CHAPTER 852: CHAPTER 663: ALYA

The voice was filled with mania, filled with irritability, sounding somewhat shrill and piercing, causing Ais to feel like her eardrums were vibrating and her head was being struck, almost making her vomit on the spot.

"Damn it!"

The anxious voice of a man in a white robe also rang out.

"No! Don’t come out! It’s not time yet!"

The fetus in the Treasure Bead paid no heed to the white-robed man’s frantic shouting and pleading, struggling to move its tiny body, as if trying to squeeze out of the egg, departing from the quartz pillar.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The cries turned into outright screams as the fetus squirmed out of the Treasure Bead, astonishingly leaping out, flying toward Ais.

"...!"

Following the nausea she felt within, Ais forcefully dodged, feeling both nauseated and physically unwell, allowing the fetus to pass by her shoulder.

The fetus immediately threw a tantrum like a child, screaming hysterically while continuing to chase after Ais, looking like it wouldn’t give up easily.

"[Thunder Strike]."

At that moment, a bolt of lightning flew from afar, streaking towards here, accurately striking the fetus and knocking it away.

"Reiger...!"

Ais turned her head and saw the boy in the sea of fire in the distance.

Behind the boy was a giant flower monster still struggling, while he, facing this way, extended a finger with electric sparks at the fingertip, telling Ais that the unfamiliar magic just now was cast by him.

"Behind you!"

Reiger, who had executed a support shot, wielded his sword to slash at the giant flower monster attempting to escape the sea of fire, letting it continue to be burned by the flames, while shouting loudly to warn Ais.

Ais was shocked in her heart, suddenly turned around, and raised her silver saber.

"Clang!"

Almost simultaneously, the red-haired female monster appeared behind Ais, slashing a burning red sword without a word at the hurriedly raised silver saber of Ais.

She stared straight at Ais, eyes of green revealing emotions colder than before.

"So it was this wind."

Reveis opened her mouth, coldly saying these words.

"You, you are Alya."

——— "Alya."

When this name reached Ais’s ears, she only felt a "buzz" in her head, going completely blank.

This was an even more intense shake than the impact felt upon seeing the "fetus in the Treasure Bead" just now.

Alya...

Alya...

Alya...

In her ears, Reveis’s voice echoed continuously, like a reverberation.

"You, how do you know this name...!"

When she came back to her senses, Ais had already shouted out like this.

If someone from the Kanisa Clan were here at this moment, they would surely be greatly astonished, wouldn’t they?

The Sword Princess, usually devoid of emotions and hard to express clear feelings, at this moment, was actually shouting loudly like a panicked girl.

This was the most serious loss of composure for the girl known as the Sword Princess.

Thanks to this surge of emotions, the power Ais exerted grew stronger, while whipping up howling winds, brilliantly pressing the Sword of Despair against Reveis, causing the mightily strong Reveis to be pressed backward.

"Tch..."

Reveis clicked her tongue with an unpleasant expression and muttered under her breath.

"As I am now, it really is hard to compete with you using ’wind,’ huh?"

Understanding this point, Reveis decisively let go, retreating violently backward along with Ais’s force.

"Wait!"

Of course, Ais was unwilling to let her opponent leave.

"Giant flower! Man-eater!"

However, Reveis looked quite familiar with the situation, calling out coldly, summoning the monsters.

The last giant flower finally detached from the large quartz pillar, attacking Ais along with the man-eater that had been lingering around.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The "Treasure Bead Embryo" also charged towards Ais, completely disregarding the white-robed man’s attempts to stop it.

"Plop..."

The embryo stuck onto the giant flower charging towards Ais, and then astonishingly fused into the giant flower’s body, causing red vein-like lines to emerge, resembling blood vessels over the entire giant flower’s form.

"Roarrrrrrrrr——!"

The giant flower immediately howled in what seemed like great pain, and its entire massive and thick body began to swell.

At the center where the embryo parasitized, the flesh began to expand.

Soon, a humanoid silhouette emerged from within the giant flower.

It was a multicolored female body, faceless, with long hair, and the head was connected to the giant flower by tubular-like structures, making the giant flower appear as if it had become a ridden pet, dominated by the female form.

"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■——!"

The female form let out a terrifying scream, like a high-pitched sound, or singing, causing the entire large cavity to tremble incessantly.

"That, that is...!?"

Ais recognized the monster.

"The female humanoid monster defeated by Reiger on the 50th level...!"

Indeed.

This monster’s appearance was identical to the female humanoid monster that Reiger defeated back on the 50th level.

At least, the upper body of that female silhouette was exactly the same as the female humanoid monster they encountered then, with the only difference being the lower body.

The lower body of the female humanoid monster encountered on the 50th level resembled a worm.

But this time, the female humanoid monster’s lower body was entirely a giant flower.

A flash of insight struck through Ais’s mind, causing her to suddenly realize something shocking.

"Could it be... the female humanoid monster back then was also parasitized by the embryo...!"

Thinking it over carefully, there were indeed many similarities.

The worm-like monster that could spit corrosive liquid encountered on the 50th and 51st levels had a multicolored exterior.

The man-eating flower monsters encountered on East Street and on this 24th level had similarly multicolored exteriors.

The female humanoid monster encountered on the 50th level had a female upper body and worm lower body.

The female humanoid monster encountered here had a female upper body and giant flower lower body.

This proved one thing.

That these two types of multicolored monsters likely share the same origin.

And both female humanoid monsters were multicolored monsters parasitized by the "Treasure Bead Embryo," with the former parasitizing a worm and the latter a giant flower.

The monster overpopulation phenomenon that occurred previously on the 30th level also indicated that such incidents had happened more than once.

Then, could it be believed that there is also a "Treasure Bead Embryo" absorbing the food reserves’ nutrients in the levels below the 51st, serving as a breeding ground capable of birthing multicolored monsters, hence encountering female humanoid monsters and multicolored monsters there?

And are these abnormalities occurring in the levels below the 51st also caused by these new beings claiming to be hybrids of humans and monsters?

After the abnormal situation on the 30th level ended, was the item that the Level 4 Ganisa Clan member took from the food reserves on that level indeed the "Treasure Bead Embryo" itself?

Is this why Reveis chased and murdered them all the way to the 18th level?

Is this why that mysterious magician declared that such a thing cannot exist and must be destroyed?

Understanding all of this, Ais wanted to loudly question the red-haired woman and the white-robed man about their relationship with the "Treasure Bead Embryo" and why they were doing these things.

However, those two freaks seemed to have already retreated, quickly vanishing into the crowd of monsters the moment the female humanoid monster was born, as if realizing their plans had failed.

"■■■■■■■■——!"

The female humanoid monster screamed and roared, extending numerous tentacles towards the wind-covered Ais, its upper body leaning forward along with the head of the giant flower monster and countless man-eating flower monsters, biting towards the golden-haired, golden-eyed Sword Princess.

Then——

"[Maximum Enhance·Instant Decision]."

Accompanied by a faint chanting, the youth who finally resolved the giant flower monster in the sea of flames appeared, unleashing an invisible strike.

The strike cleaved through space.

The strike severed the atmosphere.

The strike, as if capable of slicing through everything, collided at the neck of the female humanoid monster without a moment to spare.

"Splat!"

The head of the female body atop the monster’s upper half was swiftly and cleanly decapitated.

Blood scattered towards the sky.