Standing firm against the monsters pouring out of the dungeon entrance shortly after the last few holding the line inside had been forced to retreat, it didn’t take long before the overwhelming number of monsters began pushing back against the adventurers. The sheer might of the monsters and their overwhelming advantage when it came to numbers rendered the adventurers rather hopeless in how to hold them back. After all, the defense inside Howling Cave City had been set up at the last minute and barely brought them a slight advantage in this confrontation.
An advantage that was mitigated rather quickly due to how many of the adventurers holding the line were already injured or exhausted to the point where they wouldn’t be able to join the battle for the city. The only positive was that a few A and B Rank Adventurers had been stationed outside the dungeon to ensure that the guild managed things properly outside the dungeon and had people capable of healing those injured coming over.
As for the fate of the first monster that made it through the dungeon entrance... It had found its path blocked the second it reached the other side. Only able to struggle to break free for a short time before Valz, the S Rank Adventurer, had caught up with it and finished it in short order. After all, at the end of the day, though it had been close to becoming an S Rank Monster, it was still not one... And along with the suppression from the relatively large number of adventurers that had already rushed over to suppress it, its fate had been sealed the second it decided to be the first to charge out of the dungeon.
By the time Scaly made her way through the dungeon entrance and stepped out onto the already crumbling stone pavement on the other side, the situation inside the city had already grown completely out of control, as adventurers had retreated far from the dungeon entrance at the core of the city and were doing their best attempting to use the narrow streets and houses to their advantage in the fight against the monster horde.
The part of the city where the S Rank Adventurers and Monsters were fighting with each other had already turned into a forbidden zone of sorts, as no monster or adventurer dared go anywhere near the terrifying battlefield created by these beings.
However, though the monsters should be winning by a large margin according to the state of the S Rank Adventurers she had seen inside the dungeon defending the dungeon entrance, Scaly was surprised to see that the adventurers were holding their own in the face of the remaining S Rank Monsters or more so the terrestrial beetle lord.
After all, she had personally seen the state of the beastkin adventurer that had been facing off against the terrestrial beetle lord back then and doubted he would be able to continue his battle outside the dungeon... And indeed, her guess turned out to be true, as she quickly flew into the sky to get a better look of the current state of the battle.
Instead of the beastkin adventurer facing off against the terrestrial beetle lord, it was now another adventurer who looked much younger, while at the same time also seeming far stronger, as he could hold his own in the face of the terrestrial beetle lord without losing ground. Even if it was partly due to the beastkin adventurer managing to land a blow on the terrestrial beetle lord that had slowed its movement significantly beforehand.
But... Surprising as it was that another powerful adventurer had shown up out of seemingly nowhere to help defend the city against the monsters, Scaly was far more interested in finding out where the beastkin adventurer had gone. Wanting nothing more than to take full advantage of his now extremely weakened state to potentially end him without having to rely on her magic.
Dangerous as this might be, she also understood that the state of that beastkin adventurer after having retreated from the dungeon should be far worse than when she had first tried to ambush him and ended up failing due to some invisible human suddenly blocking her attack and directing it towards the barrier before he died.
If not for the fact that she had clearly seen and heard bits of what the adventurers had said upon the sudden appearance of this mysterious human, she would have thought it was another adventurer jumping out to sacrifice himself to keep his friend safe.
Shaking her head as she thought about this to herself, Scaly soon focused her attention back on the situation at hand and began to gently glide through the air while scanning the ground below her for any signs of the beastkin adventurer from earlier. Hoping to find him amidst the chaos, still fighting on the frontline.
Unfortunately, she was bound to be left disappointed, as after a good three minutes of floating around aimlessly watching the chaos unfolding below as the adventurers continued losing more ground to the monsters that seemed to flow out of the dungeon entrance in what resembled an endless tide.
But it was during this quick search that she also noticed something extremely odd about the swirling mass that was the dungeon entrance. The monsters kept coming through with no signs of stopping. Even after it reached the point where all the monsters that were still left behind on the first floor should have gone through, more kept flowing out of the dungeon entrance without end.
And it wasn’t just weaker monsters that had lacked behind the stronger monsters but also monsters that she clearly recognized as strong from the Fifth or even Sixth Floor of the dungeon.
Did the dungeon entrance perhaps change...?
Only able to think this as she witnessed this odd scene, Scaly found herself looking back towards the dungeon entrance... And it was only then that she discovered that the size of the dungeon entrance itself had already grown more than twice as large as before. From the original size of a doorway that was around five meters across and three meters high, the swirling mass that was the dungeon entrance had grown more than seven meters tall and covered an area of over fifteen meters. Allowing far more monsters to emerge through it at the same time compared to before.
A change that the adventurers were feeling the most prominently, as their defense was already about to break in the eastern part of the city where another batch of A Rank Monsters had suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere-
Whoosh~
And not one to waste such a good opportunity, Scaly flew over in the direction of the eastern district of the city that had once served as the commercial district of Howling Cave City.
Intending full well on taking advantage of the weakened monsters and adventurers there to rapidly increase her strength, as it seemed like it would be impossible for her to catch the beastkin adventurer like she had originally wanted-
"Everyone! Hold the line! We can’t let these monsters get past us! I have already received a message saying that the reinforcements from the headquarters are only ten minutes away! We just need to hold on a little longer!"
But just as she was silently regretting not being able to find the beastkin adventurer, the person in question suddenly emerged in the middle of a ruined marketplace in the eastern district. Holding the line against a group of powerful A Rank Monsters even in his extremely injured state. Barely holding on through sheer willpower alone in the face of the monsters, while at the same time calling out to those around him about to retreat. Reigniting their fighting spirit, as the defensive line in the eastern district momentarily stabilized.
This...
Not knowing what to say when faced with this kind of unexpected situation, Scaly could not help freezing on the spot for a brief second as she glanced down towards the beastkin adventurer valiantly standing at the forefront even in his extremely injured state. Using all his remaining strength to hold the line and encourage his fellow adventurers to not run away.
She had just given up trying to find him and then the other party suddenly decided to present himself on a silver platter for her. If she didn’t make a move to claim this already heavily injured target, it would just be rude...
Swish~
And so, without much hesitation, Scaly shifted her attention away from some of the injured A and B Rank Adventurers she had originally been planning to target and instead focused her full attention towards the beastkin adventurer above level 100. Making sure to properly scan her surroundings for anyone who might be capable of interfering with her attack again.
Only then did she slowly descend from the sky. Landing on top of a badly damaged building before lying in wait. Waiting for the beastkin adventurer to slowly be pushed back in her direction. From where she would have the perfect opportunity to ambush him.