[Author's Announcement: Hello readers, I apologize for being away for so long. I've had difficulties in my personal life that really discouraged me and made me stop many things. I'm back now and will start stockpiling chapters. The plan is to build up 10 chapters, in addition to the 10 already on Patreon, and then resume publishing 2–3 times a week, so there won't be long gaps in case something happens. I'll probably only get back to a steady, normal routine in about two weeks, so enjoy chapter 56 if you're still here. If you don't want to wait for a two-week gap and still want to see consistent progress, I recommend subscribing when I release chapter 47 on Webnovel and chapter 57 on Patreon, which means I'll already have the chapters stocked up.]
The crystal ceiling of the eighteenth floor exploded with a roar that tore through the air, and the Under Resort, once a luminous paradise, plunged into an almost palpable darkness. Only the menacing glow of emerging monsters and the distant shimmer of the lakes and Rivira cut through the gloom. An icy grip crushed Hachiman's chest – it wasn't fear, it was the cold certainty of imminent disaster. Two Goliaths, and not just any Goliaths, but Level 5 mutants, and a ravenous army of monsters from the nineteenth floor – Bugbears, bloodthirsty Battle Boars, agile Lizardmen, incendiary Firebirds, venomous Vouivres, armored Mad Beetles. The perfect recipe for a bloodbath.
He needed to reach the evacuation point, or whatever command center Rivira, with its usual efficiency, must already be setting up. 'Bell and the others… Loki's camp… Tsubaki and Aqua should already be on the surface, damn it!' His mind raced, calculating routes and risks.
Swallowing the bile of premonition, Hachiman recomposed himself in the blink of an eye. Kanshou and Bakuya materialized in his hands, faithful and cold. Without a second thought, he shot off in the direction he remembered being the path to Rivira and, by extension, to the Loki camp. He hoped, prayed, to find some minimally organized resistance. The forest was already teeming with the aberrations from the 19th floor. Propelled by stats that bordered on the absurd for his level, he became a blur tearing through the gloom. A Minotaur appeared, blocking his path; its head rolled before the bestial roar could fully escape its throat. He leaped onto the back of a treacherous Lygerfang that attempted an ambush, using the creature as an impromptu springboard and, still in mid-air, projected and threw a Thunder Blade that disintegrated the head of a hissing Vouivre. He spat out unstable mana daggers, one after another, carving bloody swaths through the growing horde of Bugbears and Battle Boars.
Finally, the silhouette of the "peak" emerged – a rocky elevation near Rivira, an informal meeting point for adventurers, now a tense, improvised refuge. And there, the scene he found was a portrait of despair: Bell, Mikoto, Lili, and Welf, exhausted, their eyes wide with dread. Hermes and Asfi were there, the god's carefree mask cracked by a palpable tension. Ryuu Lion, as always, maintained a combat stance, ready for the worst. Hestia was trying, in vain, to calm a trembling Bell. And some members of the Takemikazuchi Familia looked like lost souls, completely adrift.
But it was another figure that made Hachiman's blood boil, bringing back all the contained fury of the previous night. A goddess with vibrant blue hair, her party dress now wrinkled and soot-stained, stared at the destruction with eyes that shone… with wonder? Aqua.
And then, the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place with a painful snap. The grotesque deviation from the original "script," the absurd escalation of danger, two Goliaths, the avalanche of monsters from the 19th floor… 'Her. It's all her fault.'
Ignoring the looks of surprise and relief his arrival provoked, Hachiman marched, stiffly, straight towards Aqua. He grabbed her by the shoulders, urgency and anger overflowing unfiltered. "Aqua! What the hell are you still doing in the Dungeon?! Didn't I tell you to go up with Tsubaki and the Loki Familia?!"
Aqua shrank under his fulminating gaze, a bizarre mixture of guilt and a childish, stubborn pride. She stuck out her tongue and patted her own head. "Ah, well… it's just that… you know? After Tsubaki-san and the others blew up that weirdo monster on the seventeenth floor, when we were going up…" (Hachiman deduced, with a knot in his stomach, that she was referring to the normal Goliath that should have appeared on the 17th) "...I thought it would be fun to take another stroll through the eighteenth while I waited for you! I was going to leave with you today, Hachi, I promise!" She paused, and her face lit up with a triumph that made Hachiman want to scream. "Then, when I got back to Rivira, I found that busty Hestia going at it with some adventurers! She was blasting divine power everywhere! So I thought, 'Yay, trouble!' And I decided to help, right? I summoned my most potent holy water to teach them a lesson too!" And she still had the audacity to strike a victory pose.
A vein throbbed on Hachiman's forehead. The two idiots, releasing divine power on the 18th floor, even if "limited"... it was the trigger. Enough to piss off the Dungeon to its core, destabilize the entire floor, and attract… that. He lost his composure. A sharp knock landed forcefully on Aqua's head. "OUCH! Hachiman, you brute, you meanie!" "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THE TROUBLE YOU'VE CAUSED?!" he hissed, through gritted teeth. "You can say goodbye to your jewels, sweets, and any useless luxury for a very, VERY long time!" Aqua started to cry, clutching her head, more from the financial threat than the impact.
Shooting Hermes a look that promised a reckoning – 'You! You irresponsible fool, you're the one who brought these two here!' – Hachiman turned to the other adventurers, his voice now a cold, cutting whip. "We have no choice. It's fight or become monster food. The exits from Rivira must be clogged or under heavy attack. We have an army of creatures out there and two colossal Goliaths on our tail." The realization seemed to dawn on the group in slow motion. No one dared to breathe properly. Even Hermes, the great instigator of the original spat with Hestia, wore a complicated grimace; the scale of the problem had clearly extrapolated – by a lot – his frivolous plans.
"I'll try to gather the adventurers in Rivira, organize some kind of defense!" Asfi offered, practical and direct as always. Ryuu Lion nodded, the deadly glint in her eyes reflecting on her wooden blades. "I can try to hold off one of the Goliaths. The others need to clear the surrounding area, provide cover."
"I'll go with you, Asfi," Hachiman decided. "And I'll try to delay the other Goliath." He shot a sidelong glance at Aqua. 'I need to know the damage… and what I have to work with.' Before leaving the relative safety of the peak, he pulled Aqua aside, ignoring her sobs. "Come on. Update my status. Quick." She obeyed, sniffling loudly.
Hikigaya Hachiman Level: 2 (Initial Status of the Day: S:H-118, E:H-123, D:H-109, A:H-115, M:I-80)
Strength: E-468 Endurance: E-481 Dexterity: E-456 Agility: E-473 Magic: C-690
Magic: [Unlimited Blade Works] (Hidden) [Single Strike] (Hidden)
Skill: [A Loner's Protection] (Hidden) [Savage Determination] (Hidden) [Beloved by the Forge] (Hidden)
Development Ability: [Blacksmith: F] [Mystery: H] [Rune: I] (Newly Acquired)
'Rank E in base attributes, almost at 500. Magic Rank C… and a new DA: Rune I?' Hachiman absorbed the information in a fraction of a second. He hadn't updated his status since his first, short foray as a Level 2, while farming monsters on the 13th floor. The gains from that slaughter on the 13th and the brutal fight against the horde and the Minotaurs/Lygerfangs on the 17th floor had been absurd for a single day. But there was no time to drool over the numbers.
He left Aqua and Hestia under the precarious protection of the remaining adventurers of the Takemikazuchi Familia on the peak. Before throwing himself back into hell, his mind forged a solution. "Trace On!" He focused, not on blades, but on support. Two silver rings glittered in his hands. 'Angelica Cathay. Bradamante's ring. Nullifies low to mid-level magic, buffs the defense of nearby allies, grants brief invisibility.' He quickly explained the functions to a stunned Aqua and Hestia, and to the other curious onlookers who approached, their faces a mixture of shock and hope. "Use these to protect yourselves. And don't leave here, understood?" He handed a ring to each goddess. Hermes, sniffing an opportunity, approached with an oily smile. "Well, well, Hachiman-kun, wouldn't you have one of those for an old friend in need?" Hachiman just incinerated him with a glare. "Figure it out yourself, Hermes. This whole mess is more your fault than anyone else's here."
Ignoring the god with a grunt, Hachiman dashed in the direction Asfi had taken, towards Rivira. He found her in moments, already coordinating a small group of adventurers. The problem? They were being swallowed by a horde of at least fifty monsters. Hachiman wasted no time. "Trace On!" Ten Thunder Blades materialized, hovering in the air, crackling with unstable energy. He then channeled his 'Single Strike' magic, not into a single sword, but dividing his intent, overloading all ten projections at once. With a roar that tore through the cacophony of battle, he launched them. The ten superheated Thunder Blades detonated in the middle of the enemy formation with overwhelming explosive force, vaporizing the immediate threat. 'Two Angelica Cathays and that attack… there goes three-quarters of my mana.' He pulled out a high-quality mana potion, the kind Amid sold for a king's ransom, and downed the contents in one go, feeling the magical power flow back, though not entirely.
Asfi stared at him, her eyes wide with the display of raw power. The other adventurers, however, even with the momentary respite, remained paralyzed, fear plastered on their faces like a mask of horror. The overall situation was still a nightmare.
"YOU USELESS FOOLS!" Hachiman bellowed, his voice laden with a cold urgency and a palpable contempt for their inertia. "Don't you see the only damn choice is to FIGHT?! We're trapped, the exits blocked, and we have two abnormal Goliaths sniffing out our blood! If we stand around like idiots, then yes, we'll die without the slightest chance!" The words were a punch to the gut, but the truth in them was undeniable. They knew. But terror was a shackle.
"EVERYONE, WATCH OUT!" The desperate cry came from the direction of the forest.
Hachiman whirled around sharply. And there they were. The two Goliaths. They had sniffed out the group and were now advancing like two mountains of fury and muscle, the ground trembling with each colossal step. Ryuu, Bell, and Mikoto were right behind them, a pathetic sight of desperation, fruitlessly trying to stop or divert them.
'Shit, shit, shit!' Hachiman cursed mentally. Run now? No way. That would break what little morale the other adventurers had left. And many there wouldn't stand a chance against the speed of those beasts. Seeing the gigantic fists of the two titans descending upon the group like divine hammers, an image, a name, a concept of absolute defense flashed in his mind, an echo of his most fundamental power.
He raised his hand, his voice echoing with a strength that didn't seem his own, a mixture of prayer and absolute command: "RHO AIAS!"
Seven petals of pure ethereal light, each shaped like an iridescent, translucent flower, materialized before Hachiman and the terrified adventurers behind him, overlapping to form a seven-layered shield of pure protective energy. The next instant, the two Goliaths' fists collided with the barrier in a thunderous impact. The first two petals shattered like glass, the shockwave making Hachiman stagger, the impact causing the ground beneath his feet to tremble and the air to crackle. He felt his mana being drained at a dizzying speed. 'I'm still not strong enough to maintain the true power of Rho Aias for long!'
"GET READY!" he roared to the adventurers behind him, who were staring at him as if he were a divine avatar. The sight of that defensive magic, unknown and incredibly powerful, blocking two Goliaths at once, seemed to finally snap something within them, breaking the paralysis of fear. Mord Latro, a veteran Level 2 and a respected figure among those present, was the first to find his voice. "YOU HEARD THE KID! GET YOUR WEAPONS! MAGES, PREPARE YOUR SPELLS! DEFEND THE DAMN LINE!"
The Goliaths recoiled slightly, preparing another assault. Hachiman turned quickly to Mord. "Can you gather the mages? I need a concentrated attack, the strongest they've got!" "You got it!" Mord confirmed, already bellowing orders to the nearest casters. "Asfi!" Hachiman called, his voice tense. "When they're ready, let me know! The signal to attack will be when one of these giants kisses the ground!" The Goliaths attacked again, their fury doubled. Three more layers of Rho Aias shattered under the brutal blows. Hachiman swallowed another mana potion, his head beginning to throb with the superhuman effort. He looked at Ryuu, Bell, and Mikoto, who had finally reached him, panting. "I'm going to draw one of them to me! You take care of the other! We need to separate them, it's our only chance!"
Without waiting for a response, he dispelled what remained of Rho Aias. With a speed that defied logic, he projected two Thunder Blades, each crackling with the concentrated energy of 'Single Strike,' and hurled them like lightning bolts into the eyes of one of the Goliaths. The creature roared, a sound of excruciating pain and pure agony, as the explosions ripped out its eyeballs and part of its monstrous face. Blinded and enraged, the Goliath began to thrash about, crushing trees and rocks around it.
"NOW!" Hachiman yelled to the others, and then darted away from the main group, in the opposite direction of the other Goliath. He continued to launch unstable mana daggers at the blind and furious creature, which, even with its face already beginning to regenerate at frightening speed, now pursued him with a singular, blind fury, ignoring everything else. The hunt, or rather, the baiting, had begun.