Once upon a time, the continent of Helcassia was home to the Ancestors, who flourished and lived peaceful and prosperous lives. It is said that the ancient God they called “Dia” blessed them with advanced technology and knowledge, and they built a country with a high level of civilisation that is unimaginable today—so much so that they named their country after their God: “Diania”.
But one day, they suddenly vanished from the continent overnight. With the Ancestors gone monsters sprang up, and the peaceful and prosperous Diania was transformed into a dangerous land where none dared enter.
Two-hundred years ago, however, a dauntless group of people appeared on that dangerous continent and began to conquer it. Yes, they were the ones who fought monsters, invaded dungeons, and made a town where humans could live once again. That is what adventurers are.
‘Yeah right, adventurers my arse. Those hooligans can’t even defeat a single boss!’
The entrance to the Belfla underground ruins was located in eastern Helcassia, deep within the Belfla Forest. The guild recommends that only parties of four enter the deepest floor of the A-rank dungeon, but Alina was currently strolling through on her own, muttering complaints to herself.
‘They have no idea how much overtime I’ve suffered!’
Monsters are drawn to ether, a substance that is said to increase their magical power, generated by the dungeons the ancestors made. As a result, the dungeons that hold the Ancestor’s precious knowledge ended up as dangerous dens of monsters.
‘To hell with overtime.’
Alina made her way to the deepest part of the floor. Here and there, by the side of the path, she various objects could be seen, like candlesticks that were still burning even though two-hundred years had passed, or crumbling ornaments set with strange luminescent stones. Each was a precious relic made with the advanced technology of the Ancestors, and if she were to take them home she could sell them for a fortune, but Alina didn’t spare a single look at the mountain of treasure and continued her quick pace.
‘To hell with overtime.’
Alina wasn’t dressed in her usual receptionist uniform. She was wearing a large cloak with the hood pulled up over her face, conceiling it completely. In addition, she didn’t carry any kind of weapon, nor did she wear any protective armour. Surely if another adventurer were to see her in this getup, they would try desperately to stop her. However, there was no one around except Alina.
The boss’ throne is located in the innermost place of a dungeon floor, where the ether is thickest, in what is commonly known as the “boss room”. There, the monster that wins the battle of the fittest, as a result of monsters fighting over territory with the thickest ether, rules over its territory and other monsters will no longer approach it. Likewise, adventurers who aren’t confident in their abilities won’t approach carelessly.
‘To hell with overtime.’
Alina suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. A large gate appeared before her.
As soon as she opened the heavy gate, which emitted an atmosphere thick with ether, Alina was engulfed in a blistering heat. On the other side of the gate was a huge circular room. Undoubtedly this place was once used for grand ceremonies, but now a huge fire dragon inhabits this hall, roaring and raging. The boss of the deepest floor, the hellfire dragon.
‘Fuck, how strong is this guy? I can’t even get close to him!’
‘Even my ice spells just bounce off its scales!’
A single party was struggling against the raging fire dragon. An emblem of two crossed swords was etched into their armour—the Silver Blades. Among them was the man who had accepted the quest, Ganz of the atrocious edge.
‘You kidding me? My battleaxe is useless on this guy?’
There was nothing left of the vigour with which he accepted the quest today, however, and he just looked up at the floor boss in a daze. Huge chunks of his prised battleaxe were missing, but there was not a scratch on the raging fire dragon’s scales.
‘Don’t give up, Ganz! Get back in position!’
A young man acting as the party’s defender, the tank, held up his large shield to protect Ganz as he reprimanded him. Still, the situation didn’t look good. The tank’s gaze turned bitterly towards the hellflame dragon.
‘Even our relic arms don’t work. This guy must’ve eaten a relic!’
Monsters become stronger in proportion to the amount and concentration of the ether they absorb, but in extremely rare cases, a monster will mistakenly ingest a relic. Most of them die as a result of the relic’s intense power, but there are some who manage to survive, gaining tougher bodies and stronger magical power. The result is a stronger species, incomparable to when they were just absorbing ether.
‘It—It’s over. I can’t…’
Even though he understood this, the shock was too much for Ganz to bear, and he lost not only his will to battle but also his confidence. It didn’t look like the vanguard, who is considered essential in a boss fight, was going to recover. Seeing how the situation was unfolding, the tank had a moment’s hesitation, but he quickly made the tough decision.
‘The situation is bad. Were’re making a temporary withdaw—hey, you!?’
Cutting right through the party as they were just about to call the retreat, Alina ran straight for the hellflame dragon. The tank’s complexion changed at the sight of her appearance.
‘Wh—What do you think you’re doing! With thin armour like that, you’ll be burned to a cr–’
‘Activate skill: “Dia’s ruin”’
Alisa muttered, cutting off the tank mid-sentence. At that moment, a magic circle rose up from beneath her feet and a mysterious light enveloped her mantle. As she thrust the palm of her hand forward and spread her fingers, a huge warhammer appeared out of thin air.
‘Is that a skill?!’
‘Wait, what’s up with that skill!? I’ve never seen a skill produce a weapon before.’
With those astonished voices behind her, Alina grabbed the warhammer and took a fighting stance. The weapon was huge, literally as tall as Alina herself. The head of the hammer was adorned with intricate silverwork that would require advanced technology, each of these ornaments glowing with a white light. One side of the head was shaped like a sharpened pickaxe, adding to the weapons lethality. This clearly wasn’t one of the many types of ordinary weapons circulating the market.
‘So you’re that dragon bastard?’
With a low mutter, Alina stood in front of the hellflame dragon, blocking its path. She took a light swing with the hammer, which looked like it needed considerable strength to lift, and leaned the hilt on her shoulder. The weapon seemed wholly unsuitable for someone of such small stature to swing around.
Sensing her blood lust, the dragon suddenly turned to face Alina. Its mouth, huge enough it could swallow her whole, was lined with sharp fangs. Bursts of scorching hot flames shot out of the corners of its maw. It looked as if Alina would be blown away with just a single roar. But Alina, even though she was standing face to face with the giant dragon, didn’t flinch for a moment.
GAAAAAAAAAA!!
With a roar that shook the ceremony hall, the hellflame dragon opened its maw wide. It was getting ready to unleash “hellflame”, the fire dragon breath that reduces everything to ash.
‘O—Oi, dodge that! Do you want to die!?’
‘You… It’s because you’re still alive,’
Alina raised her head for the first time, glaring at the dragon.
‘my overtime hell doesn’t end!!!’
The fire dragon released its breath.
As the party scattered in panic, Alina, however, kicked off the ground towards the breath with such force that a crack formed in the stone floor of the hall. Her inhuman leg strength sent her dainty body flying towards the ceiling, dodging the raging hellfire.
And, raising the giant warhammer high above her head:
‘Die!!!!’
The hammer hit the hellflame dragon square in the face, along with her scream, filled with intense resentment for the monster that kept making her work overtime.
The hall shook violently as a dull, painful sound echoed through. The terrific blow shattered the hard dragon scales to dust, and the fire dragon’s massive body was blown away. The beast left a large depression as it slammed into the wall and slid to the floor, where it lay convulsing for a while.
‘‘‘‘Huh?’’’’
After a moment’s silence, the party of four muttered in unison, dumbfounded. The group, who had fought a hard battle in which they hadn’t managed to land a single effective hit, all had their mouths wide open, speechless at the unbelievable scene. It wasn’t just any party that had fought the hellfire dragon. They were the Silver Blades, the elite party that gathered only the finest fearless fighters among adventurers. It was unthinkable that some unknown snip of an adventurer could blow away the boss when, even with their power, they didn’t stand a chance against it. Ignoring the frozen atmosphere, however, Alina advanced toward the twitching dragon and brought her warhammer down mercilessly.
‘Because! Of! You! My overtime won’t end!’
Alina yelled angrily from under her hood.
Clang! Thud! The huge fire dragon bounced from side to side as if it were a toy, a painful sound echoing through the air with each hit it took.
‘It’s not like I want to do overtime!’
The Hellflame dragon’s horn snapped off with the force of the hammer. Or rather, seeing it couldn’t retain much of its original form, it was shattered into pieces.
‘I’ve had enough of this! Just let me leave work on time already,’
Alina, dominating over the dragon, beating the beast to a pulp, dropped her waist, storing power for the finishing blow, and raised the hammer above her head. The light emanating from the hammer shone even brighter.
‘you son of a bitch!!!’
The finishing blow hit it right in the stomach. The hellflame dragon bent backwards involuntarily and let out a plaintive death cry. Soon, the light in its eyes grew dimmer, and the beast turned to fine dust that dispersed like mist.
Silence.
While the adventurers were at a loss for words, a heavy clunk suddenly echoed through the ceremony hall. A red crystal rolled onto the floor where the hellflame dragon had disappeared. It was likely the relic that the dragon accidentally swallowed, a red orb which had the characteristic magic circle modelled after the sun contained within.
However, there was no one who paid any mind to the priceless object. All eyes were on the small adventurer whose face was hidden beneath a hood.
Having witnessed her superhuman strength for themselves, the adventurers were left wondering what their own tough battle against the dragon was all about, and could do nothing but stand stock still.
*****
Jake Skleid, the Silver Blades’ tank, stared at the scene before him while still holding up his beloved relic arm, his great shield, baffled.
The small adventurer, their face hidden behind a cloak, did not boast of their feat of knocking the spots off the hellflame dragon, nor did they show any interest in the relic, merely sniffing and waving their arms as if unsatisfied. The warhammer that had appeared from thin air, the likes of which he had never seen before, disappeared without a sound. In any case, Jade couldn’t comprehend what just happened.
‘This can’t be real.’
He finally managed to squeeze those words out.
Jade, as the tank of the Silver Blades, is constantly on the front lines conquering dungeons. Not only does he protect his comrades by taking the enemy’s blows upon himself, he also takes command of the battle and directs its course. Until now he has fought together with many strong people and believed he understood each of their power better than anyone else. But even he had never seen the overwhelming offensive power unleashed by the adventurer before him.
‘It—it’s The Executrioner.’
Ganz muttered.
‘The Executioner?’
‘Don’t you know? The urban legend of the mysterious adventurer who, when the capture of a dungeon reached a stalemate, appears out of nowhere, defeats the boss solo and captures the dungeon by force!’
‘Solo!?’
Normally adventurers fight monsters in teams of four. The tank, who specializes in defence, draws the enemy in. The healer heals their wounded comrades. The vanguard, the main attacker, charges the enemy with their melee weapon. The rearguard uses magic to clear the way for the charge and support the attack.
Neither too few nor too many, this is the most effective battle formation, arrived at through trial and error over two-hundred years of history, to fight strong enemies and win in the narrow dungeons. Especially if your opponent is a floor boss—the highest ranked monster on a floor— having a healer and a tank is essential. Going at it solo would be reckless in the extreme.
But Jade couldn’t deny what he’d just seen. That a vanguard wielding a warhammer went head-to-head with the boss on their own, defeating it one-sidedly without any assistance.
Jade looked at the executioner again.
Ignoring the elite group’s bafflement, the mysterious adventurer stared at the hellflame dragon’s scattering dust, muttering:
‘As of tomorrow, I should be able to go home on time.’
With that she turned and walked past Jade, heading straight for the door of the ceremony hall.
As The Executioner passed him, Jade touched their mantle lightly. It was then that Jade saw the face hidden beneath the hood with his eyes, which were slightly better than most people’s. It wasn’t the face of a battle-hardened warrior, nor the God of Death that their name would suggest.
Just a human girl with a tired-looking face.
