"Take this!" Exclaimed a Demon, whipping her arm across and firing out a rapid, slashing wave of Negative Energy.

I swallowed it up with Drain, before ducking as another Demon came charging in from my left, driving his claws towards the side of my head.

As his claws whizzed over the top of my head, I swiftly raised my left arm and fired out a Pulse Bullet, hitting the middle of his chest.

As his body stiffened slightly, I drove my arm out and slammed my palm onto the middle of his chest, using Drain as the other Demon fired out a rapid Negative Energy blast towards me, swallowing it up right as I unleashed Mana Pulse.

The Demon to my left cried out sharply in agony, his right eye bursting as blood poured out of every orifice on his head, several spots across the skin around his torso rupturing.

A sharp yell then rang out behind me right as I sensed a presence behind me, glancing back to see a Demon with a couple of icicles pierced through his stomach.

I swiftly decapitated the Demon to my left before he could heal the damage done by Mana Pulse, before leaping out of the way as the one in front of me shot forward and fired out a rapid, piercing beam of Negative Energy.

The beam whizzed past my right bicep, the Demon who'd been pierced by the icicles scrambling away in alarm as the beam shot towards him, narrowly avoiding it.

"You're dead!" Snarled the Demon who'd fired the beam, charging towards me as she extended out her claws, dark energy swirling around her hands.

She came to an abrupt halt and quickly veered back as several icicles came shooting towards her, before she stiffened as I shot forward as she evaded the icicles, starting to raise her hands up at me as the energy swirling around them intensified, before suddenly fading as I unleashed Lethargy with a swift chant under my breath, a dazed look appearing in her eyes as she stumbled back.

Before she could regain her bearings, I leapt forward as I closed in on her and slashed down at the top of her head, splitting her skull in half and killing her as I sliced through her brain.

I quickly raised Drain to my right as the other one flew up and unleashed a barrage of dark energy blasts down towards me, swallowing them up before chanting...

"<Command: Get Over Here>!"

He gritted his teeth, shaking as he began to float back down, making his way towards me through the air, a look of desperation appearing in his eyes as I manifested Ravage, tearing his head clean off his shoulders and killing him in an instant.

I then turned my gaze across as Aria attacked one of the remaining Demons, ducking as he slashed at her head with his claws, before she slammed her fist onto the middle of his stomach as flames erupted and swirled around her fist.

The Demon let out a sharp wheeze and coughed out blood as her fist dug into his stomach, before she grabbed either side of his head and pulled it down while simultaneously driving her knee up, her knee colliding against the middle of his face with a loud crunch, streaks of blood spraying out upon impact, as she smashed his nose in and knocked out several teeth.

"[High Accel Flame Strike], [Quadruple Impact]!" She exclaimed before striking the top of his head with immense force.

His skull caved in as her fist slammed onto his head, blood bursting out of the Demon's nose as he went limp and fell over, slumping against the ground as he hit the dirt with a thud, blood pouring out and seeping into the ground.

A loud crash then rang out, as Kelsey crushed the chest of the last Demon on this floor with a devastating swing of her warhammer, crushing the Demon's ribcage and killing them.

Nice, another floor cleared without any real trouble. And speaking of nice, this is the sixty-ninth floor, just one more to go before the Boss Room.

<I still don't understand why that number is so amusing to you>

We've been over this, Ai, you really wanna have this conversation again?

<No, absolutely not>

Yeah, that's what I thought.

"Thanks for the backup, that was really helpful," I said to the Ice Mage as we all gathered up and began to get back into formation, having finished extracting the Cores.

I'd also just gotten done eating up the corpses with Devour, my gains have been a lot better since we stopped encountering Lesser Demons.

"You're welcome, glad I could help," She responded with a polite smile.

"Just two more floors and we're done...it's felt like we've been in here forever, but now that it's almost over, it's like we got through it in the blink of an eye. It's, like, what even is time?" Sighed Damien, staring off into space.

"We've been here over twenty-five hours, you stupid weirdo, it-...," Began Keira, before trailing off and averting her gaze as Kelsey gave her a stern glare.

Hm, maybe I should distribute the points I've accumulated since the fortieth floor. We're just two floors away from clearing this Dungeon, and my bad feeling hasn't disappeared.

Alright, that should do it, looking pretty good:

HP: 445 -> 456

MP: 648 -> 695

Strength: 450 -> 461

Agility: 604 -> 620

Vitality: 440 -> 451

Perception: 593 -> 605

Power Level: 530,000 -> 548,000

"How are you holding up, Kai?" Aria asked me as she approached with a smile.

"I'm good, maybe a bit mentally worn, but physically, I've got plenty left in the tank," I replied, as we got back into formation.

"What about everyone else, you good to keep going?" Inquired Kelsey, as she glanced back at the others.

"Yes, that won't be a problem."

"Same here."

"Me too, I can keep going."

"Let's wrap things up and get this over with."

With no objections voiced, we covered the rest of the distance left across this floor, before heading up to the seventieth and penultimate floor of the Dungeon.

And as soon as we stepped out of the tunnel, something felt a bit off to me, a strange, creeping feeling all around me.

"Hey, anyone else feel that? There's an unsettling vibe on this floor," Frowned Aria, looking a bit tense.

She noticed too, huh? Then, I'm not just imagining it.

"Yeah, it's pretty disconcerting. Not sure how to put it into words, it's not a particularly familiar sensation," I nodded with a grimace.

"Hm? I don't feel anything," Responded Kelsey warily, before glancing back at the Detector inquiringly, who shook her head.

"I'm not picking anything up yet."

I get it now, it's a matter of Perception...both Aria and I have much higher Perception stats than everyone else here, that must be why only we're feeling it.

"If both of you noticed whatever it is that you're feeling, then we shouldn't ignore it. Let's exercise extra vigilance and proceed with caution!" Instructed Kelsey, before we continued heading forward, at a slower pace.

I don't like this, this doesn't bode well...Aria looks pretty uneasy too. It's too bad the others can't sense whatever this feeling is, maybe-...

"W-Wait! I...I just sensed two presences up ahead, they're both...both Critical Level Monsters!" Suddenly called out the Detector in alarm.

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