A Race Against Time

The 18th Floor of the dungeon was a special place.

Similar to the 50th Floor, it served as a safe zone where no monsters spawned, marking it as the first secure floor in the dungeon.

However, in contrast to the gray wilderness atmosphere of the 50th Floor, the 18th Floor was known as the 'Under Resort'. It stood as a rare spectacle in the dungeon, akin to the 'Large Tree Labyrinth' and 'Water City'.

The floor showcased an endless, natural grassland, vast lakes, and surrounding forests. A small island nestled in the center of a large lake, and amid the distant grassland, a towering tree stood.

The hollow of the tree led to the entrance of the 19th Floor, the 'Large Tree Labyrinth'.

It was a sight that could only be witnessed in this paradise.

Of course, the most talked-about characteristic here was the abundant blue crystals.

On the 18th Floor, blue crystals grew everywhere—some large, some small, some towering like pillars, and others scattered like bushes along the paths. Even the ceiling of the entire floor was covered in uneven crystals.

These crystals emitted a radiant glow, with the brightness changing over time, mimicking a day and night cycle.

Legend said that there was a simple town on the island in the center of the lake, established by adventurers as a way station and resting place during their explorations.

As a result, people lived on the 18th Floor, with inns, shops, and the like.

However, the charges were absurd.

Anyone attempting to sell their backpack full of loot there would face extreme haggling, resulting in minimal profits.

Thanks to this, the town on the 18th Floor had gained infamy as a black market in the industry. Most merchants there were also rough and impolite scoundrels. With just one wrong move, adventurers could end up getting ripped off, leaving many itching with frustration.

But Riezel wasn't interested in this town at all and it didn't even cross his mind right now.

'Ais must be heading down.'

Given Ais's current temper, there was no way she would linger in a town like this.

Therefore, Riezel was not keen to stop on this floor and headed straight for the giant tree in the center of the grassland, entering the 19th Floor through the tree's hollow.

Starting from this floor, monsters weren't killed indiscriminately anymore.

The lower one went in the dungeon, the wider the terrain became.

From the 19th Floor onward, the 'Large Tree Labyrinth' had a large area.

There wasn't just one road leading to the entrance of the 20th Floor; trying to indiscriminately kill all monsters here was not only difficult but also a waste of time.

Ais evidently understood this point.

She finally stopped her reckless slaughter, causing the number of monsters to sharply increase from the 19th Floor onward, posing a hindrance to Riezel on his journey.

With the terrain expanding and the area widening, finding someone here would undoubtedly be challenging.

It was possible that Ais might be staying in some corner of this floor, engaged in combat with some monsters.

If Riezel were to abandon the search on this floor and continue downward, there was a bigger chance he would pass by Ais.

'With her personality, it was inevitable that she'd keep pushing forward at a time like this.'

Riezel thought without much hesitation, completely convinced of it. He could probably guess what Ais intended to do on this reckless journey.

The night before last, coming out of Loki's divine room, Ais, unsatisfied and gloomy about her growth, had already revealed her plan for the next step.

She planned to level up.

Ais was readying herself to step into the next level. This was her original plan, only pushed forward due to setbacks in her sparring match with Riezel.

With this in mind, her destination became quite clear.

To achieve the exploits needed for leveling up, she requires a powerful opponent.

This opponent must be stronger than Ais at her current level.

Furthermore, her current level was the pinnacle of Level 5; stronger than that would only be monsters classified as Level 6.

Monsters of this level, even if they delved into the 50th Floor, wouldn't encounter any. Even on the 51st Floor, there was only one monster that fit the criteria, which was Cadmus.

Heading to the 51st Floor would take too much time. In the expedition, at least five or six days were needed, but going alone would take even more time, not less.

Ais definitely couldn't wait that long.

Given this, there were only two types of opponents she could choose.

Either a strengthened or rare species with generally higher powers compared to monsters on the same floor.

Or—

Floor Boss!

On the 27th Floor, there was a Level 5 floor boss, Amphisbaena.

This massive dragon species monster, posing a threat to other Level 5 adventurers, proved only slightly challenging for Ais, who could use 'Ariel' to ignore one level. It obviously did not meet her requirements, and she certainly would not have chosen to challenge it to fulfill the needed exploits.

In this case, the opponent she selected was a floor boss one level stronger than Amphisbaena.

'37th Floor's floor boss, Udaeus...'

This Level 6 floor boss was the powerful opponent Ais yearned for.

Therefore, her destination was only one.

'37th Floor!'

When Riezel pondered up to this point, he found himself in a dilemma. It was not without reason; his time left in this world was running out.

The day he returned from the expedition, it had already been 97 days in this world, leaving only the last three days to stay.

The next day, which was yesterday, he spent the entire day dealing with familia affairs and later attended a celebration feast at the Hostess of Fertility.

And today was the second day.

In other words, it was almost two days since the return from the expedition.

Once tomorrow passes, the day after tomorrow around this time, Riezel will leave this world and return to the main world.

It was an irreversible process.

The time limit for dimensional travel was a day in the main world, clearly stated in the 'Dimensional Magic Cube's Instructions.'

When the time was up, his consciousness in this world would dissolve on its own and be brought back to the main world by the Dimensional Magic Cube.

In other words, in about a day, if he couldn't find Ais, he might not even have the chance to say goodbye to everyone and would directly return to the main world.

As he thought to this point, in his mind, the face of the golden-haired girl with a lack of emotional expression suddenly appeared.

"Tempest..."

*Whoosh—*

With a whispered chant, a storm swept around Riezel's body.

Yes.

He couldn't afford to worry too much now.

He just wanted to quickly find Ais to prevent anything unexpected from happening to the girl who took care of him.

As for the side effect from Ariel, it no longer mattered to him.

*ROAAAAARRR—!*

*ROAAAAARRR—!*

The nearby monsters naturally sensed the commotion caused by Ariel and started howling, rushing toward Riezel's direction.

These monsters with bear-like and massive bodies were known as Bugbears, a large species of monster appearing from the 19th Floor onwards. Their classification level was Level 2, making them quite a powerful foe for adventurers of the same level.

Unfortunately, they picked the wrong target.

*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*

When the storm passed, several Bugbears rushing toward Riezel were cut into countless pieces, as if disassembled. The chunks of meat scattered into ashes, leaving only magic stones on the ground.

Riezel ignored all of these, speeding toward the 20th Floor's entrance.

===

Dungeon, 37th Floor.

This was a floor known as the 'White Palace'.

Within this floor, all the walls were of a murky white color, and the entire floor resembled a castle, consisting of as many as five concentric walls. The staircase leading to the 38th Floor was located at the center of the floor.

To proceed to the 38th Floor, one must head to the central area of this floor.

To reach the central area of this floor, one must navigate through open passages between the concentric walls and climb up and down several uneven surfaces.

Unfortunately, the scope of this floor was extremely vast, almost comparable to a city. The terrain formed a huge maze structure. If one were to run around randomly in such a place, getting lost would be easy, and there was even a chance of being trapped forever, never finding a way out.

To reach this floor, it generally took about two to three days.

However, with Ariel's acceleration, Riezel managed to arrive at this floor in about a day.

"Hahh... Hahh..."

Every part of his body ached, almost causing him to stumble and fall to the ground.

Ignoring the ache in his body, Riezel gritted his teeth and continued to move forward.

The ceiling overhead seemed so high that it was almost invisible, giving a sense of boundlessness.

The area was filled with dim darkness, with only intermittent luminescence on the murky white walls lighting the way enough to proceed.

Riezel pushed his aching body to its limit as he hurried toward the massive cavern in his memory.

*ROAAARRR—!!!*

Yet, even before he could successfully arrive, he heard it.

It was a roar that shook the entire floor, a vicious howl reverberating through the entire dungeon walls and floors.

"!?"

Riezel's heart tightened as he pushed his somewhat exhausted body to complete the final stretch, bursting into the massive cavern.

In the next second, he finally saw it.

He saw the entrance to the cavern, with a golden-haired girl standing there, her back facing him, pulling out a sword and standing against the wind.

"Ais!" Riezel subconsciously yelled out.

However, his voice was mercilessly drowned out by a roar so enormous it was astounding.

*ROAAAAAARRRRRR—!!!*

The roar of an enormous monster echoed through the space.

In front of the golden-haired girl, a monster gradually emerged from the soil, coming into Riezel's view.