Dungeon, 12th Floor.
What was unfolding on this level had become so vicious it could practically be called a monster riot.
The dungeon—rumored to possess a will of its own—really did not forgive any species that invaded "its" body.
A fight against three juvenile dragons inside the labyrinth was already a fragile balancing act.
But with the battle deadlocked, Guede was struck by two consecutive "Monster Parties."
Silverback apes—drooling, eyes crimson, glaring like they wanted to tear him apart—numbered over thirty just in what he could see. They strode on legs as tall as a grown man, swinging fists and hurling rocks as they piled into the battlefield where dragons and man were already clashing.
And everywhere—front, back, left, right, above, below—there were armadillos.
They crawled through walls, ceilings, and even the ground itself, hiding like poisonous snakes. The moment they sensed an opening, they struck—either ambushing him directly or spawning sinkholes that twisted the battlefield.
It was obvious: monsters on this floor already possessed a certain degree of intelligence.
That was one of the fangs this "monster crucible" called the Dungeon showed to adventurers.
With these reinforcements joining in, the balance shattered instantly.
Those silverback gorillas—built like small giants—were absurdly nimble for their size. When Guede blocked their punches, the silver fur brushing his skin carved out countless tiny cuts, sending a burning sting through him.
That fur was like a steel brush—tough enough to shred flesh.
He could sense the armadillos with Observation Haki, but even so—he was already fighting two fists against countless hands. Adding more strikes on top of that only poured fuel on the fire.
Now his body was covered in claw wounds. Pain screamed through his nerves.
Blood—like a rebellious child—poured out without the slightest regard for its owner.
His arms were going numb. Sometimes they didn't obey him when he tried to parry.
And the webbing of his hand, already split and bleeding from repeated shock, proved he was nearing the limits of his grip strength.
Guede had to admit it:
This was a crisis.
But it wasn't unwinnable.
At this moment, his four core stats had climbed past 1200.
He gritted his teeth, focus narrowing into something predatory—his gaze turning feral.
He suddenly dropped low and charged straight into the monster swarm, driving the broken sword in his hand into a gorilla's heart to end it—then immediately yanked out one of his remaining backup blades.
In the opening created by shifting positions, he swiftly chugged a healing potion.
Then he whipped the empty bottle backhanded into the eye of the most heavily injured juvenile dragon—glass exploding—its rage flaring even hotter.
And in that instant, Guede struck its throat, worsening its injuries.
With a furious, unwilling roar, the juvenile dragon made its final struggle and slapped Guede away with a claw.
But Observation Haki was active the entire time—Guede had already read the attack—so when the blow landed, he used the flat of his blade to absorb impact as a buffer.
The dragon's last struggle didn't accomplish much.
If anything, in its death throes it ended up taking out several nearby monsters as collateral.
First priority: remove one major threat.
Remaining equipment check:
Backup swords left: 1
Healing potions left: 4
He was in deadly danger, yet his body felt unexpectedly light.
I can do this.
With his status confirmed, Guede surged back into the monster mass, targeting the remaining two juvenile dragons.
And that fierce, fearless fighting spirit—
broke its shell.
—Skill Awakening!
[Brave One's Reward]
Effect: As combat time increases, temporarily boosts ability while ignoring the usual cap.
Every 10 seconds the battle continues, all abilities increase by 1%.
Unless he reaches the physical limit his body can withstand, the growth can continue without end.
The moment the skill awakened, it felt as if a root of power had formed inside him.
Slow—yes.
But undeniably, his strength was increasing as the fight stretched on.
But—
"No. That can't be all!"
When his stats had reached 1200, Guede had clearly felt his growth rate drop sharply.
His status was likely approaching his innate limit.
But if his body could still output at the extreme, why should some "cap" choke off the exhilaration?
Guede knew it—his method of gaining and applying status was already optimal.
So his ceiling shouldn't end here.
How could he possibly allow that?
That scorching will shook the depths of his soul again.
—Skill Awakening, again!
[Ultimate Pursuer]
Effect: Greatly increases the upper limit of ability values.
"Hah—!"
Only after this second awakening did Guede finally show an excited grin.
Facing the monsters again, he no longer found them troublesome.
Because the road ahead was lit—everything was clear—
and nothing would stop him from reaching the absolute extreme.
He swung again. Power swelled in his muscles, and with one slash he beheaded an armadillo lunging from the side.
Once more, the sensation of his growing stats fed back into him with crystal clarity—
and Guede drowned in it.
Then, a reorganized second phase of battle began in full.
One man and a nightmare swarm danced together in the dungeon—shouts and roars weaving into an echoing chorus that carried into the distance, as if singing the opening lines of a hero's epic.
…
A gale blew in from nowhere, reaching the 12th Floor.
Ryuu—moving with that gale—furrowed her brow the moment she entered.
The stench of blood was overwhelming.
Human blood.
Monster blood.
Realizing the situation was far worse than expected, she tightened her hold on Lili and immediately began tracking the traces of blood.
As she went deeper, she saw magic stones scattered everywhere.
From caverns to intersecting tunnels, from traps and sinkholes, even jammed in cracks along the walls and ceiling—
magic stones were everywhere.
It was insane. Reckless beyond reason.
If monsters didn't turn to ash on death, this place would've been a literal slaughterhouse—corpses piled high, severed limbs everywhere.
This deranged trail of scattered magic stones stretched for three kilometers before Ryuu reached its end.
And at that endpoint lay the greatest density of stones—forming a ring around a single figure:
A black-haired, black-eyed young man, drenched in blood, standing there with both arms folded across his chest.
Ryuu could sense there was no one else nearby. And with this abnormal number of magic stones…
the "adventurer fighting dragons and needing rescue" that the prum girl had described—
had to be this man.
She knew him. More than "met"—she was very familiar with him.
Because she worked as a waitress at The Hostess of Fertility, and she often served this very young man—Guede—his meals.
He always ordered with a clear goal, emphasizing balanced nutrition…
though his appetite was absurdly huge.
More importantly—
he was the man her savior, Syr Flova, had feelings for.
But setting that aside, Ryuu stayed true to her usual style and asked the most rational question first:
"With this amount of blood loss… are you all right? And what happened here?"
Guede didn't even turn his head.
"Nothing happened here…!"
-------
Promotion Valentine's Month Sale: 20% off for 7 days. Apply now!
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (72 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (92 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (93 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (75 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (115 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (105 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (105 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (42 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (50 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (47 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (40 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (37 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (40 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (40 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it