Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

and many more……

How long?

Why would someone who just participated in a war game feel like it's been a long time?

"You...didn't you attend the rally?" Hermes's expression changed.

"Oh dear, we've been exposed?" Astraea's eyes widened slightly, then curved into a smile. "You're quite perceptive, Hermes."

"Hey, you didn't know all along, did you? Who exactly are 'noname' and 'jester' working for?"

"Oh dear, oh dear. I didn't know either~~, I was quite surprised that 'Jester' appeared." Astraea's eyes crinkled, but she refused to say more.

Hermes sighed heavily: "You wouldn't be 'angry' too, would you? That's why..."

“No.” Astraea said, her hands behind her back, the shadow of her bangs obscuring her eyes. “I wouldn’t blame the ‘Hero’ for the children almost dying; it was their own choice!”

Wow, he's really angry.

That's why they let "noname" teach Finn a lesson.

This actually reduces the suspicion on Loki. Could it really be Hestia?

Given her relationship with Zeus and Hera, it seems reasonable for her to take over 'Metlujah' and 'Belle'?

But the premise is that 'Metlugh' really is 'Metlugh' and Belle really is 'Belle'.

He made the connection to the Joker, but it was just a simple association.

Given Astraea's attitude, colluding with the Joker? That's too strange.

He preferred to believe that it was all Loki's doing rather than that the Joker and Astraea were in cahoots.

what……

Hermes gave up thinking: "Forget it, thinking about this makes me look like an idiot."

He waved his hand: "Since you're overseeing 'noname,' I won't interfere."

"Honestly, women are terrifying when they're angry." Hermes, hands in his pockets, casually disappeared into the crowd.

Astraea sighed...

I looked up at the distant port city.

She never expected Finn to make that decision.

“The children almost became stars. Thank you, Ciel. Let them shine a little longer, if they could keep shining forever… perhaps it would save the world…”

……

Chapter 373 The Deeper Heretics

Level 59 of the underground city, the Thousand-Pale Kalia Icefield.

The vast ice surface appears to have melted, and the lakes resemble giant raindrops scattered across the labyrinthine land covered in moss and silt.

Giant mushroom caps stand tall like pillars to the sky; unknown exotic flowers and fruits bloom quietly on the damp grass.

Although it hasn't developed to the point of becoming a dense forest, the environment has indeed changed.

Clang, clang—clang—

"Ah lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo—"

On the grassland, a white-haired, red-eyed girl treads on the air, crossing a giant lake with a diameter of 50 meters. Behind her, a group of small fish-men emerge, emitting unpleasant cries.

The little fish-man had purple tentacles on its head that looked like a deformity, its eyes bulging and rolling back, and purple slime wriggling along the tentacles. Its appearance was ugly and bizarre, like an alien.

Like an oddball, they crawled out of the lake and chased their prey like madmen.

Ciel's red eyes darted back and forth, while two elusive streaks of gray mist pursued him at an astonishing speed.

"Flame Volt!"

Charles raised his arm, and the Thunderfire Cannon shot towards the black mist, but it pierced through the haze.

As the black mist surged in, Charles swung his longsword, the sword energy tearing through the black mist, but he missed everything. The dissipating black mist pierced through Charles's body, and two streaks of blood shot from his arm and thigh.

Charles felt his body becoming sluggish.

The black mist turned around and continued its tearing attack.

"Can't see it? Doesn't exist? Or... can't be locked on!"

As the bells tolled, lightning flashed in Charles's eyes. In his [Mind Network], he indeed detected the special fishman lurking in the dark room.

The moment his foot touched the ground, he rolled on the spot, dodging the two attacks from the black mist, and plunged the [Spiritual Sword], which shone with pure white starlight, into the ground.

[Heroic Determination] Infused into the sword blade, a pillar of fire, crackling with lightning, spread indiscriminately across the surrounding land like a volcanic eruption.

"Uwaaaaaaahh ...

The monstrous merfolk army that had attacked them was reduced to fragments and scattered. The two unique black mists were also engulfed in the raging flames, with nowhere to escape.

A shrill scream rang out, followed by two purplish-black skinned fishmen wielding blades, who crashed out of the black mist.

The merfolk were incredibly fast. In the previous battle, they seemed to have "stolen" a lot of Sharl's agility, losing the "absolute invisibility" of the black mist. A flash of black light appeared on their bodies, the flames and paralysis that had enveloped them disappeared, and with a leap, they fled to other locations.

Xia Er's gaze sharpened, lightning flashed, and he quickly closed the distance with the purple merman. With a single strike of his [Spirit Sword], he cleaved the two mermen in two, dismembering them.

A merman fingernail, glowing with a cursed light, flickered in the ashes. Ciel paused for a moment, then picked it up and put it in his pocket.

Alfia's shadow arrived late. Looking at the mutated merman corpses scattered on the ground, she said silently, "The 60th floor is already an ocean. It seems we can't go down for the time being. That monster seems to be wary of us and has hidden in a deeper floor."

Ciel sat on the ground, grimacing as he threw the magic stone into Rimuru's body, exchanging it for "coconut milk" to heal his wounds.

"The monsters on this floor are also problematic. They must have eaten something they shouldn't have, because they all turned into those grotesque creatures. A few of them also developed abnormal abilities... and almost died."

The invisible fish-men, named "Slark" by Sharl, have reached level 6 in potential ability. Not only can they enter a forced invisibility state, but they were also previously bound by their [Shadow Strike] and could only circle around within a certain range.

Moreover, with each attack, Ciel felt his stats decreasing, while the corresponding "Slark" stat would increase.

Although this state is temporary, lasting only a few tens of seconds, the back and forth of it is already quite terrifying.

Ciel's body was covered in wounds, large and small, torn by the fishmen, which slowly healed when Rimuru covered him.

"The giant fish-men that used to inhabit the 60th floor have all turned into these tiny creatures, and their numbers are ridiculously high." After tending to his wounds, Xia Er picked up a purple magic stone with a faint hint of color from the ground and said:

"The color of the magic stone has also changed."

Alfia frowned, gazing at the distant labyrinthine rock walls: "It won't be long before the green flesh completely parasitizes the labyrinth, and the monsters that originally hatched here will disappear and become its minions."

"If this continues, even if the covenant of the gods still holds, the dungeon will not be able to withstand it and will collapse prematurely."

"We don't have the ability to 'dive'," Charles said helplessly. "We can only wait until it finishes parasitizing before going down to observe it."

Alfia lowered her eyes: "Then... let's stop here."

After leaving the war game, Sharl and Alfia quickly reached the 37th floor through the vertical shaft of the man-made maze and headed straight for the depths of the maze.

Their goal wasn't to "investigate," but to level up.

The precious [Unwavering Aspiration] skill only lasts for 6 days, so we must make good use of it and try to break through Xia Er's ability limit and upgrade him to level 4 in one fell swoop.

The search for "weirdos" and "fairy clones" was just a natural progression.

Just as Sharl was preparing to continue searching for monsters and gaining experience points...

Sniff sniff...

Alfia's nose twitched slightly, and her eyes turned disgusted:

"A fishy smell..."

"What can we do? This place is full of fishmen."

"You haven't showered for days. You don't care about Belle's health at all. Go and wash up." Alfia nagged like a mother.

Can……

"This is Belle's body..."

Therefore, she is a woman.

Going to the toilet is fine, since you can't see anything anyway, but...

"Do I really need to take a shower?"

"Stop talking nonsense, it stinks, hurry up." Alfia tossed him a blindfold and pushed him to find a small lake.

As the sound waves swept through, the bottom of the lake resounded with loud bangs, and the lurking monsters turned to dust and vanished.

Helpless, Charles put on his goggles, removed his equipment, and left it on the shore. He lightly touched the water's surface with his toes before submerging himself.

Just as he was thinking of taking a soak, another splashing sound came from behind him.

"Eh?"

Gentle fingers rested on her shoulder, and her soft body pressed against Ciel's back.

"Don't move, I'll help you wash."

"Eh eh eh eh eh eh?"

"What is the problem?"

"That's not true..."

As her aunt, and also a woman, it's perfectly reasonable for her to help her scrub her back, but...

"I just felt something was off."

“Do you intend to do it yourself? That’s Belle!” Alfia frowned.

"No, that's not it... If you do that, I... This is nonsense! Nonsense!" Charles felt the touch coming from behind him, his palm running down his back and extending to his limbs.

buzz-

A high-frequency vibration, a sonic wave, came from Alfia's palm, washing away the stains.

The front is right behind!

oh well...

"No need for the front, right?" Charles shouted, his body jolting as if he'd been electrocuted.