Encirclement

At the bottom of the stairs between the Fourth and Fifth Floors.

The campfire burned quietly, its flickering glow illuminating the cross-sections of the circular stone steps around them.

Inigo and his Leopard-man teammate, Milo, rested against the wall.

What had originally been planned as a half-day journey to the Fifth Floor had ultimately taken a full day and a half.

The reason was simple—they had gotten lost.

They had assumed they could easily make their way down using memories from two years ago, so they had not bought a guide map.

Who would have thought that once they actually entered the Dungeon, they would discover that their memories were not as clear as they had seemed?

After wandering around in circles for half a day, they were quite exhausted by now.

They could only rest for the moment.

They had not chosen to take turns keeping watch, instead resting at the same time with considerable confidence.

For one, they were inside the stairwell, a safe area that Monsters could not enter.

For another, the Orcs' innate sharp senses and vigilance would allow them to awaken immediately if Adventurers approached.

Just like now: two extremely faint pu-pu sounds made Inigo's ears prick up even though he had already fallen asleep.

He did not move immediately. Instead, he slightly opened his tiger eyes and glanced toward the source of the sound.

A Mutant Puji stood at the entrance—somewhere Monsters could never possibly reach.

Apparently not expecting to encounter them, the Puji stood motionless at the entrance.

Only after quite some time did it quietly start backing away, stretching its pair of tiny short legs as far as it could with every step. It moved slowly, and this time, it did not even make a pu-pu sound.

Just as the Puji was about to retreat back to the Fifth Floor, Inigo had only just risen when the Leopard-man moved first.

Like a black bolt of lightning, Milo returned to the campfire in the blink of an eye, carrying half a Puji in each hand.

After tossing the two halves of the Puji onto the ground, Milo showed no pride at all. Instead, he frowned.

"No wonder the Guild issued this personally. This mission probably won't be simple..."

Inigo nodded in agreement and looked at the Puji's severed cross-section on the ground as he said,

"It ignored the Dungeon's rules, displayed obvious high intelligence, and judging by its structure, it has clearly undergone extensive mutation."

"Then should we go back and prepare more thoroughly before coming again?"

What Milo really meant was that they should recruit one or two more Gold Rank Adventurers to join them.

Ever since the party's healer and support had died in the mist of the Archipelago, only the two damage dealers remained.

It was a decidedly unhealthy party composition.

They had only just returned to Mute Wind Town in disgrace and had not even had time to gather any information before seeing this mission.

They had thought that an A-rank mission posted on a relatively easy floor like the Fifth Floor must be a bargain.

Even without support, two Gold Rank Adventurers should have been able to handle it easily.

But now, something as unreasonable as Monsters entering a safe zone had happened.

Milo felt that this mission was probably going to be very troublesome.

He was starting to lose his nerve.

Inigo stared at the campfire in thought for a while before finally crushing the Puji on the ground into mush beneath his foot.

"We've already come this far. Let's keep going. These Walking Mushrooms are only a little strange; they aren't much of a threat."

If they went back now, those people who knew him would probably laugh themselves to death. Still, just in case, he added,

"If we really find ourselves in danger, it won't be too late to retreat. If the two of us can't beat them, can't we at least run?"

Inigo's confidence was not unfounded. As feline Orcs, both he and Milo possessed speed-related skills.

Even if there was danger, it would be far too strange if they could not escape even by running at full speed.

This was only the Fifth Floor, after all.

Milo saw no problem with that and nodded in agreement.

They had rested enough by now, so the two extinguished the fire and entered the Fifth Floor.

"Come to think of it, was the Fifth Floor always this dark?"

As far as the eye could see, only a few Mushrooms glowed faintly. Not a single stalk of Firefly Grass was in sight.

"I don't think so..."

Fortunately, both of them had night vision, so the darkness did not affect them much.

According to the mission requirements, they needed to investigate the entire floor, with special emphasis placed on the Swamp Zone.

Inigo decided to start with the other three areas. That way, they could first get a rough sense of the mission's difficulty before deciding whether to enter the swamp.

However, after carrying out the mission for half a day, both men's expressions grew strange.

They had already visited the Cave and Poison Mist Swamp, yet they had not seen a single Puji.

If they had not spotted a Slime along the way, Inigo would have suspected that this floor had been cleared out...

What were these two Orcs doing?

Not only had they caught the Puji that had secretly slipped up to the Fourth Floor red-handed, but now they were wandering back and forth here like they were shopping.

As usual, Linden had moved all the Pujis away in advance to keep them from encountering these high-ranking Adventurers.

But judging by this, could they be coming for him?

Under Linden's watch, after leaving the Cave, the two had not headed for the forest as he had expected. Instead, they had come straight for the swamp.

Tch, troublesome.

He had no choice but to stop them now. The Swamp Zone was his bottom line.

A Mushroom Cannon struck the ground in front of the two Orcs, splashing filthy water all over them.

Inigo looked at the ten Pujis that had appeared before them. After that single attack, there was no further movement.

Did that mean... a warning?

Were these Mushrooms a little too intelligent?

Inigo looked at Milo and found that his companion was looking back at him, waiting for him to make a decision.

These Walking Mushrooms' attacks were indeed powerful. Even they would be injured if they were hit.

But if they could not hit them, then it meant nothing.

Just ten Walking Mushrooms...

Inigo gave his companion a look, and the Leopard-man understood.

The next second, both activated their acceleration skills at the same time and charged in from the left and right.

The Pujis reacted swiftly and launched their attacks the moment the two began moving.

But the two Orcs lowered their bodies and nimbly dodged several Mushroom Cannon shots.

Before long, Inigo and Milo had rushed into the Puji formation.

Milo worshipped raw strength, and with his pair of leopard claws, he tore apart several Pujis in succession.

Inigo, meanwhile, drew a blood-red longsword from his back, even directly cleaving apart the clumps of magic power fired by the Mushroom Cannons.

The ten Pujis were soon completely slaughtered.

Out of habit, Milo wanted to lick his claws, but he suddenly remembered that he had killed Pujis. There was no blood on his claws, only filthy water, so he quickly pulled his tongue back.

"As expected of an A-rank mission. These Walking Mushrooms are actually organized and know how to cooperate."

"They're still just a bunch of Mushrooms."

Inigo sheathed his blade and prepared to continue deeper into the swamp, but after taking one step, he stopped again.

"Milo, don't you think the surroundings seem to be getting brighter?"

"Now that you mention it, they do..."

The two looked around. At the edge of their vision, faint glimmers connected into a single expanse, growing brighter and closer...

Inigo and Milo's expressions had completely darkened.

They were Pujis. Countless Pujis glowing with Fluorescence had surrounded them.

Milo swallowed with difficulty. "Th-this... how many are there?"

"Three hundred? Five hundred? Or even more?" Inigo took a deep breath and drew his blood-red longsword again. "I can't count them, but get ready to break through..."