Chapter 33: Monster Party; Monsters' havin' a party~

"Everyone clear?"

"Yeah—"

"No problem—"

"Then let's go."

Perhaps—for their strength—this "upper-floor" setup was overkill.

But the dungeon was still the dungeon.

Caution was never wasted.

------------------------------------------

12th floor of the Dungeon.

The intense sounds of battle, the clash of weapons, and the roars of monsters mixed together, stirring one's blood.

Clang, clang, clang—

The broad-bladed machete clashed repeatedly with the weapons forged from the "Natural Armory."

Faced with the over-three-meter-tall large-type "Orc," though Welf had the advantage in weaponry, he was completely overwhelmed in raw strength, relentlessly pressured by the hammer-like heavy blows, forced to retreat step by step.

Elsewhere, Fron was dealing with a swarm of one-horned rabbits. His backup weapon, [Short Sword No. 2], flashed with white light as it sliced through the monsters one by one.

Roar roar roar roar roar roar roar roar roar roar roar—

At that moment, within the invisible mist, a massive black shadow appeared once more.

"Not good! Three large types ahead on the left. Welf, tighten the defensive circle!"

"Grah! I'm going all out with just one. If this keeps up—"

"[Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree.]"

"[You are an expert of the bow.]"

"[Shoot, sniper of the fairies. Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy]"

About ten meters from where Welf was fighting, the elven girl began chanting the spell in a melodious and rhythmic voice—

"[Arched Ray!]"

With a "whoosh," a thick golden beam shot from Lefiya's hands, the brilliant light cutting through space and striking the giant monster in an instant.

Boom—

A thunderous explosion rocked the ears. The over-three-meter-tall Orc couldn't withstand the immense damage from the light and was turned to ash while screaming.

But the magical beam didn't simply disappear after its initial hit. It traced a beautiful arc, instantly killing the three newly arrived monsters before finally dispersing.

"A-Amazing!"

Welf raised his cramping, trembling right hand, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

If it weren't for Lefiya's timely support, he would've been seriously injured by that last blow.

"This is the true romance of magic—chanting!"

"Magic without chanting has no soul—"

Like a child fussy about onions and ginger, Fron found chantless magic rather distasteful—because it lacked a sense of ritual.

Or, perhaps, it just wasn't "chuunibyou" enough.

When using magic, at the very least, you had to shout the name of the technique. That was the only way to make it feel epic!

"Um, Fron first—can you understand it to this extent?"

"Thank you, Lefiya, I understand completely now. The rhythm of the chant and the mobilization of mental focus—it's far more complex than my own enchantments."

"Lady Riveria told me once, this is the nature of magic: ultra-short chants, short chants, long chants, and finally ultra-long chants."

"The longer the chant, the more complex the magic. Accordingly—the greater the power."

Fron certainly agreed with that. In fact, he was a little excited—about the moment he'd get to unleash a wide-range annihilation spell with an ultra-long chant.

"Let's hold off on that talk, Fron. Don't you think something's off? Last time we were on the 12th floor, the monster spawn rate wasn't this high. The monster density, too—if it weren't for Miss Lefiya, we'd be overwhelmed."

Fron continued to collect magic stones from monster corpses as he lowered his gaze, thinking quietly.

"It is strange. I feel like... something else mixed in with the monster group just now? Or was that just my imagination?"

"Lefiya, normally only Orcs, Silverback's, and some small-type Imps appear on the 12th floor, right? At most, maybe a stray Infant dragon."

"Y-Yes, that's usually the case."

"Hey, Fron. What's that?"

"?"

Following Welf's indication, Fron and Lefiya looked ahead.

Within the white mist, countless pairs of red eyes began appearing—those were monster eyes.

"Forty? Or fifty? You've got to be kidding—this is way too many!"

Cold sweat beaded on Fron's forehead, and his expression stiffened slightly.

Not from fear—but from anger.

As for Lefiya, she clutched her staff awkwardly and stammered:

"'Monster Party'—abnormal phenomenon."

"Monster Party," also known as Monster Proliferation, refers to a phenomenon that begins appearing from the 12th floor.

The Dungeon spawns large numbers of the same type of monster to deliver a potential deathblow to adventurers.

Fron picked up the final magic stone, stood up straight, and his expression turned cold.

"So the Dungeon evaluated our party's condition as unfavorable and decided to push us to the brink. Is that it?"

It was Welf's first time witnessing such an anomaly. Clearly, he didn't have the same experience as the two from the Loki Familia.

"You mean—under certain conditions, the Dungeon evaluates the state of adventurers, and if it decides the time is right, it will do this???"

"Yeah, that's why they say the Dungeon is alive. That's exactly what it means. The Dungeon is the Dungeon—got it now?"

"Then what do we do? There's no way we can handle this!"

"With this many, if I get involved, we won't be able to continue exploring. After all, I'm only Lv.1. What we need to do now is protect Lefiya and let her cast a wide-range annihilation spell."

"You're the leader—your call!"

With that, Welf and Fron stepped forward side by side, shielding Lefiya behind them.

Drawing his staff with his left hand and gripping his short sword in reverse grip with his right, a recovery potion clenched between his teeth—Fron gave an order without looking back:

"Lefiya, start chanting. I don't need to tell you what happens if you fail. Best case—we wasted our time. Worst case—well, we'll be lucky to survive."

"U-Understood!!!"

The girl gathered her courage. Her blue eyes shook off the shadows and doubts caused by pressure and anxiety.

"[Meet your end! (Ragnarok)]"

Fwoosh—black flames and crimson lightning wrapped around him. Fron swung his staff and launched a spell:

"[Explosion Flame!]"

Boom—

With the explosion, Fron narrowed his eyes. He tossed his short sword from reverse grip to normal grip—

"[Surtr]!"

In the next second—he stomped his left foot, sending a shockwave through the ground, his body becoming a black flame as he charged into the monsters.

Lefiya gripped her staff tightly, watching that frenzied figure dance wildly through the enemy lines

—

"That's Fron's magic—[Surtr]. An enchantment spell, just like Miss Ais uses. Aahhh—Lefiya, what are you thinking at a time like this?! You should be chanting!!!"

The turmoil in the girl's heart finally settled.

"Welf, tighten your defensive circle around Lefiya. See that big tree? Move behind it—it'll reduce how many monsters can attack!"

"I'll use [Explosion Flame] to draw off any monsters breaking formation. Anyone charging Lefiya, I'll take care of in advance."

"The mission isn't to kill the monsters, just hold them off!"

"U-Understood!"

With the goal shifted from extermination to holding off the enemy, their tactics changed too.

Dodge when possible, draw attention when necessary—far easier than trying to break through and kill them.

Even Welf, using his massive blade, held back more monsters than he should've been able to.

On the other side, Fron, wrapped in black fire and red lightning, didn't engage head-on but employed hit-and-run tactics, kiting the enemies.

Yet the strange discomfort from the mind-body dissonance led him to constantly unleash strength beyond his imagination—an unpleasant feeling.