93 Chapter 90: Bug Extermination

Everybody started to back off from the stampede of caterpillars that want to melt your face off.

"This is bad, real bad." Gareth winced as he looked at the familia.

They didn't exactly have weapons that are capable of dealing with them. Only Ais has one, with Meowmere having the durandal trait.

"Finn, we need to evacuate." Riveria furrowed her brows as she started chanting.

"Lefiya! Start chanting Rea Laevateinn! We need to escape from here!" Riveria immediately called out to her student in magic.

"Y-yes!" Lefiya nodded and she stood still, beginning to chant her magic. Copying Riveria's spell.

Somebody walked up to the horde though. "Finn, let me try to deal with them." Ais cracked her neck.

Once a murder hobo, always one. "Ais would definitely do good at a xianxia story." Lars nodded sagely.

"Ais!" Finn called out to her, but she already used ariel and Ais swung her sword as fast as she could.

Shockwaves of magical energy escaped from her sword. The pink sword slashes butchered the disgusting bugs like they were made of paper.

They dropped a patchy magic stone just like the plant monsters that Lars and Alfia encountered in the 59th floor.

'So it really is due to Dionysus huh?' Lars saw the mutated magic stones.

And even though Ais was making quick work of the horde, they weren't really decreasing fast enougy as more of them came from below.

"Hmm, no more games I guess. Stop chanting, Lefiya, Riveria." He patted their shoulders as he walked up.

"Ooh! Lars is going to show us how he really fights!" Tiona got excited like a kid in a sugar rush.

Her hero hasn't fought them seriously in ages. And the last opponent he fought like that was Antares.

"Dance, Zenith." Lars uttered and his sword that looked like the night sky, dotted with stars floated in the air.

"You okay, Ais?" Lars smiled at her as she began to sweat, her mind was seriously tanking due to combining ariel and meowmere's magical nature.

"I'm... Quite tired." Ais steadied her breathing as she began to get a headache, using tons of mind in quick succession was detrimental.

"Then I'll take it from here." Lars stood in front of her and his blades indeed danced.

They split into four and a storm of slashes was released in front of him.

Using his psychokinesis to the limit, they outputted as much strength as his arms.

The Loki familia could hear the swings of the swords as they cut through wind and air faster than sound.

"How can you even begin to think of fighting that guy?" Bete asked Argana who was panting like a bitch in heat at the display of power.

"I fight him, I lose, then he ties me up and has his way with me." Argana shuddered at the thought and Bete started to walk away slowly.

And she wasn't the only one, all of the amazons were eyeing him like a piece of meat.

"Watch out they're coming from the sides!" Finn cried out and Lars grinned at them.

"Incinerate." Lars pointed his hands at the monster stampede and the only warning that the Loki familia had was his palms glowing a little.

Without further fanfare, blazing infernos came from his hands.

The whole floor shook and after the flames died down, everything in front of him was glowing orange hot.

"T-that's..." Riveria couldn't help but sweat at the sight.

'This guy is a monster... Is his level really just 3?' Finn held his thumb at the destruction he caused. His instincts was flaring.

He's like a monster rex adventurer. And the whole Loki familia only had one thing in their minds. Even if they dogpiled him, they won't be able to beat him at all.

Scratch that, they won't get close even. "Lars... Are you perhaps related to someone named Alfia?" Riveria who has great memory can still remember that monster.

And Riveria saw that magic can barely phase him. Valgang dragons who can shoot beams through entire floors couldn't even singe a single piece of his hair.

"Alfia huh? I haven't heard that name for some time now. But yes, she is. After all, she's my mommy." Lars couldn't contain his smile, messing with them.

'This guy...' His expedition team deadpanned at him. She really was his mommy, not the kind the Loki familia was thinking though.

The executives froze immediately. Especially Riveria and Gareth who fought her.

"W-what!?" Riveria shuddered. "Oh, don't worry Riveria, I won't get revenge for her. She went out with a bang." Lars shrugged.

Riveria bugged out. 'Can he read my mind?' "No, I can't." Lars replied and she flinched.

'H-how?' Riveria's mind was running a mile a minute. "You're too predictable, Riveria." Lars sighed at her.

"O-okay." Riveria shut up and Gareth frowned. "Are you for real, lad? Alfia is your mother?" Gareth blinked.

"Oh, she definitely is. I can still remember her breastfeeding me." Lars shrugged.

"That's..." Tione raised her hand, but she put it back down after realizing that he isn't really lying.

"Come on, let's go back and report this to the guild." Lars didn't want them to be caught unprepared for whatever was down there.

Lars could feel it, something was accumulating power at the 59th floor. And it was strong.

'Though, it feels a bit like Ais. I wonder why?' Lars looked at the blonde and she tilted her head cutely.

'A question for another time I guess.' Lars didn't dwell on it further as they began to ascend once again.

__52nd floor__

As the expedition team returned to the surface, Lars was proven right that something was awry.

The caterpillar monsters were ascending as well. And they reached a high magic area.

They were attracted to magic and the caterpillars went to a cadmus spring.

And the most magic they've ever felt was right above it. A blue cocoon was glowing like a star.

It was being saturated by mana by the dungeon. Realizing that it was still connected to it.

So it tried using it as a weapon against the abominable gods and adventurers.

The mutant caterpillars shot acid at it, but the cocoon was tough as nails.

But it did start to form cracks on it. Seeing it as their efforts bearing fruit, the bugs began to spit more acid at it.

And when the cracks travelled all over the cocoon, it suddenly exploded.

A shockwave of mana was released and everything in the floor got incinerated with pure energy.

Something then produced a thud as it fell on the floor. Or more appropriately, someone.

"I... Awake. Lars, where?" A humanoid rose up. "Wait for him." Ley sat down, unmoving. Closing her eyes as she waited for Lars to arrive.

__Ascent__

Quickly making their way towards the surface, everyone was in a rush.

"A group of minotaurs, get rid of them quickly." Finn ordered and they decided to give it to Lefiya.

And with her skill double canon, she can store a completed spell on her arm that appeared as a ring of mana.

"My name is Alf! Rea Laevateinn!" Lefiya used the stored spell she had on her and a storm of fire burned the minotaurs in a heartbeat.

But there were tons of them and they began to run away.

"Hah, you should be better than that, Finn. A perimeter is always needed for exterminations." Lars sighed at him.

"W-we'll clean them up quickly." Finn got embarrassed.

"Eh, just give them to us." Lars shrugged and he patted Haruhime's back.

The renard then began to slaughter the bulls, slicing them up with her sword.

While the other members took care of the other run aways.

And due to no place else to escape. They began climbing the floors.

"Tsk, these bastards are quite tenacious." Lars thought that they'll just fight and die.

Lars then heard sounds of fighting and battlecries. "Hey... I know that voice." He immediately went towards the battle.

"Bell? I guess he's having an adventure." Lars smiled at Bell who was fighting for his life.

The newbie adventurer was using a dagger and a short sword.

But his attacks couldn't just pierce its skin and Lars thought it was much too early for him.

"Ahh, there it goes." Bell tried to stab it through its eye. Which was the correct choice. But it was also the hardest.

And the minotaur that has superior stats to him saw it coming.

It blocked with its horn and was about to gore Bell.

"Ope, you can't do that." Lars grabbed its horns and snapped it. He then stabbed it through its eyes.

"Big bro Lars?" Bell was surprised, he was still panting as his adrenaline still hasn't died down.

"Yo, Bell. That was a good try, mix in feints next time. Monsters react too, not all of them are as dumb as goblins." Lars patted him on the back.

'I have to get stronger.' Bell saw him one shot a minotaur with his bare hands, and that motivated him.

__Guild__

The Loki familia along with Lars' group went to the guild in order to report their findings.

"Heya, Rose. Did you miss me?" Lars went up to her and he smiled.

"Not really." Rose shrugged, but her tail was wagging behind the counter.

"Hoh? Why's your tail going crazy though?" Misha Flott, her co-worker, outed her.

"Misha!" Rose blushed like a tomato and Lars chuckled. "I'll visit you more often then." He then took out a brush.

Rose gritted her teeth at the sight of it. Her traitorous body was remembering his petting and brushing sessions.

"Fuck it, I'm a proud werewolf. I do what I want." Rose didn't care anymore.

She led them towards a private room as the Loki familia's expressions wasn't quite right.

And with her experience as a guild employee, she knew that something might be wrong.

After the executives sat down, Rose also sat down besides Lars and she looked at him with a raised brow.

"Ahem, that brush for show or something?" Rose was getting impatient.

"Say please first, with a cute purr." Lars teased her for being sarcastic.

"P-please?" She purred and Lars grinned. "Good girl." He laid her down on his lap and began brushing her tail.

"Lars..." Riveria deadpanned at him. "That looks nice." Ais gave him the side eye as Rose closed her eyes in pleasure at the pleasant brushing.

"Want me to brush your hair too, Ais? It's Rose's turn right now." Lars promised that he'll brush her hair too and she beamed.

"How are we going to give our report?" Finn facepalmed as Rose was obviously not in her right mind as Lars rubbed the base of her ears.

She was getting high due to her body releasing natural endorphins.

"I don't know, why are you asking me? I'm just here as a witness, this expedition mind you. Was initiated by the Loki familia." Lars shrugged.

The other executives were about to complain, but they quickly shut up after thinking for a bit.

"Hah, I'll just start writing the report. Riveria, can you get someone else?" Finn sighed.

Riveria nodded and she rolled her eyes at Lars. "Who's a good girl, you are!" Lars was treating Rose like a pet.

After a few moments, Riveria returned with her friend's daughter; Eina.

"How may I help you today?" Eina was prim and proper, a professional.

She then winced, seeing Rose on Lars' lap. Receiving glares from Tione and Argana.

"We encountered new species from the dungeon and it ain't adding up." Gareth spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Eina raised a brow. "We encountered bug monsters. They were large caterpillars with acid as body fluids." Riveria handed her a magic stone.

"This feels... Weird." Eina as an elf, even half. Can feel that the magic stone is tainted.

"Yes, they were definitely not normal. And they can even corrode 1st class equipment." Finn pointed at Kaguya.

"I lost my sword to one when I killed it. The thing melted it and I noticed its acidity when it splashed on my kimono. It began smoking instantly." Kaguya explained.

Eina wrote everything down quickly. "This is concerning... Do you think this is due to the incident from earlier?" Eina asked.

"No... Not really. The monsters rampaged due to the danger of Artemis-sama's arcanum. But that's about it, this is different." Finn answered.

It's true that nothing came from the deeper floors. But the monsters they came across today felt unnatural.

Like they were tampered with. Especially with the appearance of their magic stones being like that.

"Whatever it is that's happening down there. We were unequipped for it." Riveria looked at Lars.

'Except for this guy... I'm sure he could've bulldozed through anything there.' Riveria remembered his overwhelming strength.

"We need another expedition to go to the source of the matter. Or at least we think it's the source, the 59th floor." Finn's intuition was quite sharp.

Lars' team just went quiet as they definitely knew that the 59th floor is the anomaly that caused it.

"We will be reviewing this, thank you very much for informing the guild." Eina bowed at them and she started writing up a report.

"I guess we need Loki to talk to Hephaestus. We require smiths to come with us to the lower floors to make us or repair weapons." Finn rubbed his chin.

"Uhh, can't he do that?" Riveria pointed at Lars and they honestly forgot that he made Ais a legendary sword that hasn't been seen for centuries.

The last one that wielded a real magic sword was the hero; Argonaut.

"No can do, you think you can pay for it?" Lars asked them and they winced immediately.

Disposable magic weapons that is the size of a dagger is already millions of valis.

Ais' weapon; Meowmere looks goofy. But it's actually priceless, an international grade treasure. For there is nothing like it in the market except the Zenith.

"Uhh, no thank you." Finn didn't think it's wise to arm someone with a magic weapon.

The trade-off wasn't good. All of their firepower would be concentrated on Ais and the other potential wielder.

"Come on Rose, your session is over. I'll visit you later alright?" Lars smiled at her and she just lied down on the couch with a beaming smile.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.