After killing all the griffons in the first area, Hera and her party moved to the path near the cliff's edge. The massive wall of stone blocked the entire plateau, leaving only that small opening for them to cross. They considered going above it, but the rock was too smooth, meaning they would have to use spells to climb it. Not to mention, according to Helena, it was rare for a dungeon on the lower layer to require a more creative method to beat. Besides, they had no idea if going up would trigger some sort of event or even if the dungeon would even allow them to reach the top of the wall. In the end, they decided to stick to what they knew, even if it was second-hand knowledge.

Just as they entered that structure, a howl echoed through the entire nest, and a notification appeared in front of them.

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You have discovered the dungeon quest.

By entering the passage, you have warned the Sky Ruler of your presence. Defeat the Sky Ruler and end its reign of terror.

First completion rewards:

30 000 gold, Sky Ruler component

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It was a pretty nice sum to get, but it wouldn't make that much of a difference for Hera. The most interesting part was the component. Not just for her, but Blue should get a lot of benefits if she made some gear using those items. Since the Sky Ruler had the legacy for such a long time, its materials should have some synergy with it. Brushing those thoughts aside, she focused back on the task at hand. There was still a dungeon to finish.

The path they had just entered was straightforward. Just a long corridor with another opening at the opposite end of it. Moving along, no one felt worried. The massive walls gave the area an ominous feeling, and the wind howled as it passed, but it didn't seem like it had much more than that. As they walked through the corridor, some blades of air went flying towards the group. They were quick, but anyone could see the attack coming from a mile away, leaving enough time for everyone to dodge with ease. Hera had a nagging feeling of familiarity in the area, despite never being here before, or at least not in the dungeon.

Another blade of air came shooting out from the other side of the corridor. Hera created a stone wall to block the attack and give them some breathing room as a reflex. As the rock rose from the ground, she stopped moving. The surrounding walls had the same smooth appearance as the wall she could create with that spell.

"Hera? What's wrong?" Silah noticed her reaction and stopped behind the recently created wall.

"I made this," Hera gasped.

"Well, yeah. You made the dungeon," Bonnie said as she and the others huddled up behind the barrier.

"No, I mean these walls. They are much bigger than those I created, but during the fight against the Sky Ruler, some of the griffons were coming after me, and I made this long corridor where they couldn't come flying down. Then they started shooting spells at me. The walls blocked some of it, but parts went through, and I had to dodge. Just like we are doing," Hera explained.

"Really? I mean, it makes some sense. Isn't the dungeon supposed to mirror what you did here or whatever?" Alex asked.

"I guess… but it wasn't this big," Hera glanced at the wall. It should easily be fifteen meters tall. The original Sky Ruler itself wouldn't be able to look beyond it. If this was the MAZE version of the dungeon, it took significant artistic liberties with what actually happened.

"What else can we expect?" Helena asked.

Hera scratched her head, "I.. don't know. I mean, Blue used some clouds, I used some pollen, Silah used the saws. If those small walls I made became this, I have no clue what those things could have turned into."

"Well, Ogryn didn't mention anything about that, did he?" Silah asked.

"Not that I remember, but he did say that there were other areas he didn't explore," Hera had to yell, since another wind attack hit the wall. This one was stronger. Instead of just blasting the barrier without any effect, the rock shook with the impact.

"We should go," Alex said, "I've seen this type of trap before. The longer we wait, the stronger it gets."

Nodding, the group started moving quickly. The spells were still easy to dodge, and the closer they got to the other side of the corridor, the easier it became to see where they would be coming from. On the wall in front of them, there was a set of nine griffon heads split into rows of three that would glow as they charged mana for the spell. By watching which one was the brightest, the group evaded all the attacks and crossed to the next part of the passage.

They were still surrounded by walls, but now several other barriers spread in a large area. Just at a glance, they could tell that a football field could easily fit inside here, but the path to the other side wasn't wide open. Stone walls of every shape, size, and form covered most of the area. Navigating through that seemed like it would be a nightmare. To make things worse, the large walls that surrounded the entire structure were filled with the same stone griffon heads. Topping it all off were the many winged beasts that were flying around.

"There are 32 monsters here," Helena said after a moment.

"That's a lot…." Bonnie mumbled.

"Yeah," Hera started thinking, this would be a perfect place for her pollen spell, but that could hinder her friends, too. Her poison spells were mostly single target, too focused to be that helpful now. In the end, her best plan was to run to the exit and then block it off with the poison shower. It was a shame that her pollen spell couldn't actually poison. If it could, she might be able to trigger the poison control spell and kill them all at once. With that thought, an idea popped into her mind, "Bonnie. Poison spores are a thing, right? Like, from mushrooms or something."

"Spores are not poisonous per se. They have bacteria that can kill us, yeah, but it's not like they can cause a chemical reaction in our body like actual poison. They kind of work in the same way, but they are fundamentally different," Bonnie said.

"Oh. I see," Hera sighed. Her plan of making a poison spore spell was quickly shut down.

"Well, why are we waiting? We might be in a safe place right now, but the longer we wait, the stronger those heads get. Let's just rush to the exit and kill everything on the way," Alex said in a cold voice.

"Are you ok?" Hera asked.

"Yeah, we just need to focus on the job, not on chatting around in a place like this," Alex's eyes were very different. Hera remembered them as being warm and concerned. Now they seemed cold, distant, and unwavering. Alex waited for another moment and started walking towards the griffons, "The plan is simple. Head to the exit. Kill the monsters on the way. If you get out of here, secure the area and lay down cover fire for the ones still inside here."

With a weak 'yes ma'am' coming from the rest of the group, the assassin disappeared and reappeared on top of a griffon, already sinking both her daggers into its neck. The small points of energy were still following Bonnie. Now that Hera wasn't attacking, she could see what those things did. The researcher prepared a spell, and by the looks of it, it was just a magic arrow, but then the red dot came close to it and imbued fire mana into the projectile, changing its element just before Bonnie sent the spell flying.

"Wow!" Hera gasped, seeing that effect.

"You are not the only one who got stronger. I figured out I can make those elemental batteries, and actually, this is thanks to Lena's research," Bonnie said with a smile.

"She basically stole my modular spell idea," Helena huffed and threw four shurikens at the incoming griffons.

"I didn't steal your idea. You passed out in your lab, and I had to take you to a healer. While I was there, I saw a single word on a piece of paper that said 'Module.' That gave me the idea for this. Besides, I asked you to help, but you ignored me," Bonnie used a glowing rock fist spell that attracted the attention of several griffons before exploding in flames.

"We'll talk about it later. Now that I can focus on other things," Helena moved her hand, and the griffons who were affected by her shadow spell started convulsing, and several dark spikes shot out from their bodies. Any other monster who got hit by the stalks fell to the ground, having its senses stolen.

"Lena, she was already helping you with some research, wasn't she? In the end, you are the one that guided her to that spell. Try not to be too mad," Hera tried to break some of the tension. She kept sending poison needle after poison needle towards the griffons, refusing to be holding everyone back. Each time one of her spells hit the monsters, it would take only a few moments before they fell to the ground, too weak to continue their attack. Hera could also feel her poison mana jumping to monsters she didn't hit, thanks to the bracelet she got from Risli.

During all that time, they kept moving at a steady pace to the exit. However, Alex was already ahead of them, reaching the opening in the wall that would allow her to get away from the enclosure.

"How did she get there so fast?" Hera asked.

"She's fast. Really fast," Bonnie sighed. There seemed to be something behind that comment, but now wasn't the time to ask about it.

Hera's group continued moving after Alex. They jumped from stone barrier to stone barrier and attacked the griffons who kept trying to strike them from the skies. However, with the barrage of spells coming from the women, they couldn't get close enough to harm them. With a new strategy, all the remaining griffons started to gather above one of the taller walls. Hera glanced up and saw that grouping. Worried about what they might try, she quickly came up with a plan.

"Guys, go behind this wall and don't look up," she told her friends. Silah instantly understood what she wanted to do and rushed to a safe spot. Bonnie and Helena weren't that far behind, and when they were all hidden, Hera tossed a blinding flash towards the griffons.

The monsters saw the attack coming and dove towards Hera before anything could hit them, but the flash was faster. The spell blinded all the 14 remaining creatures. Hera followed that up with a flaming poison rain that struck them all at once, making their feathers catch fire.

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Ailment Mastery triggered

14 x Juvenile Sky Ruler ailment bonus effect x3

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Hera smiled. This confirmed that the sunburn caused by the blinding flash could stack with regular burns. To make things even better, the poison also affected all the monsters in her spell. Without missing a beat, she activated the poison control to make her poison as deadly as she could while not spending too much mana. With that, the griffons fell to the ground, spasming uncontrollably before dying and dissolving in just a few moments.

"Neat," Hera mumbled just before a blast of wind hit the side of her body and made her tumble to the side.

"Hera!" Silah and Helena called at the same time when they saw the explorer on the ground. The two rushed towards her while Bonnie came out of their hiding spot, ready to defend the three from the griffons.

"What the…?" Bonnie gasped when she saw the drops on the floor.

"Ouch," Hera rubbed her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" Silah asked with Helena right behind her.

"Yeah… I'm fine. It was just the wind trap," Hera chuckled. At the same time, she noticed a glowing griffon head in the back that was about to fire. She quickly tapped her foot on the ground, and a stone wall rose in front of her, blocking not just the spell from hitting her but also Bonnie, Helena, and Silah.

"Let's get out of here. The longer we stay, the worse this will get," Hera jumped to her feet.

They rushed outside the enclosure, and Bonnie couldn't stop staring at Hera. At first, it seemed like the explorer wasn't all that different from before, but this display was much more than what she expected. Since when was she able to kill 14 monsters at once before they even reached her? Not to mention her control of mana. She was creating spells by simply tapping her feet on the ground. That showed a degree of mastery that even Helena struggled to achieve. How could she have grown so much in just a few months?

Her thoughts stopped wandering when they reached the exit and saw another 50 or so griffons flying around an open field of snow. All the way at the back, there was another one, larger than the rest, just watching them with expectant eyes.