Inside the 49th-floor Moytura, the Barbarians hatching there were massive creatures several meters tall, roughly resembling goat-headed humanoids.
Each of these monsters had a potential ability rated at Lv. 5, making them extremely dangerous. Wielding natural blunt weapons resembling long leg bones, a single strike could send heavily armored shield-bearing soldiers flying. And these creatures were just the "minions" spawned by the floor's boss.
They were extremely numerous.
As Finn had said, during a normal "expedition," if a large contingent from his familia had gathered here, he could simultaneously use a bait tactic to lure away Balor and take advantage of terrain, like the staircase, to carefully wipe out most of the Barbarians before entering the 50th floor.
But today, with limited numbers, that was impossible.
Fortunately…
"I have to admit, 'Genshin Descent' really is an incredibly versatile spell."
While leading the team through the 49th floor, Finn stole a glance at the Twin Stars beside him, each carrying a large pack, silently appreciating the spell's utility.
At this moment, the team was maintaining a full-speed advance. Occasionally, one or two Barbarians would appear on the path, only to be swiftly dealt with by Ais or Tione.
Renjiro knew that under normal circumstances, when monsters and adventurers of equal potential ability and boon level met, the adventurer almost always won, provided their mental fortitude was decent.
Of course, this rule didn't apply to floor bosses, or the extremely rare "broken" adventurers.
After all, the boss's presence is already overwhelming, and as for elite adventurers… last time, when I accidentally fell to the 37th floor, Lefiya, Lv. 3, defeated a potential Lv. 4 Limeton Serpent.
As for the Twin Stars, skipping levels and killing monsters was just routine.
In short, ignoring floor bosses, adventurers of equal level were stronger than monsters of the same level, opposite to the typical power-scaling logic in many fantasy worlds.
Thanks to the guild's specially designed rating system, even though Ais and Tione were only Lv. 5 in boon level, they could still effortlessly one-shot Barbarians.
Ais, following Finn's orders and aware of the need to quickly clear the 49th floor, enhanced her combat power with Ariel.
At times like this, a single misstep would cause any nearby Barbarians to be utterly shredded.
During this process, Ais couldn't help but think…
So weak!
Much weaker than Udaeus.
Though still Lv. 5, the Sword Princess felt like she was revisiting beginner-level tutorial content after completing a hellishly difficult max-star level stage.
BOOM~
A momentary lapse in focus allowed Bete to kick another stray monster to pieces. Tione, Tiona, and Finn each had their own kills. Even Riveria, Lv. 6, had smashed a Barbarians's skull with her Magna Alfs.
True melee mage.
Simply put, almost everyone in the team was far stronger than the current floor required.
Under these conditions, Renjiro (Aether) and Lumine hardly needed to act.
Further ahead…
Pfft~
Unlike Fischl, who had to maintain her night-crow form constantly at the cost of mana, Xiao had already killed his third Barbarians.
Currently, Xiao's Archon level matches the Twin Stars at Lv. 36.
He wielded the Skyward Spine, already Lv. 40, possessed teleportation, and had awakened his true consciousness.
Thousands of years of combat experience, combined with raw power and…
Artifacts.
Yes, Xiao was equipped with five artifacts in a 2+2+1 setup.
In the past few days, during breaks, Renjiro had had Traveler and Lumine rotate using the Abyssal Lunar Domain skill to enter Xiao's mind, repeatedly completing trials to farm artifacts.
Though the Deep Secret Artifact Chest: Tier 5 only yielded one-star artifacts, something is better than nothing.
With the five artifacts equipped, Xiao received bonuses from the Adventurer 2-piece set (+1000 Max HP), Lucky 2-piece set (+100 Defense), and main stat bonuses, boosting his combat power dramatically.
Renjiro had given all the best loot to Xiao, while keeping Traveler and Lumine modestly equipped, making Xiao the undisputed strongest in the team.
After roughly twenty minutes…
"Phew~ good, Balor didn't notice us this time."
"That creature has been napping deep in the Moytura all along."
The team finally gathered at the staircase leading to the 50th floor.
Although the Moytura had minimal cover and could leave them vulnerable to Barbarians, its open terrain allowed direct travel without twisting through unnecessary paths like the Rock Maze, Great Tree Maze, or Water Maze.
The 50th floor itself was already larger than the entire domain of Orario. Even the straight-line distance alone required first- and second-tier adventurers to run for over twenty minutes.
"Traveler, Lumine, since we've safely cleared the 49th floor, you can recall Xiao and Fischl from combat."
"Fischl is already safe," Renjiro reported.
"As for Xiao… he wants to train on the local monsters. I've told him not to go deeper into the Moytura for now, so he'll stay here temporarily."
"Alright." Finn had no objections.
He knew that dealing with teleporting Xiao would be extremely difficult even for him.
The young immortal clearly had rich combat experience and, at this stage, was arguably stronger than Finn himself.
"In that case, let's head to the 50th floor immediately."
Finn turned to the others:
"Ais, Tione… let's set up camp at the usual spot after clearing the safe area of monsters. Then, Traveler and Lumine, it will be your turn to place a 'teleport anchor' and complete the main objective of this journey."
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