"More troublemakers!"
Bache's face twisted in fury.
After glancing at the crystal spiders being effortlessly slaughtered ahead, Bache quickly calculated the situation. Judging the newcomer's strength to be at least Level 6, she decisively chose to retreat.
"Tiona! Next time, we'll settle this for sure!"
Bache spat out these threatening words before swiftly disappearing into the passage behind her.
"Attack!"
At her command, swarms of black-cloaked figures surged forward, bombarding the group with curses and debilitating magic before pulling out flame stones and charging recklessly to self-destruct.
Tiona was immediately thrown into disarray.
Whoosh!
Blazing flames erupted from the passage behind, reducing every crystal spider along the way to ashes.
"Tiona, Narvi, are you alright?"
"Eiji, your timing couldn't be better!"
Tiona nearly burst into tears. "Waaah! I knew you loved me!"
A torrent of flames roared forth, engulfing the fearless black-cloaked assailants.
"Actually, no."
Eiji arrived beside the group and rolled his eyes.
He retrieved potions from his pouch and tossed them to Narvi and the others. After downing the vials, the injured showed signs of recovery, though those poisoned continued to groan in pain.
"Only antidotes can neutralize the poison from toxic larvae."
Eiji immediately diagnosed their condition. "I've found the exit. I'll take you out—get to Dian Cecht Familia for treatment as soon as possible!"
"Really? That's great!"
Narvi and the others were overcome with emotion.
The once self-proclaimed strongest Familia in the city, Loki Familia, had lost much of its courage in this dungeon expedition.
"Was that Bache you were fighting earlier?"
"Waaah..."
"It was definitely Bache from Kali Familia, but she fled the moment she saw you coming."
Seeing Tiona drenched in tears, Narvi had no choice but to answer for her.
"Cautious one... Anyway, let's regroup with the others first!"
Eiji muttered under his breath before quickly leading the rescued members toward the exit.
"Ais!"
"Tione!"
Soon, Ais and Tione came into view.
The reunion with their key executives lifted everyone's spirits further.
"The captain's okay, right?! He's okay, right?!"
Tione, covered in wounds, charged at Eiji like a lioness, grabbing his collar with frantic desperation.
"Calm down. Finn's already been evacuated. With Airmid's skills, he'll definitely recover."
Eiji spoke firmly, though inwardly he was uneasy. He wasn't entirely sure if Airmid could dispel the curse afflicting Finn, but now wasn't the time for pessimism.
"I'll escort you out first."
Eiji glanced at the unconscious members and proposed.
Ais and the others had no objections, and the group immediately headed for the 16th-floor exit.
"Who else is still missing?"
Ais quickly scanned the group.
"The remaining ones should be Riveria, Lefiya, and Dionysus Familia's Filvis... plus Lili and the others."
Eiji tallied the numbers in his head.
Seven people in total.
I hope they're all together right now. With Riveria's care, at least they should survive. If they're unlucky enough to be separated, things would get troublesome.
"Pick up the pace!"
Eiji suddenly commanded in a low voice during their advance.
"I've got a bad feeling about this!"
Hearing this, everyone's hearts tightened.
When they first entered, Eiji had mentioned having a bad feeling, and the entire Familia had fallen into the dungeon's trap.
They had reached a point of blind faith in his intuition. Seeing him have another premonition, they were all startled and immediately mustered all their strength to sprint after him.
"?"
During their charge, Eiji's gaze suddenly sharpened.
"There's tremors."
Beside him, Ais also seemed to sense something, her bloodstained face gradually tensing.
With her reminder, the others finally noticed the inappropriate vibrations coming from the floor beneath their feet.
Moreover, as time passed, these tremors grew increasingly intense.
"Something's approaching—run!"
The ominous premonition in his mind proving true, Eiji urgently urged everyone forward.
But within seconds.
"—!"
Without warning, the attack began.
BOOM!!
With a thunderous explosion, a massive fissure suddenly tore open the metal wall ahead of them!
It was pure brute force!
With unimaginable power, it had ripped through ultra-hard metal, and the monster's colossal form made a shocking entrance into their view.
The monster had the lower body of a giant bull, its entire form covered in a metallic sheen.
From its forehead protruded the upper body of a woman—green skin and hair, with beauty rivaling a goddess yet paired with a grotesque smile.
This monster dredged up memories from the depths of their minds.
"That's... from the 59th floor...!"
Tione's eyes gleamed with ferocity.
A Demi-Spirit!
And unlike last time, this one seemed to have parasitized a minotaur-type monster.
"The ultra-hard metal wall was shattered in one hit?"
Narvi's face twisted with fear.
The Demi-Spirit from the 59th floor had left an indelible impression on her. Even with all of Loki Familia's executives combined, they had barely managed to resist it and nearly didn't make it back alive.
She had almost refused to recall that monster's terror, yet here they were, encountering another in this dungeon?
"Aria—!!"
The female upper body turned its murky golden eyes toward Ais, its smile distorting as it let out a piercing shriek.
Ais tensed up, bracing for battle.
"They dropped the monster right near the exit?"
Eiji looked past the creature.
They were close to the exit, yet now they faced their biggest obstacle.
"I'll lure it away—you all escape while you can!"
No sooner had he spoken than Eiji charged forward.
"Wait!"
"It's too dangerous alone!"
The shouts behind him were selectively ignored.
Swish!
His cross-shaped sword became a supersonic projectile, tearing through the air as it shot toward the monster's upper body.
The monster's smile faltered slightly.
Snap!
In the next instant, a streak of light lashed out from behind it, instantly deflecting the incoming projectile.
Eiji's gaze sharpened, focusing on the source of the light.
It was a whip.
No, it should be said to be an extremely slender tail, whipping through the air as fast as a blade's gleam. Even when colliding head-on with supersonic projectiles, it remained smooth and unblemished, without a single scratch left behind.
"Follow me!"
Eiji dashed past the distracted Demi-Spirit, sprinting toward another branching path.
"You want to play with me?"
The Demi-Spirit's face twisted into a deranged smile.
"Fine! Then let's play!"