As he turns back, Silver's eyes start to sting. He winces in pain and tries to wipe them, but nothing changes. Well, at least the world came back to full color, so there's that. He turns back around to see the monster hesitating after seeing one of them just explode. And how did it explode like that ? It was far from a full power strike, so how ?
He starts to prepare himself for another rond, but Lin and Armando zoom past him, engaging with the remaining monsters while Sarah goes to him.
"Ouch, your eyes are bloodshot red. What did you do ?" she asks while concentrating her Mana on Silver's eyes.
"I'm not really sure; it's like I was locked in at maximum capacity," he tries to explain. Even he couldn't really explain what had just happened.
He looks back , watching as Lin takes a goblin down while Armando zips past another, slicing it fiercely. They seem to have leveled up since they last went against those monsters. When V joins them, it's as good as over, the trio handily beating the remaining monsters.
When they all regroup, they stare at Silver, still in shock over what had just happened.
"How the fuck did you just pulverize a goblin like that ?" asks Lin harshly.
"I'm also curious," adds Armando. "That obviously was not normal."
"I don't really know what to say; I just did what felt right. It wasn't even full power. Maybe it's thanks to my gloves ?" wonders Silver as he stares at his gloves. But, even if they could maybe explain that powerful attack, they most certainly don't explain what has been happening to him since the previous night.
"At least, with this strength, you won't be a burden," says V. "You may even be the strongest here. Good for your fame." she adds with a grin.
"That was mighty impressive, kid !" exclaims Captain George while slapping Silver's shoulder. "The rumors might have sold you short !"
Silver could only answer with an embarrassed laugh. He did not understand what was happening to him in this fight, but it felt good, natural. Yes, natural, that's it. As if hitting those red dots was what was instinctual, primal.
He clenches his fists, the sensation still tingling in them. Closing his eyes, he can feel the world spinning, the Magia circulating around him. He takes a deep breath before opening his eyes again; he feels on top of the world. No matter what he faces, he will not lose; he can feel it.
The whole group starts their march again, the Mercenaries looking at Silver with an air of reverence, like they've seen a legendary hero. The fifth and sixth floors go by smoothly, the group somehow managing to not encounter any monsters.
Arriving at the stairs leading to the seventh floor, Captain George signals to the group to stop. "Let's take a break; we've been going for quite some time now."
Armando freezes hearing that, about to object before Silver poses his hand on his shoulder. Armando turns to him, fear in his eyes; the memories of the massacre are still lingering in his mind. Silver simply nods at him; he understands what he's feeling.
Armando sighs, his thoughts still racing. The rest of the Team joins them, silently reconforting him.
"A problem ?" asks George, seeing the whole Team acting strangely.
"It's-it's nothing. Yeah, let's take a break," responds Armando.
Everyone sits down and starts to relax and catch their breaths. Silver posts himself right in front of the stairs and stares at the bottom floor, ready to react if he sees anything weird. After a few moments, he starts to see some movement. He readies himself but relaxes immediately when a group of Dungeonauts enter his vision.
"Oh wow, I was not expecting to see someone here. You've scared me, my guy," says who seems to be the leader of this Team.
The new Dungeonauts quickly climb the stairs and come in full view of the whole group. Their gear seems high-level, and they exude an aura of strength far superior to anyone's in Armando's Team.
"Wow, big mission, I see," says one of the members of the other Team.
"Yes, we're headed to floor 9," responds Sarah.
"Floor 9 ? Oh yeah, it's where a shift happened recently, right ? Well, be careful out there. Especially floor 8, apparently there's a big group of monsters roaming this floor; we haven't seen it, but other Dungeonauts told us about it."
With those words, the other Team leaves. Their warning did not fall on deaf ears; everyone steels themselves for a potential encounter with this monster group. Soon, the march starts again, descending to floor 7.
Even with a group of Dungeonauts just passing by, the floor is filled with all types of monsters. After less than a minute, they hear barking all around them, followed by growls and snarls before six huge dogs—as big as cows—with jet black fur broken by red streaks and red eyes appear in view.
"Devil Hounds !" screams the captain. "Everyone, in position !"
Devil Hounds are D rank monsters, and even if not that strong alone, they specialize in group hunting thanks to advanced intelligence allowing them to adopt group strategies, which would be impossible for monsters of this rank.
"We need to localize the leader," remarks V as she prepares herself.
It's true; there's no leader here. They are pretty easy to distinguish as the streaks on their fur are blue and they are bigger than the rest. They all look around, but there's no leader in sight.
Unfortunately, the monsters don't give them the time to formulate a plan as they all howl in unison. stunning all the humans. Using this opportunity, the Devil Hounds rush them. V manages to quickly create a golden wall, protecting the Mercenaries from the attacks of one of them while Armando and Lin defend themselves against three others, protecting Sarah.
This leaves Silver alone to deal with two of them. He cannot evade the first attack, scratching him on the leg while the second Hound jumps on him. He manages to push it back right as the first one bites his thigh. He hits the one biting him when the second bites his forearm.
Silver screams in pain, the monsters drawing a lot of blood. Thankfully, the Mercenaries manage to wake up and shoot the monsters, who take a few steps back. He regroups with everyone else, who has also sustained substantial damage from scratches and bites. As Sarah tries to concentrate her Mana to heal everyone, the monsters start howling again, this time directly targeting Sarah.
She falls back, unable to direct her Mana as she would want, the attack seemingly managing to disturb the flow of Mana in her for a moment. But they don't have time to try and help her as the Hounds launch another attack.
Lin brandishes his sword, screaming "Wind Fury Slice !" before swinging his sword, projecting tree blades of wind. Following his example, Silver concentrates his strength in his right hand before punching the air, creating a powerful airstream.
Sadly, the monsters manage to evade those attacks, barely disturbed by them. The fight continues, the beasts being able to injure the fighters by quickly attacking then changing targets, making them hard to block or evade. Add to that the numbers advantage, and it makes for a pretty hard situation.
The Mercenaries also hesitate to fire, the Devil Hounds not leaving enough space between themselves and the Dungeonauts to allow fire without risking injuring the frontline. The situation seems pretty desperate
"Shit, all we need is just one opening !" curses Armando, barely able to hold his daggers with all the injuries his hands received.
"Those monsters are way to fast and intelligent. The hell ?" adds Lin, whipping blood off his face.
"That's why we need to deal with the leader first," says V, breathing heavily. "There has to be one; otherwise, they would not be this coordinated."
Devil Hounds receive the orders from their leader via a telepathic link, meaning that the leader doesn't have to show itself unless really needed.
Silver stumbles backward, having received the most of the attacks since the start. It seems as if the monsters have identified him as the most dangerous human, and he was paying the price for it. As one of the Hounds goes for another attack, it's hit midair by a volley of bullets, making it crash heavily on the ground.
Silver looks around to see that he is now flanked by two of the Mercenaries whose helmets he had signed.
"Don't worry, mister Crown, we'll back you up," says one of them.
Silver is a bit conflicted about that; he doesn't want the Mercenaries to put themselves in danger, but at the same time, if they don't, then the humans have a very slim chance of winning.
As he feels a little bit of relief, he sees a ray of energy about to hit one of his Mercenaries teammates. He violently pushes him out of the way before a lightning bolt explodes the ground where he would have stood.
A bit further, a creature howls powerfully before stepping forward, an immense Devil Hound surrounded by electricity and looking really pissed. The Devil Hound Leader joins the fight.