Chapter 30 - The Descent
The next morning, all the warriors gathered at the dungeon entrance in the morning. Weapons ready, armor charged, communication stones checked and Hades Hats packed. They would travel down together and rendezvous with the Xenos on the 1st floor. At that point, Ottar's team 1 and Finn's team 2 would descend into the 2nd floor about 500 feet apart from each other. The defensive perimeter group 1 would follow the 2 teams while maintaining a 1-floor difference with them. The defensive perimeter 2 group then followed while maintaining a 1-floor gap with the defensive perimeter 1 group. The Xenos traveled with the defensive perimeter 1 group. Lili, Mikoto, Weine, Raul and Filvis were part of the defensive perimeter 2 group. The order was to retrieve the magic stones of any monster above level 3 and deliver them to Wiene. Finally, team 2's alignment was Bell-Ais, Finn-Tione, Riveria-Lefiya and Bete-Tiona. When Hades Hat are used, it would still be Bell, Tione, Lefiya and Tiona going invisible.
At the headquarters, the god were in constant communications with all the groups. However, there was lots of nervous energy, with Loki and Hermes pacing non-stop. Everyone was worried about the strength of the enemy. Even with the best think tank and analytics, did they underestimate the enemy? The biggest questions - did Revis level up? How many enemies were as powerful or more powerful as her? Did the enemy have a Riveria-type mage? Will there be any magic using monsters? Will Enyo be involved?
Unable to see deeply into the dungeon, Hestia was in constant communications with Loki and Takemikazuchi. Just like Loki at the headquarter, Hestia is also pacing up a storm in heaven.
The first real action was expected with the floor 17 boss, which should have respawned with more than 2 weeks since the prohibition on travel into the dungeon. With the large group heading down the dungeon, most monsters stayed far away. To save time and use of magic items, as the 1st team approached the 17th floor goliath, Bell and Ais were summoned to take it out. With Bell at level 8, a 1-minute argonaut Ariel/firebolt successfully defeated the goliath without destroying its magic stone. After consuming the magic stone, Wiene felt she was stronger, perhaps close to level 6 before boosting. However without live combat testing, it was difficult to be sure.
The 4 groups continued to head down the dungeon without delay. Very few monsters approached them, but swarms of hornets did. There were no signs of the enemy or 'new' monsters like virgas and violas. Without any trouble, the teams stopped at levels 36, 35 and 34 for the day even though Udaeus was not due to respawn. That evening, the Wiene armor team practiced armor installation. With 7 helpers, Mikoto, Filvis and Raul were able to reduce installation time to 120 seconds. After dinner, Lili and Mikoto continued to practice their magic.
Ais and Bell had the 1st watch. Ais relaxed during the lap pillow. When it was their turn to sleep, Bell carried Ais to their tent and went to sleep.
Back in Orario, Welf was recovering at the infirmary from a mind-zero due to the combined effects of over-exertion and an all-nighter. Hephaestus and Tsubaki were also taking a rest from over-exertion. The next day, they will go right back to making more thin metal layers for armor charging.