Judas stared at the remains of the Goliath slowly turning to ash.
At the corner of his vision, he spotted something on the ground.
"Oh? A drop item?"
He walked towards it and picked it up.
"A Goliath's Tooth."
After looking at it for a bit, he stuffed the tooth inside his bag.
"Now then."
With his hands on his hips, he turned to walk forward.
"Shall we see what the 18th floor looks like?"
As he walked down the stairs that led to the floor below, a huge group of people—numbering in the hundreds—had stepped into the 17th floor.
"What happened here?"
A man with brown hair said with a frown.
It was the Apollo Familia, who were currently on an expedition.
The one who spoke was their captain, Hyakinthos Clio, a level 3 adventurer.
"A-amazing, I can feel a vast amount of magic power lingering in the air."
Cassandra said as she held her staff timidly.
"No doubt about it, there was some sort of big battle that happened before we arrived."
Daphne spoke as her eyes darted side to side, analyzing the environment.
"Looking at the scale... it seems like it was either a really powerful level 4 or even a first-class adventurer, probably a mage, that took down the Goliath."
She continued as her eyes spotted small sparks of electricity still lingering on the ground.
"Tch, some bastard got here before us."
Hyakinthos said with a scowl.
"Captain, what do we do?"
A member of the Apollo Familia questioned.
"We will proceed with the expedition. Our goal wasn't to take down the Goliath but to at least reach the 20th floor."
Hearing their leader's words, the other members offered no objection and continued their march.
But just before they could take the first step, several shadows flashed above their heads and landed in front of them.
Hyakinthos noticed this and raised his hand to signal the people behind him to stop.
"Captain? What's wrong?"
Daphne asked with a puzzled face.
Unfortunately, Hyakinthos didn't respond.
His gaze was fixed on the masked figures in front of them.
They covered themselves in cloaks, making it difficult to distinguish their features.
'They're fast... I didn't notice they were coming until they appeared in front of me.'
They radiated a terrifying aura; one glance was all it took for anyone to realize that these mysterious figures were not to be messed with.
A bead of sweat fell from his face.
'First-class adventurers.'
Even though he was a homo that spent too much time in Apollo's bedroom.
As an experienced level 3 adventurer, he could tell the difference in strength between himself and those monsters.
Daphne and the others finally noticed them and raised their weapons instinctively.
But the masked figures did not care about them and treated the Apollo Familia like air.
One of them crouched down, outstretched his hand, and felt the ground with his palm.
"This magic... high-grade level 5 firepower... maybe even reaching the territory of a level 6."
He stood up and clapped his hands to shake the dirt away.
"A level 2 being capable of such a thing... no wonder he got the attention of our goddess."
He continued as he turned to the rest of his comrades.
"The goddess will be pleased to hear such news."
Another masked person spoke as he tapped his spear.
Although he was also wearing a disguise, the unmistakable features of his ears and tail made it easy to deduce that he was a beastkin.
"What an awe-inspiring harbinger of destruction... yet this tempest of crackling divinity... it stirs memories of my brother-in-arms, the Thunderborne Sovereign, Hedin."
Another one spoke, but with such overly dramatic gestures that it was almost impossible to take him seriously.
"You stupid elf, speak words that we can understand."
Four voices said simultaneously.
The ones who just spoke were four short individuals wielding different weapons.
It was unbelievable how synchronized they were.
"Enough, you fools. The target is moving... let's not waste any more time."
In front of the Apollo Familia's eyes, the figures of the masked men flickered... their speed was too fast for their vision to keep up.
"C-captain... are those guys who I think they are?"
Daphne said with a nervous face.
"Be quiet... as long as it has nothing to do with us... it's none of our business."
Hyakinthos replied while wiping the sweat off his forehead.
'They said target, right?'
He turned to his familia members and ordered them to continue the expedition.
"I feel sorry for the poor soul they've set their sights on."
...
"So this is the 18th floor, huh?"
Judas muttered as he walked on a field of grass.
"This isn't anything like the floors above."
The 18th floor was a safety point where no monsters were born.
Though some monsters could come up from the floors below.
The floor was filled with crystals and nature.
Large forests and lakes covered the floor.
"Especially the ceiling... it almost feels like I've returned to the surface."
He looked up, and the exceptionally high ceiling of the 18th floor was filled with brilliant shining crystals.
The amount of light from the crystals depended on the time and cycled through the day.
If it was night, the crystals would turn blue, and if it was day, the crystals would turn white, resembling the color of the sky.
"That must be Rivira over there."
He looked into the distance and spotted a settlement located on a cliff.
"A town that gets destroyed and rebuilt over and over again."
"Let's go over there, shall we?"
He took a few steps before pausing.
'I am being followed.'
His eyes narrowed.
'I've felt it vaguely ever since the fight with the Goliath.'
'They must have been using a magic item or spell to avoid my senses until now.'
He could feel their presence.
Even though they had been maintaining a constant distance of a few hundred meters.
He took a slow breath and closed his eyes.
『Detect Presence』
『Sense Life』
『Search』
His senses expanded and propagated like a sonar.
It didn't matter if they were using artifacts or a magic spell that hid their presence...
their locations were immediately revealed one by one.
'They all have such strong life energy... are they all first-class adventurers?'
It was then he realized the danger he was in.
'Four... Five... Six... no... Seven!'
'I am surrounded!'
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
"He also has detection spells? Looks like we were found out."
An unknown voice entered his ears.
Judas didn't turn his head to look and immediately ran.
That was until his instincts screamed at him.
A sense of dark foreboding crashed over him like a tidal wave.
Danger!
'Shit!'
Judas could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears as his body moved on instinct.
He narrowly dodged as a spear stabbed into the ground with immense force—
right where he had been standing just moments ago.
His gaze snapped toward the source.
"Who are you guys?"
He growled, now face-to-face with a group clad in dark clothing, their faces concealed behind masks.
They didn't utter a single word.
No warnings. No threats.
They simply attacked.
Without hesitation.
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