Chapter 292: Another one

Asahi's fist connected with a hellhound's head. The following shockwave rocked the floor, knocking the humanoid lizardmen behind the hellhound off their feet. The monsters grabbed their clubs and sprang back up. At that moment, Aimi flashed like a phantom with daggers in her hand, leaving dozens of rolling heads tumbling through the air. Even though she massacred more than thirty monsters, her black hoodie and shorts had no single drop of blood.

The rest of the monsters howled together and jumped at Aimi. She dashed toward the other monsters by the time hellhound's claws reached her. As the hellhound confusedly looked for its prey, Asahi stabbed his new dagger in its head.

He saw Aimi's smile through the corner of his eyes and chuckled.

The duo rampaged on the floor. His body loosened in the heat of battle, making his movements sharper than ever.

The violence continued until the red sand had turned crimson with the blood of the monsters.

[—'Wild Martial Arts' ranked up to C.]

"Oho. I need to put more time into training with the spear."

Training with Biblical God helped him in gaining combat experience and honing his instincts. As he rarely used weapons against Biblical God, the sparring didn't contribute much to upgrading his weapon mastery skills. So his Spear Mastery skill was still C-Rank.

Fortunately, fighting monsters required brute force instead of techniques. He checked his XP bar hovering at 89.20%. Satisfied with his XP growing toward the next level, he dusted off his hands.

"Fuck."

His expression took a turn for the worse in the next moment.

"I forgot to update my status."

He was too busy flirting with Astraea.

'I'll do it in the evening. Klyscha, can you remind me?'

(No problem, my love.)

He nodded and proceeded deeper into the dungeon. It was only a matter of minutes before he and Aimi cleared the floor and arrived at the next floor.

This floor outstretched every floor he had seen in the dungeon. Desolate land covered in reddish-brown sand stretched far beyond hundreds of meters. The high ceiling resembled midday sky.

"Moytura," Aimi said. "The goat monster Fomoire comes in hordes. The Monster Rex Balor also spawns here."

Even though she was a woman of few words, her ears always stayed sharp for any information. During Saeko and Lyra's conversation, she had heard tidbits of information on this floor.

Asahi patted her head. "Is it going to spawn?"

"I'm not sure. It was last killed two or three months ago."

"Well, let's finish the horde first."

Asahi picked up the speed. Aimi cast her reinforcement spell and followed him. It wasn't long before Asahi saw monsters rushing in his direction. A sea of monsters with horse-like heads which had horns that curled above their head.

They were surrounded from every side with over two thousand Fomoire, each one capable of shredding a level 3 adventurer. What's more, the taller Fomoire, better known as elite, could give a level 4 adventurer a run for their money. This floor was the worst nightmare of any adventurer party. The suicidal charge always cost them armor, weapons, and men, which they couldn't afford to lose if they wanted to venture deeper into the dungeon.

Asahi had to decide whether he wanted to spend hours decimating these mobs or incinerate them.

(Nuke time?)

Klyscha asked, her voice brimming with excitement.

Asahi chuckled and whipped out the Gae Bolg. He charged up the spear with his mana, igniting the crimson runes. He leaped in the air and drew back the spear. Gae Bolg sucked his mana through his hands and torched a burning vortex at the spearhead.

"Oi, stop it. You'll blow up the whole floor."

Only then did the spear stop charging. Asahi sighed and threw the smoldering spear in the middle of the horde. Over a dozen crimson beams rained down on the horde, which detonated on contact. The explosion swallowed the monsters, searing even their ashes.

Gae Bolg's true attack: Soaring Spear that Strikes with Death.

This ability didn't carry the concept of always skewing the opponent's heart, instead it released the accumulated magic power in a massive explosion.

[You have leveled up!]

Asahi waved off the notification and waited for the reddish clouds to settle. There was a massive hole in the floor. He flew toward the spear and looked down the hole. His spear was embedded in the middle of a forest. Or rather a forest with a huge circle devoid of trees.

The destruction had gone beyond his expectations.

"Holy fuck."

He recalled the Gae Bolg and threw a glance in the monsters' direction. Even the crazy horde was standing still, looking at him.

*Roaaaaar!*

A furious howl tore through the silence. Right on cue, Asahi's instincts buzzed.

'A Juggernaut.'

He drifted toward the roar and eyed the newborn child of calamity with a ravenous glint in his eyes. A 49th floor Juggernaut was just XP for him. A walking pile of XP waiting to be harvested.

The Juggernaut stared at the enemy of its mother and almost stepped back. He had faint visions of its last life, which were not-so-pleasant. This time was different since its power grew considerably when it was summoned in the deep floors. Yet, its survival instincts warned it to escape.

Blood red eyes widened in shock. It leaned until its upper body was parallel to the floor and launched itself toward the hole.

No chance the Juggernaut wanted the repeat of its past life events.

"Gae Bolg."

A whisper reached its ears, and dread enveloped its body. The Juggernaut used its agile claws to maneuver through the trees.

However, a crimson ray skewed its chest, and the barbs of the Gae Bolg smashed its bones. Unlike other monsters, it wasn't born with any magic stone as its only duty was to exterminate the enemy and fade away. This weakness gave it a few more moments. It dug its claw in the soil and dragged itself away from its approaching death.

"Lame."

Asahi shook his head and stomped on its beast head.

"Goodbye, Juggernaut-san. Hope you come again."

—You earned 39711.32 XP for killing [Level 75 Juggernaut]

The XP was incomparable to the previous Juggernaut. He was already ten percent to his next level.

"Poor guy."