CHAPTER 398: CHAPTER 398: STALL FOR TWO DAYS FIRST

Neither Revis nor the masked man gave the madman any serious thought.

To them, a madman was just that—a madman. Since they were planning to abandon the situation anyway, they figured they might as well let him test Loki Familia’s limits. And if by some chance he succeeded, wiping out Loki Familia in the process wouldn’t be such a bad outcome.

Of course, if the Sword Princess died, that would be a genuine loss.

But if she survived, then their plans involving her could simply be postponed and adjusted later. In that case, it wouldn’t be a real loss at all.

Still, neither of them believed the madman would succeed.

At this point, both had reached a silent understanding—to see just how far the madman would go. To witness the extent to which a fanatical believer could sacrifice for the "goddess" he worshipped.

...

After two days of rest, the expedition team had fully recovered and was now making their way toward the 50th floor, the Safe Zone Floor.

Along the way, Finn and the others noticed something unusual.

There hadn’t been a single instance of a "monster feast" during their descent to the 50th floor. It was far too quiet—unnaturally so.

"Finn, this is strange."

"Yeah, it really is."

Finn had noticed it too. The sudden drop in monster activity had significantly reduced their burden, giving even the Level 2 and Level 3 members a chance to get some training in. But this kind of abrupt decline was far from normal.

"There are way fewer monsters—far fewer than any of our previous expeditions. And after clearing out a group ahead, no reinforcements appeared. It’s like the monsters just stopped spawning altogether."

"This kind of thing has never happened before. Too many unprecedented events are occurring on this expedition."

In the Dungeon, anything outside the norm is considered an "abnormal situation." And no adventurer wants to encounter one—those situations often mean mortal danger.

It’s a common truth among all adventurers: when the Dungeon starts acting strange, something even worse is coming.

And today, such an "abnormal situation" had arrived.

No—more accurately, the entire Dungeon was already steeped in the "abnormal situation" known as the Black Dragon.

So now, what they were experiencing was an "abnormal situation" within an already ongoing "abnormal situation."

Finn and the others kept a close watch on their surroundings, alert for any unexpected surprises the Dungeon might throw at them.

But their vigilance was proving completely useless—because there truly wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Nothing, that is, except for the bizarre scarcity of monsters.

Even when they reached the 50th floor’s Safe Zone, nothing unusual happened.

"...Strange."

Sitting inside the camp tent, Finn rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. He had spent a good portion of his life in the Dungeon and encountered more "abnormal situations" than he could count—but this was the first time he’d ever seen something like this.

"It’s very strange."

Riveria was equally surprised. Why was the second half of this expedition going so smoothly? Even last time, they’d encountered numerous issues—multiple "monster feasts" had broken out during the later stages of the expedition.

"There were no ’abnormal situations,’ and we didn’t run into any ’monster feasts.’ The number of monsters is shockingly low, and after we cleared out one wave, there weren’t any follow-ups. It’s just... too unusual—completely unlike the Dungeon’s usual behavior."

"!?"

Hearing that, Finn suddenly snapped to attention. The Dungeon they were in now really wasn’t acting normal. A theory flashed through his mind.

"Riveria, maybe this phenomenon has something to do with the Black Dragon."

"The Black Dragon... do you think that roar affected the Dungeon too?"

Riveria quickly picked up on his meaning. It didn’t need to be said aloud—this unusual state of the Dungeon was clearly connected to the dragon’s roar.

"The Black Dragon’s overreaction must have had a significant impact, even outside its immediate area. The monsters in the Dungeon aren’t respawning quickly. And remember, we’re in the Deep Floors—normally, the Dungeon would never hold back here. Yet now, it’s behaving like this. It’s clearly the Black Dragon’s doing."

The more Finn thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was the root of the anomaly.

Whatever was affecting the Dungeon, it definitely wasn’t coming from them. The only thing that had changed recently was the sudden roar of the Black Dragon.

And since the Black Dragon resided at the very bottom of the Dungeon, it was entirely plausible that it was disrupting things all the way up here.

But as that conclusion settled in, Finn felt a dull pain in his thumb.

"This isn’t a good sign."

That kind of sensation had saved him many times before, and Finn trusted his instincts. Whatever was happening in the Dungeon—it wasn’t going to be good for them.

"The ’Spirit’ deeper inside might be going berserk."

"Bell-kun mentioned that the ’Spirit Fetus’ needs to absorb a certain amount of energy to grow. But with the Dungeon nearly shutting down monster spawns, that means the fetus won’t be getting the energy it needs."

"Then, Riveria, what kind of method could be used to make up for that energy shortfall?"

"..."

Riveria frowned, thinking deeply for a moment. Her expression quickly darkened.

"Special magic, unique skills, or temporary-boosting potions—things that forcibly raise a person’s power for a limited time, like those with berserk-type side effects. It’s not as safe as Bell-kun’s Rune Stones, but you can find stuff like that in Orario."

"So that’s the price we paid for not encountering any ’abnormal situations’ on the upper floors... The Spirit we’re about to face might be far more terrifying than we expected."

Finn let out a long, helpless sigh. He hadn’t expected the Black Dragon’s influence to reach this far, and now the chain reaction was catching up to them—adventurers on the frontlines.

"Riveria, keep resting for two more days. After that, we’ll start prepping to explore the unknown area."

Now that he understood what they were up against, Finn wasn’t about to rush into action.

They knew absolutely nothing about the unknown floors ahead. Acting quickly might help them catch the Spirit off guard—but only if they knew what stage it was in. And right now, they didn’t.

Going in without that information could lead to a total wipeout.

Plus, they had just cleared eleven floors back to back. Fatigue—both physical and mental—was unavoidable. Diving into an unknown region in that state would be suicide.

So, whether to give themselves a breather or give the Spirit time to act, they needed at least two days before they made their move.

...

(100 Chapters Ahead)

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