Inside the third floor of the dungeon, the previously silent cavern suddenly burst into chaos.
The stone walls on either side writhed like liquid, continuously spewing out wave after wave of monsters into the cave.
The newly birthed monsters, as soon as they landed, let out furious roars and immediately swarmed in a single direction.
Within the encirclement of these monsters, a cold black sword shadow flashed tirelessly. Each time it swept past, it brought with it a torrent of splattering blood and sent several monsters back into the embrace of the dungeon.
Since stepping onto the third floor, Takashina Kai had been swinging his sword non-stop for over an hour. Even with 10 points in both endurance and constitution, plus the attribute bonuses from his [One-Handed Sword] skill, he was beginning to feel fatigue. His blade movements grew noticeably sluggish, no longer as fluid as before.
But the dungeon, unlike Kai, showed no signs of exhaustion. It continued to generate low-tier monsters at high speed, throwing them onto this battlefield of blood and flesh.
If any other familia members had witnessed this scene, they would have been utterly shocked—not by Kai's strength, but by the abnormal behavior of the dungeon.
Normally, even with the dungeon's notorious malice, adventurers were at least granted short breathing intervals between monster spawns. The idea was to let people catch their breath, rather than being killed by endless waves.
But Kai was a complete exception.
Since he killed that goblin on the second floor, the dungeon had not given him a moment of rest. It continuously spawned monsters, wave after wave, without end. Even if he cleared one group, another would come charging in the next instant.
This dense influx of monsters created an environment for even faster slaughter. If one counted pure kill count, in just a single hour, Kai had slain more monsters than most adventurers could manage in a week.
Even though fatigue had started to set in, every swing of his black sword pushed the number higher and higher.
Drenched entirely in monster blood, Kai's black coat had become indistinguishable from the dark stains clinging to it. It was impossible to tell where fabric ended and blood began.
"Huff... huff..."
With a piercing thrust, Kai drove his sword through the head of a spider-like monster. Then he flicked his blade upward, splitting its skull in half. Gasping for breath, he raised his head—he had once again cleared the third floor from end to end.
For a typical adventuring party, clearing a floor meant the monsters wouldn't respawn for a while. But Kai had barely taken a few breaths before cracks began forming again on the walls in the distance. More monsters would be coming soon.
"Come on... this is just overkill. What kind of sick party is this?"
Staring at the monsters continuously pouring from the dungeon walls, Kai's sword hand trembled slightly.
The prolonged high-intensity battle had nearly worn him out. He could barely grip his sword anymore.
Yet despite this, he charged forward silently once more, mustering the last of his strength and swinging his black blade again.
…
Meanwhile, back on the dungeon's second floor—
A well-equipped group of adventurers was methodically hunting the monsters that occasionally emerged from the walls. Behind them trailed a small, cloaked figure wrapped in a loose ivory robe, who skillfully collected magic stones from the corpses with a small knife.
"Hey, you little pallum, move any slower and I'm docking your share later!"
The orange-haired young man with a short sword turned around, stabbing a goblin in the heart and glaring impatiently at the girl.
"Just a lowly supporter, and from Soma's familia no less... If you want a cut of the valis we earn from risking our lives, you'd better show some hustle."
"Y-Yes, Right away, Adventurer-sama!"
Startled by the harsh tone, the girl flinched and quickly tucked herself deeper under her oversized robe, her hands moving a bit faster.
But no matter how much she tried to speed up, she was still just one person. It was hard for her to keep pace with this team's monster-killing speed.
The adventurers didn't care about her struggle. They pressed forward aggressively and soon reached the end of the second floor.
"Captain, are we really going to do that later…?"
The same orange-haired man wiped his dagger while glancing at the girl, then leaned toward the middle-aged man at the center of the team.
"I mean, she's just a supporter—and a member of that drunkard Soma's familia. Even if we don't give her any of the valis, I doubt anyone would care."
"Airi, that's awful. She's just a kid."
Before the captain could reply, the team's only female archer cut in, annoyed. "Captain, say something! Trying to cheat a child out of her wages? How shameful."
"You—!"
Embarrassed, Airi was about to lash out, but the captain raised a hand to stop them.
"Enough, Airi. Lela. Don't argue over a mere supporter. She's not worth us falling out over."
With the dispute settled, the captain's expression turned serious.
"More importantly, haven't you noticed? Something's not right with the dungeon today."
"Not right?"
"Yeah," he said. "Even though the upper floors usually have fewer monsters and slower spawn rates, today... they're even slower than usual."
The group exchanged looks and scanned the corridors they'd passed through. Sure enough, they had only encountered about a dozen monsters—normally it would've been double that.
So where did the rest go?
That question hovered in everyone's mind. The captain turned toward the stairs to the third floor.
"Let's go down a few more floors. If I'm right, something's happening down there."
No one objected. Their team was among the top in Level 1 adventurers and had even reached the 11th floor before. They weren't worried about danger. Besides, they were curious too—what could cause monster spawn rates to drop?
"Hey, pallum girl, we're heading to the lower floors. If you don't hurry up, we'll leave you behind."
"I-I'm coming! Please don't leave Lili behind!"
Panicked, the little pallum girl stuffed her magic stones into her pouch and rushed after them.
The stairs from the second to third floor weren't long. Soon, the team reached the third floor entrance—only to be hit by a wave of blood-stench so strong it made their faces twist in disgust.
At the front of the group, the captain froze, staring ahead in shock.
He had visited the third floor countless times and knew it well—but now, he could no longer recognize it.
Monsters. Piles and piles of monsters, both alive and dead. Blood coated the floor like a carpet. The walls and pillars were painted with splattered gore and steaming entrails.
One word flashed in the captain's mind:
A slaughterhouse.
Who the hell had turned this floor into a meat grinder?
He scanned the dense horde—and then spotted the figure he was looking for.
It was a young man, probably even younger than Airi—maybe only twenty years old.
Covered in blood, he had rare black hair and black eyes. He wore a black coat and wielded a black sword. He darted through the monsters like a gust of wind. Each swing of his blade sent multiple enemies either bisected, decapitated, or disemboweled—dead before they could scream.
Watching this merciless figure in motion, the captain understood.
So this was why the monsters weren't spawning.
This man was killing them faster than the dungeon could produce them.
His speed was incredible, and his power clearly immense. But what shocked the captain most was his swordsmanship.
No fancy flourishes. No wasted movement. Every attack was simple yet efficient—straight thrusts, diagonal cuts, vertical slashes, horizontal cleaves—but each carried lethal precision and variation. Every strike targeted vital points.
It was the kind of swordsmanship honed not for beauty, but for pure killing.
How many life-or-death battles had he fought to refine such a blade?
But even more disturbing was the look in his eyes—cold, emotionless, as if killing was second nature.
Just one glance made it clear: this young man felt nothing toward life. Something inside him had already broken.
Behind the captain, the rest of the team caught up and were equally stunned by the blood-drenched hellscape… and the black-coated killer carving through it.
"Captain… what should we do?"
"Don't panic. Let me handle it."
The captain took a deep breath and stepped forward to speak.
But before he could say anything, the man within the horde beat him to it.
"Everyone else leave. The pallum girl stays."
From the start, Kai had noticed this team of intruders. His mental stat of 10 was more than enough for him to observe while slaughtering.
And he had noticed the small figure trailing behind them like a tail.
Liliruca Arde...
He hadn't expected to run into her here.
But it was perfect. Kai needed a supporter now anyway.
Talk about perfect timing.