Chapter 124 - Time to Fight Back!
Riveria's fist slammed onto the table with a resounding bang, holding back the anger bubbling within her as she faced Finn.
"Are you serious, Finn?!"
Though Riveria was on the verge of exploding, Finn remained firm in his decision.
"I'm not kidding, Riveria."
"I'm not sending reinforcements to the dungeon."
"I plan to use this opportunity to rid Orario of Evilus's influence."
Finn Deimne, known as the Braver, leader of one of the city's strongest Familias, stood unwavering.
He knew that as long as he carried this "responsibility," he could never become a true "hero."
After firmly stating his decision, Finn softened his tone.
"And besides, don't let worry and anger cloud your judgment, Riveria!"
"Sending reinforcements to the dungeon now would be too late."
Even a first-class adventurer would take a day to reach the lower floors where Luke and the others were.
With this delay, any aid would arrive after the event concluded.
"Since sending reinforcements wouldn't help, we shouldn't waste our strength on it."
"Evacuation from the 18th floor has already begun, and they have the best chance to catch up to the battle."
Of course, Riveria grasped this simple truth instantly.
"But... Ais and Luke are still in the dungeon."
Seeing Riveria shaken and hesitant was rare. The usually serious and imposing mage in Orario showed vulnerability.
Finn exchanged a glance with Gareth, who sat beside him.
Upon receiving Finn's signal, Gareth reluctantly stood up, stroking his beard, and said:
"Alright, Riveria, look at yourself now, crying and being annoying."
"That's why I say elves are so annoying. Tsk, tsk, look at you now, where's the style of being the vice-captain of Loki Familia?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Finn covered his face with his hands at Gareth's words. He wanted Gareth to distract Riveria, but not like this.
Gareth immediately regretted his words. It was a habit of his to banter like this, given their elf and dwarf identities.
He often engaged in such banter with Riveria, but he didn't mean to mock her.
"…"
Finn and Gareth both wondered if Riveria would suddenly explode.
However, Riveria didn't unleash a high-level magic spell on them as they expected.
Instead, she took a deep breath, trying to bury her emotions deep inside.
Taking another deep breath to calm down, she knew Finn and Gareth were right.
Riveria shot Gareth a glare and left the room.
"I'm going back to my room to get my equipment. Call me when it's time to set off."
In the end, she decided to follow Finn's instruction and expel Evilus's forces from the city.
As for Luke and Ais, Riveria could only silently pray for their safety.
...
The Other Side
The battle in the dungeon wasn't as brutal as Riveria and the others had imagined.
Thanks to Luke's intervention and planning, the current situation was relatively manageable.
The Amphisbaena on the land surface wasn't as terrifying as they'd feared.
Under Alise's leadership, the Astraea Familia members and Level 4 adventurers like Ais were the main combatants.
Supported by hundreds of other high-class adventurers, they quickly subdued the Amphisbaena.
Then they had time to observe their surroundings.
Most importantly, many wondered where the monstrous young man who had sent the Floor Boss flying with a single sword had gone.
"Hey, look over there!"
"What is that??"
"An elf? A monster? Something we've never seen before!"
"With that size, could it be a Floor Boss from deep floors?"
The adventurers soon noticed the enormous Prana barrier that had reappeared behind them and the unknown monster trapped within it.
"I can sense it! She's close, just ahead! Aria is right there!"
"Let me through!"
"Don't stop me, let me go!"
"Let me see Aria, let me... devour her!!!"
Boom, boom, boom!
Countless tentacles relentlessly bombarded Luke, destroying the surrounding terrain with speed and power.
"My apologies, but I can't allow a dangerous monster like you to approach our Familia's princess."
Luke dodged the monster's attacks while speaking to divert its attention.
The Prana barrier struggled to block the aftermath of the monster's attacks.
If its attacks hit the barrier directly, it would likely shatter after a few seconds.
At that time, the battle that the adventurers behind Luke had stabilized would be disrupted again.
More importantly, he didn't want the other party to immediately discover Ais' exact location.
So Luke changed his style and started to talk nonsense with the other party during their battle.
Demi Spirit!
That was the name of the monster Luke was facing.
He had been fighting this 'heteromorph' with a female upper body and a monster lower body for some time.
To be honest, facing this Level 7 monster like the one that almost wiped out Finn and his comrades in the original story, Luke saw almost no hope of victory.
It wasn't that Luke couldn't damage it, but that he couldn't get close at all.
"Arise, flames. Rage, rage, rage. Vortex of fire."
"******"
"Your envoy beseeches you, Salamander. Incarnate of fire. Queen of flame"
"Firestorm!"
Accompanied by the infusion of enormous magical power, crimson flames swept towards Luke.
"Tsk."
Faced with the constant rain of regenerating tentacles and the wide-area magic that covered a large area, Luke, whose attack route was completely blocked, could only retreat once again.
A large amount of reserve Prana was extracted from the Sword Sheath of Tranquility, forming layers of strong defenses to resist the Demi Spirit's round of attacks.
This stalemate had been going on for several rounds.
Interfered by the large number of constantly regenerating tentacles, and forced to retreat due to the one after another wide-area magic bombardment, Luke had no chance to get close to the other party.
However, Prana did have a considerable advantage in terms of defense.
As long as the Prana Reserve in the Sword Sheath of Tranquility was not depleted, Luke would not be harmed.
Luke and the Demi Spirit were both waiting.
The Demi Spirit was waiting for the moment when the physical strength and magic reserve of the human in front of it would be exhausted.
Luke, on the other hand, was waiting for that one chance to break through the deadlock.
At this time, the Floor Boss was already close to death, and more and more adventurers discovered the situation Luke was facing.
As one of the main combatants, Ais only had time to look towards Luke's side at this time.
Unlike the others, Ais, who had been with Luke for several years, immediately understood what Luke was waiting for.
She recalled Luke's special instructions before the battle, and the moment the Floor Boss was killed by Alise.
She accelerated towards Luke without hesitation.
Luke, who sensed her movement behind him, also had a smile on his face.
With almost no hope of victory on his own, that meant there was still a sliver of a possibility with outsider's intervention.
It was time to prepare for the counterattack! It was time to fight back!
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