The imposter expressionlessly raised his flaming lightsaber. The crimson blade roared forward, the sword aura tearing through the air with a deathly shriek, aiming straight for the two women.
Riveria had no time to chant any defensive magic. She could only brace herself and face the strike head-on.
CLANG—!
A deafening explosion erupted right in front of her.
A figure in red, dropping like a meteorite from the sky, stepped in front of her.
The person's longsword, equally wrapped in roaring flames, clashed violently against the crimson sword aura.
BOOM!
Amidst the terrifying blast, rings of scorching air and fire blasted outwards. Under the force of the shockwave, the ice layer within a several dozen-meter radius was instantly blown away and melted, revealing the pitch-black bedrock beneath.
Through the blast of air, Riveria struggled to make out the back of the figure shielding her.
Both she and Ais widened their eyes in shock.
That signature, flame-like red ponytail.
The roaring fire wreathing her limbs and longsword, seemingly capable of incinerating everything.
Both of them were incredibly familiar with this figure.
It was none other than the supposedly long-dead former Captain of the Astrea Familia—Alise Lovell.
But... why?
They couldn't understand.
Logically, this Alise should be exactly like the Childe fighting in the distance and the imposter right in front of them—a slaughter puppet birthed by the Dungeon. When they encountered her earlier, she had even attacked Bete.
Why was she saving them now?
Standing at the absolute forefront, Alise gritted her teeth, using her sword to forcibly hold back the impact of the crimson slash, an expression of profound agony on her face.
Inside her mind, two completely conflicting wills were fighting for control over her thoughts.
One will commanded her: Kill them. Kill all the human adventurers who enter the Dungeon.
But another warm, familiar will sorrowfully whispered: They are your friends. You cannot raise your sword against them. You have to save them.
The clashing directives turned her mind into a chaotic mess, her sanity threatening to tear down the middle. She was trapped in a muddled, hazy stupor.
But in the end, the will that belonged to "Alise" ultimately gained the upper hand.
She intervened.
Seeing yet another uninvited guest block his path, a barely perceptible ripple flashed through the imposter's emotionless blue eyes.
He blankly raised his flaming lightsaber high into the air, stating in a flat, emotionless tone:
"Unsheathed Heavenly Fire."
BOOM—!
An indescribably pure pillar of fire erupted from the tip of his sword, rocketing into the sky. A tidal wave of heat blasted outwards from him in all directions.
The ground beneath his feet was instantly vaporized into bubbling magma by the terrifying heat. The surrounding air was completely incinerated, creating a localized vacuum.
Seeing this, Riveria's pupils shrank to pinpricks. Casting all other thoughts aside, she began chanting with the fastest speed she had ever mustered in her life.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, the deathmatch between the mad beasts and the Demon Lord was also reaching its absolute climax.
Under the life-burning siege of Finn, Bete, Tiona, and Tione, Childe was growing increasingly exhilarated.
His Foul Legacy armor was already marred by several shallow and deep gashes—the price he gladly paid for fully enjoying the thrill of battle.
Finally, unable to hold back any longer, he let out a hearty, triumphant laugh.
"Hahahaha, as expected, you are all fantastic, absolutely fantastic warriors! I am deeply satisfied. So, as a reward for your bravery... try not to die!"
"—Foul Legacy: The Devouring Deep!"
Accompanying his madness-laced declaration, the entire twenty-seventh floor—no, the entire Water Capital—began to quake violently.
The frozen lake shattered completely. From the unfathomable depths of the water, an unimaginably colossal whale, composed entirely of surging torrents and violent lightning, breached the surface and launched into the air.
It was a behemoth stretching hundreds of meters long. Its body of pure elemental energy cast a heart-stopping, purplish-blue glow throughout the dim Dungeon.
It let out a prolonged, majestic whale song that seemed to pierce straight through to the soul.
With a speed that utterly defied its massive bulk, the colossal whale bounded upwards, clearing the twenty-sixth floor and twenty-fifth floor, breaching the very top of the Great Fall, before crashing down with world-ending force.
Finn, Bete, and the twin sisters looked up. Seeing the Celestial Voyager blotting out the sky and opening a maw wide enough to swallow a mountain range as it descended upon them, their faces drained of all color.
But they didn't give up.
Finn hoisted his Fortia Spear high into the air. Mustering every last drop of his stamina, he activated his ultimate spear-throwing magic, which he could only use once a day, condensing all of his power and conviction—[Tir na Nog].
A brilliantly radiant golden spear formed in his grasp. With an ear-piercing sonic boom, it launched forward, transforming into a sky-tearing beam of golden light.
With peerless momentum, the golden pillar blew a hole clean through the massive whale's head. Without losing a single ounce of power, the beam continued surging upwards, effortlessly punching through the twenty-fourth floor, the twenty-third floor... soaring all the way up to the distant eighteenth floor.
At that very moment, within the peaceful Town of Rivira on the eighteenth floor, countless resting adventurers suddenly felt a violent tremor beneath their feet.
Panicked, they looked up—and witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
The beautiful, sky-like ceiling of the eighteenth floor, formed from countless crystals, was violently blasted open by a golden pillar of light shooting up from the depths, leaving a massive, gaping hole dozens of meters wide.
Everyone froze in pure terror, staring at the bottomless crater, trembling uncontrollably.
Down on the twenty-seventh floor, however, this earth-shattering strike failed to change the outcome.
The massive whale, despite having a hole blown through its head, merely shuddered. Being composed entirely of pure water elemental energy, the gaping wound was instantly patched by rushing torrents.
Then, it crashed down.
Finn and the other three were completely swallowed by the sky-obscuring whale.
Simultaneously, the imposter's sky-piercing pillar of fire crashed down with the might to purge all of creation.
"Dance together, spirits of the atmosphere, master of light. I forge a pact with the guardian deity of the forest, hoping the song of the earth will envelop us. Protect us—I beseech you to become a great wall of forest light and shield us—My name is Alf!"
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