Capítulo 56: Chapter 56: New Faces
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"It's amazing! Just amazing!"
Sol laughed with glee, his mood lifted as he watched the progress bar nearing completion.
Unexpectedly, even the progress in Ionia was almost filled all at once.
The gloom from losing Soraka faded away almost immediately.
"Someone's approaching, Sol-sama."
"An adventurer from the Dark Faction?"
"Probably not. I sense a number of strong adventurers gathering nearby, split into several groups," Alfia said calmly, seemingly unbothered by the people outside.
She only wanted to avoid revealing her identity.
"Well, I've achieved most of my goals, so let's wrap things up for now."
With a chuckle, Sol left the room, and Alfia held onto his arm as the two of them vanished in an instant.
Just as Sol disappeared with Alfia's help, Finn led the strongest members of the Loki Familia into the stronghold from the back entrance.
The sight of bodies littering the ground hit them immediately.
Finn, who had felt a persistent throb in his thumb earlier, suddenly noticed the sensation vanish.
Could it be that the terrifying enemy had already left?
Finn trusted his intuition, and he had a feeling he could handle things from here.
With no time to dwell on it, he hurried forward and pushed open the gate of the stronghold.
Inside, the place was in even worse shape, with more corpses scattered around than outside, but none of the 'Evil Gods' he had heard about were present.
The flash of light he'd seen earlier must have marked the elimination of those 'Evil Gods.'
But why had that happened? And who had wiped out so many Dark Faction members in one sweep?
The scouts he'd stationed outside hadn't reported anything.
Moments later, members of the Ganesha Familia and the Astraea Familia arrived outside the stronghold as well, taking in the situation.
"Did you already handle them? That was fast."
"No… it was like this when we got here," Finn replied, spreading his hands helplessly.
In that case, was the plan successful?
"What's our next move?"
"To the 27th floor. Now that the 'Evil Gods' have been sent back to the heavens, there may still be Dark Faction adventurers trapped in the dungeon!"
Finn's mind worked quickly.
This was unclaimed credit. Who knew how the Guild would assign it later?
But they needed to stake their claim—and use the remaining Dark Faction members to bolster their accomplishments.
Meanwhile, deep within the dungeon, Sol Familia's expeditionary team was making their way back to the surface.
To allow Riveria a chance to explore solo, they had lingered on the 49th floor.
But with supplies dwindling, they had set out on their return journey.
Their pace was quick, as if spurred by the thought of home; no encouragement was needed from Riveria. The expedition team's spirits were high.
In fact, they were more enthusiastic than they had been on the way down.
"Get ready! We'll take a short break in the city on the 28th floor, then make our way back to the surface in one push!"
"Yes!"
The resounding response rang out, and those at the front picked up their pace.
In no time, the entrance to the Water City appeared ahead.
The leading few rushed in.
But in the next moment, a powerful explosion echoed through the supposedly safe city of water.
The two team members at the front were blasted back by the shockwave, suffering burns and bleeding heavily, their faces smeared with blood.
"Enemy attack! Lan, cover us! Corina, take command!" Riveria responded instantly, stepping in to heal the two injured.
The sight of their injuries made their screams hoarse.
After a momentary turmoil, the team steadied, and Corina, now in charge, commanded the mages to launch a magical bombardment toward the city of water.
The expedition team was seething.
Whoever the attacker was, they would pay the price for daring to ambush them.
Throughout the expedition, none of their companions had suffered such severe injuries, and now they were ambushed on their way back.
They would not tolerate this.
Amid the magical explosions, screams rang out, proof of the bombardment's effectiveness.
"Hold fire! Follow me!"
After a tense ten minutes, the barrage finally ceased.
Kled and the others, eager to advance, rushed into the city of water, Riveria casting a protective spell on them.
Kled, riding Skaarl, charged toward the safe zone.
The first sight to greet them was broken bodies scattered across the ground, so mangled that it was hard to tell what parts they were.
A strange smell of charred flesh lingered in the air, but Kled paid it no mind.
With Skaarl's keen sense of smell, it quickly located a group of survivors huddled behind a rock wall in panic.
They were clustered together like beggars, covered in wounds, and their torn clothes barely clung to their bodies.
Seeing these enemies now lacking any will to fight, Kled felt a sudden wave of disinterest.
He and several others bound them and brought them to Riveria.
"Valletta? You dared to ambush our expedition with such a small group? Quite brave of you."
Among the captives was Valletta, whom Riveria recognized immediately.
A significant figure in the Dark Faction.
But why had they suddenly attacked the expedition team?
After all, the Sol Familia hadn't been their main enemy. In fact, the timing of the expedition was chosen partly to avoid getting entangled in their conflicts.
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