798 The Southern Continent
~BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!~
A loud explosion ruptured within a massive cavern, causing the stalactites and stalagmites in the cave to tremble, with pieces of the ceiling even cracking due to its ferocious impact.
The monstrously huge cavern soon quieted down, though, and two silhouettes emerged from the origin of the eruption—a place further into the depths of this hellscape.
As the two walked away from the carnage and devastation they left in their wake, they finally reached the first source of outside light they had seen in nearly two weeks.
"Haa… finally… that's the Entrance, right?" The male between the two retorted, his voice a little hoarse thanks to his very gory experience within the Dungeon that he and his partner just finished conquering.
Beside him was this very partner—a beautiful, petite girl, whose body face had now been smeared with dirt and grime. It didn't help that sticky sweat clung to her aching body as she slowly moved beside the boy.
Two of them looked exhausted beyond words, yet they kept moving towards the gloriously gaping entrance to the Dungeon.
They were so focused on this that they failed to notice the person who sat next to it.
… Until he called their names.
"Justin, Belle… looks like you're all done." As these words proceeded from the third person in the room, the two allies stopped dead in their tracks and looked in his direction.
They were met with the handsome face of an ebony man with red hair, a complete black suit, and a very chilling smile. Unlike their very ragged appearance, his dressing was posh, and his entire body was fresh.
As he sat on the elevated platform, watching the two stare at him with multifarious emotions embedded on their faces, he gave them a round of applause and added a chuckle.
"Congratulations! I always knew you could do it!"
As soon as they heard this, they heaved a sigh—one filled with both relief and mild annoyance.
"Why, thank you… Ater." Justin mumbled, itching the back of his head as he straightened his body, causing many snapping noises to echo in the air.
"For throwing us down there and believing in us…"
"Is that sarcasm I sense?" Ater's smile only grew wider as he raised his eyebrow, addressing the very exhausted Justin.
"...."
The latter couldn't even look him in the eye upon hearing the response.
"Can you blame him? We spent almost two weeks in there… without any prior warning too. It was torture, you know?" This time, it was Belle's turn to speak. Her tone was a lot more respectful than Justin's, but tinges of frustrations were inevitably present there.
What they had gone through was extremely dangerous, after all.
"Well… I knew you could overcome it, Belle. The mere fact that you're standing right in front of me is proof of that fact."
The moment he said this, the girl's cheeks burned bright red and all her anger evaporated.
"I-if you say so…" She gave a fleeting whisper.
Upon witnessing all of this, Ater couldn't help but smile proudly at the two Otherworlders before him—his most valuable pawns at the moment, especially thanks to the transformation they had to undergo during such a short duration of time.
These two, Belle and Justin, had managed to conquer a Pseudo Calamity-Class Dungeon all by themselves.
And they succeeded!
Of course, this was only thanks to the fact that Justin was practically Immortal, and Belle had Ater's protection cast over her. Still, the mere fact that they were able to make it out—and within such a short time—spoke volumes of their abilities.
"How do the both of you feel right now?" Ater asked them, his smile only growing wider by the second.
There were many things they could say at that moment.
They could complain about their exhaustion… their hunger… their anger… but none of those came to mind when those two opened their lips.
They were only expected to give one answer, and they knew what it was.
"Stronger."
"I feel stronger."
*************
"... And then the Monsters just wouldn't stop at that point. Right, Belle?"
"Yeah! We had to run multiple times!"
"Yeahh! Exactly!:
As the two teenagers regaled Ater of their adventures within the depths of the Dungeon, as if he hadn't been observing them every step of the way, he was engrossed in thoughts of his own.
'Justin and Belle should soon awaken S-Tier Classes, given their current pace. I think it'll be a little before Master reaches SS-Tier. How exciting…' He smiled, nodding silently as he thought on what they had to go through to achieve such results.
'This Dungeon is special due to the fact that its first Floor is the most difficult, and the last Floor is the easiest. I had to send them to the very bottom, so they could make their way up. I was worried it would take longer, but they didn't disappoint.'
As a result, both Justin and Belle had crossed Level 200.
'Justin's Class is Shadow Assassin, and Belle still has the Heretic Mage Class. Soon, they'll advance…'
"The both of you did well." He finally spoke up, interrupting their storytelling attempts.
They both grinned happily—probably because Ater had freshened them up with Magic, and they were finally able to eat something nice after spending weeks underground.
"By the way, Ater… you just transported us here straight from the Royal Estate. Where exactly are we? I mean, where is this Dungeon located?" Justin asked.
"Yeah. Aren't we supposed to be trying to get the Giants on our side?"
Ater Belle asked her follow-up question, Ater couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.
After all…
"... We are currently at the heart of the Giant Civilization."
"E-EH…?!" Both Justin and Belle responded at the same time, their eyes nearly bulging as soon as they heard this.
Rather than wasting time telling them the details, Ater reckoned that it was best to just show them, so he instantly transported the two of them, including himself, right outside the Dungeon.
There, they were greeted with fresh breeze, the bright evening light, and a very flat landscape that covered the land for miles.
However, that wasn't the only thing their eyes witnessed.
"A-ahh…?!"
"T-this is…!"
Hundreds of tall and massive humanoid entities—all having tattoos on their bare skin, and primitive clothing as wears—stood right before the trio, clearly waiting for them to leave the imposing structure of the Dungeon that stood erect at their back.
These were Giants!
They had ashen gray skin, and their tattoos were white and black. The shortest giant was at least five meters tall, and there were hundreds of them.
Only one thought existed in the minds of Belle and Justin as they watched the colossal entities.
'This will be tough!'
Yes, they were a lot stronger than they used to be… but they were still recovering from their exhaustion, so it was practically impossible to win with such odds.
The current number of Giants was also something to be worried about.
They couldn't take them down, even if they tried their hardest.
"Don't worry, you two…" Ater's soothing voice suddenly rang in their ears, and it was followed by the most shocking thing they had seen all day.
The hundreds of Giants went on their knees and bowed before them—no, before Ater.
"They're on our side now."