"A magic item? What are you doing, Valletta!"
------------------------------
"Rumble, "
As the red eye-like magic tool with the [d]-shaped mark suddenly lit up, the passage behind them was instantly sealed shut by the hardest metal gate that dropped down.
"-----"
The team was thrown into chaos, everyone looking anxiously toward Finn.
"Are we… trapped in here?"
Fron narrowed his golden eyes, his hand instinctively tightening around the staff, and his mind immediately began to race.
Just as that thought flashed through everyone's mind, suddenly, the tightly shut doors on both sides of the square chamber opened!
"-----"
"Sha-sha-sha-sha-sha-sha, "
That familiar scraping sound and the sudden rush of rotting stench immediately told the members of the [Loki Familia] what was pouring out.
Violas!
A massive number of Violas surged out from the corridors behind the two doors, and in just moments, the party was surrounded.
Watching the adventurers clash with the monsters below, Valletta let out a mocking laugh, then with a light tap of her toes, retreated into the passage behind her.
"Damn you Violas."
Bete cursed and spat out a string of profanity before charging forward at lightning speed to meet the attack.
"Everyone, maintain formation, Grid Four!"
"Roaaarrrrrr, "
With the encouragement of the [Braver] and Bete's fearless charge, everyone's morale was instantly ignited!
"Boom, "
Two torrents collided, and the roars of the adventurers and the shrieks of the Violas marked the beginning of the battle.
Purple light danced like an elegant ballet, tracing graceful lines through the swarming monsters.
With every flicker, a space was cleared around the beam of light, only to be immediately filled again by more monsters from behind.
"Pupupupupupupupu, "
With Lv.6-level stats combined with the further-enhanced staff, Fron's slaughtering efficiency had reached a dreamlike level.
Even when he was still Lv.5, facing such hordes of monsters required a great deal of stamina, but now…
Fron could eviscerate his enemies effortlessly with his staff, as easily as slicing tofu.
He only needed to lend the weapon a little strength, the weapon's own momentum and sharpness did the rest, crushing everything in his path.
"-----"
Suddenly stopping in the middle of the monster swarm, Fron tilted his head and pinched his chin, lost in thought as countless monsters closed in around him.
'What's going on? The feeling is completely different. Even before, I could defeat these Violas easily, but it was never this effortless...'
He still hadn't realized why the gods referred to Lv.6 as the [Hero's Domain].
That's because… the leap from Lv.5 to Lv.6 is a transcendence beyond mortal limits.
It's an evolution of life itself, a spark that ignites countless potential possibilities within the individual.
Once you cross into Lv.6… you can no longer be called human. "Extraordinary One," "Transcendent," or "Hero" would be more fitting.
"Pupupupu"
In an instant, countless interlacing purple light lines appeared around Fron, freezing every Violas near him in midair.
"Boom boom boom boom boom, " Within a ten-meter radius centered on Fron, every monster turned to dust in an instant.
"You go support the rear guard, I'll cover the back." Glancing toward the team's movement direction, Fron spoke to Raul and Anakitty.
"Understood!" Among this team, the strongest was undoubtedly Fron.
Bete held the front, Finn stood in the center to assess and command, so the rear naturally fell to the all-capable Fron.
With him covering the back, everyone felt an unparalleled sense of security.
...
Since the battle began, it had already lasted more than three hours.
No one knew how many monsters the [Evilus] had stored in this artificial labyrinth's gloomy dungeon, but the two corridors continued endlessly spewing out Violas.
The team retreated quickly down the only available passage, yet the monsters pursued relentlessly.
Fron alone stood at the rear, transforming himself into a wall, no matter how many attacked, he slew them all with ease.
If Violas left corpses behind, their bodies would have already piled into several mountains by now.
"So… so strong, I can barely breathe!"
"Does that mean Fron hasn't even tired himself out?!"
Since Fron's promotion to Lv.6, this was the first time he had fought before everyone's eyes. Not just others, even his own comrades were stunned.
"Don't get distracted! Maintain formation length!" Finn shouted sharply while keeping a close watch on the path ahead.
Sure enough, more monsters appeared in front of the corridor, and as the vanguard, Bete immediately charged.
"Huh? Those aren't Violas… new worm-type monsters?"
What appeared before them wasn't a Violas or a worm, it looked more like a water spider.
It had six legs, about waist-high to an average human, and at its body's center gleamed a green crystal resembling a magic stone.
Because of their small size, their numbers were horrifyingly large, just one glance made everyone's scalp tingle.
"Bete, careful!"
"Scared? Monsters are monsters, just kill them all!"
The young werewolf grinned arrogantly and sped up once more. His foot blades and battle boots flashed silver, instantly clearing out a large swath of enemies.
"Bete, above you!"
Then… the party noticed that several square-shaped pits had suddenly opened up around the 5-meter-wide passage.
From within those pits, monsters poured out nonstop.
They were called pits, but from Fron's observation, they seemed to be unfinished mechanisms or traps temporarily used as monster nests.
Because of this sudden change, Raul, Anakitty, and the others were forced to raise their shields and weapons, fighting off monsters pouring from the side passages and above.
The abrupt shift drastically slowed the team's retreat.
Fron, still covering from behind them, was forced to halt as the team's pace fell.
While his body instinctively struck down monster after monster, his mind continued analyzing the situation.
'Not good. Valletta's trying to wear us down here in Knossos. This plan… must have been prepared long ago. So that's why they waited until we entered the lower levels to strike.'
In that instant, he saw through the enemy's strategy completely.