Chapter 438: Perfect Coordination

Gareth used his massive frame and heavy greatshield to pin a Shape Shaper in place, pinning it down to create an opening.

Bete utilized his extreme-speed kicking techniques to repeatedly batter the target’s chest plate, establishing a critical weak point.

Finally, Finn would step in, delivering the lethal blow with his flawlessly precise spearmanship.

One, two, three…

Thanks to the two groups’ flawless coordination, the remaining Shape Shapers were reduced to dust, one after another.

As the final Shape Shaper shattered against the tip of Finn’s spear, true silence finally returned to the battlefield.

Their current location was the 51st Floor.

This level boasted an incredibly rare labyrinthine structure, even when compared to the rest of the Deep Floors.

The walls, floors, and ceilings all displayed perfectly flat, geometric shapes. An endless array of unnaturally symmetrical, naturally occurring underground corridors formed countless right-angle turns and intersecting crossroads. It resembled a cold, meticulously designed trap meant to bewilder every living creature that dared to step inside.

The material making up the walls was neither stone nor dirt; it possessed a dull, lead-black hue that seemed to devour light. The faint phosphorescence glowing from the ceiling struggled just to illuminate the ground below.

While moving through these spacious, linear corridors shortly after dealing with the troublesome Shape Shapers, Aiden’s group encountered the actual natives of the 51st Floor.

Black Rhinos.

These monsters walked exclusively on two legs, their bodies constantly leaning forward.

While they stood just under two meters tall, their heavily muscled, imposing frames were bulky enough to classify them as Large-Class monsters without a second thought.

Two jagged horns of varying lengths sprouted from their heads, glinting with a cold, bony luster.

Their incredibly thick, durable hides could easily be mistaken for natural plate armor; their sheer hardness far surpassed even the Fomors the party had fought on the 49th Floor.

That being said…

A crimson blade-arc crisscrossed through the straight corridor like a jagged bolt of lightning tearing through the dark.

Aiden’s figure blurred into a shadowy afterimage. Wherever he passed, the charging Black Rhinos were effortlessly cleaved apart and sent flying.

Against the highly concentrated, ultra-high temperatures of Godslayer: Surtr, the Black Rhinos’ famously durable skin was no better than wet paper. They were sliced open cleanly in an instant, failing to provide even a single fraction of resistance.

Compared to the pseudo-immortal Shape Shapers that required surgical precision against their Magic Stones to kill, these Black Rhinos were a walk in the park.

All he had to do was raise his sword and swing.

As a Spirit Weapon, Godslayer: Surtr wouldn’t suffer even the slightest bit of wear and tear, no matter how many times it struck. And the blade of flames, formed from pure, extreme heat, severed absolutely everything it touched.

As a result, Aiden’s current combat style was actually even more primal and overtly violent than Ais’s, despite her wielding a Durandal-attributed weapon.

“Truly incredible… That sword.”

Standing at the rear of their formation, Finn watched Aiden fight, the young man’s blazing silhouette reflected in his deep blue eyes. His tone was laced with heavy admiration. “Its destructive power has completely transcended the boundaries of conventional weaponry.”

“Incredible is an understatement.”

Standing right beside him, Gareth let out a deep, booming laugh wholly unique to dwarves. “That kid’s fighting style is even more extreme than Ais’s. But damn, if it doesn’t get your blood pumping just watching him go!”

“Hey, Aiden!”

An aggravated roar, dripping with fierce competitive drive, rang out from behind.

Bete’s sharp, lupine eyes were locked dead onto the crimson streak moving ahead of him. He yelled, “Don’t go hogging all the glory, you b*stard! Lend me some of that fire!”

Aiden didn’t even turn his head, but an imperceptible smirk touched the corner of his mouth.

With a sharp backhand swing, he launched a concentrated blast of fire that traced a flawless arc directly toward Bete.

Bete didn’t dodge or block. Instead, he sharply raised his right leg.

As if possessing a life of their own, the runes etched across the surface of his silver metal greaves lit up instantly, absorbing the entire mass of violent flames straight into the metal.

A second later, the greaves shifted from a polished silver-white to a searing, incandescent red. Billowing waves of heat radiated from the metal, violently warping the surrounding air.

“OoooOOOOHHH—!!!”

Bete let loose an unimaginably thrilled howl, launching himself forward like a live artillery shell.

His speed was already staggering to begin with, but now, he moved as a blur of crimson light, instantly closing the distance right into a Black Rhino’s personal space.

The creature didn’t even have time to flinch. A single flash of red was all it saw before a devastating kick—packed with terrifying kinetic force and searing heat—slammed squarely into its chest.

BOOM—!

It was no longer a simple physical impact; it was a full-blown detonation.

The flames violently exploded upon contact. Under the extreme temperatures, the Black Rhino’s famously hardened hide rapidly blackened and carbonized, only to be completely obliterated by the sheer follow-through of the blow.

A massive, charred crater was blown cleanly through its chest, with gouts of scorching fire blasting out through its back.

Bete didn’t pause for a microsecond.

Twisting his body in midair at an impossible angle, he brought his other leg crashing down like an executioner’s axe.

The flaming boot traced a brilliant tail of fire through the dark before smashing mercilessly into the skull of a second Black Rhino.

The sickening crunch of shattering bone mixed with the sizzle of searing flesh. The monster’s entire upper half was literally stomped straight down into the floor beneath the weight of that singular kick, leaving behind nothing but a flaming puddle of gore.

For a moment, the only sounds filling the corridor were Bete’s rabid roars and the terrifying symphony of flesh burning against raw fire.

He had become a crimson cyclone of death. Every single kick triggered a violent explosion, reducing the once-proud Black Rhinos into scattered lumps of charcoal and meat.

“I’ll handle the left. Bete, clear the right side,” Aiden called out to the werewolf beside him while swinging his blazing Godslayer: Surtr.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Bete snapped back irritably, though his body betrayed him instantly as he sprinted dead-ahead into the mob of Black Rhinos on the right.

Finn and Gareth strolled casually behind the two of them, watching as the duo effortlessly shredded through the monster frontline like a pair of red-hot scalpels.

Raul maintained his role as their supporter, trailing close behind and expertly scooping up the dropped Magic Stones and loot scattered across the floor.

At a glance, Aiden and Bete’s fighting styles looked like a chaotic, disorganized free-for-all—one swinging a blade of fire, the other delivering kicks as heavy as mountains.

Yet, an incomprehensible synergy existed between them. They always managed to shift into the optimal position at the absolute perfect moment. While they appeared to fight completely independently, they were flawlessly guarding each other’s blind spots, ensuring not a single sneak attack ever made it past to strike their comrade’s back.

They leaped and weaved, perfectly accommodating each other’s attack ranges while transforming the entire corridor into their personal slaughterhouse.

Occasionally, the lead-black walls would suddenly rupture as massive, spider-like Mutant Spiders lunged out for an ambush. But without exception, Aiden and Bete—who had been on high alert the entire time—reacted instantly, putting them down before they could even land.

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