The group moved through the ruins without encountering any resistance.
"This is the easiest dungeon exploration I've ever had," Stark remarked, walking casually. "We've practically done nothing and already made it to the bottom floor."
"That's because Lady Aesc is ahead of us, dismantling all the traps," Fern replied matter-of-factly. "We're only this relaxed thanks to her efforts, Lord Stark."
Stark sighed, marveling at the ease of their journey, but a pang of guilt crept in. He suddenly remembered how he'd doubted Aesc's magical abilities not too long ago, and his expression quickly shifted from relaxed to sheepish terror.
Fern, noticing the strange changes in Stark's demeanor, tilted her head with a small question mark practically visible above it.
But then, Frieren and Fern's expressions tensed simultaneously.
Through their magic senses, they felt a massive distortion ahead, a chaotic surge of mana spreading wildly. The sheer intensity of the magical feedback caused Fern to wince, her mind overwhelmed by the turbulence.
Stark, though lacking the sharp mana sensitivity of mages, was instinctively attuned to danger due to his timid nature. His limbs began trembling rhythmically as if resonating with the ominous aura ahead.
"That's Aesc's magic. She's already started fighting!" Frieren exclaimed, quickening her pace. "The location isn't far—let's move!"
Fern followed suit but soon noticed Stark still rooted to the spot.
"Lord Stark, please hurry!"
"B-but… it's so scary up ahead…" Stark replied, his voice quivering as he wore a pitiful expression.
---
The spacious chamber ahead was almost entirely consumed by gem-like, root-like "branches." These crystalline structures sprawled across the ceiling, walls, and floor, gleaming with an unnatural light.
Countless gem beetles crawled aimlessly around the chamber, so numerous they could induce trypophobia. At the very center of the room stood the Gem Beetle Queen, utterly motionless.
Its crystalline carapace glistened like a gemstone, and its massive, ten-meter-tall frame exuded a suffocating presence. Eight thick legs supported its body, the two foremost ones resembling enormous scythes. Upon closer inspection, the gem-like "branches" extending throughout the chamber all originated from its abdomen.
Aesc stepped lightly into the chamber, her presence seemingly unnoticed. It was clear this hall was the queen's lair.
The gem beetles, devoid of hostility, continued to crawl about, and even the Gem Beetle Queen showed no signs of aggression. For now, Aesc was safe.
But the moment she drew too close to the queen's "treasure hoard," it would unleash a ferocious attack.
"You're different from other monsters. You don't harm others. Under normal circumstances, I'd let you be," Aesc said coldly, her piercing gaze locking onto the queen. Her next words were a quiet death sentence.
"But today, you touched something you shouldn't have."
Her grip tightened around her staff.
"That overly oblivious elf may not care, but I certainly won't stand idly by."
Mana began converging at the tip of her staff, yet the Gem Beetle Queen remained utterly still.
"Due to limited space, large-scale annihilation spells are out of the question," Aesc muttered to herself. "Collapsing the chamber would be… inconvenient. In that case, this should suffice."
Aesc raised her hand, and something began to take form above her.
"Compressing mana… constructing a conceptual magic circuit… Wide-Area Annihilation Spell: [Rhongomyniad], Partial Loadout…"
Her voice was calm and measured, the chant resonating with precision.
"Trajectory calibration, error retrieval… correction complete. Compressing the blast radius. Maximizing mana efficiency. Simulating the mythical shell and overlaying…"
Above her head, three azure spears materialized, shimmering with an almost divine radiance. Nine magic circles formed in front of the spear tips, aligning to target the Gem Beetle Queen.
Sensing danger at last, the queen began to stir. Around the chamber, the crystal-like "branches" quivered violently.
The branches were extensions of the queen's carapace—a natural armor that served both defensive and offensive purposes. But by the time the queen began retracting them for protection, it was already too late.
"Fire!"
Like bullets discharged from a chamber, the three constructed lances shot forth instantly.
The destructive power of the lances came not only from their immense magical force but also from Aesc's ability to partially simulate the divine weapon of legend—[Rhongomyniad].
Even in its incomplete state, the lance possessed terrifying destructive power.
The Gem Beetle Queen's indestructible carapace and crystalline branches—once a nightmare for countless human and demon mages—began to crack under the impact.
However, it wasn't enough to kill the queen.
Aesc wasn't surprised in the slightest. She had anticipated this would be a drawn-out battle.
Though the queen showed no facial expressions, the frenzied movements of its crystalline branches made its fury clear.
Many of the branches destroyed by the lances were quickly replaced. From beneath the queen's abdomen, new branches sprouted rapidly, glowing faintly with a soft blue light. The queen's body also shimmered with the same light, which Aesc recognized immediately—it was infused with her own mana.
Or more accurately, the lances' mana.
"It's already adapting?"
The queen retaliated, launching the frenzied branches toward Aesc from all directions. Yet Aesc stood unflinching. At the last moment, her staff unleashed a burst of purple lightning, destructive arcs tearing through the incoming branches.
The roaring lightning shattered the crystalline net, slamming into the queen.
At the same time, the branches that escaped the lightning surged toward Aesc, only to collide against a transparent barrier protecting her.
The violet lightning left ghastly scars on the queen's body, but its adaptation quickly reduced the effectiveness of the attack. Before long, the queen's body glowed with an intense violet hue, rendering the damage negligible.
Seeing this, Aesc abandoned her lightning spell without hesitation and conjured a surge of blazing crimson fire instead.
Flames engulfed the hall, incinerating the surrounding gem beetles in an instant. The crystalline branches caught fire and burned to ash, leaving the room a sea of flames.
The blazing inferno obscured vision, but Aesc relied on her mana perception, remaining unfazed.
Soon, more crimson branches lashed out at her, striking the barrier repeatedly. Each impact drained a portion of Aesc's mana, but for someone with mana reserves at an EX level, the cost was laughable.
"Hmph."
With a cold scoff, Aesc stomped her heel against the ground.
Time itself seemed to halt.
Everything around her froze in place as though trapped in suspended animation.
Then, with a sound like shattering glass, the space before Aesc began to crack. Fissures spread through the air, and finally, the very fabric of the chamber shattered with a thunderous crash.
The queen's branches and the lingering flames were obliterated in the process. Even the queen itself, now glowing a fiery red, bore new scars across its body.
"You're as tough as I imagined… but if you'd prefer to fall here, I wouldn't mind," Aesc said, her voice dripping with disdain.
"After all, I'm still on my journey. I can't afford to waste too much time on you."