Expedition II
The party hit the ground to a concentrated assault from the Valgang Dragons' Breath Weapons, just like the previous time they had gone down the Dragon's Vase that way but there was a stark difference this time.
Countless caterpillar like Virga infested the floor, even coming into conflict with the Valgang Dragons that had their attention split between them and the newly arrived adventurers.
This bode well for the party as Riveria and Lefiya started chanting their magic.
The Virga were immediately attracted to the mages but the magic their were rediying was meant for the Valgang Dragons, as for the caterpillars . . .
Multiple magic circles lit up around Nox as he cast one of his Grand Spells.
"Perfect Storm."
A massive tempest of cutting winds swept the battle field.
The dragon monsters survived but were significantly injured, enough to seal their flight abilities. Meanwhile, the Virga were all shredded to dust.
Nox kept the spell going at lowered power just to prevent the dragons from moving about and in the meanwhile, Riveria and Lefiya unleashed their chanted spells.
"Rea Laevatein!" "Fusillade Falarica!"
The fire magics exploded with merciless rage, wiping out most of the remaining monsters and the melee team quickly mopped up any remaining survivors.
"Well . . . That was easy!" Tiona commented.
"Umu! That was beyond doubt the most comfortable fight I had in the deep floors of the Dungeon." Tsubaki seconded.
The others also let out sounds of agreement.
"Indeed but don't let your guards down! The real challenge begins now!" Finn straightened them up.
"Yes!" "Got it!" Understood!" . . .
Various voices gave their approval as everyone got back to their serious mode, and got ready descend into the unknown 59th floor.
After taking a short rest and some Mind Elixirs to recover the expended Mind, the group advanced onto the next floor.
And there it was . . . Waiting for them, just like Nox had predicted.
What they saw was not the endless fields of ice and snow in the Zeus Familia's reports but a tropical forest and the the center, a huge plant voraciously eating the Virga who offered themselves up as sacrifice.
"The corpse flower, Titan Alm . . . But its different. Be careful." Riveria analysed.
She was indeed and the top half of the monster "bloomed" revealing a beautiful green skinned female form.
"A . . . Spirit?" Ais whispered with shock.
"You came to me . . . Aria?" The monster asked with a twisted smile.
"!?" Ais was understandably shocked, getting called her mother's name by a spirit like monster.
"That's a spirit!?" Lefiya was shocked as well.
"That doesn't change what's about to happen." Nox said.
"The bitch goes down!" Bete followed up.
Between them and the spirit though, laid not only countless Virga but even Viscum, gigantic snake like plants with a hard, scale like exterior.
"Let's go!" Finn shouted.
"Small fry first!" Nox said.
Magic circles flared all around him. Before the group knew it, they had already been surrounded by countless minions so Nox went for an omnidirectional attack.
"What are you doing?" Finn asked, not advancing.
"This. Blaze of Glory!"
A supernova like explosion occurred.
Waves upon waves of fire and even plasma swept the surroundings in a storm of destruction as the entire party had to close their eyes tightly not to be blinded.
After everything started settling, the tropical jungle had turned into an enormous field of scorched earth.
"How the hell did it survive that!?" Nox was shock.
That's right, the spirit survive with only a couple of injuries which were rapidly healing.
The gears in Nox's head turned at high speed.
'I put in a lot of power in that spell. Based on the demi spirit from the series, more than enough to kill it but it barely worked.' He evaluated.
'I thought it would be weaker since we are facing it sooner than in the series but it is in fact much stronger . . . Is the damn Dungeon interfering again?' Nox theorized.
'It was quiet for a while but maybe it assisted the demi spirit in its growth thinking it had a fair chance against me?' He considered
'What I must do hasn't changed however. Kill that thing.' Nox got his head back in the game and ready for more.
"Holy crap Nox!" Tiona shouted.
"That was intense!" Her sister echoed.
"No relaxing yet! Something is coming. Riveria, defensive magic! NOW!"
The demi spirit, as if raging at Nox's previous attack chanted a powerful spell at tremendous speeds.
"Meteor Swarm!"
A huge magic circle appeared above and a bombardment of meteors followed. While not nearly as powerful as Nox's simulation of real meteorites, it was still a powerful spell that strained Riveria's barrier to the point of cracks showing.
'It is definitely stronger than in the series.' Nox thought.
'In the anime, Riveria's barrier tanked Meteor Swarm pretty well and Riveria is stronger than she was due to my interference and yet, the spell nearly shattered her barrier.
"Veria, lower the barrier." Nox said.
"Not yet! Something else is coming!" FIne warned.
"Lower it." Nox repeated and Riveria, knowing she could not take another big hit, decided to listen to Nox and lower her barrier like he said.
"Riveria!?" Finn questioned.
"Trust him." Was all he got back from the high elfess and, having really no other choice in the matter, that was exactly what he did.
The demi spirit launched into an even longer incantation for a much more powerful spell and Nox too started gathering his power.
Even if he did not require a chant, he still needed time to gather the necessary magical energy for big magic like his Grand Spells.
The Dungeon itself seemed to fuel the spirit, speeding up her casting to match Nox's as they both finished their preparations at the same time.
"Firestorm!" "Call of Niflheim!"
They both launched their magic.
A clash of Ice and Fire, a cataclysm of untold proportions as opposites crashed against each other.
The stalemate held as both casters outputted the most power they could onto their spells but neither could snatch the win and the environment around suffered from the competition.
In the end, even with the DUngeon fueling it, the demi spirit was using up more energy that it was gaining and Nox was nearly empty as well so the clash ended it a tie.
Nox's party could only stare in awe at the competition of magic.
"What are you waiting for!? You want to wait until it recovers!?" Nox shoueted with exasperation.