A few minutes earlier, as Scaly began her official battle with the weakened monsters who could only observe the chaotic battle from afar, the S Rank Adventurer who had stepped forward to block a majority of the monsters trying to rush through the broken section of the towering city wall, frowned visibly as she noticed the increasingly large number of monsters passing through the rapidly weakening defensive line that had been hastily formed following the collapse of the barrier guarding the city centered on the dungeon entrance.
The only thing that allowed her to stay somewhat calm was because she had spotted Valz rushing over to assist the beastkin adventurer earlier before rushing back to chase after the monster that had broken the barrier and rushed out through the dungeon entrance.
With him holding the line in the city on the other side, she felt confident that any monster that got through their defensive line inside the dungeon would end up dead at his hands.
Of course, that was as long as the number of monsters getting through was limited, as with enough monsters, they would eventually overwhelm even an S Rank Adventurer, a situation she herself was already experiencing, as it became increasingly difficult for her to continue blocking over a dozen A Rank monsters and hundreds of B Rank Monsters all on her own.
In another few minutes, she would reach her limit and be unable to hold back the flood of monsters.
Originally, she would have had to wait for instructions from the Archmage in charge of this battle, but the person in question was busy dealing with a far more terrifying monster that seemed to be the creation of the Holy Flower Sect’s necromancer. Leaving her as the only S Rank Adventurer with the ability to take control of the current situation, as her other companions were either engaged with another S Rank Monster or barely holding on in the face of a certain terrestrial beetle lord.
"Everyone! Retreat to the dungeon entrance, we will hold the line there as long as possible before retreating from the dungeon. The monster that made it through is already being dealt with by another S Rank Adventurer from the main headquarters group in the capital who went ahead of the rest. Hold on as long as possible, reinforcements from the guild to show up!"
Because of this, even though she didn’t want to, she ultimately had to call for a slow retreat in the direction of the dungeon entrance, as outside of herself and her companions at the S Rank, the rest of the adventurers present were also reaching their breaking point.
To prevent a worst-case scenario, she decided to go with a well-known tactic for increasing survivability in the face of a dungeon stampede about to break through the dungeon entrance. Slowly giving ground to the monsters while moving back towards the dungeon entrance... And upon reaching the dungeon entrance, they would be able to hold on for a bit longer, as retreating would be far simpler than if they were staying at the walls.
At the same time, she also remembered to inform them about the presence of Valz, as this would help everyone understand that help would soon show up. Giving them the confidence to continue fighting in the face of the monster stampede.
Of course... Although she wanted a slow and methodical retreat. Reality was often different from one’s imagination, as the retreat that began following her words was rather chaotic. Ending up with several adventurers tripping and falling victim to the monsters during the retreat.
But... Overall, the retreat was still successful, as a new defensive perimeter did get established around the dungeon entrance. Putting a stop to the advance of the monster stampede, as the ones injured or exhausted to the point of no longer being able to fight retreated out through the dungeon entrance, while those who still had strength to fight remained behind to hold off the monster stampede.
For the next three minutes, the defensive line that had formed around the dungeon entrance slowly shrunk until reaching the point where only a single layer of around twenty adventurers was left standing. All of them either being S Rank Adventurers, A Rank Adventurers or B Rank Adventurers who had been able to make full use of this monster stampede to rapidly increase their own strength. Placing them on a similar level as the A Rank Adventurers.
Among them, there was even one of the older A Rank Adventurers, who had come from the main headquarters, who was close to reaching level 100 and officially becoming an S Rank Adventurer.
Even then, none of the adventurers present were showing signs of happiness over their rapid progress over the past few weeks, as they were all injured to varying degrees and barely holding on in the face of the endless sea of monsters trying to push through them and into the dungeon entrance.
Holding the line for even a second longer came with unbearable pain, as each of them had to face far more enemies than they could realistically fight.
"..."
Seeing this, while at the same time also almost losing one of her arms a few seconds earlier, the S Rank Adventurer who had originally called for this last-ditch effort to hold the monster stampede back for as long as possible, could not help silently sighing to herself as she remembered the faces of everyone who was still left to hold the line. Silently nodding her head, as she planned to officially recommend those not from the main headquarters to join after everything was over.
After all, to remain behind at this point in time clearly showed their dedication to ensuring the monster stampede didn’t break through and were worthy of the Adventurers Guild investing significant resources into helping reach the S Rank in the future.
But there was nothing more that could be done at this point, as staying any longer would just be them throwing their lives away for no reason...
"Everyone! Retreat!"
With that in mind, after a bit of hesitation, she clearly called out to the remaining twenty or so people to retreat. Signaling that there was nothing more they could do and a dungeon break was inevitable.
Painful as this was, there had been more than enough time since knowledge of the dungeon stampede had reached the first floor for the city on the other side to get evacuated, a standard procedure when a true monster stampede was formed, as no matter how confident the adventurers might be in blocking this monster stampede, something unexpected could always happen.
Not to mention, the Howling Caverns Dungeon had long since been prepared for a dungeon break to happen, as the Holy Flower Sect was involved. So, it was obvious that the city on the other side had been evacuated the instant a dungeon stampede was confirmed.
In the end, the only ones left inside Howling Cave City on the other side were adventurers who had retreated from the dungeon ahead of time.
At the same time, a new defensive line had already been created on the other side of the dungeon entrance to further delay the monsters once they reached the other side and to limit the damage from the dungeon break with the overall hope of containing the dungeon damage caused by the dungeon break to the core of the city where the dungeon entrance was located or at least keep it inside the city, as once monsters began spreading outside the city, it would become increasingly difficult to contain a dungeon break, as the land dozens of kilometers around the dungeon would soon be swarming with monsters.
It wasn’t so much the monsters that came from the dungeon itself, but the fact that the area around the dungeon entrance seemingly turned into part of the dungeon itself if monsters managed to spread out that far. Making it possible for new monsters to appear out of thin air.
In a way, this was the most dangerous aspect of a dungeon break and the reason why it had to be contained the moment it appeared, as a continued spread of this influence from a dungeon would ultimately turn everything around it into what was known as a forbidden zone. An area that was outside the dungeon, yet at the same time also inside the dungeon’s sphere of influence.
A space that even S Rank Adventurers would find difficult to traverse. Luckily, for now, only one dungeon had reached the point of potentially developing into a forbidden zone and even then, it had been contained to some extent in time with the arrival of reinforcements from the main headquarters.
But... If a second such zone appeared and adding in the interference from the Holy Flower Sect, it might be impossible for the group from the main headquarters to guard against other dungeon breaks and ensure the two that had already happened were sealed off.
For this reason, the adventurers in Howling Cave City from the main headquarters understood they had to hold on for as long as possible and not allow things to develop to that extent. Hopefully holding on long enough for reinforcements to show up and rapidly push back the monster stampede before reclaiming the first floor of the dungeon...