The Ballad of Barbatos in the Dungeon City

A suffocating heatwave swept across Zald's face the moment he landed on the ground of Floor 71. The scenery before him was the true manifestation of a volcanic hell. Rivers of boiling red magma flowed, carving through the black, continuously vibrating rocks. The air in this place was so heavy, filled with volcanic ash and a dense scent of sulfur that could burn the lungs of an ordinary adventurer in seconds.

On the walls of the artificial volcano, dozens of pairs of reptilian eyes glowing golden stared sharply at him. The monsters crawled down with an agility highly unnatural considering their giant size. Their red scales seemed to absorb the heat from the surrounding magma, emitting steam that boiled the air.

"Dragon Anole Alpha, huh," muttered Zald, his voice blending with the crackle of lava. He looked at the pack of deep-level monsters with an evaluating gaze.

Zald looked down for a moment, seeing his empty palms. He had thrown away the remaining hilt of his steel greatsword on Floor 70 after executing the Juggernaut. Without a weapon, an adventurer would usually meet a dead end. However, for Zald, losing a weapon was merely an invitation to return to the roots of his combat existence.

He cracked his knuckles until they popped loudly, smirking with fangs that radiated a feral aura. "Since my temporary greatsword is broken beyond repair... I suppose it's time I remind this labyrinth why I am called The Gluttony."

As if responding to the provocation, the pack of Dragon Anole Alphas leaped simultaneously from the cliff walls. They swooped down like a red meteor shower, opening their jaws wide, ready to tear the intruder's flesh.

Zald did not retreat; he instead charged forward. Activating his Strong Body ability, he welcomed the first monster lunging straight for his face. Instead of dodging, Zald swung his fist at the monster's snout to break its momentum, then his two bare hands moved like lightning to grip the upper and lower jaws of the dragon lizard.

The monster struggled, its claws scratching Zald's armor and sending sparks flying. But Zald's feet were planted as firmly as steel pillars on the volcanic rock. His biceps and triceps tensed extremely until his veins bulged, then with one brutal surge of power, he tore the monster's jaws into two halves.

Hot blood, its temperature near boiling, spurted heavily, drenching Zald's face. But he didn't let it go to waste. Amidst the rain of blood and torn flesh, Zald punched through the monster's chest, ripped out a chunk of the core flesh that was still beating, and ate it raw right then and there.

His absolute passive skill, Deus Ambrosia, reacted instantly. Coupled with Niggle Gourmet, the meat of the high-level monster did not poison him, but was instantly converted into pure life essence energy. As soon as the meat was swallowed, Zald's muscles throbbed. The wounds and tears on his body from the previous fight against the Juggernaut began to close at an absurd speed.

Seeing their pack member slaughtered in such a horrifying way, the other Dragon Anole Alphas responded by unleashing bursts of volcanic fire from their mouths. A sea of fire with temperatures of thousands of degrees encircled Zald's position.

But Zald activated Abnormal Resistance. He pushed through the sea of fire, ignoring his blistering skin, because a second later, the energy supply from Deus Ambrosia healed those wounds right back up.

The battle then turned into a horrifying banquet cycle. Zald moved like a demon amidst the crater. When a Dragon Anole tried to whip its tail, Zald caught the tail, spun it in the air, and used it as a meat club to smash the other monsters. He punched, tore, and ripped. Every time he killed, he took the time to consume the core part of the monster.

The longer the battle lasted, the stronger Zald became. His stamina kept refilling, his muscle explosive power increased, and his aura grew increasingly dominant. In contrast, the pack of Dragon Anole Alphas that was initially very aggressive now began to lose their rhythm. Their attacks became chaotic, and their numbers shrank drastically under the terror of a predator that was hierarchically far more savage than them.

After dozens of red-scaled dragon lizard carcasses lay scattered on the volcanic rocks, Zald finally stopped. He chewed his final mouthful, letting the essence of power continue to flow, strengthening his physical parameters towards the maximum limit of Level 7.

Zald sifted through the pile of carcasses with his foot, searching for something. His eyes finally caught a single intact scale emitting a dim red light, completely undamaged even though its host's body had been torn to shreds.

It was an Alpha Anole Hide. A rare material that was highly elastic and possessed absolute resistance to extreme temperatures, perfect for wrapping the hilt of a greatsword so his hands wouldn't blister when channeling his fire.

"Only one?" muttered Zald while picking up the item. "Even though I slaughtered dozens of them. Is the drop rate this rare in the seventies floors?"

He rolled up the elastic hide and tied it securely to his back waist belt. Feeling the warm-up was over, Zald walked towards a deeper crater hole, descending the corridor leading to Floor 72.

As soon as his feet touched the next floor, the intense heat was replaced by dry air smelling of rusty metal. The terrain on Floor 72 was made of expanses of iron plates and sharp, jagged metallic rocks. In the peripheral area of this floor lay the habitat of the monster he was searching for.

From behind a formation of iron rocks, an ear-piercing sound of grinding metal was heard. A monster crawled out. Its size rivaled a giant Minotaur, its reptilian body lacked wings, but its entire anatomy was coated in thick scales that looked and functioned exactly like a walking steel fortress.

It was an Ironscale Drake.

This monster wasn't as aggressive as the Dragon Anoles, but its territorial instincts were incredibly deadly. Sensing a threat in its territory, the Ironscale Drake turned its heavy body, then swung its tail covered in steel spikes straight at Zald.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Without warning, the spikes from the dragon's tail shot through the air like high-speed artillery shells.

Zald smirked. He knew this wasn't an opponent he could face with just ordinary brute strength. The monster's scales were too dense to simply be torn apart with bare hands. Weaponless, Zald clenched both his fists. He channeled the Rea Ambrosia magic, letting the black-red hellfire explode and coat both his fists like apocalyptic boxing gloves.

Zald darted forward. He tilted his head with absolute precision, letting one steel spike graze his ear, then used his fire-coated left fist to punch the second steel spike, shattering it into metal shards. Using his Hunter development ability to read the mechanical trajectory of the monster's tail, Zald evaded the next barrage of shots with brutal and efficient zig-zag movements.

Realizing its long-range shots were useless, the Ironscale Drake roared in anger. It twisted its body, lowered its head, and charged straight like an iron bulldozer ready to run over Zald.

Deciding to end this fight as his final stepping stone, Zald refused to evade. He activated Supreme Attack, concentrating all the remaining Excelia and life essence he had just absorbed from the previous floor into both his arms.

Zald let the iron monster crash into him.

BAM!

Both of Zald's hands gripped the lower jaw and snout of the Ironscale Drake with an insane force that instantly cracked the bones beneath its scales. The kinetic force of the monster's charge was massive. Zald was dragged backward for ten meters, his boots crushing the iron plates beneath his feet, creating a metal trench. However, in the end, he managed to halt the giant monster's momentum purely with his muscle strength and physical endurance.

"Shatter!" roared Zald.

The wingless dragon tried to struggle, but Zald released the grip of his right hand, pulling his fist—blazing with black fire—backward. Without giving a pause, he concentrated all the destructive power of Rea Ambrosia into his fist and slammed it into the monster's neck with brutal, pure physical strength.

CLAAANG!

The collision between Zald's hellish fist and the toughest iron scales in the labyrinth created a shockwave that leveled the metallic rock formations around them. The first punch caused the scales to dent inward. Zald didn't stop; he launched a second, third, and fourth punch in a matter of seconds.

A horrifying cracking sound was heard as the wingless dragon's neck finally caved in and shattered. Its protective iron shell broke into pieces, and the black fire of Rea Ambrosia immediately pierced through, burning the monster's internal organs to ash instantly.

Right at the exact second the monster drew its last breath, something fundamental churned within Zald's soul vessel.

He felt the sturdy boundary wall that had been confining his power limit begin to creak loudly. The accumulation of high-level Excelia from the desperate fight against the Juggernaut, the massive life nutrients from Deus Ambrosia, and the ultimate impact just now fused perfectly together.

The sensation of Breaking the Shell washed over every nerve in his body. The Gluttony had finally gathered all the absolute requirements to break a mortal's limit. His soul vessel was now overflowing and completely ready. As soon as he returned to the surface and Venti updated his Falna later, he would officially stand in the realm of Level 8.

Hot steam billowed from his body, radiating the aura of a veteran monster who was only one step away from his new evolutionary peak.

He stood up slowly atop the corpse of his steel monster, letting out a long breath, blowing out hot air that seemed to burn the surrounding atmosphere. Relying on his absurd physical strength, Zald crouched down, dug his fingers into the cracks of the monster's flesh, and forcefully pried out a material from its back. A metal scale possessing an illogical density and weight.

An Adamantine Drake Scale.

"Finally complete," Zald said while wiping the remaining blood from his face, then tucked the ultimate steel scale securely behind his belt, alongside the previous roll of hide. The materials for his newest black greatsword had been perfectly gathered.

Zald shifted his gaze, looking deep into the dark corridor of Floor 72. The darkness down there emitted an aura of mystery that called out to the pure instincts of an adventurer. Within his heart, an immense curiosity began to stir.

Back then, when we still held the banner of the Zeus Familia... Zald thought, his face softening for a moment reminiscing the past. If only we weren't too obsessed and focused on the world's Three Great Quests, if only our god hadn't ordered us to prepare to face that dragon... I'm sure I, Alfia, Maxim, and the Empress would have explored this labyrinth much deeper.

The unmapped labyrinth of this era held limitless secrets and enemies. However, Zald closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head slowly.

It's best not to recklessly explore further alone, Zald thought, the rationality of a veteran suppressing his curiosity. His purpose for descending into this hell was complete. He had carved a Great Feat, fulfilled the requirements for Breaking the Shell toward Level 8, and obtained the best weapon materials.

Zald turned his body, turning his back on the calling darkness, and began his long journey climbing back up to the Labyrinth City of Orario.

While Zald concluded his hunt in the depths of the earth, at the northernmost edge of human civilization, a silent tension was taking over the atmosphere.

The Dragon Valley.

Venti and Alfia stood side by side atop an expanse of charred obsidian cliffs. The sky in this place was never blue; black clouds rolled permanently like spilled ink, pressing upon the earth with an aura of death. Flashes of dirty purple and blood-red lightning struck, illuminating the ruined landscape, but oddly enough, no sound of thunder could be heard. The silence of nature was swallowed raw by the roar of a windstorm in the distance.

Before them, at the bottom of the valley, lay the physical embodiment of the world's despair. The One-Eyed Black Dragon (OEBD), the legendary apocalypse-bringing monster, slept soundly within a giant black storm vortex—an eternal fortress of wind that tore apart anything trying to enter or exit.

That was the Breathing Seal.

The size of the monster at the center of the storm was beyond human comprehension, stretching nearly five hundred meters like a range of breathing dark mountains. Its scales were not just thick steel armor, but an anomaly that absorbed all the light around it. There was no reflection, no gleam. Any light falling upon its surface vanished instantly, creating a visual effect as if there were a dragon-shaped black hole in the middle of the valley.

Every breath the monster took was heavy and slow, escaping from its giant nostrils with a hissing sound like hot steam from a volcanic fissure. Each exhalation created small dust storms swirling around its face, vibrating the ground for a radius of several kilometers.

The two of them stood at an extremely dangerous distance, close enough that Alfia could clearly see the horrifying wound on the left side of the monster's face—a destroyed, empty eye socket. The wound left by the sword slash of the Mercenary King, Albert, had never fully healed. The flesh around it appeared rotting, throbbing with a dark purple hue that emitted toxic miasma smoke.

Alfia's gaze then trailed down towards the giant monster's chest, which was not visible when the Zeus and Hera Familia were destroyed. Among the gaps in its steel scales, a giant black crystal was embedded. Inside the pulsating crystal, emitting a pale green glow, a woman lay like a broken doll having her life energy drained.

Aria.

The Great Spirit of Wind, forced to continuously emit the power of her storm outward, acting as a battery, a shield, and the lock of the Breathing Seal for the apocalyptic dragon.

However, miraculously, the dragon, whose destructive instincts were known to be extremely sensitive, did not respond to their presence in the slightest.

The reason for that miracle lay with Venti. Since before they entered the valley and breached the Breathing Seal storm, the usually lazy, joking god had displayed absolute seriousness.

Venti purely utilized his absolute understanding as the ruler of the wind element. His right hand, holding the Decoy essence of Aria, constantly maintained an invisible blanket of wind wrapping around the presence of the two of them.

Throughout the journey until they arrived at this cliff, the protective wind absorbed all the sounds of their footsteps, their body heat, completely neutralizing their presence. Venti then synchronized their existence to blend perfectly with the storm currents of the Breathing Seal, while simultaneously following the breathing rhythm of the Black Dragon. That was the absolute key why the apocalypse monster did not realize there were intruders right under its nose.

Alfia looked at Venti from the corner of her eye. The god was now focusing his gaze downward.

"Are you ready, Alfia?" Venti asked, his voice sent directly into Alfia's ear through the vibrations of their protective air, without breaking the chilling silence of the valley. "We are going to steal Aria from this lizard."

Alfia swallowed hard. She clenched her fists tightly, feeling her heart pounding. Standing right in front of the monster that had destroyed her life, that slaughtered the Zeus and Hera families before her very eyes.

"Yes," Alfia answered through wind telepathy, keeping her voice as cold as ice despite the emotions churning inside her.

Alfia stared at the pitch-black scales before her. Her memory automatically replayed the battle from the past; when the Empress of the Hera Familia was utterly unable to leave a scratch on those scales, while a single swing of this dragon's claw tore through the strongest vanguard line of the Zeus Familia like paper.

Alfia closed her eyes for a moment, measuring the fluctuation of her own power, which had now touched Level 8, supported by her Aegis Harmonia.

It seems I still can't... yes, I can't defeat this dragon alone right now, Alfia thought, weighing it rationally and objectively. Her current abilities might protect her from lethal attacks, but her destructive power was clearly not yet enough to crush the apocalypse dragon.

However, when she opened her eyes again, the fear had evaporated without a trace. Replaced by a cold conviction she had never felt before.

A very rare, slanted smile full of elegant arrogance formed on Alfia's face.

Right now, maybe not yet. But... if I continue to hone myself and reach Level 9... I will definitely defeat this lizard easily and change its final stage.

"I will follow your lead, Venti," Alfia said firmly, her gaze sharpening. "Let's steal Aria, and let this lizard dream a little longer. Until this future Orario army fights it."

Venti smiled meaningfully. With the green light in his hand as the key to bait the resonance, he began to step down leaving the edge of the cliff, approaching the black crystal on the dragon's chest. The greatest heist in the history of the lower world had officially begun.

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