As the entire huge body was thoroughly pierced and the gradually lifeless monster thunderously fell to the ground, all the onlookers fell into an unspoken, deep silence, remaining speechless for a long time.
Only when a cough sounded did the likewise fallen Reiger manage to shakily, with great difficulty, stand up. Only then did everyone present react, and all eyes suddenly focused on Reiger.
Especially Ais and Rephia, who upon reacting, immediately ran towards Reiger.
"Mr. Reiger, are you all right!?"
Rephia was in a state of panic, with tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.
Reiger shook his head, but his body was tortured by a wave of pain that made his knees go weak, almost collapsing to the ground once again.
Fortunately, a slender jade hand reached out and supported Reiger.
"Don’t move." Ais watched Reiger with her clear golden eyes, as if trying to etch the image of his bloody battle into her heart, and said, "You used ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk’ too much. Your body has taken too much of a burden, and on top of that, your injuries are not light. It’s best not to move around carelessly now."
As the true owner of ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk’, no one understood the side effects of this magic better than Ais.
A magic that can be activated with a simple incantation and offers such special, powerful enhancement would obviously have significant side effects, causing a great burden on the recipient.
Whether it be the body or weapons, anything that received the wind boost of ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk’ would bear this burden.
Thus, after unleashing the maximum output of ’Wind Spirit Swift Walk’, Reiger’s weapon shattered directly, and his body bore an unimaginable load, making him appear unsteady.
"This, this is Spiritual Medicine!"
In a flurry, Rephia took out the Spiritual Medicine from her bag, popped the cork, and clumsily fed it to Reiger.
Reiger did not refuse and after taking the Spiritual Medicine, he immediately felt a cool stream flow within him.
The injuries on his body visibly began to heal at an observable rate.
The immense burden on his body was also finally alleviated.
Reiger let out a soft breath and stood up straight with the support of Ais.
Ais once again told Reiger not to move, her tone carrying a hint of reproach, as if she were chiding him for not listening to her and moving carelessly.
Reiger initially wanted to break free from Ais, but seeing her frown and reproach, he gave up.
"Rephia." Only then did Ais turn to the still somewhat bewildered Rephia and softly said, "Let’s gather the spoils for Reiger and head back first."
Understanding that what Reiger needed most now was rest, Ais decisively made that decision.
Rephia, as if pardoned, finally found something she could do and hurriedly ran to the front of the giant beast.
Just in time, the monster’s body also turned into a pile of dust and scattered, leaving only a transparent crystal and a faded claw behind.
Rephia gathered the crystal and the claw, then ran back to where Reiger and Ais stood.
"Let’s go, we’ll head back first."
Ais’s gaze swept around and seeing the adventurers who seemed to want to approach, she helped the still weak Reiger to turn around and leave.
Rephia followed suit, and together with Ais and Reiger, they left the place.
The remaining adventurers, who had initially wanted to approach Reiger, could only stop in their tracks upon seeing Ais take him away directly.
"Who was that adventurer?"
Everyone shook their heads one after another.
"From the Sword Princess’s behavior, could he be from Loki’s Familia?"
"How come we never saw him before?"
"Could he be a newcomer?"
People exchanged opinions with each other, clearly affected by Reiger’s battle and deeply impressed.
"Let’s go, bring the news back."
A few people exchanged glances and then left one after another.
The rest followed suit, either intending to spread the news or bring the information back to their respective camps.
The scene quickly became quiet and was once again left silent, just the damaged topography beneath them was unknowingly and slowly repairing itself in an eerie manner.
An anomaly occurred on the 6th floor of the underground city.
This incident not only spread rapidly but also caused quite a stir.
Because there were significant casualties.
When the abnormal situation occurred, many adventurers were on their way home and thus directly passed through the 6th floor, encountering this unusual state of affairs.
Unfortunately, this incident took place on the relatively closer to the surface 6th floor, an area even rookie adventurers could access.
That is to say, many of those who encountered the abnormal situation were lower-ranked adventurers with inadequate strength.
These lower-ranked adventurers inevitably met with disaster, dead were dead, injured were injured, and the resulting commotion was naturally significant, making the entire night in Orario much livelier.
People rushed to spread the word about the incident, and the Guild was quick to be alerted and dispatched personnel to the scene for investigation, exchanging information with those who had witnessed the abnormal situation.
Before long, the Guild released some information.
"This abnormal situation will be classified as Lv.2."
"The source of the abnormal situation is the birth of an unknown monster, believed to be a rare species never seen before, temporarily named the Croc Dragon, classified as a dragon species."
"This abnormal situation was ostensibly resolved by adventurers of the Loki Familia, in the following days, Guild professionals will conduct an inspection to ensure everything is safe and that no further dangers will occur before announcing the investigation results."
"During this period, it is advised that Lv.1 lower-ranked adventurers refrain from going to the 6th floor."
This announcement was not only posted on the bulletin board at the Guild headquarters but also sent to each major Familia.
This night, many were certain to suffer from insomnia.
Loki Familia’s stronghold, Twilight Manor.
In the Divine Room, Loki looked at the Guild’s notice that had just been delivered into her hands, read the contents on the parchment, and tossed it onto the desk.
"So, that’s the situation, what do you all think?"
Loki was addressing the three titans of the Familia summoned to the Divine Room.
The three leaders of the Headquarters Camp, Finn, Revilia, and Grace, were called into Loki’s Divine Room and informed about the entire course of the incident.
"An abnormal situation designated as Lv.2?" Grace, with her arms crossed, said in a low voice, "It occurred on the 6th floor, so close to the surface. It looks like people with too low of a level won’t be able to enter the underground city for a while."
"It doesn’t affect us much, given that our Familia mainly consists of upper-ranked adventurers," Finn said, biting his thumb, "But it’s certainly unexpected that a dragon species, rare at that, would appear on a place like the 6th floor."
Among the many floors of the underground city, monsters that appear infrequently and in much lower numbers than regular species are known as rare species.
They are not necessarily strong, but they certainly possess some unique characteristics.
If it’s a dragon species, though, that’s a different story.
Dragon species are universally recognized as the strongest class of monsters existing in the underground city.
Dragon species in the deeper floors are naturally formidable, but even those on the upper floors related to "dragons," beings of legendary status, would be unimaginably powerful.
For example, the rare species known as "Young Dragons" that only appear on the 11th and 12th floors, with a total number of less than five, have abilities far surpassing those of the average lower-ranked adventurer, capable of annihilating a group composed of several such adventurers.
The Croc Dragon that appeared this time, like the Young Dragons, is both rare and a dragon species, and even classified as Lv.2. Therefore, the strength of this Croc Dragon might surpass that of the Young Dragons. It’s not just lower-ranked adventurers who may not be able to handle it alone, even Lv.2 upper-ranked adventurers would have difficulty facing it solo.
Such a powerful creature would normally be found on the middle floors beyond the 13th, but now it has appeared on the upper floors, which are collectively classified as Lv.1. This is almost like a cruel joke played by the underground city.
One can imagine that, after today’s incident becomes known, those Lv.1 lower-ranked adventurers will definitely not dare to rashly enter the underground city, even Lv.2 third-tier adventurers will have to carefully weigh the risks before taking action.
"Indeed, the underground city is just that, with unexpected events bound to happen at any time."
Finn muttered to himself.
Having battled in the underground city for decades, Finn understood well that many mysteries of this demon’s lair remained unsolved.
While this allure drew countless individuals to explore, it also brought unfathomable threats to the people of the lower world.
No one knew when the underground city might erupt in a revolt, whether the monsters once suppressed would once again surge to the surface.
Thus, no amount of caution and vigilance could be considered excessive when it came to this abyss.
But little did they expect...
"I didn’t expect that a monster of that caliber would be brought down by young Reiger," Grace laughed heartily, "That kid really is capable."
Upon hearing this, everyone laughed along.
Who would have thought that a dragon species classified as Lv.2 would be defeated by a newcomer who had just joined their Familia?
Finn, who had already learned the details from Ais and Rephia, smiled slightly.
"To be able to challenge a Lv.2 dragon species with only Lv.1 capability and even succeed within a week of receiving our favor, this newcomer of ours is really something."
Finn could imagine just how much of an uproar this event would cause once it spread.
Revilia casually inquired.
"According to Ais and Rephia, the kid went straight to sleep after coming back," Loki spread her hands, "It can’t be helped, after all, he took on that kind of monster. It wouldn’t be strange if he had died. It’s quite impressive that he returned unharmed, and his injuries aren’t severe. The main issue is the excessive burden caused by using Ais’s Magic; he needs proper rest."
Finn and the others exchanged a look at once.
"As expected, the reason lies in Ais’s Magic?"
Revilia’s whisper plunged everyone into silence.