Chapter 26 – Udaeus and Balor
"And here we are! Well done girls, now let's set up camp!"
At Alise's announcement, I lay down and gave my legs a much-needed rest.
Turns out, constantly running and fighting for an entire day does a number on one's stamina, who knew?
After a few moments of relaxing, Iska comes over with the mostly-empty supporter pack.
"Here, grab your tent and put the Undine Cloth back in."
"Ah, thanks Iska."
I take off my armour and start unloading my camping equipment while conversing with the Amazoness.
"Thanks again for taking this up until now."
"Ah, no problem. So, how has your experience been so far?"
"Mmm, tiring but rewarding. I'm excited to see what I can do on these floors without needing to rush forward."
"Good, and you know what to do from now on?"
"Yep, stay out of the way of fights while keeping up with the formation, pick up any drops when people are unable to, and pass out any potions when they're needed."
"Great, be ready though, Loki Familia are leaving most of their level 2's behind on this floor, so we'll be going even faster than before since the monsters now can be a threat."
"I should be fine, it was the fighting that was the most tiring, if it's just keeping up I'll be able to do so."
Packing my Undine Cloth into the bottom of the pack, I began setting up my tent.
"I'll leave you to it, just so you know, you have the middle night watch, I think Asta and Celty are before you so they'll wake you up."
"Thanks, do I handle the pack from now on?"
"When it's like this for setting up camp, it's more of the Familia's responsibility. Dinner will be ready soon, so don't take too long."
With those words, Iska then made her way to her group's tent while I mentally went over what would be happening for the rest of the expedition.
Tomorrow we would fast-track it to floor 37 where a small force consisting of those close to levelling up would fight the Udaeus with support from the expedition force if needed.
After a rest on the 38th floor, we would then make our way to the 49th floor where we will test the strength of Balor, the monster rex that hasn't been fought since the days of the Zeus and Hera Familias, before returning to the 38th floor and preparing for the return to the surface.
As for the return, it will be pretty simple in comparison. I don't know the exact specifics, but it is generally known that it is easier to ascend floors than to descend them as monsters aren't as aggressive.
Maybe, when adventurers are clearing floors, they are viewed as encroaching on the monster's territory?
Meh. I don't know, and frankly, I don't care.
All that matters is that we'll likely be able to skip camping on this floor on the way back, only staying on the 18th before heading back home.
Installing the final support for my tent, I do a light stretch before heading to the fire where dinner is going to be held with excitement.
Although brief, the tender rustic moments of chatting and eating around the fire are quite an unexpected blessing of expeditions.
----- 12 Hours Later -----
Here we are, after six hours of slogging through the Dense Forest Ravine, we finally reached the 37th floor.
With how the floors continuously get larger the deeper they go, this floor is the size of Orario, meaning from now on the floors will be larger than Orario.
I don't even want to know how long it takes to traverse the 100th floor if it even goes so far.
Anyway, the 37th floor. Known as the White Palace, the floor is unique in its layered layout.
With five circular areas between large walls that get smaller the closer to the center of the floor you get, the centermost area being called the 'Throne Room' and home to both Udaeus and the entrance to the 38th floor.
There is also a room within the middle area called the 'Colosseum'. In this terrifying place, monsters continuously replenish their numbers, meaning there is no 'clearing' that place, just constant fighting.
Dangerous. A place that is universally avoided by adventurers, and a place we would not be seeing on our expedition.
As for the journey to get here, well, let's just say Iska wasn't kidding about the change of pace.
If before was a light jog, today would be akin to a full-on sprint, this makes sense since we had to clear 12 floors that were growing bigger each time instead of 10.
I am not excited for tomorrow where we have to descend 12 even larger floors, fight an incredibly strong monster rex, then ascend those same 12 floors, all without a large rest.
Supporter duties were quite simple, the good thing about going so fast is that monster encounters are few, and the fights that did happen were handled with ease.
Hence, not only did I not have to hand out many potions, but I also only had to pick up a few drops.
Though, whenever there was a particularly dark patch on the path, I had to infuse my sword with stellar magic and use the light from my sword to illuminate the path.
My efforts to create an ultimate technique, meant to equal the odds against any beast, reduced to a lamp.
Just remembering it is depressing.
Alise then to the front of the gathered Familia.
"All right, we all know the plan and this isn't our first time here, so I'll keep this short. Be careful, be safe, and don't die."
While listening, I feel a tap on my shoulder.
Turning my head to the side, Ryuu began speaking.
"You won't be in any battles, but you have to be careful of Peluda, you know why, right?"
Peluda, arguably the most dangerous monster on the 37th floor, has poisonous needles that it fires at its enemies, the poison being potent enough to overwhelm upper-class adventurers with Abnormal Resistance, I don't even want to imagine what getting hit by it would do to me.
With most adventurers choosing Abnormal Resistance as an early development ability, they get careless concerning poisons, and the Peluda is a wake-up call to many, though those who need it often don't survive afterwards to put it into practice.
"Yes, big bad poison lizard."
"Uhh, yeah, sure."
And so, our journey to the center of the floor began.
----- Ryuu POV - 1 Hour Later -----
Standing in front of the 'Throne Room', the tension in the air is palpable.
Beyond this wall is the level 6 monster rex Udaeus, and the 'adventure' that will hopefully advance me to level 5.
The force to defeat this monster consists of me, Alise, Kaguya, Lyra, Celty, and that rude Werewolf, Bete was it?
Three high level 4's and three high level 3's. It will surely be a tough fight, but only a challenge will appease the gods enough to raise our levels.
"Listen up. The fight starts as soon we enter the room, follow Lyra's orders during the battle." the usually lighthearted Alise said with her rare serious expression.
Lyra then stood in front of our group of five, relaying her initial strategy for the upcoming fight.
"Udaeus can't move, but it has high durability to compensate, Celty and her magic will be integral to this fight as well as Ryuu and Alise's combined attack. I will be protecting Celty and dealing attacks at range, Bete and Kaguya will be focusing on any Spartoi that it summons while Alise and Ryuu keep the big baddie busy. Other than that, be careful of its attacks that spread through the ground. Understood?"
Everyone returns a resolute nod, except for the Werewolf.
"Haa? Now tell me why I'm not attacking that big bastard?"
I feel my eyebrow involuntarily twitch while noticing the three Loki Familia executives facepalming.
This damn mutt is really getting on my nerves.
"Why? Because you're a level 3 who specializes in speed rather than firepower. In your own words, you're too weak."
I see the Werewolf grit his teeth with clenched fists. It seems that Lyra struck a nerve.
"Look, Bete Loga. I already don't like you, and neither does anyone else in our Familia. But when we fight out there, we're allies and I'm the leader, so either shut up and follow my orders or run back with your tail between your legs."
A bitter glare is all that is given in response.
"Tch. Whatever."
"Good. Now, I ask that Nine Hell and Braver be on standby in case something goes wrong or we do not have enough firepower. The goal of this is to level up, so fight with all you have, it doesn't necessarily matter if we win since we have level 6's to back us up."
Receiving a chorus of nods, Lyra finishes her orders.
"As for those of you staying behind, just make sure nothing interrupts us. Since it's a separate room it is rare, but that makes it even more dangerous for us if something does get in."
After that, everyone made last-minute checks on their equipment while simultaneously hardening their resolves.
Entering the room, with myself and Alise in front, what greets us is a desolate landscape. Uprooted boulders, mounds of dirt, and most importantly, a giant black skeleton in the center.
Noticing our presence, Udaeus raises its head in our direction, its massive eye sockets blazing red.
Opening its jaw, it releases a terrifying scream, sending shockwaves that ruffle my hair.
As if responding to the Udaeus' summon, tens of Spartoi begin to emerge from the ground.
Marking the start of the battle, I follow Alise as we rush toward the beast.
"Ryuu! No need to give it time to spawn more! Let's do this!"
Giving her a nod in return, I begin chanting while avoiding the shockwave sent through the dirt.
Concurrent chanting, the ability to chant magic while moving and fighting, is an extremely useful skill that is extremely difficult to learn.
You wouldn't be able to tell with my Familia though, as every girl who uses magic, no matter the length of the chant, can use concurrent chanting.
Not being able to move in the middle of battle is a death sentence after all.
Timing the end of our chants, I rejoin Alise as her body lights up in an oh-so-familiar flame while I am surrounded by numerous orbs of stardust.
"Ok Ryuu, let's aim for the magic stone."
"Got it."
Raising our swords in parallel, I release the orbs of stardust, mixing with the torrent of flames released from Alise's sword.
Empowering and supporting each other, the blended spell eventually reaches Udaeus' ribcage, signalling the final part of our magic.
"Luvia." "Arvelia."
An explosion of fiery red, whisps of striking green flickering in the blast.
Our combined attack of my Luminous Wind and Alise's Agaris Alvesynth, the strongest attack of the Familia.
The blast's effects soon subsided and we observe the damage of our attack.
Broken ribs, a giant hole in Udaeus' chest that is soon covered by one of its hands. Although not enough to reach the magic stone and quickly finish the monster, we now have a much clearer path to victory, and with Celty preparing her magic and Udaeus only having one arm to attack, it is only a matter of time.
The next few minutes consist of me and Alise distracting Udaeus with our erratic and rapid movements, allowing Celty to continuously pepper the monster with her fire arrows.
Although I did get hit with a shockwave, a cast of Noah Heal was enough to get me back to full strength.
Eventually, Udaeus shows an opening by lifting its hand from its injury, attempting to stop another barrage from Celty.
Not letting the opportunity go to waste, Alise and I quickly chant our combined attack once again.
"Luvia!" "Arvelia!"
Another explosion of light, but this one was followed by a giant cloud of ash falling to the ground.
We did it.
Slumping slightly from exhaustion, Alise and I prop each other up while we wait for the others to lead us to the next floor.
Soon, the light headache and heavy feeling of drowsiness are wiped away as I feel a liquid trickle down my throat.
Swallowing, I open my eyelids in a flutter to see Sirius holding an empty flask up to both mine and Alise's mouths.
"You guys ok? I gave you each a stamina potion, can't have you passing out in the dungeon after all."
Untangling myself from Alise, I sheath my sword while calming down the sensation rising from my chest. Before I can say my thanks, Alise beats me to it.
"Thanks, Sirius! Now, let's get going to the next floor. Even after that stamina potion, I'm exhausted!"
"Mmm! Man, although it was hard to follow at times, your fight was amazing! Who knew that your combined magic was so cool!? Even the Loki executives were impressed!"
We then begin to walk to the now-revealed staircase to the next floor. Unfortunately, due to us destroying the magic stone, only Udaeus bones were left as loot, although they do fetch a good amount of valis, an Udaeus magic stone goes for much more.
Glancing over at Sirius, I find that for some reason I can't look into his eyes, each time I try, a creeping panic flows through my body forcing me to look down.
"Thank you, Sirius, for the stamina potion. It was quite thoughtful of you."
Raising my gaze, I see his face form a cheeky smile. For some reason, I really want to smack it, but my arms still ache from the battle.
"Oh? It wasn't a problem. But you know... you shouldn't let your guard down in the dungeon, Ryuu. Silly girl."
He walks away while I take a moment to recover from my shock, as embarrassment slowly spreads from my neck to my ears.
"W-Wha!?"
My heart is racing and I can feel my face burning.
Why were his last words, while laced with mirth, said so... lovingly?
Head down and walking with a brisk pace to the stairs, I ignore the praise of the expedition force as I try to calm this intense feeling of shame and bashfulness.
----- Sirius POV - 12 Hours Later -----
After the exhilarating fight against the Udaeus, the entire expedition force seemed to have gained a second wind, tackling floors 39 to 49 with renewed vigour.
Floors 39 to 43 are part of the aptly named area, the 'Great Desert', and it's, you guessed it, a giant desert.
Except for the dunes, the area offers high visibility, thus it's easy to avoid confrontations on those floors with proper scouting and pathing.
As for floors 44 to 48, the area is, once again, aptly called the 'Volcano Area'.
I think they got lazy in naming the areas.
Oh well.
The 'Volcano Area' looks like the inside of a volcano with many fire-based monsters roaming the floors.
Although there is a red light that shines from inside the cracks, giving the floors a spooky vibe, it still has relatively low visibility, which meant my 'Stellar Sword' technique was once again reduced to being a lamp.
Haa.
Anyways, the way up, while exciting, was not particularly notable.
Constantly running and avoiding monsters where the only fights were handled with ease doesn't give many stories to write home about.
But that's ok because here I am, at the entrance to the 49th floor known as Moytura, the largest floor we have seen yet where it is difficult to see the horizon, and at the edge of this desolate landscape of reddish-brown rocks and sands a giant figure looms.
Even from the entrance, the terrifying presence of the monster can be felt, causing unease and anxiety to permeate my very being.
And seeing some of the expressions of my fellow Familia, I am not alone in this feeling.
Balor, monster rex of the 49th floor, and a monster that hasn't been fought since Zeus and Hera were the leaders of Orario.
Calming my nerves, I take this time to observe the Balor.
First of all, it's pure black, with white bone-like spikes jutting out of its body and arms.
And it's big, really big. I would guess around 100 meters, but after a certain height, the human eye becomes inaccurate in measurement, I can only say it stands among the tallest structures I have seen on Earth.
Its 'feet', if you can call it that, consist of multiple legs that look like claws, I can guess it moves much like a centipede. I can only pray that it doesn't have the speed of one too.
It also has two giant arms, currently dug into the ground likely to maintain the balance of its massive torso.
And finally its head. Small in comparison to its body, I can only see a sharp set of teeth and a singular red eye on its otherwise smooth forehead.
All in all, its appearance definitely matches its presence.
Finn then addresses the group, I would say he is unaffected, but I notice that even he has an air of nervousness.
"All right, this is what we're here for, to confirm the records left by the great Zeus and Hera Familias. Balor, a monster no one has fought in nearly 8 years, our goal is to fight it and report our experience to the guild. This means surviving is the biggest priority. We have no clue what happens to dungeon floors when they are left unattended for so long, so stay vigilant."
Seeing that everyone is listening attentively, the Loki Familia captain continues.
"Astraea Familia, divide your level 4's into two groups, one will aid in the fight against Balor while the rest will stop the other monsters on this floor. Let's make this quick as we have to return to the 38th floor before we can rest."
He then begins talking with his Familia, likely dividing who does what for the upcoming battle.
"Ok girls, let's split into two teams. The one fighting Balor will be led by Braver while the rest will be led by Lyra, they have their own leader for their stay-behind group. I want Ryuu, Kaguya, Neze, and Ryana with me, does that sound good to you Lyra?"
"Yep. Maryuu, while you are with me, do keep an eye on the Balor group and heal them if they need it. Anyways, it seems that they're ready so let's go."
With the terrain being much like the Great Desert, it was easy to avoid monster attacks on our way toward Balor, only having a few Pheonix delay our route, easily defeated by Riveria's magic.
Eventually reaching close enough to view every tooth of Balor, a terrifying roar of the aforementioned monster signalled the start of the battle.
Finn rockets off with a stomp, bringing his glimmering golden spear to his side while the rest of the Balor group follows behind, Alise and Ryuu sticking together to cast their combined magic at a moment's notice.
Although the expedition force was divided to fend off approaching monsters, I doubt that there will be any encroaching in this battle of Titans.
If anything, it was to limit the fighters to not clog up the battlefield and have a strong force to jump in if something goes wrong. There are still 12 floors to ascend after this, after all.
Thus, I decided to observe the battle in front of me. How often will I get a chance to see a sight like this?
Seeing the shockwaves from Ryana's magic and the crimson and blue flashes of Alise and Ryuu, it's a sight that belongs in a storybook.
But even the experienced me can tell, the damage they are dealing is nothing.
With the relentless attacks thrown at it, Balor hasn't flinched or cried out in pain once.
From the strained faces of the Loki Familia executives, they seem to have come to the same conclusion.
"Scarlet Harnel and Gale! Do your combined magic! Nine Hell, follow their lead!"
I guess they're going to see how pure firepower works against it.
Soon enough, I see the barrage of stardust orbs and a stream of fire weave together and assault the monster while seeing the magic circle around Riveria illuminate.
"Luvia!" "Arvelia!" "-my name is Alf!"
A familiar explosion, followed by a wave of white mist, which upon contact created a second explosion.
"GROAAAAAH!!!"
Well, that seemed to have an effect.
Although I hope that it didn't just make it mad.
The steam and smoke soon clear, revealing a circular gash on Balor's chest, blood dripping down the monster's torso.
Yep, definitely did some damage.
But I think we'll need a lot more of those to kill it, and from how Balor's eye has widened, I don't think it will just let us do that.
"Ok, that's it guys! Let's head back!"
I guess Finn's seen enough?
And why is he biting his thumb like that, is he that stressed?
Well, not my problem.
Sprinting back to the entrance of the floor, our force makes a hasty retreat.
Seeing how the monsters seem to look the other way as we pass, they're either scared of the power that was just displayed or the theory of monsters viewing the floor as its territory holds some merit.
Feeling the all-too-familiar bead of sweat trickle down my chin, I pray that I can get back to the 18th floor soon and have a nice, relaxing bath.