Chương 11: A Real Adventure and Premonition

Babel Plaza. Large numbers of adventurers covered in blood and wearing broken armor surged out of the Dungeon entrance with fear on their faces.

"Damn it, stop pushing!"

"Why did something like that happen? I lost everything I gathered today. Damn it!"

"Guild! What exactly is going on? Why did this happen? Give us an explanation!"

"If an upper-class adventurer had not passed by at the right time, I would have died in there." Before long, the crowd swelled, and curses rang out without end. The Guild was nearly overwhelmed.

"What? How is that possible? An Irregular occurred across every floor of the Upper Floors? The monster spawn rate multiplied several times over, and monsters that should not spawn on those floors appeared there?" The Guild's chief looked at the angry adventurers crowding into the office hall and wiped sweat away with a white towel. He looked completely stunned. In the past thousand years, an Irregular had never broken out across the Upper Floors. Even Monster Parties were rare there.

At most, a monster from the Middle Floors might occasionally climb into the upper section. How could every floor suddenly show abnormalities? Yet it had happened. Great Ouranos, what in the world was going on? The Guild chief paced anxiously, hands clasped behind his back, unable to make a decision for a moment. Then he shouted.

"No matter what happened, issue a mission immediately. Adventurers Lv. 2 and above are to rescue as many lower-class Lv. 1 adventurers trapped in the Upper Floors as possible. After that, we investigate the truth." Guild assignments came in two forms. The first was a request, which adventurers could choose not to accept. The second was a mission, which adventurers were required to accept. It was like a city hall issuing an order to citizens. If someone refused to carry it out, they would be punished.

In severe cases, they could even be expelled from Orario.

"An emergency... How could this happen?" Eina's expression tightened. The image of that boy who knew no common sense, who had been clumsy and amusing and even a little innocent in front of her, appeared in her mind. Unease and sadness tightened her chest.

"A rookie who had just entered the Dungeon..." Was another rookie adventurer under her care never coming back?

"Eina." The pink-haired Guild employee sighed softly. Adventurers could lose their lives at any unknown moment. Someone who joked with you today might be gone tomorrow.

"We should notify his goddess, Goddess Hestia."... At that moment, on the fourth floor of the Dungeon, a figure was soaked in blood. White flashes tore through a cave chamber packed with monsters. Every monster the white light passed through instantly turned to ash and vanished, but more monsters rushed toward the sword-wielding figure as if there were no end to them. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Goblins, red-eyed rabbits, demon wolves. None of these can take a single strike from me. As long as I swing fast enough, they will die before they touch me." Cael swung both swords again and again. There was no technique in his movements. It did not matter where he cut. Anything the blades touched was sliced apart with ease. The two swords had been temporarily strengthened into tungsten carbide. As long as he had enough strength, tungsten carbide blades could cut through an iron pillar as thick as an arm.

Among monsters in the Upper Floors, the hardest body belonged to the Killer Ant from the seventh floor. For lower-class adventurers, Killer Ants were among the most difficult monsters to deal with because their bodies were covered in armor-like exoskeletons. For Cael, they were the easiest. Killer Ants moved the slowest, and one strike was enough to kill them. Still, Cael felt he had already reached exhaustion. His clothes were torn to rags. His skin was covered in bloody cuts.

His arms were so sore he could barely raise them. Since entering the Dungeon, he had only drunk a little water. His stamina had long since run dry. Damn it. They are not even giving me time to breathe. If this keeps going, I will die the moment I cannot swing anymore. I am almost back to the third floor. With that thought in mind, Cael gritted his teeth and kept raising his swords while running toward the upper passage. Against monsters from floors one through six, he was basically overwhelming.

The hardest enemies were the upright monsters from the seventh floor and deeper. Wolf-headed humanoids should only appear from the seventh floor onward. Their speed and strength definitely surpassed a Basic Ability value of two hundred. Only experienced Lv. 1 adventurers could deal with them using technique and experience. In the Dungeon, monsters capable of standing upright and attacking were much harder to handle than other monsters.

Not only did they free their hands, they also had fangs and claws that could easily tear flesh apart, and at least one of their agility, strength, or speed would be especially high. Cael estimated that even with his doubled Basic Abilities, he was not a match for one right now. Before gaining his own Skill, even Bell Cranel had fought monsters in the Dungeon for half a month without any of his five Basic Abilities passing one hundred.

"Awooo!" The wolf-headed monster that had fully crawled out of the stone wall roared. A frightening growl rolled from its throat, and its crimson eyes locked onto its only prey. The culprit who had angered Mother. Only by tearing him to pieces and offering him to Mother would this end. Cael had kept his entire body tense and left no blind spot in his field of vision. He prepared the instant it appeared. Even so, the distance between them seemed to vanish. He only saw a gray blur.

The wolf-headed monster was already in front of him. Its sharp claws tore through the air.

"Fast!" His battle instinct worked. Cael reflexively crossed both swords in front of him. A tremendous force slammed into the blades, then crashed into his chest. Before his mind could react, his vision spun. Pain exploded through his back as he hit the wall.

"Gah! Ahhh!" Cael forced himself back to awareness. He had been sent flying. A hot sensation spread at the corner of his mouth, and his chest burned. He looked down and saw that the light chest guard had shattered. Blood ran from his lips. Before he could recover, Killer Ants screeched and surged toward him. Hum. At that instant, an image flashed through his mind. One second later, he would be torn apart by the Killer Ants' giant jaws.

"Ahhh!" Strength surged through his exhausted body. Cael sprang up, swept his sword with all his power, and cut the Killer Ants around him in half. They burst into ash one after another.

"My strength increased. The swords are sharper too. Indomitable activated." Cael wiped the blood from his mouth and grinned, a fierce light in his eyes. And that image just now, was that the Development Ability Premonition? Development Abilities were supposed to belong only to upper-class adventurers after reaching Lv. 2. And predicting the next instant one second in advance was absurd. It was almost the same as seeing the future. I am getting out of here.

Even Cael did not know how he could remain so rational and calm after being pushed to the brink. Human potential could surprise even humans themselves. Roar! The wolf-headed monster howled in pain. One claw had been neatly cut off after slamming into the blade, but it had no reason left. It charged madly toward the enemy who had severed its claw. Just like before, it crossed the distance in an instant. Its fangs and claws tried to rip Cael's body apart. But this time... Shhk.

A sharp longsword pierced through the gray fur on its back. Blood sprayed out. Then, with a dull pop, the monster became ash.

"Hah... Hah... Even if I am not as fast as you, I can see the next second." Three claw marks opened across his shoulder. Flesh split open, and blood flowed freely. His whole body was covered in blood. Some of it belonged to monsters. Some of it belonged to him. Cael's hands shook as he gripped the sword hilt. He bared his bloodstained teeth and turned his gaze to another wolf-headed monster crawling out of the stone wall.

"This is the third floor. Two more floors until I am out..."

"Come on, monsters. I will cut you down. Before my dream is complete, I am not dying!"