Takatsuki left with the girls of the Hestia Familia, and Finn also went to find a way to inform the other members of the Loki Familia about their return trip.
"Takatsuki, you must have a way, right?"
Kiana immediately asked Takatsuki anxiously after they had left the vicinity of the Loki Familia.
As for a way, there certainly was one; the most direct method would be to immediately return to the surface via the Dimension Breach.
But doing so would mean they would vanish in the deep levels of the Dungeon. If they didn't tell the other members of the Loki Familia, it would surely cause chaos, and telling them would mean exposing his own abilities.
"Don't worry, Kiana, I can contact Nana right now."
Although he couldn't let them return, Takatsuki still had a way if it was just about worrying over the Xenos.
Before he and Nana had said their goodbyes, he had given her a butterfly knot. Previously, he had relied on the Nen attached to this butterfly knot to monitor the situation around Nana and deal with the attacks from the Ikelos Familia.
And at this moment, this butterfly knot once again played its part.
When Takatsuki opened the portal, everyone saw Nana through the portal, sitting dejectedly alone in a cave, staring blankly at a wall, while in the distance, some Xenos seemed to be discussing something.
"Nana!"
Kiana subconsciously shouted out when she saw Nana. The originally dejected Nana immediately looked up in surprise upon hearing Kiana's voice and saw the few people at the other end of the portal.
Fortunately, to prevent Nana from subconsciously walking through the portal and causing the connection with the Xenos to be completely severed, Takatsuki had not opened the portal to its maximum size, only opening it about as large as a soccer ball.
Looking at Kiana, who was looking at him expectantly, Takatsuki casually tossed a coin attached with his Nen to the other side and then reopened the portal so Nana could come over.
The Nen on the coin couldn't last for very long, but he didn't need it to last long; simply acting as a beacon for a short time was enough.
Lyd, on the other side, also seemed to have noticed the situation here with Nana. Looking at the portal Takatsuki had opened, his already large lizard eyes widened even further.
"Hey, little Takatsuki, this ability of yours is far too exaggerated."
Unlike Nana, who was smaller in stature and could easily pass through the portal, it was quite a hassle for Lyd to try to squeeze through a portal with a diameter of about one meter. He only managed to scramble through after struggling for quite a while.
"Since you've contacted Nana, do you also know about the things that happened on the surface?"
Because Lyd himself also held an Eye-Orb, it wasn't hard for him to guess that Takatsuki could also obtain information from the surface through this ability.
"Yes, Lyd, do you know specifically what happened?"
Facing Takatsuki's question, Lyd didn't answer directly but asked: "Little Takatsuki, do you think the incident of monsters attacking the city was done by us?"
Although one couldn't see what kind of expression was on Lyd's lizard face, anyone could hear the tone in his voice.
"Of course not, the other party just wants to sow discord."
Hearing Takatsuki's answer, Lyd breathed a sigh of relief. He still felt a bit of self-deprecation regarding his own birth, and after receiving Takatsuki's affirmation, his mood clearly improved a bit.
Lyd began to recount where they were when the monster city-attack incident occurred, as well as the instructions Fels gave them after that event, and the deductions regarding the situation on the surface in Orario. Originally, Fels intended for Lyd and the others in the Dungeon to relay this message to Takatsuki and his group, but he hadn't expected Takatsuki to have such an ability.
"So that's how it is. It seems the so-called monster attack on the city was entirely the enemy shifting blame onto others, using it as a cover for their own schemes."
"What cover?"
Kiana completely didn't understand the idioms Fu Hua used, but no one present expected her to understand them either.
While Mei and Kiana were explaining, Takatsuki said: "Looking at the current situation, the Xenos are not in danger for the time being. I believe Ouranos won't send adventurers to the Dungeon to search for Xenos. Right now, the enemy wants to link the green flesh invading the Knossos with the Xenos so that the adventurers of Orario will become hostile toward the Xenos. Although the Guild's orders can restrict them for a time, they cannot restrict them forever. Moreover, the other party has already reached out their hand; it surely isn't just to sow discord."
Both Takatsuki and Fu Hua felt that the other party was using the Xenos' matter to shift the adventurers' attention and thus carry out their unspeakable secrets, while the green flesh that even extended beneath Orario was clearly the enemy's preparatory measure.
This point was likely something Finn and Loki could also think of.
After Nana and Kiana chatted for a while, Lyd took Nana back.
Before going back, Takatsuki urged Lyd to keep his ability a secret, and Lyd naturally didn't refuse his request.
After knowing the enemy's goal, they naturally wouldn't act rashly. Before leaving, Lyd also left Takatsuki and the others with an Eye-Orb, which was the circular bead used for communication between Fels and Lyd previously.
The enemy's hidden hand is still concealed, so the instruction Fels gave to the Xenos before was to hide themselves well to prevent being used by the enemy.
"Gods are even more complex than we imagined."
After the Xenos left, Mei let out a sigh of emotion.
Regarding the sudden return of the expedition, some people in the Loki Familia still felt quite a bit of resentment. After all, counting everything up, they had already reached the 59th floor for the second time, and this time they even broke through the 59th floor to reach the 60th, and their condition was still very good.
Yet they were actually going to prepare to return just like that.
But the Captain's order was absolute, and Finn seemed to have found an excuse they couldn't refuse.
Because they needed to hurry during the return trip, everyone moved much faster than when they came.
Reaching the 60th floor had taken six days, but they began their return on the seventh day and reached the position of the 20-plus floors in just four days. At the speed of the people present, it would only take another day and a half to return to the surface, and that was built on the foundation of resting for one night.
And within these four days, the situation on the surface had also undergone a drastic change, causing the expeditionary force to give up on resting—something that was originally normal but now seemed like a luxury.
On the first day, the Guild sealed the Dungeon and prohibited entry, and issued a mandatory mission to dispatch skilled craftsmen to begin excavating the green flesh along the sewers and trace its source.
On the second day, some adventurers discovered the Knossos—the man-made labyrinth that was not part of the Dungeon—underneath Orario through the sewers and reported it, leading to it becoming known to all of Orario.
On the third day, a group of adventurers exploring the Dungeon were attacked in the southeast location, and no one survived.
On the fourth day, which was just now after the Loki Familia finished their contact, a God was sent back.
And the God who was sent back was Dionysus.
The God whom Takatsuki felt needed attention.
The matter of a God being sent back pushed the atmosphere in Orario to a tense level in an instant. Following Dionysus being sent back, the members of the Dionysus Familia also vanished. Based on the traces left at the scene, it was highly likely they were killed and then taken away.
Fortunately, Lefiya was not nearby during the call; Finn also made an immediate decision to keep this matter hidden to prevent stimulating Lefiya.
Takatsuki also kept it hidden and didn't tell Kiana.
Because Filvis, a good friend of Lefiya and Kiana, was a member of the Dionysus Familia. Right now, the members of that Familia had collectively vanished and were very likely met with misfortune. If the two of them were told of the current environment, it would surely cause chaos.
Then, besides this matter, some adventurers discovered monsters in the form of young girls, which were very similar to the Demi-Spirits encountered by the Loki Familia, and there were several of them.
Then, in a stroke of serendipity, Bell of the Hestia Familia performed brilliantly, breaking a key part of the enemy's formation.
The Sixfold Encircled Ring of the Spirit.
The Great Magic recorded in the Heroic Tales, used to subjugate the pitch-black evil dragon Nidhogg—The Sixfold Encircled Ring of the Spirit.
Its power could directly blow the entirety of Orario away.
However, while the Sixfold Encircled Ring of the Spirit in mythology was a Great Magic that helped the races of the surface defeat monsters, the Sixfold Encircled Ring of the Spirit at this moment had become an accomplice to the monsters.
Although it was merely a myth, now that even the gods had descended to the mortal world, who would still doubt its authenticity?
"Give up on resting! Continue the march! We must return to Orario as quickly as possible!"
Finn bit his aching thumb and made his decision.
"Sigh... we've already been marching for a whole day, and we have to keep going through the night too."
Since the sun and moon cannot be seen within the Dungeon, there is no distinction between day and night; the walls here have ores that emit light, allowing one to see the road clearly even at night.
Hearing her sister's complaint, Tione grabbed her head: "Do you have some kind of objection to the Captain's arrangements!"
Seeing her own sister looking like a vengeful demon, Tiona hurried to beg for mercy.
"Did something happen?"
Lefiya held her staff and asked her teacher.
Riveria was also one of the parties involved in the communication; she glanced at her student and said with an impassive face: "The enemy's intentions have been discovered. They plan to use six Corrupted Spirits to construct an ancient large-scale magic, the Sixfold Encircled Ring of the Spirit, to destroy all of Orario. Therefore, Orario is currently arranging personnel to scout the locations of the six spirits in preparation for a surprise attack."
This was not something that required strict confidentiality; after all, the adventurers present were different from the ordinary residents of Orario and could all be considered parties involved in this matter.
After the explanation, everyone also realized the severity of the situation. Although it was very likely they would have no time to rest even after returning and would have to continue marching, everyone stopped complaining and broke camp to set out.
During this period of marching, let us mention the Captain of the Loki Familia, Finn Deimne of the Pallum race.
Finn holds the title of "Braver" in Orario, and coupled with the influence of his Level 6 Falna, even though he is over forty years old, his appearance is like that of a young boy in his teens. Combined with his handsome looks, he is very popular among the vast majority of women in Orario.
Contrary to his physical stature, he also possesses immense ambition; he wishes to revitalize the Pallum race by surpassing the records of the Zeus Familia.
Furthermore, Finn has a clever mind and carries the duty of commander within the Loki Familia, earning the deep trust of his members—but it does not stop at just this.
Finn has a talent that is not even displayed on his Falna, which is that his right thumb will throb with pain whenever he senses something bad is about to happen.
Whether it be called experience or intuition, he has been saved by this talent many times.
And on this return journey, this pain has been persisting.
The pain in his thumb signifies that something bad will happen, but it does not necessarily represent death.
Back when they were on the 58th floor preparing to go to the 59th, Finn's thumb had also throbbed with pain, yet they had crossed over in the end.
And this time, he believed it would be the same; regarding the matter of the Sixfold Encircled Ring of the Spirit, they would surely...
Just as Finn was considering the current situation, he suddenly felt the ground vibrate.
"Something is coming!"
Even Fu Hua, who possessed the Observation Haki, only realized something was wrong at this moment, while Takatsuki also quickly deployed his magic.
In his perception, it wasn't that something was coming, but rather...
They were surrounded by the entire Dungeon.
How could it be possible...
Although Takatsuki knew the Dungeon was alive, from beginning to end, whether in Observation Haki or aura perception, the aura fed back by the Dungeon was no different from ordinary dead matter.
But why at this moment...
No, wait, the aura being fed back wasn't the Dungeon itself, but something parasitic within it.
When the ground shattered and those things appeared before them, Takatsuki finally realized what he had perceived—it wasn't the Dungeon, but a green substance hidden, no, parasitic beneath the walls and floors of the Dungeon, resembling a wall of plant flesh.
The moment they saw this thing appear, whether it was Takatsuki or Finn, both realized the enemy's origins.
These were precisely the accomplices of the monsters that had attacked Orario.
"A massive amount of magic power is gathering!"
As the strongest Mage in the city, Riveria sensed something was wrong in an instant.
Originally, those things hidden beneath the ground used the characteristics of the Dungeon to hide their own fluctuations and magic power, but the moment they exposed themselves, the surrounding area was filled with magic power particles, even making some people feel dizzy.
In an instant, the surrounding magic power entered bodies through breathing. Those whose natural talent for magic was not great inhaled a large amount of magic power in a short time, which caused their own magic power to exceed the upper limit their bodies could bear, triggering symptoms of magic dizziness. This situation is more likely to occur in people with lower magic power limits.
The sudden burst of high-concentration magic power caused more than half of the people to lose their senses for a moment.
In just that single instant, a massive monster descended from the sky, as if born from the vault of the Dungeon's ceiling, falling straight toward the two Familias.
"Evade! Watch the sky!"
Enduring the discomfort of the massive influx of magic power, Takatsuki issued a final warning.
He then reached out and scooped up Mei by the waist—whose symptoms of magic dizziness were more severe—and carried her away to evade the attack descending from above.
Others who were barely able to remain conscious also did their best to dodge, and then...
A massive impact landed upon the ground of the 13th floor of the Dungeon. The ground shattered; originally, within the 12th to 16th floors of the Dungeon, there were many vertical shaft structures. Jumping down these shafts allows one to directly reach the next floor, which also means the thickness of the walls between these floors is thinner compared to others.
Coupled with the ground having long been "hollowed out" by the green flesh, it was completely unable to withstand that massive impact. After the ground shattered, the people on the 13th floor fell downward one after another.
The members of the Hestia Familia on the collapsing floor managed to regain their senses after the large amount of magic power dissipated and reluctantly used Moonwalk to adjust their positions in the air, but the members of the Loki Familia did not have such an ability.