Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

Ominous patterns and rising crimson magical light enveloped the woman's entire body.

"A monster can chant?! You must be kidding me!?"

Monsters that live by their ferocious destructive impulses and instincts can never chant incantations. The rationality and wisdom required for "magic" are the domain of humanity, not a place where monsters can tread.

Although her origin is "fairy spirit", her female form and appearance already belong to monsters, and her chanting made Dione exclaim loudly.

A wide-ranging crimson magic circle unfolds.

Then the output of "magic power" erupts upwards.

Finn opened his eyes wide and roared desperately:

"Rivia, activate the barrier!?"

He gave the order in a tone that Tiona and the others had never heard before, a tone that had lost its composure.

Upon hearing the command, Riveria also began to chant anxiously.

"Fire! Stop the enemy's chanting!?"

Upon hearing the series of instructions, Raul and the others, along with Lefia who had been preparing magic, roared in response.

"One, fire at once!?"

"[Volley of Fire Javelin]!!"

The "Demon Sword" fired simultaneously, unleashing hundreds of fiery arrows at the female figure.

Facing the barrage of artillery fire that enveloped the 59th floor in light, the enemy spread out ten enormous petals from her lower body in front of her. "She" continued to chant with a smile, as the raging barrage of artillery fire scattered flashes and shocks, causing violent explosions in front of "her".

The ground in the center of the building was blasted open by stray bullets, and in front of Lefia and the others, the petals were unharmed—the female figure who had escaped unscathed was sitting there leisurely and at ease.

"Haha, those methods didn't work...!?"

Seeing that the enemy was completely unharmed, Chun wanted to laugh, but failed.

Even Lefia's powerful firepower couldn't penetrate the opponent's defenses, which presented a cruel reality: their attacks were completely ineffective. Lefia, Raul, and the others were stunned. Chun stared at the petal-shaped armor protecting her entire female body and groaned, "What on earth is it made of...!"

[Roar! Roar! Flame vortex! Crimson lotus cliffs! Roaring karmic fire! With the power of a sudden strong wind, seal off the world! Burning sky! Burning earth! Burning ocean! Burning springs! Burning mountains! Burning life! Turn everything to scorched earth! Fire the horns of anger and sighs! Pay the price with the life of my beloved hero!]

"Dance gracefully, O Spirit of the Atmosphere, O Lord of Light. Make a pact with the Guardians of the Forest, embrace us with the song of the earth, and shelter us."

The female figure and Rivilia chanted simultaneously.

An ominous song and melodious incantations wove together—the scale of the enemy's chanting made even the eyes of the sorcerers Riveria and Lefia waver.

"Extremely long Mandarin recitation".

The length of the incantation was unbelievably large, yet the speed of the incantation was terrifyingly fast, surpassing even the strongest mage (Riveria).

The immense "magic power" that non-humans could possess was to be poured into the artillery magic that surpassed human intelligence at an overwhelming speed.

The beauty of the "fairy" smiled, while the beauty of the royal family twisted with anxiety.

"Unable to get close to the opponent...!?"

As the woven magic stunned everyone, Ais and Tiona attempted to directly attack the female form, but countless tentacles rained down upon them. The stabbing tentacles lashed out, sweeping away other monsters and preventing the adventurers from getting close. They were already overwhelmed just protecting Riveria from the tentacle attacks and monster assaults.

"【In the name of the Agent, I was given the name Salamander, the incarnation of fire, the Queen (King) of Fire——】"

Tiona and Tione wielded their swords to drive back the tentacles.

Grace, Bert, and Tsubaki stepped forward to fight the monsters.

Despite knowing it was futile, Raul and his companions, along with Lefia, continued to shoot arrows and cast spells.

Ais, on the other hand, was chased by a hail of whips.

The enemy chanted as they manipulated countless tentacles and impenetrable armor.

Facing a colossal monster that was simultaneously attacking, defending, and casting spells, Finn, who was surveying the battle, gritted his teeth.

"—Everyone, retreat to Rivera's barrier!!"

Finn, having assessed the situation, ordered a retreat.

Ais and her group at the front line were covered by Lefia and others. As soon as they arrived at Finn's side, as if it had been arranged beforehand, Riveria finished her incantation.

"[Transform into a great barrier of forest light to protect us—my name is Alf!]!"

Riveria used the strongest defensive magic she had.

"【The Path to Sylheim!!】"

The emerald-colored magic circle that unfolded beneath Riveria's feet shone brightly, then transformed directly into a dome-shaped green light domain, enveloping a total of thirteen adventurers, including the warlock.

The "barrier magic" that can isolate all physical and magical attacks was deployed—almost simultaneously.

The female figure, having finished chanting, activated "magic".

【Firestorm】.

The world was dyed fiery red.

"——————————"

A raging storm of fire, like a celestial flame.

A fierce, raging wind, like a tsunami, swept in from the front. The fiery heatwave transformed into a turbid torrent, surging into Riveria's field of vision.

The sea of ​​fire, including the monsters, along with the dome-shaped barrier magic that covered their companions (Ais and others), engulfed the area around the floor.

The sound of the barrier colliding with the fire and wind, coupled with Riveria's painful groans as she supported her staff with both hands.

The screams of monsters being burned alive rolled in from outside the barrier, their emerald eyes wide open to the limit.

When Tiona and the others, isolated from the scorching world, were also stunned into standing still by the sight outside the barrier.

Crack! Crack!

The barrier magic that the strongest mage had never suffered a single scratch before developed cracks.

"A barrier...!?"

As cracks began to appear all around the light barrier—front, left, right, and top—Raul and Lefia turned ashen-faced.

Seeing the fiery torrent surging from the front—and enduring the hellish heat, Riveria roared:

"—Grace! Protect Ais and the others!?"

In an instant, Grace snatched two large shields from the supporters, jumped behind Riveria, and stood in front of Ais and the others.

The next instant, Riveria's barrier magic (Bilu Silheim) emitted a sharp sound and exploded in all directions.

"Rivia—!?"

The first one is Riveria.

She was swallowed by the turbid, red-lotus-like current, and Ais's screams were drowned out by the towering waves of fire.

In less than a second, the firestorm crashed head-on into Grace, who was raising his great shield.

"Woo-woo ...

Grace screamed at the top of her lungs as Riveria disappeared into the vortex of flames.

Ais was pinned to the ground from behind by Tiona, and Finn and the others, like them, hid behind the dwarf warrior.

However, as if mocking them, the fierce flames melted the raised shield, and even Gress's helmet and armor were melted.

"Old man!?"

The moment Bert cried out, the two large shields vanished.

Grace spread her arms, using her entire body to block the surging waves of karmic fire.

"Goo ...

Grace's roar collided with the firestorm, and then—a massive explosion.

As soon as the explosion turned the field of vision crimson, Ais and the others were blasted backward like a burst dam.

The first-level adventurers suffered burns to their skin and armor, but they refused to let go of their weapons, being toyed with by the fiery whirlwind.

The sound of everything burning was so intense that no one could even scream. Lefia, Raul, and the other supporters were protected by Finn and rolled several times on the ground.

The march of fire swept everything away.

"Gurgle... Ugh!?"

When the fire and wind subsided, Ais and the others were found lying on the ground, like corpses strewn across the field.

The ground, ravaged by wildfire, was reduced to ashes. The monsters, the "magic stones," and even the vast forest behind them had vanished without a trace, leaving only scorched earth. Divided by the female figure at the center of the space, the floor became another world.

Despite avoiding direct attacks, their armor and bodies were still riddled with wounds. They couldn't help but groan, their hands trembling as they peeled their faces away from the ground. What they saw left the Loki Familia adventurers speechless.

Riveria fell to the ground along with the broken silver staff of the magic gem, and the holy cloth, which should have had high magic resistance, became tattered.

Grace lay on the ground, his entire body burned. He had shielded Ais and the others until the very end, his protective gear completely destroyed in the fire.

The elven royal mage and the dwarven warrior fell silent, remaining motionless.

Faced with this scene, not only Lefia and Raul, but also Tiona, Tione, and Bert showed expressions of despair.

The leadership lineup other than Finn never recovered.

Two of the Loki Familia's strongest fighters have fallen.

Such an emergency has never occurred before.

"Rivia, Grace..."

Ais's lips couldn't help but utter a hoarse sound.

Having lost the two most trusted and reassuring pillars of the faction, morale plummeted to an all-time low.

The scene before them was so shocking that it severely demoralized the young adventurers.

Finn, who was holding down the charred arm, also narrowed one of his blue eyes.

[Ground, growl—]

It was as if they were kicking someone when they were down.

“——————”

The woman smiled as she began to chant.

——Too fast.

A dark magic circle unfolded, but unlike before, it was filled with pitch-black magical light.

Without waiting for the stiffness that follows the execution of the magic, the monster began chanting again, freezing Ais and the others in place.

【Come, come, come, Earth's Crust, Black Iron Treasure (Light), Shining Star Hammer, by the covenant of creation, I command you to reverse, burn the sky, shatter the earth, build bridges, unite heaven and earth (as one), descend the Sky Axe, the calamity of destruction—】

The chanting decreased and became a long chant, but this indicated that shelling was imminent.

"【In the name of the Agent, I am commanded to be given the name of the Goblin, the Queen (King) of the Earth, the embodiment of the land.】"

The female form, with the melody permitted by God, smoothly and quickly constructed the chant.

Ais and the others had not yet recovered from the shock, but the instincts of first-level adventurers began to surge. The moment they kicked the ground, the fairy monster wrapped in black magic light sang.

"[Meteor Shower]."

The light from the magic circle shone directly upwards, shrouding the sky above the building in a mixture of darkness and light.

The immense "magic" converged at one point, and then the black light meteorite swarm appeared.

"Protect Raul and the others!?"

Finn charged forward, illuminated by the approaching light, and grabbed the arm of one of his supporters.

In an instant, a torrential downpour of massive meteorites rained down on the 59th floor.

"Ughh ...

The shattered rock and destructive waves caused Raul's screams to echo all around.

Bert caught him, only to be blasted away by the blast wave; Ais clung to Lefia, engulfed by the black starlight; Tiona and Tione lunged at the other two supporters, Tsubaki shielding them with her own body. The radiant black meteor shower, with its astonishing area of ​​effect, shook the dungeon.

Despite her gauntlets being blown away, Ais tightly embraced the girl. She was blown off balance by the shockwave and saw the royal family and dwarves exposed to the cruel and merciless barrage of cannon fire.

Ais let out a muffled scream as she was blown away along with Lefia.

The entire floor area was dominated by a continuous stream of intense, bright light.