Chapter 463 - Ominous

Femradiel wanted to use her body a little more to feel herself getting stronger, and Ryan decided to give her that chance since it would more or less solve the other problems. It wasn't the wisest idea, but Ryan gave a golem the rights to become a temporary dungeon master. The creature wouldn't do anything without Ryan's commands, so that was fine. After that, he sent his army of golems toward the Giant Skulls. Even from very far away, where their attacks couldn't hit the monsters with precision, the golems began to fire Stone Bullets. Obviously, the Centaur Archers and the Minotaurs proceeded to help them, but Ryan, Furball, and Femradiel blocked the path of the Minotaurs.

The monsters charged at them since that was a golden chance, but those three creatures easily made the Minotaurs fly, after Ryan petrified their arms with magic copies of his Petrification Crossbow. Not only the monsters lost their ability to wield axes, but they also suffered severe damage when their petrified arms broke and became dust.

You obtained 120 coins.

You obtained 120 coins.

You obtained 120 coins.

…

However, many Minotaurs managed to land several hits on Ryan's pets' bodies despite the rampage. Despite the difference in level, the wounds were piling up.

"Are you happy now?" Ryan asked.

"Use Full-Heal!" Femradiel raised her voice.

"… Don't give me orders, geez," Ryan said after sighing and then healed his pets.

With renewed vigor, his pets rampaged in the middle of the Minotaurs. Those creatures didn't even notice Ryan flying above them, firing petrification bolts with so much ease that he couldn't help but frown. Seeing Furball biting and then munching the arms of some monsters even made him frown more.

Ryan used that chance to use Seal on some Minotaurs, but their compatibility with long-ranged weapons wasn't that good. So, Ryan didn't obtain any decent crossbow. Fortunately, they defeated one hundred Minotaurs before half of Ryan's golems could be defeated. They weren't that strong, but since they were sturdy, they could work well as a pretty decent wall. When Ryan and the others returned to the domain alongside the golems, their forces had decreased to four-tenths of the original size. Still, since they obtained some corpses to feed Furball and magic items to extract mana, Ryan felt that they had gained more than they lost.

"More Minotaurs are leaving their dungeon, fifty of them," Femradiel said.

"I guess it is safe to assume that their dungeon already reached level fifty," Ryan said while he was summoning more golems. "Do you have any idea how they leveled up that fast, Femradiel?"

"If I have to guess, I would say that the dungeon master took over the boss's body and made his minions attack him," Femradiel replied. "If the dungeon master focuses on healing itself, they should last for quite a while, that would grant a few levels to the monsters and so the dungeon. Once the boss dies, the monsters would level up many times more as well."

"Like that, huh," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess we should do that and level up our dungeon… ah, crap. I forgot to check the level of the dungeon."

Much to Ryan's surprise, the experience obtained by the frozen slimes could keep accumulating even when they didn't level up. So, in a single moment, he made them level up from two to level four.

"I guess it is time to deal the last blow to the Minotaurs," Ryan said.

"I don't think it will be that easy," Femradiel said.

Ryan soon realized what Femradiel meant by that. He saw a new group of Centaurs and Giant Skulls leaving their respective dungeons, and they headed straight to the Minotaurs. After that, the other two parties also joined them. Ryan couldn't believe that they decided to stay together like that.

"Are they stupid?" Ryan frowned. "They didn't realize that their dungeons are completely unprotected like this?"

"I guess the dungeon masters don't think that we know that they probably sacrificed the bosses to increase the level of the dungeon," Femradiel said. "In any case, the bosses will return eventually, but we can't just assume that the dungeons are unprotected. They must have left some troops behind to guard the crystal."

That made sense. If the dungeon masters managed to level up their troops only by sacrificing the bosses, then at least a few more hundred monsters were waiting for them inside it… they were trying to bait Ryan.

"I guess I am not the only one who can use mind games in this scenario," Ryan nodded to himself. "Still, that also means that even if we defeat all the troops outside, we will face some other hundreds inside the dungeon."

"That is very likely," Femradiel nodded. "They will try to buy time in order for the bosses to spawn again."

Ryan wasn't so sure if the level fifty bosses of those species would be much of a threat, but then if the dungeon masters keep using them to strengthen their troops… then Ryan couldn't waste any time.

"Defeating three hundred fifty of monsters like that won't be easy, and I also need to keep my focus on the dungeon," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess there is no other choice."

"Is it time for Draconic Transformation?" Femradiel asked.

"… Why do you want to see me using that skill so badly?" Ryan asked after a long sigh.

"Because if you do that, I can imagine myself getting rid of those pests," Femradiel said. "I miss a little bit my old form, after all."

"I can't understand that, since my version is more ominous," Ryan frowned. "… Anyway, I don't want to choose the easy way out. I guess this time I will destroy their formation by going melee."

Ryan could use a charged Power Shot to cause devastating damage, but unless he gets really close, the Giant Skulls will react on time, and if he gets close, his own attack might kill him. However, there was another way to do that without risking his life… and that was by starting a melee fight.