Chapter 156: No More Hesitation
The corridor of the dungeon's first floor was not nearly wide enough to allow several people to pass through comfortably, let alone dozens of adventurers moving together at once while battling, which was precisely why the entire force advanced in a single line, each party moving in sequence and maintaining their assigned positions.
At the very front, Seraphina and her party were clearing the path ahead, continuously cutting down the incoming swarms of monsters that emerged from the depths of the dungeon. The first wave had already been eliminated by Mistwalker herself, yet that victory did not signify the end of their struggle. In fact, it was nothing more than the opening act of a long and dreadful battle that awaited them ahead.
After entering the dungeon, they were not even given the slightest chance to slow their pace or properly take in their surroundings. Instead, they were almost instantly assaulted by a massive swarm of Goblin Kings. Naturally, this was something everyone had anticipated, since this was a full-scale Dungeon Break, and assuming a single type of monster would appear throughout an entire wave would have been nothing short of foolish, something none of the leaders present could be accused of.
Even so, many of the veteran adventurers were momentarily overwhelmed by fear, their bodies freezing as they were forced into battle against a high-ranking swarm right from the very beginning. However, they managed to overcome their fear far quicker than anyone might have anticipated.
Was it because of Mistwalker's overwhelming performance earlier? Had they felt a strange sense of hope rising within their chests when they witnessed her cutting through monsters as easily as chopping vegetables? Or perhaps envy crept into their hearts, pushing them to move forward? Maybe she had simply given them the determination they needed to fight back.
No one knew the true reason, but something had undoubtedly changed within them. As a result, before the leaders even had the chance to issue their orders, the adventurers had already readied themselves and leapt into battle. They were capable warriors, after all. Nearly every one of them had faced countless adversaries in the past and had emerged victorious. They had fought in pursuit of glory, rewards, and strength, always with their lives hanging by a thread, so this was not an unfamiliar situation to them.
The only difference now was that the adversaries standing before them were far stronger than anything they had faced before, but that too felt acceptable, since their new leaders were stronger as well.
At first, things were going very smoothly, but then several problems arose at once.
Since the parties had been hastily formed based on individual abilities and combat potential, many adventurers were separated from their original teams and placed alongside unfamiliar comrades. As such, they struggled to keep pace with one another and often failed to coordinate properly, since they knew nothing about each other's combat styles and could not fully grasp how their new teammates moved in battle. It had become so much worse that at times they even obstructed one another's movements during battle.
Such mistakes could have easily led to instant death, but they managed to hold themselves together by strictly following their leaders' orders. They understood that obedience reduced the risk of collision and confusion.
Despite that, the leader at the front was constantly occupied, forced to battle multiple creatures at once in order to reduce the pressure placed upon her teammates, which made it difficult for her to rescue them whenever danger struck at the last possible moment.
Even that had been accounted for.
The rear party had been formed specifically to handle such emergencies, positioned at a slight distance behind the frontline, ready to provide assistance whenever it was needed.
For instance, when an adventurer struggled against a Goblin King for too long, the archers would immediately loose their arrows toward the monster's face or eyes, disrupting its movements or blinding it entirely, which granted the struggling fighter a clear opportunity to finish the battle with far greater ease.
At the same time, long-ranged mages continuously cast their spells, slowing monsters, trapping them in place, or inflicting severe damage almost instantly.
However, whenever a few monsters managed to break through the frontline and threatened the rear, they were met by the rear leader standing firmly in their path. A swarm could cause brief trouble, yet a handful of monsters meant nothing to an S-Ranked adventurer, and breaking through their defenses was nearly impossible.
Perhaps that was precisely why even the rear parties had been assigned a capable leader, ensuring the protection of both the support units and the resting adventurers at the same time.
''It really is a much better formation than I originally expected. At this pace, I might even get the chance to fight as well. But…'
Standing some distance behind the battling parties alongside his own group, Kael cast a sideways glance toward the far edge of the corridor, where Mistwalker stood quietly while leaning against the wall with her back half-turned, her posture relaxed yet alert as she appeared to be calmly observing the chaos unfolding ahead of them.
A deep frown slowly formed on his face, the lens of his glasses faintly reflecting the dim torchlight that flickered behind her silhouette.
'...I highly doubt she would let any monster slip past her, though. For now... let's—'
Before he could finish his thought, Mistwalker glanced over her shoulder in his direction, or at least it seemed that way, then tilted her head ever so slightly as if acknowledging something unseen rather than directly acknowledging him.
Kael immediately looked away, his expression returning to neutrality as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.
'Huh? Is she able to feel my gaze or what?'
Even if she truly had sensed him watching, what was he supposed to do about it anyway, since it was not as though he had been the only one paying attention to her presence, considering that many of the surrounding party members had been stealing glances her way as well, either out of open envy or out of quiet reverence toward the massacre she had carried out outside the dungeon.
But still… why had she ignored Seraphina so blatantly in front of everyone earlier? Was that simply how she behaved around people? Or was there something more to that cold indifference she carried so effortlessly?
Still, no matter how often people whispered about her arrogance, she was also the same person who had rushed forward after hearing Celeste's desperate shout and the same person who had saved two complete strangers from monsters without ever waiting to hear a plea for help. Was that truly how an arrogant person would usually behave when faced with such moments?
'Well, I don't know what to think of her yet.'
One thing, however, felt certain to him, since no matter how aloof or distant she appeared on the surface, she must have possessed a genuinely kind heart beneath it all. Then again, why exactly Mr. Handsome had not trusted her enough to reveal his real name during his vision?
Was it simply because she was still a stranger to him? Or was it because he never intended to let her learn about his true identity at all?
At that exact moment, a chilling shriek echoed from somewhere deep within the dungeon, its sound so sharp and oppressive that it made every monster pause in place as though seized by an invisible hand, while even the stone floor beneath their feet seemed to shudder in response.
Everyone froze, though only briefly.
Hovering in mid-air as if gravity itself had loosened its hold on her, Seraphina twisted her body just enough to align her strike and brought her sword down with incredible speed upon the towering creature's neck, slicing cleanly through it in a single fluid motion before issuing her command in a cold, commanding voice.
"The monsters are currently distracted... so, cut down your foes immediately... and keep moving forward. No more hesitation."
The Goblin King's massive body swayed unsteadily as it reached the verge of collapse, and before it could crash to the ground, Seraphina delivered a devastating kick to its broad shoulder, using the recoil from her own strike to propel herself forward as brilliant sparks of blue lightning began to crackle around her in perfect harmony.
Time itself seemed to slow as she soared through the air, her movement sharp and direct like that of a launched javelin, while her sword trailed behind her, glowing with the same lightning that danced across her armor.
In the next moment, she appeared directly in front of another creature, and before it could even register her presence, she drove her glowing blade downward into its neck, splitting its head apart as she withdrew the sword in a single seamless motion. Thin smoke curled along the edges of the blade while no blood spilled forth.
In that same motion, she struck its shoulder with her foot to propel herself upward, immediately cutting through another monster in the blink of an eye.
The Goblin Kings were indeed A-Ranked monsters, yet they were nothing more than warped evolutions of ordinary goblins born from a corrupted ecosystem, creatures that had grown stronger on the outside while remaining hollow and underdeveloped within, unable to properly control the newfound power they wielded. As a result, when the shriek of a high-ranking boss echoed from the deep, even they were rendered motionless by fear.
"It appears even the insidious monsters are capable of feeling fear. How peculiar!"
Seizing that fleeting moment of terror to her advantage, Seraphina launched herself once more toward the immobilized creatures with every ounce of strength and speed she could muster, the wind shrieking sharply around her as her long silver hair streamed wildly behind her.
Her figure became almost indistinct to the naked eye, save for the lightning that clung to her form, while her sword moved so rapidly that it seemed to strike several times at once within mere seconds, each appearance in front of a monster followed by a violent impact that blasted it aside before she surged onward to the next target without pause.
Some creatures fell behind her almost at once, their black blood spilling from torn bodies and spreading across the stone floor until its colour visibly changed beneath them.
Surely, no one seemed to have any serious problem continuing to fight these creatures for a longer time either, as they were far weaker and slower than the Star-Eyed Diggers Mistwalker had faced earlier, which allowed the adventurers to gradually grow accustomed to their movements and defeat them with relative ease through the brief coordination they had learned along the way. If they were able to fight more like this, they would undoubtedly learn even more and sharpen their teamwork further.
However, the number of these creatures was steadily becoming overwhelming, and as more of them emerged, the time required to defeat each one increased noticeably, especially due to the fact that they were towering beings whose massive frames demanded several solid attacks before they could be brought down. At this rate, her comrades would end up exhausted simply from dealing with these creatures alone. And Seraphina could not afford to be careless about such a possibility.
After all, they would be facing a boss sooner or perhaps shortly after this wave was over, and if her members were already drained by then, then how would they be able to properly assist her against a powerful creature that possessed an element of its own and carried strength far beyond the ordinary monsters they were currently fighting? Would they truly be able to support her in that decisive battle?
Surely not.
Then what meaning would there be in gaining experience earlier if they were unable to fight when it truly mattered later on? Would that not make all of it nearly pointless?
Of course, she would be able to battle the boss alone and even defeat it without assistance, but having assistance would ease the pressure resting on her shoulders and allow the quest to proceed far more smoothly than it otherwise would. That was precisely why she chose to obliterate these creatures when the perfect chance presented itself, allowing her comrades to conserve their strength… at least for now.
'I will make sure to use their strength properly later on.'
As she brought her sword down to slice the last monster apart, something strange occurred without any warning.
Instead of remaining frozen in shock like the others, the creature in front of her finally moved, its fingers twitching before it noticed Seraphina almost instantly.
It tightened its grip around the hilt of its large, jagged battleaxe and swung it down at her hovering figure with terrifying speed, while she herself had already committed to her own downward strike, fully prepared to cleave the creature apart.
The sound of steel meeting steel rang out as their weapons collided in a deafening clash that echoed through the corridor.
It seemed Seraphina had not been fast enough to land her attack first, and instead she was forced into a defensive position.
Was she distracted for a brief moment? Or was this particular Goblin King simply far faster than she had anticipated?
Before she could properly consider it, the immense pressure behind the strike sent her flying several meters backward through the air, an outcome made worse by the fact that she was hovering with nothing beneath her to anchor herself or deflect the force. Even so, she could not ignore the sensation that the strength behind that single blow was several times greater than that of the usual creatures she had faced. Or perhaps she was imagining it.
Soon, she crashed into the motionless body of another creature nearby, then rolled across the floor a few times before regaining her footing in a swift sliding motion. Parts of her armor were now stained with black blood, and while the impact had left a slight dent on both the fallen creature and her armor, the damage was minimal and barely noticeable.
'It was not mere imagination, I am quite certain… the creature became stronger on the spot, and within this dungeon there is only one way monsters can grow stronger like that, and that is through…'
She raised her gaze toward the creature, whose greenish skin and bulging muscles were visibly tightening across its entire body, its grotesque face twisting briefly as it let out a pained growl. Its form grew taller in a matter of moments, and two twisted horns began to protrude from its forehead almost instantly, solidifying as its transformation progressed.
'…evolution. That means it is about to gain an ability of its own. I must eliminate it before that happens.'
"Captain! Are you alright?"
She did not even turn around to see who had shouted, as they were clearly still engaged in battle with other creatures, and instead responded in a cold tone, "I am perfectly fine. You should be more concerned about yourselves. These goblins are about to turn into Elder Goblins, or worse, into Warlords. If you do not wish to battle the latter, then finish them immediately."
She leaned forward slightly and glanced over her shoulder. "Sir Valric, you are to assist them. I can handle this creature on my own."
With that, she dashed forward toward the lunging creature in front of her, yet the very moment she moved, her body became almost blurry, as though she existed within that space and at the same time did not, her figure flickering in a way that made it difficult to properly perceive her presence.
The creature let out a low growl at such an unnatural sight and brought its jagged battleaxe crashing downward toward her blurred form with overwhelming strength that distorted the air around it.
Before the weapon could reach her, however, Seraphina leapt backward, narrowly evading the strike as the battleaxe slammed into the floor instead. Its impact was so violent that the ground nearly shattered beneath it, sending shards of stone and dust bursting outward in every direction.
Weaving through the flying rubble as though it were nothing more than drifting dust, Seraphina vaulted over the embedded weapon and onto the creature's grip upon the handle, using the momentum to launch herself forward while drawing her sword into position to deliver a swift and decisive strike toward its neck.
Given the thickness and resilience of the creature's muscles, far greater than most monsters she had encountered before, the neck remained the only truly vulnerable area, thinner and less protected, an area she had already severed cleanly several times during this battle.
However, just before she could accomplish that, the creature narrowed its glowing orange eyes upon her. Its massive body leaned backward abruptly as it released its weapon without hesitation and snapped both of its massive hands together with terrifying speed, attempting to crush her suspended form within the thunderous clap of its palms.
Seraphina blinked once or twice behind the visor of her helmet.
'Ah, that's rather unusual.'
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(Chapter Ended)