Abnormal Situation

"Abnormal Situation"

Bang!

With an explosive crash, the dungeon wall was destroyed. Countless chunks of stone scattered as dust and smoke billowed out, spreading through the surroundings.

Lefiya, whom Riezel had knocked to the ground, stared blankly at the scene for a long while, unable to react. All she saw was a huge claw, like a beast's talon, embedded deep in the shattered wall and rock.

Just now, that thing had swept over their heads and destroyed the wall.

"Don't just stand there!"

While Lefiya remained frozen in shock, Riezel grabbed her and dragged her up, rolling to the side.

Bang!

The next instant, another explosive crash rang out.

Another enormous claw resembling a beast's talon flew over and smashed down where Riezel and Lefiya had been moments earlier, shattering the ground.

After dragging Lefiya and rolling some distance away, Riezel pushed himself up and looked in the direction the claw had come from.

The moment he looked, Riezel's pupils contracted. He nearly doubted his own eyes.

Roar!

A demonic, beastly roar surged from ahead, whipping up dust and shaking countless stones loose.

A monster approached Riezel and Lefiya with heavy, thunderous footsteps, each step gouging a pit into the ground.

It had a dragon-like head, an elephant-like body, and a bellow like a bull's. Its limbs were thick and powerful, ending in sharp claws, and its body was covered in thick fur. It somewhat resembled the Behemoths Riezel had seen mentioned in Western mythology in his previous life, though it was nowhere near as terrifyingly tall as the legends described—only four or five meters at most.

Even at just four or five meters tall, this Behemoth-like monster towered far above Riezel and Lefiya. To them, it was undoubtedly a colossal beast, a grotesque creature with an overwhelming sense of oppression.

The creature was panting heavily, drool dripping from the corners of its mouth. A severed limb was skewered on the tips of its sharp claws, making for an incredibly bloody sight.

"W-What kind of monster is that!?"

Seeing the giant beast panting, drooling, and staring this way with a pair of crimson eyes like a starving predator that had gone without food for far too long—so fixated on them that it did not even care about the severed limb in its hand—Lefiya could not help letting out a shriek. Her pretty face had gone deathly pale.

It was not just Lefiya. Even Riezel's expression changed.

First, he did not recognize this Behemoth-like monster either. It was not listed in the guild's catalog of Upper Floors monsters, nor was there any record of it in the familia library.

Second, Riezel felt a suffocating pressure from it, proving that it posed an enormous threat.

There was no question about it. This was a very powerful monster.

"Why would an unknown monster like this appear on the 6th Floor?"

Not only did its appearance match none of the monsters in his memory, it was also a Large Species that should not have begun appearing until the 10th Floor. This was not a monster the 6th Floor could possibly produce.

It was as though sparks had burst in Riezel's mind as he recalled a term mentioned in the books.

"Abnormal Situation..."

This was the term used when something that did not conform to the dungeon's basic rules occurred.

Though the dungeon was a Demonic Lair, it still had certain established patterns and universally recognized principles.

For example, what kinds of monsters appeared on which floors was fixed.

For example, the farther down one went, the stronger the monsters encountered in the dungeon became.

For another example, barring accidents, monsters usually did not cross from their own floor to other places. Even when that happened, it was only between two or three adjacent floors; monsters would not appear across a vast span of floors.

Such rules had already been discovered and confirmed. They had even been recorded in books as knowledge for adventurers everywhere to study.

However, the dungeon was alive, not dead.

It could spawn monsters.

It could automatically repair damaged terrain.

When adventurers fell into trouble, it could even suddenly spawn numerous monsters as though deliberately kicking them while they were down, forming monster hordes to attack them.

From time to time, it would also create exceptions—special circumstances—as though taking revenge on the lives that had invaded its territory.

These occasional occurrences that broke through established knowledge and the dungeon's known rules were called Abnormal Situations.

And now, Riezel had encountered one.

He had encountered an Abnormal Situation that was rarely seen under normal circumstances.

Roar!

The monster roared and bellowed, shaking the severed limb from its claws. Three sharp talons, raised like a mole's claws, pointed this way at Riezel and Lefiya.

The instant he saw that, Riezel reacted.

After all, that monster's claws could fly.

Whoosh!

Right before Riezel's eyes, the monster's claw suddenly shot out.

Its speed was like lightning.

Bang!

The sharp, massive claws struck the dungeon for the third time, exploding across the ground with a muffled blast, kicking up dust and sending shattered rocks flying everywhere.

This overwhelmingly powerful attack was not only astonishingly fast, but terrifyingly destructive as well. Even a glancing hit would likely leave an ordinary Lower Class Adventurer severely wounded.

Riezel barely evaded it in the nick of time. Holding Lefiya in his arms, he was blown away by the blast and crashed directly into a nearby rock, cracking it apart.

"R-Riezel!"

Only then did Lefiya come to her senses. Seeing Riezel shielding her, she cried out in alarm.

Unfortunately, Riezel had no time to answer her.

Enraged that Riezel had dodged and that it had failed to seize its prey, the savage monster roared as it charged at them.

It launched a thunderous charge, smashing through the rocks and obstacles in its path, carrying a rolling cloud of dust as it pounced toward Riezel and Lefiya.

This relentless assault, allowing them not even a moment to catch their breath, was undoubtedly deadly.

Fortunately, Riezel was mentally prepared this time.

Still holding Lefiya, he spun and kicked the chunks of rock he had just shattered, turning them into cannonballs that slammed into the monster's head.

"Roar!"

The monster took the rock cannonballs squarely to the head. It let out an enraged howl and, wracked by pain, was forced to halt its ferocious charge.

"Lefiya!" Seizing the sliver of breathing room that had finally appeared, Riezel called out to her. "Look for a chance to use magic!"

With those words, Riezel shoved Lefiya away, drew the rapier at his waist, and stomped his foot. His entire body shot toward the monster like a bullet.

"Roar!"

At the sight, the monster's rage intensified. It raised its foreclaw and swept it at Riezel.

Riezel could not dodge that sweep.

Because of the terrain restrictions on the 6th Floor, he and the monster were currently in a fairly narrow passage, with the monster blocking the way ahead.

Relying on its massive size, the monster's attack could reach nearly the entire width of the passage. Charging straight at it like this, Riezel had no way of avoiding an attack range that covered the whole entrance to the corridor.

Unless Riezel chose to retreat, he would have to take this blow head-on.

Yet, faced with that nearly unavoidable sweep, Riezel still did not choose to back away.

"Awaken, Tempest."

Riezel chanted a spell.

In an instant, a surging current of air whirled around him, wrapping itself around Riezel's body.

Wind enveloped Riezel from head to toe. He truly became a gust of wind, whistling as he charged toward the monster's claws.

"Miss Ais's magic!?"

Lefiya, who had been shoved aside and sent sprawling to the ground, widened her beautiful eyes at the sight.

Although Riezel had already told her that he had learned Ais's magic, seeing it with her own eyes still shocked Lefiya greatly.

What shocked her even more was that, after casting the magic, Riezel suddenly became unstoppable, just like the Ais she remembered.

Clang!

A deafening clash of metal erupted, unleashing a blast of force like a shockwave.

Riezel gripped his rapier and wrapped wind around its blade, bringing it down heavily against the monster's sweeping claw. The two collided violently.

The powerful wind enchantment greatly enhanced Riezel's strength and empowered his weapon as well, allowing his full-force slash to knock aside the monster's claw and bring him right before it.

"Roar!"

The monster's rage erupted. Roaring, it raised its other arm and slammed it fiercely into the ground before it.

Riezel had just closed in there and slashed his sword across the monster's chest.

Squelch!

The sound of flesh tearing rang out, just as expected.

However, even Riezel's wind-enhanced strike failed to fully cut through the monster's flesh. It only split its fur and left behind a shallow wound.

Compared to the monster's enormous body, that wound was practically insignificant.

In contrast, the monster's swing was incomparably powerful. Accompanied by a sound like a sonic boom, it struck Riezel.

Boom!

The collision was as violent as a freight truck crashing into an oil tanker.

Riezel, whose body was only a little larger than the monster's fist, was struck by that pillar-like blow and sent flying backward.

"Riezel!"

Lefiya let out a mournful cry.

"Roar!"

The monster immediately roared in Lefiya's direction, making her shudder on the spot and retreat in terror.

Though she was a Lv.3 Second Class Adventurer, Lefiya had been completely intimidated by a monster appearing on the 6th Floor. The staff in her hand was utterly useless.

"Find a chance to use magic!"

Riezel's voice from moments ago seemed to still echo by her ears, urging Lefiya to rise up and resist.

Yet Lefiya's mind had gone completely blank, and she could only stand there trembling.

The monster bared a vicious grin, raised its claw, and aimed it at Lefiya's head.

Just then—

"Splurt!"

A silver flash mixed with a violent gale streaked past and slashed into the monster's arm, instantly tearing it open in a spray of flesh and blood.

"Roar!"

The monster's vicious grin twisted into a howl of pain, and its claw dropped involuntarily.

In the blink of an eye, a fierce wind swept up the dust and rushed at the monster as it howled and lowered its arm.

A frigid gleam of steel erupted from within the gale, slashed out by Riezel, whose face was icy while fierce emotion blazed in his eyes.

A life-and-death battle in which no mistakes could be tolerated began here.

A slight adjustment to the update schedule.

First update—11:00.

Second update—19:00.

This will be the update schedule for the remainder of the new book period.

There will be more updates after it goes premium, and the schedule will be announced then.

Hope everyone can support it. (^▽^)