"Boom!"
In the explosion-like noise, the walls of the underground city were destroyed, countless fragments of rock fell, and dust spread, covering the surroundings.
Rephia, who was tackled down by Reiger, stared blankly at the scene, unable to react for a long time, only to see a huge claw akin to that of a wild beast's nail embedded in the shattered wall, piercing deep into the rock.
Just now, it was this thing that had swept over their heads, damaging the wall.
"Don't space out!"
While Rephia was too dazed to respond, Reiger yanked her up and rolled with her to the side.
"Boom!"
The next moment, that explosion-like noise appeared again.
Another huge beast claw came flying, fiercely landing on the spot where Reiger and Rephia had just been, shattering the ground.
After dragging Rephia away for some distance, Reiger finally got up and looked in the direction from which the claw had come.
With one glance, Reiger's pupils contracted, nearly doubting his own eyes.
"Roar!"
A demonic and eerie roar swept forth, stirring up countless dust and shaking off numerous fragments of rock.
A monster with thunderous, heavy footsteps that created pits with each step moved toward Reiger and Rephia.
With a head like a dragon, a body like an elephant, a bellowing sound like a bull, thick limbs with sharp claws, and a thick fur coat, it somewhat resembled the Behemoth from the Western myths Reiger had seen in his former life, only it wasn't as terrifyingly tall as the legend suggested, being around four or five meters tall at most.
Even at a height of only four or five meters, this Behemoth-like monster towered over Reiger and Rephia by a significant margin, unquestionably a behemoth to them, a very oppressive alien form.
The alien was still panting, its mouth drooling, with a sharp claw impaling a severed limb, looking extremely bloody.
"What, what kind of monster is this!?"
Watching the beast pant heavily, its mouth drooling, with crimson eyes intently fixed on them, as if it hadn't eaten in a long time, disregarding even the severed limb in its hand, Rephia couldn't help but scream, her pretty face turning pale with fright.
Not just Rephia, but even Reiger's face changed color.
For one, he did not recognize the Behemoth-like monster before him, whether it was in the monster directory for the upper levels provided by the Guild or in the records of the Familia's library.
Secondly, Reiger felt a sense of suffocation emanating from the other party, proving it posed a great threat.
There was no doubt, this was a very powerful monster.
"Why would such an unknown monster appear on the 6th floor?"
Not only did it not match any monster in his memory, but it also belonged to the large species that should only start appearing on the 10th floor. This was not a creature that should have emerged from the 6th floor.
This sparked an idea in Reiger's mind, reminiscent of a term mentioned in a book.
"Abnormal situation..."
This term would be used when encountering states in the underground city that did not conform to basic laws.
The underground city might be a den of demons, but it still followed some explored rules and recognized principles.
For instance, fixed patterns like which floors would spawn which types of monsters.
For another, the deeper one went into the underground city, the stronger the monsters encountered would be.
And then, unless by accident, monsters normally do not leave their floors to go elsewhere; and even if this situation occurred, it would only happen between two or three adjacent floors at most, preventing the substantial cross-floor appearance of monsters.
Such confirmed rules were already explored, confirmed, and even incorporated into books as knowledge points for all adventurers to learn.
However, the underground city is alive, not dead.
It can spawn monsters.
It can automatically repair damaged terrains.
It might even intentionally spring traps on adventurers when they're in tight spots, suddenly spawning many monsters and forming hordes to attack the adventurers.
Every once in a while, it creates exceptions, special circumstances, as if retaliation against the lifeforms that intrude its domain.
These rare occurrences that break the existing confirmed knowledge points and the rules of the underground city are called abnormal situations.
And now, Reiger had encountered one.
An abnormal situation that was rarely seen in usual times.
"Roar!"
The monster roared angrily, its sharply tipped claws, like those of a groundhog, raised and aimed in their direction at Reiger and Rephia.
Upon witnessing this scene, Reiger almost instantly reacted.
After all, those claws of the monster could fly.
"Swoosh!"
The monster's claw shot out explosively from its hand under Reiger's watchful gaze.
The speed was as fast as lightning.
"Boom!"
The sharp and massive claw struck the underground city for the third time, exploding the surface in the blast and kicking up dust, causing stones to fly everywhere.
Such a powerful shot, with its shocking speed and devastating power, would likely result in serious injury to any lower-level adventurer if they were merely grazed.
Reiger, too, narrowly dodged the blow, carrying Rephia and being blown away by the blast wave, striking a nearby rock and shattering it.
"Reiger, Mr. Reiger...!"
Rephia finally came to her senses, exclaiming at the sight of Reiger protecting her.
Unfortunately, Reiger could no longer afford to respond to her.
The ferocious monster, angered by Reiger's evasion and its failure to catch its prey, roared and charged over thunderously.
It charged with an immense onslaught, smashing through rocks and stumbling blocks in its path, carrying a whirling dust storm as it lunged at Reiger and Rephia.
This relentless and unyielding attack was undoubtedly fatal to the extreme.
Fortunately, this time, Reiger was mentally prepared.
Clasping Rephia in his arms, he spun around, and kicked the very boulders he had just shattered, turning them into cannonballs that smashed into the monster's head.
"Roar!"
Struck by the rock projectiles, the monster let out an enraged howl, its immense charge forcibly halted by the pain.
"Rephia!" Only then did Reiger, seizing the rare moment to catch his breath, say to Rephia, "Find an opportunity to use magic!"
Leaving those words behind, Reiger pushed Rephia away, drew the thin sword at his waist, and with a stomp, his entire being transformed into a bullet, streaking towards the monster.
"Roar!"
Seeing this, the monster's fury intensified, and it lifted its forepaw, sweeping it towards Reiger.
Reiger couldn't avoid the sweep.
Due to the terrain of the 6th layer, at this moment, he and the monster were in a passage that wasn't very spacious, blocked by the monster.
Relying on its size, the monster's attack could almost reach the entire passage; Reiger charging at the monster like this meant he couldn't dodge the attack that encompassed the whole entrance to the passage.
Unless Reiger chose to retreat, there was no way he could avoid this strike.
Yet, even faced with the nearly unavoidable sweep, Reiger still did not choose to retreat.
"[Arise, Tempest]."
Li Yong chanted a spell.
In an instant, a turbulent surge of airflow swirled around Reiger's body.
Wind clung to Reiger from head to toe, and he truly became a gust, howling as he met the monster's claw.
"Miss Ais's magic...!?"
Rephia, whom Reiger had pushed away, falling to the ground, witnessed this scene with her beautiful, large eyes wide open.
Although she had heard from Reiger that he had learned Ais's magic, seeing it with her own eyes still shocked her.
What surprised her even more was that after Reiger cast the spell, he suddenly became as unstoppable as Ais herself.
"Clang!"
A deafening sound of metal striking metal erupted, unleashing a wave-like blast of Qi Force.
Reiger, holding his thin sword, wound the wind around the blade and forcefully chopped at the monster's oncoming claw, resulting in a fierce clash and collision.
The powerful wind-enchanted magic provided Reiger with a tremendous boon, even enhancing his weapon, enabling him to deflect the monster's claw with his full-force slash and close in on the monster.
"Roar!"
Bursting with rage, the monster roared and lifted its other arm, smashing down violently toward the ground in front of itself.
There, Reiger had just advanced, striking the monster's chest with his sword.
"Splat!"
The sound of flesh ripping appeared without surprise.
But Reiger's wind-empowered slash failed to completely penetrate the monster's flesh; it merely cut through the hide, making a shallow wound.
Compared to the monster's massive body, this wound was inconsequential.
Instead, it was the monster's strike that was truly formidable, sounding almost like a sonic boom as it hit Reiger.
"Thump!"
Like a large truck colliding with a tanker, the impact was thunderous.
Reiger, only slightly larger than the monster's fist, was hit by a blow that seemed like a pillar sweeping through, his form sent flying backward.
"Mr. Reiger!"
Rephia cried out in anguish.
"Roar!"
The monster immediately roared in the direction of Rephia, causing her to tremble on the spot, retreating with a look of fear on her face.
Despite being a Level 3, Second Rank adventurer, Rephia was intimidated by the monster that appeared on the 6th layer, her grip on the Magic Wand rendered utterly useless.
"Find an opportunity to use magic!"
Reiger's voice seemed to echo in her ears, urging Rephia to rally and resist.
But Rephia's mind was completely blank, and she just stood there shaking.
Thus, the monster smirked viciously, raising its claws towards Rephia's head.
Just at that moment———
"Splat!"
A streak of silver light, mixed with a tempest, flashed past, slicing the monster's arm, instantly causing blood and flesh to burst forth in a splash.
"Roar!"
The monster's smirk turned to a scream of pain as its claw involuntarily dropped.
In the blink of an eye, a whirlwind lifted the dust, assaulting the howling monster as it dropped its arm.
From within the raging wind, cold sword light exploded forth, wielded by Reiger, his face bearing a cold hue, his eyes shining with fervent emotion.
A deadly duel, with no room for error, commenced.