Just a glance was enough to make one think of those new species… and Violas.
----------------------
In the dim environment, the bluish, dull magic stone lamps embedded in the walls illuminated the tense faces of the adventurers.
The elongated shadows passing by kept swaying on the walls, and with the eerie dampness and faint stench of decay, everyone couldn't help but tense up.
"Tap, tap, tap--"
The echoing footsteps beside their ears were rendered unsettling; gradually… pressure came assaulting from all directions.
"Fron, this place… makes me really uncomfortable."
Ais cautiously placed her right hand on the hilt of her beloved sword and whispered to the Fron beside her.
"Ah, yes. Compared to the dungeon, this place is even more eerie. Even though the dungeon is dangerous, it's alive, it has a kind of vitality tied to living beings' instincts."
"But here…" Glancing at the statue's eyes, at those inconspicuous dandelion-like specks, Fron showed a strange smile.
"Here, this is a place of complete inorganic existence. And combined with being underground, it's destined to be cold and utterly lifeless."
...
"Yo-ho, that meaningful gaze and strange smile, did he notice our surveillance system? What should we do now, my dear little Barca?"
Inside a huge room, perfectly square in both length and width, a massive console stood fixed in the center. The mysterious, lifeless-faced man named Barca was operating an image projected by a statue, monitoring every move of the Loki Familia.
And the moment Fron's gaze seemed to pierce through space and meet theirs, countless hooded figures trembled in fear.
"H-he-he… he's the [Flame Demon]! That damned Flame Demon!!"
The culprit responsible for the one-sided slaughter and collapse on the 24th floor had now appeared vividly before the "Evilus."
Just the sight of Fron's handsome face nearly scared them to death!
"All right, all right, don't be so nervous. Sure, that kid's strong, but geographically we have the absolute advantage right now, don't we, Barca?"
"..." The mysterious, gloomy man remained silent, not even turning his head.
"Everyone, the stage is set. Now, we just wait for the main character to arrive!" As he spoke, Thanatos smiled.
...
"This is my first time exploring this kind of maze without a map… it really feels off."
Tiona slowed her pace slightly, chatting with Fron.
In the entire party, everyone's face was tense, spreading nervousness constantly, everyone except Fron.
His eyes seemed to have the power to calm people's hearts; just by looking at him, one's mind naturally settled.
"In environments like underground passages, secret paths, or caves, there's one rule that'll keep you from getting lost, feel the flow of the wind."
Glancing at Ais, Fron continued.
"Of course, it's best to avoid exploring without a map. This time… was just an accident."
"Fron's right, but I'd like to add something."
The entire group suddenly stopped. Finn took two steps forward and continued:
"Following the direction of the wind is right. But the places where wind flows… are often not easy to traverse."
After saying that, like everyone else, Finn stared carefully at the heavy doors before and behind them.
Besides the entrance passage they came through, there were two luxurious doors made of orichalcum, one on the left, one on the right, both tightly shut.
"Our direction of advance is restricted."
"Yeah. Every crossroads we've passed might have been prearranged by the enemy. In other words…"
"We've been led here."
"So then, what purpose does the enemy have for luring us to this place?"
This intersection had no unnecessary decorations like statues; the floor, walls, and ceiling were all neatly smooth.
"Hah, even if they trap us here, we still have options, like…"
Boom,
Gareth punched the wall, startling everyone.
"Just as I thought, besides magic stone, it's reinforced with Mithril."
"In our group, aside from me and Fron, I doubt anyone could break through this."
"No choice then. There's a staircase ahead, this familiar feeling… could it really be the dungeon?"
"A labyrinth of this scale even below here? Now that's interesting."
The team pressed on, but soon, another crossroads appeared.
Unlike before, neither of the two paths ahead were dead ends.
"What do we do, Finn?"
The pallum leader leaned on his spear, carefully surveying the surroundings.
Unlike the previous level, the passage here was only wide enough for three people to walk side by side.
Such a narrow layout resembled the upper floors of the dungeon. For a small team, it wouldn't be an issue, but with a force of this size, they couldn't even form proper formations.
Thus, Finn made a decision on the spot.
"Let's split into two groups. I'll go with Fron; Bete, you take the right side, the rest go left."
The members were also divided evenly, matching the first-tier adventurers.
Of course, Tione and Ais were quite unhappy about this, one argued loudly, while the other pouted adorably.
"That side's in your hands, Gareth."
"Leave it to me!"
...
Time slowly passed.
It had been a while since the group split into two teams.
As they went deeper, even Raul and Anakitty could tell, they were descending downwards.
They were definitely about a hundred meters below ground by now.
Not only that, the deeper they went, the stronger the strange smell became, so strong that even humans could clearly sense it.
"The scent of Violas is everywhere, but… we've been walking this long without encountering a single shadow or monster."
Finn stayed silent, but his narrowed eyes showed that his mind was working quickly.
"Did you all notice? Ever since we started descending that staircase, the environment here has been growing more and more like the dungeon, especially the upper floors."
Fron gestured the shape of a cone with his hands and continued:
"From what my sense memory tells me, this artificial labyrinth seems shaped like an inverted cone, surrounding the real dungeon itself. Perhaps… we might find the entrance to the dungeon. If that's the case… the theory of the dungeon having a second entrance will be proven."
Upon hearing that, Raul gasped sharply, and when he looked into the darkness ahead, a chill ran down his spine.