The stone guardians were now within reach, standing right on the bright red line marking the five hundred metre mark. As Minerva had suspected, they didn’t dare to cross too far over the edge and were disoriented by the sudden change in location. When the stone guardians slowly backed away, the raid force finally executed the next phase of their plan.

Those in the vanguard that had been injured in the initial clash had been rushed back into the rear. They passed through Minerva’s White Petal Barrier as if they were crossing into another dimension. The bodies entering sent a ripple effect throughout the bubble-like barrier. Some were even stunned that it was that easy to pass the rumoured impregnable defences of Minerva. However, those who dared to question the S-Class White Sorceress’ abilities were about to have a rude awakening.

“)(*^^&$#&*%(&%$^#(”

The birds sang their foreign tune once more, and the pair of red and blue phoenixes sent their fire-ice combination flying all over the cold, rocky floor. Paladins like Arius and Finn had to dig deep to create a Spirit Shield to fend off the attack. Mages resorted to flying while rogues and rangers hung off the walls with their insane grip strength. And while the raid force in front of the rearguard was utterly overwhelmed by the song of fire and ice, those who stayed within Minerva’s barrier were completely fine. No, they felt empowered even, because of the mana regeneration that the White Sorceress provides.

“Senior Minerva’s barrier is really powerful...” Yvette gaped in awe.

Aria raised her brow and replied back. “Hey, did you just change the way you addressed her?”

“What’s the problem with that?” Yvette protested. “She’s older than us and much more powerful! Obviously, I must respect her as my senior right?” The elf put on the most charming smile Aria had ever witnessed, forcing her roommate to look away with a grimace.

‘Till now you haven’t given me any respect at all?’ Aria cursed inwardly, still afraid to voice her opinion out. ‘Whatever, it’s not important now.’ The lady clapped her hands together and congregated a significant portion of her mana into the two palms. That sudden movement caught the eyes of not only Yvette but the White Sorceress Minerva as well. Minerva was amused that the lazy Archmagus was showing some initiative in a dungeon raid, something that Aria had vehemently denounced in the past.

When Aria was done, five orbs of light started to orbit around the maiden. She looked like a Theurgist, summoning out all of those potent lights. However, the Archmagus wasn’t done. One of the orbs turned into an arcane sceptre. Each swing that Aria performed sent out thousands of yellow sparkles, all while mana turned rampant around the mage. One other orb deformed itself to create a fully grown humanoid golem made of light. It was about three metres tall and had all of the bulky features of a bodybuilder. In fact, it was far superior to the shape that any Paladin had.

The third ball of light also changed its shape, this time into a small dart that resembled that of a missile. It whirled around Aria like an overly attached pet and eventually pointed its tip straight at the stone guardians. The remaining two orbs continued to orbit around the young woman, making her seem much more intimidating than she did before.

“Did your [Creation Magic] cast speed increase?” Yvette questioned, her face full of wonder.

“Course it did,” replied Aria nonchalantly. “I’ve been using it every day for my research. Without me knowing, I’d already increased the proficiency of this spell. It’s almost second nature to me now.”

[Creation Magic] was Aria’s unique spell, one she developed to help with her day-to-day. Aria would create numerous spheres of light, which could all be moulded into various shapes according to her liking. If she wanted to defend herself, Aria could will the orb to become a shield. If Aria wished to attack, she could create a knife. If she wanted to increase her rate of magic, she would create an arcane sceptre, and… If she was feeling lazy, she could use it as a string to move objects within her lab. [Creation Magic] was highly versatile, and its efficiency was as good as any other spell. To the S-Class Archmagus, this spell was perhaps her favourite one in the arsenal.

“Let’s see how I can help...” Aria muttered to herself and carefully examined the battlefield. She was pumped up, filled with magic and adrenaline. So, the Archmagus wanted to join in the fun.

In the frontlines, all of the tanks were holding back the attacks from the land stone guardians while the archers, assassins and warriors tried to wear them down. Magicians in the raid force were tasked with bringing the airborne guardians down. After an intense session of brainstorming, the commanders concluded that it was imperative to separate the gargoyles from the four annoying birds, which sang so many different tunes to affect the battlefield. That task had fallen onto the S-Class Magicians that knew the spell [Teleport], which was rare, even among magicians of their class.

So, as it stands right now, only four mages were trying to teleport the gargoyles away. Unfortunately, the gargoyles were far too slippery for the magicians with poor dexterity and strength in their stats. Every time the mages thought that they had gotten the stone gargoyles, they would instantly turn around and whipped their tails at the pitiful mages.

“How unsightly,” Aria remarked with her brows knitted together. She raised her two hands up, one pointing at the gargoyle protecting the two phoenixes, the other at the entrance of the cave. Then, using [Telepathy], the Archmagus’ voice resounded in the raid force’s minds, saying: “Focus on the blue and red birds! I’ll do something about the gargoyle protecting it!”

“!!!” Aria’s voice did throw the raid force’s minds off for a moment, but they quickly regained themselves, showing their overwhelming experience. Almost instantly, the magicians prepared their most potent spells while archers nocked their deadliest arrows. Now, the full power of the raid force was directed right at the two phoenixes.

The Archmagus smiled. With everything complete, there was only one thing left for her to do.

“[High Teleport!!!]”

The golem she summoned using her [Creation Magic] disappeared instantly, reappearing right behind the stone gargoyle. It immediately grabbed hold onto the sculpture, like a bear hugging a tree. The gargoyle struggled, naturally, and was slowly able to wiggle its hands out form the tight embrace. Arius, the Guardian Paladin who was familiar with choke, holds like this, estimated that it would take the gargoyle at least three seconds to break free. Unfortunately, three seconds were two seconds too long…

“[High Teleport!!!]”

Aria cast the spell once more, this time teleporting the gargoyle all the way to the entrance leaving the blue and red birds completely vulnerable. Then, that’s when the hail of attacks began…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Arrows, high-tiered magic spells, flying javelin… They all flew over to the phoenixes as if it were a meteor shower. Aria could feel the heat of the attack radiating off her face, even though she had countless protections guarding her. The gargoyle that she had teleported to the entrance instantly had numerous of military equipment and A-Rankers jumping onto it, tying it down for a brief moment while the savage attacks continued to land, and it was fortunate that they did that, because…

Broken and battered, the red and blue phoenixes fell down to the barren floor, never to fly or sing again. The gargoyle that should have been protecting them flailed its arms around as if grieving at the loss of a loved one, before finally crumbling into pieces like the birds before it.

“It looks like the three guardians share the same mana pool,” Minerva deduced immediately. “If we take down the two birds, the gargoyle will fall as well.” Then, she turned around and gave Aria the thumbs up. “Good job, now do it with the remaining one!”

“I know that!” The Archmagus brought back the golem she created and reverted back to the exact same pose. However, as the old adage goes, once bitten twice shy. Almost immediately after Aria had taken down the phoenixes, the three-eyed raven and the angelic dove fled immediately, protected by their own gargoyle. Evidently, they were thinking about finding safe refuge, deeper into the dungeon.

“No-no, you’re staying here!!!”

One of the S-Class Assassins blinked forward at speeds untrackable by the human eye. The man remained suspended in the air for a mere millisecond before an expansive spider’s web shot out from his body and covered the path of exit. Those spider silks were as thin as a strand of hair, more delicate almost, but Aria knew that it could withstand the inertia of an aeroplane crash. To add insult to injury, the same S-Class Assassin shot out one massive spider web, forcing the gargoyle to protect the birds, with its rapid whipping tail. That split second where the gargoyle hesitated was enough for the raid force to charge up their next attack.

“Aria! Again!!!” Minerva hurriedly called out, only to catch the Archmagus in the middle of her cast.

“[High Teleport!!!]”

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Aria repeated the same exact movements and teleported the gargoyle far away from the two birds. Once again, the strongest meteor shower that Yudonia could possibly bring out clashed violently against the three-eyed raven, and then the angelic dove. There was no chance. Like their fellow fallen comrades, the two birds crumbled down into nothingness, while the gargoyle shattered like glass.

Just like that, the most dangerous threat among the guardians had been neutralised, leaving behind the nine land-locked stone guardians, which were mostly beaten up through the merciless river of time. With the pesky birds that sang those awful tunes gone, the raid force focused all of their attention onto the guardians in front of the vanguard.

“Group B! Neutralise the dragon-bear hybrid, crocodile and humanoid ones! The rest of you take down the half broken ones!!!” Arius barked his orders while brandishing his favourite tower shield.

The raid force now moved in a much more coherent manner, way smoother than their first battle against the fifteen stone guardians. The S-Rankers synchronised their abilities as if they had been fighting in the same unit for years now. Druids would bind the guardians while martial artists or rogues would attack with all their might. If physical attacks didn’t work, the mages would take their turn. If both physical and magic attacks didn’t work, the S-Rankers would continue to wear them down until it would.

At the same time, the auxiliary group would supplement resources such as replenishing mana or healing basic wounds, bringing the raid force to a tip-top condition. It really was an eye-opener for Aria.

‘So this is what it’s like when eighty-seven S-Rankers work together...’

It was perhaps the first time in Yudonia’s history that all of the S-Rankers in their country had gathered for one battle. Aria thought that it was marvellous, having so many talents combining their efforts to take on the one obstacle in their way.

‘I should ask for the recordings for my research...’ The Archmagus entertained that fleeting thought for a moment, while drool poured down from her mouth. However, when she saw Yvette and the rest of the S-Rankers so hard at work, Aria quelled her scientific curiosity, shaking her head in the process. ‘No, I should focus on the task at hand… I can think about those matters at a later date.’

Aria swung her light sceptre around, commanding the small little dart to buzz around like a honey bee. She willed it into the battlefield, assisting the many S-Rankers to defeat the opponent before their eyes. The dart moved at the speed of light, so it was capable of whizzing from stone guardian to stone guardian in literally, a blink of an eye.

Once the pesky little birds had been silenced forever, it was only a matter of grinding down the tenacious grounded stone guardians, it took the raid force a little effort but eventually…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

The head of the final guardian, the dragon-bear hybrid, fell straight onto the concrete dungeon floor, marking the end of their long-fought battle.

"..."

"..."

ORRRRRYYYYYAHHHHHHHHH!!!

No one knew who let out the first cheer. One voice turned into two, two became four, four became eight, until finally… Everyone in the raid force bellowed out in complete jubilation. Even Aria, who usually would never participate in such a crude battle-cry, couldn’t help but raise her hand like an Amazonian woman.

It was done.

The first floor had been conquered.