meter-high ceiling multiple times, shearing off several large chunks of rock, while their lateral width virtually spanned from one wall of the pathway to the other. It looked exactly as though countless insects were squeezing outward together—a scene that was repulsive to the extreme.
Those monsters were a sight that Leon and the others were no longer strangers to.
"There really are more of these worms, ahhhhhhh!"
Tiona let out an unbearable shriek, fleeing for her life alongside the rest of the group.
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