Chapter 439: Bete's Dark History

Finally, Aiden drew in a deep breath and hoisted Godslayer: Surtr high into the air.

“Unsheathed Heavenly Fire!”

A torrent of pure white light blasted forth from the blade’s tip, utterly vaporizing the remaining monsters at the end of the corridor, along with the wall right behind them.

After that, the squad ran into several more waves of monsters, but they were all dealt with in overwhelming fashion by the two vanguards.

Now, the five of them were advancing through the 51st Floor at a pace that could only be described as shockingly smooth.

However, as the clamor of battle faded away, the completely empty Dungeon corridors were plunged into a dead, absolute silence.

That sudden quiet was genuinely skin-crawling.

Deep within the Labyrinth where literally anything could happen without warning, a faint, undeniable aura of danger hung heavy in the air.

Uneven shifts in elevation began fracturing the floor. The branches stemming from T-junctions multiplied from two paths into three, or even four.

The mind-bending complexity of the Labyrinth passages felt as though it was openly mocking anyone foolish enough to try and conquer it.

“I can’t shake the feeling… that there are barely any monsters around today.”

Raul looked thoroughly perplexed as he dropped another Magic Stone into his pouch.

Though they had weathered several ambushes earlier—even running into a previously unseen species like the Shape Shapers—Raul had participated in enough large-scale Expeditions to intimately understand the true intensity of the Deep Floors.

The battles they’d fought so far were light appetizers at best; they couldn’t even remotely be compared to the peak difficulty of the lower levels. If anything… it had been far too easy.

After all, outside of fighting those Shape Shapers, Finn and Gareth had barely even needed to lift a finger.

“Did we just get lucky and slip past them all?”

Finn stroked his chin, clearly lost in thought.

Thanks to his razor-sharp Prum intuition, he had already sensed that something was deeply wrong here. Unfortunately, with such a drastic lack of hard intelligence, he couldn’t formulate an accurate assessment.

“Regardless, we finish the mission first. We’ll gather the spring water, then head straight back to camp to rendezvous with the main force,” Finn finally decided.

“Understood.”

Aiden and Bete nodded in unison.

With a top-tier tactician like Finn calling the shots, the two of them only needed to focus on charging forward and ripping through the enemy lines.

Aiden was highly self-aware; when it came to reading the big picture, strategic positioning, and raw familiarity with the Deep Floors, Finn was undisputedly the most qualified commander in the room.

His only job was to follow orders without question, not to overcomplicate things with unnecessary actions.

Not long after, the light banter between the members faded, and all five naturally glided to a halt.

The long, straight corridor they had been following abruptly terminated just inches ahead of them.

It bled directly into a massive, wide-open expanse. That area was what adventurers referred to as a ‘Large Room’—an exceptionally rare, cavernous zone within the Dungeon.

And their objective—Cadmus Spring—was located at the very back of that space.

Finn shot Aiden and the others a silent look. The five of them immediately understood the unspoken command, softening their footfalls as they crept the final few yards toward the entrance of the Large Room.

“Hold.”

Just before breaching the corridor, Finn held a hand up toward the group behind him, gesturing for them to stop.

Moving with utmost caution, he leaned half his body past the corner to scout the area ahead.

The moment he gave the signal, the entire squad would rush the room simultaneously.

Every man held his breath, their very heartbeats seemingly muffled by sheer will. A palpable tension, thick enough to prick at their skin, descended over the entire team.

Everyone lowered their center of gravity, muscles coiled tight as cornered leopards, silently waiting for Finn’s cue.

The first one to notice the anomaly—or rather, the overwhelming sense of wrongness—was Aiden.

A hint of confusion twisted his brow. Then, in a stark contrast to the suffocating tension permeating the group, he casually stood up straight.

“Hey, what the hell are you doing?!”

Bete reacted instantly, grabbing Aiden’s arm and glaring at him while keeping his voice in a furious hiss.

“Something isn’t right here,” Aiden replied bluntly, completely ignoring Bete’s grip.