Slaughter and Escape

The sharp sword light effortlessly cleaved Goliath's arms in two. A deluge of blood rained from the air, and accompanied by Goliath's shrill screams, the two massive limbs crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"ROAR!"

The pain of losing its arms and having its soul severed once more drove Goliath into a frenzy. It commanded all the monsters to launch an assault on Lu Qiming while simultaneously raising its foot to stomp down upon him.

"BOOM!"

With a thunderous explosion, Lu Qiming vanished from his original spot, his body leaping high into the air to appear before Goliath's massive head.

"Become one with me!"

Lu Qiming aimed Divine Judgment at Goliath and swung his blade downward. The colossal sword light sliced Goliath in two before hurtling toward the endless swarm of monsters behind it. At the entrance, the spectating adventurers scrambled to escape as the massive beam of light cleaved the seventeenth-floor passage itself, leaving a gargantuan sword mark carved into the wall.

"Thud."

Lu Qiming landed lightly on the ground. Before him lay a deep fissure, the edges littered with flesh, magic stones, and drops left behind by the slain monsters.

At the very front of the chasm, a massive figure lay collapsed, its bisected corpse spilling blood and viscera across the floor. The stench of gore and ruptured organs filled Lu Qiming's nostrils.

"Ahahahahaha, hehehe, hahaha. We have become one."

Lu Qiming felt his attributes surge once more due to his level-up, growing even stronger under the effects of Musou. A manic, bloodthirsty grin spread across his face, and Divine Judgment hummed in resonance.

"Yo, little darlings. Where do you think you're going?"

Lu Qiming tilted his head slightly, watching the swarm of monsters that had begun to scatter in a panicked rout now that Goliath's berserk state had ended. Howls echoed incessantly from the horde, and the monsters closest to Lu Qiming collapsed to the ground under his terrifying killing intent and pressure, seemingly having abandoned all resistance.

As Lu Qiming gazed at the swarm, some monsters, driven by his suffocating pressure, raised their weapons to smash the creatures blocking their path into pulp, forcing their way toward the passage.

On the other side, the numerous adventurers at the seventeenth-floor exit discovered that the monster swarm had gone mad, charging at them in a relentless, tidal wave. The monsters surged forward, frantically tearing through their front-line defenses in a desperate bid to escape.

"What the hell is happening!?"

An adventurer holding a shield stared in despair at the oncoming tide. His shield had already been shattered by the monsters' gnashing teeth, and in the final moment, a Hell Demon Wolf clamped its jaws around his throat.

Even in death, he could not understand why the monsters that had been besieging Lu Qiming had suddenly rioted and turned their frenzy upon them.

"AH!"

"Help me!"

"I don't want to die!"

Screams erupted from the adventurers one after another. Individual parties had their defenses breached, their members torn to shreds by the endless swarm.

In just a few minutes, party after party was overrun. Hundreds of adventurers perished in the chaos, and as they fell, the tidal wave of monsters drew ever closer to the passage.

Any adventurer who stood in their way was mercilessly torn apart and devoured.

At this moment, in one of the corridors, the party containing Aili and Ailin was being assaulted by dozens of Abyss Giant Bears and hundreds of Hell Demon Wolves. Had the terrain not been so narrow, allowing only a few dozen monsters to charge at a time, they would have been shredded long ago.

Yet, even with the bottleneck, they were reaching their limit. The tide of monsters pressed against them relentlessly. Their captain, holding the front line, was drenched in blood, his flesh carved with horrific wounds from the monsters' claws and fangs.

The others were in no better shape, each bearing various degrees of injury.

Seeing the situation turn dire, some adventurers at the rear of the passage began to turn and flee. Seeing this, others abandoned their defensive positions, forsaking the teammates holding the front line to make their escape.

"Mili!"

The captain at the front roared.

"Captain?"

The elven mage beside Aili heard the shout and quickly looked toward him.

"Take everyone and go! While I can still hold them back!"

The captain did not look back, leaving the group with nothing but his blood-soaked, broad, and sturdy back.

"Yes!"

Mili, the elven mage, knew this was no time for hesitation. She pulled Aili and Ailin, who were struggling to fend off an Abyss Demon Bear, toward her, cast one last lingering look at her captain, and signaled the remaining teammates to retreat.

"Sister Mili! No, I don't want to!"

"Captain! The captain hasn't left yet, we won't leave either!"

Large tears rolled down the faces of the two little girls, Aili and Ailin, as they struggled, wanting to return to fight alongside their captain.

Mili looked at the two weeping children, her eyes reddening. She fought back her own tears and dragged them away. She wanted to fight alongside the captain too, but if she didn't leave now, she would betray his final wish. She had already decided that once she delivered the two little ones to safety, she would return.

Even if it meant death, she would die alongside her captain!

"Move!"

Mili beckoned to the other teammates, intending to flee.

"Mili, just take Aili and Ailin and go. We aren't leaving."

A werewolf youth smiled at them, and the other teammates beside him looked on with the same expression. They had entrusted the hope of survival to the three girls of their familia.

"You guys..."

Mili looked at her teammates in sorrow. She understood their decision. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she pulled Aili and Ailin and ran toward the passage.

The werewolf youth watched their retreating backs, smiled faintly, raised his gauntlets—caked in gore and blood—and walked to his captain's side.

"Elio, why didn't you leave?"

The captain looked with great difficulty at the few who had remained, his eyes filled with fury.

"If we leave and you die, Captain, wouldn't you be all alone? Besides, even if we did leave, these monsters would catch up to us in no time. What difference does it make whether we go or stay?"

Elio, the young werewolf, smiled and raised his fist, smashing it down hard against the Hell Demon Wolf charging toward him. Beside him, the other teammates also began to engage the monsters in battle.

"Good! Then let us fight together one last time!"

Watching the people around him, the captain laughed recklessly. He tossed aside his damaged shield and gripped his greatsword with both hands.

Meanwhile, Aili and Ailin, who had already been pulled into the passageway by Mili, watched from a short distance away as the captain and the seniors who usually looked after them were submerged by the monsters, and they screamed in despair.

"Berserker, please save us!"

Thanks to Rem is my wife and Goddess for the 100-coin tip, thanks to Dr. Mobius for the 1 monthly ticket, and thanks to Holy Light for the 1 monthly ticket.

Thanks to Douluo for the 2,000-coin tip, thanks to Qiyuan for the 500-coin tip, and thanks to Turbulent Floating Life for the 500-coin tip.

I have been quite busy these past few days and didn't have time to thank everyone for their support after finishing the updates. I apologize for that. Additionally, thank you to those who followed me from my old book to support my new one!