"Alright, here we go...if it turns out that the Dungeon Boss is something more dangerous than anticipated, we're to retreat immediately," I reminded the others, as we headed up the tunnel to the Boss Room.

"Got it," Nodded Aria with a thumbs up.

"Yeah, I'd prefer not to die, so I won't hesitate to run if it's a Calamity Level Monster," Stated the Saber, a wry smile on her face.

"I can sense the Dungeon Boss," Spoke up the Detector nervously.

She doesn't have the ability to discern the Threat Level of the Monsters she senses, only high-level K-Ranked Detectors and above have that ability.

But the Diva Guild only has a couple of Detectors at that level, or rather, had...one was killed during my previous raid, and the other's on another raid right now.

As the end of the tunnel came into sight, we headed out and stepped into the Boss Room, the Dungeon Boss coming into sight...a Scythe Mantis.

Alright, so no deviation in this Dungeon, good.

The Monster let out a slight chitter as it eyed us warily, swinging its arms out as we stepped forward.

Based on Appraisal, this thing's stronger and faster than I am, its stats are a fair bit higher than the Scythe Mantises we encountered on the previous floors:

HP: 803

MP: 502

Strength: 677

Agility: 904

Vitality: 929

Perception: 705

Power Level: 753,300

"Let's wrap this up quickly. Aria, let's go all out and attack it. Luxuria, hang back, the same goes for the rest of you too," I instructed, as I drew out Desecrator and stepped forward.

"Sounds good, let's do this," Responded Aria, cracking her knuckles with a smile.

"<Enrage>."

"[Blaze Ignition]!"

I let out a slow exhale as the Monster shrunk back warily, before Aria and I shot forward at full speed, charging straight towards the Monster.

"<Command: Don't Move>," I chanted as we began to close in, the Monster assuming a defensive stance before freezing in place.

I leapt forward and unfurled a rapid swing of my blade towards the middle of its body, right as it broke free of the effect of Command and twisted its body across, my blade slicing deeply through its right bicep, green sludge pouring out as the Scythe Mantis screeched in pain.

It shuffled across to the left as Aria lunged at it and drove her fist towards it, striking its right arm before blasting it clean off around the spot I'd cut through, the Monster chittering sharply in agony as the green liquid sprayed out of the stump left around its bicep.

Suddenly, it swung its injured arm across towards Aria, splattering the green liquid at her eyes, before springing straight towards her as she raised her right arm to block the splatter.

I swiftly took aim and fired out a Pulse Bullet at its left arm as it began to slash down at her head, a startled screech ringing out as its arm stiffened and spasmed slightly, my Pulse Bullet hitting its forearm.

Aria used the opportunity to back away and shake the gloop of her gauntlet as I sprinted towards the Monster at top speed, ducking as it turned across and whipped its left arm across at my head.

As its scythe-arm whizzed over the top of my head, severing a couple of strands of hair, I slipped behind it and got low, whipping my blade across and slicing deeply through the back of its legs, the Monster collapsing onto its knees before I slammed my left palm against the middle of its back, chanting...

"<Mana Pulse>."

A deafening screech rang out as the Monster violently seized up, deep cracks spreading out across the area of its exoskeleton over its back, right as Aria came charging through and leapt towards the Scythe Mantis, flames erupting around her right arm and swirling around, compressing and taking shape as the air around her shimmered intensely.

"[High Accel Flame Lance]!" She exclaimed as she drove her arm forward, striking the middle of the Monster's torso and bursting through its exoskeleton.

As her concentrated flames bored through the Monster's exoskeleton, an agonized shudder erupted across its entire body, before suddenly slumping as she ripped its Core out, a deep scorch mark around the orb as the Monster fell over and hit the ground with a soft thud.

"I'm surprised, I thought you'd use Flare," I remarked, as I used Devour and Drain on the corpse.

"I was tempted to, but I thought it'd be overkill. And well, I was right...that was really easy. Either one of us could've soloed this thing without too much trouble, both of us taking it on with our power boosts unleashed made it a total breeze," She pointed out.

"Still, this was a good opportunity to test it out," I reasoned in response, as I finished consuming the Dungeon Boss.

"Yeah, I guess," She replied with a sheepish smile, before deactivating Blaze Ignition and reverting to her normal state.

Hm, perhaps she wanted to avoid the backlash it inflicts on her. While we do have Sera here to heal her, she did tell me that it was quite painful.

Now, then, this raid is all but over, we just need to head back down and go back to the Guild to report the successful completion of the Quest.

Before we leave, I should take this opportunity to distribute the points I gained in this Dungeon:

HP: 486 -> 534

MP: 808 -> 1011

Strength: 491 -> 539

Agility: 660 -> 720

Vitality: 481 -> 529

Perception: 643 -> 703

Power Level: 594,800 -> 672,700

Excellent, my MP has risen above 1000, and my other stats are coming along quite nicely as well.

Despite the lack of any real challenge, this Dungeon has proved to be rather lucrative.

The Giant Mantises were weak, but there was a substantial number of them, and while there weren't that many Scythe Mantises, each netted me a minimum of seven points, with the Dungeon Boss alone giving me ten points.

These results are satisfactory, but it's not yet enough. I am still too weak...

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