Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

Charles asked, "Did you encounter any fallen fairies during your previous expeditions?"

"No," the overlords said in unison.

Alfia said, "It must be a mutant species that has appeared in recent years. If we had encountered it, it would probably have become one of the great achievements of the Empress and heroes."

Level 9, the Amazonian Conqueror, that is indeed a rank that inspires fear.

Charles couldn't fathom what level of monster he had defeated to reach that level. Perhaps it was the Amazonian tradition of sisters killing each other.

Unfortunately, the Amazons, who are only good at close combat, are far less effective than a high-ranking mage when facing colossal creatures.

For a moment, Sharl's thoughts wandered: "Tell me about what lies beneath the ice plains. What have you encountered on your expeditions? What is the world like beyond the ice plains?"

Chardo chuckled: "I thought you would know."

The two determined their direction and proceeded to investigate along the regular route they remembered.

Chardo casually severed the head of a polar bear, saying, "Conquering the area below the 60th floor is extremely difficult. Due to limited supplies, we can only explore the 'standard routes.'"

The dungeon is quite amazing; each floor has a shortest route to the next floor, and the number of monsters spawning is relatively small.

Taking the upper level as an example, most adventurers' activities are concentrated near the regular routes, making it easy for them to seek 'assistance' from nearby adventurers when encountering danger.

It's normal for wounded squads to hand over monsters they can't handle to other passing squads that have free time.

Therefore, the so-called "monster gift" is a relatively common phenomenon during adventures. Even if someone is rude and pushes a monster onto a party that is already being attacked by monsters, they are not considered a serious offender afterward.

Charles nodded: "Even so, you must have explored many special places, and the floors are much deeper than we are now. I'm curious, before the 71st floor, did you encounter any floor masters? What were they like?"

Alfia and Chardo remained silent.

"No."

Charles was taken aback: "No? What about the safe floor?"

Alfia said in a deep voice, "We also cannot determine which floor is safe. Monsters will spawn on every floor after the 50th floor. We can only vaguely draw the line by observing the changes in the environment between floors."

"How is this possible?!" Charles exclaimed. "The rules of the labyrinth have been broken? This is an anomaly!"

Chardo said seriously, "Starting with the Dragon Pot, almost all the knowledge we've accumulated before is no longer applicable. Don't use rigid thinking to speculate about the unknown."

"No, that's not right."

Although Chardo's words made sense—monsters would spawn on every floor, a phenomenon that couldn't be faked—Charle still felt it shouldn't be like this. As one of the inherent rules of the labyrinth, there was no reason for it to fail in the deeper levels.

In ancient times, before the Great Cave was sealed, the only guardians at its entrance were a black Barol and an ordinary Udeus.

Even Udeus, who was rooted underground, has come to the surface. Why doesn't the "Lone King of the Labyrinth" from the deeper depths show up?

Charles looked at Alphia: "Do you think the next floor master will be Leviathan? Behemoth? Or a black dragon?"

Since the main body is outside, the number of floor masters in the maze is limited to one, and the maze will no longer refresh.

Chardo nodded: "That's the only way we can think of it. It's the most reasonable conclusion."

Xia Er sensed something was wrong. These three monsters should be more special. It would be too simplistic to simply assign the three floor masters to level 8, 9, and 10.

Leviathan and Behemoth couldn't possibly be only level 8. If they were only that level, they wouldn't have had to exhaust Chardo and Alfia's bodies to wipe them out.

“You just said it, don’t use rigid thinking to speculate about the unknown.” Charles immediately returned Charles’s words.

"Judging from previous floor owners, if the 'Lone King of the Labyrinth' exists after floor 60, it's definitely larger than Barol and would be too easy to spot. It's been eight years since the Leviathan expedition; it should be refreshed by now."

Chardo shrugged: "The truth is, no one from Jiong has entered the ice field since then."

Alfia saw through Charles's thoughts and stopped in her tracks:

"It seems you have a different opinion? You believe the Fallen Immortal's true form is related to the Floor Master's anomaly?"

Charles blinked. "I only have some guesses."

“Belle doesn’t seem to have told you that those fallen fairies were all ancient fairies.”

"What?!" Chardo exclaimed, turning around in surprise: "An ancient immortal spirit?!"

"You little rascal, you were hiding something after all!"

Charles said solemnly, “In ancient times, these ‘fairies’ led the will of the gods to become the heroes’ aids… and fought alongside them on the land of Orario at that time.”

"Before the gods descended, the fairies were responsible for receiving the divine will. Some of the gods sent them down to serve as guides and weapons for humanity."

"To drive out the monsters, these heroes, blessed by the fairies, launched a large-scale attack on the source of the monsters, namely 'Old Orario.'"

Alfia seemed to realize something: "I see... that's why it's there..."

Chardo's expression turned serious; he too had connected the dots to that place, which explained his surprise.

"I never expected that besides those relics, there would be other living things there."

Charles's eyes flickered; with a little prompting, he could extract information: "So you really do know something?"

Chapter 142 Is Ais a Sword?

Zeus and Hera's Familia know many secrets that the Charr are unaware of, about Dragon Valley, about the dungeons, and about Ais.

"The mezzanine between floors 60 and 61."

Alfia pointed out a location that interested Shar: "That's also where I came here. Only there are traces of the existence of the immortals."

“That’s also where the ‘Dungeon Girl’ was found.” Chardo glanced at Charles almost imperceptibly. “You might know about this. After all, you and that child are quite close.”

In the details of the story, Ciel learns that Ais was brought out of the underground city by Zeus and Hera's kin, along with a broken sword hilt.

Later, for other reasons, he was taken in by the Loki Familia.

"What exactly is she?" Charles asked succinctly.

He also possesses many secrets and has no intention of beating around the bush.

"Blade!" Alfia opened her eyes, trying to gauge Charles's depth: "Blade, just like her title. A hiltless blade that can cut you if you're not careful!"

There were no flowery words, nor were they adjectives; what Alfia said was exactly what it said.

Not only Alphia calls her that, but many people in the city also call Ais that. Chun, the blacksmith of Hephaestus, once described Ais as a sword, which is a blacksmith's intuition about weapons.

“She really is a fairy.” Charles received confirmation from Alphia.

The weaponization of immortal spirits was a relatively common form in ancient times. Besides this, there was also beast-like transformation. Of course, there were also rare examples of human-like transformation.

From the name Bell gave to the heretic dragon girl Winnie, we know that "Vellenne" is a fairy of light with wings of light in "The Tale of Marriage of the Heretics".

The book records that she fell in love with the hero who saved her, and Verune once transformed into a human to accompany the hero on his adventures.

This also proves why Ais knows sacred writing, which is evidence of her being the child of an ancient god—a "fairy spirit".

“I remember, along with that girl, there was also a frozen sword hilt. It should be kept by the guild now,” Chardo recalled.

"The hilt? Ais's?" Charles blurted out.

Ciel knew about the sword hilt, but only as "someone's keepsake." That's true, but considering that anyone capable of venturing deep into the labyrinth to stop the monsters is a hero, isn't they?

Then what could the broken sword hilt be? The remains of a dead fairy?

Based on what Alfia said, Ais's condition...

“I don’t know,” Alfia interrupted Charles’s thoughts. “Until the ‘key’ is found, no one can determine what it is.”

“But I think you need to get your hands on that sword hilt; it might be a weapon powerful enough to wound the Black Dragon.”

"this…………"

Upon hearing this, Ciel's eyes widened, his mind going numb as if electrified, as if possessed by a certain elementary school student:

"That sword hilt...it's the one Albert has?!" For some reason, Charles came to this conclusion.

Arya..., Ais's mother.

Legend has it that the mercenary king Albert blinded one of the black dragon's eyes with a single sword strike, forcing it to flee Orario in disarray. From then on, the dragon was renamed "One-Eyed Dragon."

This is the only record left by that hero.

Alfia's words just now awakened Ciel.

Having spent years working on film sets, he quickly deduced a logically consistent story.

The classic background music started playing in my head...

Historical records state that the Black Dragon fled Orario. If Albert had died, then the Black Dragon, as the victor, would have had no reason to flee.

So……

Albert did not die in that battle, but instead rejoined the army to stop the monsters in the cave. His mission was to establish Orario (the fortress front) and intercept most of the monsters inside the cave.

Accompanying them were countless heroes carrying fairy essences. Everyone raced against time to intercept the deepest monsters, buying enough time for the construction of Orario on the outside.

Several pieces of information can be gleaned from this story.

Intelligence 1: The sword in Albert's hand can only belong to Arya, who is a fairy spirit in weapon form.

Intelligence 2: Arya is highly likely to be devoured by the black dragon.

Intelligence 3: In Ais's memories, there are scenes of the black dragon's black wind devouring her parents, but there are also scenes of Albert waving goodbye to Ais alone.

"I cannot be your hero, I already have your Muqing. Go find your true hero." Albert once said.

Based on this intelligence and the circumstances at the time, Charles deduced:

1. The fairy Arya may have broken her sword during the battle with the black dragon, leaving the blade in the black dragon's blinded eye.

The evidence is why, as a black monster, it cannot regenerate itself and has been burdened with the name "One-Eyed" ever since.

2. Albert, having lost his weapon, suffered a significant reduction in combat strength. Coupled with the crucial period of Orario's construction, he was naturally required to find a replacement. Ais, who had a close relationship with Arya, was the best choice to replenish their forces.

of course……

Judging from the ending...

Albert didn't see Ais as a replacement for Arya. Ais's birth was simply to compensate for the fairy's inability to reproduce. Albert, who treated Ais like a daughter, didn't tell her to seek a hero's protection, but rather to choose her own hero.

Based on these premises, Charles deduced a story:

"With the final battle imminent, the accompanying heroes asked Albert to bring Ais, who would serve as his sword. Albert fought bravely and indeed did not need to use the young Ais, but stopping the monster from climbing onto the ground was not a task that could be accomplished overnight."