章節 834: Momentum
Though it was supposed to be a 'Dead Zone', where not too many monsters were known to spawn, what awaited the expedition on the 40th Floor were waves upon waves of enemies. The majority were Loup Garou, the 130cm tall musclebound wolfmen known for their sharp claws and high agility, but there were also Skull Sheep and Peluda in support. The Skull Sheep were bigger than the Loup Garou and had black cloaks covering the skeletal bodies, making it hard to predict their attacks as they used spears to try and assault the expedition. As for the Peluda, they were actually formed into lines at the back of the waves, using their poisoned spines to try and assault from a distance...
Leading these organized assaults were several Variant Monsters that Vahn knew were under the influence of Enyo. He suspected that some were Xenos but, fortunately, they didn't possess the same level of intelligence and it seemed more like they were part of a 'collective' instead of having any individual intelligence. As long as these monsters remained on the battlefield, the other monsters were far more organized in their attacks. They became the priority targets of the Strike Forces led by Ais and Tiona while Lefiya, Ryuu, and Arnya assaulted from a distance. Haruhime was still protected by Lili and Mikoto while Chloe, Maemi, Emiru, and Tione assisted Ais and Tiona.
Fortunately, the moment their 'leaders' were taken out, the monsters would become more chaotic, making them slightly more dangerous but also easier to route. With the expedition focused primarily on defense, forming a tightly packed convoy that made slow and steady progress, the number of injuries was kept to a minimum. Those that did end up taking a spear, spine, or arrow, knew to remove the barb as quickly as possible, marveling at how their wounds would almost instantly heal. With Vahn's support, so long as you didn't immediately suffer a fatal blow, you only needed to deal with a very temporary pain before you were already back in the fight...
Keeping a calm expression, even as holes would occasionally dot his body, Vahn remained vigilant and periodically used his domain to support the girls while looting the monster cores and drop items. The expedition used a lot of crossbow bolts, arrows, and [Burst Oil] to deal with the monster hordes, requiring Vahn to supplement the OP expenditure with the loot left behind by monsters. It was a good thing that the cores and drops were typically worth a lot more than most of the supplies and resources used up by the expedition, or he would be drawing a deficit as they pressed forward...
By the time the expedition had fought tooth and nail to reach the 44th Floor, nearly twelve hours had passed. During this time, Vahn had managed to accumulate nearly 7m OP, a monstrous amount that actually made Vahn's blood boil with excitement. He needed, at the bare minimum, ten billion Origin Points if he wanted to complete his [I Shall Seal The Heavens] Quest. Though his expenses were rather costly, Vahn estimated it would only take around 1200 days to accumulate the required amount, assuming things continued as they were. Though this would probably overtax the Alliance greatly, meaning he would need to put a stop to the endless waves of monster, Vahn still felt hopeful for the future.
If Enyo was truly on the 60th Floor, Vahn was confident they would be able to deal a critical blow to her forces within the next few months. Beyond the 60th Floor, there were undoubtedly numerous powerful monsters that would be worth a plethora of OP. That being the case, so long as he didn't breach through Tier 4, Vahn knew he would be able to increase his reserves exponentially once Enyo was dealt with. Though he would undoubtedly be busy with other countries, and had more than a few things to resolve back on the surface, it was still possible for him to probe into the Dungeon's depth, drastically increasing his combat potential and OP earnings. Dealing with Enyo would be like finding his footing on a stepping stone that immediately launched him closer toward the future he sought...
Before transitioning into the 44th Floor, Vahn erected a barrier around the expedition and gave the signal to all the Unit Commanders to pass their orders. Everyone in the expedition had two of the [Sage Aldrnari's Relief], the potions that had been brewed by Terra and Naaza. It was the same emerald green potion Vahn had given to Finn before the expedition had set out, allowing the user to replenish their stamina and stave off fatigue temporarily. At the same time, he was using his [Hands of Nirvana] to alleviate a bit of the stress everyone was feeling after fighting almost non-stop for twelve hours. Though it was tempting to stop and rest here, especially since there would be even more monsters in future Floors, their momentum would take a hard hit that would make it even more difficult to recover after such a setback...
Fortunately, the 44th through the 48th Floor could almost be classified as Vahn's domain, as the overabundance of fire elemental energy gave him a massive advantage. It was also an area where the number of monsters attacking them would be greatly restricted, as many monsters simply couldn't survive in the fiery dominion for long periods of time. The only major threats would be Flame Rocks, which weren't a real threat at all, given the fact that Vahn could simply kill them the moment they entered into his domain. Any other monsters that tried to badger them would have to contend against a veritable ocean of fire, provided by the Dungeon and manipulated freely by Vahn.
Once everything was ready, Vahn entrusted Shizune and Tina to Haruhime, as she, Lili, and Mikoto would be able to protect them in an emergency. Then, after taking up the banner of the Alliance from Finn, Vahn waved it proudly and gave a loud bellow that shook the very Dungeon itself. With his own resolution igniting like a volcano about to explode, Vahn shouted, "Onwards! For the future of Orario! For all that we hold dear! Do not slow your steps and allow this accursed Dungeon to stop our advance! We are the hope that will vanquish the darkness and light the way towards the future!"
He didn't expect them to shout or cheer, but Vahn wanted to at least bolster the morale of the expedition a little. To his surprise, however, nearly every single person within the expedition released loud war cries in response to his words. Though it could be an illusion, Vahn felt like a wave of power passed through his body, effectively causing the volcano within to erupt as he joined them with a cry of his own. Then, without any hesitation, Vahn pointed the banner forward and proceeded into the 44th Floor proper. Almost immediately thereafter, several disguised Flame Rocks exploded into fragments as Vahn forcibly 'ripped' the composite Fire Elemental energy in their bodies away. For golems that were comprised almost entirely of stone and magma, they simply stood no chance the moment he became aware of them...
Unlike the previous Floors, the expedition pressed into the 44th Floor at a much faster pace than before. Vahn eliminated every Flame Rock within his domain and waved the banner around like it was a baton that could manipulate the tidal flood of flames under his control. Any variant monsters that showed up to bar their passage were buried within the flow of these flames as the girls grouped up to eliminate anything that tried to attack the flanks and rare of the expedition. Fenrir put on a big performance of her own here, sending out waves of Ice Elemental energy that, after contacting the fiery terrain, would explode from the temperature differential. She was able to use relatively weak attacks to great effect, riling up the expedition members even more as they actually began something akin to a war chant while marching forward...
Vahn was absolutely certain that he drew power from other people at this point, as the flood of energy in his body almost seemed infinite. The calm within his mind and body was every present, but there was also a fierce motivation burning inside of him that made it feel like he was a tsunami washing over the land. Every time the expedition chanted, Vahn almost felt compelled to make a hurrah of his own, brandishing the banner with a fervor that seemed intent to cut through the very darkness of the Dungeon around them. This, in turn, inspired the expedition members even further, creating a positive feedback loop that caused the Dungeon itself to tremble from the overwhelming momentum they were generating. Each step of the expedition seemed to be in concert, shaking the Floor like an earthquake as waves of bolts and arrows immediately killed anything that even dared to slow their advance...
While this phenomenon continued to loop and compound upon itself, a massive monster that didn't exist within the monster compendium broke free from the Dungeon wall and tried to stop the expedition's advance. It was a behemoth of a creature that looked like a giant wingless dragon that was almost entirely comprised of dark black stone and molten crag. It had several overlayered plates that seemed incredibly durable while a fiery glow spewed forth from its eyes and mouth. All around its body, there was poisonous smoke and smog and, when it released a heaven-shattering roar, the surrounding stone began to bubble and crack as small spouts of magma erupted from the Dungeon's walls, floor, and ceiling.
In response to the monstrous monster's roar, Vahn raised the Alliance banner high and, as if they had agreed to it beforehand, the entire expedition gave a loud war cry along with him. When Vahn dropped the banner down, pointing it towards the unknown monster's head, several links of [Enkidu] burst out of the void and bound the creature in an instant. Vahn then vanished from within the air, appearing atop one of the meter-thick plates on the monster's back before he 'planted' the Alliance's banner down. It was actually an S-Rank item that was made to be nigh-indestructible so that it would always be present and inviolable within a battlefield, so it was able to resist the force of Vahn's blow.
As the sharp point of the banner embedded itself into the monster's back, the plating shattered in an instant and the chains of [Enkidu] tightened, pulling it to the ground. Raising the banner once again, Vahn dropped it for a second time, now causing the hard hide of the monster to fragment and shatter as it released a howl and started to condense a large amount of energy within its throat. Vahn snorted, extending his hand to create a membrane of source energy within the monster's maw as the wave of Fire Elemental energy surged forward. It impacted the barrier Vahn had formed, spreading omnidirectionally and causing the monster's head to explode from its own attack.
With one final war cry, Vahn lifted the banner for a third time before impaling it straight into the massive core that must have weighed a few thousand kilograms. The force of his strike was enough to shatter this core apart, causing the monster to turn to purple, black, and yellow dust. This was confirmation that the creature had been 'infected' by Enyo, even if it wasn't under her complete influence just yet. He quickly looted all of the drop items and core fragments before raising the banner once again, this time with the entire expedition shouting out while he simply smiled victoriously. The fact they were calling out his name made Vahn feel like he could bisect the entire Dungeon by planting the banner once again, even if he knew this wasn't the case.
Now, even faster than their already quick pace, the expedition continued forward with a monstrous momentum. Vahn continued to clear out everything barring their passage while all straggling monsters were wiped out with overwhelming force. This was definitely a waste of resources and OP, but Vahn didn't care about such trivial things right now as he brandished both the banner and [Laevateinn] together, directing his own flames to consume anything that tried to slow them down. By the time eight hours had passed, the expedition had used its unstoppable momentum to move directly into the notoriously dangerous 49th Floor. However, instead of stopping to try and defend against the coming attacks, Vahn held out the banner and allowed a very excited Tiona to receive it.
Unlike the 48th Floor, the 49th Floor was one massive room, known colloquially as Moytura, the realm of the Monster Rex, Balor. There were no grass or trees located anywhere, leaving only desolate red sand and stone to dot the landscape. Other than the massive pillars that would obstruct the view of anyone passing through, there were no actual obstructions to advancement, which was a 'trap' that the Dungeon made use of. This was the Floor where thousands of monsters would band together in waves to try and overwhelm even normal expeditions. With their expedition being much larger than any other throughout history, it wasn't surprising to Vahn when what seemed like an endless flood of monsters began converging on their position.
Unfortunately for these monsters, which consisted of more than a hundred-thousand Fomoire, goat-like monsters that were known for their massive groups, they had a very exploitable weakness. Being brute creatures that had an almost Pure Darkness Elemental affinity, they were extremely vulnerable to magic, especially of the Ligh variety. Vahn had Lefiya come to his side and she had already started to chant, "Gather, 101 spirits of light, strike my enemy. Magic Arrows, Convergence of 101 Light Arrows~!" Two magic circles appeared behind Lefiya while another appeared in front of her hand, converging together all 101 Light Elemental arrows as Vahn reached out his hand, grasping the incredibly painful ball of magic as he shouted, "Fixate. Seize. Load magic, 'Emperor of Light'!"
Vahn felt like every cell in his body had incinerated in an instant as the Light Elemental energy forcibly fused together with the fundamentally negative energy of his [Magia Erebea]. If not for his body being comprised of Source Energy, it would be impossible to achieve this feat as even attempting to do so would have broken his body down almost instantly. Now, though it was a very painful form to take, Vahn's skin had turned almost translucent white as spirals of pure white energy coiled around his arms, torso, and legs. At the same time, six angelic wings spread from his back while his hair more than doubled in length, taking on a pure gold color that radiated with divine light. His eyes no longer had sclera at all, instead, taking on the appearance of orbs of light as Vahn seemingly illuminated the entire Floor.
The monsters, which had been pressing forward with a fervent madness that seemed nigh-unstoppable, not stopped dead in their tracks. They held their forearms up to try and cover their faces as the few Variants among them tried to use magical barriers to protect their troops. Seeing this, Vahn raised his index finger towards one of the variants and, inserting a small amount of Source Energy into the attack, sent a beam of light that instantly penetrated through the barrier. The Variant Fomoire, which would have the average strength of a Level 5 Adventurer, immediately broke down into purple dust the moment the beam pierced its core. Even then, it didn't stop moving forward and Vahn could 'feel' his attack actually pierce through several Floors of the Dungeon in an instant...
Even without him prompting her to do so, Tiona raised the Alliance banner high in the sky and gave a loud war cry as a smile spread across Vahn's face. Then, raising his hands like a master pianist who was about to perform his greatest masterpiece, Vahn's fingers began to dance through the air, playing a song of purification and death as beams of light rained down upon the endless ocean of Fomoire...
(A/N: Last EPIC for today since I had lost power earlier and had to rewrite this chapter from scratch xD...I kinda like how it ended up though. Vahn got to be a badass this chapter (UwU)~!)
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Wow, such OP, very cool','The [Will of the Emperor] is the Will of his People~!','Angel of Death...')
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章節 835: 50th Floor
After the initial barrage from Vahn's fingertips, the Fomoire below entered into a panic, rushing forward in a mad frenzy in accordance with their base instincts. However, his elimination of the Variant-Species and Mages had crippled the threat level of the wave of monsters while also buying time for Fenrir, Haruhime, and Lefiya to finish their chants. Fenrir's and Haruhime's magic caused massive explosions of ice and snow to decimate large groups of Fomoire within a blast zone of several kilometers. As for Lefiya, she completed her chant and summoned seventeen aetherial Valkyries that were formed from wind. They charged into the horde of Fomoire and began cutting through the mass of enemies like a gale sweeping through a field of wheat. The attacks of the Valkyries were extremely lethal while any attempt by the Fomoire to retaliate had their attacks pass through the Valkyries' formless bodies without any effect.
Not content with just seventeen summons, Lefiya consumed a mana potion and summoned another seventeen, repeating this process several times until there were more than a hundred unstoppable Valkyries of wind cutting through the flood of goat-like creatures. Vahn noticed how hard she was working and sent her a bit of his own source energy to make use of, empowering her to continue while he focused on keeping his reserves relatively full. He wanted to stay in his transformed state until the expedition had completely cleared out the Floor and planned to annihilate the Balor once it showed up. Though he didn't mind leaving it to the girls, so that they could gain experience, Vahn didn't know what was waiting for them on the 50th Floor and wanted everyone at their peak.
With the window of opportunity provided by the girls' bombardment, Vahn looked over the supplies remaining in the wagons and began to purchase bulk goods from the system shop in order to replenish the reserves. Even if some individuals within the expedition were weak, it was difficult to discredit the might of nearly two-thousand people firing magically enhanced crossbows. At the very least, they would be able to take out most of the fodder enemies that would spawn during an emergency situation. Since there were barrier wards placed within each wagon, which only prevented attacks from entering, they would be able to hold out for a few hours against anything below the strength of a Monster Rex.
After topping up the supplies, Vahn looked towards Tiona and saw her practically dancing around with the banner in her hands. She seemed to be riled up quite a bit so he sent her a small nod that caused the giddy Amazoness to charge into the horde of Fomoire without any hesitation. Since she was already in her [Pactio] form, Tiona was an unstoppable force within the group of Level 4-5 monsters, brandishing the banner as if it were a weapon she had used for years. Vahn felt a little awkward, as he had intended for her to return the banner to his hands, but he remained stoic and expressionless without calling her back. Instead, he tried to familiarize himself with the six wings at his back, noticing they responded to his thoughts but didn't actually seem to have any function outside of aesthetics.
Until now, he didn't really know why the 'armament' took on the various forms it did and assumed it had something to do with the structure of the spells. He wanted to look into it more in the future as it would be pretty interesting to be able to control the form he took without having to forcibly change it after transforming. Still, he found his current appearance to be rather inspiring and, given the fervent and reverential looks some of the expedition members were giving him, Vahn didn't make any alterations. Instead, he just continued to target any Variants that popped up and, when his reserves were near full, sent energy to the girls to keep them supplemented for the duration of the battle.
As their progress hadn't been slowed by much, the expedition continued towards the center of the Floor and Vahn was finally able to sense the Balor within his range. It was currently waiting to try and ambush them with its explosive emergence strategy, something which brought a small smile to his face. He extended his hands forward and noticed that his six wings also curled in slightly, alerting Vahn to their 'purpose' as the feathery tips began to condense mana. It seemed that his wings also served as a catalyst for producing the beams of light from [Sagitta Magicka] so Vahn cracked and even larger smile as he sent forth a volley of sixteen lasers with Source Energy contained within.
The Balor, which had been biding its time and waiting to assault the expedition, now found itself with several beams of light penetrating straight through its magic core, continuing into the Dungeon beyond as if it's body had been nothing more than an illusion. This time, Vahn didn't even need to use [Enkidu] and, as he had targetted the magic core directly, the Balor immediately turned into dust before most people were even aware it was present. Since it had still been underground, this caused a geyser of purple dust to explode from the Dungeon Floor as monster core fragments began to rain down. Vahn couldn't help but laugh out a little, unable to even hear his own voice with the chaotic explosions and loud cheering coming from the expedition...
Knowing that there was an enemy within the Dungeon that had the means to influence monsters, nobody on the expedition was expecting the 50th Floor to truly be a safe zone any longer. Instead of relaxing their tensions and celebrating their successful conquest, everyone remained on guard as the carts and wagons were brought closer together. The pace they had been moving at caused a bit of a slinky-effect and Vahn wanted to make sure everyone was properly formed up before making the final push. This was also an opportunity for people to eat rations, drink some water, and tend to any damaged equipment. Vahn never really managed to crack the mechanics behind what made a [Whetstone] work, but there were more than a hundred Hephaestus Familia members present that could perform spot-maintenance.
After around an hour, as Vahn also wanted to give them time to eat and do things like use the bathroom, always an awkward affair, he took up the banner again and pressed forward into the 50th Floor. Tensions immediately reached a critical level and Vahn could feel his own bubbling up as he descended the large staircase leading to the 50th Floor and passed through the massive natural archway that served as its entrance.
Vahn had used the hour-long rest to transition into his 'Lightning Emperor' form so he was ready for anything that might appear before him. There was a shroud of bluish-white electricity crackling around his body while his long and spikey hair would periodically crackle with sparks. This was, inarguably, the strongest form he could manage as it provided the greater offensive potential than almost anything in the record could conceivably deal with. Not only was his power output immense, but the sheer speed he could achieve was simply beyond the perception of even powerful Level 8 enemies with developed Innates of their own. This gave Vahn the confidence that he could deal with whatever Enyo would throw at them. Thus, without any hesitation, Vahn chose to enter the 50th Floor, finding that the only thing awaiting them were ashen trees, white stones, and complete emptiness...
This had caught Vahn slightly off guard but he didn't show any discernable changes in expression as he turned back and said, "Fenrir, Ais, Tiona, do a quick sweep of the Floor and see if you can't find any enemies in hiding. I'll keep watch and react if there are any changes..." With his current speed, Vahn would be able to react to anything that happened within the 200km wide room in an instant. If he didn't restrain himself, it was possible to achieve speeds near 300,000km/s, even if he wouldn't really have any control outside of 'aiming' himself.
While the three started flying around and looking for enemies, Vahn descended to the Dungeon floor and gestured Finn to his side, handing the banner back to the confused Pallum as he said, "Given Enyo's behavior thus far, this could very well be a trap meant to lull us into a false sense of security. We will begin laying the foundation for the settlement in accordance with our original plans...though they don't have to be on high alert the entire time, make sure there is a proper guard rotation. Let people get plenty of rest, but advise them to only do so if they are half-geared or greater..."
Since Enyo was supposedly a goddess of War, Vahn suspected she was employing a tactic to try and drain their morale by having them remain tense for a long period of time. Given how much of a hassle it was to even reach the 50th Floor, the tensions of everyone within the expedition were already very high. If nothing happened for an extended period of time, it was almost an instinctual response for people to become complacent. It was during such moments, when the defenses were lax, that an 'army' was the most susceptible to an attack. If something to the extent of what happened as Lil Geirr occurred, before proper defenses could be established, the number of casualties would be far greater...
Finn understood Vahn's concerns, giving a curt nod as he said, "Don't worry, though I can't speak on behalf of the construction crews, most of the Adventurers here are seasoned veterans. So long as we help bolster positive morale during meal times, everything else can be addressed based on the 'mood' within the encampment." This current situation wasn't that dissimilar to previous ones, the only exception being that they had an 'enemy' that was proactively targetting them. Even so, as they couldn't exactly retreat after coming this far, they would simply have to deal with any changes as things developed...
While Finn was organizing the somewhat confused expedition, Vahn continued to watch the small lights that represented the mana shrouds around the girls' bodies. They had already been flying around for a few minutes and were beginning to slowly double back, searching for any enemies hidden within the ashen forests below. Since they hadn't found anything in the first pass, Vahn gave the order to proceed forward and began doing his own sweep of the Floor while the expedition marched the 100km to the center of the Floor. Vahn made sure to check the location where Haven would be built before anything else, confirming that there were no discernable signs of sabotage. Even the small encampment they had built in the past was still present, looking almost unchanged since the last time they were on the 50th Floor...
Since it would be the location of Haven, Vahn closely inspected the area and even used his [Eyes of Truth] to probe into the ground. Though he found some incredibly rare mineral veins, which he promptly looted into his Inventory, Vahn didn't see any indicator that Enyo's forces had made any preparations at all for them. It was almost like she was doing the opposite of almost everything he expected or...if he considered it in greater detail, it was possible that Enyo may have a better understanding of him than believed...
Other than the plant-like mutated monsters, and the Variant species under her control, it didn't seem like Enyo's actual forces were that great. The Variants may have the restriction of only being able to command monsters on specific Floors and, as he had already demonstrated the ability to wipe out an entire wave of the caterpillar monsters, Enyo may have decided it simply wasn't worth throwing away her forces without any gains. Since it was impossible for Enyo to have control over the entire Dungeon, these conclusions seemed to make sense and, given how things had progressed till this point, Vahn believed he might actually have gleaned some understanding of the mysterious goddess...
If his deduction proved correct, Enyo would likely go with his original speculation and try to trap them in the Dungeon instead of fighting directly. They would need to send scouts into the upper Floors to make sure their path wasn't cut off and, in order to keep Enyo on her toes, Vahn was contemplating venturing into the 59th and 60th Floor to cause some havoc of his own. He had several attacks that could pierce through Floors and, even without fighting against her directly, Vahn was certain he could cause her some problems.
The downsides to this course of action was the fact that he had almost no information about Enyo's reserves. There were also numerous people that were likely being kept as captives for Enyo's schemes and, knowing they wouldn't all be like Olivas, Vahn didn't want to unnecessarily take the lives of 'innocents'. After all, any one of those people, including Enyo herself, could have information about Ais' and Rufina's past, something Vahn had promised to help uncover. If he shot lasers or pillars of lightning into the 60th Floor, there was no way of knowing who would get caught in the crossfire...
Realizing he was beginning to fall back into his cycle of overthinking things, Vahn focused internally and saw the 'ocean' within his body was currently very tumultuous. He was now beginning to understand why so many texts related to being a good Ruler discussed assigning capable personnel to contemplate over these types of matters. It should be his duty to make decisions based on the available variables, not try to analyze and create variables within his mind that would drive his actions forward. Since there were so many 'unknowns' right now, the only thing he 'needed' to do was obtain more information.
With a small nod of his head, directed towards no-one in general, Vahn opened his eyes and felt the 'ocean' within stabilize. He looked down towards the spot where Haven would stand and made a solemn conviction within his heart to protect what it represented, hope. If Enyo wanted to play these games, he would slowly tear apart all of her plans until the only things remaining were broken plans and, if necessary, an even more broken goddess. He would systematically analyze and wipe out any of the forces she had seeded in the surrounding Floors and slowly claim this territory as part of the Alliance. Though she might have some influence over the Dungeon, Vahn knew she wasn't in control and, with a certain True Dragon at his side, Vahn knew that influence could be taken from her...
Though he didn't have an image to associate with Enyo in his mind, Vahn still imagined an angry and frustrated goddess pulling her hair out in frustration after he tore apart what could have been a thousand years of planning. He even sent a silent prayer, wondering if she would be able to hear it as a goddess, encouraging her to reflect on her future decisions if she wanted to avoid an even harsher punishment...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'RIP Balor-chan...never gets any screentime','The pitfalls of man xD...','Enyo-chama needs a spanking...')
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