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Following the sprinting party, Tsubaki scanned the ever-changing scenery of the Dungeon.
The dim phosphorescent glow, the multiple branching paths, the approaching monsters, every trouble had been dealt with, yet there was still no sign of any suspicious figure targeting them.
But only now did Tsubaki suddenly realize something.
Every one of the First Class Adventurers in the party wore expressions so tense it was frightening, while supporters like Raul looked downright pale.
The surging sense of danger filled the entire group with suffocating tension.
"Don't slow down!" Gareth, at the very rear of the party, couldn't help urging them onward.
"Is this… a vibration?" Tsubaki suddenly noticed it.
A strange sensation struck the team, a calamity-like tremor coming precisely from beneath their feet.
It was a roar that shook the bones themselves, the roar of a monster king.
"Dragonkind?!" Tsubaki's expression changed instantly.
Dragonkind were a rare species, far stronger than ordinary monsters, though their numbers were extremely low.
For example, in the Upper Floors from the 1st to 12th Floor, a rare Dragonkind monster known as a Young Dragon could appear, possessing strength far beyond Lv.1, something beginner adventurers could never hope to handle.
But here...
"There are so many Dragonkind?!"
Tsubaki was horrified.
The roars of monster kings echoed one after another; it was definitely not just one or two. The strength of rare Dragonkind appearing on the 50+ Floors was impossible to imagine, and they were appearing in groups!
"But where are they?" Tsubaki looked around frantically, unable to spot any sign of the dragons.
"Below us." Ryoji shouted in a low voice.
His eyes were sharp as blades.
"They're coming!"
Suddenly, he gave a warning shout.
"Bete, turn left!" Finn barked the order.
The vanguard turned without hesitation, abandoning the main route and charging into a narrow side passage.
Moments later...
BOOM!!
The ground exploded.
"?!"
A crimson shockwave erupted from underground, it was a towering pillar of flames.
Scorching light and heat washed over them, and Tsubaki twisted her lips into a grim smile.
"So that's how it is!"
As if a gigantic landmine had detonated, the floor where they had just been standing was completely blasted through. Crimson flames engulfed the corridor, burning every approaching monster to ash.
And not only that, the massive pillar of fire even pierced through the ceiling and shot straight into the 51st Floor.
Raul, Alicia, and the other supporters turned deathly pale, using every ounce of willpower just to swallow their screams.
For supporters who were only Lv.4, this place was simply too dangerous. Every step was filled with countless killing opportunities. Without the protection of the executives around them, they would probably have died hundreds of times already.
"So this is the Deep Floors… the domain below the 50th Floor…" Ryoji muttered quietly.
Even though he had prepared himself before entering, encountering something so absurd still left him dumbfounded.
"Floor Ignorance."
The monsters here had already developed such a terrifying trait.
No wonder they said common sense simply didn't apply down here.
"Take a detour! Head for the western passage!" Finn shouted, and the party immediately deviated from the main path, dashing through the narrow maze-like corridors.
"Here it comes again!"
As the group advanced, Ryoji sounded another warning like a living alarm system.
Then another massive fire blast erupted from underground, blasting through both floor and ceiling.
Thanks to his warning, the vanguard narrowly avoided the explosion.
In situations like this, his intuition proved immensely valuable, allowing the group to evade crisis after crisis.
"At least seven or more!"
As they crossed over the crimson-stained pit, Tiona glanced downward.
The massive explosions had blasted through the barriers, launching an endless barrage of sniper-like attacks from the depths below.
Rock layers rapidly crumbled, and waves of heat rushed toward them.
"Riveria, defensive magic!"
"It's already deployed!"
Along with Riveria's chanting voice, an emerald-green radiance enveloped everyone's bodies.
The dragons' roars became increasingly distinct, shaking every floor beneath their feet.
Lefiya scrambled about, following the Executives as they dodged desperately from side to side.
Faced with a deadly situation where even First Class Adventurers could do nothing but keep running, the resolve she thought she had prepared still failed her, her heart pounded violently in her chest.
The endless bombardment, the earth-shaking dragon roars, all of it assaulted her eyes and eardrums.
"This is bad!"
"Huh?"
While constantly avoiding the explosions, her azure eyes suddenly caught sight of something.
From a skylight-like passage high up near the wall corner, swarms of giant black spiders appeared. The only ones who noticed the situation were Lefiya in the rearguard formation and Gareth behind her.
"Watch out!"
Before she could finish warning them, a massive barrage of spider silk shot out from the passage.
The attack came completely without warning. The vanguard, fully occupied with dodging the bombardment from below, had no time to think and could only leap repeatedly to evade the webbing.
"Raul!"
"Alicia!"
The First Class Adventurers managed to react in time, but the Supporters fell into the enemy's grasp.
Raul in the middle guard and Alicia on the left flank were simultaneously targeted by the Black Spiders.
In an instant, Alicia's wrist was ensnared by spider silk.
Her face turned deathly pale, fear spreading through her heart as a sense of mortal danger seized her entire body.
"...Hah!"
Suddenly, a flash thrust forward, nearly silent.
The remarkably tough silk snapped instantly.
Alicia stumbled, regained her footing, and shot Ryoji a look of delighted relief.
His reaction had been even faster than Finn's!
"Tha..."
"Get down!"
Before she could finish thanking him, Ryoji suddenly shouted.
Everyone trusted his warnings completely; their bodies moved on instinct, diving toward the corners of the passage.
BOOM!
The next moment, the rock layer of the floor collapsed again, and a gigantic explosion of flames surged upward, grazing past their bodies and blasting into the ceiling.
Ryoji grabbed Alicia and dashed away, narrowly escaping the inferno.
"Lefiya!"
But from the other side came Riveria's cry of alarm. In a blur of motion, the girl in the pink robe fell into the flaming pit below.
"It's my fault…!" Raul's expression twisted horribly.
At the instant the spider silk had targeted him, Finn hadn't managed to pull him away. It was Lefiya behind him who had suddenly shoved him aside, pulling him out of danger. But Lefiya herself had been struck by the silk and dragged into the air by a Black Spider.
When the fire blast surged upward, it incinerated both the Black Spider and its webbing.
But Lefiya, as a result, fell into the pit.
Everyone was too busy evading danger, no one could save her in time.
This was an unintentional coordinated assault between the upper-floor monsters and the Dragonkind below, impossible to defend against.
BANG!
The sound of a foot slamming against the ground rang out sharply.
The silver-armored boy leapt into the air and jumped straight into the crimson pit.
"Ryoji!"
Among them all, he was the first to recover from the aftermath of the explosion.
Without a second thought, Tiona hefted her greatsword and jumped into the pit after him.
"Lefiya!"
Ais's eyes tightened, and she too rushed toward the pit.
(End of Chapter)