At this moment, within the Pantry, a nightmarish scene—something that seemed utterly impossible in reality—was unfolding.
*Rumble—!*
An enormous flower monster known as Viscum rampaged like a blazing train, smashing through piles of rubble and clusters of stone pillars as it charged forward.
Waves of shock and swirling dust swept out from its path, shaking the vast cavern repeatedly as if it were enduring one earthquake after another.
It was nothing short of a natural disaster.
"Ais!"
Riezel raised an arm to shield his face and instinctively shouted.
He had already leapt high into the air, narrowly avoiding the Viscum's charge, yet even so, the shockwave from its passing struck him head-on, whipping at his body like a storm.
"I'm fine!"
Ais hadn't jumped upward but instead dashed toward the side of the cavern to avoid the direct hit—even so, countless flying stones struck her body, leaving her looking slightly disheveled.
*BOOM!*
In the next moment, the Viscum crashed uncontrollably into the wall, blasting a huge hole in it—the deafening explosion echoed throughout the cavern, shaking it violently once again.
Chunks of green flesh from its tendrils burst into the air like bloody rain, scattering together with dust and debris—a sight so overwhelming it inspired terror.
Larger even than a Monster Rex, the Viscum caused a scene of pure devastation with just a single charge.
Such power made both Riezel and Ais narrow their eyes, their expressions hardening in seriousness.
*Rumble—!*
Soon, the Viscum pulled its massive head from the mound of rubble that had buried the passage, sending sand and gravel cascading down its body.
It then turned its gaze toward Riezel and Ais once more, readying itself for another charge.
"Wind Breathing - Second Form - Claws-Purifying Wind!"
Seeing the Viscum surge toward her with unstoppable momentum, Ais didn't hesitate—she steadied her breath and unleashed four claw-shaped wind slashes.
In that instant, the razor-sharp blades of wind sliced through the air and struck the Viscum's enormous body.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
Even though the wind blades cut into the Viscum, splattering blood across the air, compared to its gigantic body, those slashes were far too small—like a knife scraping against a stone pillar, cutting off nothing more than dust.
Evidently, they barely did any damage.
Ais quickly retreated, dodging to the side to avoid being crushed by its next charge.
"Wind Breathing - First Form - Dust Whirlwind Cutter!"
At the same time, Riezel dove down from above, his entire body wrapped in a spiraling vortex of wind—he became a human tornado, his sword cleaving down toward the Viscum.
*Swish!*
Even though the tornado sliced through the Viscum's head, shearing off several petals and leaving a gaping notch, once again, it was the same problem: the attack merely grazed its skin—it wasn't nearly enough to be called effective.
Apparently, the Viscum realized this as well, ignoring the cuts and slashes that tore through its outer flesh and continuing its rampaging charge like a fiery train, its long vine-like tendrils whipping violently in every direction—the gusts from their swings flattened everything in their path without mercy.
"Ugh!"
Ais tried to rush forward again, but the blast from another charge sent her flying back, unable to close the distance.
"Tch..."
Riezel clicked his tongue softly, his figure flashing rapidly through the air as he dodged the flailing tendrils, a faint glimmer of light flickering in his eyes.
Needless to say, this massive, man-eating flower monster, called by that man in white as Viscum, was far beyond any normal monster—perhaps it had absorbed nutrients from the Pantry's quartz pillar, allowing it to grow abnormally large.
Its vast body made it an opponent that could never be brought down with just two or three strikes.
It wasn't about strength anymore.
Even if an ant could bite an elephant to death, it would have to do so slowly, bit by bit.
An ant that small, with teeth that short, could never kill something so much larger in one go—that was the reality.
'It seems swordsmanship alone won't be enough to take this thing down.'
Riezel thought silently as he darted through the midst of whipping tendrils and shot toward the Viscum like an arrow released from a bowstring.
"Riezel..."
Ais, who had just avoided another charge, was blown backward by the wind yet caught sight of Riezel in the corner of her eye—and instantly understood his intent.
"He's going to use magic?"
Her guess was correct.
Riezel wasn't just planning to use magic—he intended to unleash a wide-area annihilation magic powerful enough to wipe out a giant of this size in one strike.
"Proud warrior, snipers of the forest."
He began chanting—the incantation of a magic belonging to the Loki Familia's next-generation prodigy, an elf girl known as the strongest mage candidate in Orario, whose power as a Level 3 rivaled that of Level 5 adventurers.
It was a wide-area annihilation magic with a long chant and fire attribute—an absolute trump card for Riezel, whose affinity for light and heat doubled such effects.
"Take up your bows before the advancing plunderers."
"Answer the call of your brethren and ready your arrows."
As Riezel's solemn chant continued, a crimson magic circle unfurled beneath his feet.
"!!!"
At the same time, the Viscum reacted violently, swinging its enormous head toward him and lunging to bite, which showed that it shared the Violas's trait of being overly sensitive to magical energy—drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
*Rumble—*
As the Viscum charged again, howling winds swirling around as it snapped its massive jaws at him, Riezel dodged easily.
"Tinge them with flame, the lamplight of the forest."
"Release them, the fire arrows of the fairies."
"Falling like rain, burn away the savages."
Without pausing his chant, Riezel leapt onto the Viscum's body and sprinted across its back.
Sensing danger, the Viscum writhed violently, its tendrils whipping down to strike itself in an attempt to crush Riezel, even at the cost of self-injury.
However, its opponent wasn't fighting alone.
"Wind Breathing - Ninth Form - Idaten Typhoon!"
Ais spun in midair, her body flipping as she swung her silver sword downward—the surrounding air coalesced into countless razor-sharp blades of wind, raining down upon the Viscum's flailing tendrils.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
In an instant, cutting sounds filled the air as one after another, the attacking tendrils were severed—bursting into fragments that scattered like shredded leaves, their threat gone.
"Fusillade Fallarica!"
Seizing the moment, Riezel completed his chant, causing the crimson magic circle beneath him to expand, then shoot upward into the air.
In the next instant, a rain of fire poured down upon the area, setting the entire Pantry ablaze as it struck the monstrous flower.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Explosions erupted one after another, shaking the earth.
Flaming meteors hammered Viscum's colossal form, burning its flesh and blasting its tendrils apart. At the same time, its thick hide peeled away layer by layer as it shrieked in agony, engulfed in a sea of fire—its body purified by the blazing rain.
"Yes!"
Seeing this, Ais landed from midair and shouted, her expression easing with relief.
However, as she fell, her eyes flicked toward the massive red quartz pillar, and she finally saw it.
Over there, upon the pillar, was something small—about the size of a hand.
Looking closer, it appeared to be a translucent jewel, entirely green like a crystal ball, strangely beautiful at first glance.
Yet inside that eerie jewel was a sight that made her pupils contract sharply.
Suspended within a mysterious liquid floated a tiny, curled fetus—its body small and round, with a disproportionately large eye.
From behind its head extended long, feminine hair, and along its spine ran a curved line, as if a single nerve connected head to tail—the more one looked, the more grotesque it became.
Now, this grotesque fetus clung to the quartz pillar's surface, protected by the surrounding tendrils of the other Viscums—and, like the Viscums themselves, it absorbed nutrients from the pillar.
*Gu-lu—*
A sickening sound escaped as the fetus inside the jewel turned its massive eye toward Ais, locking gazes with her—there was no emotion within, only gloom, coldness, and malice.
"..."
Ais froze.
*Ba-dump!* *Ba-dump!* *Ba-dump!*
Her heartbeat began to race, and the moment her eyes met the fetus's, her blood surged violently through her veins.
'Wha-What... is this...?'
Ais tried to speak, but no sound came out.
Her body felt wrong—her head spun, and nausea, ringing ears, and shivering overtook her.
In that instant, she finally understood—she understood why she had felt uneasy before entering the 24th Floor and why she had lost control upon seeing the green, flesh-like walls and nearly drawn her sword.
It was all because of that fetus.
Because of its existence, her body and mind had been thrown into disarray.
'Is that the 'She' that man in white spoke of?'
'What exactly is 'She'?'
'Why is 'She' absorbing nutrients from the pillar of the Pantry?'
'What is 'She' trying to do?'
Ais had no answers, but she knew one thing—that thing, that fetus—must not be allowed to live.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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