Several stone rats charged toward Caelan and Liam, forcing the two to defend themselves without rest. Liam used his spear to cut down the approaching enemies, twisting his body to drive away a group attempting to surround them. When he noticed that one of the rats was about to attack Caelan from behind, he immediately changed the direction of his movement and pierced it with the tip of his weapon.
"Water Jet!"
Caelan brought his hands together, launching a cutting jet of water that pierced five stone rats consecutively. Then, he extended his arms to the sides and created three-layered water barriers, pushing away the enemies trying to approach.
However, when they took a closer look at the situation, the two realized they were surrounded by far more creatures than they had imagined. There were stone rats everywhere, including in the direction from which they had come.
Caelan was sweating and showing signs of exhaustion.
"How is this possible? There wasn't any other path besides the one we came through!"
"Maybe there's a hidden magic circle."
Liam tried to analyze the situation while the attacks continued. Caelan's water barrier wouldn't last much longer if so many enemies kept attacking without stopping. They needed to find a way out before their strength ran out.
Gripping his spear firmly, Liam decided to advance.
"Caelan, increase my power and then open a passage at the front of the barrier!"
"All right! I'm right behind you!"
Caelan touched Liam and transferred his magic to him, temporarily increasing his power with an enhancement from his water magic. Taking advantage of the boost, Liam concentrated mana into the spear's blade, making the weapon take on a spectral appearance.
"Spectral Spear: Phantom Form!"
Liam pulled his arm back and threw the weapon with all his strength. The spear pierced the stone rats in its path, opening a passage through the creatures. Without wasting time, the two ran after it as the weapon continued forward, piercing everything it encountered.
"That's a really good power, Liam!"
"It won't stop until I give the order! Well, at least until I run out of mana!"
Besides piercing the enemies, Liam could control the spear's speed after throwing it, accelerating or slowing its movement depending on how much mana he used.
"Caelan, hold my hand!"
As soon as Caelan took his hand, Liam grabbed the spear and increased its speed. The two shot forward along the path, trying to escape the rats chasing them. However, the enemies ahead seemed endless, and each new group forced Liam to spend even more mana to keep the passage open.
'Shit, I'm running out of mana!'
Some rats began jumping over the spear, trying to reach the two. Caelan reacted immediately, creating a water barrier around them. The protection withstood the attacks throughout the rest of their journey until they finally reached a room.
At the back, there was a glowing plaque that stopped emitting light as soon as the two entered. At the same time, the stone rats still chasing them began to disintegrate, disappearing before they could reach them.
"What is this?"
Liam deactivated his weapon's ability, making the spear return to its normal form, and leaned against a wall to catch his breath. Meanwhile, Caelan approached the plaque and read the information engraved on it.
"It says we've completed the room. From the looks of it, we needed to reach the end to complete this phase of the dungeon."
"That was all? Thank goodness I have my spear!"
"Looks like we got lucky."
A door marked with the number three opened in the wall ahead. The two crossed the passage and arrived at a cave. When they looked back, they saw the door close, revealing the number four on its surface.
"It looks like we were in the second-easiest phase."
"Wait, and it was that difficult? My mana is almost halfway depleted!"
The two continued through the cave, but soon heard sounds of combat coming from a nearby passage. Quickening their pace, they reached the area and found Sylvia fighting a stone gargoyle covered in bone structures. The creature spat fire from its mouth while trying to hit her, but several vines kept its body partially restrained.
"Let's help!"
"Featherweight Magic!"
Liam activated his magic and advanced at high speed, positioning himself in front of Sylvia to block a punch from the gargoyle. The force of the impact made his body recoil slightly, but he managed to prevent the creature from hitting the girl.
Caelan arrived shortly afterward, forming several water bubbles around the enemy.
"Explosive Water Bubbles!"
The bubbles struck the gargoyle and exploded in succession, tearing off one of its arms. The creature staggered, losing some of its balance.
Sylvia immediately took advantage of the opening. Above the gargoyle's head, she formed a large thorn made of vines and launched it at the enemy's chest. The attack pierced the stone and destroyed the Nartheis core hidden inside the creature's body.
A second later, the gargoyle collapsed into several pieces on the ground.
"It's good to see you two."
"We were separated for, at most, five hours."
"Even so, you saved my life. It's good to see you."
A door marked with the number two opened in the wall in front of them. Only then did Liam and Caelan realize that Sylvia had faced one of the dungeon's bosses alone.
"You were sent to phase three and still managed to fight that thing by yourself?"
"Actually, I was in phase five, which was a place full of traps. After I defeated the boss there, the door to this phase opened."
Caelan let out an impressed whistle.
"Impressive."
Sylvia simply sighed.
"I don't think it was that impressive. From the looks of it, that was the easiest phase."
The two looked at Sylvia more closely. Although she had suffered a few injuries, she seemed to be fine, demonstrating how much she had improved. Liam and Caelan realized they couldn't afford to fall behind, especially since it was already bad enough knowing that some of their other companions were stronger than them.
Caelan, however, still had a question.
"I have a question. Since you were the first to leave your phase, why didn't you end up where we were?"
Liam decided to share his theory.
"I think it's precisely because people had already been assigned to each location."
Sylvia nodded in agreement with Liam.
"He's right. I also think that if this phase had been completed before you arrived, perhaps you would have been sent directly to phase two."
The three began to understand how the dungeon's progression system worked. Apparently, they had been lucky to be sent to easier phases initially. However, this conclusion brought up a concern that none of them wanted to consider.
The three entered the door with some unease.
Caelan looked around. The cave had several passages, some surrounded by impressive rock formations. In certain places, the architecture even resembled a castle built inside the mountain itself.
"Does that mean the others were sent to the second phase or, even worse, might have been taken directly to the boss?"
Liam seemed quite worried about the situation. He slightly raised his spear.
"If that's true, we'd better finish this phase quickly. I'll use the time to accumulate a little more mana in my spear."
Sylvia looked at the path ahead.
"You two are right. But do you think it would be better to split up? That way, we'd have a better chance of finding the others. Of course, if you agree."
The idea made sense, since searching for their companions separately would allow them to explore more paths in less time. However, there was also the risk that one of them might end up dying alone, something none of the three was willing to accept. Liam shook his head to show that he disagreed with the plan.
"It's better to stay together for now."
"All right, if you say so."
The three resumed walking, preparing to face the next enemies. To their surprise, the farther they advanced, the more bodies they found scattered along the path. They were creatures with upper bodies resembling men and lower bodies resembling goats.
In addition, there were traces of fire everywhere, indicating that someone had already passed through and fought the monsters.
Sylvia smiled as she observed the corpses.
"Judging by the level of these creatures, they're only one rank below that gargoyle. It seems I wasn't the only one who got stronger."
Caelan wore practically the same smile as her.
"Well, I wouldn't expect anything less from my leader's right-hand woman."
Liam shook his head at the sight of the two walking with such confidence, but he eventually caught their enthusiasm. After all, if they managed to find Enrico, this dungeon would probably become much easier to overcome.
However, as they continued forward, Liam felt something strange.
'Wait... What is this feeling?'
He was continuously spreading his Featherweight mana around his body, using it to sense possible threats. Suddenly, he felt a dangerous presence approaching from behind.
His body reacted before he could even understand what was happening.
"Someone's behind us!"
The three immediately turned around.
Behind them, a terrifying amount of mana began to accumulate, releasing a pressure that none of the three should have been able to feel at that stage.
The first thing they saw was an enormous red hand marked with black stripes.
Shortly afterward, the figure of a gigantic minotaur appeared before them, its eyes glowing with a menacing red light.