"HERE THEY COME!"
Suddenly, a shout rang out, and the warning was immediately followed by the staccato barks of gunfire.
The fog shifted as another wave of dino lizards burst out of the fog again, hissing and roaring and attempting to tear the humans apart.
However, this time, the soldiers were ready and not distracted.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
They opened fire at the charging lizards with accurate fire and the muzzle flashes lighting up the dark room as bullets tore into the oncoming creatures as they entered their lanes of fire, sending them toppling down and forcing the rest of the lizards to hop over or swerve to the sides to avoid their fallen herd in a desperate bid to reach the humans.
The defensive line to the fog was roughly 30 meters away and with the speed of the charging lizards, they could close the short distance in less than 5 seconds.
The claymores deployed earlier were rigged to a trip-wired by the army, detonated as the leading dino lizards tripped the wires.
Meanwhile, the shotgun blast-like explosions swatted the charging lizards away like a giant hand, turning the charging creatures into bloody masses of torn flesh and shattered bone.
The soldiers cheered and laughed at the gorely screen, and redoubled their efforts at shooting at remaining stunned lizards.
But just as the soldiers cheered on, a sudden roar blocked out their cheers.
"ROAAAAARRRRRRR!!!"
A roar, deeper, louder, and more menacing than anything they had ever heard, echoed through the chamber, drowning out their cheers and sending a chill of primal fear down their spines.
The sound was so powerful and overwhelming that it froze every soldier in place, even their bodies unable to respond to the commands of their minds. It was as if an invisible force had clamped down on them, holding them in place with an unimaginable weight.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!
Then, without warning, a deep blue surge of energy erupted from the fog. The wave of destructive force barreled toward the soldiers with terrifying speed, ripping apart everything in its path. The ground shook violently, and the ceiling groaned under the stress, as if the very dungeon itself was on the verge of collapse.
Surely, the end had come.
FWOOSH!
But then, with a sudden burst of speed, the two Earth Golems rushed to the forefront, positioning themselves between the soldiers and the oncoming blast with their massive bodies as the last line of defense against the overwhelming power of the blue energy.
BOOOOOOOM!
The surge collided with the Golems in a thunderous explosion and the impact was so intense that the entire chamber seemed to convulse. The Golems stood firm for a brief moment as their massive bodies absorbed the full brunt of the attack.
But it was not enough.
In an instant, the Earth Golems disintegrated as their once-imposing bodies were reduced to nothing more than dust and debris, scattered to the winds by the sheer force of the blast.
The energy wave continued on its path of destruction, though its intensity had waned slightly as it crashed into the ground and the ceiling, causing more sections of the dungeon to crumble and collapse.
The soldiers stood in stunned silence, their minds struggling to comprehend what had just happened as they stood there trembling in awe and fear.
The ground where the Golems had stood was charred and cracked, and the ceiling above sagged dangerously, as large chunks of stone and earth had been torn loose by the blast.
Whatever had caused this level of destruction was no mere creature.
DUM!
DUM!
DUM!
Tremors shook the earth as something colossal began to appear from within the depths of the mist.
Its silhouette was majestic, standing at nearly twenty-five meters tall. Five green eyes blazed from the creature's head, and almost as soon as it made itself known, the dense fog that once shrouded the chamber began to dissipate.
In its place, a fierce storm of winds swept through the air and replaced any hindrance to the sight.
As a result, the creature's true form was bare for all to witness.
"No... it can't be...!"
"What the hell... is that?"
"This... this is the Boss?!"
"Oh, fuck," a soldier muttered as he stared up at the monstrous behemoth appearing out of the fog.
In a panic, he unloaded his shotgun at the creature, but-
Whoosh~! Spurt!
Before anyone could react, the soldier was crushed to death when an enormous tail whipped the pillar he hid behind, killing him and a few dozen others of his section mates, almost wiping out nearly half a platoon in an instant.
Eurylochus cursed under his breath, "You've got to be fucking kidding me. A motherfucking T-Rex? Seriously? Intel said this was supposed to be a C-class Dungeon, NOT a fucking A or S-class!"
The behemoth that emerged from the fog looked similar to a Terran extinct dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
If only it bore resemblance to such a creature and nothing else, then perhaps it wouldn't have been such a frightening thing to see.
Unfortunately, this creature was far more terrifying than they had imagined.
It had massive crystal-like substances, akin to heavy spikes, protruding out of its scaly body, which gleamed with silverish scales marred by vein-like cracks that decorated across its humongous body like a tattoo. Its neck was longer than that of a T-Rex, and its forelimbs were thick and powerful, far surpassing the ancient beast it resembled.
It seemed to be bursting with so much power, to the point where the very ground it trod seemed to warp under its immense power, growing smaller versions of the crystalline stones embedded in its flesh and trembling the very earth in its presence.
"A-are those... Mana Crystals?!"
"They're growing all over its body!"
"Even on the ground! T-that means...!"
No one needed to say the obvious, but perhaps they all began to blurt out words like these because they didn't want it to be true.
They wanted someone to correct them.
But no one did.
All their observations this far were spot on, and every fear justified.
This beast was one unlike anything they'd ever faced, but it was a Monster.
Only Monsters would have so much power, yet lack the intelligence to control their Mana to prevent it from leaking out uncontrollably so much from every pore.
None could have expected to find such an existence here, but there it was, towering before them.
"Huuu…" Smoke leaked from the creature's mouth as its long neck coiled backwards.
Its five eyes stared at the little ones who had yet to die from its blast of destruction. Rage and hunger burned in those glowing orbs.
Only one instinct dominated the beast's mind.
"ROAAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!"
A beep broke through the chaos, drawing Eurylochus's attention to the Mana-Monitoring device strapped to his wrist. His heart sank as he read the numbers.
[Magicule Level: 58,000]
"A mid-level Transcendent Tier 1? Shit, this thing is three or four times more powerful than the Ant Queen!" he shouted.
His men, gripped by fear, were already firing their rifles uselessly in a desperate, futile attempt to bring down the behemoth, even without hearing his order.
Keying his communicator, he screamed into it, "Dungeon Ops, come in! This is Apache Two! Are you seeing this shit? Over!"
[Oh yes, what an amazing specimen!] A voice replied, disturbingly enthusiastic.
"Fuck that! It effortlessly killed two of our Support Golems and half our forces in an instant!" Eurylochus snapped. "I need to contact Odysseus! Tell him what the hell is this thing, and how do we take it down?!"
[Hmmm...] came back the reply which made Eurylochus grit his teeth in frustration.
"Goddamn it, Dungeon Ops, people are dying here!" he cursed in his comms.
[Apache Two, this is Dungeon Ops, standby, over.] A new voice cut in, followed by silence.
"Fuck!" Eurylochus cursed, glancing at the behemoth. "We need stronger firepower to take this bastard down!"
As if the gods had heard his plea, reinforcements from Platoon 3 arrived.
One of the soldiers set down a large metallic case and opened it, revealing a large weapon, with a sleek, metallic body reinforced with mithril bands that pulsed with magical energy.
The heavy weapons team, along with Eurylochus's own men, prepared the tubes on their shoulders, while their buddies giving them reassuring slaps on the back.
"Ready!" they shouted entered their ears, as they plugged a rocket with strange glowing runes into the rear of the tubes.
A soldier from Platoon 3 lined up the simple wire crosshairs on the behemoth's massive body, aiming for its center of mass as they had been trained.
"Ready!" his assistant gunner yelled in his ear, slapping his shoulder armor hard.
"ONE ROUND AWAY!!"