Faced with the flock of approaching flying monsters that had already made their intentions of targeting them very clear, everyone was left with only a few short minutes to prepare themselves for the initial clash.
"Hm... Those flying monsters are definitely targeting us..."
"You think so? What gave it away? The screeching focused on us or the fact that they aren’t descending towards the chaos below?"
"Both... And the fact that one of them already used some kind of wind magic to try and attack from afar..."
Using the little time they had left without being locked in a deadly battle to chat amongst each other while also doing their best to rapidly rush up the spiral staircase. Knowing very well that only by reaching the fourth floor of the dungeon would they be safe... And even if they reached the fourth floor of the dungeon, they still had to get away from the monsters that potentially chased them from the fifth floor. Not to mention the very real possibility of running into equally dangerous monsters upon reaching the fourth floor of the dungeon.
In a way, even if they managed to get to the fourth floor of the dungeon, they were still far from safe, as the fourth floor of the dungeon was ultimately also a deadly place that even S Rank Adventurers had perished on in the past.
To truly be safe and get out of the dangerous situation they had found themselves in, they would have to reach the third floor of the dungeon, a task that was still a long way off as they would still have to complete a journey through the deadly fourth floor of the dungeon and find their way to the third floor.
If anything, the only reason why the fourth floor of the dungeon was better compared to the fifth floor of the dungeon was the fact that there were less S Rank Monsters and other adventurers weren’t as difficult to encounter as they were on the fifth floor of the dungeon.
In fact, the main hope of everyone was that they would be able to run into a powerful group of adventurers upon reaching the fourth floor of the dungeon, as that way they would be able to ensure their safe passage back to the third floor of the dungeon.
Of course, encountering a group of adventurers on the fourth floor would be difficult under normal circumstances, so everyone didn’t have too much hope in this regard. The only one who thought slightly different compared to everyone else being Verdell, who understood that the state of the Swirling Sands Dungeon was far from normal thanks to a certain dragon that had escaped into it not long ago.
Having full trust that a dragon capable of traversing between the material plane and the dreamscape would be more than strong enough to keep itself safe even with countless adventurers chasing after her, Verdell expected that the current state of the chase playing out within the dungeon should have reached the fourth floor of the dungeon by now. Meaning the fourth floor of the dungeon would be swarming with adventurers.
Even if being caught by these adventurers wasn’t exactly something he wanted to experience considering how everyone would try and get information that he didn’t have about Scaly from him, it was at least better than being stuck in a situation where he could keel over and die at any moment thanks to a passing S Rank Monster.
Screeech-!
"Scram, you damn bird!"
Fwooosh-!
Having his train of thought interrupted by an especially colorful bird that was comparable to a normal B Rank Adventurer, Verdell didn’t even bother to glance at it as he merely let out a somewhat annoyed exclamation before vaporizing the poor bird with a small blue colored fire. Reducing it to dust before it even had the chance to fight back. Showcasing his attack power that had already crossed into what was considered the S Rank.
Of course, such a powerful display of power not only caught the surrounding flying monsters about to attack him off guard but also served as clear intimidation, causing some of the nearby flying monsters to retreat in fear-
SCREEECH-!
Only falling back in line with the loud screeching sound from the leader of their flock, as a far more colorful flying monsters flew in to face off against Verdell. Knowing that only by dealing with this troublesome adventurer would it be able to regain the momentum that had been lost earlier with the dominating display of power from Verdell.
"Everyone get moving, I will try to hold back these colorful birds."
However, contrary to what the leader of the colorful birds had expected when coming forth to challenge him, Verdell didn’t even bother glancing towards it and instead took the opportunity to inform the adventurers behind him to take the opportunity to continue moving up the spiral staircase.
After all, they couldn’t stop moving just because flying monsters had shown up, as there were still the two S Rank Monsters and swamp monkeys below for them to worry about.
Not to say Verdell was sacrificing himself. Instead, it was the fact that he would be able to easily catch up to everyone with his current strength and honestly didn’t feel much of a threat from these flying monsters after confirming that none of them had reached the S Rank.
"Got it!"
"Good luck, senior!"
"Have fun turning those flying chickens into roasted chickens~"
Knowing that Verdell wouldn’t be in any serious danger either after having personally experienced his strength since teaming up with him, the other adventurers weren’t too worried as they listened to him and quickly began rushing upwards without showing the slightest bit of care towards the flock of flying monsters watching everything play out speechlessly from the side.
Although they had somewhat expected someone powerful like Verdell to disregard them, none of them, even their leader, expected every single one of the adventurers to simply ignore them after only a single clash.
The entire situation so bewildering to these flying monsters used to dominate the situation whenever they encountered any adventurers or monsters on the spiral staircases throughout the fifth floor of the dungeon, that by the time they had realized what had happened, most of the adventurers had already disappeared further up the spiral staircase. Erupting into a choreus of angry screeches before rushing up to intercept the adventurers-
"Hmph! Think I will let you?"
FWOOOOSH-!
But before they had the chance to flap their wings, a terrifying wave of fire suddenly surged out towards them, as over a dozen flying monsters were directly reduced to ash while several more found themselves forced into a retreat.
The weakness that might have existed for others when it came to fighting these flying monsters used to holding the upper hand simply didn’t exist here, as long range attacks was one of the things almost every mage specialized in to some extent... And along with the fact that long range attacks being the most effective way to take down monsters with minimum risk, it was of course something a lone adventurer like Verdell specialized in as well.
If anything, he could be considered strong in this regard compared to most other mages. Giving him a unique advantage in this battle with the flock of flying monsters, as to damage him, they would still have to first get to him, something that was far from simple given the open space that left essentially nowhere for them to hide from his magic-
"HAHAHAHAHA, BURN!"
FWOOOOSH-!
And feeling an opportunity to go all out on these poor birds, Verdell didn’t hold back in the slightest as he freely began wielding his fire magic against the poor flying monsters. One time throwing out a fireball that reduced a random flying monster to ash, while at another time conjuring up a fire whip that lashed out and cut through several flying monsters at the same time while also covering them in fire in the process.
The entire situation was far more enjoyable than Verdell remembered from the last time he had the opportunity to so freely wield his fire magic-
SCREEECH-!
Unfortunately, the fun had to come to an end, as the leader of the flying monsters finally couldn’t restrain itself nay longer and charged towards him filled with killing intent. Relying on its seemingly fireproof feathers to charge straight through a wave of fire he had sent out in its general direction.
Bang!
Forcing him to conjure up a mana barrier mainly made from bright red colored mana to block the sharp claws of the leading flying monster before it had the chance to reach him. Understanding that he had absolutely no way to survive those sharp claws with his rather pitiful physical strength compared to the devastating fire magic he was currently unleashing. The one weakness that he had yet to overcome as a purely attack-focused mage. Not like some battle mages who focused on both physical and magical strength at the same time, becoming dreadful opponents for anyone to deal with.
Not that he hadn’t had the opportunity to become such a mage himself, it was just that becoming a battle mage required a lot of physical training from what he knew... And that wasn’t exactly something he was interested in. Not to mention, a battle mage’s magic would never have the same level of power as someone like himself who purely focused on the magical aspect and didn’t delegate any of his strength towards something as useful as physical strength.
After all, just looking at the monsters in front of him failing to break through his mana barrier, it was clear that he didn’t need anything other than his magic-
Crack~
"Oh f-"
BANG!