Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four muffled crashes rang out almost simultaneously.
Without any suspense, four figures were sent flying by the slashes, crashing brutally into the solid ice walls around them and leaving four human-shaped craters.
Shattered ice and snow cascaded down from the walls like a waterfall, half-burying their bodies.
Blood gurgled from their foreheads, the corners of their mouths, and the bone-deep gashes torn open by the blade auras.
Although Desperate had not broken in Ais's hands, her right arm had been battered bloody, the webbing between her thumb and forefinger completely torn apart.
Tiona's Urga had suffered a deep gouge. She collapsed among the broken ice, losing consciousness.
Tione's twin knives were cleanly snapped in two, the broken blades embedded in the ice wall beside her. She herself coughed up blood, her internal organs clearly having suffered severe trauma.
Bete had it the worst. While his twin swords had blocked the slash, the terrifying kinetic force had transferred directly into his body, resulting in bone-chilling cracking sounds from his ribcage.
The four-man team of the Loki Familia had been defeated.
Thoroughly crushed in a single move.
The entirety of the 27th Floor descended into a deathly silence.
Everyone stared in dumbstruck horror at the nightmarish scene before them, their minds completely blank.
Childe, the architect of this devastation, simply stood his ground, casually rolling his neck until a crisp pop echoed from his joints.
He raised his head, his deep blue eyes looking past everyone else to lock back onto Finn.
Then, he slowly curled a finger in a beckoning motion toward the Prum "Braver."
The wild, battle-hungry smile returned to his face.
"Riveria."
Finn didn't look back.
His right hand gripped the solid gold First-Class weapon known as the Fortia Spear, angling the tip toward the ice.
His small body stood at the very front of the group, his voice steady and entirely devoid of panic.
"Heal."
Riveria moved even faster.
The moment Finn spoke, her staff was already aimed at the four fallen adventurers.
Soft light particles fell like spring rain, passing over Finn and Gareth's shoulders to gently cascade over Ais, Bete, Tiona, and Tione in the ruins.
The light seeped into their skin. Torn flesh stopped bleeding, fractured ribs were forcefully realigned by the magic, and bone-deep wounds began to knit back together at a visible rate.
But this wasn't enough.
Riveria didn't lower her staff, seamlessly continuing her concurrent chant.
"—Gather, breath of the earth— My name is Alf!"
The first tier of the defensive magic Via Shilheim, Liv Illusion, followed immediately.
An emerald magical glow bloomed brightly, taking the form of a tangible veil that gently draped over Finn and Gareth in the front, while simultaneously covering Ais and the others as they picked themselves up.
This mantle of light, which provided continuous minor healing and a massive boost to abnormal resistances, was the ultimate trump card that gave the Loki Familia the confidence to slaughter endless hordes of monsters in the deep floors.
The entire casting process flowed like water, flawless and pristine.
Standing a short distance away, Childe merely watched the spectacle with keen interest.
The water blades in his hands gleamed coldly, but he didn't take a single step forward, nor did he raise his weapons to interrupt Riveria's incantations.
A fanatical light danced in those deep blue eyes.
Finn's blue eyes narrowed slightly. In that moment, he completely saw through his opponent's true nature.
This man calling himself "Childe" was a battle maniac, pure and simple.
Aside from the thrill of the fight, he gave no thought to anything else, harboring zero interest in sneak attacks or interrupting support mages.
What he wanted was for his enemies to be at their absolute peak condition, so he could crush them head-on with absolute violence.
"That's some excellent support."
Childe looked at the four rising figures, his smirk widening. "Now, you may resume your dance."
Accompanying his words, the broken ice in the ruins was blasted away by a violent gale.
Tiona gripped the massive double-blade Urga with both hands, her usually innocent face now contorted with feral savagery.
Blood stained her cheek, but rather than making her shrink back, it completely ignited her Amazonian instincts.
Her skill, Berserk, activated. Damage taken was converted into pure attack power, distorting the very air around her from the sheer, overwhelming physical might.
On the other side, Tione drew a spare set of short blades.
Dense blood vessels surfaced in her eyes. The power boost from Raging Transformation made her already explosive physique look even more dangerous, like a truly infuriated viper.
Ais shook the residual ice off Desperate, the cyan winds of Ariel wrapping around her body once more, the wind pressure sharper than ever.
Bete let out a low wolf's growl, bending his knees as his metal boots stamped deep craters into the ice.
"Gareth."
Finn spoke softly.
"Aye, I know."
The burly Dwarven veteran casually slammed his massive tower shield into the ice beside him.
Against an enemy of this caliber, simple defense was meaningless. The only answer was an all-out offensive.
He gripped the impossibly heavy Grand Axe with both hands, his terrifying muscles stretching his armor to the breaking point.
Six people.
The Loki Familia's strongest vanguard, now forming an impeccable fan-shaped encirclement.
For Finn and his comrades, there was no such thing as the pride of a one-on-one duel.
They were adventurers. This was the Dungeon.
Faced with an overwhelming foe, coordination and tactical formations were the royal road that had brought them this far.
"All six of you at once? Fantastic!"
Faced with a lineup capable of sweeping armies, Childe laughed uproariously.
A one-man army—that was the very definition of a Fatui Harbinger.
While life-or-death duels thrilled him, the prospect of being hunted by multiple peak experts got his blood boiling just as hotly.
"In that case, I'll get a little serious too."
Childe put his smile away and slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, a heart-stopping purple light burst from their depths.
An eye-shaped object pinned to his waist, radiating an ominous aura, instantly flared to life.
—Delusion (Electro), Unleashed!
Boom!
No warning. No chant.
Frenzied, dark purple lightning erupted from Childe's body like a geyser. Like living serpents, the electricity instantly coiled around his entire figure.
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