Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

The arrow pierced through the translucent dragon's body, creating a ripple. The arrow seemed to pass through water without causing any damage.

Charles and Alfia exchanged a glance: "It's not that it appeared, it's that it grew into this form."

Alfia nodded slightly: "Its body is problematic; it's not a physical entity! It absorbed the magic we released during our battle and devoured our scattered spiritual energy."

The name of a monster popped into Ciel's mind...

Fels answered first: "Mana Dragon..."

Raul exclaimed, "Huh?" and asked, "What's that?"

Fels sighed, "That was a rare monster that first appeared in the dungeon 400 years ago. According to the guild's records, it has appeared less than five times in the past thousand years. It was very weak and was easily killed by adventurers every time it appeared. I never expected to encounter an individual that has grown to this level."

"Why?"

Fels carefully observed the [Mana Dragon] soaring towards them and explained, "Because it can infinitely expand and become stronger based on the number of times its opponent casts magic."

"It seems to have been watching the battle with the monster horde the whole time, accumulating a lot of magic power."

Another bolt of lightning tore through the earth beside Pochi, and Raul cried out in alarm:

"Then what should we do?"

"It's alright, this state is temporary. After 24 hours, the absorbed magic will dissipate."

"What we need to do is return to the guild, inform them of the situation here, and prevent low-level adventurers from entering the 12th floor."

Raul seemed to understand, but couldn't help but exclaim, "Miss Fells, I never expected you to be so knowledgeable at such a young age! You've been a great help!"

Fels: ...

Chapter 262 Phil Weiss: Thank you for saving me.

Please rephrase your words, Mr. Raul. Before you stands a great sage who has lived for eight hundred years, whose knowledge is unparalleled throughout history.

Ciel inwardly complained, but outwardly remained calm:

"Captain, don't overthink it. Let's think of something to do. We can't just keep letting Pochi keep running like this."

boom--

The thunderous roar exploded again in front of Raul. Pochi slammed on the brakes, drifted three meters on the spot, and then made a turn to continue his escape.

"What can I do? That monster is now bigger than the floor master, and it can fly."

Fels analyzed, "The zenith is only ten meters high. Logically speaking, if Pochi stands up, including our height, it would be four meters high. This means the monster is only about three meters away from us. With skillful use of arrows, we can definitely damage it!"

"This monster is extremely fragile; it can be easily killed if you hit a vital point!"

Raul exclaimed, "The problem is that its shelling is too strong; we can't do anything about it!"

Boom boom boom——

Three more claps of thunder sounded.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Alfia sighed, "There's no other way, I'll have to do it!"

Raul was astonished: "Miss Fia, could you be a very skilled adventurer?"

"No." Alfia's fingers gripped the bottom edge of her eye patch, and she said coldly, "Didn't I tell you? My eyes seal away a terrifying power!"

As she spoke, she turned her head and lifted the black blindfold covering her face.

Its heterochromatic pupils, one gold and one green, narrowed slightly, its sharp gaze piercing the relentlessly pursuing [Mana Dragon].

"Aww—woof woof woof—"

Just as the mana dragon was about to let out a roar, an aura of deathly despair enveloped its body the instant it met Alfia's sharp gaze.

The dragon's roar turned into a mournful cry, its dancing body suddenly stiffened, its massive form frozen in place, followed by a whimper, before it cowered and retreated into the sea of ​​mist.

"Phew—" Alfia breathed a sigh of relief, put on her blindfold, and reassured, "Alright, it's gone. Let's get off this floor quickly."

Raul was stunned by Alfia's amazing maneuvers.

"You... your eyes really seal away powerful abilities?"

Alfia remained silent, sitting gracefully on Pochi's arm like a hermit, seemingly detached from the world.

Charles thought this move was incredibly cool; someone actually managed to drive away a monster using only killing intent.

Charles knew that Ais in the future had once made the tree dragon fear and flee with just a glimpse of her back. Perhaps these monsters were more able to sense the strength of their opponents than adventurers.

Charles tugged at Alfia's sleeve and winked at the girl, "How do you do this? Teach me."

Watching Charles make all sorts of funny faces, trying to project some kind of imposing aura, Alfia's lips curled into a smile as she turned away to suppress a laugh. But she couldn't help glancing back again.

How strange, let me take another look.

……

With the threat behind them gone, the group ran on the ground. Fortunately, the twelfth floor wasn't very big, and they soon bumped into the edge of the maze.

Fels confirmed his location and quickly, based on his memory, found a way back to the proper route.

During the action, Cassandra accidentally kicked a stone, and when she looked down, she noticed something unusual...

"What's this?"

She crouched down and picked up the "foreign object," which was a strand of black hair.

"Hair? How come there's hair here?" Raul asked in surprise.

Charles squinted, looked around, and after a thorough search, found a few more strands about three meters away.

"It was probably left by adventurers!" Charles looked at Raul: "Captain, what should we do? It might be a distress signal from the adventurers."

He explained Fells's conjecture simply.

"I..." Raul was equally at a loss; he couldn't make a decision on such a big matter.

“Mr. Charles, you should decide.” Raul felt ashamed of his failure as captain and lowered his head.

Charles simply analyzed, "There are only two possibilities: save them or not save them."

"I'm inclined to save them."

While urging everyone to follow the clues, Sharl analyzed, "The [Mana Dragon] will be attracted by magic stones. Although we just forced it back, it will not easily give up on the group of monsters we wiped out."

"Therefore, we have time to raid its lair and rescue the trapped adventurers."

Charles added, "If we go back to seek help from others, it will take half a day round trip. There's no guarantee that the [Mana Dragon] won't get angry and eat those adventurers like snacks."

In just ten minutes, Xia Er and the others devised a rescue plan, navigating through the fog to reach the spot where the last strand of hair had fallen.

Before them lay a cluster of white oak trees, their branches intertwined like a bird's nest, with a dozen or so adventurers nestled among them.

"Rescue!"

Everyone dispersed in a hurry.

Raul deftly chopped off the branches that had pierced through the adventurers one by one.

Fels quickly examined the injuries: "Mental exhaustion, the rest are all superficial wounds. That [Mana Floating Dragon] must have used their mental energy as food."

"True Name: Hungry True Lord!"

Ciel pretended to take out a few cans of "coconut milk" from the backpack on Pochi's back. He went to a black-haired fairy dressed in a white dress and poured the coconut milk into his mouth.

"Cough-cough-"

The elf opened her eyes, and in her hazy red eyes, Charles's anxious face was reflected.

"Hey, are you alright? Can you still move?"

The black-haired elf clutched her head and sat up. Hearing Ciel's question, she gently shook her head, looking as if in pain.

On the other side, Fels and Cassandra also cast healing spells, forcibly pulling several adventurers up.

"Thank you, we are adventurers from the [Modi Familia], my name is Reeves. What's going on now, and where is that monster?" A handsome male elf, who had been pulled to his feet, struggled to get up.

Alfia said calmly, "Don't speak. If you have the strength, take your companions with you first. We need to leave here before that monster returns."

“This is the Manni Familia.” Cassandra pulled up a dwarf named 'Dorm'.

Charles felt that these two seemed somewhat familiar, like minor supporting characters in some story. He looked down at the black-haired elf in his arms and asked, "And you?"

“The Dionysian Familia… my name is Philweis,” the black-haired elf answered haltingly.

Damn it——

There was no time for surprise.

"Gurgle~~~ Aww~~~"

As if drawn by magical fluctuations, faint dragon roars echoed from the distant sea of ​​mist, and indistinct black shadows approached the edge of the building.

"Quick, take the men and let's go!"

Poch carried seven or eight people on his back in one go, while the others each carried one of their companions, quickly following Fels' footsteps to retreat.

"Huff, huff—"

When they reached the tunnel connecting to the 11th floor, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, put down the injured, and leaned against the rock wall to rest.

"Alright, it's safe here for now." Charles put Philwis down from his back, turned around, and saw the girl with a face full of shame and anger, raising her hand as if she wanted to slap him.

When she met Ciel's gaze, for some reason, she withdrew her hand, biting her lip as if enduring something.

"Ah... I'm sorry." Sharl, remembering that elves didn't seem to like being touched by strangers, apologized.

"In urgent situations, we must act expediently. Please don't mind."

"Mmm." The girl curled up, her face flushed, and nodded gently. "No... it's okay. Thank you."

Chapter 263: Has the Newbie Plan Failed?

"Are you alright? Are you feeling better?"

"It's nothing, just a little dizzy. My mental energy has been drained, and I need to recover," Phil Weiss explained nervously. She looked up, only to see that Charles had already turned away to attend to the other wounded.