Chapter 178: Chapter 178: Reunion
After slaying the white-haired demon, Farr reverted to her small, delicate form and perched on Charles's shoulder.
Seeing Ais's curious expression, Charles chuckled. "This is my companion, Farr—she's a being similar to a spirit."
"Spirit?"
Ais leaned in immediately, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Farr.
It had to be said—after shrinking down, Farr's appearance was quite appealing, with a refined, adorable look.
Farr let out a small chirp as a greeting, seemingly taking a liking to Ais, who carried the blood of a spirit within her.
Ais looked like she wanted to scoop Farr into her arms right then and there. After an intense inner struggle, she reluctantly gave up on the idea.
Charles said, "The troublesome one's been dealt with. Let's head out and look for Finn and the others."
Ais nodded, following Charles to the edge of the crater.
Farr let out a call and flew into the air, her body rapidly expanding to a size of five or six meters.
Charles leapt onto Farr's back and waved at Ais. "Hop on! Farr rarely lets anyone else ride her."
After Ais stepped onto Farr's back, Farr flapped her wings and dove straight toward the lower levels.
Suddenly, more bipedal wyverns appeared from who knew where, charging at them in a frenzy.
Ais drew her Desperate Sword to intercept, but Charles raised a hand to stop her. "Don't worry—Farr's strong. She can handle it on her own."
As a fire-element spirit—strongest of the four elemental types—Farr was hardly afraid of mere monsters.
She breathed a searing flame from her mouth, incinerating all the incoming wyverns to ashes, not allowing a single one to get close.
Carrying the two on her back, Farr soared through the cavity left by the dragon cannon blast and quickly descended to the 58th floor.
From above, Charles could clearly see the situation on the 58th floor. Bert and the Amazon sisters were surrounded by monsters.
The culprits behind their fall—gigantic red cannon dragons, bipedal rhinoceros-like monsters called Linos, and goat-headed demons wielding weapons—were all among the most common monsters found in the Deep Floors.
"This is... a Monster Party!"
Even Charles hadn't expected Bert and the others, after falling to the 58th floor, to be unlucky enough to run into a monster anomaly event.
But thinking it over, it made sense. The Dungeon was alive and always acted on its malicious intent toward adventurers, sending deadly threats when it sensed weakness.
It must have judged Bert and the others to be in a vulnerable state after falling, and so unleashed a swarm of Deep Floor monsters to eliminate them.
And the Monster Party had indeed created serious trouble. Bert was already using his magic sword, lighting up the gems on his metal boots. Flames coiled around his kicks, though they didn't seem as powerful as before.
Tione and Tiona's skills had also activated.
Tione's "Fury Disorder" boosted her attack power based on her injuries, with additional strength fueled by rage. Her "Desperate Counter," which enhanced strength in near-death situations, had also kicked in.
Tiona had similar skills—"Berserk Disorder" for injury-based boosts, and "Burning Duel," which amplified all stats near death.
Judging by how she fought, both were already fully active.
True adventurers with heroic potential—even though battered, the three still held their ground against the Deep Floor's monster horde.
Even if Charles hadn't shown up, the trio could likely have held out until reinforcements arrived—or even fought their way out, albeit heavily wounded.
Bert shattered a Linos with a kick, then heard a roar from above.
Looking up, he saw a red figure descending rapidly.
Tiona also spotted it. "What the heck is that? I've never heard of a Deep Floor monster like that!"
Bert said, "No, look—there's someone on its back! It's Ais and that damn kid from Hephaestus Familia."
As they spoke, Farr dove down in a blaze of fire, roaring as a column of flame erupted from her mouth, clearing the monsters that surrounded the trio in an instant.
Ais leapt down from Farr's back and ran over. "Bert, Tione, Tiona—are you alright?"
Tiona plopped onto the ground and sighed in relief. "We're saved! But what the heck is that fire-breathing beast? Why is it helping us?"
Ais handed a high-grade healing potion to Tione and said, "You can ask Charles."
Tione, still biting down on the bottle, asked, "You mean that Hephaestus Familia guy? That dragon's his?"
Bert scowled, clearly in no mood to be grateful about receiving Charles's help.
Farr's breath, as potent as wide-range annihilation magic, quickly wiped out the surrounding monsters.
Charles patted Farr to calm her, then had her return to his magic tome.
The next floor held the matured fragment of the Fallen Spirit. Farr could already sense the foul power emanating from below.
But Charles had no intention of heading there now—he was planning to use it later to complete a grand feat for his level-up once his growth began to slow.
Charles approached the trio as they rested, only for Tiona to suddenly cling to his arm.
Glancing down, Charles raised a disapproving eyebrow. With that much to flaunt, she dared to act so bold? She really had no self-awareness.
Tiona, thankfully unaware of Charles's inner thoughts, chirped, "Hey mister, what's that fire dragon? Come on, tell me!"
Charles calmly pulled his arm away. "Didn't Ais already explain it?"
Tiona turned and gave Ais a betrayed look.
Expression unchanged, Ais replied, "I promised to keep it secret."
Charles finally remembered that before fighting the white-haired demon, he had asked Ais to keep Farr's identity confidential. Still, Ais took it far too seriously—everyone had already seen Farr. It really didn't matter anymore.
So Charles relented. "Her name is Farr. She's my companion—you could say she's a spirit."
Tiona immediately lit up. "A spirit? Like the ones from the Divine Holy Chronicles?! You made a pact with one?! That means you're just like the heroes!"
Divine Holy Chronicles was the most famous heroic epic in this world, chronicling tales of heroes from the Age of the Gods and before—from the first hero Argos to the last, Albert. Every legendary hero in the stories was accompanied by a spirit.
As a lover of heroic tales, Tiona grew even more excited, her gaze toward Charles becoming fervent.
Trying to shift the topic, Charles asked, "Where's Finn?"
Tione sighed. "We got separated from the captain. No idea how he's doing."
Bert, arms crossed, snorted. "He doesn't need your concern, lovesick Amazon."
"What did you say, you stupid mutt?!"
As Tione and Bert started bickering again, Charles quickly cut in, "Hey, not the time or place. We should focus on regrouping with Finn—this is not the place to fight each other."
"Huh? You trying to boss us around now?" Bert sneered, his attitude as unpleasant as ever.
Charles clenched his fist, feeling a sudden itch to teach him a lesson, but just as he was about to say something—
"You're the ones who caused all that noise, aren't you?"
Finn's voice came from the side.
He walked over with Riveria and Gareth, calling out as they approached. "Sorry, we ran into a swarm of bipedal wyverns. Took us a while to get here."
Bert snorted and turned away, saying nothing.
Charles tamped down his frustration. There'd be a day to settle things with that foul-mouthed punk.
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