Point-of-View: Charlotte Bryns

———————————————————————————

No, this can't be...it shouldn't be possible, how-...?

No, the how or why doesn't matter.

That isn't going to change the situation, I need to keep my composure and assess the situation calmly.

"What Threat Level is it?" I inquired, as I stood up with a grimace.

"W-Well, that's-...I-I don't know."

"Huh?"

"It's just, well...this Dungeon only has one floor."

"What? Just one floor?" I frowned in bewilderment.

Even the smallest Low Level Dungeons have never had less than fifteen floors, what the hell is going on here?

I'm getting an incredibly bad feeling about this.

To make matters worse, all of our Aces, along with the majority of our best K-Ranks, are all currently busy with raids.

The same goes for the Hunters in the other Sanctuaries, the HUC decided to have all one hundred of the Dungeons tackled at the same time.

This isn't good, the Hunters are still at least a few hours away from returning from their respective raids.

How should I handle this?

"Alright...send an emergency alert to all K-Ranked Hunters currently in the Sanctuary, have them gather at the location of this anomalous Dungeon.

Next, issue a request for backup from the other Sanctuaries. And finally...I need gear and a spear, plus transport," I instructed them, after taking a moment to mull it over.

"Huh? Wait, you mean...you're going to go out there and fight, Chairwoman?"

"Just as a precaution. All our Aces are occupied at the moment, and as rusty and weakened as I undoubtedly am compared to before I retired, I am still an Ace."

"Well, technically, you lose your rank when you retire, so-..."

"You know what I meant! Now, come on, we've got no time to waste!" I snapped in exasperation, before letting out a slow exhale to calm myself down.

If things go bad, I can at least buy some time until Kai and the others return from their raids, if nothing else...

———————————————————————————

Point-of-View: Kaivel Intrix

———————————————————————————

"We can definitely beat this thing, but it's taking too long. What the Demon Lord said earlier, something must be happening in the Sanctuary, we need to get back as quickly as possible," Remarked Aria, as she flew over towards me, the Monster warily keeping its distance.

"Agreed. Now, <Emerge, Apostle of Sloth: Acedia>."

"<How may I serve you, my Lord>?" He uttered as he appeared before me.

"Help us kill that as fast as possible," I instructed, as I nodded at the King Ant.

"<Understood>."

He unleashed a devastating blast of lightning towards the Monster, Aria and I rushing forward as the King Ant veered across to evade the blast.

I swung my left arm across, firing out a rapid, slashing wave of Negative Energy towards it, a shallow cut appearing across its left arm as it flew across and narrowly evaded my attack, right as Aria launched herself towards it with a pressurized burst of Negative Energy from her feet, driving her right fist towards its head.

She clipped the side of its head as it tilted its head across to the left, the slight contact enough to trigger the explosive effect of her flames, blasting the Monster across to its left.

As it crashed onto the wall, a barrage of powerful lightning bolts shot towards it, screeches of pain ringing out as the attacks peppered that part of the wall, a thick cloud of dust billowing out.

The King Ant then burst out of the dust cloud with a furious screech, swerving across the air as a drilling blast of lightning shot towards it, narrowly evading the attack before crossing its arms in front of itself as a blast of Negative Energy mixed with crimson flames came shooting towards it.

As the blast collided against its arms, searing the stump left around its right arm, sending it hurtling back before it came to a shaky halt as it spread out its wings, a startled, pained chitter rang out as I zipped up behind it and plunged my blade through the middle of its back, piercing through the middle of its Core.

As it shakily began to raise its left arm up, I shattered its Core with a violent twist of my blade. The Monster seized up and shuddered in agony, before going limp as its shoulders and head slumped.

It plummeted as I pulled my blade back out, hitting the ground with a thud. I swooped down towards it, landing beside the King Ant's corpse before using Ravage to consume its Mana and body.

I then deactivated Enrage and Descent, letting out a slow exhale as I reverted back to my normal state...

.

.

.

.

.

Okay, with that done, we need to hurry and rush back to the Sanctuary, as fast as we possibly can-...no, we should keep our power boosts in reserve, just in case.

That fight took about three minutes, so I've got around seven minutes left with both.

But we'll be a lot slower without them, and I get the feeling that every second is going to count.

In that case...

"Acedia. Go on ahead of us and rush back to the Sanctuary as fast as you can. We be right behind you. When you get there, let them know that I sent you, and if there's an urgent situation, do what you can to help out," I commanded him with a grimace.

He's a fair bit faster than Aria and I are in our base forms, so he'll be able to get back faster than we can.

"<Very well, my Lord>," He nodded, before rushing towards the entrance of the tunnel.

Seems that block that was covering the entrance disappeared after we defeated the King Ant, it must be some kind of new feature the Demon Lord discovered over these last two and a half months.

I wonder, is everyone else in the other Dungeons going through the same thing?

Based on what the Demon Lord said, he can assign stronger Dungeon Bosses by having the rest of the Monsters in the Dungeons be weaker, but it's unlikely that he'd risk deploying a hundred Calamity Level Monsters all at once.

There likely are more Calamity Level Threats at play right now, but I seriously doubt every single Dungeon Boss in this wave of Dungeons are at that level.

"Come on, let's get going. We'll stop to get our I-Watches from the transport, see if we get an update on the situation as we rush back," I remarked, as I hurried towards the entrance.

"Yeah, I'm right behind you," Nodded Aria, following close behind me...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.