A deep tremor rumbled beneath Belle's feet, the earth groaning as if something ancient and malevolent had stirred. Dust trickled down from the jagged rock formations surrounding the dungeon entrance, and in the eerie silence that followed, a single pulse of energy rippled through the air. It felt like the calm before a storm.
Then, the silence shattered.
A guttural roar erupted from the abyss, the sound so forceful it sent vibrations coursing through Belle's chest. The dungeon's entrance became a gaping maw as a monstrous horde surged forth like a living flood. The first wave had been merely a taste—this was the real assault.
Goblins, their sinewy bodies covered in filth and scars, charged wildly, their rusted blades glinting under the dim light. Their shrill screeches melded into a cacophony of violence. Kobolds slithered out in coordinated formations, their reptilian eyes glowing with cunning malice as they brandished jagged spears. Towering armored bears followed, their sheer bulk making the ground tremble with each step, their thick hides an almost impenetrable wall of muscle and fur.
Belle exhaled, shifting her stance. Her silver eyes hardened as she took in the overwhelming numbers. There were hundreds of them. But her heartbeat remained steady. This was not the time for doubt.
Aura Sense–Activate.
The world around her sharpened. Every flicker of movement, every subtle shift in air pressure, every pounding heartbeat—she could feel it all. The battlefield slowed in her perception, allowing her to react before the enemy even made a move.
The goblins struck first, lunging at her in a mad frenzy. Belle moved like flowing water, sidestepping a wicked dagger aimed for her throat. She caught the goblin's arm mid-swing and used its own momentum against it, hurling the creature into two of its brethren. A kobold darted forward, thrusting its spear at her back, but she twisted, grabbing the weapon just before impact. With a flick of her wrist, the spear splintered in half, and a devastating knee to the kobold's gut sent it crumpling to the ground.
A monstrous bellow echoed as one of the armored bears barreled toward her, each thundering step a prelude to destruction. Belle stood her ground, waiting until the last possible moment. Then she exploded upward, her fist driving into the beast's underbelly with the force of a cannon. The massive creature skidded backward, its weight causing the ground to quake as it tumbled over its own kind.
But there were too many.
For every monster she felled, more poured forth, a relentless tide with no end in sight. The goblins swarmed, striking from all angles. The kobolds adapted, their movements more refined, their attacks more precise. The armored bears were slow but unstoppable, forcing her to weave and maneuver just to avoid being crushed under their massive frames.
Then she heard it. A scream.
Her gaze snapped toward the injured knights positioned further back. The monsters had shifted their attention. Goblins, sensing weakness, peeled away from the battle to descend upon the wounded warriors. One knight, barely able to lift his sword, raised a trembling hand in defense as a goblin leapt at him, dagger poised for the kill.
Belle moved before she could think. Her hand shot forward, a surge of energy racing through her veins. A burst of fire roared to life, a swirling inferno erupting from her palm. The searing flames engulfed the goblins in an instant, their shrieks of agony lost beneath the crackling blaze. The sudden heat forced the advancing monsters to recoil, giving her precious seconds to reposition herself between the knights and the horde.
But using magic had a price. The monsters noticed. They adjusted accordingly. Kobolds rushed her in droves, spears darting with deadly precision. Belle twisted and dodged, but a single strike found its mark, a jagged tip grazing her shoulder. A minor wound, but enough to remind her—she was not invincible.
Two armored bears charged at once, their sheer bulk tearing through their own ranks in their mad rush to crush her. Belle met them head-on, hands gripping the first one's fur. With a mighty heave, she flipped the beast over her shoulder, its massive form crashing into the second bear with a bone-shattering impact. The resulting tremor sent dust and debris into the air, momentarily blinding the battlefield.
She inhaled sharply, scanning the chaos around her. Dozens of monsters lay defeated, their twisted forms littering the ground. But the horde had not slowed.
She clenched her fists. Her energy reserves were dipping, but she could not afford to falter.
Belle exhaled sharply, her breath coming in controlled but deliberate intervals. Despite her strength and speed, the unrelenting flood of monsters was taking its toll. Her silver eyes flickered between the enemies still standing and the injured knights behind her. The moment she hesitated, the tide would overwhelm them. She had no choice but to keep moving.
A pair of kobolds darted toward her, their jagged spears glinting under the dungeon's dim light. Belle twisted her body to evade the first strike, the spearhead narrowly missing her ribs. In the same motion, she grabbed the wooden shaft and yanked the kobold forward, driving her knee into its snout. A sickening crunch echoed as blood splattered across the cold stone. Before its companion could react, she spun, using the broken spear as an improvised dagger, and drove it into the second kobold's throat.
More monsters surged forward. Goblins with chipped swords, armored bears growling with primal fury, a fresh wave of kobolds coordinating their attacks. They weren't mindless. They were adjusting, testing her limits. Belle narrowed her eyes.
Then, a roar unlike any before cut through the chaos. The dungeon trembled. From the abyssal darkness beyond the shattered entrance, something massive stirred. The remaining monsters momentarily hesitated, shifting their attention. Even Belle felt a cold sensation run down her spine.
A figure emerged—no, a beast. Towering over the others, a monstrous ogre lumbered forward. Its sickly gray skin was covered in deep cracks, pulsating with an eerie crimson glow. Thick, jagged horns protruded from its skull, and its yellowed fangs jutted outward in a permanent snarl. The sheer pressure it radiated was suffocating. Unlike the lesser creatures, this one exuded an unmistakable malice, a primal hunger.
Belle's grip tightened. This one looked different from the ogres she fought before. This was the real threat.
The ogre let out a guttural bellow, and as if given an order, the remaining monsters charged with renewed aggression. The goblins shrieked as they sprinted forward, scrambling over one another to reach her. The kobolds moved in a pincer formation, their spears thrusting in from multiple angles. The armored bears, once lumbering, now moved with terrifying speed, barreling toward her like living battering rams.
Belle barely had a second to react. She ducked low, narrowly avoiding a swipe from an armored bear's claws, then leaped backward, twisting mid-air to evade a kobold's spear. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she shifted her stance, hands glowing with residual embers.
No more holding back.
Electricity crackled along her fingertips, intertwining with the residual flames still clinging to her skin. A surge of power pulsed through her veins. The air around her grew charged, heavy with impending devastation.
Then, she struck.
Belle lunged forward, her movements blurring with inhuman speed. She wove through the battlefield, her fists colliding with monstrous flesh, sending shockwaves through the ground. Each strike carried both fire and lightning—flames erupted with every impact, scorching through flesh and armor, while electric arcs danced between enemies, stunning them mid-attack.
Goblins fell, their bodies igniting like dry parchment. Kobolds convulsed as lightning surged through their scales, dropping them where they stood. Even the armored bears faltered, their thick hides sizzling under the unrelenting assault.
The battlefield became a storm of fire and fury.
And then, she faced the ogre. The massive creature swung its colossal arm, aiming to swat her like an insect. Belle darted beneath the strike, rolling to the side as the impact shattered the ground where she once stood. She retaliated instantly, a bolt of lightning lashing from her palm, striking the beast's chest. The ogre grunted, but barely flinched. The crimson glow pulsed along its body, absorbing the shock like a sponge.
Its resistance to magic was stronger than she expected. The ogre's mouth twisted into a wicked grin, as if mocking her. It raised its arm again, this time bringing down a devastating fist. Belle leaped to the side, but the sheer force of the impact sent a shockwave outward, knocking her off balance.
The monster seized the opportunity. A second blow came before she could fully recover. She barely managed to brace herself as the ogre's fist connected, sending her flying. She crashed against the tree, the impact rattling her bones. Pain flared through her side, but she forced herself to her feet.
I can't afford to slow down. Not now.
The ogre stomped toward her, its steps shaking the very ground. Belle wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her silver eyes burning with renewed determination.
"I need more power."
Belle took a deep breath, steadying her heartbeat. Then, she reached deep within herself—into the wellspring of energy that had always been there.
Aura Amplification—Activate.
The effect was immediate. A pulse of power surged through her veins, spreading outward like wildfire. Her silver eyes burned with renewed intensity as a faint, shimmering aura flared to life around her, distorting the air with raw energy. The dungeon trembled in response, as if recoiling from the sheer force she now radiated.
The goblins hesitated, their primal instincts warning them of the shift in power. But the ogre, undeterred, let out a guttural roar and charged.
Belle didn't wait. In an instant, she moved.
The ground beneath her cracked as she launched herself forward, her speed now nearly impossible to track with the naked eye. The first goblin in her path barely had time to react before her fist shattered its skull in a single blow, its body crumpling to the ground. The second goblin tried to raise its rusted dagger—Belle twisted mid-air, delivering a spinning kick that sent the creature flying into a pack of kobolds, toppling them like dominoes.
A trio of kobolds lunged at her in perfect synchronization, spears aiming for her vital points. Too slow.
She twisted her body, slipping between the spears with unnatural agility. Her hands flashed—one grabbing a spear mid-strike, snapping it in half, the other delivering a palm strike to a kobold's chest so powerful that it caved inward, sending the creature crashing into the dungeon wall with a sickening crunch. The last kobold barely had time to react before she drove her knee into its jaw, launching it into the air.
An armored bear barreled toward her, its thick hide an unbreakable wall of muscle and fur. But Belle wasn't the same as she had been moments ago. As it lunged, she met it head-on, slamming her fist into its snout with enough force to send a shockwave rippling outward. The beast staggered, dazed. Before it could recover, she dashed beneath its massive frame, grabbed it by the scruff, and—with an inhuman display of strength—lifted it off the ground and hurled it into another incoming monster.
The battlefield was shifting. The once-overwhelming tide of monsters was now faltering under Belle's relentless assault. The knights behind her, watching in stunned silence, could hardly believe their eyes. Was this truly the same girl who had become an adventurer recently?
Then came the ogre. It let out a guttural snarl, recognizing her power. Clutching its massive fist, it swung with terrifying speed—a single strike that could level trees, splinter boulders, and turn a lesser warrior into pulp.
Belle's eyes flickered. She had to time this perfectly. The fist came down like a meteor, shattering the earth where she had stood mere moments ago. But Belle wasn't there. She had already moved. Reappearing at the ogre's side, she drove her fist into its ribs with enough force to send a shockwave blasting through its massive frame. The beast howled in agony, staggering, its grip loosening.
Belle crouched low, gathering every ounce of power into her legs, before launching herself upward with a single, explosive leap. She shot into the sky. The ogre barely had time to look up before she descended upon it like a falling star.
Her fist, wreathed in shimmering aura, collided with the ogre's skull. The force of the impact created a shockwave so powerful that the surrounding goblins and kobolds were blown backward, their bodies tumbling across the battlefield. The ogre's eyes widened in shock, its entire body convulsing as cracks spread along its thick hide. Then, with a final, guttural gasp, it collapsed, the ground quaking beneath its massive weight.
For a brief moment, the battlefield was utterly still.
Belle exhaled, the glow of her aura flickering as she allowed the power to settle. Her heartbeat slowed, her body aching from the sheer exertion. But she had done it.
The second wave had been crushed.
The sun already hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the rugged terrain as the Dungeon Suppression Squad pressed forward. At the head of the column, Roderic moved with purpose, his sharp gaze scanning the battlefield ahead. The scent of blood thickened in the air, a grim omen of the chaos that had unfolded just beyond their path.
Then, they saw it. The aftermath of a one-sided slaughter stretched before them—goblins and armored bears lay scattered across the ground, their broken bodies twisted in unnatural angles. Some corpses bore deep impact wounds, as if they had been struck by an immense force. Others had been crushed outright, flattened against the jagged stone floor of the battlefield.
The squad came to a halt, staring in stunned silence at the devastation before them.
"This… was all Belle's doing?" one of the knights muttered, gripping the hilt of his sword with a mixture of awe and disbelief.
"She took care of this many already?" an adventurer whispered, his fingers tightening around his spear.
Roderic exhaled, his jaw tightening as he took in the sheer scope of the carnage. He had known Belle was strong from the reports—but this? This was beyond expectation.
"It's not just the number of kills," he said, his voice steady despite the unease growing in his chest. "Look how far these monsters made it from the dungeon. If she hadn't stopped them here, they'd be halfway to Dawnstead by now."
A heavy silence followed his words. The realization sank in, filling each member of the squad with a creeping sense of dread. Had Belle faltered—had she arrived even moments later—the town would have been under siege. The walls of Dawnstead, strong as they were, would not have withstood such an overwhelming horde.
"We can't waste any more time!" Roderic barked, snapping the squad out of their stunned stupor. "We move faster! If Belle is fighting alone, she's going to need backup!"
A surge of urgency rippled through the ranks. Armor clanked as knights adjusted their grips on their weapons, adventurers exchanged quick nods, and the entire squad pushed forward at an accelerated pace.
The uneven ground made for a treacherous march, the lingering corpses forcing them to weave through the battlefield carefully. The deeper they ventured, the more gruesome the scene became. The trail of destruction did not stop—it only grew more intense, the density of slain monsters increasing the closer they drew to the dungeon's entrance.
It was clear now. Belle hadn't been fighting in one place. She had been moving, striking with lethal precision, cutting down waves of enemies as she advanced. And even as powerful as she was, she was only one person against an army.
"She's buying time," a knight said under his breath. "She knew we were coming, and she held the line until we got here."
A mixture of admiration and guilt flickered across their faces. They had been marching for hours, but Belle had been fighting for far longer, alone, against the unrelenting tide.
Roderic clenched his fist. Three more hours until they reached the dungeon. Until then, Belle would have to hold the line alone.
End of Chapter 52