With healing magic cast on it one after another, the Rathian's wounds finally closed, restoring most of its health. The dragon stirred—alive again, full of vigor and energy.
"Hehehe… my dragon, my beautiful dragon…"
Roger caressed the Rathian with a grin so perverse it could have belonged to a cartoon villain. The women around him instinctively took several cautious steps back.
"Don't worry, everyone. He's not into humans," Perry said dryly, pushing up his glasses as if he'd made the wittiest joke of the day.
He looked up—only to find everyone had retreated even farther.
During their short break, Roger figured out how the Poké Ball worked. He could now summon or store the Rathian at will, and even while sealed inside, the dragon seemed aware of the world outside—responding to Roger's voice and emotions. It was nothing short of miraculous.
"I'm going to call you Hathaway," Roger said softly, running a hand along the dragon's jawline. Then, with gleaming eyes, he asked,
"Hathaway, can you… take us for a little ride? You know, that thing?"
"Rooaaarrr~~!"
Moments later, the Rathian soared through the sky, carrying the entire expedition team—some riding on its back, others dangling precariously from its claws.
It could actually lift them all.
"Wahoooo!"
Roger let out a triumphant laugh, the wind whipping against his face as he gazed down at the shrinking world below. The undead scuttling about looked as small as insects. The rush of wind, the endless sky—this was freedom!
"Where's it taking us?" Leon yelled, half-shouting to be heard over the wind.
"No idea!" Roger bellowed back, laughing even harder. "Wherever it wants! We're freeee!"
"…"
Maru leaned toward Terl, muttering under her breath, "Has he completely lost it? Should I knock on his head to check?"
"What do you think he is, a magic tool? Hitting him won't fix anything," Terl replied with a resigned sigh.
The Rathian's destination soon became clear—the only major structure in the middle layer: Undead Burg.
As its shadow passed over the town gates, a dozen rat-archers stationed atop the walls instantly nocked their arrows and fired, turning the sky into a storm of glowing shafts.
Once a monster was caught in a Poké Ball, it was automatically registered as a dungeon enemy—and dungeon units would attack it on sight.
The Rathian banked sharply, flying low across the rooftops. In the blink of an eye, they had crossed half the town, aiming straight for the massive stone gate ahead. For a moment, it looked like they were about to speedrun Undead Burg.
But of course, things weren't that easy.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A barrage of fireballs roared toward them, fast and relentless.
The source—a swarm of squat figures crouched atop the rooftops.
[Bigmouth Imp Ashes]
Small, vicious imps that dwell in the undergrounds of Elden Ring, renowned for their rapid, overwhelming firepower.
The Rathian was forced into desperate aerial maneuvers, twisting and rolling through the air. The adventurers clinging to it could only hang on for dear life, their screams carried away by the wind.
But dodging came at a cost—the Rathian lost altitude, dropping into the range of the rat-archers, who wasted no time unleashing another deadly volley.
"Ahh!" Stella yelped as an arrow struck her backside.
Drew quickly tried to cast a magic barrier, but the violent turbulence threw off his focus. His mana fluctuated wildly, and the barrier shattered almost instantly.
The Bigmouth Imps' anti-air formation worked flawlessly, driving the Rathian right into a deadly trap—
Where an enormous silhouette waited.
[Giant Bigmouth Imp Ashes]
BOOM!
A fireball several times larger than the rest exploded against the Rathian's flank. The dragon screamed in agony——and then came crashing down.
"Waaaaaah!"
The adventurers plummeted through the air, scrambling to activate every lifesaving spell and skill they knew. Drew and Perry managed to cast Levitate, a weaker, cheaper cousin of Flight that at least softened their fall. Even so, everyone hit the ground hard.
"Cough… cough…"
Leon spat blood, clutching his side. His ribs felt cracked, maybe broken.
Miraculously, the Rathian wasn't mortally wounded—just battered, with one wing and a leg injured, forcing it to limp badly.
Roger splashed a healing potion across its scales before recalling it into the Poké Ball. The cramped streets of Undead Burg were no place for a dragon; it would only make them an easy target.
"Move!" barked the Knight of Light. Built like a fortress himself, he'd only taken minor damage. In a rare display of command, he added, "Don't let them surround us!"
He hoisted Leon and Stella over his shoulders and charged deeper into the city.
Terl glanced upward—Bigmouth Imps were already closing in. He had no intention of being roasted alive, so he grabbed the remaining wounded and bolted after the Knight.
In truth, the Bigmouth Imps and their giant variant only activated against flying intruders. Normally, Undead Burg's defenses relied on rat-archers and undead soldiers.
The team had simply been unlucky—flying right into an anti-air ambush.
Wade had personally adjusted the dungeon's monster placements in real-time. The first time he saw birdfolk adventurers bypass the swamp by flying, he immediately buffed every anti-air unit on the map.
Ground clearing was fine, but the moment someone took to the skies, the dungeon's hidden archers would wake—rat-archers, undead soldiers, Bigmouth Imps, silver knights, even the mages of Raya Lucaria.
Bang!
The Knight kicked open the nearest shack door, blocking a sneak attack with his armored back. He retaliated with brutal precision—stomping one undead's skull into paste and cleaving down several more before securing the shack as a temporary safe zone.
Healing began immediately. Without so many healers, the entire group might've perished right there.
Leon was the first to regain his senses. "It was just for a moment, but I saw where dragon was heading—north of this town."
"Hathaway," Roger corrected automatically, cutting him off.
The north it was, then.
In dangerous, unfamiliar areas, there were only two ways forward: move cautiously, clearing enemies one by one—or sprint through like madmen and pray you were fast enough that misfortune couldn't catch you.
The team recharged their stamina, then bolted north through the ruined streets of Undead Burg.
It turned out the Rathian's crash had been a blessing in disguise—they'd landed close to the stone gate anyway, and their current route was the correct one.
The Knight raised his shield, deflecting firebombs hurled from rooftops. Terl roared beside him, drawing the undead's attention.
The others used the opening to dash through "Firebomb Alley," scaling rooftops to cut down the undead soldiers perched there.
Undead Burg didn't have many traps; its biggest dangers were rotten wooden floors that could collapse into pits. Otherwise, the main threats were monsters hiding in corners, waiting to ambush the unwary. Individually, none of them were strong.
For the Knight—whose resistance to both magic and physical attacks was absurd—this area was practically a playground.
He plowed through everything in his way. The others followed close, gathering loot as they ran. The dungeon's shutdown timer was only a few hours away.
[Fire Pot]
[Dripstone]
[Lesser Soul Gem]
[Lordsworn's Straight Sword]
[Brass Shield]
The drops were impressive. The mid-layer loot pool had definitely gotten better.
"…A scythe?"
The Knight picked up a strangely shaped weapon and slipped it into his belt.
[Celebrant's Sickle]
[Skill: Quickstep]
Sadly, not the scythe.
They pressed on, cutting through waves of undead.
Finally, the Knight crushed the skull of the final monster with one earth-shaking punch, while the others finished off the pack of rotting hounds at its side.
"Huuuhh…"
He exhaled heavily, staring at the massive stone gate looming ahead.
Two grooves were carved into its surface—perfect fits for their two rings.