Ouranos did not answer directly.
He gazed down with his ancient, narrowed eyes—eyes that had seemingly witnessed the passing of eternities.
Looking through the floor at the boundless Dungeon spread out beneath his divine will, he answered the crystal ball with the tone of a judge reading a death sentence.
"The monster... that slaughtered the Astrea Familia four years ago."
Fels's skeletal body hidden beneath the cloak stiffened violently.
To a speechless Fels, Ouranos declared the taboo name with heavy, solemn gravity:
"The Juggernaut."
Hearing Ouranos's words, Fels felt his entire being go numb.
The bones that shouldn't have possessed physical sensation felt as though they were shivering violently out of his control.
Calamity!
The terrifying entity that butchered the once-flourishing Astrea Familia, composed entirely of elite adventurers.
Just being on the perilous 27th Floor was already a massive risk.
After all, Childe, summoned by the Dungeon's will, along with the unfathomably strong Aiden, were both still in the area.
Running into either of those rule-breaking anomalies would spell absolute disaster for Fels and his Xenos squad.
Yet now, Ouranos was telling him that alongside these two known, terrifying monsters, another horrifying nightmare had just been born.
At the same time, the Xenos squad behind Fels suddenly descended into a panic.
Lyd and Ray shuddered simultaneously, as if gripped by an invisible, freezing chill.
The rest of the Xenos displayed unprecedented terror and unease. They hissed and roared nervously, looking around frantically as if some invisible, ultimate apex predator was about to descend upon them.
They could all clearly feel it.
A terrifying aura radiating pure malice and destructive intent—one that made their very souls tremble—had abruptly manifested in the Dungeon.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing the Xenos' commotion, Fels immediately snapped out of his shock and asked urgently.
"I... I don't know what's going on, Fels."
Lyd's voice was impossibly grave. "I just feel... something really bad. Mother just birthed something utterly terrifying. It's too dangerous here right now."
Fels understood instantly.
The danger Lyd and the others sensed was undeniably the "Calamity" Ouranos had just mentioned.
It was the Dungeon's "antibody" that wiped out the Astrea Familia.
"Damn it... why now of all times?"
Fels cursed under his breath, his voice laced with helplessness.
It truly never rained but it poured.
This floor was already choked with deadly threats, and now, it had become more dangerous... than hell itself.
Aiden's group tore through the 19th to 24th floors, known as the Large Tree Labyrinth, at lightning speed.
The monsters along the way were noticeably more irritable and aggressive than usual, as if spurred into a frenzy by some unseen force.
Perhaps the massive structural collapse on the 27th Floor had shattered the fragile ecological balance of the region, or perhaps it was a reaction to the Dungeon's own agitation.
Countless monsters lurking in the Large Tree Labyrinth surged from massive tree trunks and dense foliage like sharks drawn to blood, swarming endlessly in an attempt to block this terrifyingly strong squad.
However, against a "rescue team" composed of Orario's absolute apex adventurers, their resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—fragile and utterly pathetic.
Aiden didn't even need to lift a finger.
Allen Fromel alone, bearing the alias Vana Freya and reigning as the Fastest in the City, was more than enough to obliterate every single obstacle in their path.
His diminutive frame blurred into a lightning-fast shadow, while the massive spear in his hands—disproportionate to his size—whirled into a cyclone of death.
Every swing, every thrust was flawlessly precise and fatal, mowing down the hideous monsters in droves like harvesting wheat.
When they finally stepped onto the 25th Floor, entering the sprawling domain of the Water Capital, even the usually stoic Hedin couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly.
His eyes immediately darted toward the massive lake shimmering under the dim light.
Floating in the water were massive quantities of severed human and demi-human limbs.
Crimson blood had dyed huge swaths of the lake an unsettling, dark red, and the thick stench of gore mixed with the damp air hit them in the face, making them want to retch.
"Lament. These foolish, mundane insects ultimately faced the supreme terror born from the abyss. Amidst absolute despair and wailing, even their struggles proved laughable. Ultimately ground into dust, leaving not even an echo behind."
Hogni—who had remained silent the entire trip—commented on the tragedy before them.
Aiden furrowed his brows deeply. A specific possibility instantly locked into his mind.
He had almost forgotten. According to the intel they received, the Water Capital had suffered a massive collapse.
If that was true, then the Dungeon's "emergency mechanism" had likely been triggered.
He carefully inspected the dead adventurers floating in the water—barely a single corpse was intact.
The vast majority bore jagged bite marks from wild beasts, while others had been cleanly sliced wide open from head to toe by incredibly sharp claws.
In a flash, a taboo name surfaced in Aiden's mind.
The monster the Guild classified as a "Calamity"—the Juggernaut.
The group didn't stop; they pushed deeper in.
Soon, they ran into several blood-soaked surviving adventurers, all bearing severe injuries.
One had even lost an arm and was relying on his companion for support, stumbling desperately across the slick rocks.
When the survivors saw Aiden's group and recognized the faces that everyone in Orario knew—especially the Freya Familia's Captain, Ottar—they scrambled over, crying and crawling as if they had found a lifeline.
"H-Help... Warlord."
The lead adventurer was a mask of panic and sheer terror, his voice trembling violently. "A-A monster... There's an impossibly terrifying monster."
"Calm down. Tell me, what happened here?"
Hedin barked coldly, ordering the adventurers to steady themselves and report the situation.
----
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations