Unable to continue their path forward due to the S Rank Monsters locked in battle, the group of adventurers ultimately found themselves forced to either wait for the battle to conclude and the two monster to leave without noticing them in the process or find another way around the battlefield that had been created by these two monsters as they clashed with each other.
Joining the battle to try and take advantage of the situation was of course something everyone thought about, but the strength of these two monsters fighting each other was clearly above that of a normal S Rank Monster. Not to mention, involving themselves in the battle might cause these two monsters to strike up a sudden alliance to deal with them.
For this reason alone, there was only two choices for them to consider in the end and as the battle showed no sign of ending any time soon along with the fact that there was a very real possibility that their rather sizable group might get noticed after things calmed down, everyone came to the decision that it would be for the best to move around the battlefield created by the two powerful monsters before they concluded their battle and discovered them.
Unexpectedly, though everyone had believed that doing this would go far from smoothly, everything ended up working out as they managed to make their way past the two fighting monsters and soon enough found themselves within view of the spiral staircase leading up to the fourth floor of the dungeon without them needing to climb up the swamp trees to catch a glimpse of the spiral staircase from afar.
In the end, the deadly struggle that everyone had been expecting all throughout their journey through the swamp towards the spiral staircase leading up to the fourth floor didn’t appear even as the group set foot on the very base of the spiral staircase that now towered above them like a heavenly staircase that seemed to go up thousands of meters before disappearing amidst the clouds.
Confusing as this was to not just the senior adventurers but also the younger adventurers who thought this deadly journey might be a chance for them to rapidly increase their strength through a bloody struggle, there wasn’t a single person who felt sad about not encountering any especially powerful monsters along the way.
If anything, they felt grateful that they had been able to travel through the fifth floor of the dungeon in such a carefree manner.
The few S Rank Monsters had given them a scare, but now that they had successfully bypassed them without encountering any problems along the way, everyone had already shifted their attention away from those two monsters and instead remained focused on the spiral staircase now directly in front of them. Understanding that if they made it to the top of this staircase, they would be able to reach the fourth floor of the dungeon.
Although the fourth floor of the dungeon wasn’t exactly safe either and still contained a fair number of S Rank Monsters, it was still far better than the fifth floor that was not only far deadlier than the fourth floor, but also saw far less adventures due to how difficult it was to reach the fifth floor of the dungeon.
Speaking of which... With how they had essentially also ended up discovering a path leading straight from the fifth floor of the dungeon to the first floor, the fifth floor of the dungeon that had remained relatively untouched and unexplored because of how difficult it was to reach would potentially end up being properly explored in the future.
The chance of an outpost being established wasn’t entirely impossible either, though such an investment on such a deadly floor would undoubtedly require some kind of exceptionally rare material being discovered. After all, an outpost on the fifth floor would not just need powerful barrier to protect it, but also several S Rank Adventurers.
"Let’s rest for a bit before we set off for the fourth floor." As everyone slowly settled around the base of the spiral staircase. Exhausted from the mud and swamp water they had to trudge through to reach their current location. Verdell decided to officially declare a break for everyone before they began making their way up the spiral staircase.
The reason was not just the exhaustion everyone felt making it difficult to climb up such a large staircase, but also because climbing a spiral staircase like this came with all kinds of danger. From encountering a powerful monster in the process of descending to a swarm of bird monsters that saw them as easy prey so far off the ground.
"Finally!"
"Wooo! A break! My legs already feel like they about to fall off."
"You don’t say, those damnable leeches keep reappearing whenever you pull one off. Even without walking for so long, one would still end up exhausted from all the blood those damnable leeches sucked!"
"Well... On the bright side, the leeches were the only real danger we encountered so far during our journey through this deadly place, so I’m more than willing to part with a bit of blood. View it as these divine leeches providing us protection in the shadows while only taking a bit of blood in response."
"""..."""
Hearing some bright individual suddenly speaking up amidst the happy exclamations of everyone else and even directly referring to the leeches that had been sucking their blood for the past few hours as divine being guarding them in secret, everyone, Verdell included, could not help staring towards this silly guy wondering if he might have hurt his head along the way.
Calling leeches divine beings and the blood they sucked offerings for safe passage through the swamp was a new thing to everyone and didn’t exactly earn much favor from all those now struggling to try and replenish their lost blood. Instead, it made these people wonder if hitting this fellow in the head again might fix the clear issues with the other party’s head.
Of course, though some had the thought, no one stepped forward to beat up this bold fellow, as everyone soon enough found themselves far busier with setting up a camp, the staircase itself as it was the only dry land around them.
To ensure their safety as the original resting time turned into an extended rest period as they prepared themselves properly to ascend the staircase, the group climbed to a height of around ten meters before sitting down to establish a small camp for themselves.
Avoiding monsters on the ground, while still being low enough that any passing monster wouldn’t easily spot them thanks to the partial cover provided by the tall swamp trees whose twisted branches and grey colored leaves created a blanket for them to hide beneath.
Overall, this small temporary camp turned into the safest place that everyone had the opportunity to stay during their time on the fifth floor of the dungeon. Even making a few bold enough to take some time to properly wash up and get rid of the mud and other things that covered their bodies.
Still, such peaceful things couldn’t last forever, as after an entire day of rest where everyone got enough sleep and had enough to eat, the group of adventurers began their slow ascent while keeping an eye on the surrounding sky for any monster that might spot them and decide to attack them...
And around the same time that Verdell and the group of adventurers began their slow ascent of the spiral staircase on the fifth floor of the dungeon. Back on the fourth floor of the dungeon, Scaly was happily enjoying a brand-new delicious monster she had just killed off when her mood was disturbed by the sound of approaching adventurers.
A sound she had been forced to grow used to, as different from the previous floors of the dungeon where the adventurers hadn’t been able to find her with that much ease. On the fourth floor of the dungeon, it almost seemed like she had some kind of inbuilt tracker that allowed these adventurers to constantly find her.
Of course, she didn’t believe that they had somehow planted some tracking magic on her, but the fact that she kept getting found whenever she found a good place to start hunting down monsters was a truth she had been forced to live with ever since stepping onto the fourth floor of the dungeon and one she was starting to grow rather annoyed with.
Unfortunately, no matter what she did or how far she ended up going, it seemed like these adventurers were always just a single step behind her. Ready to pouncet he second, she let down her guard.
Even worse, she had clearly noticed the number of adventurers chasing after her had increased significantly lately.
Not just that, but she had also noticed that the strength of the adventurers chasing her had been slowly increasing...