Diving downwards against the current turned out to be far more difficult than she had originally thought, as she found the force of the current becoming stronger the closer, she got to the hole at the bottom before finally reaching a point where she couldn’t fight back against the spinning force and was spun around alongside the sand.
Noooo- Sttooop- I- Ugh...
Originally not thinking too much about losing the ability to move forward given how close she was, Scaly soon enough found herself regretting this train of thought, as she began spinning faster until she reached a point where she felt like throwing up as the world around her kept spinning. Realizing far too late why those adventurers above didn’t dare to use this passage leading down to the third floor of the dungeon.
Still, dizzy and unable to see straight any longer, she had to force herself forward at the last second, as she realized that she was essentially stuck towards the bottom of the whirlpool. Not entering the hole as she just began spinning rapidly in the same circle without any end in sight.
Difficult and physically draining as this was, it had to be done, as without forcing herself through the last bit of the journey, she would end up stuck spinning at the bottom of the whirlpool until she ran out of air and die in one of the worst possible ways for a dragon while who knows how many adventurers were watching her above.
Just the thought of dying in that kind of humiliating manner gave her an extra boost in strength as she forced herself through the hole at the bottom-
Ah? No sand waterfall...?
Realizing far too late that no sand went through the hole itself, as it had remained stuck at the last part of the whirlpool without entering the hole. Finding herself falling downwards only a second after this realization hit her.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have been much of problem given that she could just glide down to the bottom, but given her current dazed state where she couldn’t see up from down, she ended up just helplessly flapping her wings randomly before colliding with a nearby wall that in turn caused her to plummet downwards without any ability to stop herself-
BANG!
And only a few seconds after the wall collision, she slammed directly into the rocky surface at the bottom that had barely been softened by the bits of sand that had managed to get through the hole at the top over the years, causing her to roll up in pain as the impact was far from soft.
If anything, she felt like her current situation might be one of the worst so far, as she was not only in pain after the rough landing and earlier collision with a wall, but also dizzy to the point where she felt like throwing up.
For the first time, she felt like it might have been a better idea to face off against those adventurers, as it would have been nowhere near as awful as her current situation. At the same time, she also noted down that there was always a reason why adventurers avoided certain areas and, in the future, it might be for the best if she avoided those kinds of areas in the future.
But... All things considered, I managed to get away from the adventurers safely and don’t have to worry about them finding me for some time now that I got to the third floor...
Silently thinking about the positives of her current situation, Scaly rolled over as she aimlessly looked up towards the hole where the spinning whirlpool of sand could still barely be glimpsed alongside the surface of the sand ocean where adventurers were still eagerly gazing down towards her.
Taking in everything, though her current state was far from optimal, she had at least managed to succeed in getting away while also safely making it to the third floor of the dungeon. The only problem left for her to consider was how to get to the fourth floor of the dungeon, a task that she was more than ready to take on... After a few minutes of rest, as there was simply no way for her to move around in her current state.
...
Around the same time Scaly managed to get through the whirlpool dubbed the whirlpool of chaos by the adventurers, the adventurers who had been watching her through the entire process from above all lamented upon seeing her successfully get through. Understanding that their goal of hunting down the dragon was about to become far more difficult...
"The dragon entered the whirlpool of chaos..."
"Indeed... I didn’t think anyone would be able to enter that damnable whirlpool safely and still managed to make it through in the end."
"Yeah, the only other person I have seen make it through that whirlpool was a senior above the S Rank who used it as a shortcut, as the original passage to the third floor is nowhere near as close to a passage leading to the fourth floor as the passage on the other side of the whirlpool of chaos."
"Haaah... Looks like it has just become far more difficult to hunt down the dragon, as there is now a good chance of it reaching the fourth floor in the future. Us A Rank Adventurers likely won’t have much of a chance in joining the hunt without the assistance of S Rank Adventurers when that happens..."
But although all of them lamented over the difficult task standing before them when it came to earning the title of dragon slayer or dragon hunter, none of them intended to back away, as it wasn’t every day one had the chance to earn such a prestigious title.
So, after everyone lamented over the difficulties that stood before them, they all collectively began rushing towards the passage leading down to the third floor of the dungeon.
The only point at which any of these adventurers who had set out to hunt down Scaly would think about giving up would be when she entered the fourth floor of the dungeon, as that floor was dangerous to the point where S Rank Adventures might die if they were careless.
As for the third floor of the dungeon, though it was dangerous for B and A Rank Adventurers, it was far from enough to stop them, let alone S Rank Adventurers.
For Scaly to shake off the S Rank Adventurers chasing after her, she would not just have to reach the fourth floor of the dungeon but would have to get to the fifth floor of the dungeon, a place that even S Rank Adventurers didn’t dare enter under normal circumstances.
Speaking of the fifth floor of the dungeon, while Scaly was recovering from the dizziness that had consumed her and the overeager adventurers aspiring to become dragon hunters rushed towards the nearest passage to the third floor of the dungeon, Verdell and the group of both senior and junior adventures that had teamed up with him were finding themselves facing their first real challenge since they ended up on the fifth floor of the dungeon...
[Crocodilian Swamp Dwelling King, lvl 3]
That challenge, despite only having reached level 3, was a genuine S Rank Monster that rendered Verdell normally powerful fire magic useless with its own powerful water magic- or in simple words, it countered Verdell completely. Leaving him and the group no way to resist this powerful monster, as the only way out for them was to pack up camp ahead of time before beginning their escape through the marsh that had countless other deadly monsters lurking around within.
In the end, though Verdell was unable to fight this powerful monster, he did at least manage to buy everyone enough time to evacuate towards the swamp located next to the marsh. Allowing them to escape the powerful S Rank Monster, who seemed to stop chasing them after they entered the swamp
The reason behind this was unknown, but the group didn’t exactly have the time to sit down and think about why an S Rank Monster had stopped chasing after them, as they had to continue moving if they wanted to stay alive, because only the S Rank Monster had stopped chasing them, while the weaker monsters didn’t suddenly stop chasing after them after they stepped inside the swamp.
Not to mention, the swamp itself wasn’t exactly a paradise without monsters around, as it contained countless other unique monsters of the poisonous and venomous variety. Forcing the group to move cautiously through the swampy environment while fending off any poisonous or venomous monster approaching them.
Although there was someone with a healing spell present capable of treating them in case they were poisoned, the other party had only just reached the B Rank... And none of them felt confident that a B Rank Healer had the ability to deal with the poison and venom from the monsters of the swamp...