CHAPTER 892: CHAPTER 690: FLAME VOLT

Underground city, 44th floor.

This is a floor with extremely high temperatures, as if being inside a volcano, so stiflingly hot that it feels like entering a steamer.

On this floor, the ground is mainly fiery red, with twisted rocks rolling around everywhere, and the walls of the maze are cracking and turning black, resembling charred coal. Through the cracks, a faint red glow can be seen, making one wonder if there’s lava flowing inside these walls.

And the monsters active on this floor are primarily classified as Lv.4 rock beasts — Flame Rock Beasts.

Yes, the same source monsters of the forbidden fire stones used by the Death Soldiers to self-destruct on the 24th floor.

The fire stones dropped from them are dangerous items that can be used directly as bombs without processing. Thus, even if someone defeats the Flame Rock Beasts here and collects fire stones from them, after reaching the surface, they can only sell them to the guild or to a few commercial clans allowed to use fire stones to craft important goods, like the Hephaestos Clan.

In other words, these drop items, although precious, have no room for bargaining.

Moreover, due to the instability of fire stones, carrying them casually could cause them to explode upon impact, resulting in unnecessary damage to the party, so even adventurers on an expedition to this floor generally avoid engaging with Flame Rock Beasts unless necessary.

Yet on this day, in this scorching floor, a group of fierce adventurers is engaged in intense combat against a group of Flame Rock Beasts.

"Ohohohohohohoho...!"

The young werewolf at the front charged forward, roaring loudly and distorting the tattoo on his face, while raising his metal boot-clad foot to kick at the group of Flame Rock Beasts blocking his way.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"......

Amidst a series of firecracker-like explosions, the young werewolf, with unmatched momentum, kicked back and forth among the monsters, like a tornado shredding them apart, exploding Flame Rock Beasts left and right, leaving them utterly destroyed.

"Hey! Stop stealing my prey!"

The Amazon girl, wielding large double blades, shouted in anger, leaping over the Flame Rock Beasts’ heads, slicing down with each leap. Like a raging meat grinder, she turned every Flame Rock Beast she passed into two halves, scattering them into dust instantly.

"Tch..."

The other Amazon girl, holding a pair of curved knives, clicked her tongue ungracefully, then silently rushed forward, leaping up and down like dancing, stepping back and forth, slicing through and severing the roaring Flame Rock Beasts one by one.

The three Lv.5 top-tier adventurers from the Loki Familia were, in this manner, slaughtering monsters nearly frenziedly on the 44th floor, intimidating the monster group into retreating a distance.

But this did not affect the three in the slightest, rather making them even more ferocious and wild.

"Since you’re monsters, then don’t back down from me!"

"Come on! Fight me! I’ve got strength to spare!"

"...You two, step aside, let me handle this here."

Bert, Theona, and Theone, with different expressions but the same mood, charged into the monster group again, staging a one-sided massacre.

Facing the three top-tier Lv.5 adventurers, these Lv.4-classified monsters appeared exceptionally weak, being ruthlessly slaughtered.

The ferocity of these Familia officers even frightened their fellow Familia companions.

"Wh-What’s happening to Bert and the others?"

"Who knows..."

"What kind of stimulus did they receive?"

"It’s so scary..."

Nearby, the second army members of the Loki Familia, who were encircling the monsters with weapons drawn, were left wide-eyed, in a dilemma of whether to act or not, looking timidly uncertain.

Raul, Angel, Alicia, and others exchanged glances, while Rephia, gripping her magic staff, trembled, clearly very scared of Bert, Theona, Theone, and the others.

The second-tier adventurers, centered around Lv.3 members, witnessed the brutal fighting style of the top-tier adventurers, and could only stay in place, sweating coldly and hesitating to step forward.

"Even Miss Ais is..."

Rephia looked in another direction with a worried expression.

Over there, the golden-haired, golden-eyed female swordsman was battling a group of Flame Rock Beasts alone.

"Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!"......

The golden hair spun, the slender graceful figure leaped high and low, killing wantonly among the monster group. The silver saber in her hand danced so fast that even its afterimage couldn’t be seen, leaving only arcs of silver trace in the space. With each arc, a monster would be cut in two, dying instantly without any pain.

The golden-haired, golden-eyed girl incarnated into a war maiden, hacking and slashing expressionlessly in the monster group.

That look, indeed frightening yet inevitably worrying.

"What kind of stimulus are they receiving?"

On a protruding rock, Grace spoke puzzlingly to Finn and Revilia beside him.

Behind Grace, the forging masters of the Hephaestos Clan, led by Chun, were also watching Ais and others slaughtering monsters below, whispering quietly among themselves, showing some signs of fear in their expressions.

It was easy to imagine how fierce and formidable Ais, Bert, Theona, Theone, and others were behaving at this moment.

This made Grace, who hadn’t acted with the vanguard earlier, feel extremely frustrated.

"After joining at the 18th floor and entering the 19th floor, these guys immediately dashed out, saying nothing, slaughtering monsters left and right till now, yet haven’t stopped."

"What’s exactly going on here?"

"If they keep acting recklessly like this, would they have the energy to handle the grueling battles below the 50th floor later? Other members also can’t gain any experience points!"

Grace complained to Finn and Revilia in a reproachful tone.

This was not the first time Grace had complained.

Just as he said, since they entered the 19th floor, Ais and the others had started rampaging, leaving the rest without any opportunity to fight.

This situation had been going on for four whole days.

From the day the expedition began until now, it had taken four days for the group to get here, and Ais and the others had silently slaughtered monsters all the way to this floor.

It was no wonder Grace had complaints, was blaming, was puzzled, and was bewildered.

He really didn’t know what was going on with Ais and the others.

Of course, he had some guesses, more or less.

"Is it because of the abnormal situation on the 9th floor?"

Four days ago, when Grace led the second unit, serving as the follow-up troops, and passed through the 9th floor, they were shocked to find that the floor had been destroyed, losing its original shape.

That floor had become a ruin, with fires still burning in places, and many areas were blasted and charred into potholes, leaving Grace and the others astonished.

Afterward, they learned that there was an abnormal situation in the upper levels, with large-sized monsters from the middle layers appearing in the upper levels, causing an uproar.

However, the monsters in the middle layers were merely around Lv.2 at most; could they have caused such destruction?

Impossible.

So, Grace had long realized that on that day, something unknown had happened on the 9th floor.

Regarding this, when Finn and Revilia, who had arrived on the 18th floor ahead, were waiting at the entrance to the 19th floor for Grace and the others, they offered an explanation.

"We witnessed two battles."

"Yes, two battles with different standards but equally awe-inspiring."

That was it.

Finn looked down at the chaotic scene below from the raised rock, letting out a bitter smile.

"Don’t mind, they were just stimulated."

Indeed, they were stimulated.

The fierce battle between Reiger and Ota and the terrifying power displayed by both sides gave the first wave of stimulus to Ais and the others.

Then, the new adventurer’s desperate struggle against a Minotaur far stronger than himself, and his eventual victory, delivered the second wave of stimulus to Ais and the others.

The first wave of stimulus made them realize that, compared to those two monsters, they were still very weak.

The second wave of stimulus made them understand that even the weak have the possibility of yelling and roaring at the strong, ultimately defeating them.

Thus, the flames in the hearts of Ais and the others were ignited.

Once ignited, they burned for four whole days.

The result was Ais and the others continuously killing, continuously fighting, refusing to stop.

Watching Ais and the others like this, Finn was also thinking of the events from four days ago.

When that battle ended, that new adventurer also collapsed from exhaustion.

Hedine took him away, leaving Finn with a word.

"This foolish rabbit’s adventure barely passed, but let me advise you, don’t contact him, and don’t meddle."

"Though unwilling to admit it, he is the one chosen by the goddess."

"If you don’t want to start an all-out war with us, it’s best you act as if you saw nothing today."

Leaving such words, Hedine took the unconscious novice adventurer, and seemingly that newcomer’s companion, a small human girl, and left with Hegni and the Gulliver brothers.

At that time, Finn asked only one question.

"What is his name?"

This question, Hedine answered.

"Bell Crowney..."

Softly murmuring this name, Finn stored it in his heart while turning his gaze to the young man who was undoubtedly not inferior to, and perhaps even surpassing, that new adventurer, who had already touched the "pinnacle" of Orario.

He was also below, amidst the group of blazing magma rocks.

However, unlike Ais and the others, he was not crazily slaughtering monsters but was, to the astonishment of many magic guides, testing a newly acquired magic.

"[Flame Volt]!"

The young swordsman surrounded by monsters did not draw his sword but instead reached out his hand, releasing a lightning-shaped flame.

That was Bell Crowney’s magic.