Terrified screams echoed in the blackness as the party slipped and tumbled down a long, jagged slope. Loose rocks and debris followed them, a chaotic avalanche of earth and stone.
Daisuke's instincts kicked in, and he desperately stabbed his Bonepick into the hard ground to slow his perilous descent. Osten followed suit, his sword digging into the unforgiving surface. Lyanna, usually graceful and composed, frantically attempted to do the same with an arrow, but it snapped under the immense pressure. She didn't hesitate to follow-up by using her trusty bow as a makeshift anchor.
Despite their efforts, the pull of gravity was relentless. One by one, they reached the bottom, each landing with a thud. The fall had been roughly 80 meters, and the impact was jarring. Groans of pain filled the subterranean chamber, but miraculously, no one seemed to have sustained any life-threatening injuries.
"Cough! Is everyone all right?" asked Daisuke as he slowly got to his feet.
"Arf!" Zephyr's head popped out again.
"I lost a perfectly good arrow, but I'm okay," murmured Lyanna.
"Just a few bruises."
"It's… hard to breathe."
"I can hardly see anything."
As the dust settled and the echoes of their voices faded, everyone realized the dire situation they were in. They had fallen deep into a dungeon, and its vast dimensions were shrouded in darkness.
As their eyes partially adjusted to the gloom, they could see that they were not alone. Strange, luminescent fungi clung to the walls, casting an eerie, bluish light.
Daisuke, always vigilant, took stock of their surroundings. After confirming there was no way back to the surface from where they fell in, he turned to the group who were still collecting themselves.
"Are all the healers okay?" He asked.
"For the most part."
"…Yeah."
"Dammit! Did anyone manage to get any of the Mana Crystals?" Osten demanded, his voice cutting off the third healer before he could respond.
Thanks to his sturdy armor, he hadn't sustained any injuries from the fall whatsoever. His only discomfort lay in the fact that he hadn't managed to increase his wealth at all.
"Are you injured?" inquired Daisuke as he reached out to the healer who was rudely interrupted.
"I'm fine," he reassured, "just a few bruises here and there."
Daisuke nodded, then projected his voice just enough for everyone to hear. "If anyone is seriously injured, just raise your hand and a healer will attend to you."
Osten's expression twisted with derision. Not only was he being ignored, but his position was at risk of being taken away from him. "Hey, I'm the one in charge here!" he barked venomously. "Where the hell do you get off giving out orders like that while I'm standing right here!"
Many in the group glared at Osten, shocked by his lack of consideration. Daisuke had cautioned them about the dangers of the Crystal Field, but his warning had fallen on deaf ears.
Now, despite the circumstances, he was still looking out for their well-being. However, all Osten could seemingly think about was the insidious Crystal Field that had landed them in this predicament.
Beyond his growing annoyance, Daisuke remembered a lecture from Thalia's class:
— "The interior layout of dungeons may differ, but they all seem to adhere to the same fundamental blueprint: they consist of multiple floors, each infested with hordes of monsters, overseen by a more formidable entity known as a Floor Guardian. Finally, at the very bottom level of the dungeon lies the chamber hosting the Dungeon Boss."
"I don't think you clearly understand the situation we're in," Daisuke calmly began. "We've fallen into a dungeon."
"No, you don't understand the situation," Osten retorted loudly, aggressively poking his armored finger against Daisuke's chest. "We didn't fall that far down; all we have to do is climb back to the surface. You're making the situation appear more dire than it really is."
All of a sudden, a single growl resonated through the darkness. Then another, and another, each followed by a pair of piercing red eyes. Like a domino effect, the stranded adventurers found themselves surrounded by a horde of vicious monsters.
WHOOOOOOOSH!
A blazing ball of fire suddenly hurled from the darkness, its target—Osten, who had failed to control the volume of his voice. It was such an abrupt and unexpected assault that he couldn't properly gather his thoughts. Blitz, the tank from his party, was too far away to protect him, and he knew his sword and armor wouldn't be enough to fend off the projectile.
His gaze shot to the side.
Reflexively, spurred on by a need for self-preservation, he reached for the closest Beastkin and used her as a human shield. Elena felt disoriented at the sudden speed at which her body was dragged to the side. Time slowed, her eyes widening in horror as the flames illuminated the walls as it drew nearer. Instinctively, she raised her arms to protect her face.
PHOOOSHHH!
"KYAAAAAAAAAA!"
A blood-curdling scream tore from her lungs as the ball of fire exploded against her body, gruesomely burning her arms and face. Osten was thrown back by the blast. The foul smell of burning skin and hair permeated the air. The adventurers flinched back in terror at the intoxicating smell, but the monsters lurking in the darkness were thrown into a frenzy by the appetizing smell of a warm meal.
At the sound of Elena's pained scream, Zephyr frantically leaped from Daisuke's clothes and darted between her and the deluge of incoming monsters.
"ZEPHYR!" Daisuke bellowed, fearing the worst.
But the canine stood his ground, blue eyes fierce, hackles raised, a challenging growl rippling from a maw lined with razor sharp teeth. Elena, the quiet and innocent demihuman, reminded him of a very dear friend, and he felt obligated to protect her, every fiber and cell of his being did.
DING!
[Your Companion, Zephyr, has learned the active skill «Berserk».]
Brushing the notification window aside, Daisuke clicked his tongue. In a swift motion, he leaned forward, propelling himself like a bullet. Through the Eye of Verity, the monsters appeared as a mass of surging crimson mana against the cavern's abyss.
Just in the nick of time, his arms encircled Elena and Zephyr, snatching them from the brink of being swallowed up by the wave of lupine monsters. But the relentless wave didn't stop, nor did it slow—the voracious creatures continued their fierce descent, bearing down upon the hapless bastard still sprawled on the ground.
"Mages!" Daisuke's voice rang out. "Lights! We need more lightning!"
"Ri-Right!" Callista stammered, her staff aglow as she conjured a radiant orb of light suspended in mid-air.
In an instant, the expansive cavern was flooded with illumination, revealing a nightmarish scene. A horde of Inferno Wolves encircled Osten, their ravenous hunger evident as they started tearing him apart akin to a pack of African wild dogs ripping apart a defenseless antelope on the open savanna.
"GHHAAAAAA! HELP! HELP ME!"
Osten's desperate cry was cut short, his throat crushed by a pair of mighty jaws. The adventurers stood transfixed, witnessing the horrific spectacle as Osten's armor was torn asunder, his body subjected to the brutal force of powerful fangs and claws.
Blood flowed from every orifice as he writhed in agony, the wolves rending both flesh and bone, taking him apart like a stuffed animal. It was a gruesome scene, but to most, a fitting end for a heinous human being.
Callista, however, didn't think the same.
"YOUUU!" she hissed with venom, piecing together what had transpired from the survivors cradled in Daisuke's arms. "You left Osten to die!"
In the real world, humans weren't given a second chance when they died; once your heart stopped beating, everything was over. To maintain the severity of this harsh truth while preserving fairness in the game, the developers imposed a harsh penalty for death. A player would lose an entire level upon dying in the game, which was a significant setback.
It might not seem like that bad of a trade-off, but when you consider the fact that leveling up becomes increasingly difficult the higher one's level, it becomes an inescapable nightmare. Losing a level for a «Ranker» was akin to losing months' worth of intense grinding on monsters.
"You heartless bastard!" Blitz's anger surged, teeth grinding as they watched Osten's body mass dwindle. "You chose to save a few worthless NPCs over a player?"
All eyes turned to Daisuke, anticipating a rational explanation, but his response was—
"The Locals have only one life," he explained calmly, his tone steady. "Meanwhile, players can respawn indefinitely. My choice was pretty clear."
The NPCs gazed upon Daisuke with warmth and gratitude, their appreciation evident in their eyes. However, a stark contrast emerged among the players, their expressions now tainted with disdain.
Even those who had once held him in high regard now bore looks of anger, their simmering resentment palpable as they rose to their feet, united in a singular intent—to eradicate both him and the ravenous monsters.
"Let's go."
"R-Right."
As the heart-wrenching sight of Elena's unmoving form cradled in Daisuke's arms played out before them, Rexar and Milo, the two steadfast members from her circle, reacted swiftly. They sprinted to Daisuke's side, their expressions a blend of grief and determination. The remaining trio of NPCs—Lyanna, a tank, and a warrior—followed suit, united in purpose.
Blitz sneered, sharing the sentiment of the players. "This works out perfectly."
"Now we can crush you all at once," said Callista, her words laced with malice as she raised her staff.
The other mages hoisted their staffs in unison, and the warriors brandished their weapons. The NPCs huddled close to Daisuke, and Zephyr took a protective stance at the forefront, growling menacingly.
"So, what's the plan?" Rexar murmured, adopting a martial arts stance.
Lyanna expertly nocked an arrow and drew her bowstring taut. The tank readied a large shield, the warrior a lengthy sword, and Milo clutched his staff, trembling in the back.
A glow denoting the Eye of Verity blazed inside of Daisuke's pupils like a tenacious flame in the wind. "When I give the signal," he whispered in an undertone, "quickly run to the left."
Everyone covertly acknowledged the plan, their glances shifting subtly in the designated direction. An unspoken understanding passed among them, marked by discreet nods. Milo's grip on his staff tightened, and he swallowed nervously.
While the mages initiated their spell with an incantation, Blitz signaled discreetly to the others. "Healers, stay back," he ordered. "The rest of you, ready your weapons; we'll cut down any who manage to escape the spells' bombardment."
Daisuke's gaze pierced through Blitz and the warriors who were arming themselves for a devastating strike. He briefly glanced into the inky abyss beyond them, sensing a lurking menace. Then his attention shifted to the mages, who were nearing the culmination of their incantation.
They raised their staffs high, their voices synchronized in an arcane chant that resonated through the cavern. Power danced in their eyes as they uttered the ancient words of power, channeling their collective mana into a fiery crescendo.
"Inferno, forge thy fury, from the embers of the earth, rise!" At the united command, a seething torrent of flames burst forth, surging with unrelenting fury. It incinerated the Inferno Wolves in an instant. The remnants of Osten's glowing body were reduced to ash, scattered by the inferno's relentless advance. Then the consuming flames barreled toward the next targets.
Milo peed a little.
Daisuke smirked, seizing this opportune moment to enact his plan while the attacking mages were incapable of moving. Without hesitation, he unleashed his Intimidate skill, focusing his will on the menacing beast lurking in the shadows behind the assailants.
DING!
[The target monster's Stats far exceed your own; Intimidation has failed.]
An unfortunate prompt. However, Daisuke harbored no regrets; his objective was not to intimidate but to incite the creature's wrath, and in this, he succeeded.
The colossal figure emerged from the obscurity, bathed in an ominous glow, its monstrous presence filling the chamber.
DING!
[The Floor Guardian's fiery gaze falls upon the trespassers.]
[Giant Inferno Wolf | Lvl 25 | Floor Guardian]
With a deafening roar, the colossal wolf unleashed a searing cascade of flames. Blitz, the healers, the warriors, the mages, and Callista, stood frozen in stunned horror, their eyes widening as the fiery onslaught bore down upon them—a cataclysmic wall of blazing death.
In a blinding flash, they were engulfed, their pained screams echoing off the cavern walls as they melted like plastic to a flame, their very beings disintegrating into columns of radiant light.
"NOW! GO! GO! GO!"
Simultaneously, Daisuke signaled his group to move, a symphony of swift footsteps echoing as they narrowly escaped the fiery cataclysm. They dashed into a narrow passage that led to a small chamber, where the inferno's deadly embrace could not follow.