While Ais began using her exceptional swordsmanship to continuously slay the worm monsters, the others also tangled with the creatures one after another.
None of them possessed a means like Ais to completely ignore the corrosive fluid, but they had their own methods of dealing with it.
Finn used his agile movements to slip into the blind spots beneath the worm monsters. Wielding Ais's Desperate Sword, he chopped off the short legs under their bellies one by one. By evading the small amounts of corrosive fluid splashing from the severed wounds, he dismantled the mobility of each worm monster, leaving them collapsed on the ground, unable to crawl up again.
Bete bounded around the worm monsters at an astonishing speed. With his incredible leg power, he left the incoming corrosive fluid entirely in his dust. Occasionally, he would deliver a savage kick, sending a worm monster crashing down.
Tiona and Tione worked in tandem, exhibiting flawless cooperation as they drew the aggro of the monsters. At times, they caused the worm monsters to crash into one another. At other times, they flashed directly in front of the creatures to entice them into spitting corrosive fluid, only to leap out of the way at the last second, letting the acid drench the monsters lurking behind them.
In this manner, the five first-tier adventurers firmly held down the worm monsters. Aside from Ais, who possessed the ability to outright execute the creatures, the others were fully capable of throwing them into disarray even without killing them, preventing them from organizing an effective assault.
Even if a few stragglers managed to break through, Gareth—who stood like a wall in front of Leon, Lefiya, and Raul—was able to send them flying with a single punch. The worm monsters' bodily fluids hissed with a crackling pop as they corroded the dwarf warrior's fists, but relying on his monumental endurance stat, the old veteran endured the damage through sheer grit.
Under these circumstances, the monsters emerging from the passage gradually dwindled, while the number of monsters filling the chamber grew to a spine-chilling degree, to the point where it began to hinder the movements of Ais and the others.
"It's about time to give them a big one."
Leon had long been calculating the perfect timing. Seeing that fewer monsters were entering from the mouth of the passage, he immediately understood that the pursuing horde had reached its end, and almost all of them were now gathered within this chamber.
In other words, as long as they eliminated all the monsters in this chamber, this crisis would be resolved.
Thus, while channeling his mental strength, Leon glanced toward Lefiya beside him.
"Can you do it?"
Offering no further words of comfort, Leon simply asked a concise question.
"I—"
Lefiya's hand gripped her staff so tightly her knuckles turned white. The nervousness and trepidation in her heart had not diminished at all; if anything, it was growing more intense by the second.
However, this time, as she watched the pillars of her Familia fearlessly charging into battle and fighting with everything they had despite the dire circumstances, a surge of courage and a sense of duty welled up inside her.
In particular, the sight of Ais's back—wrapped in wind and fiercely executing the worm monsters one by one with endless flashes of sword light—strengthened Lefiya's courage and sense of duty.
That's right. She was a mage who required protection, but mages required protection not because they were weak or powerless, but because they held the power to decide the outcome of the battle in their hands. Because her comrades needed this power and needed her to unleash it accurately without fail, they would do everything in their power to protect her.
Since that was the case, she had to respond to her comrades' expectations and unleash this power.
At this thought, Leon's words from before inexplicably surfaced in the elven girl's mind.
"Once you can look at the monsters here and just see them as radishes, you should be able to clear your disgrace."
The moment this sentence drifted up from the depths of her heart, Lefiya began forcing herself to view the worm monsters as nothing more than radishes.
At this moment, the fruits of the elven girl's day-and-night meditation practice manifested. Because she meditated constantly, keeping her mind in a highly active state, the psychological suggestion took effect with immediate and visible results.
Consequently, in the young girl's eyes, those worm monsters began turning into rows of moving radishes.
Instantly, both her nervousness and trepidation miraculously vanished without a trace.
"—Alright."
Lefiya took a deep breath and raised the Forest Teardrop high into the air.
As the designated successor to Riveria within the Familia, just as mentioned previously, Lefiya's three magic slots were already full. She possessed a total of three spells.
The first was a short-chant, single-target spell. Although its power was decent and it possessed an automatic tracking effect, its area of effect was small, making it unsuitable for the current situation.
The second was a long-chant, wide-area annihilation spell of the fire attribute. While its power was staggering, its coverage area was also frighteningly massive.
The third was a long-chant summoning spell, which was the very reason Lefiya had earned the alias Thousand Elf.
Right now, what Lefiya intended to use was her second spell.
"O proud warriors, O archers of the forest."
Her clear and melodious voice began to resonate.
"The encroaching plunderers stand before us; take up your bows."
Beneath the elven girl's feet, a magic circle rotated and expanded, radiating a brilliant glow.
"Respond to the voices of our kin, notch your arrows, and light the fierce flames, O lanterns of the forest."
Amidst the radiance, the magic circle began to shift its shape, structuring multiple concentric rings and intricate patterns.
"I command you to loose your arrows, O fiery shafts of the elves."
As the magic circle fully formed, a dense golden light flared up, illuminating the elven girl's beautiful face.
"Descend like a sudden downpour, and burn the barbarians."
Upon the staff held high by Lefiya, the magic gem burst into an unprecedented brilliance.
"Light of the heavens, sword of the stars."
Simultaneously, Leon, who had been continuously channeling his mental strength, opened his mouth to chant without a moment's hesitation, causing a gorgeous magic circle to surface beneath his feet.
Although this magic circle was not as complex as the one beneath Lefiya's feet, it was far brighter and more dazzling. Even though it was a super-short chant, the magic power radiating from Leon at this moment was not inferior to Lefiya's, and it even faintly surpassed hers.
Pouring the vast majority of his mental strength into this single spell, Leon unleashed a super-short chant magic with the sheer momentum of a long-chant, wide-area annihilation spell.
This overwhelming momentum not only startled the worm monsters, which naturally reacted to magic power, but also alarmed Finn and the others.
"Now is the time! Retreat!"
Finn slashed a worm monster down. Ignoring his hair, which was singed by the corrosive fluid, he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Hey! You stupid Amazon sisters! Stop charging forward! Get back here right now!"
Bete also kicked a worm monster away, shouting as he rapidly retreated, his speed remaining frighteningly fast.
"Who are you calling stupid, you dumb wolf?!"
"I'm definitely punching you when we get back!"
Tiona snapped in irritation, and Tione added a resentful remark, but neither hesitated for a single second as they swiftly fell back, shaking off the pursuing worm monsters.
"Get the hell out of my way!"
At this moment, Gareth was actually under the greatest pressure. The worm monsters, drawn by Leon and Lefiya's surging magic power, were all rushing toward this direction. He let out a furious roar, his fists blurring into afterimages as he smashed away each incoming worm monster, causing his entire body to be splattered by the corrosive fluid and begin emitting wisps of smoke.
Ais rode upon the wind, joining Gareth's defensive line. With a single swing of her sword, she unleashed dozens of sword slashes, hacking the worm monsters blocking the path into mincemeat.
"Leon! Lefiya!"
Seeing that everyone had successfully returned to the defensive line, Ais turned her head and called out to the duo.
"Fire!"
Finn barked the command, causing Leon and Lefiya to pull the triggers in their minds simultaneously.
"Meteor Dance!"
A massive magic circle manifested at the very peak of the chamber. From within, countless shooting meteors flew out, transforming into a meteor shower that plummeted downward with a deafening roar.
"Fusillade Fire Volley!"
In the next second, right behind the meteor shower, countless fiery arrows materialized, pouring down like a rain of fire.
The starlight and firelight flared up in unison, dispelling the darkness within the entire chamber.
The earth-shattering sound of explosions echoed continuously inside the chamber, shaking the entire 51st floor.
It was a baptism of starbursts and flames.
The meteors blanketed the sky as they fell, and the blazing fire arrows hissed fiercely as they plunged, weaving together with the meteors to form this destructive banquet. They struck the enemies, piercing through them and triggering explosions and massive fires that shattered the ground piece by piece.
The bedrock was blasted away, throwing up clouds of dust, and the resulting shockwaves transformed into violent gusts of wind intermingling within the chaos. It was like a heavenly judgment descending to eradicate and destroy everything.
The cries of the monsters, numbering in the hundreds and thousands, were entirely drowned out by the thunderous explosions. They were either blown into piles of shredded meat or directly vaporized into ash, with most of their magic stones being destroyed in the process.
The brilliant starlight dyed the chamber incredibly bright, while the sea of fire spread rapidly, burning in every corner of the ground—a truly spectacular sight.
By the time the meteors ceased to fall and the fire arrows stopped plunging, not a single patch of the ground remained intact. As for the worm monsters, not a single one was left alive, all of them buried within that earth-shattering magical bombardment.
"Phew—"
As everything settled into stillness, Leon and Lefiya, holding the Emerald Staff and the Forest Teardrop respectively, exhaled a breath almost simultaneously, a trace of exhaustion surfacing in their eyes.
Ais, Finn, Gareth, Bete, Tiona, and Tione also let out a collective sigh of relief, relaxing from their combat stances.
"We finally wiped them all out."
"As expected, we still have to rely on Leon and Lefiya's magic after all!"
Tione spoke with lingering fear, while Tiona smiled happily, wrapping her arms around Leon and Lefiya with one hand each.
"Alright, let go of me quickly. I'm about to collapse from exhaustion," Leon said testily.
"Miss Tiona! Don't do this!"
Lefiya was flushed to the tips of her ears in a panic, as Tiona's sudden hug pressed her tightly against Leon.
"—Thank you for your hard work."
Ais strode over through the dissipating wind, her long golden hair swaying gently.
"Miss Ais!"
Seeing Ais approach, Lefiya grew even more embarrassed.
"Are you alright?"
Leon, however, managed to break free. Looking at the approaching Ais, he couldn't help but ask.
Seeing Ais's completely unscathed appearance, she shouldn't have sustained any injuries, but that didn't mean Ais was perfectly fine. As a powerful magic capable of allowing someone to exert power that transcended their rank, Ariel did not come without a price. Its cost was a heavy physical burden on the user, exerting immense strain on Ais's body, and if applied to a weapon, it would rapidly accelerate the weapon's wear and tear.
If overused, even specialized armaments would shatter into pieces, let alone Ais's physical body. The reason Ais required a weapon with the unbreakable attribute was precisely because ordinary weapons were highly durable in her hands, acting like mere consumables that could be destroyed right after a single high-intensity battle.
Under such circumstances, for a mortal flesh-and-blood body to endure the strain brought by Ariel for an extended period was nothing short of a pipedream. Therefore, Leon had good reason to suspect that Ais's entire body might already be aching.
"I'm fine," Ais replied, shaking her head as she naturally understood what Leon was worried about. "The activation time wasn't long, so the side effects aren't obvious yet."
Right now, Ais merely felt her body tracking a bit heavily and her limbs feeling slightly numb, but it hadn't reached the point of unbearable soreness.
"What about you? Are you alright?"
Ais was actually more concerned about Leon's state. The power and attack frequency of the magic just now had definitely been enhanced—and significantly so—to clear out so many monsters at once. This would clearly cause an immense drain on Leon's mental strength, making Ais highly worried that he might plunge directly into a comatose state from mental exhaustion, just like during his battle against the floor boss last time.
"I'm fine, I left some leeway," Leon smiled with a sigh.
To avoid falling into a state of total mental exhaustion, he had indeed preserved a portion of his mental strength, but even so, he still felt a splitting headache coming on.
"Here, take some Elixirs."
Tiona stuffed two Elixirs into the hands of Leon and Lefiya, prompting the two to quickly uncork the bottles and drink them down.
"Hmph."
Bete, who was also chugging a potion to recover his physical stamina, let out a soft snort upon seeing this and averted his gaze.
Meanwhile, Finn and Gareth had already stepped into the ruined battlefield. Finn spotted a magic stone and picked it up.
"Why is the color of this magic stone so strange?"
Gareth looked over, his brow furrowing immediately as he uttered those words.
The magic stone in Finn's hand was entirely different from ordinary ones; instead of a translucent, crystalline azure blue, it displayed a multicolored, mottled hue. To be frank, this multicolored appearance was not beautiful at all; rather, it evoked a sickening sensation, as if it had been infected by some sort of virus.
Finn stared intently at the magic stone in his hand for a brief moment before tucking it away.
"Now is not the time for investigation and research," Finn said, licking his thumb. "My thumb is throbbing faintly. I fear something terrible is about to happen."
"Let's head back to the camp first."
"We need to regroup with our comrades."
Hearing this, everyone nodded their heads without any objections.
Right then, Bete hoisted Raul onto his back once more with a sour face, while the others quickly quickened their steps, running toward the exit of the chamber.
Their objective: the passage leading to the 50th floor.
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