You are all my wings...

Mark: "??? Does it make a difference?"

Carl: "At least it sounds better now, doesn't it? I've been quite comrade-in-arms with you, and I wouldn't have given anyone else such face by giving them such an appropriate nickname."

Mark: "Hmph!"

Bovary ignored the feud between the two and watched Britta gracefully eat meat, and suddenly felt a subtle sense of accomplishment.

He found that Lyon, who was standing before him, suddenly possessed a mysterious and powerful aura that filled him with genuine admiration.

Even the Saintess was influenced by Lord Leon to try these monster meats that weren't recorded in the recipes!

My judgment was right!

His Excellency Lyon is indeed unfathomable!

Only the Holy Maiden and I can see how formidable Lord Lyon is!

……

The third day of exploration has arrived.

Although Leon slowed down his exploration pace as soon as he entered the eleventh floor, he wandered around various side areas.

However, it cannot be denied that the overall benefits are quite considerable.

Firstly, many rare items and rare monsters were discovered in the side areas, and they were hunted and collected one after another.

Even excluding the materials intended for crafting equipment and alchemy, the ones that can be sold will guarantee a minimum profit of over seventy gold coins.

Although the gains were far less than those from encountering powerful monsters, the past two days had been quite relaxing, and he had eaten many different kinds of monster meat. Combining this with the "Monster Diet Guide" from his previous life, Leon discovered a monster part that was effective.

A rare monster, a second-tier golden-eyed long-haired rabbit.

Its heart can increase vitality if eaten.

This thing looks pitch black, and after cooking it, it gives off the feeling of being the ultimate delicacy in the world of dark cuisine.

It lacks color and aroma, and is even a bit nauseating, making it quite psychologically stressful to eat.

If it weren't for the fact that the "Monster Diet Guide" mentioned that it was edible, and Leon's experience in dismantling monsters led him to believe it was non-toxic, he wouldn't have prepared it separately to eat.

The taste was just average.

When the two women asked Lyon about the taste, he said it was astringent and not very good. Both of them refused to eat it and kept their distance, since astringency is not good.

In the end, only Lyon enjoyed this growth in vitality.

The price increased by 2 points, which is quite pleasant considering the taste.

Unfortunately, this golden-eyed long-haired rabbit is a rare monster.

There's no guarantee we'll be able to hunt them again in the future.

Rare monsters are not necessarily powerful monsters, but they are definitely rare in total, or good at escaping or hiding, making them difficult to hunt.

Fortunately, with the help of four temporary teammates, they were still able to successfully capture even those who were good at escaping.

Only those skilled in concealment are outnumbered and cannot be defeated, so they must be temporarily abandoned.

Apart from Britta, none of them were particularly skilled in detection techniques; at most, they only possessed ordinary detection magic.

It is clearly impossible for her to make a move during regular events.

Chapter Sixty-One: The Low-Key Bovary

Next, we'll explore the 20th floor.

Here, the chances of encountering powerful monsters will be greatly increased.

Although the last battle went smoothly, that was because Kairon cleared the way in advance and eliminated most of the monsters.

Even with a full complement of manpower, Lyon remained extremely cautious this time.

Before entering, Lyon checked the current information on the panel.

【主要屬性：生命力48/魔力量48/體力39/力量36/敏捷47】

There's no feedback yet on the fraudster's skills, but we can see that Bovary's gaze towards Leon has changed somewhat.

On Iris's side, after two days of combat and replenishing herself with the flesh of various common monsters, her magic power increased by 1 point. Combined with the 1 point of strength she gained from consuming the Jade Needle Bee pupa, her current attribute is:

【主要屬性：生命力61/魔力量70/體力33/力量39/敏捷43】

Her magical power has reached a level that most ordinary humans at the fourth or fifth level do not possess.

However, due to the lack of rank enhancement, casting intermediate spells is still troublesome, and the immediate combat power is still inferior to that of a fourth-ranked player who can quickly cast intermediate spells.

Of course, her magic has a long lifespan, so when facing level four, she can choose to slowly grind it down.

Leon could also see Britta's attribute information; compared to when he saw her nearly a month ago, her magic power and vitality had increased by 1 point.

It's safe to say she's a character with S-class potential. Although her price increase isn't as high as Iris's for exploring dungeons, it's still pretty good.

【主要屬性：生命力60/魔力量60/體力49/力量45/敏捷51】

Her overall attributes seem similar to Iris's, but with the blessing of a fourth-tier rank and the protection of a second-tier deity, she can easily defeat Iris.

It's fair to say she's the strongest player on the field right now.

For a case study, you can refer to their previous encounter with the level 4 weak monster, the man-eating flower.

If they hadn't been able to use a clever long-range attack, they would have been completely outmatched at close range.

Although Lyon has many special skills, he can defeat Iris by relying on intelligence and high-speed spellcasting, and he can fight within the third rank.

But facing Berylita, who is considered an absolute powerhouse even among fourth-tier fighters, he could only escape using the Shadow Walker's skills.

As for the information on the other four knights, Leon couldn't see it; he estimated that he could only see the panels of characters with an A rank or higher.

After all, he couldn't see the panel information for characters like Grani Karon who were at least double B rank.

"Let's go."

The seven people entered the 20th floor.

One hour later.

"What's going on? Why is the 20th floor suddenly so quiet?"

Elise held a torch and looked around the dark, enormous cave.

They have now entered the 20th floor side path area, and although they have explored several side paths, except for those with particularly unique terrain, they have tried to walk through all the ones they can, and have not encountered any monsters even once.

“It seems that someone else is sweeping the side streets like us. We start sweeping from the 10th floor, while they may start from the 20th floor.”

Leon checked the surrounding area and remembered the detailed map Marie had given him.

It seems that this map has also been given to other expert teams, causing some expert teams to start trying to conquer the side roads outside the main area.

After a moment's thought, he pointed to a relatively deep passageway ahead:

“Bovary, go deeper into this passage and look for any recent footprints or traces. Be careful.”

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Bovary drew his sword, crouched down, and went inside.

After these few days of getting to know each other, Lyon has learned about Bovary's combat skills and fighting style.

He majored in the fast sword fighting style popular within the Astalia sect, focusing his physical training on basic skills such as quick reaction, agile turning, rapid slashing, and positioning based on sound.

His common combat skills are Whirlwind Slash, Mounted Thrust, and Whirlwind Step. These three skills form the core of his basic fighting style. In addition, he has the core class skill, Swift Sword, making him quite powerful. He is slightly stronger than Mark and second only to Karl.

Among the three-tiered knights that Leon had seen in his previous life's game, he was a formidable one, easily ranking in the top thirty.

However, he was a man of few words and did not show off his abilities. If Leon had not discovered that Bovary was his admirer and suitable to bet on his aura of trust, Leon would not have seriously observed him and seen his strength.

After all, of the four knights present, only Carl was famous and had considerable potential.

As for the other characters, Leon could only vaguely recall them, but he didn't know how they ended up.

A moment later, Bovary came out.

"Your Excellency, we have found footprints left over the past two days, and also signs of a battle with monsters, but it's very dangerous!"

Lyon pondered.

Most of the monsters here show very little sign of being eliminated.

The passage we just passed through, which could only accommodate one or two people at a time, was covered in traces, indicating that the team's average skill level was very high.

"Let's go down to the next floor and take a look."

Lyon increased his pace slightly.

Since the surrounding area has been cleared out, there's no point in lingering here.

As Leon gradually tests the basic effects of each part of the body on common monsters, he now selectively avoids them to save time.

Of course, he was the only one who could conduct such a test.

Because other people don't have a panel to check if their attributes have increased after eating.

Others might only notice that they feel a bit fuller and more energetic.

Everyone's base stats are not low, it's hard to say whether the slight increase in attributes is just an illusion after eating too much.

Most monster meat has the effect of accelerating the recovery of physical strength and magic power. It is even harder to notice the effect if you eat it after a period of activity.

Along the way, the main road and most of the side roads had been cleared by other teams.

Three hours later, the group quickly marched to the 25th floor of the Water Ruins.

As the roar of the waterfall grew louder, the group stepped out of the passage and were suddenly confronted with an exceptionally fierce battle scene.

The ground was covered in blood, and a small patch of water was stained red.

With a thud, a severed limb flew down from the front and landed in front of Karl, whose pupils contracted sharply and he took a step back.

One move affects the whole group, and everyone immediately assumed a fighting stance.

Upon closer inspection, they saw two third-tier Papal Knights battling a powerful monster at least eight meters tall. The Knights were clearly at a disadvantage and could be killed at any moment.

The monster had a ferocious appearance, with its exposed face covered in rough black wrinkles. Its body was covered in short, black and yellow fur. It stood upright with an inverted triangular body, its muscles resembling dense lumps of iron balls, its five fingernails thick, and its bare feet like hammers. With a casual stomp, it would cause water to splash everywhere.

On the ground, two riders had already been smashed to pieces, their flesh and blood splattered on the ground, clearly cooled to a crisp.

"A powerful fourth-tier monster, the Water-Swallowing Ape!"

This is a powerful monster from mythology that once drained a human river in one fell swoop, nearly causing the extinction of ancient humans.

Lyon recognized the thing at first glance.

He had fought this thing several times in his previous life. It existed deep in a side path on the 31st floor. Initially, it was only a powerful tier 3 monster. Because few players discovered it, it survived all the way. By the time players discovered it in the second part, it had grown into a powerful tier 5 monster, incredibly strong.

It now appears that these four knights discovered the Water Swallowing Ape on the 31st floor and were chased up by the Reverse Waterfall, eventually reaching the 25th floor.

This is also a characteristic of the giant waterfall in the Water Ruins, which connects 25-35 levels, causing monsters from the lower levels to roam up at any time.

The white unicorn that Leon discovered last time was most likely also a creature that roamed from the lower levels to the 25th level.

"withdraw!"

Without hesitation, Lyon immediately issued the order to retreat.

At the same time—

Boom!

An astonishing water arrow shot out from the mouth of the water-swallowing ape, blasting a knight who was resisting in front of it to pieces.

Then, with its remaining force, the water arrow rushed toward the crowd.

Iris waved her wand, gathering a great deal of magical power to activate a light defense spell.

Chapter Sixty-Two: Mouthpiece Water Arrow

A protective light shield appeared, enveloping the seven people.

BOOM!!!