[Soul Shards +100]
At last—
Relying on two uses of 『Revival』, and after throwing out every last trump card while facing the Floor Boss, the Fire Giant, he had barely managed to defeat the monster.
The reward was absolutely worth it.
As his vitality was completely burned away, the side effects of absorbing the Evil God's flames finally vanished as well. When a gentle light enveloped Ron's body—
In an instant, the charred, pitch-black skin scorched by the sea of flames shed away like a cocoon breaking open, restoring itself to his original pale, smooth complexion. Even his hair…
Had completely recovered.
As for the backlash from Power Within, just how painful it had been—
He really didn't want to recall it.
He was honestly worried that kind of extreme pain might leave a psychological scar.
Making him afraid to self-detonate again in the future.
Feeling the softness beneath his head—and the faint fragrance that was different from a typical girl's wild style—Ron opened his eyes and immediately saw a familiar figure.
Tiona.
And the girl's eyes, filled with unmistakable concern.
"Nothing serious. Just a minor fatal wound," he said casually, adjusting himself into a more comfortable lap pillow position, his tone completely relaxed.
A fatal wound.
Just a bit harder to kill, that's all.
"…Thank you."
This guy was really something else.
Whether it was the secrets he carried, or the way he acted—
No matter what, Tiona knew she would never forget…
That moment when she was about to be swallowed by the Evil God's sea of flames—
That figure who stepped forward without hesitation, appearing behind her, steady and dependable, saving her at the brink of danger.
Without Ron's help, she didn't even dare imagine what would have happened.
There was no doubt—
Ron's intervention had, in effect, saved the entire expedition party from disaster.
Though, best not ask how that "disaster" came about in the first place.
'A hero…?'
On Ron, Tiona seemed to see the shadow of that great hero from the Argonaut storybook.
The girl murmured softly. Noticing the slight furrow in his brows, she hesitated for a moment before gently reaching out and pressing her fingers against his temples.
"The battle is already… over."
"It had to be."
He had even used up all his Revival charges.
If he still hadn't managed to kill the Fire Giant after that, then Ron would've truly been out of options—he'd have had no choice but to consider retreating from the Boss room with the expedition team.
But now—
It was time to enjoy a beautiful girl's lap pillow… and massage service.
However, when the corner of his eye caught sight of the expedition party approaching from the distance, the smile at the edge of his lips quickly faded, his expression turning serious.
"Next—"
"I think we seriously need to rest."
"…"
Tione had wanted to thank Ron—
For helping her sister at such a critical moment.
But looking at the two of them in their current state, she ultimately held back.
Especially—
When she noticed that gentle expression on Tiona's face—something she had never seen before—
She couldn't shake the feeling that things were developing in a direction far beyond her expectations.
Something was definitely off!!
But, that didn't affect the extremely high regard Tione now held for Ron.
If not for the difference in skin tone, she might have suspected—
That this guy actually possessed Amazoness battle blood.
His technique was certainly there.
If she had to describe it—
It was unprecedentedly simple and brutal.
Fighting on the edge of death, trading injury for life, self-destruction tactics…
She even felt a bit relieved.
Fortunately, the Loki Familia's relationship with Ron would likely grow closer through this expedition.
And—
The bond forming between him and her sister, Tiona.
Otherwise...
Just imagining an adventurer with talent comparable to a monster and such an extremely ferocious combat style becoming a future opponent—
Was enough to give Tione a splitting headache.
"Good work."
"Thanks."
"We're expedition partners. Even if it's temporary for now, there's no need to worry about my condition. If I can still chat with you like this, it means I'm doing just fine."
Formalities had to be dropped.
Ron looked at the hesitant elf girl, Lefiya, as well as Daphne and Cassandra, who had basically played no role in this battle.
From their eyes, he could more or less guess what they were thinking.
"Mm."
"Don't put any psychological pressure on yourselves."
"You just went through a Dungeon anomaly not long ago and are still in a phase of improving your strength. I believe that in the future, you'll definitely be able to keep up."
"…We'll work hard, Captain Ron."
"…"
This was leagues better than the Apollo Familia!
Daphne looked at Ron, who was currently resting his head on Tiona's thighs. After hesitating for a moment, she asked: "Where are we heading next?"
"If we go further down,"
"There's a Safe Floor. It'll be much more convenient to rest and recover there."
"I have no objections."
Ron glanced around at the members of the expedition party.
This battle had drained them immensely—fatigue was clearly visible on their faces.
Especially Mikoto.
As the key person responsible for restraining the Floor Boss, the Fire Giant, her continuous use of gravity magic had left her face extremely pale.
"…"
Seemingly noticing Ron's gaze, Mikoto nodded lightly, then as if remembering something, added: "If we're talking about resting, we can go to the Safe Floor on the 18th Floor, but this kind of physical exhaustion…"
"It definitely won't be relieved in a short time."
At this point, the girl from the Far East had a look of expectation in her clear eyes:
"However, I do know a way to quickly relieve fatigue."
"When we were heading to the Boss room, I discovered a cave passage in the 15th Floor area that had a sulfur smell—like a hot spring."
"So…"
"Should we go check it out later?"
A man doesn't refuse a hot spring.
But looking at all the beautiful girls present, Ron fell silent.
He suddenly realized—
He had absolutely no reason to refuse.
"Sounds good!"
However, just as the expedition party made their decision—to head to the Safe Floor on the 18th Floor for a short rest, and once recovered, go to the 15th Floor to enjoy the hot spring—
From the distant rear, within the cave passage that led directly to the Boss room, hurried footsteps could be heard.
"What's that…?"
"Did adventurers from the 18th Floor notice the disturbance and come over?"
Daphne quickly arrived at that conclusion.
However, when she looked in the direction the footsteps were coming from, what entered her sight—were more than ten unfamiliar adventurers she had never seen before.
When a Floor Boss is being challenged, the noise is bound to attract attention.
But now, it was already over.
Just as Daphne was thinking about how to brush this off—the group of adventurers blocking the passage out of the Boss room ahead, wore playful smiles filled with naked malice.
And, from the weapons they were drawing one after another, it was already clear—
They weren't here because of the Floor Boss disturbance.
To be precise, their target—was this expedition party.
"Captain."
"Looks like before we go soak in the hot spring…"
"There's something more urgent we need to deal with first."
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