Fucking Capes...

Lumas was standing in front of the first coliseum he will take on, by himself at that. There were some nervous faces in the crowd behind him, however Ais, Susan, and Sebas all had confident yet wary looks as they watched him, with a deep breath Lumas strode into the coliseum listening as the sound of stone grinding against stone sounded out from behind him signifying the door has closed; his only escape. Before his thoughts could run wild and cloud his judgement he pressed two fingers to the center of his forehead head taking in a deep breath as an unnerving calmness filled his eyes.

Not a moment later the walls began to crack, Lumas brought his hands in front of him forming a ball with his hands, As he moulded his mana he brought his hands apart causing the complex construct made from various magic circles dyed in a brackish green gaseous aura to stretch, paying not even a sense of attention to the mass of monsters encircling him Lumas relaxed his fingers as he released a soft chant

"Begone…"

The magic circles rapidly spun until a rapid series of audible clicks echoed throughout the coliseum as a small powder filled glass object in the very center of the magic construct produced an eye blinding spark

*!BOOOM!*

Lumas watched with intent as the magic construct began to rapidly swell with mana to a point of over saturation, this is the peak of his magical capabilities mixed with what little alchemy he knew. The result was quickly seen as the flames exploded outward in every direction filling the room with ungodly heat. However Lumas felt comfortable in the midst of these ungodly flames, seemingly done with an experiment the flames slowly died out as he cut the flow of mana fueling the destructive spell pulling Shadowsteel from a sheet of black while he launched forward meeting whatever adversity head on

The echo still rang through his body as a constant reminder, the pain of his heart being stabbed through, his helplessness in that moment, the fear of death, the regret of not doing more… Constantly seeped through every fiber of his being, Lumas knew he needed to be stronger, and he had the best chance at quickly gaining excelia during the next few months of the expedition, 3 Months left to make the most out of this chance, he had enough Kasagani to continue nuking coliseums but doing so wouldn't help his stats

Lashing out with Shadowsteel, Lumas cut through a Spartoi; a lightly armored skeleton, he brought the hilt of Shadowsteel close to his chest before thrusting forward with enough strength to cause a whistle as the tip of the blade stabbed a Humanoid misshapen mess of obsidian called a Obsidian Soldier causing cracks to rapidly spread across its body before it fell to the ground leaving only chunks of rock hiding a Magic Stone, without looking behind him Lumas swung his sword cutting into a Barbarian's forearm

Barely ducking under the Barbarians fist only to be caught by a charging skull sheep, Lumas got sent tumbling a few yards before he managed to regain balance and land on his feet, instantly he was forced to jump back as a obsidian soldier brought a heavy sword down on Lumas' previous location, while dust clouded the small section of the coliseum the room seemed to stall, the once loud shuffling couldn't be heard

Lumas took this chance to take a breath, tightening his grip on Shadowsteel he spun the sword in his grip before kicking off to the side, still with his feet off the ground he had to twist his body to avoid a Lizardman's spear however the spear caught his hood robbing his momentum as he was swung into the floor, a loud battle cry sounded out from above Lumas' just as he looked he saw two fists barreling towards his skull, connected to those fists was a barbarian unlike the others this one's skin was a deep red giving off a light steam its eyes seemed hollow, creating a small Magic explosion at his feet, Lumas propelled himself through the Barbarians legs following through with his sword robbing the poor barbarian of his 'leg'

Ignoring the slight phantom tingling in his lower abdomen Lumas turned away from the blood fountain meeting a Loup Garu head on weaving through the mad swings of its cudgel, swiftly bringing Shadowsteel up Lumas parried the Loup Garu's downward swing sending its weapon off into the distance before quickly beheading the beast and pivoting on his feet locking swords with a Obsidian Soldier, to Lumas surprise he was getting pushed back, tilting his sword lightly he broke the contest of strength, sparks flew as the heavy sword traveled down Shadowsteels edge

If someone watched closely they could see the Shadowsteel slowly cutting through the Obsidian blade like a wire through ice, breaking away from the Obsidian soldiers the edge of Shadowsteel gained a faint bluish hue nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, as Lumas swung towards the Obsidian Soldier it brought its sword up to meet Shadowsteel

As the two swords connected Shadowsteel carried its momentum unimpeded cutting the Obsidian Soldier in two similar to a 'Monk's Robe', Spinning Shadowsteel into reverse grip Lumas brought it up to block a Loup Garu's mad swings while spinning out of the way of a Skull Sheep's charge, Drawing an arc as he spun Shadowsteel into a normal grip sending a Spartoi's skull into a Barbarian causing it to slow its mindless charge while it stumbled

=========================================

Tapping rhythmically on her jade throne, Freya swirled a glass of golden wine taking a hefty whiff while she released a heavy sigh, with a relaxed smiled in her face she pulled Ottar out from between her legs by his hair taking a swig of her wine as she looked at his soaked figure

"Ottar… Inform Ouranos that I will be gracing him with my presence tonight"

Wiping off his face with a rag Ottar quickly nodded before fixing his clothes and scurrying out of the room leaving Freya alone looking out over the 'Dungeon City' wrapped in the finest of silks, rows upon rows of Grimoires decorating the bookshelves behind her

From the darkness of the corner of the room a figure clad in black stepped into the light, Kneeling only a step away from the darkness… Freya spoke out to the darkness as she tossed a small hide bag

"I want it done correctly… No mishaps… No 'accidents'... You only get one chance…"

Freya's voice seemed like a dull blade digging through a wound as she addressed the darkness-clad figure which only gave a curt nod in response… Seeing the figure disappear Freya's attention returned to her glass as she downed it in one go before throwing the priceless wineglass off the balcony unceremoniously as she elegantly stood from her throne, her dress highlighting her curves as she walked away with a subtle bounce in her step

(A/N: 37th Floor: White Marble Palace/Coliseum (Interior) Scene

•Worm Well: They are rare giant snake monsters 5 meters tall and 10 meters long with blue skin and three sets of amber eyes. Its head gets sharper the closer you get to the tip and its mouth is capable of opening wide enough to swallow an Orc whole. They have 18 holes on the top half of their mouth which they use to sense heat, and damaging them is the same as the monster losing its eyes. They are estimated at Level 4 and are known to be able to move between floors by digging through the ground. Because of this, although rare, they are known to wipe out parties when they appear in the Lower Floors

•Spartoi: A skeleton monster that is around Level 4 in strength. They are able to spawn with random weapons which they know how to use, such as swords or lances made of bone and kite shield-like protectors. The monster is stronger than a Lizardman Elite or Loup Garou and more agile than a Barbarian. Their skill and fighting ability is more like an adventurer than a monster. It is considered the most dangerous warrior-type monster on the floor excluding rare monsters

•Barbarian: A two meter tall monster similar to the Minorous with two large and curved horns, black skin, red hair, and yellow eyes. Estimated it to have power equivalent to Level 3 and 4 adventurers

•Lizardman Elite: A stronger version of Lizardman. Unlike its weaker version, it is blue, with scales that are hard as armor, and they are estimated to be around Level 3 to 4

•Obsidian Soldier: A monster with a misshapen obsidian body made of solidified lava and a single purple light in its head resembling an eye. It is slow compared to the warrior type monsters on the 37th Floor, though it makes up for it with its defense and by being able to lessen the power of magic with strength comparable to a peak level 5 adventurer

•Skull Sheep: A 140 cm long sheep monster made entirely of bones. It has a large dark colored piece of skin that covers its body starting from the back of its head which makes it hard to predict its attacks, makes it appear as if it's a skull floating in empty space, and allows it to camouflage within the natural duskiness of the 37th Floor. It can also fire skin eating files at its opponents

•Loup Garou: A 120-130 cm muscular humanoid monster with a wolf head. They use white stone knife or cudgel weapons and their agility to fight. Among the monsters that made it to the surface, groups of them were known to destroy villages on moonlit nights more than any other monster.

•Peldua: A rare monster thats dark green dragon monster with a long snake-like body and four legs. It has poisonous needles on its back, resembling a porcupine, which it can fire at its enemies. Their poison can overwhelm upper class adventurers with abnormal resistance and it requires a superior detoxification magic or an antidote to remove. They are also able to stand on walls and breathe scorching fire.)