Filled with anger after it had been fooled by the adventurers with illusion magic, the living swamp log in the shape of a giant wolf wasted no time as it rushed forward with a terrifying speed surpassing its earlier speed. Showing just how enraged it was over what had happened as it forcibly pushed itself beyond its past limits to catch up with the group of escaping adventurers.
Of course, the reason behind this wasn’t just because it had been enraged by the illusion, but also because it feared that those adventurers might have some other trick up their sleeve that might help them hide their tracks.
Knowing that it would have little chance of finding them within the dense pine tree forest if they really did end up hiding their tracks. After all, it wasn’t a real wolf with a powerful ability to track prey through smell, but instead a living block of wood that had taken on the form of a wolf.
When it came to tracking abilities... It might be worse than a normal F Rank Monster, a fact that it hoped those adventurers didn’t realize...
Luckily for the living swamp log and not so good for the escaping group of adventurers, none of them had the time to think about erasing their tracks as they continued to escape through the forest. Not even daring to look behind them as they continued rushing forward with all their strength.
Even if they had the ability to erase their tracks, there was little chance that they would even bother to do so in the first place knowing that the monster chasing after them was an S Rank Monster above the level of ordinary S Rank Monsters.
A kind of monster that in their mind would be capable of easily tracking them down no matter how much they tried to hide their tracks.
Truly... An unfortunate turn of events for the group of adventurers, who soon enough discovered the living swamp log in the shape of a giant wolf emerging behind them once again after close to three minutes of running through the forest without anything behind them.
"What do we do... We can’t deal with this kind of monster with our current strength..."
"Maybe we should try and split up?"
"Doing so might work, but how many will survive? And how will those who survive even get back alone? Don’t forget, this is still the fourth floor with no lack of powerful monsters around."
"What do you suggest we do then? Have someone stay behind and try to draw the monster away?"
"That... Might work, but I doubt anyone here would want to step forward and throw their life away..."
And upon seeing this powerful monster emerging behind them once again, the group of adventurers stationed towards the back of the group began discussing what to do as they weaved between tall trees and through thick foliage.
The only real solution everyone could think of being someone staying behind to try and draw the powerful monster away from the group, though there wasn’t anyone who wanted to just willingly throw their life away for the others.
This kind of selfless sacrifice was simply not something most people could do. Especially for people who weren’t their closest of kin and merely people they had worked together with for a few months.
Among these adventurers, Verdell was of course of the same mind and had no intention of throwing his life away to help everyone else escape.
And while there was someone willing to step forward in the end, that person was only a B Rank Adventurer and didn’t even have the strength needed to serve as a distraction to draw the S Rank Monster chasing them away.
The only ones who had the ability to complete this deadly job were the few A Rank Adventurers, among which, none were willing to sacrifice themselves.
Huh? That is...
However, as everyone was trying to come up with a way to deal with the rapidly approaching monster, Verdell suddenly noticed a familiar flickering light bouncing off what looked like scales behind the giant wolf...
The dragon from the dreamscape!?
And squinting his eyes, he realized that the scales belonged to someone familiar, the dragon that had saved him inside the dreamscape and at the same time forced him into his current life and death situation through association.
Still, he couldn’t exactly blame Scaly for what had ended up happening to him inside the dungeon, as he could have simply avoided it if he hadn’t insisted on running away from the adventurers attempting to capture him to get more information on her.
Not to mention, with an opportunity to complete his seemingly hopeless class quest appearing like divine assistance when he needed it the most, Verdell understood that he couldn’t ignore this chance and had to act if he wanted to reach the S Rank in the future.
After all, as an experienced adventurer, he understood just how difficult it would be for him to ever run into a dragon again in the future. Not to mention, the dragon also needed to be a friendly one that didn’t immediately end up attacking him, something that was far more difficult.
A Dragon like Scaly, who didn’t outright attack him and had even allowed him to ride on her back during their escape within the dreamscape, was impossible to encounter again in the future in his eyes.
"I will distract the monster while you all continue escaping."
For this reason, after guessing that Scaly had already targeted the monster that was chasing after them without said monster having realized that it had already become a target, Verdell decided to be the one distracting the monster chasing after them, though to be honest, it was just an excuse for him to have an opportunity to be alone with Scaly and hopefully get through his class quest.
"What!? You can’t!"
"Yeah, this is far too reckless, not to mention, we might still be able to shake it off or run into another group of adventurers capable of taking down this monster."
"Yes, instead of you taking the risk, why not let this old man do it?"
Unsurprisingly, though everyone was eager for someone to step forward to serve as a distraction for them to escape, they still voiced their opposition to Verdell’s suggestion.
Not just because none of them truly wanted to see someone sacrifice themselves, but also because Verdell had acted as the leader so far during their escape and it was clear that none of them would have made it so far without his guidance through the fifth floor of the dungeon, let alone without a single death along the way.
"Don’t worry, I’m not intending to throw my life away, I have a way to keep potentially make it out safely. Although the chances are not the best, they at least exist, something I doubt would be the case for any of you."
"""..."""
Hearing Verdell’s response, everyone fell silent as they all understood there was no talking him out of it. At the same time, they also felt that he shouldn’t be lying to them, as few adventurers would ever throw their life away like this.
Yet... Considering what he was doing, everyone present felt a deep sense of respect and silently vowed to inform the guild about everything he had done if they managed to make it back. After all, this kind of sacrifice was worthy of respect while also being motivational to the younger generation of adventurers who would be able to look up to this kind of honorable senior adventurer. Willing to put his life on the line to ensure his companions would be able to safely make it out of the deadly situation they had found themselves in.
Whoosh~
In the end, following the silent understanding from the surrounding adventurers, Verdell didn’t waste a second after the decision had been made. Splitting off from the larger group while also using the same fire magic he had used to provoke the two S Rank Monster into chasing them back on the fifth floor of the dungeon-
Awwwooooo-!
Of course, seeing this familiar magic and recognizing Verdell as the one behind the attack back then, it wasn’t that difficult for him to draw the attention of this powerful monster away from the group of adventurers and towards himself instead.
"Senior... Verdell..."
"Such a selfless senior... Worthy of respect!"
"*Sniff* I hope this dwarf knowns what he is doing!"
A fact that the escaping adventurers all picked up on as they continued their escape while looking in the direction of Verdell who soon disappeared behind the dense trees alongside the monster that had been chasing after them, as everyone silently prayed for his safety. Hoping that whatever method he had hidden to keep himself safe ended up working.
After all, no matter how confident he might have seemed on the surface before he set off, everyone present understood that things were far from simple and his chances of surviving was miniscule...