Danmachi: The Focalors Familia Starting from the Dungeon

At this moment, Dead End Butcher had been blasted back over a dozen meters. A massive, charred indentation had appeared in the center of the giant street sign it wielded as a weapon. Drops of molten metal still dripped from the deformed edges. It was thoroughly enraged.

”ROAR!!!”

Dead End Butcher locked its gaze onto Aiden. Driven by an unprecedented, tyrannical killing intent, the monster charged madly toward him.

”I’m your opponent.” A golden silhouette instantly stepped in front of Aiden. Ais took a deep breath.

”—Tempest!”

A violent gale erupted. An even denser, emerald-green wind magic surged from her body, wrapping around her and coating Desperate once again. Her golden hair whipped wildly in the fierce winds. Reflected clearly within her golden eyes was the unstoppable charge of Dead End Butcher.

She took a single step forward, and then she vanished from her spot.

Dead End Butcher swung its massive weapon, sweeping it fiercely across the space Ais had just occupied. But in the fraction of a second before the attack landed, Ais’s body slid away at an impossible angle. Buoyed by the violent winds, her speed completely shattered the limits of a Level 5. The giant weapon brushed past her clothing and smashed into the ground—BOOM!!!

The earth fractured, sending shattered stone flying in all directions. Ais had already cut into the opening on Dead End Butcher’s right flank. Wrapped in wind magic, Desperate cleaved downward with tremendous force—Squelch! The pitch-black, mutated flesh was sliced open on impact, sending a geyser of dark blood into the air.

Roaring in agony, Dead End Butcher lunged at her with its free hand. Ais leaped backward, the sharp claws scraping past her golden hair. The moment her feet touched the ground, she dashed forward again. The tip of her sword thrust precisely into Dead End Butcher’s knee—Squelch! Another deep, bone-exposing wound opened up.

The winds howled, and the blade flashed. Ais’s figure flickered continuously around Dead End Butcher, leaving a deep gash with every reappearance. Her speed was so fast that the naked eye could no longer track her. Only the explosive, concussive blasts of the raging winds echoed in a chain reaction through the air—Boom! Boom! Boom!

Every single slash kicked up a razor-sharp tempest. The blade winds smashed against the cavern walls, leaving deep lacerations, and swept across the floor, plowing deep trenches into the stone. Dead End Butcher swung its weapon in a frenzy—sweeping, hacking, smashing—yet it still couldn’t lay a single finger on Ais.

However, it was still a Level 5 Floor Boss. Amidst the torrential downpour of attacks, it suddenly stopped all its movements. Then, it violently plunged its massive weapon directly into the ground. Purple-black magic power spread frantically along the floor like a sprawling spiderweb.

Ais’s pupils constricted. Without a second thought, she retreated at top speed.

Three seconds later, it detonated. Centered on Dead End Butcher, a sphere of purple energy over ten meters in diameter blasted outward. The devastating shockwave shredded all the rocks and monster corpses in its path into absolute dust. Although Ais had retreated the moment she noticed, she was still clipped by the violent aftershock, and her entire body was ruthlessly hurled through the air.

She tumbled mid-air, struggling to stabilize herself. But Dead End Butcher had already predicted her landing zone. A massive, razor-sharp claw tore through the air, swiping right at her suspended, defenseless form. The claw rapidly magnified in her vision.

Right at that moment, a golden, flaming meteor struck fiercely from the flank. It was Aiden! He had condensed the tiny bit of magic power he had just recovered, wreathed his fist in golden flames, and, without dodging or evading, smashed it directly into Dead End Butcher’s left wrist.

The flames violently exploded. The explosive force knocked the monster’s colossal hand wildly off course. The sharp tips of its claws scraped past Ais’s side, severing only a few strands of her dancing golden hair. However, Aiden himself was blasted backward by the peerless recoil force. His back slammed heavily into a distant rock wall—Blegh! He violently coughed up a large mouthful of fresh blood.

”Whoa, whoa, whoa! This monster is way too strong! Even Ais is getting serious.” By now, the rest of the Loki Familia had cleared out the freshly spawned fodder monsters nearby and had gathered to watch the battle. Tiona excitedly pumped her fists, her eyes sparkling with thrill. ”Little Aiden is so strong too! He can actually keep up with Ais’s rhythm!”

Bors and the other surviving adventurers had long since retreated to the absolute fringes of the battlefield. They watched the apocalyptic clash with lingering terror in their hearts.

”That Flamescion is a monster... Is he really just a Level 3? Are we sure we aren’t bootleg Level 3s!?” An adventurer who had just crawled his way back from death’s door clutched his injured arm, his face plastered with disbelief. He had personally experienced Dead End Butcher’s terror. It was a suffocating sense of despair that far surpassed even Goliath.

”Tch, that brat...” Watching Aiden fight side-by-side with Ais, their coordination growing increasingly seamless, Bete clicked his tongue in annoyance. Yet, his gaze was more serious than ever before.

”Miss Ais... Aiden...” Lefiya gripped her staff tightly, her eyes glued to the battlefield, her pretty face etched with worry.

The young women of the Focalors Familia were also watching nervously.

”Wow~ Aidie and the Sword Princess are getting better and better at coordinating with each other.” Holding Little Ica, Hyacine maintained her wide-area healing magic while sighing in genuine admiration.

Tifa’s brow, however, slightly furrowed, a faint sense of powerlessness rising in her chest. She felt that she was still too weak. Otherwise, the one fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with Aiden right now should have been her.

Jeanne had already dispelled the [Luminosité Eternelle] barrier. Maintaining a magic of that scale for so long was far too heavy a burden for her, considering she was still only Level 1. She just watched quietly, her azure eyes hiding her inner thoughts. Robin took in the entire battlefield, her beautiful face devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

”The Captain... He’s so much stronger than he was during the War Game...” Daphne’s eyes were wide with shock.

If Aiden had possessed this level of strength back then, why would he have even needed to use that terrifying wide-area annihilation magic? He could have probably soloed the entire hundred-man army without breaking a sweat.

Hyakinthos... He probably wouldn’t even be able to take a single hit from him, she thought to herself silently. At the very least, she felt that her former Captain had absolutely zero chance of surviving a head-on clash with this newly spawned Floor Boss.

The commanders of the Loki Familia were also analyzing the situation.

”This ability to fight above his level... Simple enchantment magic can’t achieve this... Just how high were his stats before he leveled up? Could the rumors be true? Is S-Rank truly not the limit?” Finn bit his thumb, his brows locked in deep thought.

Aiden’s performance had completely exceeded the scope of what a Level 3 should be capable of. While it was true that adventurers with enchantment magic could often fight above their class—like Ais, or the late Alise who was once hailed as the Crimson Flower of Justice—Aiden’s current display surpassed even the standards of a Level 4.

”This is almost approaching Level 5...” Riveria also wore a strange expression, analyzing in a low voice. ”He should have a full set of Artifacts boosting him, but his base stats are indeed strange. They’re frighteningly high. Breaking the limit... it’s very likely true. Of course, it’s also possible he possesses some kind of status-enhancing skill.”

”So this is what an adventurer with magic and skills looks like...” Raul stood nearby, his face full of envy. ”I’m so jealous. I feel like Flamescion could take on five of me alone.”

As a Level 4 ’blank slate’ without a single magic spell or skill, he reckoned that if he fought Aiden, he would absolutely be killed in an upset.

Alicia, Anakitty, and the other second-string members also wore complicated expressions. Sure enough, people couldn’t simply be lumped together. They were just ordinary adventurers, while some people were simply born to be heroes in a story.

”Aiden!” Ais landed gracefully and immediately looked toward him.

Aiden slid down from the rock wall, dropping to one knee as he panted heavily. His right arm, which had directly absorbed the recoil, trembled uncontrollably, the webbing between his thumb and index finger split open as blood dripped steadily onto the scorched earth. Yet, raising his head to meet Ais’s concerned gaze, he forced an ugly smile.

”I’m fine. This is nothing.”

Ais fell silent for a second. Her pure golden eyes watched him quietly, as if trying to decipher something beneath his relaxed facade. Then, she gave a light nod. It was a simple gesture, yet it represented absolute recognition and trust.

Seeing these two ants who repeatedly provoked it making eyes at each other, Dead End Butcher’s massive jaws stretched to their absolute limit—it was furious, but it was also thrilled.

Golden flames reignited across Aiden’s body. The surrounding air warped and distorted under the extreme heat, and the nearby rock walls even began to glow red and melt.

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