Meanwhile, Alice, in the dungeon was faced with powerful, ferocious, and dangerous monsters, all roaring and bellowing at her presence, stomping on the ground forcefully and sending shockwaves that seemingly felt like a breeze blowing over her hair and shoulder.
Some of these wild and ferocious monsters had scales. Some had stones for skin. Some had metal for teeth and skin and some were literally on fire, their mouths drooling lava in place of saliva.
She had to face all those big and powerful monsters all by herself.
Standing before them, she felt like an ant and though it was supposed to be scary, overwhelming, and dangerous, she was okay.
The fear and terror that were supposed to eat her up, that were supposed to pressure her, did not get to her at all. It was almost like standing in front of a bunch of fake statues.
No, even scary statues instilled fear. Why wasn't she scared?
"So, I'm supposed to kill them all?" Alice asked.
The monsters weren't attacking and were doing their best to instill fear into her but she stared at them with lazy eyes. It was boring, honestly. But how was that possible?
She was in a freaking red gate and standing in front of a bunch of S-class monsters, second to SS-class monsters that could rip her apart at any moment.
But her body did not freeze in terror. It was almost like she had been exposed to such terror for the longest time and she was used to it.
But that was impossible, right? This was her first time engaging in battle with monsters.
"Hey, have I...?" She scratched the back of her head, "... Done this before?" She asked. "I'm having a sense of deja vu right now."
She expected it to keep quiet or say she was just feeling strange from entering a red gate for the first time, but to her surprise, it answered,
*You have* the voice stated. *So many times that one could not count*
Alice was confused. Was it trying to mess with her again? How could it say such a thing when this was the first time she was actually entering a dungeon? At least, the first time that she could remember.
Wait, was that the reason she was feeling so fearless and bold? For someone fighting against monsters for the first time, she was oddly familiar with swinging her hammer and how to move her body reflexively to avoid getting hit.
Her body moved reflexively like it knew just what to do and was very... Very familiar with battles of such.
Had she really done this before?
No. She shook her head. She was probably overthinking it because that voice was making fun of her.
She massaged her shoulder, picked up her hammer from the floor, and said,
"Well, be it the first or not, I have to hurry up here. He promised to take me out to get a good meal once I get back." She said. "So I hope to not die...yet."
*The more monsters you kill, the more powerful you get.* The voice said. *And the more powerful you get...* It paused and she furrowed her eyebrows in a frown.
Just like before, it wouldn't tell her what would happen once she became a lot more powerful than she already was.
Was it some sort of cult-related stuff?
Well, she hoped not. Getting involved with cults was the last thing she wanted at the moment.
'I guess I'll find out soon then.' she thought and swung her hammer.
The monsters in front of her who had been oddly patient roared and bellowed as Alice picked up her hammer.
They must've realized that Alice was a threat they needed to take care of.
Even if she looked like a tiny human, they would sense it. That mystic aura around her. It was otherworldly and a huge threat to their evolution.
"Well, here I go." Alice announced as she set her hammer down, bent down a bit, positioning her body to leap high.
These monsters had the bigger advantage, having huge bodies and large numbers, so she would have to attack from above.
"Axe!" She said, and one side of her hammer got surrounded by a surge of blue lightning, transforming into a blade.
One side, an axe, and the other side, a hammer. She scoffed mockingly,
"Look at that, I finally figured it out." She said.
*Go or they will get the upper hand* the voice said but she didn't need to be told twice.
She leaped up into the air and set her hammer to take out the first monster that stood in her way, a rocky body with red eyes jaguar. It wanted to let out a fire blast from its mouth but she beat the crap out of it, smashing its face before it got the chance, and sent it flying down to the herd that was getting ready to attack her.
"Haha, that won't work on me this time." She scorned and faced the next monster.
They were flooding around her, not wanting to give her the upper hand but she was way faster and had a voice in her head that happened to be smarter than their monster minds.
Swiftly, she twisted the handle of her hammer, switched the head positions from the hammer to the axe, and sliced through the creatures in front.
It took up a lot of her strength but with each strike, she felt even more energetic.
There were different dangerous species of S to SS class monsters.
It was impossible that all of them were in one red gate and weren't already killing themselves. It was like they were all put in there on purpose by a much higher monster and that was why they weren't killing themselves.
They had a purpose.
Alice wasn't the type to think deeply about things, especially when it had nothing to do with her but the voice in her head just wouldn't stop talking and it was getting annoying.
*This was supposed to be the next part of this first calamity that would strip the world bare of a lot of things. A quarter of the world would've been destroyed with the coming of these monsters but thanks to you, such an event will not come to pass and most of the world's resources, as well as the civilians, will be saved.*
"And how exactly do you know all of that?" She asked. "You sound like you've seen the future or something."
*...*
The voice went silent for a while and then said,
*Common sense would tell you that if these monsters got out, your world would be in grave danger* he stated and she rolled her eyes.
What did she care? She wasn't the one putting the world in danger.
*You have been given this power so wield it for the greater good*
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm the hero here but do you really have to tell me that while I'm hella busy?" She asked, folding her arms.
*But you're done already*