Even the glowing moss covering the walls had disappeared. Thankfully, the tunnel itself hadn’t collapsed.
Alex stared at the destruction in silence.
He had expected the compressed fire bullet to be stronger than before, since he could compress more mana with Battle Instinct Spell. He simply hadn’t imagined it would become this powerful.
Beside him, Yulia slowly pushed herself onto one elbow.
"What the hell was that...?" she muttered.
...
Yulia had separated from Joseph against her own wishes. He had practically shoved her toward another tunnel while insisting she survive, choosing to stay behind and draw the monsters away.
Yulia never intended to escape.
Instead, she hunted monsters while searching for Joseph’s trail, steadily growing stronger with every battle. Her only goal was to rescue him once she had enough strength.
Unfortunately, the repeated booms from her attacks attracted more and more Titan Reef Crabs. Before long, she had been surrounded from every direction with no way out.
Eventually, she accepted that she might die there.
Then she heard someone shout that they were coming to rescue her. For a brief moment, she thought Joseph had somehow found her.
Instead, a young man burst through the swarm.
His clothes were torn, fresh wounds covered his body, and blood stained nearly every part of him. He looked one step away from death, yet he moved with a chilling decisiveness.
His steps were confident. His gaze was firm. Every swing of his sword crippled another Titan Reef Crab, and his movements were so fast that even Yulia struggled to follow them.
She had invested nearly all of her stat points into Strength. Even so, she wasn’t confident she could match him in a fight.
Then he took out that wand.
At first, she assumed it worked like Joseph’s Mana Bullet. That spell was powerful, but it only struck a single target.
What the young man unleashed wasn’t a Mana Bullet.
It was a goddamn bomb.
"Let’s run!" the young man shouted as he forced himself to his feet and grabbed her arm.
...
"Let’s run!" Alex shouted.
Yulia immediately got to her feet and nodded. The way she looked at him had completely changed, but Alex didn’t have the time to think about it.
Escaping before the remaining monsters regrouped was all that mattered.
The two of them sprinted through the tunnel cleared by the explosion. Every Titan Reef Crab in that section had either been killed or blasted aside, leaving nothing to slow them down.
They ran as fast as they could, widening the distance between themselves and the crater.
While running, Yulia suddenly bent down and picked something off the ground. A moment later, she threw it toward Alex.
"Catch!" she said.
Alex caught the wand cleanly and slipped it back into his pocket without slowing down. Neither of them spoke again as they continued racing toward the others.
A few moments later, they reached the group.
The explosion had reached their position, scattering dust and loose stones throughout the tunnel, but thankfully nobody had been injured. Alex quickly looked around and noticed several Titan Reef Crab corpses lying near the narrow passage.
Five of them.
He couldn’t help but feel proud of them. When they had first entered the dungeon, defeating even one Titan Reef Crab had required everything the group had. Now they had managed to kill five while he was away.
The improvement was obvious.
His instructions during the earlier battles had helped everyone organize themselves much better. Instead of fighting as frightened individuals, they had begun fighting as a proper team.
"Yulia!"
Sarah and Petra immediately ran toward the elderly woman. Relief filled their faces as they reached her, and Petra tightly wrapped her arms around Yulia’s waist.
"So you really brought rescue," Yulia said with a wry smile and returned the hug before looking at Alex. "Thank you, young man. I’m Yulia Folem."
"Alex Mercer."
Before anyone could continue talking, Alex looked toward the tunnel.
"Get ready. The battle isn’t over yet," he said.
Almost on cue, the remaining Titan Reef Crabs came rushing toward them. Alex noticed a few stopping to feed on the charred corpses left behind by the explosion, but most ignored them and continued charging in the group’s direction.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out an Energy Bar. Taking a large bite, he felt warmth spread through his tired body as some of his stamina returned.
Alex tossed the remaining piece toward Yulia.
"Eat it, then give the rest to everyone else," he said.
Yulia caught it and nodded. This time, nobody suggested running away. They simply looked toward Alex with trust and quiet gratitude before moving into position.
The remaining Energy Bar was returned to Alex. Everyone got into position. The tunnel narrowed just ahead of them, allowing only two Titan Reef Crabs to attack side by side.
It was the same choke point Alex had chosen earlier, and it gave the group a chance to fight without being surrounded.
Frank stood at the front with his shield raised. Alex and Yulia fought just behind him, stepping around the shield whenever an opening appeared before retreating again.
Emma continuously taunted the monsters and kept their attention fixed on the front. Petra healed anyone who suffered a dangerous injury, while Sarah guarded their rear and thrust her spear forward whenever an opportunity appeared.
The battle dragged on for ten exhausting minutes.
Everyone fought as though there would never be another chance. Their movements gradually slowed as fatigue accumulated, but no one abandoned their position or broke formation.
Finally, Alex cut down the last Titan Reef Crab.
The monster collapsed in front of him, and Alex no longer had the strength to remain standing. He fell beside the corpse, breathing heavily as his sword slipped from his hand.
The others weren’t much better.
Frank lowered himself to the ground while leaning against his shield. Emma, Sarah, Frank, Petra, and even Yulia all sat where they were, completely exhausted after the battle.
Even so, faint smiles appeared on every face.
They had survived what should have been certain death. More importantly, they had defeated a force that none of them could have imagined overcoming when they first entered the dungeon.
A series of notifications suddenly appeared before Alex’s eyes.
[Level 10 Titan Reef Crab killed.]
[Level 10 Titan Reef Crab killed.]
[Level 10 Titan Reef Crab...]
[Level 9 Titan Reef....]
[Level 9 Titan...]
[...]
[You have leveled up. Level 6 → Level 7.]
[2 Stat Points gained.]
[You have leveled up. Level 7 → Level 8.]
[2 Stat Points gained.]
[Mana Sense Spell has leveled up. Level 1 → Level 3.]
[Battle Instinct Spell has leveled up. Level 3 → Level 5.]
[Mana Thread Spell has leveled up. Level 5 → Level 7.]
..
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