At the edge of the cliff, the explosions of fire erupted one after another, expanding outward.
Every member of Loki Familia watched as this sudden sea of fire appeared, each one losing their composure.
Especially Lefiya, who witnessed Riezel and Ais being engulfed by the fire, staggered and almost fainted.
Luckily, Finn, Gareth, and Riveria held everyone back; otherwise, they would have absolutely charged forward without thinking.
"Those two are fine!"
Riveria's words had just echoed when two gusts of wind blew away the fire waves, revealing Riezel and Ais emerging from the flames almost simultaneously, a bit messy but with no apparent injuries.
"Mr. Riezel! Miss Ais!"
Lefiya exclaimed with joy, and the others were relieved as well. However, Riezel and Ais stared straight ahead, their expressions becoming solemn. Lefiya was about to run over to check on them, but the two stopped her.
"Don't come, Lefiya!" Ais called out without looking back.
"Wh-What happened?" Lefiya had to stop in her tracks, standing there in surprise.
At that moment, Riezel's voice slowly resonated.
"A big one is coming."
His tone was calm and indifferent, but the content made everyone present uneasy. It wasn't until after a while that everyone understood what he meant by 'a big one is coming'.
*BOOM!*
A massive arm extended from below the cliff, slamming onto the cliff face, and creating a loud noise. A flat-shaped arm seemed to be supporting something as a gigantic figure slowly rose from below the cliff, entering the eyes of everyone present.
""...""
At that moment, every adventurer present fell silent.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a monster about six meters tall.
Similar to the worm monster, it had a yellow-green body and flat-shaped arms, like an enlarged version of the worm monster, but with significant differences in overall appearance.
For example, the upper body, like a mountain, was no longer beast-like but had smooth, curving humanoid features. While its flat-shaped arms were no longer just outlines; they resembled fish fins, with pairs on each side, two on each upper arm.
Several tube-like organs hung down from the back of its head, while the colorful hues on its yellow-green body seemed chaotic as if a mysterious deadly poison had invaded. The intense colors extended to the upper half of its face, which lacked a nose, eyes, and mouth—only contours, reminiscent of a female humanoid features.
This monster's appearance was akin to a worm metamorphosing into a butterfly, strangely beautiful in a way. However, this less-than-flattering beauty was overshadowed by its massively protruding, lack-of-smooth-lines, and downright ugly purple-black abdomen.
"AAAAAAAAAA—!!!"
The female-like worm monsters crawled up from the cliff as if hatching from an egg, emitting an excited, soprano-like scream into the world.
The piercing sound made several people present feel physically uncomfortable, prompting them to vomit directly.
"What... What the hell is that?!"
"Does the dungeon have a monster like this?!"
Tiona and Tione let out screams one after another that sounded almost miserable.
"Another disgusting piece of shit!" Bete spat on the ground without hesitation.
Meanwhile, the expressions of Finn, Riveria, and Gareth turned serious.
"Oy, oy, this doesn't look good at all..." Gareth's whisper echoed the thoughts of most people present.
It wasn't just because a colossal monster comparable to a floor boss appeared before them, but also because of its undisguised malice.
After the female-like worm monster screamed, it started to move.
It opened its four flat arms as if intending to embrace someone gently. But with this movement, colorful particles spread from its embrace.
Without a doubt, this monster was the source of the massive explosion just now.
"Fall back!" Finn ordered in a hair-trigger voice, causing everyone present to twitch, turning around without hesitation and running with all their might.
"Ais!"
"Got it!"
Riezel and Ais also chose not to confront it head-on and retreated as fast as possible.
The colorful particles fell like pollen, scattering across the entire cliff.
Then—
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Tremendously intense explosions occurred one after another without any surprise.
All the particles that touched the ground and the remnants of the camp turned into tiny but powerful bombs at this very moment, exploding successively.
A fire wave surged, heat churned, and the exploding flames were like a fiery red tide, engulfing everything with astonishing power, destroying everything in its path.
Under such massive explosions, the cliff finally crumbled and collapsed like a torrent.
Every member of the expedition party could only dodge and jump amidst the torrent of rubble, stepping on shattered pieces of the cliff, sliding down from the edge, and being chased by the rubble.
Some even jumped down without any regard for safety.
If it weren't for Finn and other first-class adventurers assisting, many lower-level members would have surely met their demise.
"Lefiya!" Ais, wrapped in the wind, held onto the falling Lefiya as if flying through the air.
As for Riezel, he briefly danced in midair with Ariel and left all the rescue work to Finn and the others. Without delay, he dispersed the flame and darted toward the female-like worm monster, alone.
The arms under the monster, which caused the massive explosion, swayed and waved, running on the cliff walls like a spider.
It was evident that it had no intention of letting anyone present escape. It chased after everyone down the cliff, accompanying the rushing torrent of rubble. At the same time, it lifted its upper body, allowing the featureless facial area to split open, revealing a grotesque mouth.
*PSSST—*
The intense corrosive acid was immediately sprayed out by the female-like worm monster.
The scale and speed were much stronger than the normal worm monster. If the acid sprayed by the worm monster was likened to a high-pressure water gun, what the female-like worm monster sprayed out was more like a high-pressure water cannon.
Many people became targets of the monster, watching helplessly as a large amount of corrosive acid approached, their faces showing a look of fear.
Seeing this, Riezel immediately began to chant.
"Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree. You are an expert of the bow."
"Shoot, sniper of the fairies."
"Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy."
"Arcs Ray!"
The arrow of light was released and quickly caught up with the acid in motion.
*BOOOM!*
The arrow of light and the acid collided immediately, exploding each other.
Riezel immediately used Ariel to intercept the splashing acid.
*Sizzle* *Sizzle* *Sizzle*
An incredible corrosive sound echoed as the exploding acid touched the cliff walls and the ground, making large holes wherever it made contact.
Under such corrosion, the cliff wall immediately collapsed after becoming riddled with holes, making the torrent of rubble even larger while emitting thick black smoke.
"W-We're saved..."
The expedition party members who were almost hit by the acid let out relieved sighs.
"Move quickly!" Riezel shouted at them.
""Yes!""
The expedition party members, originally supposed to be seniors, unconsciously followed his command without hesitation.
This was the change brought about by strength.
In a situation where even the familia executives had to flee, Riezel came alone to confront countless monsters, protecting them. Just this act alone was enough to earn the respect of everyone.
However, the crisis was far from over.
*Rumble—*
The female-like worm monster, seeing its attack blocked by Riezel, immediately changed its target and locked onto him. Its huge body swung, charging like a train.
*BANG!*
Riezel was about to make a move when the monster swept out its flat-shaped arm, hitting his body and sending him flying.
"Mr. Riezel!" Lefiya, held by Ais, couldn't help but shout in panic.
Watching Riezel get hit, everyone's face turned pale.
"Despite its big size, how can it move so quickly?" Finn furrowed his brow.
It was well-known that large monsters shared a common weakness—they were not adept at precise and fast movements.
However, this female-like worm monster completely lacked this disadvantage. Its massive body charged forward while agilely changing direction. The range of motion for its flat-shaped arms was also extensive, not only delivering confusing and rapid movements but also whipping like a flexible whip. It didn't have the natural drawbacks of large monsters.
Of course, the most fearsome aspect was the corrosive acid as this acid could dissolve even a cliff.
Among everyone present, probably only Riezel and Ais with their 'Ariel' were capable of withstanding it. This was the most challenging part because it rendered Level 6 like Finn useless.
Even if they succeed in killing these worm monsters, their weapons and bodies would be corroded by the exploding acid inside the bodies of these monsters, completely sealing off the possibility of close combat. This made Level 6 close combatant experts like Finn and Gareth incapable of approaching and forced to retreat repeatedly.
Originally, a rearguard mage like Riveria could still be useful. But now, looking at the size of the female-like worm monster and its bulging abdomen, Finn had reason to believe that if she used her magic on this monster, once it fell, it would likely self-destruct on the spot, just like the previous worm monsters.
With a monster this massive self-destructing, how much acid would it release?
Finn strongly suspected that when this monster self-destructed, the surrounding area would be enveloped in corrosive acid. In other words, once they killed this monster, most, if not all, of the people present would die.
Things were really becoming more troublesome.
'We have to retreat.'
As Finn finished pondering and made a decision, suddenly—
"Arcs Ray!"
An arrow of light came from a distance, hitting the female-like worm monster clinging to the cliff wall and knocking it down with a thunderous roar.
Riezel, covered in the wind, dived in, crashing directly into its body.
*BOOOM!*
With a tremendous sound, he transformed into a tornado, carrying the monster away from everyone.
""Mr. Riezel!""
""Riezel!""
Everyone exclaimed in succession, panic was evident in their voices. Meanwhile, Finn remained composed as he quickly grasped Riezel's plan.
'Does he want to take that monster away from this area, fighting it alone?'