Hello there, this is Charlotte speaking.
Now let's get things straight. The Dungeon below Leimburg Academy was infested with animal-type magic beasts and monsters till the tenth floor. Even kobolds were animal-type because of their facial and anatomy which resembled a wolf standing up rather than human degraded into furry creatures.
If you're wondering, the goal for Initiates in this Dungeon is to exterminate Kerberos. A magic beast which lived in the 5th Floor of the Dungeon. The beast's main diet was meat, and it's a big burly dog which had lived for a couple of centuries. It could breathe out fire and it could run along the walls like Spiderman. Don't know if the last claim is true or not though.
Then, there is this particular monster that doesn’t fit the earlier descriptions in the 4th Floor. Obviously, I knew nothing about it but it could be categorized as...
"Celestial Monster!? Why!? How?!!" I screamed as I dodged a wide and fast swing of arm again.
Behind me was a roaring Asura aiming hostility on me like mad! Well, Celestial Monster is a mad monster born once every one thousand years. However, their numbers are incredibly low and they're NOT creatures that could be contained inside a Dungeon. At least not with their twisted forms as well as strength granted by the God of Chaos personally…
"ROAR!!"
"Uwah!?"
I ducked down when an arm was swung widely almost as if trying to swat a fly away. The enormous wind blew me off the ground for a moment but I propelled myself to land with the sole of my feet first and bending down to roll like a ball in order to not strain my legs' muscles. Quickly standing back up, I ran again, avoiding a fist which hammered down the spot I was in.
"Damn it! What is with this thing!?"
I don't get it! There's no way a Celestial Monster could be here and he's freaking fast! And super powerful!! He might be at the same level as the weakened and crippled Bravzgaim but...
"Scary! I’m going to die for real if this go on!!"
With the Asura trailing me in large strides, I jumped over the underground lakes and zigzagging in hope of confusing my enemy but as if unfazed... or rather, I caught a glimpse of the Asura skillfully running through the obstacles while sometimes destroying the stalagmites.
"Geh... If he's unhurt even though he smashed into walls then his skin must be as tough as steel too."
Damn, this one ain't a joke. I knew the meaning of correct tools for correct needs but I didn't bring with me any Blade Salamander sword which could slice off steel fur of a Rank SS monster... not to mention if I broke Tyrfingg here then I could say goodbye to my life.
*WHOOSH!* An arm flew with clenched fist to me but I quickly tilted my body to the left and the attack failed to reach me. However, I sensed another looming presence from behind so I rotated and saved myself from being smashed to pieces by another flying fist.
The wind and shockwave produced made an annoying ring inside my ears and yet I could only grit my teeth as I once again dodged a punch with the bare minimum of action.
"Tch...! Not even an opening!!" I cursed.
The Asura was keeping up with my speed and he could even attack while moving! Just how much of a fighter he was and he punched like a boxing champion!! A left arm flew and a right arm descended like a hammer. Another punch flew and then there was a sweeping attack from the left. Finally, an arm which tried to capture me with the other ready to support it in case of the unexpected happening.
To be honest, it's hard to deal with as the frequencies of the attacks were full of variations and I had to keep up with the ridiculous agility of the monster. As my steps grew more sloppy and my movements started to become sluggish, I decided to launch a counterattack by firing a fireball at the face of the Asura.
*BOOM!* The explosion shook the air as smokes filled up his vision. But the Asura actually used one of his arm to defend and only slight burn present on the palm which received the fire magic squarely.
"But that's more than enough!! Tail Smash!!"
Infusing aura all the way to the tip of the sword, I slashed at the right ankle of the Asura from behind.
"GRROOAAAAAAAARRRRR!?"
Blood spurted and the enemy fell to one knee. However, my hands trembled and I could not feel the hilt of the sword clearly...! Damn it! He's incredibly tough and all I could inflict was a thin cut not deep enough to severe the joint muscles!!
"Then one more time—"
As I tried to swing Tyrfingg again, I heard a distant scream which I knew well. As I halted my steps, I turned my head around and witnessed Mr. Shield toppling down in front of a beast which was emitting radiant blue flame.
The beast had four legs coated with spirals of blue flame which were oddly not harming its pristine black fur. It was agile, and the beast clearly held advantage as it leaped all over the place and crippling Mr. Shield with claws and fangs even though it had the size twice bigger than a sedan.
Meanwhile, Rebecca was doing her best to prevent the beast from taking the opportunity to kill Mia and Cleo but even she was in the same condition like Mr. Shield. The beast howled as it continued to wound my teammates as if toying with them.
But... but wait... that beast...! No way!?
"Wh... Why is the Kerberos here!!?"
I gasped but I saw Mr. Shield looking at me and his complexion paled even further.
"Lady Charlotte, behind you!!"
"Huh—"
My vision shook heavily as I could feel nothing under my feet. The world turned upside down as my body slammed down to the hard ground before floating in the air again... it went on for a few times and suddenly everything stopped moving.
A sharp pain came from my leg. I motioned my head to look and there was it. The Asura was having my left leg held tightly by his huge hand to the point of cracking the entire bones and I realized I was already under its mercy a little too late.
"RROAAAAAARR!!"
The world shook again as I felt myself thrown down like a rag doll but everything suddenly turned blue when my body felt an odd resistance with the ground.
My eyes hurt as I perceived an expanding world of blurs before it became blue. I inhaled yet my lungs were filled with liquid and I gurgled out bubbles of air which popped out if not going towards the blurry light above me.
Ah... Aaah... it... hurts... what is... this...? I'm going to... die...? Here...? ...no...! Not... Here...!! Not like this!!
Darkness continued to encroach both my vision and my consciousness. It was extremely difficult to breath with my nose and mouth filled with water and it was truly, truly painful as nothing but water is filling my lungs.
Gasping, I swallowed water in and ended up coughing. Having no chance to breath, I flailed my limbs to swim but oddly enough, my body continued to sink like a rock. My efforts to return to the surface failed perfectly and the light was fading away...
...I'm drowning... again... I am... drowning... sinking...
...I'm... going to... die....... Haha… what a joke… just because of some… carelessness… I guess Magnis is really… harsh to the inexperienced ones…
My hand reached for nothing. The light was so faraway it became complete darkness... and I recalled his face again before my consciousness detached itself with the world.
.........Fe...i......
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-Leon's POV-[/center
After interrogating some of the fools, I finally found out the staircase which could lead me straight to the 4th Floor. I also heard that the Dungeon did not necessarily have one or two paths, meaning they could lead to many places in the same floor.
How confusing could this Dungeon be? Well, I guess it wouldn't be worth as a Dungeon if it didn't toy with its guests but I was fed up with the goons.
"Oy, Idiot. You're going to be the sacrificial pawn so go ahead and storm through the next floor."
"Wait a damn second! Your clear intention to send me off to death isn't even hidden hey!"
"Just shut up and go die if you don't even want to answer my earlier questions. At least I won't be responsible if you died while fighting monster."
"Cruel! My husband is really cruel—Gubeh!?"
I elbowed the girl from behind and Anise writhed while having her face buried in the ground for a few moments. Ah, she couldn't die so easily huh? I watched Anise who trembled before getting back up. Dirt fell off from her face and something dripped down from her nose.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
...it's blood. Now the girl turned to me with an incomprehensible expression as she clenched her fists tightly.
"Kiiiiii! I had enough!! I'll show you that even the dominated can dominate against the dominator!!"
Hou, now she used three similar wordings. Sighing while watching the girl leaping to me with a fighting stance, I proceeded to step to the right and let Anise entering the staircase headfirst.
"Nyaa—Ginyyaaaaaaah!?" The girl screamed as lots of sounds came to my ears. I listened to her suffering as if it was the most beautiful aria in the world but as the sounds vanished for a while, I then heard a last scream which was definitely a death throe.
"...has she died at last? I hope I can just burn her remains then."
I descended down as slowly as I could for I was in no hurry. One thing for sure... Anise could die for all I care about. I hate liars the most and I can't even take their presences as living beings.
"Hmm... but she's an oddball for sure. If not for her idiocy and incapability to completely hide her intentions, I would've left her alone for quite some time like the Mage."
Though saying that, it's clear that those two have relations with demons to notice my true identity. The Mage particularly seemed to see me as something different. I couldn’t picture well how she saw me but I knew it’s not something good.
Then again... be it poisons, assassins or curses... I think none of them worked any longer as I lived a life surrounded by things worse than them. It's a given that I developed acute senses and immunities against those threats.
"Right. If they don't do anything then I won't do anything, but humans are cunning as big sister said."
I nodded down and confirming my intention to pay a visit on the Mage after I'm done with the Idiot. However, once the staircase ended, I found myself peering at a chaotic situation where I have to hop from one place to another so that falling debris and odd colored flame wouldn't hit me.
"Just what's going on here—"
I stopped my words the moment I saw someone I knew in a distance away. Blocked by blue blazes and azure hazes, a figure which moved like a golden petal blown by the wind recalled a name but as I saw her stopping, I also noticed the black shadow which loomed in front of her.
Then, as a shout which sound too far for my ear to hear, I saw that person being knocked away by the gigantic monster before being held and dunked into one of the many lakes present in this Floor.
"Big sister!!" I yelled and rushing past from the staircase yet a strange flame razed the scenery before my eyes.
A Magic Beast which controlled blue flame stood in front of me. Its amber eyes glaring at me and I felt myself being observed from somewhere. That wench...! She faked her damages and ran away to watch big sister dying!?
...no. If it's like that then there's no need for her to trouble herself. There were many opportunities yet she did not even try to kill me. She's trying to test me or she intended to observe my action for entertainment alone. Still, I couldn't grasp her true nature no matter what. Just what did she want and why did she reveal her lies in front of me?
...oh well. She isn't my concern right now.
"GRROOAAAAAAAARRRRR!!"
"...what...?"
The Asura was suddenly wreaking havoc by smashing the walls, the grounds and the stalagmites. Has it gone mad? But such twisted creature was bound to be mad from the very beginning of their life.
However, why is there an Asura here? And why is there a Kerberos here? I glimpsed the humans who were wounded but...
"Lady Charlotte...!"
"No... no...!!"
Three of them were devoid of color at their faces. Fear and distraught present in their eyes, and I realized they were not the perpetrators of this chaos.
...as I thought, there's malice existing in this kingdom. It's to the point of sending a monster which could never be tamed or enslaved into this Dungeon made of a human's greed.
To be honest, I really can't contain my anger and killing intent at this moment but the Asura and the Kerberos could be a way for me to vent out though I really must rescue big sister!
I tried to bypass the wall of flame but Kerberos pounced on me with jaws ready to tear my neck off. I dodged the attack but the Magic Beast sprang from the ground to the wall. It planted its feet firmly and suddenly running along the wall before diving down to my back.
"Damn!" I leaped away as the sharp claw tore my uniform from behind. A second wasted and I would have myself be ripped by those claws and I realized one thing: I was forced to take a step back from the lake big sister was thrown in even more!!
"Get out...! Get out of my way, you damn dog!! I have no time to deal with small fry like you!!"
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[center]-A Certain Person's POV-
As I thought. The escape paths were cut off. I couldn't believe it at first but this Dungeon was tinkered by someone. Who could it be?
The monsters were replaced with variants and subspecies which were three folds stronger than the norm, the wards preventing monsters from leaving the Floor they were assigned in were broken while the teleport magic circles and emergency exits were destroyed completely.
Even the path to the underground passage which resided in the 20th Floor was destroyed. Maybe everyone can only wander from between the 1st Floor and the 19th Floor now. The culprit must have planned this all the way from before the Trial started.
However, the question how and why still remained. Trapping the Initiates, setting free the Magic Beasts and adding Celestial Monsters to ensure annihilation... It's very well-executed and I wondered how Chloe did not notice anything abnormal yesterday. Was the perpetrator working all night long? At any rate, it sure is a lucky chance for me to leap into the magic circle out of reflex though I ended up at the 15th Floor.
It's a good thing I still remembered the layouts of this 300 Floors Dungeon.
*RUMBLE!!* The ground trembled. I could say for sure that a fierce battle was going on above but it's far away. I wouldn't make it in time anyway and my concern was not rescue but investigation. Also, I have a very bad feeling for an unpleasant memory resurfaced again.
As if something had been waiting for me to reminisce, a ringing sound came from inside my head and I frowned for a moment.
“…Again, huh? It’s really taking everything now that I’m back in Raumia. I must do something to prevent the Harmonization from going further…”
As I trudged down the path with many branches ahead of me, I put a hand on my forehead. Feeling the resonance with the Tree once more, my heart throbbed in a tempo faster than the usual. I nearly forgot that underground is the place where Roots stretched around so I must be careful not to let Lagnaris interact with the Tree but…
"...Hm? An underground river?"
As I turned around the fork road, a river with clear water and glowing river stones entered my field of vision. Even more, there were crystals and ores on the ceilings which were giving off dim lights. How lucky to encounter a water source and maybe I could find some herbs if not fishes for food. I walked next to the river in search of something worth of my attention but…
"Huh? There's something over there..."
What's that? That object which was lying on a big boulder in the middle of the river... a corpse? As I approached cautiously from the other side of the boulder... I recognized brown fabric which was washed ashore, then an object I could recognize as a sword though only the blade alone, and...
There was a girl with golden hair lying half submerged at the shore of the river. The clothes she was wearing were no longer appropriate to be called as clothes with her skin pale as if drained of all blood in addition of her blue lips.
However... the amount of bruises she had, the wounds on her body and the fact that her left leg was bleeding profusely as if it was smashed by a large boulder made a horrible sight to behold. It was probably a miracle for her not to be attacked by wandering monsters in this Floor yet I paled upon realizing who she was.
"...Char...lotte...?"