CHAPTER 101: CHAPTER 101: BUFF STACKING MADNESS

Early the next morning.

Ryota pulled out a kunai that shimmered with a faint golden light from inside his cloak and carefully embedded it into the base of the tree where he’d leaned shoulder-to-shoulder with Ais the day before.

"—Marking complete."

Then, without wasting a moment, he broke into a jog and followed the Loki Familia’s expedition team into the fifty-first floor.

This level was completely different, monster-infested deep floors they’d traversed before.

The fifty-first floor was an enormous special zone..

The walls, floors, and ceiling were all flat, smooth, and pale gray—like stone that had been meticulously sanded down.

The passageways were eerily symmetrical, filled with intersections and sharp turns.

Every chamber looked deliberately engineered, devoid of any of the rough, organic feeling one would expect from natural caves.

The sheer artificiality of the place gave off a deeply unsettling vibe.

"Back to this damn place again..."

Bete scowled at the unnaturally perfect walls on either side and muttered under his breath, "Everything here pisses me off."

The others didn’t comment, but their expressions weren’t any brighter.

It was a visceral kind of disgust—one that came from deep within.

As they advanced deeper into the fifty-first floor, Ryota quickly picked up on what made this area so different from the rest of the deep floors.

Though the terrain retained the same oppressive, white labyrinthine architecture that looked like it was built by machines, every turn and junction hid ambush points teeming with monsters.

They were tricky opponents, but against a coordinated assault from several Level 6 adventurers, they were dispatched one by one without much trouble.

What was strange, however, was the complete absence of the floor boss—Cadmus.

The Adventurers’ Guild had only scant, almost vague records on the fifty-first floor’s boss, Cadmus.

What little was commonly known was that its appearance was always accompanied by the emergence of a unique spring.

Rumor had it that beneath the spring lay a treasure trove of rare loot, the stuff of adventurers’ dreams.

And Cadmus was the "guardian" of that treasure trove.

Its appearance was said to be an immutable law of nature—anyone who dared to covet the spring would inevitably face this beast’s wrath.

As for how powerful it was, all they knew was that it was far stronger than Udaeus from the thirty-seventh floor. Whether it could outmatch Balor from the forty-ninth, though—that remained unknown.

Ryota cast a sideways glance at the blonde girl beside him.

Ais was staring ahead into the empty corridor, a faint shadow of disappointment flickering in her golden eyes.

He couldn’t help but chuckle softly and teased in a low voice, "Disappointed you didn’t get to fight?"

Ais didn’t reply, but the subtle dip of her lashes said enough.

Ryota shook his head with a smile. "Floor bosses don’t have fixed respawn times. It’s possible the Freya Familia already took it out not long ago."

He paused, then added in a quieter tone, "Though... less fighting is actually a good thing for us."

Ais pressed her lips together, then gave a light "Mm" in acknowledgment.

Yeah, for someone with such a cool and stoic exterior, the Sword Princess sure had an overwhelming thirst for battle.

With no floor boss to stop them, the Loki Familia stepped into the fifty-second floor.

The moment they entered, Ryota furrowed his brow slightly.

It was still the same artificial, stone-hewn maze. But compared to the fifty-first floor, the space here had become noticeably narrower.

The corridors that could once accommodate three people side by side now forced the team to tighten formation, drawing closer together.

From the fifty-second to the fifty-eighth floor, this entire stretch had a single name: the Dragon’s Vase.

And it wasn’t just a dramatic title.

This was the domain of a truly terrifying creature—one that, standing on two legs, could reach ten meters tall, its body cloaked in blood-red scales: the Valgang Dragon.

Ryota looked up, eyes scanning the narrow tunnels and the dim yellowish walls. The whole floor was... too quiet.

"Way too quiet."

At that moment, Lefiya spoke up in a hushed tone.

"During our last expedition... we made it to the fifty-seventh floor."

"But the moment we stepped into the fifty-eighth, the Valgang Dragon appeared."

"It blasted us with a single breath attack. We were flipped upside down. If Lady Riveria hadn’t reacted fast enough, we probably wouldn’t have made it out."

She looked up at Ryota, her eyes filled with a complicated emotion.

"And that thing—it’s not just any monster. It’s intelligent."

"It could’ve ambushed us way back on the fifty-second floor when we were most vulnerable... but it waited until we were deep in and worn out."

"It was like... laying bait, stringing us along, waiting until we were tired and careless to deliver a fatal blow."

"It’s nasty."

Ryota nodded silently after hearing her explanation.

Not surprising.

The Dungeon was a living thing, after all. Monsters developing intelligence wasn’t unheard of.

The deeper one ventured, the more common it became to encounter monsters with sentience.

The team pressed forward.

The narrow, twisting passages were marked with charred scars on the ground—evidence of large-scale magic battles. But strangely, the Dungeon seemed to have "healed" itself, gradually erasing the damage.

Finn led at the front. He was just about to signal the group to pause for a brief log update when—

BOOM—!!!

A violent tremor erupted beneath their feet!

Not from the ceiling, not from the walls—but from directly below them!

Dust exploded into the air as pebbles tumbled down around them.

"What the hell?!" Lefiya shouted, her face pale. "No, that doesn’t feel right!"

In the next instant, a deep roar echoed up from the depths of the quake.

"MOVE!!"

Ryota’s warning came just in time—everyone leapt back in unison, moving like afterimages as they shot away or vaulted into the air.

BOOM!!!—

A column of blistering dragonfire erupted from a jagged crack in the ground!

The searing energy wave gouged a massive hole into the stone floor.

Scorching heat surged out in all directions, warping the air itself.

Everyone landed hard but steady, their faces grim.

Lefiya gasped for air, eyes locked on the spot they’d just been standing. Her pupils shrank in horror.

"...If any regular adventurer took that hit, they’d be nothing but ash right now."

"It’s here—!"

Finn’s voice rang out sharply as he stared into the fissure ahead.

There, a pair of blood-red draconic eyes emerged slowly from the pitch-black depths.

Its massive head swayed, then two spiked wings spread wide—releasing a terrifying aura of pressure.

ROARRR—!!!

Another deafening roar rocked the entire fifty-second floor!

"This damn thing..." Finn muttered, his face darker than ever.

"It’s attacking first?!"

Ryota’s eyes snapped into focus. In an instant, his Mangekyō Sharingan appeared.

The crimson glow of his eyes was sharp and menacing in the dimly lit Dungeon.

This... was what he’d been waiting for.

The appearance of the Valgang Dragon wasn’t just a looming crisis—it was the pivotal moment he’d already foreseen.

His gut was screaming at him, loud and clear—

If he could just take this thing’s head off, the main quest... and even its branch paths... would all be cleared.

No hesitation. No delay.

Ryota launched himself into the air with a sudden burst of speed.

And the moment he left the ground—the entire space seemed to freeze.

"—Susanoo."

Blue-violet rib bones began to form in the air around him, rising rapidly with his soaring figure.

In the blink of an eye, the initial form of Susanoo had already taken shape.

Its towering presence crashed into the stone ceiling, cracks spiderwebbing across it from the impact.

Its monstrous outline and the surge of concentrated chakra sent shockwaves through everyone’s nerves.

They’d seen Ryota’s skeletal titan before.

But never from this close—and their hearts couldn’t help but race.

"Cover him!" Finn bellowed immediately.

"His Susanoo needs time to evolve—"

But the Pallum leader didn’t get to finish before Ryota’s voice cut through the air:

"—No need, Captain Finn."

Everyone froze, instinctively turning their eyes skyward.

The skeletal giant, ribcage and single arm exposed, suddenly began to shift.

Chakra surged through the air as its structure rebuilt itself in a blur of light and shadow!

CRACK—CRACK CRACK CRACK!!!

The ribs that encased Ryota rapidly extended outward.

Arms, legs, a full torso...

Like it was being reforged in real time—in just a few breaths—

A complete-body Susanoo, tens of meters tall and clad in glowing chakra armor, now stood on the fifty-second floor!

The surrounding teammates—Loki Familia’s Big Three, Ais, and the rest—were frozen in place.

They looked up at Ryota, standing atop Susanoo’s head, completely at a loss for words.

THOOM THOOM THOOM—

Under the sheer weight of the complete-body Susanoo, the floor of the fifty-second level began collapsing.

Deep below on the fifty-eighth floor, the Valgang Dragon instinctively backed away. For the first time, a primal wariness—and killing intent—lit up in its scarlet eyes.

But Ryota, still mid-air, wasn’t done yet.

He raised his hand, palm facing down, and slammed it downward—!

"Susanoo Sage Mode."

In an instant, a storm of even greater, more savage chakra erupted from his body!

WHOOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!!

Sage Jutsu Chakra surged like a tidal wave, forming golden markings that crawled rapidly across Susanoo’s limbs, chest, and head.

This evolution came even faster than before.

Susanoo no longer felt like mere armor—it now radiated divinity, a war god born for destruction.

The Valgang Dragon looked up at the descending titan. Its pupils changed color completely.

Its gaze was consumed by instinctive fear and an almost unwilling acknowledgment of the overwhelming pressure.

No banter. No mercy.

In the next second, Susanoo’s colossal blade cleaved through the air—aimed straight at the dragon’s skull!

The Valgang Dragon roared in defiance, its crimson eyes flashing with the final burst of madness and desperation.

It threw back its head and opened its massive maw—

FWOOSH—!

A torrent of searing dragonfire surged toward Ryota’s Susanoo.

But... it didn’t do shit.

The colossal blade of Susanoo sliced it in two!

Like a curtain being ripped apart, the flames scattered to either side.

And in the very next moment—

The chakra blade came down on the dragon’s body!

KRAK-KRAK-KRAK—!!

Its prized crimson scales, tough enough to shrug off magic, shattered like brittle paper under the blow.

"ROOOARRR—!!"

The Valgang Dragon let out a bone-chilling scream, but before the sound had fully left its throat—

It was cleaved clean in two from head to tail, split by a single slash of Susanoo’s sword!

At that same moment, standing atop Susanoo’s head, Ryota heard a long-awaited mechanical chime ring in his ears:

[Ding—Main Quest Complete!]

[Completion Requirement]: Lead your Familia to become Orario’s true top-tier power.

[Quest Status]: Perfect Completion!

[Reward Calculation in Progress—]