15 | Dungeon Dive

Keen and Vi follow Lion's Den after five seconds.

Vi barely has any sleep. Although there is a slight pain in either side of her temples, they cannot let Eron's group to clear the dungeon by themselves.

Boss monsters and dungeons in Esprit are always unique and do not respawn even after a certain time. That is one of the reasons why Elise cannot stop herself from crying when she took part in the successful subjugation of the Beast of the Lake.

As soon as the duo are transported inside the dungeon, they quickly check each other's blind spot to avoid a possible ambush. Looking around, they see no signs of monsters or the Lion's Den. Instead, common items are scattered on the ground.

The dungeon portal is enclosed in a sort of gladiator arena. However, instead of audience seats, a large collection of passageways are present in three levels. The first level which is elevated ten meters from the ground have approximately twenty dark passageways. The second level above it has a larger diameter with around thirty dimly lit doorways. The top level has around fifty levels with passageways lit brightly with a white hue from inside.

Five equally spaced stairways exist from the end of the fenced entrance portal to the different levels.

"Where should we go first? Lion's Den guild is quickly ahead of us with just a five second difference.

Keen bites his lip. "The top floor seems to be protecting something with such a blinding white light. But it's too obvious."

Vi nods with a smile.

The competitor guild seem to be a group that relies heavily on each other. By a quick inspection, they value rare items and gold and act fast due to a complete set of attackers, defenders and supporters.

When the duo jump to the one entrance of the second level, they decide to be wary of the monk in Lion's Den guild. He is formidable enough to cast multiple buff skills before replenishing his mana. He may even have crowd control skills and debuffs under his sleeve.

As for the choice of the second level, Keen has relied on his Instinct and Luck stats, which may be equivalent to intuition.

"Hold my hand," Keen stretches his arm towards Vi.

She flinches with one bone lance aimed at him. "What kind of woman do you take me for?"

"A smart one." He motions his hand to an invitation.

She draws out her poisoned dagger. "We're on a tight schedule, you know."

Suddenly, Keen releases his dark aura that expands horizontally and reaches out to all the other passageways of the second level.

After a few seconds, they can hear a rumbling similar to a large group of horses marching for war. The sound of hooves come closer and closer, until a large minotaur pummels his way out of one passageway with a big double axe on one hand. Its horns are curved forward like a bull's and its eyes filled with darkness. It opens its mouth then clenches its teeth, as if preparing to bite them.

Vi quickly notices a horizontal wound bleeding from its belly.

Five Lesser Minotaurs reveal themselves from behind the wounded one. They all carry sledgehammers with both hands.

She observes whether the other passageways have similar monsters coming out. None.

Before the monsters can even make an offensive stance, Keen jumps to their location and conjures two bone lances and throws it at the arms of one level fifteen Lesser Minotaur.

The Greater Minotaur which displays a level of twenty five stomps one foot at the ground, then launches itself to Keen's direction.

At that moment, Vi appears from behind him and surprises the enemy monster. Her dagger successfully lands a hit on the wrist of its axe-wielding arm while Keen shields the two of them from the blade of the double axe using his in a lance form.

Vi grabs his shoulders as leverage to launch herself and puncture the minotaur's other hand about to claw them using her bone lance.

"Be careful not to cut me with your poisoned dagger." Keen gives a thumbs up gesture with his other hand.

Vi kicks the Greater Minotaur's torso, making it fall beside the dungeon entrance like a cannonball. "I wonder if you'll die to poison."

The Greater Minotaur roars in desperation as Vi's dagger destroys its body like an accelerated plague.

She smirks, but is taken by surprise by one of the Lesser Minotaurs suddenly behind her in mid-air.

Keen appears between them and blocks the monster's sledgehammer with one arm while the other pushes her aside. The impact of the enemy's swing pummels him to the ground.

The white-skinned Lesser Minotaur then follows up on its attack and instantly conjures the three other minotaurs that were just standing still on the second level beside the one he skewered with his bone lance. They all have sledgehammers that alternately hits his body so he cannot find the opportunity to dodge. The rampage puts large dusts and ground debris into the air.

Vi can only watch as the four minotaurs swing their weapons into the ground where Keen plummeted. Her eyes are unblinking and hands trembling uncontrollably.

After almost ten seconds of unending attacks, the four brutal monsters stop their attacks to check the softened meat of their prey. One of them even stretches its mouth into a condescending smile.

She hesitates to charge into the frey, afraid to end up in a similar brutal death. The portal entrance is just a few meters beside her. But she has a fire of hope expecting Keen to be alive. She decides not to flee.

"He's too strong to be defeated just like that." She forces a smile and slaps her face with one hand to get rid of the anxiety and trembling.

As if hearing her thoughts, Keen coughs. "So you can teleport to the location of your comrades? Fancy."

The minotaurs frown while preparing for another furious alternation of swings. However, a bone lance darts from Keens hand and into the throat of the first Lesser Minotaur about to swing its weapon. Its speed is far greater than the monster's reaction time.

The three others jump back and teleport to the one left on the second level. However, Keen has also arrived at the same location with his skill in lance form on both hands.

With a quick motion of his hands, all four minotaurs are struck on their heads. Expecting the monsters to disintegrate into pixels, Keen retracts his blood back inside him.

However, something outside his preparation happens.

The Lesser Minotaur he supposedly skewered in the throat is running towards Vi! It swings the sledgehammer with both hands. She is able to leap backward, but another minotaur appears behind her and forces her to only barely be able to dodge again. When the third and fourth minotaurs teleport at her sides with their ready-to-swing blunt weapons, she prepares her bone lance and dagger for defending rather than dodging.

If she dodges again, another minotaur would just teleport at her blind spot and wait for her vulnerable moment. "Damn!"

Just as the fifth Lesser Minotaur appears at her back with arms stretched out and about to grapple her, Keen jumps and activates his once again, this time more ferociously.

Vi was not able to see him do it at the Northern Forest. This time, however, as she witnesses the thin strings of blood penetrating the minotaurs' skins with ease and in perfect synchronicity, she realizes the murderous intent of the red-clad vampire with glowing red eyes descending eerily slow over her.

◎◎◎

Eron steps outside from one of the brightly illuminated passageways starting to dim. His torso is splattered with blood and one hand carries an Elder Minotaur's dying body. Using the bottom side of his hexagonal shield, he smashes the head of his prey. His eyes are filled with enthusiasm and lunacy.

"Boss, we should start searching the other levels." Shina walks out behind him. The platinum armor of her knight familiars transform back to iron. One of them is carrying a familiar red scythe.

The monk appears next from within the passageway. "What are your plans for the other traitor?"

"Let's just finish her off. She's becomes useless, anyway," Justine juggles three spherical explosives between his hands.

Edward, who is sensitive to his wide range of detection, immediately uses his skill to look at the bottom level of the dungeon near the portal entry and alerts the other members of the guild. "We've got serious trouble. They got our item."

The snake charmer casts his skill in an effort to remotely bind the two Transfers at the bottom of the dungeon. "Make your shot."

Edward turns around and shoots his crossbow at the muscular chest of their leader. "," he whispers.

Eron coughs blood. The ranger's weapon has penetrated his chest and pierced his heart. Rather than panicking or being surprised, he looks at the red-clad man holding a golden ring with three rubies of different sizes attached to it. "," he smiles victoriously.