"Alright, everyone, listen up...these will be your first raids in about two and a half months, so make sure to be extra vigilant. While conquering this new wave of Dungeons is a priority, it's not to be prioritized above your own lives.

The Detectors assigned to each party will have a crucial role to play...if, at any point, you sense Monsters in numbers or at a Threat Level that conflicts with the standard patterns, retreat without hesitation," I instructed, as I looked around at everyone we'd assigned for the raids the Sinners Guild were going to be tackling.

Today's the 3rd of January, 2170, around 9 AM.

Each of the Sinners Guild's three parties will be heading out to their assigned Dungeons soon, the Diva Guild and Demonsbane Guild will also be making their move around the same time.

Yesterday, we finalized the party members and had a meeting to discuss tactics and strategy, making sure everyone we chose were ready for this.

From the two rookie Aces, Brid looked pretty amped up, while Iqra was a lot more nervous...to be fair, she's always nervous, so I couldn't really tell how much of that was because of the raid.

Aria and I asked her pretty extensively if she really felt ready for this, and she assured us that she was.

We were still a bit hesitant, but decided to risk it anyway. We didn't really have much of a choice.

For the Critical Level Dungeon, as Aria and I had already discussed a couple of days ago, she and I would be leading the way at the front line, with me assigned as Captain of the party.

Brid would be at the mid line, along with an Ice Mage and Earth Mage, both K-Ranks. And Iqra would bring up the rear, along with a Detector and an Enchanter, the former K-Ranked and latter Q-Ranked.

And as planned, Luxuria and Invidia would be a part of the other two parties, both assigned to the front line.

I told them both to prioritize the safety of the rest of the party, their goal was to ensure the survival of everyone in their respective parties.

A bit more firepower would've been ideal, but we've gotta work with what we've got, no point in dwelling on it.

We'll just have to exercise more caution than usual, I suppose.

"As for everyone who wasn't selected for these raids, stay on standby in case any backup is required," Spoke up Aria with a smile.

"Mhm, yeah. While it's pretty unlikely to come to that, you never know, so be prepared for any possibility. Alright, if everyone's ready, group up with your parties and head out, let's get this underway," I declared, before letting out a quiet sigh.

While I have gotten relatively accustomed to my new role as a Guildmaster at this point, having so many people's eyes on me is a bit stressful.

I then glanced at Luxuria and Invidia, before giving them a nod, prompting them to go join the parties I'd assigned them to.

"<I won't let you down, Master>."

"<You can count on me, Boss>!"

"You guys ready?" Aria greeted the members of our party for the Critical Level Dungeon raid, as they approached us and gathered up.

"U-Um, yes, I think I-I'm as mentally prepared as I c-can be," Responded Iqra with a nod.

"Yeah, same here."

"A bit nervous, honestly, but I should be able to settle my nerves once we get through a floor or two."

"Me too, hope I'm not too rusty."

"I'm raring to go, except...I thought I'd be allowed to fight at the front line," Frowned Brid, looking a bit disappointed.

"Yeah, no, not in a Critical Level Dungeon. Normally, inexperienced Hunters are eased in through mostly Mid Level, and a few High Level, raids, and even then, extra caution is exercised.

As we discussed yesterday, your role will mainly be that of a typical Healer role, and in the event that any Monsters get past Aria and myself, you'll coordinate with the rest of the mid line to take down the Monsters," I reminded him.

"Fine, okay...," He relented with a sigh.

"Well, if the Monsters on the lower floors aren't too dangerous, I suppose we could leave one or two for you to fight," Suggested Aria with a wry smile.

Hm...

"Yeah, I guess that's fine," I replied after mulling it over, while Brid stared at me hopefully, his eyes lighting up as I approved the idea.

Probably shouldn't squash his enthusiasm completely, he's clearly been itching for us to see him in action during a raid, he might end up being less motivated if he gets to do little to nothing during this raid.

Of course, we can't afford to expose him to needless risk in the process, so we aren't going to let him have his way entirely. I'd say this is a fair compromise, all things considered.

"U-Um, I've wondered something f-for a while...why d-doesn't someone enter the f-first floor of a Dungeon to s-see what kind of M-Monsters and t-terrain are in it, b-before the Dungeon is raided?" Inquired Iqra, as we headed for the front entrance of the Guild building.

"Huh, that's a good question...wouldn't that info be really useful when forming a party? Like, if it's a more watery terrain, a Lightning Mage would be a liability, or if there are Monsters with fire-based abilities, including a Water or Ice Mage would be an obvious pick," Pointed out Brid thoughtfully.

"Because exiting a Dungeon without conquering it triggers the Monsters into a more aggressive, feral state. It used to be standard practice, the Union would send a member to assess the conditions and threats in Dungeons before deploying a raiding party.

But it was soon discovered that, when a human exits an unconquered Dungeon, something happens that puts the Monsters in a berserk state.

While they don't exactly get stronger, they attack viciously, with no regard for self-preservation...they'll literally let themselves get stabbed if it means they can land a fatal blow on you.

That's why the standard practice until recently was to progress as far as possible through a Dungeon and only retreat if you encounter something your party has no chance against.

That standard was to minimize the number of hyper-aggressive Monsters that the backup party would need to face to complete the conquest of the Dungeon.

The only reason they changed that to now retreat at any sign of deviations from the standard patterns is because of the drastic spike in unpredictable Dungeon patterns," Aria informed them, as we stepped out of the building.

Huh. I, uh...I didn't know any of that.

<Of course you didn't...>

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