The names of the incantations were admittedly a bit... too hot-blooded and meatheaded.
"Flame, Fall Upon Them!"
"Giantsflame Take Thee!"
"Flame of the Fell God!"
"Burn, O Flame!"
...
But that didn't mean the Fire Giant's incantations were weak.
After all, these were the ashen flames capable of burning the Erdtree itself.
Even if the world of DanMachi didn't actually have an Erdtree.
At the very least, the hardworking pedicure specialist who had spent half the day working on the Fire Giant's feet had finally received the reward he deserved.
The Fire Giant's braided red hair paired with the "Burn, O Flame!" incantation—
Anyone who had experienced that combination would understand what it meant for joy to never fade.
Thanks to the Character Save Slot's Elden Ring-style "Weapon Mastery" ability, even a flexible whip weapon he had never touched before felt strangely familiar the moment he held it in his hand.
With only a little practice, he could completely master how to use it.
Materials like the Fire Giant's leg bones—and the giant's red hair that remained behind even after the Floor Boss perished—were all excellent crafting materials for forging equipment.
The expedition's profits were effectively secured.
'This should sell for quite a lot of Valis.'
'And if anyone wants equipment made, we can just provide the raw materials directly.'
After packing up all the dropped materials, there was no reason to continue staying there.
And once they left the scorching Floor Boss chamber behind—
Perhaps because of the Fire Giant's death, that intense sense of unease that had constantly lingered deep within Ron's heart was slowly fading away.
The most direct sign was the obvious change in the cave passages.
Unlike the earlier labyrinth, which had felt as though it wanted to trap him here and kill him outright.
'Pretty nice.'
'Looks like the Dungeon knows when to surrender to the strong.'
To prevent this from being some kind of illusion created by the Dungeon—making people think everything was fine while secretly arranging some lurking bastard to shoot arrows from the shadows—
Ron deliberately slowed his pace and walked at the very back of the party.
None of the other expedition members had any objections to this arrangement.
After all, during the battle against the Fire Giant earlier, he had been the primary damage dealer.
Using a completely reckless fighting style, he had forcibly traded his life for the Floor Boss's.
"Want some water?"
"..."
Elfy had to admit it.
At the beginning—
She had spoken a little too loudly.
They were both adventurers, yet when she looked at Ron, the gap between them felt like an uncrossable chasm.
And it wasn't just talent.
More than that, it was his attitude toward adventuring itself.
She knew very clearly that no matter what, she could never fight like that.
Nor could she charge forward with that kind of resolve to face death head-on.
But—
This Familia Expedition had still been rewarding for her.
At the very least, she had finally witnessed the sheer variety of monsters Ron regularly encountered during his everyday Dungeon explorations—
As well as the absurd level of danger, practically armed to the teeth.
To Elfy, it had been an incredibly fresh and thrilling experience.
"Thanks."
"..."
Ron casually accepted the waterskin the brown-haired girl handed over, without questioning her intentions.
Walking at the rear of the expedition party—
The moment he stepped out of the Floor Boss chamber and continued forward for a short while—
A familiar sensation of being watched slowly crept over him once more.
Not far behind him—
Within that deep darkness the eye could not penetrate, it felt as though a figure was silently observing him.
And the instant Ron turned to look—
That figure immediately melted back into the darkness, as though everything had merely been his imagination.
"..."
Honestly speaking—
Ron considered himself someone severely lacking in a sense of security.
Otherwise, he would never have been so desperately obsessed with growing stronger in Orario.
But burdened by the secrets he carried—
And everything happening behind the scenes—
Ron constantly felt as though an invisible hand was steadily pushing events forward.
As for the figure secretly watching him from afar—
Was it the Goddess of Beauty, Freya...
Or perhaps the remnants of Evilus lurking in the shadows, waiting to make their move?
The answer honestly wasn't difficult to guess.
At the end of the day—
It all came down to the speed at which his strength had grown, along with the secrets he carried behind him.
Would anyone truly not be curious?
Facing Elfy's curious gaze—
Ron did not explain much.
He simply quickened his pace to catch up with the expedition party.
Still, he had clearly become more vigilant about this unexpected incident.
"Hopefully it's just my imagination..."
...
"He seemed to... notice me just now?"
Hidden within the observation platform above the Floor Boss chamber, Filvis tilted her head slightly.
Her crimson eyes were currently filled with deep confusion.
Entrusting such an important mission to Adler and the other members of Evilus was obviously not reassuring.
More importantly—
The disturbance caused on Floor 17 had been far too exaggerated.
Even in Rivira, the Safe Floor district, many adventurers had grown curious about it.
Naturally, Filvis could not simply stay behind.
Thanks to the convenience granted by her status as a "Creature," the black-haired elf girl had rapidly arrived at the battlefield.
Unfortunately, by the time she got there, the battle was already nearing its end.
It was a monster she had never seen before.
Unlike Goliath, this thing seemed to have undergone a complete change in species itself.
To achieve something like that—
The only explanation she could think of was the secret Ron carried.
If danger appeared, she could always step in under the identity of an ordinary adventurer.
In her fully Creature-transformed state, possessing Lv.7-level power, killing the Fire Giant would have been extremely simple.
But because of the other adventurers present—
Filvis had not done so.
She still needed this identity in order to continue moving around Orario.
Yet what truly shocked the girl—was Ron himself, desperately fighting the mutated Floor Boss to the death.
"Shocking."
But not because of the strength he possessed.
In Filvis's eyes, the power Ron could unleash in his limit-breaking state was, at most, at the peak of Lv.4.
And it couldn't even last very long.
An overwhelming burst of strength—
But once it ended, he'd immediately be finished.
Watching Ron squeeze every last drop from his body in exchange for a brief explosion of power, only to lose all signs of life afterward—
For a moment, Filvis had genuinely thought that Dionysus's mission was going to fail...
But then—
She witnessed it with her own eyes.
Ron's body, burned into charcoal, recovering to normal in an incredibly short period of time.
That near-immortal characteristic...
"Seriously..."
"This feeling is way too familiar!"
The side effect of repeatedly using clone magic was that the black-haired elf girl's mental state had become extremely unstable.
And under the gods' brainwashing, she had gradually forgotten many of her memories.
However—
From Ron's "Revival," Filvis saw echoes of her former self.
Trying every possible method to commit suicide, yet unable to die because of her identity as a Creature.
"So..."
"Ron's a Creature too?!"
Adventurers died when they were killed.
And before her own death, she had once been alive as well.
Now she merely continued existing in another form.
Because of that, the black-haired elf girl arrived at a bold conclusion.
Even—
That sense of belonging she had never once received from the god Dionysus...
Filvis saw a faint possibility of finding it in Ron, someone she considered a "kindred spirit."
"Maybe..."
"Things really are exactly as I guessed?"
She needed to personally make contact with him before she could obtain the real answer.
As for the plan Dionysus had arranged—
There was no longer any reason to continue it.
Massacring the innocent adventurers of Rivira...
Filvis could feel resistance to the idea rising from deep within her subconscious.
Perhaps the original owner of this body had once been an exceptionally kind and helpful person.
Watching the expedition party gradually disappear into the distance—
That cold, beautiful face of hers, usually so icy and unapproachable, unexpectedly revealed an emotion that almost never appeared on it:
Urgency.
So...
If two Creatures met each other—
How exactly was she supposed to greet him?!
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