Death Iron Skeleton

"Well done, Sola!"

John shouted excitedly as he watched the Steel Slime get blasted into the air.

"Everyone, protect Sola! Let him deal with these damn monsters."

"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, no one can hurt Sola."

Without needing much prompting, the adventurers quickly reestablished their defensive line around Sola. With their backs to the walls, the vanguard led by John formed a wall of flesh and blood. Those protected in the rear only had to face the monsters charging from ahead, without worrying about being attacked from both front and back.

The adventurers, who had been somewhat frightened by the Steel Slime's newly displayed power, rallied once more. The warriors, who made up the largest portion of the group, roared as they wildly slaughtered any monsters that came near.

Whenever a Steel Slime approached, the shield-bearing vanguard would take the initiative to charge forward and withstand the impact. They would then exert both arms and toss the Steel Slime that had struck their shields into the air, leaving Sola's Fireball to finish it off.

Through the coordinated cooperation of the adventurers, the Steel Slimes that had originally caused them considerable trouble began to dwindle at a visible rate.

"This must be a newly mutated Slime. It will definitely be worth a lot once we bring it back."

"This Slime's body might make a pretty good Forging material."

With victory in sight, John and the others relaxed considerably. One of the adventurers, who also worked part-time as a blacksmith, picked up the remains of a Steel Slime. His blacksmith's instincts told him that this Slime's body was excellent material.

Perhaps it could even be used to forge magical equipment.

Moreover, as long as they brought this entirely new monster back and reported it to the Adventurers' Guild, they would receive a large reward and point bonus from the guild as its discoverers. Everyone present could advance by at least one adventurer rank.

Then they would be able to accept higher-paying missions.

"As expected of a new Dungeon. As long as you're not afraid of dying, mountains of treasure are waiting for us to claim them."

"Steel Slimes this powerful are already on the first floor. This might be a large Dungeon."

Sean flicked his wrist, beheading the Wolf Beast before him. His eyes remained fixed on a Steel Slime some distance away that was gathering power, and he could not suppress the excitement in his voice.

Dungeons were divided into small, medium, large, and the legendary Eternal Dungeons.

The capital of the High Rock Kingdom had been built atop a large Dungeon. The extraordinary resources, magical materials, and various supplies produced within were enough to sustain more than half the kingdom.

"Come on, brothers! If we seize this opportunity, we might become Legendary Tier adventurers too!"

The adventurers encouraged one another, their hearts growing ever more fervent. Driven by greed and desire, they had long since cast aside the dangers they had encountered earlier.

Buzzz~

Behind the adventurers, no one noticed that a suit of armor covered in fungal threads and seemingly abandoned in a corner suddenly raised its head. Scarlet light ignited within its hollow helmet.

"Ah!"

"A monster! Where did this monster come from?"

"Save me! I don't want to die!"

A completely unprepared archer was cut in half at the waist by the suddenly appearing Death Iron Skeleton. Standing two meters tall, the Death Iron Skeleton was like a starving wolf charging into a sheep pen, wielding a massive sword nearly 1.8 meters long and stirring up a bloody storm as it charged straight toward Sola, the mage at the center.

It was not as though no one tried to resist, but they were easily torn apart by the Death Iron Skeleton's terrifying strength. Even if someone occasionally managed to inflict a little damage, blood-red patterns would emerge across the Death Iron Skeleton's body the next second, devouring the blood on its surface to repair its wounds.

"Damn it, I'm its target." Sola noticed the Death Iron Skeleton charging toward him and immediately ran toward John without hesitation.

But how could a short-legged mage like him possibly outrun the Death Iron Skeleton? Worse still, after the adventurers ahead noticed that the Death Iron Skeleton was targeting Sola, they all moved aside instead of protecting him.

They were not idiots. At a time like this, staying alive came first. That monster was not targeting them anyway.

"Stop it!"

John noticed the situation as well. He shouted for the adventurers around Sola to block the Death Iron Skeleton while violent battle aura erupted from his entire body. He stepped forward, and the terrifying force cracked the ground beneath his feet.

Covering Charge!

Meanwhile, the Death Iron Skeleton, its entire body turning dark red, had already appeared before Sola. Its greatsword tore through the air and slashed directly at him without the slightest hesitation.

"Too late."

John's heart sank as he charged over like a rutting boar, leaving a string of afterimages behind him. It was as if he could already see the greatsword, taller than Sola himself, cleaving him cleanly in two.

Bang!

At the critical moment, just as everyone believed Sola was about to die beneath the Death Iron Skeleton's slash, a Magic Shield suddenly appeared before him. It held for only a few seconds before exploding like glass.

Boom!

"Nice one, Sola."

The next instant, John appeared before Sola, battle aura spilling from his body and a greatshield in hand. He steadily received the Death Iron Skeleton's blow and spoke without looking back. Thanks to the time bought by that Magic Shield, he had managed to arrive in time.

Splat.

But no reply came from behind John. Instead, there was a sound like a watermelon bursting. Brains and blood splashed across John's cheek, and when he turned around, all he saw was Sola's headless corpse lying on the ground.

In a dark corner some distance away, a Death Iron Skeleton holding a longbow drew another arrow and aimed at its next target.

It had been the one that killed Sola with a single strike. Taking advantage of the other Death Iron Skeleton drawing all the adventurers' attention, it had delivered the killing blow after Sola exhausted his Magic Shield.

Bang~ Bang~ Bang~

The Illumination Spell lost its effect, and the once-bright cavern fell into darkness again. The sounds of Steel Slimes bouncing echoed in everyone's ears. A chilly wind swept past, and dense spores shrouded everyone.

"It's over."

The moment Sola died, John knew that this Dungeon expedition could go no further. Without the mage's magic, aside from himself and Sean, the two Formal Professionals, no one else was a match for those Mutant Slimes and the two monsters that had appeared afterward.

In the darkness, John swept his gaze around. Sean, the other Formal Professional and an assassin, had already vanished. Without the slightest hesitation, John threw away his greatshield, grabbed the round shield and spiked warhammer hanging from his back, and ran straight toward the passage they had entered through.

With the strength of a Formal Professional, escaping the Dungeon would not be a problem for him.

Just like when being chased by a tiger, he did not need to run faster than the tiger. He only needed to run faster than his companions.