As Rui predicted, the fifteenth floor was soon discovered by the exploration team that happened upon it later than they did. The discovery eventually leaked to the public, causing an uproar. The thought of the fifteenth floor containing a single enormous monster was terrifying to most people.
Yet there was also a lot of morbid curiosity into the matter. The fact that it was headless and that fact that its outer scales, strongly suspected to be made out of esoteric substances, were stripped from the body indicated human intervention.
However, there was certainly some controversy over the matter.
"The destruction of the head does not seem to be caused by a Martial Art technique," An expert stated in a discussion talk show. "For instance, Martial Art techniques, at the Squire level, at least, cannot erase matter from existence. Thus the theory that a Martial Squire, even if it's the notorious Voider, was responsible for the destruction of the head is a bit dubious because it begs the question of where the head actually went. Even if he destroyed it, the destroyed tissue would still be present. However, the publicized reports do not indicate any such finding."
"It is possible that the head was highly dense with esoteric substances," Another expert pushed back. "We also notice that the scales are missing, are they not? And were clearly extracted with care, not just ripped off by a beast. This would entertain the possibility that the beast was killed and all the parts of its body containing the desired resources, including the head and the scales."
There was considerable controversy over the matter, and many people either fell on one or the other side. Most people, however, were fascinated by both possibilities. After all, regardless of whether it was some apex predator or the Voider that utterly demolished the Earthen Basilisk, it would not change the fact that they possessed the power to do so, despite the Earthen Basilisk being a living nightmare to most people.
Most people hoped that it was a Martial Squire, rather than some unknown apex predator. After all, the former was fighting on the side of humans, while the latter was a threat. If it ever broke out, they would only be able to stop by employing Martial Squires unless it escaped outside of the range where Martial Seniors could not enter. In that case, the beast would be instantly annihilated by any Martial Senior.
Although people were awed by the beast, their faith in Martial Seniors was stronger. They did not believe that anything that emerged from the Shionel Dungeon was capable of challenging a Martial Senior.
Rui was liable to agree, although, he wasn't entirely certain that the predator responsible for killing the gigantic Earthen Basilisk was something Martial Squires could handle. The worst-case scenario was that it was beyond the Squire Realm, but just far enough below the Senior Realm that it did not trigger the defense mechanisms of the Shionel Dungeon. Meaning that there was a quasi-Senior level monster roaming around the dungeon, and the only ones who could deal with were Martial Squires.
Just this possibility alone made not just Rui, but also other Martial Squires who were traversing the dungeon, a lot warier of traveling too deep into it. If they ran into such a creature during their exploration, then they were more than likelier doomed. Perhaps the only people who could handle such a monster were S-rank adventurers. Rui supposed that a group of S-rank Martial Squires could potentially take on such a creature and win.
There were ways in which the strongest Squires of the Squire Realm could take on and potentially defeat something that broke the conventional limits of the Squire Realm.
Still, he would rather not have to deal with that.
KNOCK KNOCK.
Rui's eyes narrowed as he sensed a man standing outside their inn door.
"Were you expecting guests?" Kane frowned.
"No, just dreading them," Rui murmured as he recognized the emblem on the man's clothes. He opened the door, coming face to face with a well-groomed man who had a butler's attire on.
The man immediately bowed deeply, before addressing Rui.
"Squire Quarrier, forgive me for the disturbance, I have an important message to convey to you as the chief of staff assigned to aid Martial Commissioner Reze," He rose up from his gesture.
Rui immediately narrowed his eyes as he considered the name. He had never heard of Martial Commissioner Reze, but that was because Martial Commissioners were generally not renowned individuals in the Kandrian Empire.
The Martial Union only put a focus on its Martial Artists, all other humans were effectively relegated to the silent background even as they worked for Martial Squires. After all, it was an organization for Martial Squires, by Martial Squires, and from Martial Squires.
The man pulled out the Martial Union card of the Martial Commissioner, featuring his name, identity, and even a contact number, offering it to Rui.
The card specified that Martial Commissioner was a rank three Martial Commissioner, meaning he had the authority to craft Senior-level internal missions and deploy Martial Seniors in missions. This meant that he possessed a tremendous amount of power as far as Rui was concerned.
The fact that such a bigshot wanted to interact with him was even more confirmation of his suspicions. He had always known that it would be impossible to keep the Martial union on their back, and it appeared that there was a good chance that today was the day.
"What message?" Rui asked nonchalantly. "As far as I'm aware, I have no business with this Martial Commissioner."
"Commissioner Reze wishes to speak to you and your partner Kane Arrancar about some very important matters in person," The man explained. "If you are willing, we have a carriage that can take you to him immediately."
Rui considered the matter, before sighing. "Alright, we accept."
Soon enough two of them left their respective rooms, appropriately dressed as they headed out, to be welcomed by a rather low-key standard carriage, which surprised Rui considering the fact that it was sent by an important dignitary of the Martial Union.
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