The snowstorm on the fifty-ninth floor seemed to freeze still in that moment.
The vast expanse was plunged into deathly silence.
Even the biting wind seemed stunned by the scene before it, pausing mid-air.
Hedin's pupils shrank sharply, the muscles in his face tightening on instinct.
The usually expressionless Ottar, for once, showed a rare flicker of gravity.
And the always overdramatic Hogni couldn't help but take a step back.
He struggled to raise his head—though he only met the eyes of that black-robed figure in midair for a second, it felt as though some giant beast had locked onto him.
Cold sweat immediately streamed from his temples, trailing down his jaw.
His voice trembled, squeezing out from the depths of his throat:
"What... what the hell is that...?"
Everyone instinctively turned their gaze to Ryota, then lifted their heads toward the black-robed man looking down on them from above.
That presence—just standing there—was enough to make everyone feel like they were suffocating.
At that moment, the entire Freya Familia was overcome by a soul-deep, primal fear!
Farther away, the Loki Familia exchanged glances with each other.
Their expressions were nearly identical: shock, confusion, and even... dread.
Lefiya stood slack-jawed, forgetting to blink. She turned her head toward the blonde girl beside her, who was just as stunned:
"Miss Ais… th-this…"
Though Ais remained silent, a flicker like starlight sparked in her eyes.
She remembered their first sparring match—back then, he was someone she could still imagine defeating.
But now…
The boy standing ahead in the whirling snowstorm looked like a god descended to earth, radiating a pressure that demanded submission from all things.
Meanwhile, the core members of the Freya Familia were caught in even more tangled emotions—
They had already accepted Ryota's "joining" them as the outcome of the War Game victory.
But seeing him now wield such overwhelming power, the seed of fear buried deep in their hearts was sprouting like wildfire!
All eyes turned to the black-haired boy standing alone in the snow.
He stood there, calm and composed.
But in that moment, everyone present had the same thought:
"This isn't a Level 4."
"This… isn't even human."
As emotions peaked, a familiar system notification echoed in Ryota's ear:
[Ding—Fusion Progress +1%]
[Current Fusion Progress: 26%]
"As I thought!"
Ryota's heart leapt with joy.
The system prompt still echoed in his ears, but his thoughts were already spinning at full speed.
A new floor, new monsters.
To the current world of DanMachi, this was a forbidden zone, an unknown.
But to him—Ryota—it was the most precious kind of resource.
"Just killing one Titan Alm earned me a 1% fusion boost."
"Even though it only took one move for me."
"But in the eyes of the system, this counts as pioneering uncharted territory."
His eyes gleamed faintly. In his pupils, the faint pattern of the Rinnegan shimmered, distorting the air around him.
"Back on the surface, I was racking my brain on how to cut corners… thinking of ways to speed up the fusion progress."
"But now—"
"This is the perfect training ground."
A smirk curled on Ryota's lips.
He'd never been one for mindless grinding, but this time—
These 59th to 61st Dungeon floors were like a Rinnegan evolution instance crafted just for him by fate.
"The stronger the monsters, the faster the progress."
"The deeper the chaos, the clearer my world becomes."
Under the shocked and disbelieving gazes of the others, Ryota calmly stepped forward.
Deva Path floating above him silently followed.
Not far away, through the mist of the frozen plains, a twisted figure came charging toward them.
Another Titan Alm was approaching fast.
And for the next hour, an eerie silence reigned among the group.
It wasn't the silence of coordinated battle, nor the awkward silence of strangers.
It was the kind of silence born from utter speechlessness—when words fail to describe the magnitude of what one's witnessing.
The number of Titan Alms on the 59th floor was far greater than anyone had expected.
One after another, they erupted from the ice, from fissures, each one roaring with ferocity, tearing through the air in brutal charges.
But they were all wiped out.
Not "defeated."
But "crushed."
Every time one appeared, it didn't even have time to open its mouth before Deva Path raised its hand and, without a sound, blew it apart into a mist of frozen shards and blood.
Even those that slipped out of the blast radius would be sucked toward its palm and crushed into gore seconds later.
Annihilation.
Complete and utter annihilation.
Even the elite members of Freya Familia found themselves collectively speechless.
And those of Loki Familia who had just caught up at the rear—fell silent too.
Because what they were seeing… was not something human Adventurers were capable of.
This wasn't combat—it was a purge.
A divine judgment passed down upon mortals—
And the one wielding that judgment was Ryota, the boy immune to Freya's charm, unreadable even to the Guild.
Under the pressure of this advance, the 59th floor slowly lost all its terrifying aura.
No roars, no counterattacks, no struggle.
Only snow and flesh, crushed into oblivion by the force of the Rinnegan.
As they advanced deeper, it felt like the 59th floor had been fully cleared.
Aside from the biting wind, there hadn't even been a single magic chant uttered.
Because there hadn't been any need.
All because of Ryota.
As they neared the entrance to the 60th floor, Hedin turned his head and asked Ottar in a low voice:
"...Is Freya's plan really going to work?"
Ottar was silent for several seconds, his eyes never leaving the boy single-handedly fighting an army.
"...Forget it."
His words were quiet—but they made Hedin freeze completely.
This was Ottar.
Freya's most loyal warrior, the strongest force in all of Orario, Level 7.
He would rather die than fail her orders.
But now—
He had chosen to abandon them.
And said it aloud.
Just as Ryota had guessed, Freya's plan had been to wear him down through this expedition, then use her charm once more to finally ensnare him.
She knew well that the earlier floors were child's play for Ryota.
That's why she set the grind point at the unknown 59th floor.
She'd even ordered Ottar and the others to protect him as much as possible.
That explained why the Freya Familia had stayed so close to him up until now.
But now… wear him down?
Forget wearing him down—Ryota hadn't even changed his breathing rhythm.
Ottar finally tore his gaze away from the boy and shook his head:
"...Let's proceed to the 60th floor. We'll explain things to Freya when we return."
And just then, up ahead—
As Deva Path crushed another Titan Alm into mist with a thunderous blast, no mechanical voice echoed in Ryota's ears.
As expected—it hit the cap.
Initially, one kill gave him 1%.
But now, even after ten kills, there wasn't even a blip.
The system's limit threshold had been triggered.
If it let him endlessly farm monsters, he could probably max out fusion within a few floors.
"But still—"
Ryota glanced at the "39%" displayed on his status panel.
"In less than an hour, I've already reached nearly halfway."
"This is… more than satisfactory."
He looked ahead, toward the entrance to the 60th floor.
But he didn't rush forward.
Instead, he looked up at the black-robed figure hovering above him—Deva Path.
The figure said nothing. It didn't need to.
The instant Ryota raised his eyes, Deva Path's form blurred and vanished into the air, leaving only residual shockwaves behind.
Though its eyes were not true Rinnegan, but Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan—
Ryota knew that hidden pulse of Rinnegan energy was no illusion.
Even if it was a summoned form with only a fragmented eye, it still possessed high-level execution capability.
Especially with its three signature moves—Almighty Push, Universal Pull, Planetary Devastation—all intact, though their scale and range were limited.
But that was more than enough.
Against the monsters of the 59th floor, he hadn't even needed to lift a finger.
With the Deva Path's disappearance, a certain oppressive weight seemed to lift from the entire floor.
Everyone let out a collective breath at the same time.
The pressure that black-robed figure radiated—though not hostile—was more unbearable than open hostility.
At that moment, Ryota turned and asked casually:
"Wanna rest up?"
His question didn't just prompt a reaction from the Freya Familia—even the Loki Familia watching from afar shook their heads in unison.
In that moment, both Familias fell into perfect silence.
No one mentioned being rivals. No one spoke of cooperation.
It was like a mutual, unspeakable defeat.
Because everyone understood—at this point in the expedition, both the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia were nothing more than spectators riding Ryota's coattails.
Some even wondered what the point of their presence was anymore.
And the black-haired boy leading them at the front simply hummed softly and stepped into the 60th floor.
The rest followed suit.
In the blink of an eye, the world before them changed dramatically.
The frozen expanse vanished without a trace.
Before them stretched an endless rainforest.
Ryota's steps slowed slightly, eyes narrowing.
Behind him, Hedin—just stepping onto the 60th floor—stared in shock at the sudden shift and murmured:
"This… this isn't glacial anymore?"
Finn frowned, quickly pulling a weathered parchment from his satchel.
It was compiled by the Guild and Loki Familia.
He glanced down at it, then looked around:
Floors 59–61: Glacier Territory. Dominated by icy plains, snow valleys, and frozen lakes. Populated by extreme cold-region creatures and frost-aligned monsters.
Finn's frown deepened:
"No… this isn't an ice-field structure at all… this looks more like a jungle?"
Ryota's eyes flickered with doubt as he heard that.
And just then—
Snap!—
A sudden burst of sound—vines ripping through the earth!
Off to the side of the Loki Familia, a five-meter-tall plant burst from the ground.
A blood-red bud split open to reveal rows of razor-sharp fangs.
Before anyone could react, Ais stepped forward.
The blonde girl held Feather's Echo in hand and whispered softly:
"Awaken."
Buzz!
In the next instant, a silver-white light burst forth!
And in the same instant that the flower monster opened its maw—
Crack!!
It was sliced clean in half by a diagonal arc of steel.
It writhed briefly, then collapsed with a thud and crumbled into ash.
"Why are there plant-type monsters here too?"
Ais frowned slightly, sword still in hand.
Ryota glanced at her, just about to continue forward—
But suddenly froze.
Because the ground was trembling.
No—not just the ground—the entire forest floor was shaking.
With deep, heavy footsteps, something was charging toward them from the depths of the 60th floor.
In the blink of an eye, a tall, lithe figure burst from the jungle and appeared before the group.
Her shape was nearly identical to that of a human.
Except for her eyes.
Those eyes emitted an eerie violet-blue glow, pulsing strangely.
For a moment, the entire group fell into stunned silence.
"She's… human?"
"No… her aura isn't human…"
"She's not an Adventurer!!"
"..."
As everyone was still stunned by her human-like appearance, she slowly raised her head.
Her gaze—cold, scorching, laced with hatred and madness—locked squarely onto the blonde girl from the Loki Familia.
Staring at this creature that was both human and not, Ryota tilted his head in confusion:
"What the hell is going on?"
Suddenly, a mechanical voice rang out in his ear:
[Ding—Main Branch Quest Triggered]
[Quest Objective]: Eliminate a Demi Spirit (0/1)
[Quest Reward]: Unknown
Ryota froze for a few seconds—then suddenly understood:
"A Demi Spirit?"
"So this change in terrain was caused by Demi Spirit's main body before?"
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