thebusnovel Chapter 249 The Dawn of Victory
Chapter 249 The Dawn of Victory
Chapter 249 The Dawn of Victory (1.2 words, please vote with monthly tickets)
A white palace with thirty-seven floors, an arena.
Roy, having come up with a solution, had a glint of ruthlessness in his eyes. "Dark faction, since you won't let me have an easy time, then let's all have an easy time together."
It's better for both sides to lose than for one side to win!
Roy wiped a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Man-killer (Frinne), do you know how the Astraea Familia was wiped out before?"
"What do I care how those ugly women died!" Frini said dismissively, her face showing surprise.
"hehe!"
Roy's mysterious smile deepened, tinged with a hint of mockery. "I think it's better for you to know, since you'll be facing it soon!"
After saying that, Roy took out the Earth Demon Sword and planted it in the ground. He manipulated the terrain, and with a roar, a thick wall rose up from the ground, blocking Frini.
"Such petty tricks won't work!"
The toad-like "monster" laughed wildly, twisting its fat body and charging forward. The LV.6 adventurer's body was even harder than the armored giant's, as unstoppable as a tank. With a "boom," it smashed through the wall with terrifying force.
Frini let out a series of strange laughs and charged toward Roy.
Roy didn't care about anything else. He activated the "Walking with the Wind" skill of the Wind Chaser Boots and the "Ghost Wrath" skill of the Ghost King Armor, along with the equipment effects and "Adventure" development ability, all at once to increase his stats, even if it was just by a tiny bit, to narrow the gap in strength as much as possible.
As you can see, Roy's attributes are increasing rapidly on the stats panel, quickly reaching the limit of LV.4 and showing signs of breaking through to LV.5.
"Got it!" Frini came up to Roy, her hands injured, and opened her arms wide, pouncing on him to give him a bear hug.
Rumble!
Roy stared coldly at his opponent, then stepped back, his Earth Demon Sword lightly slicing across the ground, causing the earth beneath Frini's feet to crack open with a deafening roar.
Frini lost her footing and fell.
Bang!
Her reaction was extremely quick; she kicked off the wall with both legs and shot towards Roy like a rocket, a crazy smile on her face.
Roy had no interest in fighting this "toad" head-on, so he dashed away and fled like a wild horse.
Frini was in hot pursuit.
Rumble! Rumble!!
While escaping, Roy used the Earth Demon Sword to destroy the terrain and control the walls to block Frini.
Using his ability to manipulate the terrain and his intuition, Roy escaped from the clutches of LV.6 Freni countless times, narrowly escaping each time and infuriating her.
"hateful--!"
Roy was as nimble as a rabbit, always escaping her grasp at the last second, and if she wasn't careful, a lot of rubble would fall down.
The two figures moved swiftly along the edge of the wall.
Wherever it passed, the earth cracked and the towering second circular wall collapsed, as if a major earthquake had struck.
Roy had long ago discovered the true terror of the Earth Demon Sword: although it couldn't directly harm high-level adventurers, if used well, its potential was extremely high.
Especially when summoning a monster in a dungeon—
The two sides have a decisive intelligence gap.
If Frini knew the truth about the destruction of the Astrea Familia and was a highly intelligent leader, then her most important task now would be to gather people and kill Roy as quickly as possible.
Or they should lead their team to retreat as soon as possible, instead of playing a cat-and-mouse game with Roy.
However, Frini does not possess the qualities of an excellent commander. Her position as captain is purely due to her LV.5 strength. The true leader of the Ishtar Familia's "Battle Prostitutes" is "Rie" Aisha.
Roy didn't see Aisha among the fighting prostitutes, and didn't know if she wasn't involved in the operation or if she was hiding on the thirty-sixth floor.
Most of the combat prostitutes are high-level adventurers of level 3 or 4, with rich combat experience. They can fight independently without a commander, but there is a noticeable sense of disharmony, and they always make mistakes in the details.
A good commander can enable the team to perform at 120% of its strength.
In the midst of chaos, the fighting prostitutes were lucky to coordinate even 60% of their efforts.
This was undoubtedly a good thing for Roy; otherwise, their situation would have been even more difficult in this hunt.
Although Frini has the strength of LV.6, Roy looked at her as if she were a dead man. Her sneak attack almost seriously injured him, and Ryu blocked the blow for him, teetering on the edge of life and death.
Roy swore he had never felt such intense killing intent toward anyone before; he wanted nothing more than to subject the victim to a full set of the ten most cruel tortures, grind their bones to dust, and then whip their corpse!
Rumble—!
Finally, Roy and Freni fought for seven or eight minutes, running at full speed and constantly destroying the terrain with the Earth Magic Sword. From the second circular wall to the third circular wall, the stone walls shattered, causing a large-scale collapse.
At a glance, the solemn and majestic white palace has been reduced to ruins, burying countless monsters.
"Huff! Huff!"
Roy's breathing became erratic. The Earth Demon Sword was different from the Elf Holy Sword. The latter drew on the surrounding magic to release flames, while the former consumed his mental energy.
The indestructible magic sword, after repeated use, comes at the cost of consuming one's own mental energy.
In just ten minutes, Roy used the Earth Demon Sword over a hundred times. Even with his powerful mental strength, which was pushed to its limits and enhanced by the bloodline of the Elven royal family, he felt deeply tired and dizzy.
But just as he wished.
got windy!
A biting wind, as cold as winter, blew out from the narrow cracks of the cave, sweeping across the entire floor, causing adventurers, monsters, and even the floor owner to shiver.
The fierce battle and the sounds of clashing weapons gradually subsided, and the vast thirty-seventh floor fell silent.
The group looked at each other, puzzled.
The world seemed to have been paused, and time itself seemed to freeze, stretch, and become incredibly long. However, this was not true peace. Beneath this deathly silence lay an immense, unsettling sense of oppression, like the seemingly hard, cooled rock shell of a volcano about to erupt, or a giant bowstring stretched to its limit, on the verge of breaking.
A deep sense of crisis was silently accumulating in every wisp of murky air.
"What is this feeling?"
Inside the building, Tione and the other women, including the combat prostitute, stood there like bewildered little rabbits, looking around blankly, with a chilling feeling about them.
A strong sense of crisis seemed to transform into sharp silver needles, pricking their skin and causing them pain.
A hint of clarity appeared in Frini's crazed eyes as she looked at Roy and then around.
Only Roy knew the truth.
A calamity is coming!
Destroying the stone walls can prevent monsters from spawning, and the dungeon walls will automatically repair themselves over time.
One of the hidden rules of the dungeon.
However, when serious destruction occurs in the dungeon, if it determines that its repairs cannot keep up with the rate of destruction, it will send out monsters called "Zagnat" to kill everyone on that floor.
This is the dungeon's defense mechanism against excessive damage, much like the existence of an immune system.
The condition for its appearance is causing large-scale destruction to the middle, lower, and deep labyrinths, roughly twenty percent of the floor. This was something the Rudra clan researched over several years in the original timeline.
If this is achieved, the powerful Zagnat, known as the "Calamity," will be born on that floor.
This task is extremely difficult. Destroying the building requires precise calculations, plus the explosion of thousands, or even tens of thousands, of fire stones to have any chance of success.
Roy, however, possesses an earth magic sword that can be considered a cheat code, allowing him to manipulate the terrain within a kilometer radius, making it easy to destroy buildings.
The third and second circular walls on the thirty-seventh floor have been largely destroyed by Roy, resulting in the calamity "Zagnat".
The conditions under which it occurs.
A heavy sense of oppression descended from the sky, making one feel breathless, as if forgetting this instinct.
As the body's oxygen was depleted, just when everyone felt that the suffocating heaviness was about to crush their chests, suddenly...
Above the ceiling, the stone walls shattered without warning, as if a giant axe had cleaved through chaos, and a pair of sharp claws tore apart the thick, lead-gray sky!
A hideous head emerged from it.
Immediately following, a long and muffled hiss echoed through the floor, like the roar of a ferocious beast that had been suppressed for too long.
roar-!!
The air, taut to the extreme and deathly silent as a tomb, suddenly exploded! A roar that shook the heavens and the earth, like a collapsing torrent, swallowed up all the previous silence.
People who hear this sound feel a chill run down their spine, their whole body turns cold, and every cell in their body seems to emanate fear.
Centered on the 37th floor, the violent tremors spread to several floors above and below, and the howling of the underground city and the roar of Zagnat spread wildly.
When the Astria Spring Clan encountered the Zagnat in the Thirty Layers of the Dense Forest Canyon, Mary, who was on the Two Thousand Five Layers, could hear the Zagnat's roar.
This time, Zagnat is even more powerful!
The figure of the calamity beast appeared before everyone's eyes; without a doubt, it was a large-scale monster.
Standing five meters tall, with a stiff tail at least four meters long hanging from its back, it is over ten meters long overall. It has slender limbs, and its body has almost no muscles. Covering its bony body is an armor-like shell, which is wrapped in an incredible blue-purple glow.
Its head protruded, resembling the skeleton of an animal. Deep within its two empty eye sockets lay clusters of crimson light, even more scarlet than fresh blood.
The brutality and cruelty he displayed even surpassed that of Udayus, the floor master.
The monster's limbs were embedded in the stone wall, and its body hung upside down from the ceiling to stabilize itself, looking down at everyone on the floor from its head down.
Those scarlet eyes, no matter who they gazed at, instilled in that person an overwhelming sense of fear.
"A dinosaur fossil wearing armor!"
The first impressions people had of "Zagnat".
call out!
Suddenly, Zagnat on the ceiling disappeared. Everyone's pupils contracted. No, it was because the other party was too fast to be seen with the naked eye.
Zagnat vanished like a fleeting shadow.
Roy moved silently, retreating behind Frini, using Frini as a shield between him and Zagnat.
He's the one who damaged the stone wall; be careful.
Then Roy realized he had been overthinking it.
Zagnat's attitude was to treat everyone equally; this calamity beast's goal was to kill everyone, and it didn't care who had destroyed the stone wall.
"Don't be so arrogant, you mere monster!"
Seeing that Zagnat dared to attack her, Frini, who had not yet realized the seriousness of the situation, slammed into him with a powerful shoulder strike.
Zagnat's crimson eyes showed no emotion, and his massive body moved like a whirlwind, appearing in a flash behind Frini.
Frini's pupils widened. So fast!
Zagnat's six slender, disproportionately sized fingertips, shimmering with a deep purple light, slashed lightly, and his claws landed on Frini's back.
The sharp claws instantly tore apart LV.6's body, splattering clothes, skin, and blood.
boom!
Frini crashed heavily to the ground.
When she stood up again, her back was covered in blood, marked with gruesome claw marks. Seeing the horrific sight out of the corner of her eye, Freni cried out in despair, "Ahhh—my beautiful body!"
call out!call out!call out!
Zagnat moved swiftly, leaving countless wounds on Frini's body with his claws. Finally, he lashed out with his tail, sending the "toad" flying.
The entire sequence of movements was fluid, crisp, and clean, leaving Frini with no chance to retaliate.
Everyone who witnessed this scene, especially the battle prostitutes of the Ishtar Familia, were stunned.
The air seemed to have been drained of all its vitality, pressing heavily on their heads and shoulders. Every breath felt like swallowing and exhaling sticky lead. Their cheeks were coated with an unsettling, lifeless, ashen wax color. They knew better than anyone that Frini, who had undergone a level upgrade, was LV.6 and had managed to escape unscathed from the floor master Udeus. Yet, she was no match for that monster.
Roy suppressed his aura and was not surprised by this. The calamity beast "Zagnat" is a monster specializing in agility and strength, with both attributes maximized to the extreme, and has the characteristic of killing on first sight.
The deeper the floor, the stronger the Zagnat born. The Zagnat on the 37th floor have two specialized attributes that are almost on par with adventurers at level 7!
Even a level 7 adventurer can suffer if they are not careful.
It's impossible for LV.6 Frini not to get smashed if she rushes in so recklessly.
After beating Frini half to death and burying her deep underground, Zagnat turned to torment the others.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much, you damned monster!" Frini cried out in pain, cursing and wailing.
"I want to live!"
After being repeatedly beaten by the puppets Ota and Zagnat, Frini was covered in wounds, with not a single unscathed spot on her body. Her face no longer held the arrogant expression she once had, but instead showed fear.
What remains is the most primal instinct for survival.
Freni lay on the ground, slowly moving her body with her chin, fleeing towards the thirty-sixth floor.
As time passed, the golden light on her body gradually dissipated. The level-up only lasted fifteen minutes, and she wasted a lot of time playing cat and mouse with Roy.
Back at LV.5, Frini's condition was even worse, her face seemingly wearing a mask of pain.
Just then, as Frini crawled with difficulty, she noticed a figure blocking her way.
Frini raised her head, her pupils reflecting Roy's handsome yet indifferent face. She keenly sensed the terrifying killing intent in the boy's eyes, like a scarlet light. Her voice trembled, "Sprout of Justice, wait, spare me, my beautiful body—"
Roy, too lazy to waste words with the other party, took out the elven holy sword and stabbed it hard into Frini's heart.
"The seeds of justice are sprouting!"
Frini's voice stopped abruptly.
Roy mercilessly finished him off, swinging his elven holy sword, the cold blade severing the opponent's head, which flew high into the air like a ball.
In mid-air, Freni's eyes were glazed over. Even in her dying moments, she couldn't believe that she would die at the hands of someone of a lower rank. She never expected Roy to be so ruthless, killing her so easily. A mix of emotions, including resentment, regret, and despair, surfaced in her mind.
Why provoke this ruthless person?
Frini's body and head gradually lost their life force, becoming utterly dead.
Roy withdrew his gaze; a dead man was not worth his attention. With the appearance of Zagnat and the death of Frini, the Ishtar Familia no longer held the advantage on the field, and the monsters became the most powerful force.
call out!
Zagnat burst forth with terrifying speed; even the naked eye of a high-level adventurer could not catch a glimpse of it, as it flashed past like a black shadow.
As swift as a whirlwind, as terrifying as a ghost.
Wherever it passed, sharp claws flashing with blue-purple light slashed through, tearing the bodies of the Ishtarchun tribe's fighting prostitutes to shreds, their blood splattering everywhere.
Whether it's LV.3 or LV.4, they are all equally weak in front of this calamity beast.
There is no distinction between clans or relatives.
Its purpose is to exterminate the pathogens in the birth floor—all adventurers!
Blood-soaked fragments of the corpse flew everywhere.
In a very short time, the death toll of the Ishtar Familia soared, instantly reaching thirty or forty people. These were not LV.1 newbies, but renowned figures on the surface of the earth, high-level adventurers with titles bestowed by the gods, who had now become the targets of slaughter.
The fighting prostitutes looked on incredulously; often, they would lose consciousness after just a flash of a dark shadow.
In a daze, memories of my life flashed through my mind like a slideshow, and I eventually fell into a chaotic darkness.
"Magic team, fire!"
The Ishtar Familia also has a mage team, which is essential for entering the deeper levels. When dealing with a large number of monsters, relying on manpower to kill them is a waste of energy and time, so people prefer to use magic to clear out the monsters.
At a command, the Ishtar Familia's mage squad raised their staffs high and began chanting.
As the incantation ended, the magic of more than a dozen LV.2 and LV.3 mages was launched simultaneously. Flames, torrents, and lightning fell like a storm, covering a large area and leaving Zagnat with no way to avoid them.
Zagnat stopped in its tracks, its fierce, blood-red eyes silently watching the magic filling the sky. Its head armor emitted a gray-silver light, as bright and radiant as clear crystal.
The magic rained down without causing a ripple, and was absorbed into the silver screen.
Everyone was speechless upon seeing that scene.
There are monsters with high magic resistance in the dungeon, such as the Obsidian Soldiers, who can withstand the magic of LV.3 and LV.4 adventurers without any problem.
But this is the first time I've ever seen magic devoured.
Suddenly, ripples appeared on the crystal-like armor on Zagnat's head, and various kinds of magic emerged, the very magic that had just been absorbed. The battle prostitutes turned pale, with a sense of foreboding.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
A large amount of magic was reflected back, landing on the ranks of the fighting prostitutes. A violent bombardment erupted, flames shot into the sky, and screams echoed throughout the entire floor.
Amidst the raging flames, the members of the Ishtarchun tribe fell one by one, the magic they had unleashed becoming the very weapons that killed them.
Besides its specialization in strength and agility, the most terrifying thing about Zagnat is the armor on its head that nullifies magic and even reflects magic.
Absorption and rebound happen in an instant, and almost none of the mages who can only stand still and cast spells can escape the fate of death.
call out!
Zagnat charged into the fighting prostitutes, slaughtering them in a frenzy. He swept past them, his ferocious mouth biting into the bodies of several Amazon girls, crunching them shrilly.
The fighting prostitutes completely lost their will to fight.
Even with their formation, they couldn't have achieved such a tragic outcome against the floor master, Udeos.
Zagnat was incredibly fast; he was a pure killing machine, far surpassing the floor master Udeus in efficiency in killing.
It was summoned, and in less than three minutes, it was joined by Frini, a level 6 member of the Shattered Ishtar Spring Clan, dozens of high-level battle prostitutes and mages.
The situation reversed instantly.
Originally there to hunt down Roy and his group, those fighting prostitutes now only wished their mothers had given them two more legs, and fled towards the thirty-sixth floor.
Even high-level adventurers must flee in the face of an invincible enemy.
Meanwhile, after nearly an hour of fierce fighting, the battle between the puppet Ota and the floor master Udeus was nearing its end, with both sides covered in wounds.
The battle reached its climax.
"Silver Moon's mercy, golden plains, command me to be a fierce fighting boar. Bearing the goddess's will, charge forward!" The puppet Ota picked up an old sword discarded by the fighting prostitutes, chanted a spell, and it was as if a golden pigskin was covering the sword, the surging energy waves causing the air to vibrate.
Roy and the others did not intervene in the battle; the fighting prostitutes were slaughtered and fled. Only the puppet Ota remained to fight the floor master Udeus, a one-on-one challenge that would trigger additional opportunities for the opponent.
Rumble!
The floor master, Udeos, had a cold glint in his eyes. He plunged his large hand into the ground and pulled out a long stone sword, thirty or forty meters long, wide, hard, and as black as iron.
They charged at each other at the same time.
"Hildis Winnie!"
The doll Ota's deep voice rang out as he raised the sword that radiated a golden light and slashed fiercely forward, only to be met by the black stone sword.
The instant the blades clashed.
The entire floor fell into a brief silence.
It was the calm before the storm. Suddenly, energy erupted, and the resulting shockwaves caused the ground to cave in, pushing everything aside like a bulldozer.
Zagnat was no exception; he stood upright with his limbs to stabilize his body, otherwise he would be overturned by the blast wave.
One is a genuine LV.7 adventurer, and the other is a floor boss that requires more than two hundred high-level adventurers to join forces to possibly defeat.
The floor master's varied and unpredictable attacks, extraordinary monster physique, and ability to summon numerous subordinate monsters make it the absolute king of its level. The floor master, Udeos, is level 6, but no level 6 adventurer could possibly defeat it alone.
boom!!
A deafening roar echoed within the thirty-seventh floor, spreading outwards to the boundless horizon, carrying immense energy that made one's eardrums ache.
Dust blotted out the sky and covered an area of several kilometers.
In addition, it's easy to lose your sense of direction in the dungeon, so everyone stopped in place and carefully explored.
Only Roy dared to act.
Through the shared perspective of the puppet Ota, he can see the miserable state of the floor master Udeus at this moment.
The massive skeletal body, with its thick sternum and ribs, was smashed to pieces by the puppet Ota, and both of its arms were torn off.
The demonic horn on its head was also broken off by the doll Ota, and the crimson flames deep in its eye sockets became extremely dim, as if they would be extinguished at any moment.
The floor master, Udeus, is down to his last sliver of health!
If the puppet Ota kills the opponent, he probably won't get a reward, so Roy chooses to do it himself.
Bang!
Roy's legs were wrapped in a whirlwind as he rushed forward, passing through thick dust, and arrived in front of Udeos, plunging his elven holy sword into the opponent's magic stone.
The magic stone is also the floor owner's fatal weakness.
Upon impact, the floor master Udeos's body stiffened, and a crack appeared on the massive magic stone at his chest, which quickly spread to the entire stone.
With a "bang," the massive floor's main structure, Udeos, vanished into white particles.
A large amount of magic stone fragments fell like rain.
[Successfully hunted down the 37th floor master "Udeos," Gongwu obtains—]
A kill success panel popped up in front of Roy, and his face darkened. With the top-tier LV.6 attribute of the floor master Udeos, given his luck, the reward would definitely be no less than that of the mutated Amphisbina. He had already set up the puppet summoning card, so he was bound to recoup some of the cost.
Roy hadn't even had a chance to examine the reward closely.
An intense sense of danger surged into his mind, like a thorn in his back. Roy glanced coldly behind him. After slaughtering most of the Ishtar Familia's fighting prostitutes, they had finally set their sights on him!
Accompanied by the whistling sound of wind breaking.
A swift figure darted through the darkness, tearing through the thick dust, revealing the massive body of "Zagnat" behind Roy, its crimson eyes radiating a ruthless and murderous aura capable of destroying everything.
Zagnat opened his blood-red maw and bit at Roy, his sharp teeth gleaming coldly like shark teeth.
"drink!"
Roy had anticipated this, and with a thought, the puppet Ota, with a speed no less than that of Zagnat, charged like a wild boar, sending the opponent flying.
As they made contact, Zagnat's claws glowed with a sharp, deep purple light, and with a vicious slash, one of the puppet Ota's arms was severed.
The puppet Ota remained unfazed, not only because it was a puppet, but also because it would have been the same even if it were the real Ota.
Its will had long been forged as strong as steel.
The puppet Ota twisted its body in mid-air and delivered a side kick to Zagnat, sending one of the opponent's arms flying and nearly breaking off.
The two sides clashed briefly, with each winning and losing.
After battling the floor master Udeus for nearly an hour, the puppet Ota was not in good condition either, and was under considerable pressure dealing with the ferocious Zagnat.
Roy glanced at the summoning timer on the panel and saw that Ota the puppet had five minutes left.
While instructing the puppet Ota to hold off Zagnat, Roy shouted, "Everyone, get to the thirty-eighth floor at top speed! Note! Do not use any magic on this monster, including the magic sword!"
Since Zagnat appeared, Tione, Tiona, and others protected the seriously injured Ryu and retreated to a corner, witnessing the entire brutal massacre from the sidelines.
The Ishtar clan's fighting prostitutes were powerless to resist, and dozens were killed in an instant.
The girls' hearts were trembling.
Fortunately, the Ishtarchun tribe was numerous, which attracted Zagnat's attention, and they were safe and sound. In addition, Daphne repeatedly used the "Ghost Veil" effect of the Illusionary Girl's Light Armor to create a fangirl effect and cover for them.
Upon hearing Roy's order, everyone quickly moved.
As for the Ishtar Familia, no one could stop them. Polo balls were scattered all over the field, broken balls and bloodstains covered the entire arena, filling it with a strong stench of blood.
Anyone who comes here would probably be shocked. The bodies of all the high-level adventurers are here. The loss of so many high-level adventurers at once will cause a major earthquake in Orario once the news gets out.
All of this is temporarily none of Roy's business.
The fact that the Ishtar Familia were crippled doesn't mean they're safe. They're the only ones left on this floor, and Zagnat will be keeping a close eye on them from now on.
Emerging from the dragon's den, only to enter the tiger's lair!
Their location was near the arena of the second and third circular walls, which was clearly closer to the first circular wall and the thirty-eighth floor than returning to the thirty-sixth floor outside the fifth circular wall.
The 37th floor has a structure of five circular walls, with the innermost walls having smaller areas and closer distances.
Moreover, the thirty-sixth floor also contains the Dark Faction, members of the Ishtar Familia, and the Fairy Bull. Roy would never lead Tione and the others into a trap.
Zagnat will only kill people on the floor where they spawn; once you leave that floor, you're in a safe zone.
"Full speed ahead!"
Roy, carrying the unconscious Ryu and the weakest Lily, activated the special effect "Burning Child" with the Holy Sword of the Spirit to clear away the monsters in front of him. Tiony, Tiona, and Daphne followed closely behind, carrying Cassandra on their backs.
They had only five minutes; they had to get as far away from Zagnat as possible—a race against time.
However, in such a short time, it would be impossible for them to cross the two circular walls and enter the thirty-eighth floor. You must know that the monsters in the center of the white palace are the strongest.
The more obstacles Roy and his companions faced...
Time ticked by, and when the summoning timer reached zero, a bead of cold sweat trickled down Roy's forehead. In the last instant before the puppet Ota disappeared, he saw Zagnat heading straight for him with a clear objective.
At this point, they could only grit their teeth and continue forward with Lan.
As the first circular wall appeared before them, a howling gust of wind swept in from behind.
Roy knew that Zagnat had arrived.
"Take them and go up to the thirty-eighth floor!" Roy handed Ryu and Lily to Tione and Tiona.
"Yes, Commander!"
Tiony, Diona, Daphne, and Lily were filled with worry and reluctance, and tears fell like small pearls as they carried out Roy's orders.
If Roy asked them to stay, the girls present wouldn't hesitate for a second.
The girls continued toward the "Throne Room".
But what makes a dungeon a dungeon is that it will reveal its ferocious fangs when adventurers are at their weakest and least expect it.
In a dark rift not far away, a peculiar monster appeared. It had a body like a venomous snake, but four legs, and its skin was a deep, dark green. Its back was covered with countless sharp needles like those of a hedgehog. Everyone, including Roy, was focused on Zagnat and did not notice this sinister monster.
It is far too weak compared to Zagnat.
call out!call out!call out!
The monster fired out fine needles from its back, a dense, rain-like barrage that pressed down on Tiony and the others, its sound immediately alerting the girls.
When they turned around and saw the monster, their expressions changed drastically, based on Ryu and Professor Eina's knowledge and the monster's characteristics.
Tiony exclaimed, "Peruda?!"
The monster looked like a lizard, but its species was the recognized "dragon." The sharp needles it fired were sharp enough to pierce through stone, and what was even more terrifying was that they were highly poisonous, killing even level 4 and level 5 adventurers!
The sharp needles fell like rain.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Tiona spun the Great Twin Blades, Ulga, with both hands like a rapidly spinning windmill, deflecting all the needles that attacked her. The two created a sound like steel clashing, and she was forced back continuously.
Tiony grabbed the Goliath cloak and put it on himself, Ryu, and Lily, along with Lily's large backpack as a buffer, to block the sharp needles.
The defensive capabilities of the Goliath Cloak are beyond question, and that's the only thing this floor owner has to be praised for.
A moment later, everything returned to calm.
When Thione lifted Goliath's cloak, all she saw was a desolate wasteland and shattered magic stones.
Peruda's needles are a wide-range attack that indiscriminately kills both friend and foe, along with the monsters around him.
"How is it going?" Lily asked.
It's too quiet; it feels like someone's missing.
Tiony, Tiona, and Lily's eyes trembled as they vaguely realized something. They turned their heads and, sure enough, Daphne and Cassandra were lying on the ground with a sharp needle stuck in their legs.
The equipment they were wearing was insufficient to protect their entire bodies.
Peruda's poison quickly spread throughout the two girls' bodies, causing their skin to swell and turn purplish-red. Even Daphne, who possessed exceptional resistance and extremely high durability, could not withstand Peruda's deadly poison and screamed in agony.
Cassandra didn't say a word; her consciousness quickly plunged into darkness, a bitter smile appearing on her lips. The dark "premonition" was indeed as it seemed.
Both of them lost their breath.
Tiony, Tiona, and Lily gasped for breath, their thin, delicate bodies swaying slightly, unsteady on their feet, as if a gust of wind would cause them to collapse completely.
It's normal for casualties to occur when exploring dungeons; they all know this and are mentally prepared.
But when this actually happened, it still broke their hearts. It was too fast, fleeting, without even a last word or a farewell.
Memories of the two of them flooded back, and it felt as if a bloody gash had been torn open in their spirits and hearts, with blood dripping incessantly.
There's a reason why Orario has very few family-style clans; maintaining indifference and limiting relationships to casual acquaintances is also a way to protect oneself.
Exploring dungeons is a high-risk, high-reward profession that puts your life on the line.
The friends you make now might die in the dungeon tomorrow. This kind of violent shock can cause a person to break down mentally and suffer unbearable pain.
There's an unspoken rule among guild staff: even as advisors, they shouldn't get too involved with adventurers. The more emotional investment they make, the more pain they'll feel when the adventurer dies in the dungeon.
"I kill you!"
The smile on Tiona's face vanished, her eyes turned bloodshot, and she leaped up in a rage, unleashing the Great Twin Blades, Urga, which slashed fiercely at Peruda.
boom!
Tiona channeled her terrifying power into the twin blades, the sharp edges cleaving Peruda's body in two, and the earth itself was cleaved open with deep fissures.
But killing Peruda could not quell their pain, sorrow, and anger.
"Aaaaaaah!"
When Tiony and Tiona arrived in Orario, Daphne and Cassandra showed them around, introduced them to the surroundings, showed them the beautiful food, and showed them all sorts of strange and wonderful things.
Despite their lower rank, Tiony and Tiona genuinely respected them as their seniors.
Almost at the same moment.
Roy and Zagnat clashed.
Facing this calamity beast, Roy dared not be careless in the slightest. His mission was to stall until Tione and the others entered the thirty-eighth floor.
Surprisingly, Roy closed his eyes.
Zagnat was as fast as a ghost, and Roy could only see a phantom flash before his eyes. So he closed his eyes to reduce the impact of vision and completely trusted his "intuition" skill.
call out!
A strong sense of danger arose, and Roy entered a state of "foresight," with Zagnat's attack trajectory appearing in his mind.
But being able to see something and being able to react to it are two different things.
A chilling glint flashed, and Roy raised his elven holy sword to parry. The blade and Zagnath's claws sparked violently, and the powerful force sent Roy staggering backward, nearly falling over.
A faint bloodstain appeared on the side of his neck, and a faint smell of blood filled the air. Feeling a stinging pain, Roy's hair stood on end. If his reaction and movements were any slower, he would have been beheaded.
Using "intuition" to constantly maneuver with the other party.
Roy's wounds were piling up, and this was the limit of what he could do.
At that moment, upon hearing Tiona's hysterical voice, Roy opened his eyes and turned his head slightly.
This momentary lapse in concentration caught Zagnat's eye, causing his eyes to blaze with bloodlust as he charged forward recklessly.
Blood for blood, three times the return!
Roy's expression changed slightly, and without hesitation, he activated his skill. The damage accumulated during the battle turned into wisps of blood that flowed into the elven holy sword.
The slender blade turned blood red.
Roy took a step forward, wielding his sword with both hands, and slashed fiercely at Zagnat. The earth-shattering sword light seemed to slice through the entire world.
However, Zagnat was far faster than him, and with a phantom-like speed, he dodged the sword.
boom!
The elven holy sword, shrouded in crimson light, missed its target and struck the ground, its terrifying power extending outwards, tearing a deep crack in the first circular wall.
Roy's expression was not good.
Zagnat also realized that Roy was not easy to deal with, so it picked on the weak and successfully broke through Roy's defenses, heading straight for Tione and the others.
Roy followed closely behind.
"Come here, monster!" Tiony and Tiona were furious, their faces contorted with rage.
Zagnat swept past like a whirlwind, its extremely sharp claws slicing Tiony and Lily in half at the waist. Blood and entrails sprayed in mid-air, and the two were stunned.
"Tione—!"
Tiona's eyes were bloodshot as she raised her twin blades and slashed at Zagnat with all her might.
Zagnat's eyes were indifferent and ruthless, only showing cruelty and coldness towards the intruder. With a flick of its tail, it sent Tiona, who was attacking from behind, flying away.
boom!
Tiona was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the stone wall. The terrifying force caused her entire body to cave in, and the sound of bones shattering echoed throughout her body.
"Pfft!" Tiona spat out a mouthful of blood, unable to move a single finger, and slowly closed her eyes.
thump!
At the critical moment, Tione used her last bit of strength to throw the unconscious Ryu out.
After doing all this, Tiony and Lily also experienced a sudden blackout, their life force quietly draining away. Their cloudy eyes saw Roy rushing towards them, and a faint smile appeared on their bloodless lips.
That smile finally settled on his face.
Liu landed on a secluded hill not far away, rolled around on the ground several times, and struggled to open her eyes. Her blue pupils gradually regained a glimmer of light.
The vision went from blurry to gradually clear.
Then, upon seeing the scene that nearly drove her to despair, Ryu's pupils instantly shrank to their smallest size.
Daphne and Cassandra were poisoned, Tiony and Lily were cut in half at the waist, and Tiona was embedded in the wall, but without exception, they all lost their breath.
What made her feel even more desperate was the familiar and terrifying calamity beast, Zagnat.
All her teammates were killed in action. For more than a year, the nightmare haunted her dreams countless times, preventing her from sleeping peacefully.
Pi Shi was right in front of her!
For Ryu, who had just woken up, the impact of this scene was undoubtedly extremely shocking.
PTSD symptoms suddenly erupt.
"Hmm"
Liu wanted to scream in terror, but when she opened her mouth wide, not a sound came out. She covered her mouth, trying to suppress the nausea and vomiting.
He was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
The only thing that comforted her was that Roy was still there, although the situation was far from optimistic.
Clang!
Roy and Zagnat clashed fiercely on the open ground, raising clouds of dust. With each contact, brilliant sparks emerged from the depths of the dust.
Roy was undoubtedly at a disadvantage.
He was completely suppressed by Zagnat and could only barely hold on thanks to his "Intuition" skill, which has an extremely high potential.
Roy's face was grim. He wanted to collect the bodies of Tione and the others, put them into his spatial ring, and then use the Shikon Jewel to revive them.
However, Zagnat pressed on relentlessly, giving him no chance to catch his breath, let alone collect the body.
"Roy!"
Ryu's shouts caught Roy's attention.
Seeing the elven girl regain consciousness, a dark glint flashed in Roy's eyes. He leaned forward, dodging Zagnat's attack at an incredible distance, and tossed over a potion of elixir. "Miss Ryu, gather Tione and the others' bodies, set up this sword, open a crevice, and hide inside to wait for me!"
call out!
Zagnat lashed out with its tail, shattering the elixir, the liquid shimmering in mid-air.
But the elixir only attracted Zagnat's attention, and Roy seized the opportunity to throw out the Earth Demon Sword. The beggar was cunning, and how could a monster be a match for a human?
The demonic sword traced a perfect parabola in mid-air, and Ryu caught it without hesitation. She subconsciously followed Roy's orders and, being a LV.5 adventurer after all, forced herself to stay upright and collect the bodies of Tione and the others.
Rumble!
The Demon Sword of Rurito carved a crack in the wall, so narrow that it could only allow two people to pass side by side; Zagnat's size would be obscured.
The crack stretched for a kilometer, all the way to Roy's side, where Roy quickly slipped inside.
"Huff! Huff!"
Roy was panting heavily, his whole body was soaked in sweat, and his physical and mental strength were nearing their limits. He quickly opened the medicine and drank seven or eight doses in a row.
"How are you?" Roy came to Liu's side and threw several bottles of medicine over to her.
call out!
Roy waved his hand lightly, collecting the bodies of Tione and the others. There was no point in them living now; he could just let Zagnat kill them again.
Liu's face was pale, devoid of any color. Her alabaster skin was covered in dust, her long golden hair was much duller, and her abdomen was wrapped in thick bandages. She looked disheveled, yet possessed a pitiful and tragic beauty, making her seem pathetic and endearing.
Roar!
Zagnat, outside the crevice, opened his ferocious maw and let out a terrifying roar at them.
Upon hearing Zagnat's roar, a deep sense of terror and fear appeared on Ryu's face. Her whole body went limp, as if her spine had been ripped away, and her delicate body collapsed to the ground. Roy caught her in time.
Ryu's little head rested on Roy's chest.
Roy silently turned Liu around to prevent her from seeing Zagnat outside the crack.
Despite her efforts, Liu's body was still trembling.
Even if it's a level 7 Ota, Ryu dares to rush up and fight, but she just can't face Zagnat, which is a psychological trauma left over from before.
"Tione, Tiona, Daphne—" Ryu's lips trembled, her voice filled with sorrow and fear.
A hint of apology flashed in Roy's eyes. He was the one who caused the Zagnat to be created, almost wiping out the Ishtarchun tribe, but also putting them in danger.
The shock of having teammates wiped out in two waves is so intense that it could drive an ordinary person insane.
Zagnat didn't give them much time.
Claws dug into the stone wall, widening the cracks, and Zagnat grabbed even smaller skeleton sheep and obsidian soldiers.
Even monsters like Peruda were thrown into the crack.
Seeing this, Roy became alert, entered combat mode, and whispered, "I will save them!"
"Is it possible?"
Liu slowly raised her little head, her blue eyes filled with tears, reflecting Roy's face.
"able!"
Roy's voice was filled with strong confidence, then he looked at her seriously, "What are you going to do?"
Liu bit her pale lips tightly.
"No matter what you think, I will continue to fight for Lan." Roy turned around to face the monster in front of him.
Fight? Could she still fight? Fear filled Ryu's heart. Just seeing Zagnat made her feel as if she had lost all her strength and was unable to move.
"You won't die, will you?!" Ryu grabbed Roy's clothes, her sad eyes fixed on him.
"You have to be careful what you say, how could I possibly die in a place like this!" Roy sneered.
At this moment, Roy unleashed his true nature.
Previously, as the leader of his clan, Roy felt a sense of responsibility, which inevitably made him somewhat hesitant in his actions. Now, with his clan nearly wiped out, the ferocity in his bones has been unleashed.
Wu Huan's adventurous impulse is stirring!
That familiar yet maniacal laugh, for some reason, soothed the pain and fear in Liu's heart.
This was an arrogant young man, fearless and reckless. If someone punched him, he would retaliate tenfold, a hundredfold, regardless of the opponent's status, strength, or even whether they were a god.
In front of such a person, her awkwardness and inner turmoil seemed so ridiculous.
That's a fearless courage!
Beneath the plain white robe, a dazzling golden light shone from her snow-white back.