Waves 1

The beginning of the fourth wave went smoothly.

We were dropped into one manageable battlefield after another, and since there were hardly any moments where dangerous monsters piled up in large numbers, we managed to reach what seemed to be the middle-to-late stage of the wave without any major incidents.

Still, one thing kept bothering me.

“We should have run into someone by now, but there isn’t even a trace of anyone.”

“Well… maybe that just means there aren’t many people left anymore.”

There wasn’t a single wandering survivor to be found in the collapsing labyrinth.

During the last wave, we had found three of them.

It was probably because the number of surviving explorers had dropped sharply after entering the fourth wave, but…

Ba-dump!

Anxiety and impatience tried to swell inside me, but there was nothing I could do right now.

Misha…

She should be fine.

The others…

They should be fine too.

For now, I had to trust them and focus on what I needed to do.

“Behel-RAAAAA!”

I roared my battle cry, swung my hammer, and raised my shield to block the monsters’ attacks.

“…Huh?”

But as I kept fighting, I suddenly noticed something strange.

My shield had begun to glow with a blue light.

Vwoong.

What was this? Had someone cast a buff on it?

That was my first thought.

But I was wrong.

Vwoong.

The blue light.

The strange sensation of becoming one with my shield.

This wasn’t a buff.

Right. This was…

「Aegis’s Barrier has reached Level 7.」

「All effects of this weapon have increased by 40%.」

After steadily building up Soul Connection experience with it, Aegis Barrier had finally reached level 7.

To put it simply…

High-rank Indestructibility: blocking with the shield grants immunity to all damage.

As long as my threat level is above 500, every monster will prioritize attacking me first.

These options had fixed values, so they remained the same.

All defensive stats increase by 20 percent the moment it is equipped.

When an aura skill is used, the aura’s range is doubled.

The stat increase should be 28%, and the radius and effect increases should be 2.8 times.

[The wearer and bonded allies within a 10m radius receive 30% less magic damage and become immune to magic of Level 5 or lower.]

Magic immunity did not scale either, but the flat magic damage reduction increased to 42 per cent, now covering everyone within fourteen metres.

In other words, when I use Scales of Greed, the 50% and 42% reductions stack, giving me 71% magic resistance.

My magic defense is basically maxed out now.

I could probably push it all the way to 100 percent by adjusting my build a little, but there was no real point.

Just like Evolving Shell’s Blade Resistance had a limit, Magic Resistance had a limit too.

Given enough time, the combination of Soul Connection and the Stage 8 Immortality Imprint’s ‘Favourite Weapon’ would allow me to reach that limit anyway.

By the way…

Still, Level 7 already…

That felt a little strange.

I had suffered in the labyrinth for so long and had only just reached Rank 8 myself. Compared to this shield, it almost felt like all that suffering had been for nothing.

Well…

The slow grind is always the hardest part.

This is the kind of game where leveling becomes much easier after you grow stronger, not before.

Besides, it wasn’t as if I had wasted my time.

The first underground floor, the area outside the city walls, and now this dimensional collapse…

Experiencing several major events back-to-back had practically guaranteed that the shield would reach level 7 this quickly.

I wonder which will happen first. This thing reaching Level 8, or me reaching Rank 9…

Honestly, I had been killing monsters so frantically that at some point it became impossible to keep track of experience.

If I had to make a rough estimate, I would say that I am now near the end of Rank 8.

At this point, I’ve practically killed everything worth killing below the seventh floor.

Of course, if I counted the elite monsters that only appeared in fixed rifts or hidden fields, there would still be quite a few left. But it wasn’t as if I could just go out and hunt them whenever I wanted.

For some reason, I suddenly found myself feeling envious of the era they called the Golden Age.

Back then, there were supposedly many high-ranking explorers, and they could gather expedition parties of hundreds to explore the ninth floor.

Compared to the present, where even the eighth-floor expedition had been stalled for ages, ranking up must have been much easier back then.

Perhaps that’s why their ranks were so inflated…

The executives of Orcules were representative examples.

Since they had been active during the Golden Age, their ranks were high and the grades of their essences were also fairly high. However, when it came to the actual combinations of those essences, they were poor.

Well, I could understand why.

It had been an age when the strength of an organization mattered more than the strength of an individual. Even with inefficient essence combinations, they could still reach the higher floors as long as they moved as a group—

Rip!

The moment I heard that familiar tearing sound, I stopped thinking and checked my surroundings.

That sound was the sign of teleportation.

“Huddle up…!”

Despite the simplicity of the order, the scattered explorers immediately gathered at the centre.

Everyone knew that monsters could appear right on top of us the moment we were teleported to a new area.

We were all starting to get used to the–

Flash!

As if someone had turned off a TV, our vision flickered black and white.

Then, a new world appeared before us.

Splash!

It was a beach, with waves gently washing against the shore.

That alone was enough to give me a rough idea of where we were, but the sixth floor was far too vast to pinpoint our exact location in an instant.

I was just about to look around and get my bearings when one of the explorers with us recognized the place faster than I did.

“Ludlia Island! This is Ludlia Island!”

“Oh, now that you mention it, it does look like it.”

Ludlia Island.

An island located in the northernmost region of the Great Ocean, just beyond Grand Rock’s boundary.

It was also the same island where I had seen Lee Baek-ho’s party resting when I used Shortcut.

Surprisingly, we had ended up in the exact same place.

What a coincidence.

Just in case, I quickly glanced left and right. Sure enough, I spotted the remains of their campfire beneath that tree.

Less than a day ago, Lee Baek-ho had been sitting there.

Still, I pushed aside the strange feeling that fate was playing games with me and focused on the present.

“Something’s coming out of the ocean…!”

“What are those? They don’t look like Murlocs.”

“Tridents…? N-No, they’re Spear Dippers! Rank 3 monsters!”

“What? Why are there so many rank 3 monsters together…?!”

Squads of Spear Dippers rose from the water like an army, marching onto the shore in orderly ranks.

There were easily several dozen of them.

And the real problem was that this wasn’t all.

Was it because Baek-ho had been here…?

I had no idea why monsters that were supposed to live deep below the sea had appeared here, much less in such large numbers.

However, there was no point searching for an explanation when the threat was right in front of us.

Especially not in the middle of a dimensional collapse.

“Prepare for battle! Stay focused and hold formation!”

However, just as I erased my doubts and was about to run toward the beach…

As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours.

Boom!

A vibration erupted from the thickly forested inland side and travelled through the grains of sand beneath our feet.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

When I whipped my head around, I saw a gigantic monster advancing toward us, crushing the palm trees in its path.

It was roaring.

“Graaaaaah! Graaaaak!”

The bipedal monster looked diseased, constantly spewing something black from its gaping mouth.

The moment I saw its face, I knew what it was.

“Wh-what is that…?”

A rank 2 monster.

However, it did not have a proper individual species name.

Strangely, there was no ordinary version of it; it only appeared as a guardian.

“Graaak! L-Light…! Graaaack!”

The guardian of the Grave Palace of Valantis, a rift on the seventh floor, the Dark Continent.

[Star of Ruin, Valantis has cast Eclipse.]

Maybe “Valantis” was actually the name of its species.

Well, this wasn’t too bad.

“E-Eat…! Graaaak!”

An army of rank 3 monsters from the beach.

A rank 2 rift guardian from the land.

“You all focus on the beach! I’ll deal with that myself!”

Even as I gave that reckless, straightforward order…

“Behel–LAAAAAA!”

Even as I roared my battle cry and planted myself in the monster’s path…

Ba-dump!

I knew.

So this was why things had been going so smoothly until now.

A great loss would befall us today.

***

Just as I had feared, the battle that began on Ludlia Island dealt us a devastating blow.

In the middle of a dimensional collapse, retreat was not an option. No matter how battered and exhausted we became, we had no choice but to keep fighting.

Riiip!

And even the fields we were sent to refused to favor us.

On Ludlia Island, we had managed to hold out by the skin of our teeth without losing anyone…

“We’re teleporting…! Everyone, gather together!”

But the next place we landed was the Panthelion Ruins.

A seventh-floor field of the Dark Continent.

There, countless machine-type monsters ranging from rank 6 to rank 3 swarmed us from every direction.

“Graaaaaaak!”

Since I had to keep Valantis occupied, I couldn’t even properly tell how bad the situation had become elsewhere.

“Hey! Priest! Over here! Please, come here…!”

“…He’s already dead.”

“Argh…! What are you going to say to your daughter now?!”

That was when people started dying.

Three of them at once.

“Ch-Chiek!”

The next location was the third floor’s Orc Colony.

I thought we might finally catch a breath since it was a lower floor, but for some reason,
a rank 2 monster suddenly appeared.

A raid boss.

“O-Orc Lord…!”

The one saving grace was that, unlike Valantis, the Orc Lord’s magic resistance wasn’t particularly high.

[Elvain Cutter has cast the Level 2 space magic Transfer.]

Our mage successfully used his magic to send the Orc Lord outside the dimension.

…At a price.

“…Cough!”

“A-Are you all right?”

“…It’s only mana exhaustion, so don’t worry about me. But I won’t be able to do much for a while,” Elvain rasped.

The special mage had been reduced to just a special man.

Still, because he had dealt with the Orc Lord, we managed to avoid the worst-case scenario.

[You have defeated Spear Dipper.]

[You have defeated Spear Dipper.]

[You have defeated Giga Wolf.]

[You have defeated Spear Dipper.]

[You have defeated…]

We were so focused on fighting and staying alive that, after the next teleportation, we couldn’t even figure out where we had landed.

“It’s an essence…!”

“Get the mages—no, at this point, someone just take it!”

“But I don’t think this one uses a spear…”

“Just consume it for now! We can remove it later!”

From that point on, whenever an essence dropped, whoever was available nearby simply took it instead of wasting time storing it in a magic testube.

We needed even the slightest increase in fighting power.

Some people had gained spare essence slots after leveling up during the dimensional collapse.

Rip!

And with that, we teleported for the fourth time.

“Screech, screech, screech!”

The next time our vision cleared, we had arrived at the King’s Nest.

One of the fields on the eighth floor.

“…Damn it! Wyverns!”

“Intercept them! Don’t let them get close! It’s over if they grab you!”

Despite our fierce attempts to keep them in check, those flying bastards circled above us, crying out like crows.

And then…

“K-Kyaaaaaak!”

Whenever even the smallest opening appeared, the monsters would dive down like bolts of lightning and snatch someone into the sky.

It went without saying, but saving them was impossible.

The moment they flew upward and struck that invisible wall, the explorer they had taken vanished without a trace.

Clench!

What could I possibly do in a situation like this?

“Behel–LAAAAAA!”

Nothing.

Nothing except keep roaring, keep standing in their way, and lend support whenever I could.

I was still holding Valantis back, preventing it from reaching the main body of our group.

[Star of Ruin, Valantis has cast Isolation.]

[Star of Ruin, Valantis has cast Unclean Matter.]

[Star of Ruin, Valantis has cast Set Future.]

[…]

Holding it back was the only thing I could do.

I even tried using the fully stacked Dragonplate of Aegis, but because of Valantis’s traits, I couldn’t deal any meaningful damage to it.

That was when I reached a conclusion.

Before we could defeat Valantis, we needed to save the main force first.

But it was like trying to pour water into a sieve.

“Damn it.”

The longer we fought, the more people died.

And with every death, we grew weaker.

That was one of the defining horrors of a dimensional collapse.

Once you started losing ground, it took far more effort just to recover than it had taken to fall behind in the first place.

Not to turn the situation around.

Just to return it to where it had been.

And so…

Clench!

I watched.

I listened.

And I endured.

That was all I could do.

“H-He’s…! He’s…!”

“Ms. Emblut, get over here! It’s already too late!”

“But…!”

The wyverns kept snatching people away.

[Spear Dipper has cast Trident.]

A Spear Dipper, already on its last breath, drove its spear into someone’s stomach.

“Huh…? Jacob? Jacob? Jacob!! Damn it!!”

In the chaos, where it was difficult enough to look after even the person beside you, someone made a mistake and crossed the transparent wall.

“…This place is done for!”

“You! You crazy bastard! Get back here! We only need to hold on a little longer—!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

Some even abandoned the fight, driven to despair by the hopelessness of the situation.

Even as reports of death continued to flood in one after another, all I could do was roar and endure.

“Bethel–RAAAAAA!”

There was nothing else I could do.

But I also knew that if I held on long enough, our time would come.

Rip!

Just like this.

Riiip!

At last, the fifth teleportation came.

Flash!

The moment the new field appeared, I threw one of the rocks I had been holding.

It was the very first thing I did, even before I had figured out where we were.

Tap, roll!

The stone flew past Valantis, landed on the ground, and rolled.

That meant only one thing.

“Finally.”

The fourth wave was over.

In other words…

“We can kill them all.”

There was no need to hold back anymore.

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