Chapter 503

Chapter 510: Dungeon Matryoshka, Ares Gets Wrongfully Blamed (Please Subscribe!)

When Finn fell from the massive double-door trap and hit bottom, his first thoughts were not too different from Gress’s; both were to find another place where their companions could regroup.

But plans can’t keep up with changes.

Just after navigating for a short while within the man-made maze, Finn and his group were ambushed by a joint attack from new monster species and the Dark Faction.

The concealed Olidargon gate dropped without warning, forcing Tione, Tiona, Alisia, Haruhi, and some other members of the party to be separated and surrounded by monsters on the other side.

Then, under the distraction of the Dark Faction cadre, Finn was severely wounded by Reivice’s sneak attack!

“It’s over, little guy. Soon it will be Ais’ turn…”

The spear handle he raised to block was chopped in half, and deep cuts marked his small body.

Reivice emotionlessly retracted her large blade weapon and turned away, her figure gradually disappearing from Finn’s vision as he sprayed copious amounts of blood.

As an experienced Level 6 adventurer, Finn was undoubtedly outstanding in strength.

However, how could one compare when the opponent wasn’t even human?

A monster who had advanced to Level 6 by devouring magic stones far surpassed Finn, a spear-wielding agile fighter, in terms of strength and durability.

Finn was truly the epitome of a spearman.

Low strength, low endurance, high speed.

His combat style leaned more towards technical output.

Fighters like Izay, who excelled in all six aspects, were exceedingly rare.

On top of the monster’s natural advantages, Reivice bridged the gap in ability values, making her an evenly matched opponent to Finn.

It was only natural that she managed to critically injure him with a surprise attack.

Though Reivice had always been outclassed by Ais before, that was because of her buffs.

With Fairy Wind upon her, aside from Izay, Level 6 Ais was Loki Familia’s strongest single combatant, no doubt about it!

For a moment, all sounds from the adventurers disappeared. The Loki Familia members who couldn’t react to the monster’s ambush felt as if time itself had slowed down.

“…Leader!!!?”

As the broken Courage Spear “Fortia Spear” wobbled and fell backward, Anqi and others’ screams echoed loudly, feeling as if the string that had supported them through countless battles had snapped.

Everyone’s faces turned pale, struck by an immeasurable blow, followed by a long-lost sense of fear.

Even if it were Izay, Ais… or even Riviria and Gress, the two vice-leaders, falling, it wouldn’t have impacted them this much.

But Finn was special.

He was always the one who would encourage the “Familial Group,” maintaining an image of wisdom and calmness, serving as an absolute spiritual pillar in Loki Familia.

Just like when a general is beheaded in battle, causing shock among the soldiers.

If the general leading them into battle falls, why should they continue fighting?

Once such thoughts arise, most soldiers would likely surrender immediately.

Of course, against members of the Dark Faction, Loki Familia wouldn’t entertain such thoughts.

But the impact on their hearts was undeniably real.

The situation became extremely perilous in an instant!

…

On the other hand, Izay and his group were swiftly circling around from the right via a secret passage.

The man-made maze Knossos was originally a structure surrounding the lower part of Babel Tower, encircling the dungeon.

Like a matryoshka doll, Knossos served as the “outer shell,” wrapping around the dungeon. It was a circular structure, each level being much wider and larger than the dungeon.

Their current position wasn’t explicitly stated as corresponding to which level of the dungeon.

But judging from the sensation during descent, Izay estimated they wouldn’t be below the tenth level.

With the Death God’s divine aura resonating in the central area, rendering ability values ineffective, they had to circle around to reunite with Finn’s team.

As energy released by a complete deity, divine aura was almost like dimensional suppression for adventurers reliant on ability values.

After all, ability values were developed by deities; how could they possibly resist divine power?

Izay, possessing divinity, merely had slightly higher resistance than others but was still subject to its influence.

He wasn’t a deity yet, far from being a demigod, having possessed divinity for less than a month.

“The monsters ahead don’t seem to be man-eating flowers; it’s another new type, abilities uncertain, everyone be careful…!?”

Rushing forward at high speed, Izay’s group encountered creatures somewhat resembling water striders.

Their thin bodies were magnified countless times, with six long legs reaching up to human waist height. The core in the center had a crimson crystal unlike “magic stones,” small in size, and most importantly, extremely numerous.

Just as Gress prepared to test their offensive capabilities, Izay and Ais, who had caught up from behind, didn’t bother with any of that.

Both silently raised their weapons and attacked while speeding forward, the elongated trails of the spear and the silver blade curves intersecting, leaving no time for reaction. In an instant, they reduced the enemies to dust.

Following up with a pursuit, azure Starflame and Fairy Wind intertwined, creating a fire attribute storm. The explosion’s aftermath swept irresistibly down the corridor, covering the forked paths and clearing all enemies outside the team’s line of sight!

Having wiped out all the monsters in one go, Izay, who retracted his spear, didn’t relax much.

“What’s wrong? Izay.”

Being the closest to him, Ais quickly sensed something amiss with her beloved.

“Our leader is in danger… Tione and Tiona have been separated by the enemy, and the rest are being attacked by the monster…”

Izay spoke in a somewhat low tone, looking in the direction of Finn’s battlefield.

Here, away from the center of the labyrinth, unaffected by Thanatos’ divine aura, all his magic functions resumed normally.

Perception Magic unfolded quietly, and Finn’s heavily injured state immediately returned to his mind.

Understanding the dire situation there, Izay couldn’t help but feel tense.

“Finn really is getting worse at living, huh? Being attacked by the enemy… I can laugh at him about this once we return to Twilight Manor～”

Gress’s tone sounded like a joke, even easing his guarded expression a bit.

The light-hearted tone was intentional on the dwarf’s part.

To display a relaxed attitude toward this bad news; otherwise, if things went wrong on Finn’s side, their morale would also falter, which would be quite amusing.

He needed to reassure his own team first.

Immediately, the old man glanced at Izay: “Since that’s the case, Izay, you go help Finn first. Your magic is already usable, right? Use Space Magic to hurry over and support him.”

This was the role Izay was assigned by Finn when dividing the teams.

Capable of rapid support, he was like a universal brick.

Wherever needed, he could be moved there.

Izay understood this well, so he didn’t hesitate much and nodded.

“I’ll leave the ‘Key’ with you guys. Its usage is no different from regular magical artifacts, and I’ll leave marks along the way when I leave.”

Saying this, he pulled out a fist-sized crimson gemstone from his bag, engraved with the letter “D.”

At the same time, he handed over relevant instructions.

One couldn’t just leave without saying anything; everything must be considered.

If one rushes headlong into emergencies without thinking, rescuing one side while abandoning another, isn’t that exactly what Ares, the war god and chief deity of the neighboring kingdom, does!?

Ares: ???