After leaving the Xenos village, we headed straight for the deeper floors.
"Urus."
[It'll be a little hot.]
The blue flames flowing from my left arm weren't as hot as I had expected.
The flames gathered at my fingertips and began taking on a shape similar to a spear.
[There's no damage to the village, so throw it hard.]
When I hurled the spear of flame toward the Dungeon floor, the ground shattered and a path opened up.
"How many days will this take, I wonder?"
[Hmm... maybe about three days?]
"Let's try to go faster. [Trace on]."
I had a few potions with me as always, and with Urus helping out, it seemed like we could descend much faster than last time.
[It burns nicely...]
"■■■■■■■!!!"
"Kieeeeee!!!"
The flames roared violently and turned the monsters swarming toward us into ash.
Thanks to Urus taking such an active role, I was able to descend into the deeper floors with ease.
"Isn't that a little excessive?"
As if intending to burn down an entire floor, Urus scattered flames like a downpour.
"At this rate, even the monsters hiding out will come out. Why don't you try controlling it a little?"
[That's exactly what I'm aiming for.]
"What?"
[You remember the female-type monster we met in the Dungeon last time, right?]
"That horrifying monster?"
[Right. That monster is a spirit's avatar.]
"...?"
[More precisely, it's a hybrid—part spirit's avatar, part monster... I think?]
"Why would a spirit's avatar be in the Dungeon?"
[How should I know? I'd been sleeping inside Excalibur for hundreds of years.]
"So your goal is to lure out that spirit's avatar?"
[No, I'm after the original.]
"The original... can I even beat it?"
[Who knows...]
The floor we were standing on was the 58th floor.
One more floor down, and we'd reach the 59th floor, where we had encountered the female-type monster.
Urus kept firing flames as he descended.
I followed behind him and set foot on the 59th floor.
[...]
"...Urus?"
On the 59th floor, the exact same female-type monster we had seen last time was standing guard.
[Hmm...]
"Aaah... Urus!"
[...How much did it eat?]
Urus fired a small fireball at the female-type monster.
"Kuaaaaaa!!! Aaah!!!"
The female-type monster, which had approached foolishly and without fear only to be hit by the fireball, screamed and then turned to ash and vanished.
[Bellf, can you go any deeper?]
"I can, but... why?"
[There's something I need to check.]
"What is it?"
[I'm going to find the original body of this thing that's burning right now. I don't know what kind of spirit it is, but... it looks like it swallowed other spirits.]
"Swallowed them?"
[I think I'll know for sure only if I see it myself. Hurry up and let's go!]
Urus blasted the floor open and punched a hole through it.
And then,
"What the hell...!"
[I'll give you a ride down, so just grab onto anything.]
He threw me into the hole.