The morning came, and after everyone had rested well and eaten their fill, it was decided that we would be moving further in the dungeon. Those selected, besides the obvious level-6s, were Ais, Ryuu, Alise, Kaguya, Asfi, Lydia, Lyra, Raul, Aki, Tiona, Tione, and me.
There was talk of letting Filvis and Lefiya accompany us, but it was decided that it was a little too early for them, as we would be going to the unexplored regions of the dungeon, and they were deemed too inexperienced for this.
All of us were gathered near the entrance, which would take us to the next floor, and seeing us off were the rest of the adventurers, who would be protecting our camp on the 50th floor.
"Take care, everyone." "Be safe," "good luck," Voices called out while we prepared to descend.
"Yes, all of you as well, make sure to protect the camp until we come back with the good news. Then we will depart now," Finn said, and we set foot on the stairs that would take us to the next floor.
When we reached the fifty-first floor, I scanned the place where we'd arrived, and just as they said, it was a whole labyrinth, in the form of a perfect rectangular path. The walls, ground, and ceiling were flat; the whole structure seemed precisely measured, with equal space between floor and ceiling.
As we walked further, many corners and crossroads existed across the floor, leading to darkness, and no one said anything; even the usual loudmouths—Alise, Tiona, and Lydia—fell silent, eyes scanning for monsters.
"GRAAAWWWHH!!"
We'd walked about 100 meters away from the stairs when a deafening growl echoed from one of the passages. Several huge monsters—bipedal rhinos easily over two meters tall—rushed toward us.
"Everyone, just as discussed earlier, conserve your energy for the floors below and work in small teams!" Finn gave the command, everyone readied their weapons and lunged at the monsters.
Ais was the first one to take down the monster. A shield of air formed around her as her durandal blade cleaved through the tough hide of the monster.
Another black rhino quickly raised its fist, with enough strength to flatten a level-2 or even some level-3 adventurer with a single blow, and brought it down on Ais, but before the attack could hit her, Ais already backed off, the monster's attack still in motion, giving Ryuu the chance to stab it from behind, killing it with a single blow.
Finn and Gareth dominated the battlefield, with Gareth tanking every attack with his shield, while Finn stabbed through the monsters like a needle going through clothes; his spear shone brilliantly as it drank monster blood.
Tiona and Tione worked together to take on a single monster, with Tione constantly stabbing the monster's joints with her kukri knife, slowing it down for Tiona to attack it. They kept using that tactic, killing one monster after another, steadily increasing the kill count.
Alise and Kaguya, being level-5s, were strong enough to take down monsters all by themselves, just like Ryuu and Ais, but just as discussed, they worked together to take down monsters. Alise stabbed the beast through its abdomen, weakening it, and leaped toward the next, leaving Kaguya to deal with the one behind.
Kaguya, with her graceful swordmanship, separated the monster's head from its body with a single swing of her katana, using one of her iai attacks. The monster fell to its knees, leaving nothing but ash and a magic stone behind. While Kaguya ran after Alise.
Asfi fought alongside Lydia, using her throwing knives to blind the monster, making it easier for Lydia to take it down. But Asfi didn't just provide support. She drew her sword, stabbing another monster that tried to attack Lydia.
Riveria and I were at the very back, using our magic to keep the monster from overwhelming us.
My blue flame spear tore through the monster, and Riveria used her ice magic to freeze all the monsters in their track while avoiding hitting our allies, showing her impressive command over the magic. No matter how many times I see it, it always leaves me in amazement, especially since I knew how hard it is to control the magic to this degree. If my magic were the same as the one used in this world, it would have taken me a lot longer to control my magic to this degree.
"There is really no end to them," I said, looking over at the horde of monsters that didn't seem to diminish one bit.
"It's nothing compared to what we will encounter in the dragon urn," Riveria replied, our gaze not leaving the battlefield even for a moment as we converse.
"Really? I mean, I heard a lot from you already, but is it really that bad?" I asked back.
For that one moment, Riveria's jade eyes met mine, and she gave a smile, but this one was not filled with warmth as it usually is.
____________________________________________________________________________
Oh, it's bad, alright… I thought as we ran through the maze, I looked back to see the path we had taken littered with large holes, and remembered the scene from the anime when Lefiya fell in one of them, going straight down to the fifty-eighth floor. Just when I was reminiscing, another pillar of flame rose, leaving another hole through the floor.
"Arin, do you have a death wish? Stop slowing down!" Kaguya called out, running in the middle of our ranks, with me at the rear-most end of our group behind the supporters.
"I AM running!" I cried when I saw a large snake—Silver worm—in front of our group, blocking our path. I conjured a large spear of blue flames and hurled it at the monster, but the beast, with its otherworldly agility, tried to avoid it, but my magic followed its movements. The monster's head exploded right after the flame spear had pierced through its head.
"Nice work, Arin!" "Good job!" "Ehhh, I wanted to take it down…" "Stop with that thought, you idiot." Alise and Lydia cheered while Tiona muttered disheartenedly, only to get scolded by her elder sister.
Ais, Finn, Gareth, and Ryuu were at the forefront of the group, cleaving a way through the numerous horses of monsters that attacked us from all sides, the breath attack of the dragons from deep below refusing to stop, forcing us to keep running through the maze.
We arrived at the fifty-second floor, still running for our lives, and the dragons from below kept firing their breath attack while the intensity of the monster fighting our group increased as well. Sometimes, we even had to just dodge the monster in front of us just to save ourselves from the pillars of flame rising from below.
Another rumble shook the floor beneath us, and I could see the telltale glow of an incoming breath attack.
"Jump!" Gareth roared.
Everyone leaped forward as a massive pillar of flame erupted exactly where we'd been standing, the heat so intense it made my skin prickle even from several meters away. The floor gave way, creating another gaping hole that led straight down into darkness.
"This is insane!" Raul panted, barely keeping up with the pace. "How are we supposed to—"
"Venom Scorpion, dead ahead!" Finn interrupted, pointing at the massive arachnid blocking our path. It was easily four meters long, its chitinous armor gleaming dully in the dim light. Its tail was raised, the stinger dripping with viscous purple venom.
"That thing is huge!" Aki exclaimed.
"And its venom can be deadly even for level 4s and above!" Asfi added. "Don't let it sting you!"
The Venom Scorpion charged forward, its multiple legs clicking against the stone floor with terrifying speed.
"Gareth, with me!" Tiona called out, her Urga spinning. "Let's crack this bug open!"
"Aye, lass!" Gareth charged alongside her, his massive frame barreling toward the scorpion.
The monster turned its attention to them, pincers spreading wide. But at that moment, Tione appeared from the side, her daggers flashing as she struck at the joints where the legs connected to the body. The creature screeched, stumbling slightly.
"Now!" Tiona yelled, bringing Urga down with tremendous force on the scorpion's back. The impact created a massive crack in its shell.
Gareth followed up immediately, his axe cleaving through the weakened armor and splitting the monster nearly in half. It dissolved into ash, but there was no time to celebrate.
"More coming!" Kaguya warned, and indeed, two more Venom Scorpions were emerging from side passages, along with several Thunder Snakes.
"We can't keep fighting like this!" Lydia shouted. "We're wasting too much time and energy!"
"She's right," Finn said, his tactical mind working rapidly. "We need to break through, not engage every monster we see. Gareth, Ais, Gale wind—clear a path! Everyone else, focus on defense and keeping up!"
"Understood!" they responded.
Ais's Ariel flared to life, wind swirling around her like a storm. She shot forward at incredible speed, her blade cleaving through a Thunder Snake before it could react. Ryuu moved in perfect sync with her, their coordination flawless as they cut down anything in their path.
Gareth simply bulldozed through, his shield deflecting attacks while his axe removed any obstacle that didn't move fast enough.
"This way!" Finn directed, leading us through the newly cleared path.
But the dungeon wasn't finished with us yet. The ground rumbled ominously, and I felt a surge of magical energy from below.
"Big one incoming!" I shouted. "Everyone, spread out!"
This time, instead of a single pillar, multiple breath attacks erupted simultaneously across the floor. The maze-like structure worked against us as flames shot up from seemingly random locations.
"Keep moving!" Finn commanded. "We're almost to the stairs!"
We ran through the twisting passages, monsters still emerging from every corner. A Silver Worm burst from the wall ahead, its massive body blocking the entire corridor.
"I'll handle this!" Alise declared, her sword already raised. "Justice Strike!"
Her blade glowed with energy as she brought it down on the worm's head. The monster reeled back, and Kaguya was already there, her katana flashing in a precise iai strike that severed the creature's head completely.
"Nice teamwork!" Alise grinned.
"Save the celebration for later, captain!" Kaguya shot back.
"There! The stairs!" Ryuu pointed ahead.
Sure enough, I could see the descending passage that would take us to the fifty-third floor. We were almost there.
But of course, the dungeon had one final surprise for us.
A massive Venom Scorpion—easily twice the size of the others we'd seen—emerged from a side passage directly between us and the stairs. Behind it, three Thunder Snakes coiled, electricity crackling across their scales.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Tiona groaned.
"No time!" Finn made a split-second decision. "Ais, Wind Gale, Gareth—eliminate them! Everyone else, provide support! We break through in thirty seconds!"
"Thirty seconds?!" Raul looked like he might pass out.
"Twenty-nine now! Move!"
What followed was perhaps the most intense thirty seconds of combat I'd ever witnessed. Ais became a blur of motion, her wind-enhanced strikes tearing through the Thunder Snakes. Ryuu's blade found every weak point in the giant scorpion's armor, while Gareth simply grabbed one of the Thunder Snakes and used it as a weapon against the others.
I fired concentrated bursts of flame at the scorpion's eyes, blinding it, while Riveria froze its legs in place. Alise, Kaguya, and the Amazons attacked from all angles, their combined assault overwhelming the creatures' defenses.
True to Finn's word, in exactly thirty seconds, the path was clear.
"Go, go, go!" I urged from the rear of the group, constantly defeating any monster that tried attacking us from behind, and all of them rushed past the dissolving monster remains toward the stairs.
"Arin, move!" Asfi grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the stairs as well. I released a burst of wind, pushing the monsters down into the hole before being dragged away by Asfi.
We descended rapidly, the sounds of battle and destruction fading behind us. When we finally reached the fifty-third floor and the last of our group made it through, everyone collapsed against the walls, gasping for breath.
"That..." Aki panted, "was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced."
"And we still have five more floors to go," Raul added weakly.
"Everyone alright?" Finn asked, checking each person. "Any injuries?"
"Just exhaustion," Lydia replied, wiping sweat from her brow. "And possibly some minor heart attacks."
"I think I lost three years off my life," Tiona said, though she was grinning. "That was awesome!"
"You have a strange definition of awesome," Lyra muttered.
"Is it fine for us to stop?" I asked, looking down on the floor in search of any sign of the breath attack.
"Yes, even with the dragon attacks, there are some places around this floor where they don't or can't attack. Otherwise, it would be nigh-impossible for anyone to venture further in the dungeon." Riveria explained.
"Though they only stop attacking for a short time, before they locate us again and start firing," Finn said, taking a big gulp of water.
"We will take a five-minute break," Finn announced. "Drink water, catch your breath. Then we continue."
As everyone sat down, I scanned the floor we arrived at, which looked the same as the rest, but I was sure the monsters were going to be even fiercer now, and I wasn't going to back down.
None of us will until we complete our objective.