[True Land].
As the light of the "Pearl Tree" spread out, encompassing the gray-white rock walls, visible to the naked eye, they transformed into glittering, translucent crystal walls.
They reflected the radiance.
Reflecting that incomparably brilliant great tree within the mirrored surfaces on all sides, for a moment, it made one feel dazzled and disoriented.
And right there, in this pure white world, the colossal body of a Great Dragon simply existed.
[Tree Dragon].
It was originally a "standard" Dragon-type with deep green scales and brown, twisted horns resembling withered wood. A lizard's head, wings that could blot out the sky, and a slender body capable of coiling around the massive Pearl Tree.
Tiona, Ais, Ryuu-senpai, and Miss Heith were all very familiar with it.
The Tree Dragon was a rare Monster, but because it was "powerful," many adventurers who discovered its existence would merely sell its "coordinates" to higher-level adventurers. And since it possessed the trait of guarding the "Pearl Tree," it wouldn't run around wildly after spawning.
Therefore, it was frequently subjugated by high-level adventurers—as a Level 4 Rare Dragon Species, the ones in the city most capable of defeating it were actually the Loki and Freya Familias.
The Ganesha Familia also had the ability, but they rarely entered the Dungeon to explore and subjugate monsters.
So, the girls in the team were actually quite familiar with the Tree Dragon.
But what they absolutely didn't expect was that at this moment, what appeared before everyone's eyes was not a living Great Dragon, but—
When Isagi and the girls arrived at the edge of the light, and the words [True Land] surfaced in their hearts...
Before their eyes, they saw only a devastated battlefield.
The surrounding mist manifested, signifying that they had already entered the "BOSS Room." In this blindingly bright world, large patches of fresh blood were spilled on the ground, incomparably piercing to the eye.
Broken weapons.
Scattered limbs.
And "adventurers" lying motionless on the ground, creating small pools of spreading blood centered around them.
Isagi and the girls first saw that Monster Adventurer Party from before.
They had now been completely "annihilated."
The Lizardman had been decapitated; the Dragonfly Archer was sliced in two; the heavy-armored Bearman and Boarman warriors were lying prone on the ground, with visible massive wounds between their armor still bubbling with blood foam; the black-robed Mage was pinned to the crystal wall by a twisted spear that looked like a tree branch, clearly lifeless.
What is the situation?!
Not long ago, the "Great Tree Priest" had given him a quest to subjugate this Monster Adventurer Party, so how were they wiped out in the blink of an eye, huh?!
But these monsters weren't even the most miserable ones.
Because Isagi and the girls also saw the red-haired woman from before.
Only her ruined body remained, wriggling on the ground like a tattered rag riddled with holes—she was genuinely wriggling!
This guy wasn't dead yet.
Inside the large mass of flesh exposed at her chest, one could see an incomparably brilliant and bewitching Magic Stone pulsing, connecting threads of flesh and blood that were continuously, ceaselessly attempting to repair her heavily injured body.
Terrifying!
It seemed the attackers were also confused as to why she just wouldn't die.
At this moment, those existences standing on the pure white crystal earth gathered around the red-haired woman. Silent, they continued to attack her with the weapons in their hands.
Accompanying the splashing blood, they also seemed to notice the arrival of Isagi and the girls.
[The Adventurers Who Slew the Miracle of Life].
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...
Isagi twitched the corners of his mouth, looking at the seven figures holding various weapons before him.
What the hell.
Are double BOSSes no longer enough to satisfy the Dungeon? The number of BOSSes here is damn well higher than the number of people on my side!
"Prepare for battle."
Isagi donned his pitch-black Wolf Armor. In an instant, relying solely on instinct, he knew that the guys before him were not easy to deal with.
Their strength was roughly...
A phantom "adventurer" dressed in ordinary adventurer gear, wrapped in a brownish-gray cloak and dark leather armor, holding a spear, had arrived before him in a trance!
It didn't move.
No, it was purely floating in mid-air, just like a ghost, flickering in and out of existence while suddenly approaching without a sound!
Clang!
The greatsword and spear collided. Relying on the force transmitted through his hands, Isagi could now judge that its strength was roughly around Level 5, slightly inferior to the Pale King.
Reasonable.
After all, there were so many of them.
To be fair, the Dungeon splitting the "energy" to breed a powerful BOSS into seven portions, creating seven guys, might have actually made them weaker individually.
Fighting alone would definitely lead to being gang-beaten, but now he had teammates!
Ais, Ryuu-senpai, and Tiona had already engaged in battle with these adventurer phantoms respectively.
Meanwhile, Heith hurriedly grabbed Lefiya and started running!
For the first time, they were suppressed in numbers during a BOSS battle!!
At this moment.
Even if he and the other three girls each took on one adventurer phantom, there were still three guys left who would chase after Heith and Lefiya!
Fortunately, the two girls were already proficient in using the grappling hooks of the Legion Prosthetic. By coordinating with each other, they had no problems for the time being, but it couldn't go on like this forever. They had to think of a way!
The sudden battle had somewhat disrupted Isagi's train of thought.
Reasonably speaking.
The best method would be for him and the girls to regroup at this moment, and then try their best to hold off the majority of the BOSSes with a minority of people.
For example, four people holding off six adventurer phantoms. The difficulty wouldn't be too high, very reasonable, right?
But the problem lay in the fact that these guys weren't "humans" in the true sense, but spirits capable of teleportation. They couldn't be held back at all!
Right now.
Four adventurer phantoms were like lingering wraiths, constantly circling around him, Ryuu-senpai, Ais, and Tiona.
The remaining three began to encircle, chase, and intercept Miss Heith and Lefiya over there.
What annoying fellows!
Especially because of their characteristic of "teleportation," the speed advantage of Ryuu-senpai and Ais couldn't be utilized. No matter how the two girls dodged and maneuvered, they couldn't shake off these adventurer phantoms that stuck to them like maggots on a bone.
Fortunately—
Suddenly, Heith and Lefiya, who were running all over the place, noticed two girls hiding in a corner in the distance.
"?!"
The light of the Pearl Tree did not change the rugged terrain of the chamber. Therefore, although it looked like a vast expanse of blinding light, the terrain was actually still uneven and quite rugged.
Naturally, there were quite a few crevices and corners to hide in.
At this moment, Chloe and Lunor were hiding right here—they simply didn't know what on earth had happened!
Just now.
The two of them and Revis were originally ambushing that "Monster Adventurer Party."
After installing the Flame Rock explosives.
According to the Cat Person girl's original idea, she thought to first use the trap to cause attrition among the Monster Adventurers, and then, while they were fighting Revis, pretend to support from the side. They would wait until the woman was about to win, with both her and the Monster Adventurers heavily injured, before launching a sneak attack!
As a result.
The explosion of the Flame Rocks did indeed inflict heavy damage on that group of Monster Adventurers, but a problem ensued.
Unknowingly.
The place where the three were located had been covered by the dazzling brilliance of the Pearl Tree.
At the same time, perhaps due to the Flame Rocks, the sound of the explosion seemed to have awakened the "BOSSes" originally guarding the Pearl Tree.
Chloe and Lunor simply didn't know what these were.
It was only the moment the words [The Adventurers Who Slew the Miracle of Life] surfaced from their hearts.
An Assassin and a Bounty Hunter.
Girls who walked on the edge of death for years sensed the descending danger with extreme acuity!
Thus.
They ran away without looking back, their tacit understanding simply reaching the peak!
The result was that Revis, whose reaction was a beat slower, and those Monster Adventurers heavily injured by the Flame Rock explosion, were quickly wiped out.
"Don't come over here, meow!"
Seeing Heith and Lefiya suddenly leading three adventurer phantoms running toward their direction.
Chloe's fur stood on end, and in the blink of an eye, she jumped out from the stone crevice where she was hiding.
Subsequently, together with Lunor, she quickly ran away again.
So.
The scene instantly became somewhat comical.
Isagi and the girls were under the Pearl Tree, engaging in "duels" with four adventurer phantoms, while on the other side, a "train" led by the Cat food... Cat Person girl was bounding wildly in circles within this area isolated by the fog.
"It's you?!"
Ryuu even recognized the other party instantly.
"You are from the Dark Familia..."
"No meow, no meow! Don't misunderstand meow!!"
Chloe yelled and screamed. At a time like this, if they were misunderstood as guys from the Dark Familia, it would be troublesome, meow!
"Hurry up and explain, meow! Idiot Lunor!!"
"We are moles! We pretended to join the Dark Familia, but actually went to gather intelligence!!"
"That's right meow, it's like that meow!"
The two guys clamored.
For a moment, it made it completely impossible for people to distinguish exactly what the situation was.
And following Ryuu-senpai's voice, Isagi also noticed the Cat Person girl in the distance.
He still remembered her.
She was the guy who helped send Magatsuhi-no-Kami into the Dungeon before. It was very dark that night, and he didn't know her name. Under the moonlight, she had a head of cute, short black hair, eyes as bright and brilliant as emeralds, and a figure that was quite tall and slender.
Of course, the most important thing was that Isagi remembered she was Level 4.
She was also an adventurer with considerable strength. Even when they first met, he was completely unaware that the Cat Person girl had quietly arrived behind him—if Ryuu-senpai hadn't been by his side and called out to her.
Since that's the case...
"Go help! You are both Level 4, right? One for each of you, hold these guys back!"
Isagi spoke, while simultaneously offering a "kind" reminder.
"Aside from defeating these guys, there is no way out now!"
This was the truth.
Chloe and Lunor also discovered that in this area covered by the Pearl Tree's brilliance, grayish haze had appeared on all sides, just like a door—no, like a wall!
They simply couldn't leave!!
It seemed they could only fight. They simply didn't know if they could win, but looking at the way Isagi and the others were fighting in the distance, there was no other option right now.
Chloe and Lunor could only turn their heads.
Watching Heith and Lefiya following behind them, they subsequently went to intercept one adventurer phantom each, just as Isagi had said.
Then very quickly.
They were beaten into fleeing like rats, only barely managing to run around screaming wildly, with absolutely no room to fight back!
There was no helping it.
Just as Isagi judged, the individual strength of these adventurer phantoms was roughly around Level 5.
Under the suppression of being one level higher.
Chloe and Lunor weren't like him, possessing all sorts of magical skills and rare equipment—they couldn't even compare remotely to Tiona.
They really were just "ordinary" Level 4 adventurers.
Let alone defeating a Level 5 across the level gap, even being evenly matched was an impossible matter!
But that was enough.
What Isagi needed was just for them to attract some attention.
In this way, the pressure on Lefiya's side could be relieved, allowing the Elf girl to find time to chant magic. And what needed to be done next was—
[Focus Fire]!
He didn't know if these seven adventurer phantoms shared a health bar.
If they did, it would be slightly troublesome.
But if not, and they each had their own "independent health bar," then focusing fire was a rather good choice.
As long as they caused attrition to the opponent first, slowly, his side could form a numerical advantage, and the battle would naturally become easier and easier.
Isagi didn't even need to say it clearly.
As experienced adventurers, the girls were almost telepathic, and all of them thought of this point. Thus, almost simultaneously, everyone's attention was placed on Tiona's side!
It was very simple.
If one were to rank "personal strength" right now.
Ais should be first, Ryuu-senpai should be second. The reason was simple: the level gap was simply too large.
And under the same level, he was definitely stronger than Tiona. Even if the girl was about to upgrade to Level 5, hadn't she not upgraded yet!
Therefore.
Right now, everyone was fighting an adventurer phantom alone, but her side was the most difficult.
On the Amazon girl's healthy wheat-colored skin, the blood lines seeping out from the inside were dense and packed, like spiderwebs, as if countless fine bloody patterns had surfaced on the surface of her body.
The surging blood energy accompanied her breathing, like thick smoke clouds erupting from a volcano, threatening to completely obscure her lovely face.
Her eyes had already turned crimson.
And the most important thing was the massive weapon she wore on her hands—
[Pale Touch].
From its appearance, it was a pair of massive grayish-white gauntlets. After putting them on, the girl's hands looked several sizes larger, like some kind of "Iron Gorilla."
By using "Blood Qi," she could dye them a deep red color, thereby drastically increasing attack power.
Aside from that.
She could also extend a pair of sharp blades from them, like katar fist daggers. And according to Tiona's request, they could be pulled out from the gauntlets, then assembled via the hilts to become a so-called "Great Double-Blade" form.
Isagi didn't really understand this kind of weapon.
But Tiona liked it very much. At this moment, she waved the massive double blades, which were also pale in color, creating a powerful wind. She spun around constantly, like some kind of wind and fire wheel, and at times pulled them apart, subsequently dual-wielding the greatswords to unleash a flurry of slashes.
Honestly, accompanied by the surging blood energy all over her body, it was actually quite intimidating!
Moreover.
The [First-Class Armament] forged using the materials dropped by the Pale King, as well as his weapon, would naturally carry that "Pale" status effect.
As the battle continued.
The adventurer phantom going one-on-one with Tiona gradually went from suppressing the girl and beating her up at the start, to its movements becoming slow and stiff, beginning to suffer counterattacks. Eventually, it became evenly matched with the girl whose level was lower than its own.
And seizing this opportunity, Isagi, Ryuu, and Ais on the side all suddenly accelerated, running to Tiona's side and delivering a slash to the adventurer phantom fighting her!
Oomph!!
Of course, the most important factor was Lefiya in the distance, who had freed up her hands and could release magic.
Spinning glintstones accompanied by golden lightning.
In this pressing time, the Elf girl chose the "Glintstone Magic" she learned from Isagi, which required no chanting, and the super-short chant lightning magic learned from her compatriot.
"Sweep away the enemies, evil-breaking sacred staff!"
"[Dio Thyrsus]!"
Golden lightning strikes accompanied the spinning glintstones. That was not the most ordinary [Glintstone Pebble], but the advanced [Star Shower]!
Several azure glintstones interwoven together, accompanied by surging lightning, poured down toward the adventurer phantom located beside the Amazon girl.
Endlessly.
In this incomparably brilliant and blinding radiance.
The azure meteors and golden electric currents seemed to connect into a line, like a surging, unceasing river, accurately smashing continuously onto its semi-transparent body.
Lefiya only needed to focus on releasing magic right now.
Because Heith would take her running all over the place, avoiding attacks from the last adventurer phantom.
It's effective!
Just a little more effort, and the BOSS composed of seven adventurer phantoms would have a corner torn open by him and the girls. And what followed would be repeating the old trick, destroying them one after another!
Of course, it sounded simple, but the process was actually quite thrilling.
The adventurer phantom Isagi faced was a tall man wielding a spear who looked like a Dog Person. His attacks were extremely sharp, and the trajectory of the short spear thrusts in his hands was so fast that one couldn't even react.
Not only that!
These guys would change weapons—or rather, turn into another person—at any time and place.
Isagi had seen more than once that the Dog Person youth before him would suddenly blur and transform into a sturdy Dwarf holding a greatsword; or a thin, small Pallum holding a longsword and dagger; immediately after, it would suddenly turn into an Elf woman holding a longbow and dual swords.
It was not "one person," but a group of "adventurers."
As they fought, they would suddenly switch weapons and appearances, completely changing their attack methods, making it somewhat impossible to guard against.
Especially.
The three adventurer phantoms in the distance tangling with Chloe and Lunor, and chasing Heith and Lefiya.
They also seemed to realize that they were being "stalled" over there.
So, simultaneously, they transformed into adventurers holding staffs.
Isagi and the other girls just lost focus for a moment, only to see a sky full of rain of fire falling accompanied by blades. At the same time, the earth trembled, and countless spikes abruptly thrust out from the ground!
Too ruthless, these guys!
Fortunately.
Isagi considered dealing with adventurers a "piece of cake."
His current abilities, especially [Left Bow] plus the [Cancel] technique, were perfectly suited for dealing with humanoid guys.
As long as he pulled distance, he would immediately take out the Greatbow from the cloak behind him and start shooting!
Magic arrows shining with crimson color swept toward the adventurer phantom before him like a storm. And once it attempted to get close, his tricks became even more numerous.
Lightning Hammer, Dual Swords, Greatsword, Tachi, Club, Spear—
Constant attacking, canceling, changing weapons, and attacking again.
These adventurer phantoms who could shift weapon moves couldn't even keep up with his rhythm and movements.
If it weren't for the level suppression, Isagi could have settled the opponent all by himself!
Sigh.
Level!
Sure enough, level is the most important thing!!
Thinking that after gathering enough Excelia, he would find time to grind levels first. After all, there was a Level 7 super adventurer waiting above. No matter what, Isagi thought he should at least reach Level 6 to barely be able to touch the opponent.
Holding such thoughts.
Before long.
The adventurer phantom Tiona took as an opponent was finally beaten to its knees under magic and the occasional pincer attacks from him and Ryuu-senpai, unable to rise again.
The breakthrough point finally appeared!
Thus, Isagi quickly began to command again.
He didn't have Tiona go intercept the guy still chasing Heith and Lefiya. On the contrary, Isagi's order to the Amazon girl was to come over and join him in besieging the adventurer phantom fighting him.
"Understood!"
The blood-soaked girl clearly had high fighting spirit at this moment.
Howling.
She charged over just like that, holding her massive double blades!
Next, they just had to repeat the trick. Although, Isagi felt things might not go that smoothly. The BOSS before them couldn't be only at this level. There was definitely a Phase 2!
If he wasn't wrong.
Next it should be—
As the adventurer phantoms were resolved one by one, finally, including the two guys who had been chasing Chloe and Lunor, they were defeated by the concentrated fire of the rushing Isagi and Ryuu-senpai.
The originally noisy chamber instantly became quiet, making people inexplicably unaccustomed to it.
But.
The surrounding fog had not disappeared, indicating that the BOSS battle was not over.
And just as Isagi guessed.
After the seven adventurer phantoms disappeared, there was movement among the corpse of the incomparably massive Great Dragon under the Pearl Tree in the distance.
It wasn't that the Tree Dragon came back to life.
Instead, a crystal plummeted abruptly from the ceiling, crashing directly into the Great Dragon's body, smashing it to pulp.
Amidst the splashing flesh and blood.
Isagi and the girls saw a person sealed inside that crystal.
Like an icy coffin.
[Nameless Heroes · "Dawn-Dark Moon" Elron Delmarth].
An Elf male with long, deep purple hair and skin presenting a dark chocolate color—a Dark Elf.
Crack!
The crystal gradually shattered.
The blood-stained Elf male fell out of the crystal, and the terrifying pressure he emitted allowed Isagi to make the most correct judgment in the first instant.
"Run—"
The girls rushed toward the fog gate in the distance at the first moment.
Without looking back, with incomparable tacit understanding.
On the other side, Isagi swung the greatsword in his hand, blocking this so-called "Nameless Hero" for a split second.
Just a split second.
[At least Level 6, fk!]
The sudden spike in BOSS level shifted the battle from "can think of a way" instantly to the level of "impossible!"
The body collapsed.
That indescribable, twisted pain felt as if it were going to squeeze all the flesh and bones in his whole body into mud.
Consciousness completely dissipated in this instant.
Until...
When Isagi woke up, he found he had revived beside the small golden Site of Grace outside the fog gate.
Ryuu-senpai and the others beside him.
Apart from Tiona, who had been burning her HP to fight, everyone else was fine and hadn't suffered any heavy injuries.
Ais had even been extremely quick-witted; before fleeing, she had carried out that incomparably broken red-haired woman. She was currently still dying, but her flesh and blood were still wriggling like threads, appearing to still be slowly recovering its form.
"That guy just now was too strong!"
Heith and Lefiya still had lingering fears.
The might displayed by that BOSS named "Nameless Hero" made even Ais, who currently had the highest level, feel terror.
She and Ryuu could probably barely exchange a few moves with him, but the others at Level 4 would likely have absolutely no chance.
This was the Sword Princess's judgment.
Since it was not a monster, but an adventurer, the gap in levels was further widened.
"Let's go back first."
Isagi said.
He didn't think too much about it. Anyway, for a BOSS he couldn't beat, he would just wait until he leveled up and his stats increased before coming back to fight.
The young boy beckoned the girls to prepare for the return journey, to return to the city surface and end this adventure.
And at the same time, on the other side—
Located within the Dungeon, in a certain remote, hidden area on the 24th Floor, a corner gap never marked on the Guild's map.
A small village existed here.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up!"
The girl's crisp voice woke up her companion who seemed to have had a nightmare.
"Ugh—"
"What's wrong, your face looks so bad?"
"Ah! I thought I died!!"
"Me too!!"
"Right? In that dream just now, we were killed, right?!"
"What on earth is Mother doing, always making us have such terrible dreams—"
Clamoring.
A monster with the appearance of a Bearman climbed up from a crude bed. Aside from it, there were also a Boarman, a Lizardman, a Dragonfly, and...
"Good morning, Marie-senpai."
The Dragonoid girl with a red gem adorning her forehead smiled slightly, greeting the "Senior" beside her.
Her complexion was also a bit poor.
After all.
Anyone who dreamed of being stabbed to death by a spear against a massive crystal wall would show such an expression. It was too terrible. Why was it that being summoned by "Mother" (the Dungeon) meant having this kind of dream?
It wasn't as interesting as Marie-senpai and the others said at all. She really hoped she wouldn't have a similar "dream" next time.
The monsters known as "Xenos" thought this way.
At the same time.
The black-robed Fels arrived at their settlement as usual, bringing an invitation from the Guild and the God Ouranos.
As the "person in charge" who had long known of their existence and established a good relationship with these Xenos.
Fels had always wanted to persuade them to participate in the "Artificial Labyrinth" operation.
Of course.
To make the adventurers on the surface accept their existence, there was still considerable difficulty.
However—
If following the original plan, then it was far from the right time.
But now it was different.
Isagi's figure surfaced in Fels' mind. Perhaps the young boy could understand their existence and make the correct judgment.
Fels believed so.
And for some reason, these Xenos seemed to naturally hold considerable goodwill toward the young boy.
Why was that?
Fels could not understand, but in short, this was a good thing.
The Dungeon cannot be "destroyed."
The [Sage] deeply understood this point. God Ouranos had even said that when the children of the Lower World went to the deepest part of the Dungeon, they would understand the other side.
Inexplicable words.
Fels thought so, then shook their head, throwing all these chaotic thoughts out of their mind.
____
New Story: Junji Ito: I Shall Smash Hellstar Remina
✅ Read 40 chapters ahead of everyone else.
✅ Get cool exclusive stuff and updates!
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!
🚀140 MEMBERS = 5 extra chapters on all stories for supporters!
👻 P - Walnutchan