They arrived at the Dungeon's 17th Floor.
An extremely eerie atmosphere hung over the entire expedition party, especially with the furious roars echoing endlessly through the tunnels.
It made one thing unmistakably clear—the battle ahead had already begun.
"Up ahead."
Staring at the extremely complex cave passages, Mikoto—serving as their guide—was naturally under the most pressure. She hadn't been part of the Hestia Familia for long, and her sensing ability at this depth wasn't particularly reliable.
If she chose the wrong path—even a tiny deviation could lead to a completely different destination.
"Which way do we go next?"
"..."
No one could give her an answer.
Mikoto could only force herself to stay calm, trying to trace Ron's location through her senses. But at that moment, as if something had lost its life—that faint connection suddenly vanished completely.
She stood frozen in place.
Even her dark eyes turned blank. The disappearance of that connection meant only one thing—Ron, facing the Floor Boss, had already died.
However—she had seen this happen many times before.
There was no time to waste dwelling on it. With Tiona and Lefiya from the Loki Familia present, they should be able to hold out long enough for Ron to revive.
"Captain Ron… something's happened…"
Without hesitating over which tunnel to choose, Mikoto decided to trust her instincts. After briefly explaining to the others, she immediately rushed forward at full speed along the path ahead.
"..."
This wasn't a joke.
Even from a great distance, the Floor Boss's roars could still be heard clearly. No ordinary Floor Boss could produce such terrifying noise.
Thinking about how her younger sister might be in danger right now—Tione didn't ask a single question.
Her focus sharpened to its peak as she sprinted forward, eyes locked straight ahead while the dim cave walls blurred past.
Until—
Up ahead, the vast, open chamber of the Floor Boss!
With the firelight burning along the walls, Tione finally saw it clearly—in the distance stood a Fire Giant, its entire body engulfed in black flames.
Its size was enormous.
However—
Wrapped in that strange black fire, this unprecedented Floor Boss wasn't continuing its assault.
From the devastated surroundings, it was easy to tell how intense the battle had been. There wasn't a single intact patch of ground left—only piles of rubble everywhere.
Then—
When she saw her sister Tiona unharmed in the distance, she finally let out a breath of relief. Lefiya, acting as ranged support, was also safe.
That was one of the few pieces of good news.
"It's just…"
"Where's Ron?"
When dealing with a Floor Boss, gathering information was crucial. She didn't rush into combat. Instead, she chose to regroup with Tiona and Lefiya first.
And then—
She saw it.
A figure lying in her sister's arms, like a dying candle flickering in the wind. His life force had been drained to the extreme—his hair completely white, his skin wrinkled.
It looked… familiar.
Judging from the facial features, she could barely recognize him as Ron.
"…What the hell?"
Tione stood there with her mouth open, her emotions tangled beyond words.
Especially when she saw Lefiya completely unharmed, and her own sister safe and sound—
She almost wanted to ask: just what exactly had you been protecting?
"What happened?"
"Give me the key points!"
"We're trapped on the 17th Floor. This Fire Giant is a mutated Floor Boss—the flames covering its body were inflicted by Ron's magic."
"The Floor Boss's raw stats—even among Level 5s—would be considered top-tier!!"
Seeing the serious expression on her sister's face, Tiona could easily imagine how bad her mood was right now. But she didn't dwell on it, and instead laid out all the information they currently had.
"..."
Then that part, at least, made sense.
Even for Level 5 adventurers, quickly killing a Level 4 Floor Boss was already difficult—let alone a mutated, completely unknown monster.
It's just—
Looking at Ron in his current, barely recognizable state, Tione's emotions were a tangled mess. In a situation like this, could a panacea really heal his injuries?
Especially with the members of the Hestia Familia watching—
She had no idea what she was supposed to say...
"..."
"You don't need to worry about Captain Ron's safety."
In the end, the one who broke the silence was Mikoto—the person present who understood Ron the best. His condition did look miserable, but compared to when he faced the ancient dragon Lansseax—
Well…
At least his body was still intact.
She quickly withdrew her gaze and looked toward the Fire Giant in the distance. Its sheer size alone was oppressive, not to mention its overwhelming strength.
"What we need to think about next—"
"Is how we're going to defeat this Floor Boss!"
The moment Mikoto finished speaking—
Under the continuous burning of the Queen's Black Flame, the Fire Giant—its body already torn open and charred black over more than half its mass—still didn't collapse.
Nor did the Floor Boss continue trying to extinguish the black flames.
Instead, it knelt on one knee. Its massive crimson eyes were filled with murderous fury. The giant mouth on its abdomen, which had previously closed—was now opening at a visible rate.
Then—
The Fire Giant reached into its abdomen and pulled out flames.
Compared to the black flames burning its body, this fire was clearly far more "normal."
"@#￥!!!"
Roaring furiously, it smeared the flames it had extracted from its abdomen across its body, attempting to use the evil god's fire to overwrite the Queen's Black Flame.
The effect was immediate.
As the purest form of flame, it visibly began to suppress and cover the black fire—until it completely disappeared.
And the legs that had previously been burned by the black flames—
The Fire Giant directly smashed them apart.
Within the blaze of that evil god fire, it offered them up as sacrifices.
At this moment—
Its towering body raised the flaming remains high with both hands, arching backward in a bizarre posture. On its chest, that massive single eye slowly began to open.
All it was missing—was some intense background music—to announce the arrival of the Fire Giant's new phase!
"This..."
The scene was simply too horrifying.
It had smashed off its own legs as offerings, sacrificing them in exchange for greater power. That massive eye looked as though flames were flowing within it.
And more than that—they could clearly feel the Floor Boss's presence growing stronger.
From the gaping mouth in the Fire Giant's abdomen, pure flames continuously surged upward from the ground, as if it intended to turn the entire area into a sea of fire.
"What the hell kind of monster is this?!"
"..."
This all-too-familiar scene—was gradually overlapping with Cassandra's prophetic dream.
In that sea of fire, every member of the expedition party had been unable to escape—completely swallowed.
Her body trembled instinctively.
And at that moment—feeling the sudden weight of a firm hand landing on her shoulder, along with the warmth spreading through it, Cassandra shivered.
She turned her head—and saw the black-haired boy, completely unharmed, stretching his body as he stood beside her.
And those eyes—the ones that reassured her.
Ron glanced around at everyone.
"Yeah."
"Now that everyone's here—what's there to talk about?"
"Let's just go all out!"
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---