"Boom!"
Bete had barely set foot on the 58th floor when he was greeted with a fiery welcome from the Valgang Dragons.
But he didn't even flinch at the incoming fireball—just sidestepped smoothly out of its path.
He knew the old man behind him would never let it get past anyway.
Bete's eyes locked onto a Valgang Dragon ahead that was charging up for a breath attack.
"Like hell I'm letting you fire that!"
In a flash, he darted beneath the dragon's jaw, jumped, and launched a powerful kick upward.
"Wham!"
The dragon, mid-charge with its mouth wide open, took the full force of the blow to its chin. Its jaws slammed shut, and the fire it had gathered detonated inside its mouth, blowing its entire head off.
The moment the attack landed, Bete noticed that the other Valgang Dragons had locked onto him as the primary threat.
He welcomed the challenge.
But being used for target practice? That, he didn't enjoy.
The werewolf dashed deeper into the Valgang Dragons' formation, using his incredible speed to weave between them, drawing out an even fiercer counterattack.
...
"Boom!"
From his spatial belt, Gareth pulled out two shields imbued with the "Indestructible" trait. The fireball smashed into them with a loud bang, only managing to push him back a step.
Behind him, Finn, Tiona, and Tione split up and dashed in different directions.
Gareth didn't move from his spot—he stayed right in front of Riveria.
With Gareth shielding her, Riveria was already nearing the end of her chant.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
Suddenly, the ground split open as a Valgang Dragon larger than the rest erupted from below, its gaping mouth aimed directly at Gareth's back.
"Huh!?"
Before Gareth could react, a sharp cry rang out behind him. Tsubaki had already taken a throwing stance.
With a powerful swing of her arm, she hurled the massive axe toward the dragon's head.
"Thunk!"
The giant axe drove straight through the Valgang Dragon's skull. The fire gathering in its mouth faded instantly.
At that moment, Riveria completed the final phase of her chant.
"...Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war. Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf!"
"Rea Laevateinn!"
The magic circle that had formed during the chant rapidly expanded across the ground.
An enormous surge of magical energy erupted into a crimson vortex of flame, rising from beneath like a blazing sword, sweeping across the entire 58th floor.
Every Valgang Dragon that touched the flames was instantly incinerated to charcoal.
Even the flying wyverns in the sky were caught in the firestorm and reduced to ash, not even leaving behind their magic stones.
In the blink of an eye, the entire 58th floor was scorched red, and the temperature across the floor noticeably rose.
Yet under Riveria's control, the magic didn't harm Finn or the others who had been acting as decoys.
That level of precision was only possible due to Riveria's years of experience and training. Without it, a spell capable of engulfing the entire 58th floor would have easily caused friendly fire.
When Finn and the others regrouped and saw the aftermath, beads of sweat formed on their foreheads.
"Riveria, wasn't that a bit much?"
Even Finn hadn't expected her magic to reach such a massive scale this time.
"I didn't increase my magic output at all."
Riveria's expression was complicated.
She had cast the spell with her usual magic output, yet its power had clearly grown significantly.
"...Did you use the dedicated enhancement?"
Riveria gave a small, hesitant nod.
Hearing that, Finn let out a slow breath.
"A 600-point boost in Magic can increase spell power this much?"
The enhancement rune crafted specifically for Riveria only increased her Magic stat. Yet just that one stat boost had nearly doubled her spell's power—an astonishing result.
Even Riveria hadn't expected such a drastic increase in strength from the dedicated enhancement.
'Maybe it's due to "Limit Off"?'
She wasn't sure if her guess was correct, but it was the only plausible explanation she could come up with.
"Finn, how about you? How did your buff feel?"
"The self-enhancement had a broad effect. It boosted my stats quite a bit—especially speed."
"Then in my case, maybe pushing one stat past its threshold amplified the spell's power exponentially."
After all, a 600-point boost in a single stat was no small thing.
This kind of specialized rune enhancement was far more effective than Riveria had previously imagined.
In fact, this was her first time using the dedicated enhancement in actual combat.
The self-enhancement had already felt powerful—but compared to the dedicated version, the difference was massive.
Otherwise, her "Rea Laevateinn" wouldn't have engulfed the entire 58th floor.
The power was easily twice—or even three times—what she could normally produce without the enhancement.
Although the boost only lasted five minutes, those five minutes were incredibly valuable for a magic-user.
If she timed it right, she could unleash spells far more destructive than ever before.
That thought gave Riveria newfound confidence in the upcoming battle against the Spirit.
"Finn, it looks like we've got a real shot."
"Yeah."
Finn felt the excitement rise within him too.
If they made it back alive, he sincerely hoped to overcome this trial.
At this point, it seemed the rune stones might just be the key to clearing it.
...
Meanwhile, Bete and the others had finished wiping out the remaining monsters nearby.
"Take thirty minutes to rest."
Finn set the rest period—nearly double what they usually took, but it was absolutely necessary.
Everyone sat down to recover.
They had been pushing non-stop since the 51st floor, and their stamina was heavily drained.
Before taking on the Spirit, they had to fully recover their strength.
"Tsubaki, weapon maintenance is up to you."
"Got it!"
Tsubaki quickly pulled out her repair tools from the spatial pouch.
Everyone's weapons needed fine-tuning to ensure they were in peak condition for the upcoming battle.
"Now, let's talk tactics for the Spirit fight."
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
[email protected]/PinkSnake