After a while of blindly stomping around the mud in search of the exit to this area, Vlasfimia finally stepped on something that felt different from the normal ground and for once, it wasn't the skull of a swamp gavial.
Rummaging through the mud with his hands, he soon got his hands on something mettalic, he grasped it and pulled it up, raising the thick mud from the ground and revealing more mud, that seemed to be going deeper than everything else around it.
Vlas being a sane and thoughtful person, immediately jumped into it and sunk into the mud while closing the hatch as he did so.
The world dungeon really was full of surprise as after sinking for while, he was seemingly carried the next floor, one with a familiar scenery scene from an unusual angle, walking to the edge of the platform he had dropped upon, he saw an endless sea of white clouds below him.
He was standing on a presumably humongous stone pillar, in the distance, he could see many other of such pillars, this floor was quite something, it was even more so when the way to access it was thought a hatch filled with mud, said passage which was nowhere to be seen anymore.
Only a single monster seemed to be around on this floor and it moved so fast around that Vlas losts its track multiple time as it went too far for him to detect the fire in the monster's eye but after staying on this pillar for a while, he was able to catch a glimpse of the monsters that flew through the air of the forty-seventh floor of the dungeon.
For once, Vlas had no idea what it was exactly, it was shaped roughly like a wyvern but thinner and more agile looking, it had bluish feathers and a large dark beak, it almost seemed as if it had no eyes due to how small they were, its hind legs ressembled talons but still had a very draconic aspect to them.
What it was didn't really matter to him anyways as the monster wouldn't attack him but being able to know its capabilities would certainly be welcomed.
However, for now Vlas was more focused on finding out how this floor was supposed to be completed, as he was about to start to climb down the pillar he was on, the fire spoke to him.
It told him about one of its newly acquired abilities and hurried him to try it out.
"Hold on a second, I can't just do it like that" spoke Vlasfimia as he sat down and focused for a bit, the power stemming from the fire in his left eye swirled around him in an order of chaos.
_____________________________
The ability used by Vlasfimia wasn't exactly accurate and instead of happening only once at the location he had wanted it to go, it had also manifested in other places, seemingly deciding by itself that it should be like that and thus, humanoid shapes made of a bright orange energy emerged in many places, replicating the appearance Vlasfimia, not that he would be recognisable as just an orange shape.
They all appeared before participants of the great holy hunt, the expedition as well as a certain young squire, only one of these bright orange figures could be seen in the same area at a time.
For the expedition, it wasn't much of a threat as the figures were lesser in every way to Vlas and also due to their high numerical advantage.
The various members of the great holy hunt that were faced with them, had varying results, some were caught in bad situations and met their end, other were injured after fighting valiantly and other had an easy time, thanks to the same reasons as why the expedition did well.
The young squire had a difficult time but still managed to emerge victorious without any injuries, the lack of great intellect in the figure had allowed him to have an edge in this fight, he was able to realise that what had appeared before him had been the one he had come for doing and with the difficulty he had had to take it down, he was a bit worried about fighting the real deal and decided to slow down even more than before and take some time to get some levels from the monsters in the dungeon.
______________________________________
"Gnart" called out the saint of the Holy order, the one going by the name of Virtus.
"Yes?" simply responded the old man as he turned to the young saint.
Gnart was met with a serious expression on the saint's face, even more serious than usual, the old man hadn't expected that to be possible.
"Those humanoid things from earlier, made entirely of the energy that goes against holiness, I know where they originated from" spoke Virtus, his dark blue eyes shining with conviction.
The old man stayed silent and waited for Virtus to speak.
"We shall join the dungeon expedition ourselves and take care of the heretic" uttered the saint, surprising Gnart.
"Only the two of us? Not that I am complaining but it seems like a strange choice to engage against the target of the holy hunt with so few people when he have the equivalent of an army ready to fight against said target" spoke Gnart, usually the one to offer such ideas was him and Virtus would be the one acting with logic.
"You are right, call it a gut feeling or an illumination from the gods but I believe bringing many people will only worsen the situation, in fact, I have the sentiment that even the two of us will be too much" spoke the saint, Gnart was confused by his words but decided not to question him further and went on to prepare for what might be the fight of his life.
Virtus joined both of his hands and gave a silent prayer, shaking the feeling that was growing within him away and he felt himself be emboldened.