"Due to the unusual situation here, I won't beat around the bush and will get straight to the point."
"To obtain the water from Cadmus Spring, we must defeat its guardian, the Cadmus. There is no other way to get the water."
"And you all know the strength of the Cadmus. In terms of raw power, it's even stronger than the Floor Bosses we've encountered."
After Tione finished speaking, Tiona continued with a cheerful grin:
"I even have experience being blown away by it and having my insides scrambled!"
Goodness, leave it to you! You can even laugh about something like that, truly unconcerned. Although he wanted to retort, Shirou ultimately held back. After all, he knew that Tione's reason for confirming the important points was actually for him and Lefiya. So, it was better to listen carefully at this moment.
"Tione... how exactly should we fight?"
Hearing Ais's question, Tione said seriously,
"It's still the usual plan: Ais, Tiona, and I will suppress the Cadmus's attacks, and then Lefiya and Shirou will suppress it with magic attacks."
"Once it's scared, we'll finish it off in one go! So Lefiya, Shirou, this time we're counting entirely on you!"
"Don't worry!"
"Yes... yes!"
Seeing that a consensus had been reached, Tione led the four others forward. Soon, they arrived outside the room at the end of the path. Cadmus Spring was in this room. The five tiptoed forward, cautiously peeking into the room. But soon, Ais sensed something was wrong.
"It's too quiet!"
No longer concealing her presence, Ais walked directly inside.
"Ais!"
Seeing Ais's unusual behavior, Tione and the other four had no choice but to rush in after her. However, the situation inside was completely unexpected. The trees that originally grew in the room were now all broken, as if crushed into tiny pieces by something. The surrounding walls and ground were also ground into powder by something unknown. But even more puzzling were the traces of melting everywhere.
"This was done by the New Species of Bugs."
Shirou instantly confirmed what had happened. After all, on this 51st floor, there were no other monsters capable of melting matter besides the New Species of Bugs. Tione and the others, continuously exploring, soon found clues around Cadmus Spring.
"Is this... the Cadmus's corpse?"
After comparing the astonishing amount of ash on the ground with the Cadmus's size in her memory, Tione reached this conclusion. Ais, discovering something, reached out and, with a sweep, pulled out a dragon wing membrane shimmering with golden light from the ashes.
Cadmus's Hide. This was an extremely rare drop item; even after the Cadmus's death, it only appeared with a very small chance.
"It really is the Cadmus's corpse!"
Tione, feeling increasingly uneasy, quickly said,
"Quickly collect the spring water; we're leaving immediately!" Everything that had happened here was simply too abnormal.
"Yes!"
Shirou and Lefiya quickly took out their specialized water collection equipment and began collecting. Moreover, since the Cadmus was dead and hadn't used the spring water, the amount of spring water collected was far more than they had prepared to gather.
"It seems we don't need to go to two places to collect; this one spot is enough!"
"Indeed!"
After securing the water bottles, the group of five left the Cadmus's room and quickly hurried back.
"Who do you think did that to the Cadmus?"
"Common sense would say it was other monsters, right?"
Ambiguously brushing off her sister's questions, Tione recalled the various anomalies she had encountered on this floor.
"It's definitely an Anomalous State, I just don't know what form it will take!" At this moment, Shirou's vigilance had also reached its maximum. If they were to encounter a New Species, the most likely place for that would be on their way back.
With various thoughts on their minds, the group continued to move forward.
"Ah!!!"
Suddenly, a scream came from the depths of the labyrinth!
"It's Raul!" the five exclaimed in unison.
The five immediately decided and ran towards the source of the scream. Soon, the appearance of the monsters came into view. They were yellow-green, caterpillar-like creatures. And on both sides of their bodies, they had a dozen or so legs, like a combination of a caterpillar and a centipede. These were monsters Tione and her companions had never encountered before.
New Species!
Looking at the monsters before him, Shirou's eyes lit up. Finally, they had appeared, the New Species. Facing the monsters up close, Tiona, who knew no fear, grabbed her Great Double-Bladed Axe and charged.
"Stop, Tiona!"
Finn's voice came in time, but the over-excited Tiona showed no signs of stopping, directly plunging her Great Double-Bladed Axe into the monster's body. Then... Then her Great Double-Bladed Axe, worth one hundred twenty million Valis, melted into liquid.
"Ah! My Great Double-Bladed Axe! This isn't how you play the game!"
"Didn't Finn tell you not to go? You idiot!"
Bete, who was being chased by a monster, looked at the tearful Tiona and complained helplessly.
Looking at this scene, even Shirou almost laughed. Why could this person be so brave?! Rejoining with the second team, the nine-person elite squad of the Loki Familia began to desperately flee.
"Hey, hey, what is that, Finn? My weapon!"
"I don't know, we were also ambushed suddenly."
Turning his head to look at the enemies behind them, Shirou urgently said,
"There are so many monsters behind us; by my estimate, over a hundred."
"What?"
Tiona, who thought there was only one, almost popped her eyes out. One of these monsters was bad enough, but there were hundreds!
"Why can't I see them?!"
"I have a skill! Do you?!"
Clairvoyance's enhancement to Shirou's eyesight was not insignificant.
"Captain, are you alright?"
"We're fine, but Raul is badly injured. He was directly hit by that liquid."
Looking at Raul, who was being carried on Gareth's shoulder, everyone felt a chill. Raul was now in a listless state, emitting a foul odor. At the same time, his skin and even his light armor had all melted, and his entire body was a nearly black-purple color. With just one hit, a seasoned LV.4 had entered a near-death state. This brought everyone's vigilance to the maximum. They absolutely could not be hit.
"Look, these New Species even attacked the Black Rhinos on the way. It's probably them that caused the anomaly we encountered!"
Hearing Shirou's words, Tione quickly told Finn their observations.
"Is that so? I can't believe that thing could even defeat the Cadmus!"
"What a monster!"
The fleeing group ran haphazardly through the labyrinth like headless chickens. Just then, Ais suddenly asked,
"Finn, can we defeat those monsters?"
Hearing Ais's question, everyone looked at Finn. After a second's pause, Finn turned to Ais and said,
"The attacks themselves are effective, but just like Tiona just now, losing a weapon with every attack is too uneconomical."
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter