HISSSS!

The lizard-things hissed, their eyes swirling with strange patterns.

Their claws scraped against the rocky floor as they slowly moved closer, surrounding me like a pack of beasts waiting for the right moment to pounce.

One of them lunged.

I didn’t move.

Its body twisted mid-air, jaws wide open, fangs flashing toward my throat.

I raised my scythe with both hands and spun sharply to the left.

SLASH!

The blade carved through the air and cut straight across its chest. Blood sprayed out in a wide arc, hitting the walls like wet paint.

The creature’s body smacked against the ground and didn’t move again.

That was all the signal they needed.

The rest charged in, shrieking.

I stepped back with my right foot and swung again.

One came from the side, so I ducked, planting my left hand on the ground, then twisted my body low and sliced upward with all my strength.

CRRACK!

The scythe tore through its stomach, splitting it in half. Its insides spilled out across the floor.

Another came at me from behind. I pivoted fast, using my momentum to swing the weapon over my shoulder in a wide arc.

The sharp edge slammed straight into its neck, and I pulled back hard.

SNAP!

Its head flew off, spinning once before hitting the ground with a wet thud.

More of them pushed in. I jumped back to gain distance, my boots skidding against the stone. I raised my free hand and called forth another spell, mana already swirling in my chest like a storm.

『 Ice Series: Frost Spikes! (✦ 3rd-level Spell ✦) 』

I slammed my palm into the ground.

BOOM!

Long, jagged spikes of ice shot up in a circle around me, stabbing straight through five of them at once. They shrieked and twisted as blood splattered across the frozen ground.

Still, they kept coming.

I gritted my teeth and spun again, dragging my scythe across the floor as I gathered more ice around it.

『 Ice Series: Frost Crash! (✦ 6th-level Spell ✦) 』

With one full step forward, I swung it diagonally from above, like cleaving down a mountain.

BAAAAAAAM!

The crash of the scythe hitting the ground exploded outward. A huge wave of cold energy rushed forward like a flood, freezing everything it touched.

The monsters caught in it froze mid-scream, their bodies encased in thick, glowing ice.

“Hhhhngh…”

A soft groan reached up to my ears.

I turned toward the sound.

Maria was the first to stir. She clutched her head, her brows scrunched like she had just woken from a nightmare. Her eyes darted around, confused.

She pushed herself up slowly, one knee still on the floor.

“Wh… what…?”

Behind her, Mia blinked rapidly, her back arched as she sat up. Her fire staff sparked slightly in her hand, the flames flickering weakly like a candle in the wind.

“Where… where are we…?”

James rolled over next, groaning like someone who’d slept on rocks, which, honestly, wasn’t far off.

“My head… ugh… I dreamed I was marrying that priest girl and—wait, what the hell?”

He sat up straight, eyes wide, when he saw the frozen bodies.

Derek stood a few feet away, arms crossed, breathing heavily. He looked like he’d been standing still for a while, but only just snapped out of it.

“What… the hell happened here?” he muttered.

They all started with the number of dead creatures on the ground.

“They were monsters that trapped us in some kind of dream. Or nightmare,” I said, giving my arm a quick wave.

My scythe turned into mist and vanished.

“I see…” Mia nodded, brushing dust off her skirt.

But then—

Tch.

James clicked his tongue and rubbed the back of his head, looking annoyed.

“Damn it… I was just about to kiss the priest girl…”

Derek smirked and gave him a sideways look.

“No worries. Maybe next dream, you’ll get lucky.”

“Shut it, dumbass.”

They both exchanged a quick glare.

I sighed and turned away.

“Let’s keep moving. Maybe we’ll run into other people.”

“Whatever you say, Boss,” James grinned, dragging his sword across his shoulder.

“Good one,” Derek said, bumping fists with James.

Mia giggled behind her hand, and Maria gave a soft laugh too, brushing her hair back.

“Haaah…”

.

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Meanwhile…

“Ella, now! Hit it!” Lucas shouted.

Ella nodded at his words as she grasped her sword tightly.

『 Royal Swordsmanship: Heavenly Strike! (✦ SS-level Swordsmanship ✦) 』

She slashed down hard, screaming from the top of her throat.

“DIIIEEE!”

SPLURT!

Blood sprayed out like a fountain as the giant lizard beast was cut clean in half. Its body hit the ground with a loud, wet thud.

“Phew…” Ella exhaled, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

They’ve been fighting this creature for a few minutes, and now, they have finally killed it. Its rank was at least S+ rank.

『 Holy Series: Holy Heal! (✦ 4th-Level Spell ✦)』

A golden light wrapped around Ella’s body as Iris raised her staff, her magic mending the bleeding wounds across Ella’s arms and legs.

“Thanks.”

“No worries,” Iris replied, giving her a calm smile.

Then she turned to check on Maya.

“These damn things don’t go down easy!” Maya muttered, kicking a broken scale off her boot.

“Well, it’s probably a red gate, so of course they are… besides, this is only the early part of the dungeon, so there should be much stronger monsters,” Lucas commented.

At the same time, he was talking with Excalibur.

‘Are you sure about that…?’

{I’m definitely sure. This is the domain of Beelzebub, the Demon General of Gluttony! You should be extra careful!}

If Aestrea could hear what they were talking he was probably going be pissed off, because, although he doesn’t know it, he cannot use his physique’s skill for this month.

And it was another Demon General.

‘…This is going to be a real problem then.’ Lucas clenched his teeth.

“…Lucas, you alright?” Maya, on the side, noticed his condition and couldn’t help but ask in a very worried voice.

The rest of the group looked at him as soon as she uttered those words.

“Yeah… just thinking about how unlucky we are,” he said with an awkward laugh, scratching his head.

And before they could say anything, he continued.

“Anyways, let’s go for now, and see if we can find any of the othe—!”

BOOOOM!

FREEEZE!

A giant spike of ice shot straight into the air.

And then—

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

More explosions followed, lighting up the sky with white-blue flashes.

“That’s got to be Aestrea, right?” Iris asked, raising her hand to block the light.

But another voice answered first.

“No. That’s not him,” the voice said calmly.

“Aestrea’s magic is way stronger than that.”

They all turned around, surprised.

“Ethan?!” Lucas called.

He spotted Ethan walking toward them, with Leon and Telmo close behind.

They had split up earlier to cover more ground, but now the three had found them again.

“Let’s not waste time!” Ethan shouted, already picking up speed toward the direction of the blast.

Lucas nodded quickly, then looked at the rest.

“Come on!”

They all ran as fast as they could.

And after a few minutes of sprinting, they reached a wide-open chamber.

Up ahead, they saw Ulgar, Eira, and Rayn, along with a few others. All of them were fighting against a massive, black wyvern.

The creature’s wings beat wildly, and every movement it made shook the ground.

“Ulgar, block it!” Eira shouted, pulling an arrow onto her glowing bowstring.

Ulgar took a deep breath, then charged forward. His big arms went up, and he caught the wyvern’s clawed hand with both palms, feet sliding back from the force.

“Got it—grrgh!!” Ulgar grunted, veins bulging as he tried to hold the beast back.

SCREEEECH!

The wyvern let out a sharp, ear-splitting scream as it pushed against him.

CRACKLE!

A burst of lightning lit up the area. Rayn flashed behind the wyvern with his body wrapped in an electric aura. He raised his arm, and a short glowing blade formed around his hand.

“HAAAA!”

With a loud shout, he slashed across the wyvern’s back.

SPLURT!

Blood sprayed out from the cut, staining the stone floor. But even though the hit landed, the wyvern was huge—the wound wasn’t deep enough.

ROOOOOAR!!!

The monster threw its head to the side and opened its mouth. A violent gust of wind shot out.

WHOOSH!

A sharp windstorm rushed across the battlefield, forcing Ulgar to jump back just in time. He rolled on the ground, coughing as debris flew everywhere.

Eira didn’t flinch at the wyvern’s attack, her bow glowed with pale blue light, her eyes locked onto the wyvern’s chest.

『 Ice Series: Glacial Arrow Of Destruction! (✦ 6th-level Spell ✦) 』

Fweeep!

The arrow shot forward in a blink, slicing through the air so fast it let out a whistling sound.

The moment it touched the wyvern’s side—

FREEEEEEZE!

A massive sheet of ice exploded from the impact, spreading over the beast’s ribs and one of its wings. Thick ice wrapped around its flesh, locking part of the wyvern in place.

The monster screamed again, this time with pain.

RRRRRRRAAAAAHH!!!

The wyvern thrashed in place, one of its wings frozen and useless, but its eyes were still sharp and filled with rage.

It let out another screech and started to inhale again.

“Shit, it’s going to breathe again!” Rayn shouted, stepping back with his arms raised.

Eira quickly pulled another arrow from her quiver, but her hands were shaking now.

Ulgar stood up again, bruised and breathing hard. He gritted his teeth, then charged in. He leaped forward and slammed his fist into the wyvern’s chest.

THUD!

The impact made the creature stumble a little, but it wasn’t enough.

Then—

A sudden flash lit up the sky above them.

The air trembled for a second.

『 Breaking the Sky! (✦ A+ level Swordsmanship ✦) 』

FWOOP!

A golden streak sliced through the air, coming straight down from above.

CRASH!

The wyvern’s head was cut clean off. It rolled across the stone floor, eyes wide, jaw slack. Its body dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

THOOM!

Black flames spread out in a wide circle where the blade had landed, burning the leftover pieces of the monster into ash.

Everyone froze for a moment, wide-eyed.

Lucas slowly lowered his sword, Excalibur, the blade still glowing faintly. He landed gently a few feet from the corpse, dust and heat swirling around him.

Ethan jogged up beside him, panting.

“Nice job, Lucas.”

Lucas turned his head slightly, resting the sword against his shoulder.

“It was already weak,” he said simply.

His eyes drifted toward Eira, Ulgar, and Rayn, who were still catching their breath.

He stepped forward.

“Hey… you guys must be the new students from Silverleaf, right?” he asked calmly. “I’m Lucas. Nice to meet you.”

He held out his hand politely, offering a small smile.

Ulgar stared at Lucas’s hand for a second.

Then he looked away, clearly unimpressed.

“Tch. Don’t act like you’re better than us,” he muttered under his breath, brushing past him.

Lucas blinked but didn’t lower his hand right away.

Ethan frowned beside him, clearly annoyed.

“…We just saved your asses,” Ethan said, his voice calm but sharp.

Ulgar didn’t even turn around.

“We didn’t ask for your help.”

Lucas pulled his hand back slowly. His golden eyes narrowed just a bit, but he didn’t say anything.

Eira stepped forward, a bit of frost still clinging to her bow. She gave Lucas a short, polite nod.

“Thank you for the help,” she said softly.

She paused for a moment, her eyes flicking to Excalibur.

Her pupils narrowed slightly as she recognized the sword. And him. But she didn’t say anything and just stayed calm and respectful.

“Eira.”

Lucas gave her a small smile.

“Nice to meet you.”

Rayn didn’t even look at him.

He walked past without saying a word, his boots stepping right over the ash where the wyvern had burned. Lightning still crackled faintly along his arms as he moved, but his eyes stayed on the path ahead.

The rest of their group, some with wings, others with tails or horns, stood a little farther back.

They watched silently.

Lucas looked at them all, then let out a quiet breath.

“Well, this is going to be fun…” he muttered.

Ethan rubbed the back of his head.

“Friendly bunch, huh?”

The silence hung for a few seconds longer before Lucas stepped back and turned toward the rest of his group.

“…Should we team up with them?” Lucas asked.

They all exchanged glances, but as they had witnessed their behaviour towards them, they shook their heads.

“Well… it would be a good idea if they weren’t so… arrogant.” Ella shook her head.

“… It’s simply better to find Esty…” she mumbled, although everyone caught it.

GRIP!

Telmo gritted his teeth as he clenched his fist tightly enough to make a small cracking sound. Leon only shook his head at Telmo’s actions before putting his hand on his shoulder.

“…Calm down. Being infuriated is not going to make her yours.”

At his words, Telmo calmed down a little, but he was still very angry.

“…Aestrea, Aestrea… Aestrea…! Why is it always him?!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep