CHAPTER 77: 077 YOU, HOW DO YOU WIN?

"Crack— Crack crack——"

This was the sound of the ground splitting.

In the vast cavern, the earth suddenly cracked open like shattered glass, sending fissures sprawling outwards.

Soon after, the fissures began to rise, dirt rolling away to the sides, rocks shattering, and dust filling the air.

A pitch-black behemoth then burst through the ground, shaking off the rocks and soil clinging to its massive frame while causing the chamber to tremble incessantly.

"Roaaarrrr——!"

A cry that was both a wail and a roar of anger echoed from the mouth of the giant monster that had emerged from the earth, turning into a wave of sound that swept in all directions.

The monster resembled an oversized skeleton, ebony in color, with sharp spikes protruding from all corners of its bones, glittering with a strange and dangerous sharpness that instilled fear in the heart.

Its lower half was still buried underground, but even the part above its pelvis was nearly ten meters tall. Its head sprouted two horn-like structures akin to those of a demon, and within the depths of its gigantic eye sockets, a red ominous flame flickered ominously.

At the center of this immense creature, within its ribcage, a larger-than-usual magic stone was embedded like a heart, protected by thick breastbones and ribs.

This was—

"The giant skeleton monster—Udaeus!"

The Floor Boss of Level 37 was born before Reiger’s eyes with great fanfare.

And without any surprises, Ais, standing in the middle of the chamber and facing away from the entrance passage, was the first to catch the attention of this floor’s master.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous roar, the giant skeletal creature swung its massive bony arm, sending Ais flying.

"————!"

Seeing this, the tension within Reiger snapped, and he reached out without hesitation toward one of the two swords at his waist.

Facing the Floor Boss of Level 37, classified as a Level 6 oversize species, Reiger almost instinctively reached for the Fool’s Sword, below the Hermit’s Sword, ready to wield this top-tier weapon ranked in the top three of Orario.

But before Reiger could draw his sword, a voice stopped him.

"Don’t!"

The girl’s shout froze Reiger in his tracks.

Immediately after, Reiger saw Ais, who had been sent flying by Udaeus’ strike, shakily standing up from beneath the fractured wall.

"Don’t intervene!"

Ais, gazing at Reiger, revealed an intense emotion rarely seen before in her translucent golden eyes.

It was determination.

It was resolve.

Stared at with such eyes by Ais, Reiger’s hand reaching for the Fool’s Sword faltered.

"[Awaken, Tempest]!"

At the same moment, Ais loudly recited the chant for her exclusive magic, activating the extraordinary power of the wind and becoming enveloped by the raging wind force.

Having activated the magic Wind Spirit Swift Walk, Ais finally began to run.

"Roaaarrrr——!"

The giant skeletal monster roared again, swinging its bony arm and stirring up a powerful gust and a wave of sand as it swept towards Ais with immense force.

Ais seemed to attempt an evasion, launching herself slightly with the wind.

However, the moment Ais prepared to leap, her body stiffened unnaturally.

That freeze was undoubtedly fatal.

"Boom!"

The massive bony arm brutally struck Ais, sending her flying once more, crashing into the wall on the other side of the cavern, shattering it completely.

"Ais!"

Reiger couldn’t help but cry out.

Ais didn’t answer, but stubbornly rose again and charged towards Udaeus.

Udaeus swung its gargantuan arms over and over, the force still vast and the movement still fearsome, causing a continuous barrage of roars and tremors to fill the vast chamber.

From these astonishing sounds and movements, one could tell that this floor master, like the others, possessed terrible power consistent with that of other oversized kinds.

Under such power, the chamber was rapidly ravaged and damaged, not only turning the floor into a pitted mess but also the surrounding walls were riddled with cracks and holes. Stones and debris flew like bullets in all directions, forcing Reiger himself to dodge several times.

Fortunately, while Udaeus’ power was alarming, it also shared a common weakness of oversized kinds—slower movement.

Though still threatening, Ais’ speed should prevent her from being easily hit when prepared.

However, the reality was different.

Under the indiscriminate destruction and trampling by Udaeus, even as Ais struggled to evade, she was repeatedly hit, her body flying like a cannonball, either crashing into walls or the ground, raising clouds of dust and scattering debris, looking utterly forlorn.

After being struck several times, even with the protection of Wind Spirit Swift Walk, Ais began to accumulate a series of injuries.

"Why is this happening?"

Reiger was stunned.

Why was Ais hit time and time again?

Given her speed, she shouldn’t fail to dodge Udaeus’s attacks!

Such confusion was resolved only when Reiger noticed that Ais’s movements were unnaturally stiff; then, he finally found the answer.

"Could it be that Ais, like myself, is suffering from the side effects of ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk,’ bearing a tremendous burden on her body, and is now in pain all over?"

After coming to this conclusion, Reiger finally understood why, even though he had used ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk,’ he couldn’t catch up with Ais in time to ensure her safe arrival at the 37th floor.

It was likely because Ais, just like Reiger, was using ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk’ to rush her way there.

It seemed like a rather foolish thing to do.

After all, Ais’s target on the 37th floor was the floor boss, the Lv.6 Udaeus.

In preparation for a battle with such a monster, logic dictated that one should avoid fighting en route to the 37th floor as much as possible, conserve physical and spiritual power, and ensure that they were in the best possible condition before taking on the challenge.

Ais, however, had used the magic ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk’ early to hasten her travel, not only depleting most of her spiritual power but also suffering from side effects. Facing a floor boss of a higher classification rank in that state was tantamount to seeking her own death.

But Reiger could still understand that it must have been an act of desperation.

Just to get to the 37th floor, let alone the various obstacles one might encounter along the way, without spending a couple of days, one couldn’t reach that level.

This time, Ais entered the underground city with barely anything, neither carrying sufficient supplies nor enough food and provisions. Traveling like that in the underground city for two or three days, even if she managed to get to the 37th floor and face Udaeus, what strength or stamina would she have left to fight?

Rather than ending up powerless when the time came, Ais would rather endure some side effects and the loss of spiritual power. At least in that way, she could still muster the strength to fight.

Moreover, weighed down by a sense of urgency, Ais finally decided to use ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk’ to rush her travel. This prevented Reiger from catching up with her in time and enabled her to reach the 37th floor before him.

And this was the result: although she successfully arrived at the 37th floor ahead of schedule and faced Udaeus, Ais was not in a good condition, which led—as expected—to her being utterly overpowered in the battle.

"Boom!"

The sweep of the colossal arm once again struck Ais, sending her flying and crashing to the ground. She rolled a considerable distance before coming to a stop.

"Gasp!"

Reiger was no longer prepared to just stand by and watch, so he immediately drew the Fool’s Sword.

"Don’t come over...!"

Ais’s voice, interleaved with a hint of pain, still stopped Reiger, while Ais unsteadily got back on her feet.

This time, Reiger didn’t intend to heed Ais’s plea.

But the next second, Ais’s voice came through, causing Reiger’s expression to freeze, and the step he was about to take stalled.

"I beg you..."

Ais’s whisper had a greater impact on Reiger than he had anticipated.

It was not just because Ais Wallenstein was pleading in an unprecedented tone of vulnerability.

This plea made the step Reiger was ready to take impossible to take after all.

"You’re going to die!"

Reiger could only take a deep breath and exclaim.

"I won’t," Ais stood up, her hand holding the war blade and pointing toward the skeletal monster. Taking a deep breath as well, she said, "I’m going to win."

The vulnerability in her tone was replaced by a sense of determination and resolve.

Reiger really wanted to counter her assertion.

If Ais were at her full strength, Reiger indeed wouldn’t think that Ais would lose.

He remembered that in the original story, Ais had also completed the formidable task of conquering the 37th floor boss alone, thus advancing to Lv.6.

With ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk,’ a spell that broke the norm behind her, Ais’s true combat power was definitely enough to confront a Lv.6 adversary.

For such an Ais, while Udaeus was a formidable opponent, he was certainly not an unbeatable entity.

Therefore, if Ais were in peak condition and could utilize one hundred percent of her fighting strength, Reiger would choose to believe in her, believe in the girl, and let her take on the challenge with confidence.

But the problem was, Ais was not in peak condition.

For the sake of rushing, she had been using ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk’ for a prolonged time. Both her body and spiritual power were compromised.

In such a state, Ais’s abilities were far from being utilized to their full potential; managing to exert seventy to eighty percent would already be fortunate.

Under these circumstances, how was Ais supposed to fight Udaeus?

How, do you plan to win?

That was what Reiger wanted to object Ais with.

Unfortunately, when the words reached his mouth, Reiger found himself unable to voice them.

Ais’s gaze bridged the distance between them, landing firmly on Reiger.

In those clear golden eyes, there was as much determination and resolve as before, but now they also held much more pleading.

And so, Reiger fell silent.

His emotions, seldom as complex and chaotic as they were now, began to stir.