The Loki Familia

Lefiya had to apologize repeatedly after failing to meet their expectations. Ais tried to comfort her because it's normal for people to be afraid of monsters a lot stronger than them when they approached. However, it ended up backfiring when Ais couldn't think of anything to say and only stared at Lefiya.

The group then resumed their track towards the Cadmus Spring and stopped at the corner where the Cadmus Dragon respawns. Crouching down, the group tried to feel where the exact location of the monster through the sounds it makes. However, Ais noticed that it's too quiet and came out of their hiding place.

Tione and Tiona tried to stop her but it's already too late as Ais already entered the room where the dragon is supposed to be. But when they followed Ais, they too noticed that the dragon is nowhere to be found and their's only a hill of ashes and melted boulders.

"!?... Is this perhaps the remains of a Cadmus!?" Tione asked. But all of them already knew the answer to that question.

"Perhaps another Familia slew it before us?" Lefiya questioned.

Tione examined the ashes closely and found an item hidden beneath it, "Very few parties can make it this deep. We would have heard if any of them were on an expedition at the same time..." Tione then pulled out the buried item, "...And the drop items are still here..."

Tiona took a closer look at the drop item that is in Tione's hand and exclaimed, "Oh, wow! Cadmus hide!? That stuff's worth a lot!!!"

"No Adventurer would leave something this valuable behind..." Tione continued as she looked around for more clues, "Something was here... Something strong enough to kill a Cadmus. Something other than Adventurers."

The group took out their weapons and looked around for potential beings that could have killed the dragon but found nothing, "I've got a bad feeling about this..." Tione then started giving orders, "Hurry and collect the water. We should get out of here as soon as possible."

Lefiya collected the quest goal and the group hurriedly backtracked back to their supposed meeting spot, "So? What do you think?" Tiona asked her older sister.

"Logically, this has to be the work of another monster..."

"A monster that can kill a Cadmus?" Tione couldn't believe it as it's the strongest monster aside from Monster Rexes.

Tiona couldn't also believe this and muttered, "There shouldn't be a floor boss around here... And even a swarm of the monsters of this floor wouldn't stand a chance... Then most probably..."

"An irregular..." Ais continued her words.

But a few minutes of walking in alert, they heard a shout of pain coming from someone familiar, "AHHH!!!"

The group faced the direction where the shout came from, "That voice!? Raul!!"

They then ran towards that direction and a minute later, they met the second party with them running away from what seems to be giant caterpillar monsters. Raul, who the voice came from, is being carried by Gareth while wincing in pain.

"C-caterpillar!?" Lefiya felt grossed out by the monsters.

"Captain!" Tione called out in worry but also wondering why they're running away from the monsters. They are, after all, the top Adventurers of Orario.

Tiona, on the other hand, didn't hesitate and charged at the caterpillar monster with her Urga. Seeing this, Finn hurriedly warned her, "Stop! Tiona!" But it was already too late as Tiona already stabbed the monster on its head with her Urga. Since it's already useless, Finn gave another instruction, "Don't let that stuff touch you!!"

Finn is referring to the caterpillar's blood which already spurting out from the would Tiona made, "Eh?" She immediately pulled out to retreat, "Uwah!" And didn't let its purple blood touch her, but then, she noticed that her Urga became light, too light even. And as she looked at it, her beloved Urga's blade already melted and gone, "What!?" Tiona then hurriedly threw away her weapon as the erosion didn't stop, "It's melting!? No!!!" Her important custom made weapon is now gone.

'A never before seen monster... a new breed...? More importantly, its a bomb of corrosive sludge!' Ais gritted her teeth as realized how dangerous the monster is, not to herself, but to her companions.

Tiona wasn't satisfied with what happened to her weapon and still wanted to fight, "Damn you!!! How dare you! My precious Urga!!"

Seeing her staying behind, Bete immediately warned her, "Run for it, you moron! There's more of them!"

"Huh?" Tiona then saw what's on the back of the giant caterpillar, and they're giant caterpillar monsters, a whole lot of them, chasing after them with their corrosive liquid, "UWAAHHH!!!" Tiona then ran with all her might and arrive at the front of the group, "What are those!? Just what are those!? This isn't funny!"

"I don't know. They came out of nowhere." Finn explained, "The first one popped up after we took down the Cadmus and got the water. After losing our weapons, we had no choice but to retreat."

Tione then asked in concern, "Captain, are you hurt?"

Finn shook his head, "The three of us are okay. But Raul took a direct hit of that stuff."

"It ain't gonna be good if we can't heal him soon." Gareth followed up.

As they run away, Black Rhinoceros also kept spawning but the caterpillars seem to be more interested in devouring them than chasing after the Adventurers.

"Eh...? They're killing other monsters too!?" Tiona exclaimed as this is the first time she saw monsters fighting each other and the other members also has a serious look on their faces.

"This new species attacks anything that moves, not just us. If anything, they seem to go after other monsters first."

Tione then passed the Cadmus hide to Finn, "Captain, we discovered a slain Cadmus dragon at our spring. The drop item is intact." Tione then passed the second item, a part of Cadmus' magic stone that is already melted, "As well as this..."

Finn grabbed the melted magic stone and couldn't help but smile wryly, "Hmm... That settles it. These things can kill a Cadmus..."

"Finn," Ais then called out for Finn, "Can they be beaten?"

Finn looked towards Ais and answered, "Our attacks inflict damage, but at the cost of a weapon... for each hit. It's not worth it, and facing that swarm would be nearly impossible." He then looked towards Lefiya, "But magic is a different story. Buy enough time for an incantation, and unleash a spell powerful enough to wipe them out all at once."

Everyone else also looked towards the sole Mage in their team.

"Eh...? Ehhh!!?"

But before they could say anything, another swarm of caterpillars appeared in front of them, "Everyone, turn right now!" Finn was forced to move the group to the only path.

"Tione, how is your stock of weapons and items?"

"Eh... oh yes. Everything's here... Except for Tiona's weapon."

"Good. Pass them around. The room ahead is a dead end. Take Raul to the rear and heal him."

Tione then started passing around the weapons and Bete couldn't help but complain when he received a small dagger, "Hey! The hell am I supposed to do with this toothpick!?"

"Captain's orders! So shut up and take it!"

Ignoring the commotion behind him, Finn muttered while biting his right thumb, "My thumb's tingling... It probably means they're coming."

The Dungeon is filled with the 'Unknown.' Why does it exist? Why does it heal itself? No one knows why some walls emit light or why the hallways are so complex. Only one thing is certain. The Dungeon is alive... And birthing monsters.

And when they reach a dead-end room, a monster party of Black Rhinoceros appeared... Around two hundred of them. A monster party room in front of them and a swarm of dangerous monsters behind them, the Loki Familia is trapped.

But as First-Class Adventurers they immediately reacted and moved with teamwork in mind, "Bete, Gareth, Tiona! Hold them off and protect the rear!

"Ais and I will take on the new species! Keep your distance! Attack!"

"On it!" "Aye!" "Okay!"

Their plan is simple, hold the monsters back until Lefiya finishes her incantation and release a magic bombardment. Lefiya has enough firepower to annihilate the monsters but her fear became her Achilles' heel.

However, with a bit of motivation from her idol, Ais Wallenstein, Lefiya was able to gather enough courage to trust everyone and ignore the monsters as she focuses on her incantation.

And with that, Lefiya was able to successfully casted her most powerful spell with almost all of her Mind, 'Fusillade Fallarica', a fire element wide-area attack magic, and annihilated every monster in the room.

But just as they started celebrating, Finn gathered their attention, "Before escaping to this room, monsters came at us from the front... That path leads directly to the 50th floor, our route back to camp."

Everyone understood what he's trying to say, "Back to camp! Full speed!" With his declaration, the group speedily ran back to their comrades and a few minutes later, they reached the 50th floor.

The group is already expecting that the camp is being besieged by the caterpillar monster, but what they didn't expect is that two black-cloaked people are going around, killing the monsters. They can understand someone killing the dangerous bomb-like monsters, but the way they're doing is so out of the mood, "Hey, Totallynotsuspicious! I already got my hundredth kill~! And by the way, your name is too long!" One of them shouted at the other while swinging his sword which is a sleek, medium-sized sword. The hilt's grip, which has a gentle black-decorative wrapping, bends forward at the end, with a pommel shaped overlap three times, and a crimson tassel dangling from its base.

"Don't be proud, Totallylegitimatemerchant, I'm already at my hundredth-sixth kill~! And I don't want to hear that from you! Calling yourself a legit merchant is too much, you scammer!" Replied by the other figure, who seems to be a woman, as she punches the torso of the caterpillar. What's strange is that a hole suddenly appeared behind the said caterpillar, killing it.

"W-what's going on?" Tiona asked.