Chương 60: Monster Arena

"Then I will leave my protection to everyone," Shinobu joked gently.

"Then I will make sure to protect you properly," Cael replied in the same joking tone.

"You are more like my younger brother." Shinobu laughed despite herself.

"Shinobu, I am the same age as you. Is it really okay to call me your younger brother?" Cael's mouth twitched. Shinobu was eighteen years old, and he was also eighteen.

"What? You are the same age as me? You look younger than I do," Shinobu said in surprise. Although his temperament was good, his face was too tender.

"I just have a body that does not seem to age much," Cael shrugged. Because of the Infinite Skill Tree, his body was continuously being optimized. His appearance had not changed much, but the flaws in his skin and facial features were slowly being repaired. His body seemed fixed at the age when the Infinite Skill Tree had awakened, which meant he would neither grow old nor die immediately.

There was no need to mention the advantages, but there was also one disadvantage: he looked tender, one or two years younger than he really was.

"I really envy that body," Shinobu said enviously.

"I envy you too. Purple hair and purple eyes are not as ordinary as mine."

"Black hair and black eyes are also very beautiful and full of mystery," Shinobu said gently. Mitsuri, who was watching from the side, looked at Shinobu and Cael, who were already chatting, and felt a little anxious. Oh no. Miss Shinobu had already started chatting with Mr. Cael, but Mitsuri could not join a medical topic at all.

"Lord Cael, your teammates are fighting bloody battles. Is it really all right for you and Lady Shinobu to chat and laugh?" Lili said faintly. Lady Hestia was right. Lord Cael was a playboy. He had just kissed Lili yesterday, and today he was flirting with Lady Shinobu, who had only just joined Hestia Familia.

"It is fine. At least before entering the fourteenth floor, there is no need to worry." Cael watched the Hashira cut down monsters with ease, his blood heating at the sight. With their superb swordsmanship, the monsters could not even graze them. After all, man-eating demons were much more ferocious than monsters. Monsters lacked intelligence and stayed dead once killed. Demons had intelligence like humans and would not die so easily. That was why the Demon Slayers' techniques were simply at their peak.

The corner of Cael's mouth curved slightly. He bent down and whispered playfully in Lili's ear.

"Lili, are you jealous?" Lili blushed and quickly pulled her hood down to cover her cheeks. They were surrounded by so many people, yet he still said she was jealous.

"Lord Cael misunderstood. Lili was only reminding you."

"Your tone changed, but I really like that you are jealous for me, Lili. Hehe." Cael smiled, then looked ahead and spoke quickly.

"The exit is just ahead. I do not know if it leads to the entrance of the fourteenth floor or to a huge cave room." The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Lord Cael is so evil," Lili muttered under her hood.

"Finally, we are out of the tunnel."

"Have you noticed that the phosphorescence on the walls gets brighter the deeper we go?"

"I noticed. Is something big going to happen?"

"It is getting more and more gorgeous. My instinct tells me that the more gorgeous it is, the more dangerous it is."

"Did you not read the Adventurer's Manual? The phosphorescence gets brighter as you get closer to the depths of the maze. It is said that when you reach the eighteenth floor, it is as bright as the surface, and there is even a jungle," Lili cut in.

"The huge cave room ahead should be close to the fourteenth floor."

"I read the Adventurer's Manual, but there are not many descriptions of the Middle Floors, so I do not know," Rengoku said energetically.

"That is because everyone has only just registered as adventurers. What you have is the newcomer's manual. As for manuals for the Middle Floors and above, the Guild does not distribute them."

"That information is internal to each Familia. It is the private property of veteran Familias and will not be made public. The Guild only announces the floor each Familia has reached." Cael said this with some regret. If he had detailed information on the Middle Floors and above, he might have been able to take a shortcut. Besides, the terrain of the Middle Floors changed at any time, so there was no way to record everything. Soon, they arrived at the first huge cave chamber they had encountered so far.

The place was unusually wide. Sharp stalactites hung from the rocky ceiling overhead, as if they would fall with the slightest aftershock from battle. The sight made their skin crawl. It was unusually bright here, like being in a stadium full of lights. Around them, eleven passages branched off in every direction, leading to unknown places.

"This place is so spacious. Could it be a gathering point for paths leading elsewhere?" Sanemi said.

"I do not think so. The air here is thick with danger."

"I feel it too. It is extremely dangerous. This is not on the same level as before. Namu Amida Butsu."

"I smell it too. It is strong and unpleasant," Tanjiro said nervously, his nose twitching. The smell was far stronger than before, which meant there were far too many monsters.

"I remember now. This kind of place is a monster arena!" Cael looked around and slowly grasped the hilts of the two swords at his waist.

"If we are unlucky, monsters may appear from every passage, and we will have to break through the area by force." Rumble, rumble, rumble... At that moment, the phosphorescent stalactites overhead began to vibrate. Gravel and dust fell down. The sound was like the omen of a landslide. Damn it. My mouth jinxed it. Cael froze the moment he realized what he had said.

"Move! Everyone, move! It is a cave-in!" Pressure like this was where most new adventurers stumbled. Normally, this kind of thing happened only rarely.

"A cave-in? You have to be kidding, in a place like this!"

"Get out of the way!" The Hashira's expressions sharpened. While avoiding the collapse, they brought the three younger ones and the support members with them. Rumble, rumble. In an instant, a huge rumbling sound exploded in their ears. Massive rocks fell like a landslide, and a strong tremor shook beneath their feet. Their vision was instantly blocked by dust, making it impossible to determine their own positions. Lili was held in Cael's arms, her eyes tightly shut, while her backpack had been thrown aside.

Rumble, rumble... When the smoke finally dispersed, no one was injured, but the terrain had completely changed. The flat cave floor was now full of boulders, making movement much more troublesome. Not only that, squeaking sounds came from above. The noise of countless flapping wings mixed together. Red eyes danced overhead. No, those were swarms of pitch-black bats. Roar. Screech, screech. The roars of strange monsters and the cries of hordes of Al-Miraj mixed together.

The noise echoed through the cave, the echoes vibrating back and forth until it was difficult to tell what kind of sounds they were hearing. Looking back, they saw that the passage they had come from was completely buried by collapsed boulders. Retreat was impossible. Among the rubble, a monster with black fur, twice the size of a dog, crawled out with piercing red eyes. It had sharp teeth and a flaming mouth. It was a Hellhound. One, two... ten... seventeen.

Most terrifying of all, there was a red-furred Hellhound releasing an aura far beyond Lv. 2. Everyone reacted instantly and formed a circle with their backs to one another, protecting the support members in the center. Trust and unspoken understanding settled between them almost at once, and something in Cael's chest stirred at the feeling. This was one of the things he had pursued his whole life. Only danger and battle could bring people's wills and emotions into such sharp focus.

"Enhanced Species!" Cael looked at the most conspicuous monster among them, his eyes serious and a grin on his face.

"Oh, I was wondering why the frequency was strange and why there were so many monsters. So the Dungeon is welcoming us outsiders." After two challenges, the will of the Dungeon had already remembered him. Now these outsiders had entered the maze together. At that moment, the creatures behind the red eyes in all eleven passages fully revealed themselves. Al-Miraj holding stone axes had densely surrounded them in a circle. Two hundred? Three hundred? At any rate, Cael was in no mood to count.

There were seventeen Hellhounds. And one Enhanced Species.