Chapter 159: Beginning of the Catastrophe!
Led by Alise, the team of Astraea Familia traversed the Water City to reach the lower floors.
"Everyone, stay alert. Members of the Rudra Familia could be lurking in any corner, ready to ambush us."
As Alise led her team forward, she vigilantly observed her surroundings, continually instructing her team members to stay vigilant.
Just now, they had discovered traces of Evilus's activities and had followed these clues all the way here.
Treading cautiously, Alise and her companions eventually arrived at a spacious hall.
"A dead end?"
Alise, at the forefront, looked around the hall in surprise.
"Could we have taken the wrong path?"
Just as they were looking around the hall doubtfully, Lyra, who had felt something was wrong since entering the hall, carefully observed the surrounding ground and walls.
And the result of her observation sent a chill down her spine.
"No! Everyone, get out of here immediately! It's a trap!"
Realizing the danger, Lyra immediately screamed a warning.
The trust built over the years meant that at Lyra's signal, Alise and the others didn't hesitate to start running out.
However, as they retreated...
Boom—!
Boom, boom, boom—!
Explosions erupted everywhere!
Violent vibrations, crumbling walls, collapsing floors.
A symphony of 'destruction' began its performance.
...
As the explosions ceased, the roaring sounds gradually faded away.
Ryuu struggled to climb out of the rubble.
"Ugh..."
The impact of the explosion and the hits from the debris had slightly injured her.
Luckily, her injuries were not serious. Despite the pain from the scratches, they didn't hinder her movement.
The hall was now a scene of devastation, with the ceiling collapsed and the surrounding walls reduced to ruins, rendering it completely unrecognizable from before.
"Everyone, are you okay!?"
As Ryuu looked around for her companions, Alise emerged from the ruins not far away.
At the same time, other members of the Astraea Familia also started to stand up one after another.
"That was a close call!"
"I was scared to death, thank goodness for Lyra's warning…"
"So it was a 'trap' after all?"
"Then, were those traces from before just bait to attract us?"
"Being buried alive by bombs is unexpectedly sinister. Well, I guess it's not unexpected since we're dealing with Evilus."
Many members of the Astraea Familia were injured, but fortunately, due to Lyra's early warning, there were no fatalities or severe injuries—mostly minor wounds.
"An indiscriminate explosive trap set using a large number of pre-placed 'Kaenseki', huh."
"It's really in line with Evilus's style."
Lyra, who was unharmed, picked up some fragments from the ground and examined them.
The previous violent explosion brought up a huge plume of smoke.
And from within this smoke stirred by the blaze, a voice that was familiar to Alise and the others emerged.
"Why are you still alive..."
"You wretched women! Why didn't you just die in the explosion? Do you have any idea how many 'Kaenseki' I used?!"
The speaker was a high-ranking member of Evilus, the last remaining senior cadre of Rudra Familia, the cat-person Jura Halmer, who, along with his Familia members, emerged from the smoke.
"Why didn't any of you die!"
Jura stared intently at the members of Astraea Familia who were safe and sound.
His heart was filled with rage and hatred, but also with a bit of fear, watching those 'detestable' figures.
Just to be sure, they had spread more than a hundred 'Kaenseki' throughout the place.
This nearly drained Rudra Familia's entire reserves of Kaenseki, and this was their final trap.
As Alise and the others entered the trap, Jura had been hiding, secretly feeling proud of his wit.
But now, facing the intact Astraea Familia, who had survived his trap, including Jura, all members of Rudra Familia started to falter in fear.
"You've really done it now, Jura!"
Alise stepped forward, glaring at the senior member of Evilus who had almost brought them destruction.
"But your schemes end here!"
"Today, we, the Astraea Familia, will put an end to all of this! Whether it's Evilus or this 'Era of Evil'!"
Her firm tone nearly drained the Rudra Familia of their will to fight.
After so many years of fighting, Evilus was finally about to face destruction.
Not weakening, not declining, but truly about to be destroyed.
As long as Astraea Familia could eliminate the Rudra Familia, the remaining scattered members of Evilus could no longer be considered an 'organization'.
Seeing the Rudra Familia being forced into a desperate situation, members of the Astraea Familia were all stirred up.
However, just as they were about to deliver the final blow to end the 'Era of Evil', an unexpected change occurred...
The dungeon, it wept!
"————!"
Zzzt, zzzt—!
That was neither the crackling sound of monsters being born nor the quaking that hinted at a monster party.
Instead, it was like the extremely harsh high-pitched sound produced by a blade cutting across a metal plate.
It was the dungeon's cry of pain, mourning the extensive destruction of the floor.
And it marked the beginning of 'Catastrophe'! For Astraea Familia as well as everyone on this floor.
...
Luke, with Ais in tow, rushed downwards without stopping.
The floor bosses of the 17th and 27th floors had fortunately been defeated.
Luke didn't know if it was the work of Evilus or Astraea Familia, but without the Monster Rex to stop them, he and Ais advanced smoothly.
No monster could stand against their combined strength.
Soon, they passed the Water City, nearly catching up with Alise and her group.
"————!"
Zzzt, zzzt—!
The dungeon's piercing 'cry of pain' suddenly resounded.
This sudden noise echoing in his ears made Luke slow down for the first time.
He had never heard of such an 'anomaly' occurring in the dungeon before.
Without needing much thought, Luke immediately linked the incident of the total wipeout of the Astraea Familia to this 'anomaly'.
So, after only a brief pause, he accelerated again, rushing down to the lower floors.
Meanwhile, on the surface, in the innermost part of the Adventurers' Guild in Orario...
Seated on an 'altar', the ancient god Ouranos raised his head in surprise.
"The dungeon... refuses to accept my divine will?"
This unprecedented situation brought a rare seriousness to the face of the god who established the labyrinth city.
The dungeon's 'wail'?
An unknown anomaly triggered the dungeon to 'cry in pain'?
This completely new 'abnormal situation' caused him to think deeply.
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