Spells, projectiles, compressed energy, and distorted space converged from four directions. The air itself seemed to tighten under the pressure of their combined assault.
At that exact moment, Eleanor’s blade shifted.
A heavy, invisible Elemental Aura wrapped around it. The space around the sword began to distort, as if reality itself was bending away from its edge.
Then she swung.
And everything was cleaved.
The incoming attacks were... simply cut. Missiles split in half mid-flight. Energy beams fractured as if sliced by something sharper than light. Even the spatial distortions Elyndra had layered into her attack were severed cleanly.
For a brief second, there was silence.
’...did she just cut our attacks?’ X-019 thought, shocked.
Elyndra’s expression froze, and Belia instinctively stepped back. They had seen countless abilities, countless high-level techniques, but it was their first time seeing something like this.
Even their instincts, sharpened through countless battles, couldn’t immediately process what they had just witnessed.
They became wary.
Sera, however, showed no such reaction. Her expression remained calm, almost as if she had seen such attacks before.
Then the ground trembled.
A deep roar echoed through the battlefield, carrying a weight that pressed against their chests. The vibration spread outward, shaking the terrain beneath their feet.
Moments later, shapes emerged from the distance.
Stone Giants.
Dozens of them.
Their massive forms moved with surprising speed, each step leaving cracks in the ground. Among them was one that stood far taller than the rest. Its body was thicker, its movements were sharper, and the aura surrounding it carried a clear sense of dominance.
It held a massive stone club, and unlike the others, its eyes burned with awareness.
"How are the monsters here? Didn’t you set up a dome to keep them away?" X-019 shouted, his voice sharp with disbelief.
"I—"
Belia’s words caught in her throat. His eyes widened as realization hit him.
"The dome... it was cut."
The moment he said it, everyone turned toward Eleanor. They finally realized she had been preparing for her last attack until now.
She hadn’t just cut their attacks.
She had cut everything.
Even the invisible dome that had been isolating this battlefield and hiding it from the monsters.
With the dome gone, the noise of their fight, the concentration of powerful auras, and the lingering energy in the air had all spread outward.
And the monsters had responded.
"We are running," Eleanor said.
She moved immediately, scooping Sera into her arms in one smooth motion.
Then she ran straight toward the incoming Stone Giants.
It looked reckless at first glance. Running into a swarm of monsters was the last thing anyone would normally do. But the moment she entered their range, her movements became terrifyingly precise.
She was predicting, and dodging the Stone Giants before they started moving.
Each step she took aligned perfectly with the Stone Giants’ attack patterns. When one swung, she was already moving out of its range. When another stepped forward, she positioned herself so it blocked the path behind her.
"Don’t let them get away!" X-019 shouted.
The Florathi team followed her, but their momentum was immediately disrupted. Stone Giants closed in from multiple directions. Eleanor feinted and aggroed the monsters before dodging them, causing their heir heavy attacks to fly towards the Florathi.
Elyndra raised her hand, her eyes narrowing as she manipulated space.
The area around Eleanor warped. Invisible threads of force reached out, attempting to pull her back.
For a brief moment, it looked like it might work.
Then the leader of the Stone Giants moved.
It reacted instantly, as if it could sense the disturbance in space itself. The monster understood who was the biggest threat in the immediate surroundings.
Its massive body leaned forward, and in the next moment, it dashed.
Each step it took shook the ground violently. The distance between it and Elyndra closed in seconds.
Elyndra’s focus broke.
She had no choice but to cancel her ability and dodge. The giant’s club slammed into the ground where she had been standing, sending debris flying in all directions.
The battlefield fell into chaos.
Stone Giants surrounded the Florathi team, forcing them into defensive positions. Attacks that had once been coordinated were now fragmented as each member dealt with immediate threats.
Meanwhile, Eleanor continued moving.
Even while carrying Sera, her pace remained steady. Her path twisted and turned through the swarm, always just out of reach, always one step ahead of the monsters.
Her battle IQ left the Florathi stunned. Even with their high Intelligence, Spirit stats, and Titles, they would have needed weeks of continuous combat to read the movement patterns of Stone Giants this accurately.
But the Dungeon had only been open for a few days.
How could Eleanor predict their attacks?
.
In the distance, Avery had already begun to move. She had heard Eleanor’s shout about leaving the area.
"You are not leaving."
Zahard’s voice cut through the air.
In the next instant, red lightning erupted from his body, spreading outward in sharp arcs. The energy formed a cage around the area, sealing off escape routes.
Avery chuckled.
"What is so funny?" Zahard asked.
"This body is just a temporary clone. Its time limit is up," she replied.
Before he could react, her form collapsed.
Water spilled onto the ground, losing all shape and structure in an instant.
Zahard’s eyes narrowed.
Since when?
At what point had he started fighting a clone?
He hadn’t noticed anything. There had been no shift in aura, or inconsistency in behavior.
’As expected of a Spirit. Her strength is in another realm entirely,’ he thought, tightening his grip on his spear.
...
Emily’s POV
Five minutes earlier.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm slowed as it approached the edge of the [Ruins of Old].
The transition into the [Grasslands] was clear. The terrain changed, the air felt different, and more importantly, the type of monsters shifted.
"There are flying monsters ahead," Alice said, her gaze scanning the distance.
The wyrm descended.
The moment they landed, Emily dismissed it, storing the creature back into her Soul Space. The connection faded instantly, leaving the area quiet again.
"So here is what we are going to do. We will ignore as many monsters as possible and go straight for a Mini Boss. Our goal is to kill it before anyone else and have Emily turn it into a summon. If we can manage that, our chances of winning jump to around ninety percent," Alice said, turning to face them.
Emily nodded.
She understood the tactical importance of a Mini Boss summon.
Mini Bosses were on a completely different level compared to normal dungeon monsters. Normally, it would take a full team of ten Apex Overlords to handle.
Right now, every team only had six members.
Of course, all six were cream of the crops, so they could win without having a team of ten Overlords.
Still, the fights would be riskier. A single mistake could lead to a complete party wipe.
If she could tame such a strong monster...
The cards would fall in their favor.
The Mini Boss could be used not only against other teams but also against the Boss Monster. It would give them a decisive advantage.
"Let’s move," Alice said.
The three of them moved through the tall grasslands, their steps light and controlled. The grass rose high enough to obscure vision, but they used that to their advantage.
They avoided fights whenever possible.
There was no reason to waste energy. This wasn’t about leveling or grinding. Everyone had already maxed out using EXP potions.
This was a race against time, and avoiding fighting monsters was the best choice.
"Is this the correct direction?" Alice asked.
"Yes," Averon nodded. "Since I was regularly entering the Great Dungeon, I know the location of two Mini Bosses. I sold the location of only one Mini Boss. All teams would probably go after that Mini Boss. We can hunt the second one in peace."
He pushed aside a patch of grass as they moved forward.
Averon had sold the location of Mini Boss before he became Isaac’s Subordinate.
Back then, it made sense to reveal the location. The other people would find it sooner or later on their own, and since Averon’s team was not strong enough to defeat any Mini Boss, there was no point in hoarding the location.
Of course, Averon had still kept the location of the other Mini Boss hidden. He had fought this one several times, and knew some of its attack pattern. He planned to kill it himself so he had kept its location hidden.
"Can we really defeat a Mini Boss with just the three of us? This is still a Great Dungeon. Even with Emily’s summon, there’s a high chance we could lose." Averon asked after a moment. His tone wasn’t panicked, but there was clear concern.
"Stop whining like a baby," Alice said as she kept moving forward without even looking back.
Averon slowed for half a step, caught off guard by her sharp tongue. His expression turned strange, somewhere between confusion and disbelief.
This was his first time actually working with Alice. From everything he had heard before, she was supposed to be kind, composed, and almost gentle in how she spoke.
She was called the gentle Saintess.
Someone who comforted others, who encouraged them, who helped everyone with compassion.
So why was she using such sharp words?
It wasn’t like her image as a saintess was fake either. If it was a fake persona, she would be acting like a goody-two shoes knowing they were being live streamed.
So, this was her real personality.
’Uncle Simraj was right. We shouldn’t judge people by their looks,’ Averon thought, exhaling quietly as he adjusted his grip on his weapon.
They continued moving.
The tall grass gradually thinned, and the terrain began to change again. The ground became uneven. Broken stone replaced soft earth. The three of them stepped out of the [Grasslands] and into another section of the [Ruins of Old].
But this one was different.
There were no Stone Giants here. Instead, the ruins stretched out like the remains of an abandoned city that had been left to decay for years. Walls had collapsed, buildings were half-standing, and everything was overgrown with thick vegetation.
Plants crawled across every surface, and among them moved monsters.
Giant bees hovered between broken structures. Their bodies were swollen and distorted, vines wrapped tightly around them like restraints. The plants had pierced into their flesh, spreading through them like veins.
The monsters were being controlled by those vines, making them a sort of zombie.
Alice’s gaze lingered on them for a moment before she continued moving.
The trio slowed down.
Their movements became more careful. Every step was placed with intent, avoiding loose debris and thick patches of roots that might react to disturbances.
Emily raised her hand slightly, and a ripple passed through the air beside her.
Lume appeared.
The Abyssal Trickster’s presence blended into the surroundings almost immediately. A faint distortion spread outward, bending light and sound around them.
Illusions.
Their figures blurred, their presence masked as they moved through the ruins. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to reduce the chances of being detected.
They avoided fights whenever possible.
A few times, they had to pause entirely as groups of vine-controlled bees passed nearby. The creatures moved in erratic patterns, sometimes stopping mid-air as if listening to something none of them could hear.
Each time, they waited.
Then they moved again.
After several minutes of careful progress, Averon slowed and raised his hand slightly.
"We’re close," he said quietly.
The three of them crouched behind a partially collapsed wall and looked ahead.
At the center of the ruined city stood a massive mansion.
Or what remained of it.
Its structure was still intact, but the walls were cracked, covered in thick vines, and partially consumed by overgrowth. The entire building looked like it had been swallowed by something alive.
And on top of it—
The Thorn Tyrant.
It was massive. Its upper body rose from the rooftop like a grotesque bloom, its "head" resembling a giant flower, layered with thick, fleshy petals that pulsed faintly. Beneath that, its real body was spread inside the mansion itself.
The building had become an armor for the monster.
Roots extended outward from it, spreading across half the city. They covered the ground, the walls, everything. Some were thin, others as thick as pillars.
Touching any of the roots would alert the boss.
They had managed to get close by moving carefully, but the area around the mansion was different. The roots were too dense, too tightly packed. There was no clear path forward.
Flying wouldn’t work. The air winds created by Alice’s wings would alert the roots.
Only Emily could fly in this area.
But it was useless to send her alone in front.
For now, they stayed where they were.
They took a moment to scan the surroundings again, making sure no other teams had reached this area. Everything was quiet, aside from the faint, unsettling movement of roots across the ground.
"Are you guys ready?" Alice asked.
Emily and Averon both nodded.
Alice exhaled slowly and rolled her shoulders once, loosening up.
Then she reached into her spatial ring and pulled out her spear.
The moment it appeared in her hand, her presence shifted.
Mana began to gather around her, compressing and stabilizing. A low hum spread through the air as she coated the spear in Aura. The weapon seemed to grow heavier, sharper, more defined.
She adjusted her grip.
Now, Alice knew she could suddenly use Aura on spear and arrows and became good with throwing weapons because Isaac had once given her SSS-rank Marksmanship comprehension.
Her expression became colder as she recalled that if they lost this competition. Isaac would have to serve another person.
He had taken a gamble because he trusted Alice and others.
’I won’t let anyone take you,’ she thought, her grip tightening.
She activated her skills.
Golden flames flickered into existence around the spear.
Flame of Judgment.
The fire wrapped tightly around the weapon, compressing into a concentrated layer that radiated intense heat. The skill amplified the damage of thrown weapons and triggered a powerful detonation on impact.
The surge of mana was strong.
The Thorn Tyrant noticed them.
The ground shifted as thick roots began to rise, twisting upward in response to the disturbance.