Floor Ninety-Seven felt different.
Not because the monsters were stronger.
We had expected that.
It was because every step forward demanded everything we had. The creatures roaming these upper floors no longer attacked recklessly. They hunted with terrifying coordination, forcing our formation to constantly adjust as wave after wave crashed against us.
Oreo remained at the very front, his enormous body shielding nearly half the expedition.
His claws dug trenches across the stone as he pushed back a hulking beast twice his size before unleashing another Divine Breath. Golden light swept across the battlefield, reducing monsters to ash while simultaneously closing the wounds of every ally caught within its radiance.
Even so...
He was breathing harder.
"I've got the front! Don't let them flank us!" Oreo shouted, slamming both forelegs into the ground as another group of monsters lunged toward the formation.
"I won't," I answered.
