Ryota scrutinized the humanoid figure before him.
In body shape, skin tone, and facial features, she was exactly like the legendary Spirit.
But the momentary ripple of power that had leaked from her, and the mechanical voice that had echoed in his ears, told Ryota one thing: this was only a avatar.
"Good. If it had been the real body…"
He remembered it vividly—according to the original DanMachi story, Corrupted Spirit could wield six different elemental spirit magics.
Not as terrifying as the Black Dragon, perhaps, but still a nightmare for many Adventurers.
So even if this wasn't the true body, it was still a terrifying presence.
"To drag down the entire 60th Floor, twist the terrain, and turn a glacial region into a dense forest…"
"That kind of power… can't be underestimated."
"As for why avatr of Corrupted Spirit would show up here…"
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryota glanced at Ais standing behind him. The answer was already clear in his mind.
Ais's very existence was an anomaly the Corrupted Spirit could never ignore.
"Though Corrupted Spirit mastered six elemental spirit magics…"
"There's one she didn't have—wind."
And the golden-haired girl behind him was the descendant of the Wind Spirit, born with Spirit blood in her veins, inherently capable of manipulating wind.
That Wind Magic she used to buff herself was the clearest manifestation of her soul and bloodline.
The Corrupted Spirit was incomplete.
And Ais was the "final fragment" missing from that whole.
That was why, the moment Ais struck down the Flower Monster, the deep-buried avatar of the Corrupted Spirit had suddenly been stirred—
Breaking free from the Dungeon, returning to the surface,
To devour the last inheritor of wind-blood,
To complete her true "self."
These two goals had been the Corrupted Spirit's obsession for countless years.
The clone before them, though not her true body, undoubtedly carried fragments of her will—and her core purpose.
And it wasn't just Ryota. Members of both the Loki and Freya Familias around them had begun to sense something was off.
"It's… the Corrupted Spirit?!"
"I thought she disappeared long ago?!"
"No… it's a clone!"
"…"
Everyone's expressions shifted, tension rising like a tidal wave.
Even if it was only a clone, the sheer aura the Corrupted Spirit emitted was enough to chill them to the bone.
Especially here—on the 60th Floor!
With its unfamiliar terrain and oppressive atmosphere, no one dared let down their guard.
Even Finn, usually the picture of calm, furrowed his brow in rare unease.
"This thing… is going to be a problem…"
He muttered under his breath.
"And… her target seems to be Ais."
With that reminder, the members of the Loki Familia instinctively tightened formation around Ais, edging closer to her.
Feeling the gaze of Demi Spirit settle on her, Ais gripped Feather's Echo tightly.
A strange feeling churned in her chest.
But the Loki Familia wasn't just any group—they had been through multiple Expeditions.
Finn, as the leader, instantly ran through terrain layout, chant shielding positions, retreat routes, and possible suppression tactics in his head. He was just about to speak and issue commands—
Demi Spirit moved.
Boom—
Before the sound could fully register, her figure—moving faster than the eye could follow—slipped past the Freya Familia's vanguard with ghostlike grace!
Ottar and the others barely had time to react before the slender, eerie silhouette was already lunging straight toward Ais.
A blaring alarm went off in Ais's mind.
She instinctively stepped forward, raising Feather's Echo, preparing a super-short chant.
But—
"!!!"
Just as Demi Spirit's form closed in on her—
She suddenly froze in place!
As if some invisible "thing" had yanked her from behind, her body was abruptly dragged backward, flung through the air in reverse.
Everyone froze.
The scene was so abrupt, so illogical, that it defied the rhythm of battle.
The Freya Familia stood stunned. The Loki Familia was even more baffled.
"What the hell?! What is she doing?!"
"Why the hell is she flying backward?!"
"Did she change targets?!"
"…"
Everyone's gaze turned simultaneously in the direction demi spirit had been flung.
There, the eerie figure hovered in midair for a few seconds before landing squarely in front of Ryota.
Ryota stood with one arm raised high.
The gesture—the power—the irresistible suction…
It was all painfully familiar.
Riveria froze. Her mind was flooded with the memory of those surreal events on the 59th Floor.
Her eyes narrowed sharply as she gasped aloud:
"…That black-robed figure from before—he used this move too."
"The one that pulled monsters straight toward him—"
The moment the words left her lips, everyone froze, expressions shifting to stunned revelation.
Finn bit his thumb.
"You're saying… that black-robed guy… was a part of Ryota?"
Silence fell. Every eye turned toward Ryota.
The raised right arm. The rotating pupil in his eye...
In an instant, everyone realized:
All this about Expeditions, about team coordination, about the Freya and Loki Familias joining forces—
It was all just stage dressing in front of him.
With a single move, he'd locked down Demi Spirit.
Just how many trump cards did this guy have?!
"Ugh… ugh…"
Demi Spirit flailed in midair, trying to break free from the pull.
But the more she struggled, the stronger the force became.
"She's a monster, right? Even if she's a clone…"
Ryota murmured.
"I think… you'll do nicely."
With a thought, golden Nine-Tails chakra surged from his back, forming a massive golden hand.
The fingers extended, forcibly stabilizing Demi Spirit's trembling head—
Forcing her beautiful, almost bewitching face to look him dead in the eye.
The next second—
Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, activated!
Demi Spirit's body jolted violently.
Her previously writhing, resisting body went still in an instant.
Her pupils still held traces of greed toward Ais, of rage at the world—
But those emotions shattered like fragile glass under Ryota's gaze, crumbling piece by piece.
Until finally, the eyes that once brimmed with obsession were calm.
Like the surface of a lake after a storm—utterly still, without a ripple.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Even the seasoned Loki Familia, even the Freya Familia with a Level 7 member among them—none could speak.
They'd seen that Demi Spirit flash past the Freya Familia in the blink of an eye.
There was no exaggeration—this monster was at least Level 6. Maybe even stronger.
And yet now…
Ryota released his grip and gently lowered Demi Spirit to the ground.
"What are you planning to do?"
Ottar frowned.
"Do you want us… to help finish her off?"
The Freya Familia instinctively stepped back, while the Loki side raised their weapons in ready stance.
If Ryota so much as nodded, a barrage of magic would rain down immediately.
But then Lefiya noticed something, breaking the tension—
"Her eyes… Why are they different?!"
Everyone blinked, looking toward the just-landed monster.
And instantly, their scalps went numb.
Those once eerie, unfathomable eyes now bore the exact same Eternal Mangekyō pattern as Ryota's.
"…No way!"
Hedin gasped sharply.
"What is this?!"
"A spell? A Skill?"
"Don't ask."
Ryota spoke flatly.
"We're not done yet."
And with that, he began walking into the depths of the forest ahead.
What was even more shocking—
The once-crazed, monstrous Corrupted Spirit avatar now followed behind him like a docile bodyguard, silent and obedient.
The image was too surreal. A creature powerful enough to reshape the entire 60th Floor was now… his pet?
"…Just who the hell is this guy…"
Someone muttered the question aloud.
But no one could answer. No one dared.
All they knew—
Was that Ryota could no longer be defined as just part of someone's Familia.
Watching his retreating back, they all found themselves subconsciously following.
Was it instinct?
No, it felt more like… submission to absolute power.
In that moment, there was no more "Freya Familia" or "Loki Familia."
There was only one truth—they were all just "audience" to Ryota's exploration.
Ahead, Ryota walked slowly, waiting for the system to process the branch mission.
[Eliminate a Demi Spirit (0/1)]
It was a mission assigned by the system, though it hadn't specified a method.
"'Eliminate' could mean a lot of things."
The most straightforward was to kill.
But Ryota wasn't in a hurry.
"Deva Path is useful, but it's too destructive."
"This is the 60th Floor—we're close to the 61st. If I accidentally unseal something…"
He wasn't about to fight the Black Dragon right now.
So this clone, though it had some degree of autonomy, was far weaker than the main body—just weak enough to be tamed.
Rather than destroy her, it made far more sense to subdue her and make her serve him.
"Dungeon exploration really ought to be automated…"
He didn't even look back, but he could sense the calm, utterly obedient soul of the Demi Spirit behind him.
Just like… when he'd completely tamed Kurama.
Kurama was a beast. Demi Spirit was a beast too.
Yeah, this made sense.
And if the system didn't accept this as "eliminated"?
Well, he could always twist her head off later. Ryota wasn't short on options.
BOOM—!
A series of heavy explosions echoed from deep in the forest.
The Loki and Freya Familia members tensed immediately, snapping into formation before they could even identify the threat.
"Another Demi Spirit?!"
Hogni instinctively drew his blade.
But then, they all froze—
Ryota kept walking, but the clone behind him vanished.
"Fwoosh—!"
She disappeared from sight, and seconds later, thunderous impacts rang out in the distance.
Chunks of bloody corpses were flung through the air, disintegrating into black ash.
Demi Spirit returned to Ryota's side as if nothing had happened, silently resuming her position behind him.
From departure, to execution, to rejoining—
The whole process took less than five seconds.
Silence.
Hedin didn't even want to talk anymore. He just looked up at the sky.
Ottar's Adam's apple bobbed. Watching Demi Spirit quietly return to Ryota's side, he finally couldn't hold it in anymore:
"Are you… having her clear the path?"
Ryota smiled.
"She's not clearing the path. This is automated exploration."
Everyone: "…"
Time ticked by.
The entrance to the 61st Floor lay just ahead.
A cold wind drifted up from below, tinged with unease, as if whispering… or warning.
But more terrifying than the chill was how effortlessly they had cleared the last two floors.
—The 59th, swept clean by the black-robed Deva Path Ryota summoned. The monsters didn't even get a scream out before turning to ash.
—The 60th, where Demi Spirit silently dispatched every hostile entity with frightening precision.
This wasn't an Expedition.
It felt more like watching a "god" patrol the borders of his domain.
"Is this really an Expedition?"
Hogni chuckled bitterly.
"Shut up."
Hedin shot him a look.
"Just follow quietly."
Finn stood at the rear, staring at Ryota's back, then at the yawning entrance ahead.
He knew full well—this wasn't an Expedition anymore.
The system hadn't issued the mission completion tone, but Ryota wasn't worried. He turned his head slightly and said:
"This next floor… it's the one where the Guild said the seal's weakening, right?"
Ottar nodded, voice tinged with something like… reverence.
"Once we finish exploring the 61st Floor, we can head back."
"Let's go."
With that, Ryota stepped into the 61st Floor.
Demi Spirit followed close behind.