Transmigrated As A Stepdad In A Fantasy Doujin World

Chapter 22: 22. Beast Wave

The left tunnel narrowed after the first hundred paces.

Pale blue crystals continued to light the damp stone walls. Water dripped in steady intervals from the ceiling.

The air grew heavier with the mixed musk of low-level beasts the deeper the group moved.

Tina raised a hand and the formation slowed.

"Tracks," she said quietly. "Fresh. Multiple sets. Not the usual single patrols."

Brianna’s green eyes scanned the branching side passages.

Dean rolled his shoulders and stepped farther forward. Ryn adjusted his grip on the oversized sword.

Seraphine’s crimson eyes sharpened. Eira stayed close to Kael’s left side her small fingers still lightly holding the edge of his sleeve.

A low chorus of growls rolled up the tunnel from ahead.

Then the wave hit.

They came from three directions at once.

From the main path a pack of six Stonehide Hounds burst into view. Gray scaled bodies low to the ground claws scraping sparks from the stone.

From the left side passage a cluster of Sporeling Crawlers poured out soft green bodies trailing faint toxic mist.

From the right a pair of Ironbeak Raptors dropped from a higher ledge wings half-folded for a short glide beaks already open.

E-rank all of them yet different in type and attack pattern.

Dean met the Stonehide Hounds head-on like a pure brawler.

He took the first impact on his shoulder then drove a heavy fist straight into the nearest hound’s skull. Bone cracked.

He grabbed the second by the neck and slammed it into the wall hard enough to leave a crater of shattered scale. No weapon. Only raw strength and brutal timing.

Ryn’s oversized sword lit with a thin layer of pale mana.

The glow was weak but steady. He stepped in with short precise cuts aiming for joints and soft underbellies. Each swing carried just enough mana to bite deeper than steel alone.

Tina’s arrows flew in rapid succession. The tips glowed soft green with the natural mana of her dark elf bloodline.

Every shot targeted eyes or the thin bone of the skull.

Two Ironbeak Raptors dropped before they could fully land. A third arrow pinned a Sporeling Crawler to the wall through the center of its head.

Brianna fought on her own terms.

Vines erupted from the damp stone at her command wrapping three crawlers at once and crushing them until black-green fluid sprayed across the floor.

She spun her staff and a second wave of thorns punched upward through a hound’s belly.

While Seraphine moved like flowing water and blood.

She stepped into the path of three Sporeling Crawlers without hesitation.

The blood-forged dagger spun once in her fingers then vanished into a short upward slash that opened the first crawler from groin to throat in a single clean line.

Black-green fluid sprayed across the stone.

Before the body finished falling she twisted her wrist and the dagger reversed in her grip.

A low spinning step carried her under the second crawler’s lunge.

The blade flashed sideways in a reverse grip cutting both front legs at the joint. The creature collapsed with a wet shriek.

The third crawler tried to spit a glob of toxic mist.

Seraphine was already inside its reach.

She drove the dagger straight up under its soft jaw until the tip punched out through the top of its head. She ripped the blade free in the same motion and let the body drop.

Three kills. Less than four seconds. No wasted movement.

As more crawlers poured from the side passage a thin red mist rose from the blood already spilled on the floor.

Seraphine’s crimson eyes glowed faintly.

The mist twisted into short razor threads under her will and sliced through two more soft bodies before they could reach Eira.

The blood-forged edge of her dagger drank a thin film of the creatures’ fluid and glowed a deeper crimson for a heartbeat before returning to normal.

She flicked the dagger clean with a sharp snap of her wrist and returned to Eira’s side without looking at anyone.

Kael pulled Eira half a step behind him and drew the plain short sword he carried as a porter.

The first Stonehide Hound that slipped past the front line lunged for his legs.

He sidestepped and drove the blade down into the joint behind its skull.

The Bloodthirsty passive stayed quiet. He had not yet been injured.

The tunnel filled with the noise of combat.

Claws on stone. Wet impacts. Short sharp cries from the beasts as they died.

The mixed wave pressed harder than a normal D-rank entrance should have allowed yet none of the individual creatures rose above solid E-rank.

Tina’s voice cut through the noise.

"Keep the formation. Do not let them separate us."

The team answered with clean efficient violence.

Dean crushed another hound against the wall with a bare fist.

Ryn’s mana-lit sword severed a raptor’s wing and then its neck. Tina’s green-tipped arrows never missed an eye. Brianna’s vines and thorns controlled entire sections of the tunnel.

Seraphine’s blood threads and dagger turned every crawler that came near Eira into lifeless meat within seconds.

Bodies piled quickly. Black-green fluid mixed with darker blood and slowly drained toward the low points of the tunnel floor. The air stank of death and fading toxic mist.

Most of the wave was already broken when a final Stonehide Hound broke from the side and lunged straight at Eira.

The girl froze.

A visible shiver ran through her small body.

Her eyes widened in pure fear. Her fingers clenched the edge of Kael’s sleeve so hard the fabric tightened.

Kael moved without thinking.

He shoved Eira behind him and met the hound mid-leap. The plain short sword caught the creature across the shoulder but lacked the weight to stop it cleanly.

Claws scraped across his forearm leaving shallow lines of blood. Pain flared.

The Bloodthirsty passive woke at once. Strength surged through his arms and shoulders by half again.

Kael gritted his teeth and drove the blade upward with the sudden extra force.

The tip punched through the softer scales under the hound’s jaw and into its brain. The body jerked once then went heavy.

He ripped the sword free and let the corpse fall.

His breathing came harder than he wanted. Sweat ran down the side of his face.

Even with the temporary boost the fight had made his low base strength obvious. The others had cut through dozens of beasts with clean efficient power.

He had needed a lucky surge just to finish one that had already been slowed by the chaos.

Kael stood over the dead hound huffing quietly while the last echoes of combat faded down the tunnel.

Eira still shivered behind him. Her small hands clutched the back of his shirt.

Seraphine’s crimson eyes flicked from the corpse to Kael’s bleeding forearm then away again without comment.

Tina lowered her bow and looked at Kael with a small approving nod.

"Not bad for an E- rank body. You moved when it counted."

Brianna wiped a streak of black-green fluid from her staff and added in a warmer tone

"Most porters freeze when something lunges past the front line. You did not. That counts."

Seraphine scoffed loud enough for everyone to hear.

"He’s like an ant in a world of elephants. Don’t flatter him like he’s someone worth that much."

Dean let out a short rough laugh.

"Girl’s got a point."

Ryn smirked and nodded.

"Finally someone says it out loud."

Hearing the two of them laugh made a thin spark of anger rise in Kael’s chest.

Before it could settle he felt small fingers on his wounded forearm.

Eira had already opened the side of his bag and taken out a basic healing potion.

She poured the clear liquid over the shallow cuts without saying a word. A mild itch replaced the sting as the potion worked and the bleeding stopped.

Kael looked down at the top of her dual-colored head.

’At least my youngest daughter Eira is someone who cares for me.’

Seraphine’s crimson eyes shifted between Tina and Brianna.

The way both women looked at her stepfather carried a clear hunger that had nothing to do with combat.

It was the look of someone eyeing a piece of delicious food they had already tasted once and wanted again.

A cold irritation settled in Seraphine’s chest.

’They’re probably some hoes trying to use his body for fun. He’s still my stepdad even though I hate him. I should watch out for him for my mom.’

Kael kept his expression calm while the laughter faded.

’I’ll show you my worth to you my dear Seraphine. Just wait for that night. And for you two cucks I already fucked your fiancée and sister.’

Tina only raised one eyebrow at the sharp comment. Brianna gave a short soft laugh and turned back to checking the tunnel ahead.

Tina lowered her bow fully.

"Wave’s done. Check for stragglers then we move."

Brianna’s vines retracted into the stone. Dean shook blood from his knuckles. Ryn wiped his mana-lit sword on a dead raptor’s wing.

Kael pressed a hand against the now-closed cuts on his arm and felt the last of the Bloodthirsty boost fade. The excitement of the fight still mixed with a thin edge of frustration under his skin.

The excitement of the fight still mixed with a thin edge of frustration under his skin.

He spoke inside his mind while the team caught their breath.

’System. Give me something. I also want to show off in front of my daughters. Please goddess give me something. You’re my favourite goddess.’

Silence.

The system gave no reply.

Kael’s jaw tightened once. He kept his expression calm and looked down the tunnel where the next stretch of D-rank darkness waited.

The beast wave was over.

The real test of the dungeon had only just begun.

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