Chapter 421: Finally Confronting Antares

Meanwhile, at the Guild Headquarters in Orario.

"Huh?"

Eina, who had been busy organizing documents, let out a soft gasp. A clear, jagged crack had inexplicably appeared on the glass resting on her desk.

"What's wrong, Eina?" her colleague Misha asked, leaning over.

Eina pointed at the cracked glass.

"That's a shame. It was a new cup, wasn't it?" Misha said sympathetically before curiosity took over. "Speaking of which, I haven't seen the Focalors Familia you manage lately. Did they go back into the Dungeon?"

"It seems they took a commission from the Hermes Familia. They've already left Orario and headed outside the city," Eina replied, a trace of worry furrowing her brow.

"They left?" Misha looked even more confused. "Hasn't the Guild temporarily banned all Familias from leaving the city for some reason? How did they get out?"

"I don't know," Eina shook her head. "But... they should be fine, right?"

Despite her words, the unease in her heart grew stronger by the second.

"Hey, look over there! Doesn't that look incredibly strange?"

Suddenly, a Guild employee pointed out the window, shouting in alarm.

"How could this be happening? It makes no sense..."

More employees crowded around the windows, staring outside with faces full of sheer astonishment.

"What's going on?"

Confused, Misha and Eina stood up and walked toward the entrance.

"Everything was fine just yesterday. This is definitely abnormal, especially considering the direction..."

Fevered discussions echoed outside the door. Eina and Misha pushed their way through the crowd, following everyone's gaze toward the sky.

"What the hell is that?!'" Eina's eyes widened in horror.

"What exactly... is going on?" Misha stood frozen, entirely dumbfounded.

"Disaster! This is a disaster!"

Just then, several adventurers covered in blood stumbled and crawled into the headquarters from outside, screaming at the top of their lungs.

"What happened?!"

Recognizing them as adventurers under her supervision, Eina immediately rushed forward to ask.

"Miss Eina, it's a catastrophe! Hurry... you have to summon the adventurers!" the bloody men gasped, their voices frantic and ragged.

"Please calm down. What exactly happened?" Eina forced herself to maintain her composure.

"The Dungeon... The monsters in the Dungeon are stampeding! It's... it's completely beyond what we can handle. You have to send out the First-Class Adventurers!"

"If this isn't resolved quickly, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Eina's pupils shrank to pinpricks.

"I understand. I will report to the Guild Master immediately."

Without daring to delay for even a second, she turned and sprinted toward the Guild Master's office upstairs.

Aiden fired another highly concentrated sonic cannon blast. The invisible shockwave instantly pulverized the dozen or so scorpion-like monsters blocking their path into a mist of blood.

"Here!"

Hyacine hurried forward, pressing a Mind Potion glowing with a faint blue light into his hand.

Aiden grabbed it and tipped his head back, downing the liquid in one gulp. The cool potion slid down his throat, providing a minor replenishment to his exhausted magical reserves, but the crushing mental fatigue that followed was overwhelming.

Along the way, they had suffered an endless barrage of monster attacks.

The creatures burrowed out from the fleshy walls and plummeted from the egg sacs on the ceiling in what seemed to be infinite numbers. Based on a rough estimate, the group had already slaughtered over a thousand monsters.

Even with Aiden's colossal mana capacity—which far exceeded that of Lefiya, the elf often teased as a "mana freak"—he was now running on fumes. Had it not been for his formidable close-quarters combat skills, he would have likely drained all his combat effectiveness and been reduced to someone needing protection.

Just then, a bone-chilling, colossal roar violently erupted from the deepest part of the ruins.

It was not a simple bellow, but a tremor capable of shaking the very soul. It sounded as though the entire temple was groaning in agony. Rubble cascaded from the ceiling, and the pulsating organic tissue on the walls began to throb violently.

"That is..." Robin's expression shifted as she looked down at the floor.

"It's underground," Asfi immediately concluded.

"Ugh..."

Furina quickly supported Artemis, who had suddenly clutched her chest, her face turning ghastly pale. "Artemis, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Artemis shook her head, though her voice trembled faintly.

She gently pushed Furina's hand away and forced her heavy body forward. With one hand pressed tightly against her chest, she staggered onward.

"You're pushing yourself too hard..." Furina grumbled under her breath, though she quickly quickened her pace to follow.

Passing through a massive, heavily corroded archway, the group finally stepped into a breathtakingly enormous hall.

This was the heart of the nest.

The entire hall had been completely swallowed by living flesh. The floor was covered in a thick, soft, and viscous carpet of organic tissue that emitted an unsettling squelch with every step.

The walls and the domed ceiling were lined with countless flesh-toned pipes resembling massive blood vessels. A faintly glowing purple liquid flowed and pulsated sluggishly within them, producing a muffled, rhythmic thumping that sounded exactly like a heartbeat.

It felt as though they had trespassed into the belly of a gargantuan beast.

And there, in the very center of this cathedral of flesh, they finally laid eyes on the ultimate target of their journey.

"That is... Antares."

It was a behemoth, its size far exceeding any scorpion monster they had encountered thus far. Its body sat coiled in the center of the hall like a small mountain.

Its dark-purple chitinous shell was covered in a layer of squirming, living tissue. Countless thick purple blood vessels tangled between the flesh and the armor like wicked, parasitic vines. Its eight jointed legs pierced menacingly into the ground. Its tail stinger was raised high into the air—but instead of a sharp barb, the tip bore a swirling, undissipating orb of purple energy that resembled a black hole.

Most terrifying of all was the thick pillar of purple energy extending upward from its back.

The beam of light pierced straight through the dome of the hall, acting like an ominous umbilical cord that connected the monster directly to the cold, lonely moon hanging high in the night sky.

Antares unleashed a deafening roar that caused the entire hall to shudder.

With a heavy thud, Artemis collapsed to her knees in agony, her body trembling violently.

"Lady Artemis, are you alright?!" Hyacine hurriedly crouched down, casting healing magic over her, but it had no effect whatsoever.

"Don't worry about me..." Artemis endured the agonizing pain, forcing her head up to shout at Aiden with every ounce of her remaining strength. "AIDEN... HURRY! PIERCE IT! USE... THE ARROW OF ORION!"

As if responding to her words, the thick armor on the chest of the colossal monster slowly split open, parting like the gates of hell.

Behind the armor, there was no flesh or vital organs. There was only a massive, pure, rhomboid crystal radiating a soft blue light.

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