Juggernaut.
It was not a regular monster of the Dungeon.
Unlike other monsters, which could be born within the Dungeon at any time.
From the current state of the original story, the Juggernaut had only ever appeared under one circumstance.
When the Dungeon suffered unimaginable destruction, it would abandon restoration and prioritize purging its own interior.
And the Juggernaut was essentially the cleaner.
It was a monster born specifically to eliminate adventurers who wreaked wanton destruction. Otherwise, it would not have been able to dispose of those Evilus members so easily.
And at this moment, Elise—though concealed within Prana invisibility—was still discovered by the Juggernaut.
Right now, it was roaring in Elise's direction. Blood streamed continuously from its mouth, and fragments of severed limbs still hung between its teeth, making for a ghastly sight.
"So that's how it is..."
Elise now understood why the Juggernaut had found her.
Prana invisibility was, in the end, merely invisibility. It could not erase one's sense of presence.
Body temperature, scent, spatial disturbance—there were many ways to prove the fact that "someone is inside the Dungeon."
It was like entering Goliath's chamber. After Goliath emerged, even if you turned invisible, would Goliath crawl back into a crack in the rocks?
Even Sun Wukong couldn't pull that off!
Low-level monsters aside, those high-level monsters—especially existences around Level 6 like the Juggernaut—would more or less possess some special perception...
Was it a wild instinct, or simply because this was the Dungeon, the monsters' home?
They could vaguely sense life nearby, then immediately launch an attack.
Were monsters not born because the Dungeon sensed intruders and responded accordingly?
Perhaps that was precisely why the Juggernaut could detect Elise even while she was invisible.
"On Alise's side... there hasn't been any reaction for now. She probably only suffered one fatal injury, and the Barrier of the Stars blocked it."
To prevent Alise from abusing her Barrier of the Stars to grind monsters recklessly, Elise had gone to considerable effort, specifically adjusting Alise's barrier to trigger only upon receiving a fatal wound.
Only Goddess Astraea and Grandma Moen had theirs set to activate even for minor injuries.
But so much time had passed now... and still no reaction?
Thinking carefully, even if Alise intended to cover Astraea's retreat, Astraea would never agree, would She?
On the contrary, She would more likely remain behind and deliberately trigger Her own Barrier of the Stars to inform Elise.
No matter what, Alise was a member of the Familia. If she had encountered a life-threatening crisis, Elise had to go back and check on her.
"What was I panicking for just now?"
The attack had been blocked, and since no second fatal injury had occurred for this long, it already meant the situation had improved. At least for the short term, there was no problem.
In that case, Elise had time to deal with the big one below.
"Roar—"
Amid the Juggernaut's roar, Elise canceled her invisibility and slowly descended to a position about twenty meters away from it.
Compared to Elise's relaxed composure, the Juggernaut appeared wary. Its gaze locked onto her, and its hindmost leg even took a step back.
"Oh? Quite clever. You can actually tell I'm stronger than you."
The vast majority of monsters would attack Elise the moment they laid eyes on her.
Only after personally experiencing her strength would they begin to retreat.
Yet the Juggernaut could sense her power before the battle even began. If nothing else, even Udaeus on the thirty-seventh floor had failed to notice immediately.
In terms of assessing strength alone, this Juggernaut even surpassed Udaeus!
Elise took a tentative step forward, intending to test its reaction. The result surprised her even more—the Juggernaut retreated several steps in succession!
"I can't let you run off like that."
Elise extended her left hand, shimmering with Prana. The hemispherical barrier that had surrounded the entire Evilus group began to contract violently.
The barrier shrank until it enclosed just enough space for Elise and the Juggernaut. Though smaller than before, it was not cramped—Elise still intended to test the Juggernaut.
However, due to the compression, the barrier appeared more solid, no longer as transparent as before.
"Roar!"
The Juggernaut clearly noticed this as well. It immediately shifted sideways, keeping one eye on Elise to prevent a sneak attack while watching the barrier slide toward it, wary of some hidden scheme.
But just as the barrier was about to touch it, it stopped. Instead, Elise began walking toward the Juggernaut.
"Roar roar roar!!!"
Realizing this, the Juggernaut began frantically attacking the Prana barrier. Each strike left visible cracks upon its surface, yet the damage restored itself the very next second.
Even the Juggernaut seemed stunned—there was such a thing?
So it gave up attacking the barrier, turned its head toward Elise, and roared at her. Judging from its posture, it seemed to be saying...
Don't come any closer!
But how could Elise possibly grant its wish?
She removed her eyepatch, revealing a slightly unrestrained smile.
Seal released!
Elise wanted to test what effect her eyes would have when facing a monster.
Don't misunderstand—she had tried before. Those monsters that acted purely on instinct showed no reaction upon seeing Elise's eyes. Even Goliath, Amphisbaena, and Udaeus had been the same, not to mention the lesser monsters.
According to what Astraea once said, Elise's eyes devoured souls. Did that mean those monsters had no souls?
Then what about this Juggernaut before her, which clearly possessed its own thoughts? Did it have a soul? Could Elise devour it? Could these eyes consume monsters at all?
Sensing danger drawing near, the Juggernaut grew visibly agitated. It no longer remained stationary, instead relying on its remarkable abilities to dart and leap wildly within the barrier.
"Where are you?"
Elise merely stood at the center of the barrier, watching the Juggernaut's movements with keen interest.
Finally, at a certain moment, the Juggernaut seized its chance and launched a surprise attack from behind Elise's left side, arriving at her back in the blink of an eye.
But what it saw were deep blue eyes. Elise had tilted her head, twisting her neck at an extremely unnatural angle as she stared at it.
"Found you!"
In the next instant, a thunderous boom echoed across the entire thirtieth floor.