CHAPTER 831: RIVIRA

The underground city, 18th floor.

As the first safety floor of the underground city, it’s also considered by many to be the most beautiful paradise within the underground city. Although Reiger has been here before, he has never had the chance to seriously appreciate the scenery here.

The first time he came here, Reiger was passing through with a familia’s expedition team and did not stay long, as he continued to delve deeper into the underground city with his companions, leaving shortly after.

The second time, Reiger was searching for someone deep in the underground city, preparing to duel with Ais, the master of the 37th floor, Udaeus, so he hurriedly passed through and soon headed to the 19th floor.

It wasn’t until this time that Reiger entered what is known as the "labyrinth paradise" for the third time and finally had the chance to enjoy the scenery here.

"It’s hard to imagine that this is the underground city."

Upon emerging from a sloped cavern and entering the 18th floor, Reiger openly expressed such a sentiment.

At this moment, the young companions stood in a grassland-like area, facing away from the entrance to the cavern leading to the 17th floor, basking in the gentle light that poured down from above.

A forest with sparse trees lay ahead.

Above was the ceiling of this floor, brimming with innumerable crystals like a dense forest.

Gleaming crystal blocks, shining like the sun, emitted a soft glow forming a sky, with their brightness changing over time to create periods of "morning," "daytime," and "night."

It was currently daytime on the 18th floor, and these glowing, beautiful crystals could be described as this floor’s hallmark. Not just the ceiling, every corner of the floor grew these crystals, even within the forest, with crystal columns of varying heights growing between the trees and lining the pathways, looking rather dreamlike.

"The floor boss... hasn’t appeared."

Ais softly remarked on the matter.

The floor boss of the 17th floor, also the first floor boss of the underground city, a super large-category monster of level 4 classification — Goliath.

The position of this monster was precisely where Reiger and Ais had just set foot in the cave room.

In the cave room of the floor boss Goliath, the passage leading to the 18th floor was located at its far end.

In other words, to enter the 18th floor, one must pass through the room where the floor boss Goliath resided.

Reiger and Ais had originally prepared to fight this floor boss, but when the two arrived in Goliath’s room, Goliath did not appear. Instead, there were many monsters that normally roam the 17th floor.

The scene was exactly the same as when Reiger had just returned to this world and barged into the room of the 37th floor boss Udaeus.

Of course, the highest level classification of common monsters appearing on the 17th floor is only up to Lv.2, and monsters of this level in front of Reiger and Ais were not much stronger than grasshoppers you’d casually find leaping on the street.

Thus, the two charged into the cave room simultaneously from the left and right, swiftly eliminating all the monsters in ten seconds, and then swaggered into the cave at the end of the high wall, traversing the passage to the 18th floor.

Ais seemed a bit concerned about the absence of the floor boss Goliath, making Reiger, who was staring at the crystal canopy on the ceiling, retract his gaze.

"It was probably defeated, right?" Reiger said, "After all, the boss’s room is the only way to reach the 18th floor. If some capable high-level adventurer was planning to come here, then defeating that giant monster would be a straightforward task for them."

Unlike ordinary monsters, the birth of a floor boss usually requires quite a bit of time.

For example, Goliath, if defeated, typically takes about two weeks to be reborn.

Because of this, when Reiger returned to this world and appeared in the room of the 37th floor boss Udaeus, the ferocious skeletal monster classified as Lv.6 did not appear.

From the time Reiger left until his return, only about four or five days had passed in this world, which naturally wasn’t enough time for another Udaeus to be born.

"Let’s go, to Rivera Town."

Having seen enough of the scenery, Reiger spoke to Ais as he began walking into the forest.

"..."

Ais followed silently, with a sense of following closely behind Reiger as if he were leading the way.

The two crossed through an entire forest and grassland, heading toward the lakeshore in the western part of the 18th floor, and using a man-made bridge, they climbed onto a giant rock island at the center of the lake.

At the highest point of this island, a conspicuous cliff top, there stood a beautiful village adorned with white and blue crystals growing out of the ground.

"Is this Rivera?"

Reiger murmured with a slight curiosity as he looked at the arched entrance made of wooden pillars and flags.

——— "Rivera."

This was the name of the great female adventurer who first established this town in the safety floor of the underground city.

Her name, Rivera Santillini.

In her honor, the only town built in the underground city was named after her.

However, though this town was renowned among adventurers, it was also given unsavory nicknames like "Black Market," "Rogue Town," and "Gathering of Lawless."