The female-form monster, a superior individual of the worm monsters, had a build no less than a Floor Boss and a Status far surpassing any worm monster, and once killed it would self-detonate just like a worm monster, spilling an unprecedented torrent of dissolving fluid that corroded everything in the surrounding area, immensely dangerous.
Leo remembered it clearly: in the original work, after Loki Familia's camp on Floor 50 came under attack from the worm monsters, this female-form monster appeared belatedly, at one point leaving all of Loki Familia tied hand and foot, even at a complete loss, so that only Ais, who didn't fear the dissolving fluid, could go deal with it alone, putting Ais through a fairly grueling hard fight.
So, after firing off a single spell at the swarm of worm monsters that had crawled up the rock terrace, Leo didn't rush up onto the terrace like the others to support the members at the camp. Instead he stayed put where he was, ready to use a maximum-output Meteor Dance to strangle the female-form monster the instant it appeared, at a safe distance, so that the large volume of dissolving fluid stored inside it wouldn't threaten the safety of the whole expedition force.
But Leo hadn't expected that the moment the thing appeared, it would spray pollen at him as he prepared to launch his magic, kicking up a huge explosion on the spot and sweeping him whole into it.
Only now did Leo belatedly come to his senses.
"These monsters were abnormally sensitive to Magic to begin with. With me preparing a high-powered spell that blatantly, how could it not have noticed me the first instant and attacked me?"
You could only say Leo had thought it too simple.
"If not for the Giant's Battle Garb, I'd probably have been blown to death by now, huh?"
Looking at the battle garb covering his body, smeared with dust and dirt, Leo couldn't help feeling a lingering fear. Thanks to this set of garb, Leo had been able to weather that earth-shaking explosion.
This set of garb, fit to rank among First Class equipment, possessed powerful defense against both physical and magic attacks, and on top of that, having been modified with a special process, it even had the impact-resisting performance that Goliath hide hadn't originally possessed, while the cloak could ward off fire and frost too. That was what had kept Leo from being blown to death by that sudden huge explosion, and let him survive.
"I'll have to thank Loki properly when I get back."
Mulling this over in his heart, Leo stirred his Mind and launched his magic, releasing meteors one after another without a chant, sending them circling around himself, dancing endlessly.
The powerful Magic, as before, drew the female-form monster without fail, making it cleanly abandon the Ais it had just swatted away and close in on Leo. The countless stubby legs beneath it wriggled and crawled without pause, its multiple arms swaying as well, its gaudy huge body and purple-black great belly bearing down with a soul-gripping pressure. That sight really did call to Leo's mind the Floor Boss of the 17th floor he'd once faced off against alone, Goliath.
No, the female-form monster before him was more powerful than Goliath, and more terrifying too, enough to set Leo's heartbeat racing.
"I have to keep my distance from it."
Just as when he'd fought Goliath back then, Leo confirmed this countermeasure first. The difference was that this time, the reason Leo didn't dare let the female-form monster close was his fear of the dissolving fluid inside it.
The Giant's Battle Garb on his body could withstand the female-form monster's explosive pollen, but it absolutely couldn't withstand that dissolving fluid capable of dissolving First Class equipment. So Leo had to keep a certain distance from it, even keep an extremely great distance, or else even if he managed to strike it down, he'd be corroded on the spot by the dissolving fluid that sprayed out from inside it when it self-detonated, not even a single bone left behind.
"Take this."
Leo fired off the meteors dancing around him without hesitation, turning them into flashes of light that bombarded the female-form monster from every direction, blotting out the sky.
The female-form monster's reaction was nothing if not quick. Sensing that powerful Magic reaction closing in on it, it immediately swung its manta-ray-like flat arms, batting at the incoming meteors one after another with astonishing speed. The meteors that came shooting in were struck by the female-form monster and burst on cue, scattering into bursts of starlight.
"Not that easy!"
Leo immediately seized the remaining meteors, swerving them abruptly past the swinging flat arms to slam down onto the monster's upper body from above, setting off explosion after explosion.
The female-form monster let out a howl of pain, then locked onto Leo completely. Its upper body suddenly leaned back, and a horizontal crack opened across its seemingly featureless face, opening a mouth.
The next second, dissolving fluid shot out violently like a water gun, carrying a foul, fishy stench.
The volume of that dissolving fluid and the speed of the shot were simply worlds apart from those worm monsters. If the dissolving fluid the worm monsters spat was a water gun, then the dissolving fluid the female-form monster spat was a high-pressure water cannon.
Leo's pupils shrank, and without a thought he hurtled off into the distance, dodging this surging purple-black water cannon.
The purple-black water cannon grazed the spot Leo had been in a second earlier and landed on the ground, sweeping forward as it went and kicking up a tremendous roar. Where the water cannon passed, an extraordinary dissolving sound rose up, everything it touched dissolving in an instant into black-smoking trenches. Trees fell in row after row, great clouds of black steam shot skyward as well, and even the ground it hadn't touched changed color in the blink of an eye, as if poisoned, turning pitted and revolting in the extreme.
The terrible dissolving speed, the dreadful lethality, sent a chill through Leo's heart and confirmed all the more his resolve never to be touched by it.
"Light of heaven, sword of stars. Meteor Dance!"
The fully chanted star magic activated, and countless meteors shot out once more, some driving straight at the female-form monster, some circling around to its side, above, and behind, unleashing an all-around bombardment on it.
The female-form monster flailed its tentacles with all its might, blocking the incoming barrage while opening its mouth again, trying to shoot out dissolving fluid.
Just then, a figure came riding the wind, the keen blade in her hand swinging down and cutting the air apart.
The female-form monster couldn't react in time and took that lightning-fast slash to the mouth, the dissolving fluid brewing within bursting out like blood, drawing a soundless wail from it.
"Ais!"
Leo called out to her.
Ais didn't answer him, instead kicking off the air as if popping it underfoot, rebounding back down with her sword Desperate raised high, about to take the female-form monster's head clean off.
"Don't! Pull back, quick!"
Leo's face changed sharply, and he shouted this out.
Because he'd clearly seen the female-form monster's four arms already crossed before its chest, and with one hard flick they spilled out a volume of pollen that made you doubt your own eyes. The mass of pollen scattered in every direction like light particles, shrouding the monster, and shrouding the spot where Leo and Ais were too.
A few seconds later, an utterly terrifying huge explosion appeared, flames and a shockwave bursting wide open. In this moment, Leo and Ais alike were both swept into this earth-shaking huge explosion, swallowed by the oncoming blast-flames, vanishing completely into the sea of fire.
The huge explosion burned away a whole corner of the gray forest, sending thick black smoke rising straight up to the dome of Floor 50.
And the expedition force members on the rock terrace were all knocked flat by the hot wind and the shockwave too. Even the first-class adventurers were buffeted to the point of teetering, unable to so much as keep their footing.
"Pull back! Pull back, quick!"
Finn gave the order again, his voice pitched up to its loudest.
"Take the bare minimum of supplies and clear out of here right now!"
Otherwise, if that female-form monster pulled off another wide-area pollen bombardment, then never mind these first-class adventurers, the rest probably couldn't withstand the explosion's force, and even if they didn't die they'd be left shedding a layer of skin.
The terrace here was already very unsafe too. The female-form monster's two bombardments had left cracks all over the place, and with the worm monsters' dissolving fluid earlier having corroded the area into a pitted mess, it could collapse outright at any moment and bury them all.
With the crisis upon him, Finn could no longer worry about so much, wanting only to cover the members' retreat.
"Captain! What about Miss Ais?!"
"And, and Mr. Leo too!"
Lefiya and Line cried out, their faces deathly pale, the picture of panic.
"...we clear out of here first!"
A flicker of struggle crossed Finn's eyes, then he gave the order with an expressionless face.
"Ais has magic protecting her, Leo has the battle garb shielding him. They should be fine for a short while."
Hearing this, the others reacted strongly.
"You mean to make those two cover our retreat?"
"Cap, captain! This...!"
Tiona immediately voiced her protest, and even Tione showed a look of resistance.
"Making a woman and a small fry cover our retreat? That's one hell of a joke, Finn!"
Even Bete roared out.
He prided himself as a strong one and had always found the weak utterly intolerable, and now to be made to retreat under the protection of people he'd long regarded as small fry, how could he possibly accept it so easily?
"If anyone covers the retreat it'll be me! Get Ais and that small fry running with the rest of you, now!"
With that, Bete made to charge out without another word.
"Don't make me say it twice."
Finn stopped him in a tone that brooked no argument.
"Those two are the best choice. If you want to go drag them down, then go right ahead."
With that, Finn paid Bete and the other two no further mind, shielding the Familia members as he began to retreat.
The members naturally couldn't accept a thing like this either, but they didn't dare openly defy Finn's order, let alone with Riveria and Gareth both following along without a word.
The two of them understood clearly that it wasn't that Finn didn't want to go in, but that as the Familia's leader he had to secure the members' safety first. Only by securing the members' safety as quickly as possible could they find a way to support Leo and Ais.
"Damn it!"
Bete, Tiona, and Tione, their faces full of struggle, cursed in the end all the same and fell in with the main force.
Behind them, the female-form monster was still shrieking, its cries ringing on without pause.
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