Chapter 56 56: Just a Simple Village Girl
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"Hss..." The Empress drew in a sharp breath. "It's that powerful?"
Lucian was an absolute god-tier support! Bringing Lucian on this expedition was completely to the advantage of their two Familias. If he unleashed all these support abilities, even a garbage Familia could rise to become the number one in the world.
Many people couldn't help but feel a pang of regret once again that Lucian wasn't a member of their own Familia. Some even entertained the thought of forcibly snatching Lucian away, but remembering his teleportation abilities, they could only helplessly give up on the idea. As long as Lucian didn't want to, absolutely no one could force his hand. Given his mysterious nature and numerous tricks, everyone had no doubt that he possessed countermeasures even against a sudden ambush.
Not to mention that before anyone could even try, the faction aura in his overhead map view would instantly shift from blue to hostile red.
"With this ability, we can bring the members of the second squad along too." Champion said, stroking his chin.
Originally, they planned to have members below Level 5 establish a base camp in the 60th-floor safe zone and grind on the 61st floor, while the first-string elites continued pressing forward. But now, with Lucian's abilities, even those under Level 5 could actively operate within the Glacier Territory.
It was a given that after this expedition, the overall strength of both great Familias would be elevated to an entirely new level. The 69th-floor Monster Rex possessed the power of a Level 9. Even when split amongst them, the sheer Excellia would be enough for Alfia and Zald to finally level up to Level 8. Their stats had already hit their absolute peaks long ago; they only needed sufficient high-quality Excellia to break their limits. Fighting their way down to that floor would just about do it.
Aside from the two of them, there were quite a few other adventurers in the expedition whose abilities were capped out as well. It was projected that this single expedition would raise their collective might by an entire tier. With this thought in mind, the executives quickly convened and made a swift decision.
Pack up the supplies. Continue the advance!
"This thing... you actually just developed it on the fly, didn't you?" Alfia's words transmitted directly into his mind.
It was a private voice chat; aside from the main party voice channel, there was also a private direct message function. Of course, Lucian had the ultimate administrative privilege to eavesdrop on everyone's communications—he could even record their voice logs if he wanted to.
"Are you prying into my magic?" Lucian glanced at Alfia, a teasing smile hidden in his eyes.
"Just pure curiosity." Alfia denied it immediately.
Prying into another adventurer's magic was considered incredibly rude, especially between members of different Familias.
"If you really want to know, it's not like I can't tell you~" Lucian said breezily.
Alfia offered no response to his teasing remark.
There was a clear and obvious gap between Lucian and the Zeus and Hera Familias. He was essentially an outsider. It wasn't that people hadn't tried to build a good relationship with him, but Lucian always sat quietly by himself, lost in thoughts no one could decipher.
The 'solitary eccentric on another spiritual plane'—that was the secret moniker the members of the two Familias had given him. Everyone here was a powerhouse at Level 4 or above. They could naturally tell that Lucian wasn't just socially withdrawn. In fact, his personality wasn't aloof at all; he simply had zero common ground with anyone else and felt that making small talk was utterly meaningless. Furthermore, only the weak were called "socially withdrawn." The strong were "lone wolves."
Despite fighting side by side for so long, they still didn't understand Lucian in the slightest. It was only when facing Alfia that Lucian would display an attitude that was slightly less detached. In fact, during their initial preemptive strikes through the artillery holes from the 51st to the 58th floors, Alfia had originally been participating non-stop. She had planned to descend directly and unleash her magic to completely annihilate all the monsters on the 58th floor.
But this time, she had been specifically assigned to protect Lucian, even going so far as to carry him in her arms all the way down to the 58th floor. The members of the Zeus and Hera Familias were all incredibly sharp, and Alfia was naturally no exception. Alfia had long since realized that Lucian treated her slightly differently than the rest.
Perhaps because my talent reminds him of himself.
On the surface, people hailed her as the hope for "Salvation," but in the dark, they called her a "Monster of Talent." A monster!! Lucian had similarly displayed a terrifying level of talent that utterly shattered common sense, likely far surpassing even the expectations of the gods themselves.
In that regard, because Lucian was a god-tier support whose abilities actively benefited everyone else, the innate fear people felt toward him wasn't nearly as profound as the fear they felt toward Alfia. But even so, it was merely trading fear for reverence. A pathetic, insurmountable barrier still existed between him and the rest of the world. Even if she disliked his playboy tendencies, Alfia had to admit that beings like them, who possessed such unnatural talent, were true peers. They were the exact same kind of people.
Add to that the fact that he had saved both her and her sister, liberating them from their long-standing agony, and had even drastically increased the certainty of fulfilling her lifelong wish of "Salvation." All of these factors combined made Alfia's feelings toward Lucian incredibly complicated. Even though her heart was normally as cold as solid ice, and her life's only meaning had been narrowed down to two things—protecting her sister and fulfilling her vow of Salvation—her heartstrings couldn't help but be slightly plucked.
Walking alone in the dark for so long, she had originally thought she would be isolated forever. But a fellow traveler had suddenly appeared at her side. The quiet joy of that realization wasn't something she could easily suppress. To put it bluntly, whenever Lucian said things with a certain underlying "meaning" to them, she found herself somewhat at a loss for how to react. For the first time in her entire life, she felt hesitation, entirely unable to deliver a clean, sharp rejection.
"We're moving out."
The two great Familias quickly finished organizing their supplies and resumed their advance. Lucian and Alfia dropped their conversation, shifting their focus to earnestly exploring the Dungeon.
The lethal danger and breathtaking splendor of the Glacier Territory made it one of the most unique environments across all the floors. Right at that moment, a sharp screech echoed from the sky.
"It's a flock of Ice Peckers! Everyone, watch out!"
A voice rang out through the vanguard. Lucian looked up, verifying on his overhead map that a swarm of small, swallow-like creatures was rapidly descending. Except, these swallows were entirely ice-blue, blending perfectly into the freezing, snow-covered environment.
The mages rapidly chanted their incantations, unleashing a barrage of fire-attribute magic to blast the Ice Peckers out of the sky. In addition, defensive enchantment magic was cast over the group, wrapping them in a thin, shimmering layer of magical protection.
So fast.
The speed of these Ice Peckers was so absurd that Lucian's naked eyes couldn't track them at all. Even first-tier adventurers would find them extremely difficult to deal with. If they skimmed close to the ground, their flight speed could outpace even a Level 7 adventurer.
Upon spotting the expedition group, part of the flock was blown apart by the mages, while the surviving birds immediately launched a suicidal dive-bombing assault. A series of booming explosions rang out. Aside from the raw physical damage generated by their terrifying velocity and impact, they would violently detonate upon striking a target, unleashing a freezing magical blast.
"Silentium Eden."
"Gospel."
Alfia stepped cleanly in front of Lucian, simultaneously activating her second magic—the enchantment spell, Silentium Eden. Before the Ice Peckers could even get close, she unleashed her sonic blasts to obliterate them.
Two of the Ice Peckers managed to slip past her magical barrage. As they shot toward her face, she simply raised her hand and effortlessly swatted them out of the air with a clean knife-hand strike. Because a thin, subtle layer of Silentium Eden coated her body—nullifying all magical attacks—she easily dissolved the explosive freezing blasts the birds produced upon impact. Despite fighting with the flawless elegance of a highborn noble lady, she radiated an absolutely overwhelming sense of security.
"You really know how to make a guy feel safe, milady." Lucian chuckled.
"Milady?" Alfia paused for a second before giving a soft, breathy laugh. "I am merely a simple village girl. I hardly qualify as a noble lady."
Right... Just a 'simple' 'village girl', huh?
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