When the group arrived at the 20th floor, the Hestia Familia members, Ais, and Riveria separated from the main group.
Naturally, some members of the Loki Familia wanted to follow, but they were stopped by Finn and Gareth. The most lively Tiona was directly suppressed by her sister Tione, as Tione would absolutely carry out Finn's orders.
Although he hadn't spent much time with the Loki Familia, even Takatsuki could tell that Tione was Finn's number one sycophant.
"They told us to come here, but there's nothing here."
After separating from the group, they walked into a moss-covered tunnel on the 20th floor, but saw no one waiting to meet them.
Takatsuki, having read the original story, naturally knew what was happening. Before any singing appeared, he directly activated his magic, looking in one direction.
At the same time, Fu Hua also looked at a large rock in the corner with Takatsuki. Clearly, Fu Hua's Observation Haki had also detected their hiding place.
"Fu Hua, can you shatter that rock?"
"No problem."
Fu Hua knew through her Observation Haki that many "people" were hidden behind that rock, so she wasn't surprised by Takatsuki's instruction. While Fu Hua went to shatter the rock, Takatsuki turned back and instructed the others.
"Don't be impulsive once we go in. Just leave everything to me."
Takatsuki said, looking at Ais: "Especially you, Ais. Even if they attack us first, don't make a move. I'll handle it."
Takatsuki's warning was a bit strange, but no one said much, nodding to show they understood.
On the other side, Fu Hua had already walked in front of the giant rock.
"Inch Punch · Mountain Collapse!"
Fu Hua struck the giant rock with an Inch Punch, and just like the name of the technique, the rock instantly shattered as if a mountain had collapsed.
"Alright, let's go in."
The group walked into the dark cave, and Fu Hua immediately felt a dense presence around them.
"Takatsuki!"
Fu Hua called out with some vigilance.
"Don't worry, leave it to me."
If Fu Hua's Observation Haki could perceive it, Takatsuki couldn't possibly not.
After leading everyone a few more steps deeper, Takatsuki estimated that he had entered the encirclement. Golden Ripples appeared in the air, and a white-glowing stone was 'spat' out from within.
This was a Lantern Stone from Elden Ring, which had been drawn out along with other miscellaneous items and placed into Takatsuki's the King's Treasure.
A soft light instantly illuminated the surroundings, dispelling the darkness. The monsters hiding in the dark, who had surrounded the eight people, began to howl.
"Whoa, whoa, what's going on?!"
Everyone took a defensive stance, looking at the constantly roaring monsters that wanted to pounce, but remembering Takatsuki's words, they didn't make a move.
Just then, a red-scaled Lizardman stood at the very front of the group. It held a longsword in its left hand and a long bladed weapon in its right, stomping heavily on the ground and letting out a roar.
And just as all the monsters were stirring, hundreds of golden circles suddenly appeared above the group. Hundreds of projected weapons shot out from them, landing in front of the monsters that had just tried to pounce, forming a circular wall of swords around the group, forcing these intelligent monsters back.
Just a few hundred projected weapons—Takatsuki could now produce more than that in a single day, so he didn't feel bad about using them as consumables.
"Meaningless probing ends here. You should be able to tell that if I had ill intentions towards you, I could have annihilated all of you Xenos in an instant, right…Ried?"
Ried, as the leader, received special attention from Takatsuki. Although the projected weapons didn't pierce his body, one of the longswords in his hand was forcefully broken. Looking at the weapon that was destroyed in just one encounter, Ried felt lingering fear, just as Takatsuki said, he hadn't fully reacted just now.
The red Lizardman Ried looked at the broken sword, discarded it, and stared at Takatsuki, who stood first: "How do you know my name?"
The fact that the monster spoke surprised everyone behind him, but Takatsuki, still expressionless, said to Ried.
"Has Marie not told you about me? My name is Takatsuki."
When Ried heard Takatsuki's words, although no expression could be seen on his lizard face, his eyes widened slightly.
"You're the young Takatsuki that little Marie talked about? Hahaha, you should have said so earlier, sorry, young Takatsuki."
Takatsuki's name seemed to have some magic, instantly making Ried drop his guard. Perhaps it was because Marie had said many good things about him in front of Ried.
"Little ones! Light the lamps! Bring out all the good food and drink! It's party time!"
Following Ried's voice, torches were lit one by one in the surrounding dark cave, illuminating the entire cave. The weapons stuck in the ground, which had not yet dissipated due to magic, slowly sank into the golden Ripples under everyone's astonished gaze.
With several adventurers looking bewildered, the group was invited onto the excavated stone steps in the cave.
"Oh, is this one of our kind? I smell one of our kind, but why does it look so much like a human?"
Ried looked at Nana, who was sitting next to Kiana, and asked.
Although the Gaia Foundation could hide even weight and body odor, Takatsuki hadn't deliberately concealed Nana's scent, because humans couldn't smell this kind of scent; only Xenos could.
"Oh, that's because I disguised her."
Takatsuki reached out and stroked Nana's head. The small head obediently swayed with Takatsuki's hand, and white smoke emerged from her body. Her appearance, which had been indistinguishable from an ordinary young girl, transformed into a clear dragon-like form.
"Truly miraculous. Is this magic?"
Riveria looked at Takatsuki's actions with some amazement. As far as she knew, Takatsuki's magic should have already reached the individual limit of three.
"No, it's just a small prop that can simply change some details, such as hair color, skin color, and some not-so-big features, like disguising a human as an elf. Would Riveria like to try it?"
Riveria thought for a moment but gave up. Compared to a prop that could disguise races, she was more interested in the surrounding Xenos at the moment, as this meant breaking the decades of beliefs she had established in Orario.
However, fortunately, although Riveria was several decades old, for an Elf Royal Family member, she was still very young, so she was still capable of acceptance. What she was more concerned about, however, was whether these so-called Xenos posed a threat to Orario, and whether they might be exploited by the Evilus. Although Takatsuki had introduced them, she felt that Takatsuki might also have been deceived.
So Loki chose to let them witness it firsthand, while Ais simply... wanted to come herself.