The bottom of the chasm was howling with fierce winds as Ryan plummeted from the sky at breakneck speed.
Uncle Buck's furious roar before his death still echoed in his ears, the blaze of the alchemical bomb becoming his final memory.
The Goddess of Fortune smiled upon him at that moment; he crashed heavily onto the resilient Glowshroom, barely clinging to life.
The immense recoil churned his insides like a stormy sea. He lay sprawled on the glowing mushroom cap, vomiting sour liquid in great heaves.
Ryan struggled to push up his weakened body. He turned his head to look beside him, feeling as if all the blood in his body had frozen.
Uncle Buck had fallen onto a rock not far away, his body now a mangled, bloody mess, reduced to a pile of shredded flesh.
Grief overwhelmed Ryan's reason. His eyes turned bloodshot as he clutched his own hair in utter collapse.
"How?! How on earth do I get back up?!"
Ryan shouted desperately into the darkness overhead, his voice choked with sobs.
In this outburst of extreme emotion, he completely forgot the survival rule: never shout in the Dungeon.
This piercing cry shattered the silence at the edge of the sixth floor. Dozens of crimson eyes silently lit up in the surrounding darkness.
Rustling sounds emerged from all directions. Ryan's heart clenched in fear, and he shut his mouth tightly.
Enormous Monsters crawled out of the darkness, their bodies covered in festering pustules and emitting a foul stench.
But it was too late to stay quiet now. A pack of hungry Carrion Demons, drawn by the scent of Uncle Buck's blood, swiftly surrounded Ryan.
These creatures usually only dared to eat carrion, but today they had encountered fresh prey. They stared greedily at Ryan, low growls rumbling in their throats.
These demons bore sharp fangs, drooling as they closed in step by step on this living quarry.
A pungent, rotting stench assaulted Ryan's senses. He could see shreds of meat stuck between the monsters' teeth–remnants of other unfortunate adventurers.
Ryan tightened his grip on the ordinary dagger in his hand, his entire body trembling as he prepared for the impending death.
The lead Carrion Demon let out a piercing shriek. It pushed off with its hind legs, opening its bloody maw wide as it lunged straight for Ryan's neck.
A fierce will to survive made him deeply unwilling. Was he going to die here? He hadn't even visited a brothel yet!
At that critical moment.
A petite black-and-white figure descended from the sky, landing amidst the demon pack with a suffocating, terrifying pressure.
The violent air current instantly sent the pouncing demon flying. It slammed heavily against the rock wall, emitting a pained whimper.
Arianna, on her daily patrol of the Labyrinth's surrounding territory, landed steadily. Her emotionless green eyes swept coldly across the scene.
The ferocious Carrion Demons sensed the overwhelming power. They halted their advance one by one, instinctual fear flashing in their eyes.
The Jadeite Loop behind her instantly erupted with lethal cold light. The weapon, crafted by Labrynth over several days, traced dazzling arcs of death through the air.
Six Poison-Tempered Blades spun wildly like a meat grinder. Within three seconds, this weapon shredded all the surrounding demons into fragments.
Piercing screams rose one after another. The hard demon bones were like paper before the Mithril Blades, effortlessly sliced into smooth chunks.
Green venom rapidly spread through the wounds. Even demons that were merely grazed instantly dissolved into puddles of bubbling, white-smoking pus.
Overwhelming violent aesthetics shocked the entire scene.
Foul black blood splattered everywhere, yet not a single drop touched the hem of Arianna's pristine gothic maid dress.
Ryan stared blankly at the instantly annihilated Monster pack. His mind went completely blank, utterly unable to comprehend the horrifying scene that had just unfolded.
He swallowed hard, about to look up and thank his savior.
Abruptly, then, he caught sight of the inhuman features on Arianna's body.
Green bat-shaped wings flapped slowly behind her. A slender demon tail swished impatiently through the air.
Ryan almost instantly realized what terrifying being he had encountered.
His teeth chattered uncontrollably in fear, his legs as weak as noodles.
"D-Demon Race?!"
Ryan collapsed onto his backside. He pointed a trembling finger at the girl before him, his voice cracking.
Arianna cast a cold glance at the shivering Ryan on the ground. She didn't care in the least about this weak human's reaction and directly contacted her Lord.
Labrynth's soft, mellow voice sounded in her mind. (^▽^)
"What is it, Greeny? Is the weapon I forged working well?"
Arianna nodded obediently and replied, "Yes, the weapon crafted by my Lord is very effective. Arianna has discovered a very weak human adventurer."
"Huh?" Labrynth made a puzzled sound.
(・◇・)?
She immediately shared Arianna's vision through Remote Mental Manipulation.
Via the Holographic Projection, Labrynth also saw Ryan sprawled on the ground. She laughed happily, finding this weak prey quite amusing.
"Then bring him back, Greeny."
Labrynth casually issued the order.
Upon receiving the instruction, Arianna didn't hesitate. She stepped forward, grabbed Ryan by the back of his collar, and began dragging him back like a dead dog.
Ryan felt the immense force at the back of his neck. He swallowed hard, silently abandoning any thought of escape.
He could only let himself be dragged along the ground by this demon maid like a rag doll.
Are they taking me to a Demon Race camp?
I haven't even experienced a brothel yet!
Ryan closed his eyes in despair. I hope I won't be steamed or braised...
Countless ways to die flashed through his mind.
If only I'd encountered a succubus from the legends...
Ryan prayed inwardly.
Dragged all the way to the Ivory Labyrinth, Ryan was amazed by the white stone slabs along the way that gleamed with a metallic sheen.
Terrifying Inverted Spikes and bottomless pit traps were ubiquitous on the walls, with traces of not-yet-dried dark red blood still remaining within the traps.
Ryan felt his scalp tingle. He realized this Labyrinth was absolutely a meticulously designed slaughterhouse.
Following Labrynth's arrangement, Arianna locked Ryan in a cold prison cell.
This was precisely where that unlucky mage Allen was being held.
With the clang of the metal door locking, Arianna turned and left. Ryan lay blankly on the prison floor, taking a long time to come back to his senses.
Soon after, wild joy filled his heart.
Great!
He hadn't been brutally eaten by the cruel Demon Race on the spot. At least he was still alive for now.
Ryan got up from the floor. Curious, he touched the walls around him that emitted a faint silvery glow, finding them ice-cold and extremely hard.
"Don't waste your energy."
A hoarse voice came from the corner. "These walls are mixed with Mithril. You could hammer at them for a year and not leave a scratch."
Ryan jumped in fright.
He whipped his head around, finally making out a disheveled man sitting in the corner.
"M-Mithril?!"
Ryan's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's impossible! That's a rare metal. Who would be so extravagant as to use it for walls?!"
The man sneered. He looked at Ryan with the gaze of someone regarding a country bumpkin, his tone filled with resignation and bitterness.
"She torments us with illusions, making us struggle repeatedly between hope and despair."
The man began speaking on his own, his eyes bloodshot.
Once our spirits are completely broken, she throws us into that terrifying, scorching hot furnace. Even our corpses are refined into materials. It's utterly inhuman!"
She?
Ryan listened, utterly confused. He cautiously moved a bit closer and asked, "Brother, are you an adventurer from Blackedge Town too?"
The man nodded. A glimmer of nostalgia flashed in his dull eyes, as if recalling the warm sunlight and noisy taverns on the surface.
"My name is Ryan, a rookie." Ryan sighed. "I followed Uncle Buck down from the Sighing Chasm to scavenge."
Hearing about the chasm, the man was surprised.
"You're really bold. That passage is a grave for low-level adventurers. The slightest misstep means being smashed to pieces."
Ryan's eyes reddened. He covered his face in agony, his voice choked. "Uncle Buck is already dead. He detonated a bomb to save me.
"The rope snapped. I fell onto a Glowshroom and barely survived."
Ryan wiped his tears. "But right after landing, I encountered demons and almost got eaten."
The man just listened. He didn't offer comfort because in the cruel dungeon, death was as commonplace as an everyday occurrence.
"And then?" The man raised an eyebrow, seeming to show a flicker of interest. How did you survive the demon pack and end up captured here?"
Ryan shuddered all over, recalling the terrifying scene from earlier. His voice became sharp.
"It was a maid with bat wings and a tail! Ryan gestured excitedly. "A ring, a few swords, and she wiped out all the demons in seconds!"
The man looked somewhat terrified at Ryan, unsure whether to call him lucky or unlucky.
Ryan was baffled. Seeing the man's expression, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother, what have you been through? Why are you so scared?"
The man gave a bitter smile. He pointed to the terrifying scars on his own body, some deep enough to see the bone, his tone filled with profound powerlessness and despair.
"I encountered a faceless white stone person." He recalled that battle, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"That Monster had absolutely no Mana fluctuation, but it was as fast as lightning. One punch shattered my proud magic shield.
"My fireballs left no marks on it. It cleaved through my ice prison with one slash, nearly taking my head off." His voice was full of frustration.
"Later, I was thrown into a water prison filled with ice-cold, bone-chilling, dirty water. That Demon City Lord actually used illusions to make me experience the agony of my feet being melted through by magma!
"That ultimate torment of having your soul torn apart… I never want to experience it a second time in my life…" He clutched his head, groaning in pain.
Ryan sucked in a sharp breath.
Explosive Fireball? Polar Ice Prison? Those were spells only High-Rank Elemental Mages could master!
"You're a High-Rank Elemental Mage?"
Ryan incredulously sized up this down-and-out man. "How could a High-Rank Mage end up like this?"
The man laughed self-deprecatingly. He leaned against the ice-cold wall, tilting his head back to look at the pitch-black ceiling, his eyes filled with desolation.
"The sixth floor is a dangerous place."
The man sighed. "Our entire squad was wiped out on the sixth floor. I'm the only one left."
Ryan's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly remembered the big news Uncle Buck had mentioned during the downhill skiing.
That Silver Rank adventurer squad that was wiped out on the sixth floor–could it be the squad this man belonged to? Ryan gulped.
"You... who exactly are you?" Ryan's voice trembled, his eyes fixed intently on the man's face.
The man glanced at Ryan, revealing a bitter smile.
He slowly straightened up, using a grave tone of voice to utter that once-glorious name.
"I am Allen." He took a deep breath, as if using all his strength. "I am a member of the Silver Blade Squad."
...
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