After choosing a path and walking through the long luminescent ice tunnel, they came out in an enormous chamber of glistening ice. In the middle of it was a hill of opaque ice, before it started shaking and cracking.
A few seconds later, the hill of ice exploded into many pieces with some of them flying in the group's direction, prompting them to dodge in different directions. In the spot where the ice hill was before, a large blue western dragon with blood-red eyes slowly emerged and roared to the sky, "Of all monsters that I've seen within the Dungeon, that certainly is the coolest thing. Literally and figuratively.", commented Kisuke lightheartedly.
The clear blue scales that reflected the light, the beautiful curve of its dark blue horns, the slender body and graceful wings that screamed majesticness. Just from its appearance alone, any man who had ever dreamed of fantasy would admire it.
However, Yoruichi wasn't a person like that as she immediately dashed under its belly, throwing her palm upwards, "Haah!!!"
Kuraokami's belly caved in as it was launched upwards and it screamed in pain.
The Ice Dragon immediately spread its wings out and stabilized itself in midair before looking towards Yoruichi with eyes filled with madness. But before it could even roar, it felt a thin line wrapping around its neck.
Switching its attention towards the culprit, it saw Kuroka, who was holding her black whip sword. Using a Magic Circle as a stepping platform, Kuroka jumped back as she pulled back her sword.
The blade of her sword immediately dug deep into the Dragon's neck, creating a large wound all around its neck before it returned to its master.
The incredible pain it felt from Kuroka's attack immediately attracted all of its rage and it forgot about the opponent who'd sent it flying.
Kuroka then saw how it inhaled deeply and immediately controlled her whip sword to form a spiral in front of her. The next moment, her ears and tails lit up with black flames and a striking blue tattoo appeared on her face.
From the gaps in her blade, the same black flames were ejected out, forming a solid circular shield in front of her.
The next second, Kuraokami opened its mouth wide and released a blue beam which contained an extremely freezing Magic Power towards Kuroka. However, even before it could land on her shield, the beam was dispersed in multiple directions, not doing any damage to its target.
At this sight, the Monster Rex became confused but it didn't have time to think as it felt a presence on the back of its neck, "Tesshou (Iron Palm)!"
Hitting just above the large, profusely bleeding cut, Yoruichi severed the Dragon's head, immediately turning it into a cloud of ash, leaving behind its undamaged Magic Stone and a few claws.
After immediately picking up the loot and placing it in her inventory, Yoruichi urged Kisuke, "Let's go. Before the others reach this place."
"Oh, right. That roar just should have alerted the people in the safe zone.", mumbled Kisuke as he ran after the girls towards the 34th floor.
More than 10 minutes after they left, splashing sounds could be heard from the room where they'd come from earlier. Soon after, four groups of people hurriedly entered the Kuraokami's ice chamber, only to be met with an empty place and piles of ashes.
"What's this? Wasn't it agreed upon that we'll take care of the two Monster Rex's this time? Who did this?" Fenia, one of the people who came down, asked in confusion and slight anger.
Not far from her, however, she heard a mocking snort, "Hmph! Stop this ploy, will ya? It's pretty obvious that you wanted to take the next respawn, too, by slaying this monster secretly. Too bad for you, we won't give up our right as the next one in line."
Fenia glared at the man who just spoke, "I could also say the same as you! This could have been your group's doing, thinking that you could get away with it!"
The man, a Weretiger glared back at Fenia, "Huh!? And where's your evidence!?"
The man is one of the Vice Captains of the Aruna Familia, Todd Bunce, a Level 6. But from the way he acted, he looked like a low-level ruffian.
The other man who came down with him, one of the executives of the Aruna Familia, Salvatore Borne, who was a Human and a Level 5, grabbed his shoulder in an attempt to remind him that they were at a disadvantage due to the fact that their Captain hadn't appeared in public for a month now.
And indeed, Fenia sneered at them and used that fact, "I could ask the same, but I'll ask this instead. Where's your Captain? The people who are capable of this are all accounted for, except for your Captain. He could have come down here to do this and considering your reputation, it isn't a farfetched possibility."
Todd gritted his teeth as that didn't come to his mind at all. But before he could say anything, Salvatore spoke up first, "In the name of Aruna-sama, I can assure you that Captain Hadrian is within Zitta as we speak."
"Tsk.", Fenia immediately clicked her tongue and looked at others who were investigating the chamber, "So who did it?"
Not being able to contain himself, Todd immediately answered, "It's obviously your Astarte Familia! Your members are recently very active within the Dungeon and we have no way of knowing what they're up to once they're inside!"
But instead of Fenia, it was the Captain of the Amphitrite Familia who retorted at him, "Shut your loud mouth! Even if it was your Captain along with some other people, they couldn't have done this!"
Todd immediately turned to the Elf called Lelalia, the Captain of Amphitrite Familia and a Level 7, "What was that, hag!? Are you saying my Captain is so weak that he couldn't defeat Kuraokami!?"
Instead of Lelalia, it was Fenia's companion who answered him, "Take a look around. Aside from the small pothole in the middle, there are no other signs of battle. Considering that neither the Rex nor the people who killed it were here when we arrived, it's safe to assume that it was instantly killed and without much effort from its assailants."
The Elf, Yenna Lightwing, an executive of the Astarte Familia and a Level 5, then turned her head towards Todd and continued, "For everyone's sake, please don't go to an investigation if you're only going to run your mouth around and not use your head. You're only suitable for grunt work and you should just stick to that."