Chương 44: One Isn't Enough? Then Ten More!

Then Ten More!

Time slipped by, and in ten minutes all three Bosses, without exception, fell beneath Ryan's furious crossbow fire. To their dying breath their blood boiled with rage—but the choked valley left them unable to move an inch, and they perished with their grievance unspent.

"…" Violet was struck speechless. No wonder he could clear a Hell-difficulty dungeon; with strength like this, applied well, it was nothing. Achilles, too, was full of reflection. His earlier loss to Ryan was no fluke. With attack methods like these, the man only grew fiercer the longer a fight dragged—so long as he could withstand a Boss's pressure, time was always on his side. The bonus damage Combo stacked was downright unreasonable.

"Achilles, step aside—leave the rest to me!" With that, Ryan took Achilles's spot, Mighty Battleaxe in hand, hacking wildly at the front rank of monsters. And for once, Achilles didn't fire back; he sheathed his sword and stepped away. Ryan drove the foremost monsters back, swept his gaze over the densely packed valley, and drew a green-glowing Fire Seed from his bag. He tossed it underhand into Fallen Star Valley. BOOM—!!!

A second of silence, then a deafening blast; a vast wave of flame erupted from the Bronze Fire Seed, swiftly becoming a sea of fire that devoured everything around it.

"No—not enough." Ryan looked over the field; the Bronze Fire Seed's blast had covered only about a tenth of the valley. Wiping out over five thousand monsters this way was hopeless.

"In that case—one isn't enough, so let's try ten!" His gaze sharpened, and he hurled all ten of his remaining Bronze Fire Seeds in different directions across Fallen Star Valley. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!! Chain explosions roared skyward, raging flame sweeping out to swallow the whole of Fallen Star Valley. Scorching heat washed over everyone, tinting their skin faintly red. The flames held for ten seconds. When they faded, only thick smoke and dust remained, choking everyone's view. Swish!

Just then, the motionless Achilles suddenly swung both arms; his black greatsword moved like thunder, a visible blade of gray sword-qi compressing off the edge and flying out—a gray crescent that split the smoke hanging in the valley.

"This… they're all dead?" Violet cried, staring at the scorched earth where not a single monster remained, and sucked in a cold breath. What was that just now? Shaken, she looked at Ryan's back as he carried the Fallen Star Stone into the valley, and found no words. Achilles stayed silent—but by the faint tremor in his shoulders, his heart had to be racing. He was straining to keep himself in check. As Ryan returned to the altar and set the Fallen Star Stone back in its place, a prompt finally sounded.

System: [Ding! First wave repelled! Reward: 2, 000 dungeon points!] This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. System: [Ding! Second wave repelled! Reward: 3, 000 dungeon points!] System: [Ding! Third wave repelled! Reward: 5, 000 dungeon points!] System: [Ding! Fourth wave repelled! Reward: 10, 000 dungeon points!] One clear of a Hell-difficulty dungeon had rewarded each of them 20, 000 dungeon points—enough to exchange for two Gold-grade pieces in the dungeon shop.

(A rough benchmark; what one actually got depended on the exchanger's choices.) [Server Announcement: The "Clear Rain Pavilion" squad led by Fallen Star City player Violet has cleared the Fallen Star Valley dungeon (Hell difficulty), clear time 15 minutes 9 seconds—currently ranked first!] Thwack! Out in a forest of Fallen Star City, grinding monsters, Nameless Slayer was caught off guard by the sudden announcement—and in his daze, three Iron-Armored Rhinos pincered him, his HP bottoming out in an instant.

Thwack! Before he could react and down a potion, a newly spawned Iron-Armored Rhino calf appeared right where his body was dropping; unable to dodge, the calf's black nose-horn drove squarely into a weak point beneath him. -100! (Crit!)"AGH!" A wail tore out; face white as paper, Nameless Slayer clutched between his legs and dissolved into white light.

"Dammit!" His gaze sank—he'd already revived at Fallen Star City's altar. They'd actually cleared Hell-difficulty Fallen Star Valley! How?! It wasn't possible! And in just fifteen minutes! They must have found some earth-shaking bug. Yes—it had to be that! Otherwise how could three people clear it so fast? Hm? Why are these people looking at me so strangely? Coming to, he noticed the players freshly revived around the altar shooting glances his way and whispering.

A faint breeze blew, and an odd chill struck him between the legs. He looked down—his Bronze-grade leggings were gone, and the trousers of his white starter undergarment had been torn open, exposing a strip of pink within. This—! Damn that cursed rhino calf! His face flushed red with fury; he yanked a random pair of trousers from his bag, sparing himself further humiliation.

"Hey, you see that? That's Nameless Slayer—a grown man, wearing crotchless pants!"

"And pink panties underneath! That taste… one of a kind!"

"Shh—keep it down, don't let him hear, or we'll never get by in Fallen Star City again!"

"Afraid of what? Slaughter the World doesn't rule Fallen Star City alone anymore. Clear Rain Pavilion just cleared Hell-difficulty Fallen Star Valley—in fifteen minutes! From now on Clear Rain's the boss of Fallen Star City. As for Slaughter the World… they can stand aside." …

"That fifteen-minute record—I doubt anyone will ever break it." In the Dungeon Plaza, Violet looked up at the clear-record pillar in the center, where a line of gold-gleaming text at the very top shone with the Clear Rain Pavilion squad's record.

"If we hadn't stopped to gather the loot at the end, our time would've been a few minutes faster." Ryan smiled, his tone mild.

"I really can't thank you enough this time!"

"I'm just doing a job for pay. If you're satisfied… a bigger tip will do."

"Of course! With the leader away, you've done Clear Rain Pavilion a huge favor—I won't be stingy on the reward!"

"Much obliged, then!"

"I'm the one who should be thanking you!" Lately the guild had been ground down by Slaughter the World; with a Hell-difficulty first-clear record in hand, they'd hold the upper hand over them for a long while. System: [Ding! Your account ending in 6188 has received a transfer of 10, 000, 000 Azure Coin!] Ten million! A great guild was different—deep pockets indeed.

"If you've got more of this time-saving work in the future, come find me again! Fair prices, no one gets cheated!"

"…" Violet didn't know how to respond. Speed-clearing a Hell-difficulty dungeon in fifteen minutes—such a feat, and in this man's eyes it was "time-saving work." If other players heard that, they'd probably cough blood and keel over.