After defeating Amphisbaena, the Hestia Familia's expedition did not end; instead, they continued to explore downwards from the 27th floor. As long as they were deep enough, no one would discover that they had directly cheated their way into the Dungeon.
During this period, Takatsuki also updated his stats to LV4, increasing his crystal reserves.
After that, the five of them began to endlessly fight monsters and earn money.
Initially, their progress was quite fast, but when they reached the thirtieth floor, their speed began to slow down. Although Takatsuki and Fu Hua could still efficiently kill monsters, Kiana, Mei, and Bronya's attacks found it difficult to kill monsters as easily as they did on the upper floors.
This was also considered a relatively suitable training ground. From then on, the five's speed in conquering the Dungeon slowed down significantly, only advancing one floor every two or three days.
Thanks to Fu Hua's skills, everyone's stats grew very rapidly.
On the thirty-seventh floor, Takatsuki soloed Udaeus, fulfilling the conditions for his advancement to LV5 and also acquiring a rare material: Udaeus's Black Sword.
However, because Takatsuki temporarily didn't need to forge weapons, it was placed in the living room as a trophy and a symbol of honor.
Takatsuki himself did not choose to level up, as he had only reached the minimum upgrade standard, and his goal was to max out all his stats.
Thus, every morning, they would train with Ais, who came to the Hearth Manor, then eat breakfast and prepare lunchboxes. In the morning, they would use [Close at Hand Yet Worlds Apart] to directly reach the deep floors and begin conquering the Dungeon, returning to the Hearth Manor for dinner in the evening.
The five of them spent over a month in this rhythmic daily routine.
During this period, nothing particularly special happened. The biggest event, if anything, was that Bell's Azure Moon Sword was damaged due to Welf's research.
Welf even came to apologize specifically for this, but Takatsuki didn't care much. Not only did he forgive Welf, but he also gave him another A-grade short sword, the Blue Ice Crescent Sword.
It was of the same grade as the Azure Moon Sword, but slightly stronger, an ice-attributed short sword that might also trigger an ice spike effect when attacking. Welf treasured it as if he had found a treasure, and though it was for Bell, he could also research it.
In return, at Takatsuki's request, Welf also gave Takatsuki two magic swords he had forged. Takatsuki then copied several types of magic swords he had forged and added them to his the King's Treasure.
While the Hestia Familia spent over a month in this stable rhythm, in the unknown corners of Orario, undercurrents were stirring.
————————————————————————
Deep within the Entertainment District, inside the Ishtar Familia, members of the Ishtar Familia stood upright on either side of a red carpet.
"Bring back everyone from the Hestia Familia."
The beautiful goddess with exposed clothing and brown skin sat in the central seat, taking a deep puff from her pipe, then exhaling a wisp of white smoke before speaking to the members below.
Ishtar's command immediately caused a stir among those present.
"That Freya seems quite fond of a few individuals from the Hestia Familia. Although I don't know why she's only observing, I'll make that Bell, Fu Hua, and Takatsuki my playthings. I wonder what kind of expression she'll show."
As soon as Ishtar finished speaking, a burst of laughter erupted from around her.
"Lady Ishtar is truly naughty."
"How frightening."
Ishtar didn't mind her Familia's reaction. Instead, she leaned back in her chair and said, "And that blast, he seems to possess spatial magic that can store items. He'll be a valuable strategic resource when we clash with the Freya Familia."
"You're not allowed to 'sample' them after you catch them, especially Phryne. If you make a move, the men will be ruined."
As Ishtar's words fell, the massive, two-meter-tall woman resembling a giant toad, who stood first on her right, let out a few laughs.
"Ribbit, ribbit, how can you say that? Those men just fell for me."
With her large hands pawing at her basin-sized toad face, Phryne truly believed herself to be beautiful.
Ishtar said nothing more: "In any case, I must be the first. After that, you can do as you please."
"Understood..."
Although Phryne had her own hidden intentions, she didn't show them.
"The full moon is approaching. After the night of the full moon, we will declare war on the Freya Familia. As long as those little ones are in our hands, we can easily infuriate that woman, especially with that blast's spatial magic."
Ishtar was already fantasizing about the upcoming attack.
"Ribbit, ribbit, so how are we going to catch them?"
Phryne asked the question.
"However you want, just don't let the Freya Familia or the Guild find out."
Ishtar only gave orders and didn't manage anything else, but her subordinates were capable of making judgments.
"In that case, it can only be in that place."
"Not quite. It seems only the Little Rookie goes to the Dungeon every day; the others rarely leave the Hearth Manor."
The movements of the Hearth Manor had been noticed by attentive individuals during this period.
"Ribbit, ribbit, isn't that perfect? The Hearth Manor is quite remote, so we can just go directly to their doorstep."
"That Fu Hua is also LV5, not easy to deal with."
Someone raised this concern, but Phryne didn't care at all and chuckled twice: "She's just a little kid who just reached LV5. But she does look good. I'll just have Haruhime raise my level then."
"A few of you go catch that Little Rookie, and we'll go to the Hearth Manor."
Phryne made the decision, and the others had no objections, all beginning to mobilize.
And what were Takatsuki and the others doing at this time?
"Fu Hua! Go!"
"Squad Leader, go!"
"Squad Leader! Hit its eye!"
Just like Takatsuki's solo fight against Udaeus, after Takatsuki and the others had made their way to the forty-ninth floor, the Floor Boss of the forty-ninth floor, Balor, appeared before the five of them, and this time, Fu Hua chose to solo it.
Unlike Takatsuki's flashy methods in his solo fight against Udaeus, Fu Hua's battle against Balor was incredibly simple and unadorned.
Fu Hua had only one weapon: her fists.
In the initial battle, Fu Hua didn't even wear her Fiery Demon Gauntlets, relying solely on Hamon and Armament Haki to clash with Balor.
Fu Hua, with her full strength restored, though her Falna level was only LV5, was incomparably powerful as a M.E.I. from the Previous Era.
Even without using Artificial Collapse, she could defeat some weaker Herrschers.
"Inch Punch: Strike Iron!"
With a muffled thud, Fu Hua's fist made zero-distance contact with Balor's body. Immense power concentrated at a single point, directly punching a fist-sized hole in its third eye on its forehead, as if something had pierced through it.
This was a technique Fu Hua created by fusing the Finger Pistol and Iron Mass from the Six Powers with her own moves. Compared to other techniques, as demonstrated, this punch possessed piercing power comparable to a sharp weapon.
Although the hole wasn't large, this strike pierced Balor's vital point, and combined with the injuries sustained from the previous battle, Balor instantly died.
"Wow! Class Monitor is amazing!"
Kiana immediately jumped up and ran to the center of the arena to see what materials Balor had dropped.
But no matter how she searched, there was nothing but a huge magic stone.
"Takatsuki, did you hide the materials? Why is there nothing?"
Hearing Kiana's words, Takatsuki turned his head to look at the ultimate unlucky person who was completely oblivious on the side.
"What's wrong?"
Fu Hua asked when she saw Takatsuki's strange gaze.
"Nothing, just checking if you were injured."
"No need to worry, its strength is not as great as a Herrscher. It's a good choice for a warm-up."
The Scarlet Phoenix Immortal, who had guarded the Divine Realm for ten thousand years, said so.