Danmachi: The Focalors Familia — Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Juvenile Crested Dragon

Hyacine raised both hands, funneling her focus into the [Magic Release] skill. She converted her raw magic into the pure, cutting essence of the wind element. Dozens of invisible wind bullets materialized in the damp Dungeon air, forming a dense, shimmering barrage. They shot upward, accurately intercepting the crude stone axes raining down from the cavern ceiling.

The cavern echoed with sharp, concussive cracks. The wind bullets and stone axes collided and violently detonated in mid-air. The resulting chaotic airflow instantly shredded the attack rhythm of the ambushing Horned Rabbits.

Tifa let out a sharp, focused exhale, her figure vanishing from the rocky ground. She completely ignored the disoriented monsters caught in the wind currents. Her gaze was locked onto a single target—the specific Horned Rabbit Robin had painted with a glowing threat marker within their shared telepathic network.

Kicking off the vertical rock wall with explosive force, she vaulted through the air at an impossible angle. She dropped behind the massive rabbit, bringing her leg down in a devastating whip kick that struck like a falling battle axe. The impact was clean and decisive, instantly shattering the monster’s spine and reducing its body to ash and a clattering magic stone.

Even here in the middle floors, facing vicious monsters bordering on Lv.2, Tifa moved with overwhelming dominance. The amplification from her attached magic, [Meteor Feather], combined with the stat bonuses from her four equipped Artifacts—specifically the [Adventurer] two-piece set effect that perfectly shored up her baseline Endurance—granted her combat power far exceeding a standard Adventurer of her rank. Backed by her [Aura Release] and [Battle Rhythm] skills, she possessed the absolute capital to fight above her weight class.

Across the cavern, Noah casually deflected a blistering wave of fire magic from a pack of Hellhounds. He immediately launched his counterattack.

“Gospel.”

Switching his active loadout to the [Ripples of the Past] magic, he invoked a ghost of the dark age. Alfia’s era-defining bombardment magic, Satanas Verion, manifested in the present.

A nearly invisible sonic shockwave warped the air, shooting forward to instantly pierce the skull of the lead Hellhound. The beast couldn’t even manage a whimper; its entire head caved inward and exploded as if struck by an unseen, colossal hammer.

Noah didn’t pause. He fired a second and third sonic bombardment in rapid succession, the silent, eerie strikes efficiently erasing the other two Hellhounds from existence.

Seeing their packmates instantly annihilated, the remaining two Hellhounds didn’t retreat. Instead, the scent of ash drove them into a feral frenzy. They roared and lunged, their sharp claws carving blinding orange sparks against the stone floor.

Noah stepped forward to meet them. With a flick of his wrist, silver blade light flashed through the gloom, dragging the closest monster into a brutal close-quarters exchange.

The final Hellhound bypassed Noah entirely, its crimson eyes fixed on Robin standing at the rear of the formation.

‘Left side, fireball.’ Noah’s calm warning echoed through the Harmony network.

“connect!” Robin’s crisp chant rang out.

A concentrated sonic wave tore across the cavern. Despite being fired a fraction of a second later, it struck first, precisely puncturing the leaping Hellhound’s throat. The volatile fireball brewing inside its maw destabilized and detonated internally, blowing the creature apart from the inside out.

This was the combat doctrine of the Focalors Familia. They fought as a single, flawless organism woven together by telepathy, sharing an absolute, unspoken understanding. Noah acted as the vanguard spear, while Tifa served as the scalpel, carving through the battlefield to excise high-value targets. Hyacine provided the suppressing artillery fire, and Robin anchored them all—the central nervous system observing the entire grid and issuing composed, instantaneous commands.

Within mere seconds, the Dungeon’s first wave was entirely dismantled.

Naturally, their composition wasn’t entirely flawless. As their artillery, Hyacine lacked raw attack power, functioning primarily as a healer, and the group currently lacked a dedicated, heavy-armor shield. Yet, the skirmish ended cleanly, resembling a violent dance rehearsed a thousand times. Against the overwhelming cooperation of the four, these ordinary Dungeon monsters were nothing but target practice.

Noah sheathed his sword with a soft click. He glanced at the scattered magic stones and a few pristine Hellhound fangs littering the scorched earth, giving Hyacine a brief nod to collect the drop items.

“Keep moving,” he said.

The four didn’t linger, pressing deeper into the winding, claustrophobic maze.

However, the oppressive atmosphere soon shifted. A new aura—far more dangerous and distinctly eerie—bled out from the darkness ahead.

Noah’s [The Abyss That Gazes Back] skill instantly flared to life, flooding his senses with a cold warning.

A piercing, youthful roar echoed off the cavern walls. A Juvenile Crested Dragon, its scales gleaming with a strange, metallic luster, lunged out from a blind corner.

“New monster. Dragon type, Lv.2,” Noah warned, his voice tight with focus. “Watch out for its speed and scales.”

The creature was horrifyingly fast. The moment it entered their line of sight, it blurred into a jagged afterimage, closing the distance to Noah in a heartbeat.

Clang!

A harsh, ear-splitting shriek of metal on scale rang out. Noah brought his blade up in a guard, but the immense kinetic force behind the dragon’s charge knocked him back two full steps. He glanced at his weapon—the steel edge was significantly chipped. The sweeping counter-slash he had managed to land left nothing but a shallow, white scratch across the beast’s armor.

‘Physical defense is extremely high. The blade can’t break through,’ Noah relayed through the mental network.

He immediately shifted his stance, swapping his magic resonance. “Gospel!”

But just as the sonic bombardment left his hand, the Juvenile Crested Dragon’s massive body abruptly sank. Like a fish diving into a dark lake, it plunged straight into the solid, rocky floor without a shred of resistance, vanishing from sight.

The sonic shockwave slammed into the empty stone where the beast had just been, kicking up a violent ring of pulverized dust.

‘Its ability is burrowing and moving through rock walls. I will track it,’Robin’s voice echoed in their minds, rapid and precise.’Tifa, prepare for a ground assault. Hyacine, use wind pressure to harass the earth and force it out. Noah, stand by and wait for my mark.’

Robin closed her eyes, funneling all her Mental Energy into pure perception. The complex structure of the cave and the subtle, shifting currents of magic instantly rendered into a glowing, three-dimensional map within her mind.

The Juvenile Crested Dragon’s trajectory burned brightly through the virtual rock layers, moving like a subterranean torpedo.

‘It’s inside the left rock wall, circling toward the ground directly underneath us!”Received,’ Hyacine replied instantly.

She aimed both hands at the exact coordinates Robin transmitted. [Magic Release].

Instead of wide, sweeping attacks, she condensed the magic into several hyper-solid [Wind Blades]. They didn’t slash; they drilled. The concentrated cyclones bored fiercely into the cavern floor, the immense wind pressure churning the solid rock and sending violent, localized tremors deep into the earth.

An irritable, muffled roar vibrated through the soles of their boots. The dragon’s smooth subterranean movement was completely disrupted.

‘It’s been forced out!’Robin called.’Tifa, ground in front to the right. Prepare to intercept!’

Tifa was already there. She slid her right leg back, anchoring herself to the stone, and lowered her center of gravity. Pulling her fists to her waist, her gauntlets ignited with the fierce, blinding light of [Aura Release].

Her crimson eyes locked onto the exact patch of uneven stone Robin had marked.

The ground erupted. Shards of rock exploded outward as the Juvenile Crested Dragon burst from the earth, jaws wide to launch a lethal surprise attack.

It was met instantly by Tifa’s devastating, heavy uppercut.

Her glowing fist slammed squarely into the relatively soft, unarmored scales of the dragon’s lower jaw. The sheer, explosive force of the blow lifted the massive creature’s entire body half a meter into the air, violently snapping its jaws shut and completely shattering its attack stance.

‘Now, Noah!’

The window of vulnerability would last less than a second.

Noah was already in motion. The exact millisecond Tifa threw her punch, he had calculated the dragon’s trajectory and its peak hang-time in the air.

“Gospel!”

The silent, lethal sonic shockwave ripped across the cavern, slamming perfectly into the Juvenile Crested Dragon’s exposed chest and abdomen.