Chapter 11: The True Adventure

Babel Tower Square.

A large group of adventurers, covered in blood and wearing broken armor, rushed out in fear from the entrance.

"Dammit, stop pushing me!"

"Why is this happening? I've been fighting all day and haven't gotten anything good, damn it!"

"The Adventurers' Guild, what's going on here? Why is this happening? Give us an explanation!"

"Damn it, if it weren't for the high-class adventurers passing by, I would have died in there!"

Soon, the crowd surged, and people kept shouting and complaining.

The Adventurers' Guild was almost overwhelmed by the crowd.

"What? How is that possible? Did all the upper floors erupt in strange behavior? The monsters on every floor are respawning much faster, and even monsters that shouldn't be there are showing up!"

The head of the Adventurers' Guild wiped the cold sweat off his face with a white towel, looking at the angry adventurers pushing into the guild office. 

He couldn't believe what was happening.

In the thousands of years of the dungeon's existence, there had never been an 'abnormal event' in the upper levels of the dungeon.

Even the probability of a monster feast was incredibly low, with the occasional monster from the low-levels crawling up to the upper floors. 

It was impossible for every floor to experience such abnormalities.

The head of the guild, hands clasped behind his back, paced anxiously back and forth, unable to make a decision. 

After a moment, he shouted, "No matter what's happening, quickly issue a mission. Adventurers above level 2 should try to rescue the level 1 adventurers trapped on the upper floors, and then we will investigate the truth."

There are two types of mission issued by adventurers: the first type is a request, which can be declined, and the second type is a mandatory mission which must be accepted.

"An unexpected incident, how could this happen? If there's something wrong, does that mean the new adventurers who just entered the dungeon..." 

Eina's face turned pale, and she remembered the young boy who didn't understand common sense. 

He had been clumsy, funny, and even a little innocent in front of her. She felt worried and sad inside.

"Eina." 

The pink-haired guild wroker girl sighed, "Go and inform his goddess, Hestia."

...

At that moment, deep in the dungeon's fourth floor, a figure covered in blood was fighting.

The white light flashed through the cave filled with monsters, and any monster touched by the light turned to ashes and disappeared.

However, it seemed like the monsters kept coming, relentlessly charging at the figure swinging a sword.

'Goblins, Kobolds, Werewolves... These are nothing, I can defeat them with a single swing of my sword. As long as I swing fast enough, they will be killed before they even reach me.'

Kiyo continued swinging his sword with both hands, showing no technique.

No matter where he struck the monsters, the sword easily cut through them.

These two swords had been temporarily strengthened into tungsten steel. As long as he had enough strength, the tungsten steel swords could easily cut through even thick iron columns.

Among the monsters on the upper floors, the hardest were the Killer Ants originally found on the seventh floor.

These were the most difficult for lower-class adventurers to handle because their entire bodies were covered in an exoskeleton as tough as armor.

But for Kiyo, these were the easiest to deal with. The Killer Ants moved the slowest, and one swing of his sword could kill them.

He felt himself on the brink of exhaustion, with his clothes torn to shreds, his skin covered in cuts and bloodstains, and his arms so sore that he could barely lift them anymore. 

Since the beginning, Kiyo has only drunk a little water and has run out of stamina long since.

'Damn it, they won't even let me catch my breath. If this continues, the moment I can't swing my sword anymore, I'll die.'

'I'm almost to the third floor.'

Thinking about this, Kiyo gritted his teeth and kept raising his hand to swing his sword while quickly running towards the upper level of the dungeon.

He could easily kill the monsters from 1 to the 6th floor, but the hardest ones to deal with were the monsters above the 6th floor.

In the dungeon, monsters capable of standing upright were much harder to deal with than others. 

Not only did they have the use of both hands, but they also possessed sharp fangs and claws capable of easily tearing through flesh.

"Howl—"

Werewolves, now fully emerging from the wall, let out a roar, producing a terrifying "woooo" sound.

 Its red eyes fixed on the only prey.

Kiyo was already prepared for the attack, his whole body tense, ensuring no blind spots in his vision.

However, a gray blur appeared in the blink of an eye, and Werewolves were right in front of him.

Its sharp claws tore through the air.

"That's fast!"

Kiyo's combat instincts kicked in, and he instinctively crossed his swords in front of him. 

A tremendous force slammed into the swords, then pushed directly against his chest. 

Before his mind could catch up, his vision spun wildly, and a sharp pain erupted in his back as he was thrown against the wall.

"Ugh! Ahh..." 

Kiyo quickly regained his focus.

He had been thrown back, and a burning sensation spread from the corner of his mouth, and his chest burned with pain. 

Looking down, Kiyo saw that the light armor on his chest had shattered, and blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Before he could fully recover, Killer Ants began swarming toward him, screeching loudly.

Buzz! 

Suddenly, a vision flashed through his mind, being torn to pieces by the killer ants' massive jaws in just a second.

"AAHHH—"

Even though his body had been drained of stamina, a sudden surge of strength burst through him. 

Instantly, hKiyo e sprang to his feet and cut through the surrounding Killer Ants with a powerful swing.

They were instantly split in half with a loud thud and turned to ash.

"My strength has increased, and the sword is sharper… The Indomitable skill has been activated. Heh, come on, monsters!"

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and grinned, his eyes gleaming with fierce determination. He felt his body regain its strength. 

'And that vision just now—was it the Development Ability Precognition?'

The development abilities were skills that only advanced adventurers at level 2 or higher could possess.

'I have to fight my way out of here.'

He didn't even realize that being forced into such a desperate situation could make him rational and calm.

The human potential was truly something even humans themselves couldn't fully understand.

"Roarrr!"

It howled in pain, baring its sharp teeth.

One of its claws had completely vanished after striking Kiyo's sword, and it once again charged madly at him, breaking its claw.

Just like before, it rushed to him in an instant. Its sharp teeth and razor-sharp claws, driven by instinct, aimed to tear him apart.

However...

Thud! 

A sharp sword pierced through its back, covered in gray fur. Then, a large amount of blood spurted out before its body crumbled into ash with a poof.

"Huff… huff… Even if I'm not as fast as you… I can see one second into the future."

The three claw marks appeared on his shoulder, flesh was torn open, blood was pouring out, and his body was drenched in blood, dripping onto the ground. 

It was hard to tell how much of it was from the monsters and how much was his own. 

Kiyo's hands trembled as they gripped the sword's hilt. He bared his bloodstained teeth, and his eyes locked onto another wolf crawling out of the stone wall.

"This is the third floor… Just two more, and I'll be out of here… Come on, monsters, come at me. I won't die until my dreams are fulfilled!"