Chapter 68: Foreboding Changes

Alfia stared at the red head in front of her and she did not know what the hell is wrong with her.

She looked human, absolutely. But she did not feel like one.

"Arrogant, at least you are not as noisy. I will spare you, give you a smidgeon of mercy." Alfia began to walk up to her.

The redhead raised a brow. At first she wanted to scoff at her, but then she remembered.

Alfia got there at the 59th floor on her lonesome. And she's definitely not one of them.

"Who are you?" She went into her stance and Alfia didn't expect her to be ignorant of one of the most famous adventurers.

"I see, then let me teach you a lesson about who I am." Alfia stepped forwards. And before her foot landed, she disappeared without a sound.

The redhead froze, shuddering in pure terror as she felt her instincts scream at her.

Dropping down on the ground with all her might, she narrowly dodged Alfia's roundhouse kick.

The kick was so fast and strong that it sounded like the crack of a whip.

And the trajectory of her leg created a blade of wind that gave the trees around a deep scar.

'What the fuck? How is that merciful?' The redhead gulped as she backed off instantly.

Alfia was also surprised. She estimated that the redhead was quite strong. Approximately level 4.

But due to the chaotic mana in her body, she is actually a level 6. "You are not bad huh?" Alfia was a bit impressed.

'I have to get out of here.' The redhead broke into a cold sweat.

Alfia just has too much black airforce energy. She had that dawg in her.

"Can you dodge the next ones though?" Alfia had a slight smirk on her face.

"Tch!" Her opponent quickly whistled and plants erupted from the ground.

"A tamer?" Alfia raised a brow. And the huge plant monsters that looked like carnivorous flowers were about level 5.

She then ran like the wind, not even daring to look back.

'Quick! I have to get the hell out of here!' She was frustrated, but there's nothing she could do.

Feeling vibrations behind her, she hoped that the monsters that she has tamed could slow Alfia down.

"Hoh? You are not human, are you?" Lars suddenly dropped in front of her.

Blinking in surprise, she gritted her teeth hard. 'Why is there another one here!?'

"Hmm, you're pretty strong, aren't you? If we estimate, based on what I saw. A level 6? Level 7 with your tames over there, like a monster rex." Lars grinned at her.

"Who are you people?" Her eyes darted around, looking for a way to escape.

But when she saw his golden eyes, his black hair. She suddenly stilled.

"Wait... You look familiar..." She couldn't put her finger on it, but she absolutely knows him. She just knows that he's made a big impact on her.

"Trying to buy time? I won't let you, missy." Lars' skin turned into scales and her eyes widened.

"Yes! I remember! You're not a Pallum?" She couldn't believe it.

7 years ago, at the 27th floor of the dungeon. She could still remember the time where a blazing flare made a path for adventurers to call for back up.

"Wait... You were in the nightmare of the 27th floor?" Lars raised a brow.

It was so out of the blue. He got distracted enough that some vines got his leg and hoisted him up in the air.

"I gotta go..." She ran like the wind and Lars was still processing everything.

Before he could stop her with psychokinesis, she disappeared through the dense vegetation.

"Huh, damn. I got distracted." He crushed the plant under him that was putting him into its mouth.

He then saw a magic stone come from it. But it was different. It wasn't violet or purple, it had some impurities on it.

Lars swallowed it and it had a different flavor too. A bit bitter, meaning it has some kind of corruption.

"Damn, I let her get away. But who was that? And how in the world did she get here?" Lars was confused.

If she was one of the survivors, Orario should know about her. She's a goddamned level 6. Not human, but a level 6 still.

"Lars, did you dispatch it?" Alfia arrived beside him.

"No... She recognized me as the one who went hero time on the 27th floor 7 years ago." Lars rubbed his chin in thought.

"A survivor of that event?" Alfia raised a brow at that.

"Yeah... She might be an experiment. And the only ones who can do something like that to people is Fels... Or a god." Lars squinted his eyes.

"Fels won't do that... And a god huh, those scum sure knows how to be vile." Alfia can't imagine what happened to the redhead to be like a monster.

"She was like a hybrid between a monster and a human. This is going to be a headache." Lars rubbed his temples.

"Should we investigate further?" Alfia asked and he nodded.

"Let's go back to the team for now and check if the next floor is also like this.

They arrived at the expedition team and they were on guard as well.

"Hey, guys. These plants attacked us here. Those things were pretty freaky." Tiona informed them.

"You were attacked too? Did anyone get hurt?" He checked them.

"No one, really. But we did notice that those things homed into Alise after she used Agaris Alvesynth." Airmid pointed at the redhead.

"Yeah, when I used my magic. They just swarmed me." Alise shuddered remembering their tentacle vines.

"How about you two? Anything happen?" Kaguya asked them.

"This is where things get a little problematic." Lars sighed and he started to explain.

"So these are tamed monsters?" Tione looked at the magic crystals of the irregulars.

"Those ones probably aren't. The ones we had to deal with earlier, are." Alfia affirmed.

"We have to send this to Fels then... This can't go through the guild normally." Lyra checked out the magic stones.

"A good idea, this will be a bit of a doozy. Loki and Freya might be commissioned by them to investigate too." Lars sighed, and they didn't want that.

"Come on, let's go to the next floor. MON, spread out please." Lars looked at the xenos and they saluted.

Investigating the whole floor, they didn't see any clues.

Or the clues have been cleaned up. After a couple of hours of looking, they didn't really see anything.

So they went towards the 60th floor. And it was a winter wonderland.

"This one didn't change. So it's only the 59th floor." Alfia looked around.

"What's with this floor!? It's so cold!" Tiona and Tione shivered along with Belnas and Elnea.

"Hah." Lars sighed as he snapped his fingers. They were then covered by a thin layer of heat, warming them up.

"I feel, sleepy." Lyd who was a lizard, is a poikilotherm.

"Me too..." Laura and the other lamias, reptiles, arachnes, and xenos who can't regulate body temperature slumped down.

"Ahh, we can't continue like this. At least it's confirmed that the only floor that changed was the 59th floor." Lars sighed.

"Okay squad, let'sa go." Lars led them back to the entrance of the 59th floor and they returned to home base.

__Monstro__

"So you're saying, that a monster and human hybrid is using the irregular monsters as tames?" Fels was having a talk with Lars.

"Yup, they're attracted to magic too. According to Alise's story." Fels looked uncertain.

"Got any idea what would cause the floor to change like that?" Lars asked and Fels shook their bony head.

The sage has already revealed that they were a skeleton. Unable to die due to the philosopher's stone that they made centuries ago.

"I have to consult lord Ouranos first, things aren't as simple as it seems." Fels was shaken by the news.

"Yeah, that was what I thought when I learned that this is the first time that this happened. In a thousand years at that, too." Lars sighed.

"Very well, thank you very much for investigating, Monstro. Your country sure is quite helpful." Fels bowed a little.

"No sweat, though I want you to investigate gods with weird adventurers with them. Wait... Do you have a list of the fatalities in the nightmare?" Lars squinted his eyes.

"Yes, we can give it to you. It will be delivered to the wheat manor then." Lars agreed with that and they shook hands.

Fels went back to wherever they stayed at and Lars went pensive.

"I might get more information about that woman's comrades." He thought of investigating the ones who went missing.

__Orario__

"Ein, any new development for me?" Enyo expected that she would at least make contact with Alfia now.

"Apologies, Enyo-sama. But it seems that the maiden of silence is quite elusive." Ein bowed deeply.

"No matter, she will be sighted in Orario once again. She's just hiding, maybe in Daedalus street." Enyo swirled some wine as he grinned.

"Do you know how powerful the maiden of silence is, Ein?" Enyo was having a craygasm just thinking of it.

"No, Enyo-sama. Please enlighten this ignorant one." Ein replied.

"Very well, she can level Orario with one spell. The spell that killed the Leviathan." Enyo chuckled in joy, thinking of it being used on Orario.

"That's... Terrifying." Ein could feel her skin get goosebumps imagining it.

'How can one person have such strength?' Ein could only think that Alfia was a tactical weapon.

"Indeed, that is why she would be lovely for my plans." Enyo has waited a long time.

What's a couple more weeks or months? "And you said that you saw her in a cafe, right? Surprising, really." Enyo was amused.

The maiden of silence, an extremely irritable woman who has no tolerance to noise, was having a good time in a cafe filled with normies.

"Yes, she was having a date I believe. Even feeding her date some of her food." Ein blushed at their lewdness in public.

"What a time to be alive... The maiden of silence, acting like a maiden in love." Enyo laughed like a maniac.

"What's his name, surely you've investigated him." Ein nodded immediately.

"His name is Lars Johansson, 17-18 years of age. He got to level 2 in half a year, second only to Airmid Teasanare." Ein reported.

"Hoh? It seems he has potential." Enyo got interested in him. Airmid was too protected, too famous, so she's untouchable.

"Not as much as the silver saintess, he still hasn't leveled up to 3." Ein didn't think so.

"Then we have a plan on our hands, he most likely does not know that Alfia is the maiden of silence, a monster in human skin." Enyo grinned as he formed a plan.

"Make contact with him, Ein. You already know the next step, right?" Enyo smiled.

"Yes, sasuga enyo-sama. I didn't think of using him as a bridge to meet the maiden of silence." Ein stood up and she started her mission.

"Good, now go... Hmm, it's only a matter of time before she has to get more of the branches." Enyo smirked.

"Ahhh, the incarnation of talent. Blinded by love! She must be in despair, held back by her disease. And love, is quite easy to take advantage of." He laughed.

"Yes, yes, yes! I want to see it! The face she will make as she realizes that she will not be able to last much longer~" Enyo shuddered in pleasure.

"Where she realizes that she destroyed Orario for nothing! Dooming hundreds of thousands of lives as Babel crashes and burns!" Enyo moaned as he felt himself.

"And finally! That dog Ouranos will be unable to stop my orgia! Filthy gods, descending a thousand years ago to stop the beautiful suffering of humans!" He suddenly seized, twitching.

He then slicked back his hair, in bliss at the thought of seeing the orgias return.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.