CHAPTER 401: CHAPTER 401: DESCENT TO THE 59TH FLOOR

’Oh my god.’

Stepping out of the tent, Bell felt a cold sweat soaking his back.

Maybe that other person didn’t notice, but Bell knew there had been three goddesses watching him just now. If he’d been even a bit slower, he had no idea what awaited him when he returned home.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a moment to calm himself.

’Women are scarier than monsters—especially goddesses.’

Once his nerves had settled, Bell’s gaze swept across the campsite. Adventurers had already set up their tents and were preparing dinner.

’At least today I can let my guard down a little.’

Still, Bell knew this wasn’t the time to relax. His preparations had to begin.

Coordinates: 59th floor.

The 59th floor was out of reach for ordinary adventurers. Deep Floors were filled with monsters on high alert, existing solely to kill any intruders.

On such heavily guarded layers, average adventurers couldn’t withstand the attack force, let alone push deeper.

Bell masked his presence and moved to the entrance of the 51st floor. From above, he could hear the scuttling of countless monsters on the ground.

Even without venturing down, it was clear that the place was full of "danger."

But at this moment, something far more critical than monsters was missing below—the Dungeon’s breeding ground.

This breeding ground provided the Dungeon’s greatest support to its monsters and its strongest resistance and correction mechanism against adventurers.

However, because the Black Dragon’s roar had shifted the Dungeon’s power toward the affected area, the Dungeon couldn’t spare energy to focus on adventurers until that disturbance subsided.

"It looks like the Dungeon’s support won’t bounce back for the next two days."

For Bell, this was the perfect opportunity.

Without the Dungeon’s assistance...

The Spirits would lose their caution and start acting recklessly. Even creatures like acid worms and Violas couldn’t be produced endlessly—they were already energy-starved.

And under prolonged suspension of the Dungeon’s systems, high-energy monsters would become increasingly vulnerable.

This specifically applied to the "Spirit."

As one of the Dungeon’s most peculiar devoured tentacles, the Spirit required massive energy. As long as she intended to continue breeding "fetuses," she needed to absorb an extraordinary amount of energy.

In this scenario, even a "Spirit" would shut down alongside the Dungeon, or risk going berserk from energy depletion.

’Heh, this expedition’s been full of surprises—but it’s also had its upsides.’

Bell grinned, blue-white lightning crackling around him as he eyed the stairs to the 51st floor.

"Zzzz!"

At light-speed, he vanished from the entrance.

As a streak of lightning, Bell raced through the 51st... 52nd... and in the blink of an eye, hit the 58th—where Loki Familia had been blocked before.

The lightning halted at the 58th floor entrance.

When it dissipated, Bell’s form reappeared.

Outwardly concealed, he remained undetected by the monsters there—mostly Wyverns and Valgang Dragons.

Even floors 51 to 58 posed a brutal challenge for high-level adventurers.

This was pure hell. Hesitate, even on the 51st floor, and Valgang Dragons from the 58th would unleash "Ignore Floor" attacks on you.

The only survival strategy: keep moving quickly, or succumb to their hail of fire.

’The Dragon’s Vase is no joke.’

Bell stepped onto the 58th floor, feeling the raw intimidation of dozens of Valgang Dragons. Now he truly grasped how lethal the Deep Floors were.

All that met the eye were crimson dragons—roughly seventy or eighty of them.

Ordinary Lv. 4s wouldn’t survive here; even Lv. 5s faced near-certain death with these numbers.

Combine that with the Dungeon’s breeding ground fueling their population, and this floor was adventurers’ worst nightmare.

But only a few ever saw it.

For those who did, Valgang Dragons became seared into their memories.

’The real target isn’t here—it’s on the next floor.’

Floor 59, where the "Spirit Fetus" gestates in the original story, had its landscape warped by the Dungeon.

According to intel from Zeus Familia, the 59th floor and beyond are frozen rivers—so cold they nearly extend to 58’s entrance.

Perhaps the Dungeon itself shifted. Or maybe it was the Spirit’s influence.

Either way, Bell didn’t care—he already knew what the 59th looked like.

He didn’t linger at 58’s entrance. Instead, he descended directly to the 59th floor.

...

"...Damn it!"

Watching the scene, Loki couldn’t help but curse.

She hadn’t seen how Finn and the others were halted on the 58th floor last time, but from their recaps, she knew that floors 51 to 58 were literal torture. Even a slight slowdown got you bombarded by Valgang Dragons.

Yet Bell?

He completely ignored all that—using Stealth to bypass every obstacle and zip from the 51st to the 58th effortlessly.

The ease of it made Loki seethe with unfairness.

"That kid just breezed through—Is this what Authority does? Why didn’t I realize how useful it could be before?"

In Tenkai, using Authority has limits. Gods aren’t allowed to wreak havoc with it. In Genkai, their divine power is sealed. Authority’s use should be restricted.

But Bell used it so freely down here it felt like a completely different ballgame.