Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

The walls, covered in frost, prevent even monsters from emerging from the depths from being born. Ais and the others proceeded along the icy path and soon arrived at the stairs leading to the lower floors.

"From now on, we need to be careful; there may no longer be a chance to resupply."

Facing the wide, long staircase leading to the 52nd floor, Finn turned to look at the rest of his team.

The leader's unspoken message was that if they wanted to use the item, they should use it now. Hearing this, the adventurers, who had remained unscathed throughout the journey, didn't make a move.

Everyone just tensed their expressions.

Only Tsubaki, the only one not belonging to the Loki Familia, looked at them with suspicion as she observed their tense demeanor.

"Let's go."

Soon after, Finn gave a brief order, and the squad began to advance towards the 52nd floor.

In the lead-black maze, which was no different from the 51st floor, the troops marched at an even faster pace than before.

"Avoid fighting as much as possible! Just knock the monsters away!"

Finn kept giving instructions.

The frequency of monster appearances and the number of encounters remained unchanged, and the team successfully navigated the maze.

"Oh! 'Dropped item'."

As Tsubaki ran, she fought back with her katana and defeated the monster. When she saw valuable weapon materials (dropped items) appear, her eyes lit up and she was about to pick them up, but Raul wouldn't let her do so.

"You can't stop!?"

"Hmm?"

He grabbed Chun's hand, who was trying to leave the group.

The blacksmith was about to pick up the weapon materials (dropped items) that had fallen to the ground when Raul grabbed her wrist, and she expressed her doubts.

"Why? I've never been to such a deep floor before. Is there something wrong?"

"We'll be sniped...!?"

Raul, his face covered in cold sweat, said this.

"Sniping...?"

From the constantly running squad, Tsubaki's gaze swept across the gradually changing scenery of the maze.

Phosphorescent light, several diverging paths, and monsters trying to approach them. She surveyed her surroundings but didn't see any suspicious figures that seemed intent on harming them.

What exactly happened? Just as Chun was about to ask, she suddenly noticed something.

Not only Raul, but all the supporters were chasing after the first-level adventurers like madmen.

Everyone was filled with a sense of crisis, and their faces were pale.

Grace, who was running at the back, urged, "Don't dawdle!"

No one spoke, everyone held their breath, only the rapid footsteps echoing as they advanced, drowning out the monster's roar. An unusual tension hung over the entire squad.

Then, just as Tsubaki began to feel something was wrong—the sound rang out.

It was an ominous roar that seemed to rise from the ground.

"...A dragon...is roaring in the distance?"

The roar of the monster king was biting his ear.

Chun knew what that roar was, but there were no enemies within her perception range.

Finn.

"right--"

Riveria called Finn from behind, and he nodded.

"—We've been caught."

The little people's blue eyes were narrowed to the extreme.

"Run! Run!!"

The adventurers shouted and urged each other to move, increasing their pace even further.

Vanguard recklessly swatted away the monster that appeared in the passage. "Where...!?" Tsubaki looked around. Behind her, she heard Lefia's rapid breathing nearby, and the incessant howling of the monster only fueled the chaos.

No, the roar didn't come from the surroundings—

"From below?"

The next second, Ais, who was standing in front of the center-back, whispered:

"—It's coming."

The Fiora's eyes became as sharp as swords.

"Bert, change direction!!"

Finn immediately gave the order: Bert, who was running ahead, and Tiona, who was a step behind, and the whole squad ran off the main route and into the side road.

The next moment.

“————————————————————”

The ground exploded.

'～ ...

A burst of flames erupted upwards, followed by a shockwave like a crimson lotus.

Bert and the others' backs, Finn and the others' profiles, and Grace and the others' weapons were all stained bright red.

Faced with the intense flames that burned his face and eye patch with scorching colors, Tsubaki's right eye was wide open.

It was like a massive landmine explosion; the floors were engulfed in fiery red flames, and all the monsters the team passed through were swallowed up and evaporated by the sea of ​​fire.

The heatwave instantly reached the top of the sky, breaking through the 51st floor.

The maze was blown to pieces before their eyes, and the fierce blast wave made the supporters stifle their screams.

"Take a detour!! The western route!!"

Finn's excited instructions guided the party, and the adventurers ran off the proper route, sprinting at full speed through the wide, maze-like passages.

Soon, another massive explosion was detonated.

"It doesn't matter if we attract larval (monster) monsters!! Riveria, quickly use protective magic!!"

"—[Echo, convey my wishes (voices), robes of the forest!]!"

"How many enemies!?"

"Six, no, more than seven!?"

The vibrations that made them stumble and the unimaginable heat assaulted the squad.

Several large bombings occurred in succession, hot winds and sparks rushing towards Ais and the others. Finn issued orders in rapid succession. Riveria didn't even want to waste time answering and began to chant, while Tione looked down at the constantly kicking ground and shouted in response.

Soon, the dragon's roar resounded clearly all around, followed by a chain of explosions that shook the entire building... no, the entire surrounding area was shaken.

The bombardment that erupted from the ground blasted a large hole in the 52nd floor, causing the rock mass to collapse downwards with a crash. The adventurers could clearly see a massive, crimson fireball smash through the ground and pierce several layers of the ceiling above them.

"I see...!!"

(illustration)

Chun's smile was severely distorted, revealing an expression of complete understanding.

As for Lefia, who was running with the others, all color had vanished from her face.

(W-Is this for real...!?)

She had already heard about it and was fully prepared.

However, witnessing this phenomenon firsthand still left her deeply shaken.

Under the onslaught of the massive bombardment, the rearguard squad's formation was on the verge of collapse. Lefia stood in that position, her heart pounding wildly deep within her chest. Hearing the dragon's terrifying roar, even first-level adventurers had to focus on escaping for their lives. Coupled with the relentless barrage of raging waves, screams slowly rose in her throat, and she was on the verge of panic—when, Lefia's azure eyes saw that.

"Raul, get out of the way!?"

"what?"

Only Grace, who was running at the very back to protect the squad, noticed it first, just like her.

Faced with the bundles of thick silk advancing from the horizontal passage, Raul heard the scream but couldn't react in time.

Seeing the scene before her, Lefia quickly reached out her hand.

"Mr. Raul!?"

Lefia, who was right behind him, pushed the young man away, backpack and all.

As Raul fell forward, Lefia's arm was entangled by a thick thread that shot from the side.

She was caught and pulled away from the group in one go.

"Lefia!?"

Tiony screamed in agony as the thick silk of the "deformed spider" dragged Lefia into the crevice.

The girl's expression was contorted with anxiety. The giant spider monster lured her up, opened its jaws, and was about to devour her—when she was burned to ashes.

The expanding ground erupted with several bursts of flame, burning the giant spider to ashes.

“————————”

Lefia was caught by the silken thread and suspended in mid-air.

She was assaulted by the scorching heat and fell into the large hole in the floor.

At that moment, the raging spider silk seemed to be dragging her into the abyss of hell. First, she felt a momentary floating sensation, and then she fell in headfirst.

Then, Rafia saw it.

So deep, so deep, too deep.

The released fireball pierced through several floors, forming a long and large vertical cavity.

She plummeted to the bottom of the cave, where several enormous red dragons looked up at her, puffing smoke from between their countless fangs.

Her azure eyes trembled; she was terrified. An endless, overwhelming fear clung to her.

Sure enough, sure enough, sure enough.

The massive explosions that struck the squad were actually artillery fire from a distant floor below.

Lefia and the others were ambushed by a monster from underground, hundreds of meters away.

(real--)

The dragon cannon, signaling the coming of the storm with a ferocious roar.

Aim and fire, a massive fireball that destroyed several thick rock faces.

The adventurers are threatened by attacks from powerful monsters that dwell in the deepest parts of the world.

An act of brutality that disregards the ability to reach a floor.

Unbelievable “floor ignoring”.

"Whoa whoa……"

Lefia was stared at by the dragon's gaze and cowered, unable to move. The words her predecessor had told her still flashed through her mind.

—Common sense above level 50 becomes completely useless from that level onwards.

—Below the 52nd floor of the dungeon lies hell.

Lefia finally understood what Riveria and Raul had said.

If this were on a previous floor, it would be considered a top-level anomaly, an unbelievable situation.

The scale is vastly different.

The scales are vastly different.

It's far less threatening.

Is this the underground city?

impossible!