The next day, the atmosphere of the party became strange.
The injuries on Monkey's face had already been healed by Tulip, the Light Priest.
But his unhidden, resentful gaze remained fixed on Li Xiuman the entire time.
The other party members also subtly isolated Li Xiuman.
For instance, they pretended not to hear his questions or attempts to strike up a conversation, and deliberately kept their distance.
Despite being a fragile Mage, he was pushed to the very edge of the formation.
Although with his 28 Constitution, Li Xiuman was probably sturdier than even a Heavy Warrior.
Currently, within the seven-man team, Li Xiuman and the vampire walked to the side, completely isolated.
In their eyes, forcing Li Xiuman to walk alongside a vampire, whom they treated like livestock, was likely the ultimate insult.
But Li Xiuman did not care in the slightest.
He was even looking at this legendary, mythical creature beside him with quite a bit of interest.
He tried to strike up a conversation.
But Rorona's body would tremble uncontrollably the moment she heard his voice, completely unable to reply.
Yet, his bizarre behavior caused the others to watch him with strange, peculiar looks.
Their expressions were like they were looking at some disgusting heretic.
In particular, Tulip, the Light Priest, looked at him with an intensity of disgust that almost rivaled that of Monkey, whose teeth Li Xiuman had literally knocked out the previous night.
It seemed the Church of the Goddess of Light was highly exclusionary toward heretical races.
Since the Church of the Goddess of Light was the state religion of the Lantes United Kingdom, almost all of its citizens believed in the Goddess of Light to some degree.
It seemed his identity as a skeleton could absolutely never be exposed.
Otherwise, his fate would likely be far more miserable than this vampire's.
A vampire at least possessed a human-like appearance, but a skeleton like him that actually possessed intelligence would probably be deemed a true heretic and tied straight to a burning stake.
They traveled all the way down to the great molten waterfalls of the twenty-second and twenty-third floors.
Along the way, they only encountered a few fire crocodiles.
“Line up and descend carefully.”
“Skeleton, you take the lead.”
Captain Tero said to Li Xiuman.
Li Xiuman walked to the front of the line with an indifferent air.
On the twenty-third floor, the temperature rose once again.
On this floor, the molten rivers had almost merged into a massive lake, swallowing the black rocks and drastically reducing the walkable ground.
Everyone felt physically uncomfortable, with sweat continuously beading on their skin.
Jellyfish was surrounded in the center of the formation, continuously casting Water Flow to wrap around the others.
Since the others were isolating him, Li Xiuman wasn't about to lick their boots either.
He merely coated himself in Water Magic.
Surprisingly, the earring Ilu had given him continuously radiated a cool sensation on this floor, making his bones feel much more comfortable.
Moreover, the monsters on this floor had changed.
Red flying magical beasts that resembled pterodactyls had appeared in the air, continuously spitting molten fireballs from high above.
Although their damage couldn't compare to the fire crocodiles hiding beneath the lava, their ability to fly made them even more troublesome to deal with.
Furthermore, these creatures could swoop down to attack with their razor-sharp wings.
[Race] Firewing Beast
[Level] lv20
[Class] Monster
[Description] A flying monster capable of launching fire attacks from high above. Watch out for its sharp wings, and be mindful of what is over your head.
The Fantes Adventurer Party coordinated with tacit understanding, methodically handling the attacks from the sky.
Their combat proficiency and coordination were remarkably high.
These were skills honed through countless trials in dungeons.
Li Xiuman raised his wand and occasionally cast an Earth Spike, happily slacking off.
With any luck, he could even land a last hit. It was incredibly relaxing.
But they only experienced this kind of encounter once, as the Firewing Beasts hid themselves away just like the fire crocodiles did.
Although Li Xiuman had participated in the entire battle this time, he still couldn't figure out how this party was achieving this.
Was it simply because they felt fear after seeing their companions killed?
Telling a joke like that would easily land it a spot as the biggest joke of the year.
Li Xiuman couldn't wrap his head around it.
He had already made up his mind; escaping was of the utmost importance.
The weirder the situation here became, the more dangerous it clearly was.
However, he could feel Tero's gaze drifting over him from behind every now and then. If he tried to run now, he would definitely be ganged up on.
Dammit. He should have launched a surprise attack the moment they first met, catching them off guard and cutting his way out.
The current situation was far too passive.
If he tried to fly away directly, the Light Priest had holy light that heavily countered skeletons, and Tero, a Tier 2 classholder, was no pushover either.
Before he could even take off, he would probably be shot right back down.
The more he thought about it, the less confident he became.
Upon entering the twenty-fourth floor, a horde of monsters attacked them, just like when they had first entered the twenty-third floor.
Li Xiuman threw himself directly into the front lines without hesitation.
His main goal was to gather experience. At this point, rather than overthinking, it was better to focus on gaining experience and growing stronger to increase his chances of escape.
Tero was somewhat surprised by Li Xiuman's sudden proactive behavior, but he didn't say anything.
[Ding! Killed Molten Six-Legged Fire Crocodile lv21, Experience +700]
[Experience gauge filled. Level increased to lv19]
[Constitution +1, Spirit +1]
[Free Stat Point +1]
Next, a familiar energy surged from his right arm, flowing through his entire body alongside a searing pain like liquid fire.
Without much hesitation, Li Xiuman allocated the Free Stat Point to Constitution.
[Constitution +1]
Only then did the agonizing pain ease slightly, allowing him to avoid showing any overly suspicious behavior.
After walking stiffly for a short distance, the pain finally subsided completely.
[Strength +1]
His basic stats had now become:
[Strength] 19/20
[Constitution] 30/30
[Spirit] 29/30
[Free Stat Point] 1
Just one more level, and he would obtain another opportunity to evolve.
The level 20 cap would also be broken.
Just as Li Xiuman had anticipated, after this initial wave of attacks, they did not encounter any more monster onslaughts.
At the same time, the atmosphere within the party was... gradually growing fanatical.
They marched forward like religious zealots on a pilgrimage.
It seemed as though they were getting closer and closer to their ultimate objective.
Recalling the lineage theory that Rhino had espoused and his passionate worship of the nobility, Li Xiuman found it hard not to suspect that this party had been completely brainwashed by Viscount Fantes.
The term “death-sworn soldiers” sprang to mind.
Had these people entered the dungeon under some directive from Viscount Fantes, never planning on returning alive in the first place?
Li Xiuman tried to retreat toward the rear of the party.
“Skeleton, you walk in front.”
Tero rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, and subsequently, every member of the party drew their weapons and glared at Li Xiuman.
“...”
Forced into a corner, he could only obediently march at the front.
After an unknown amount of time, the party ground to a halt.
“This is the place,” Tero spoke.
Before them lay a colossal lake of molten lava.
He then reached into his robes and pulled out a massive magic stone, one that closely resembled a beating heart.
“Female bat, it's time for you to play your part.”
Tero handed the magic stone over to Rorona, before drawing his silver sword and resting it against her neck.
A section of her neck looked as if it had been scorched by fire, branding it a deep red.
With no path left to retreat, she was forced to hug the magic stone to her chest.
In an instant, a lava-like liquid began oozing continuously from the magic stone, seeping directly into her flesh.
Shortly after, the acrid stench of burning flesh began to waft through the air.
The blood within her veins seemed to turn to molten lava, and thick plumes of dark smoke continuously billowed from her scorching body.
Rate on N.U.
