Converging Predators
The thick layer of sand carpeting the floor coalesced into a single mass, rising up into a solid rampart that barred the party's advance.
Then, an eye formed within it.
A dull, unreadable eyeball gazed blankly at Bennett.
Yet that was all it did. It made no further move, nor did it attempt to attack. It simply hovered there, an unblinking sphere of compacted grit, watching his every breath.
As Bennett swapped magazines just in case, his Detection caught something new.
Whooosh!
From behind them—specifically from the direction of the shattered window—a violent gale tore into the room, whipping up a tempest of swirling sand.
Rrrrriiiip!
It pulverized everything caught in its trajectory.
Desks and tables that looked reasonably solid were reduced to powder and wiped out in the blink of an eye, and neither the floor nor the ceiling was spared. The stone cladding crumbled like dry wafer, and the iron rebar holding out to the bitter end was shaved away in seconds. The sight of a thick structural pillar erased in an instant made even Bennett flinch.
"Wh-what the hell is that now?!"
"Forward!"
With Shooting Star in one hand and his Chainsword in the other, Bennett charged straight toward the sand wall. Rather than facing the grinding storm head-on, he chose to cut his way through.
The party members froze for a fraction of a second, startled by the sudden command, but immediately sprinted in his wake. True to their veteran instincts, they reacted on reflex even amidst sudden panic.
Closing the distance to the sand wall, Bennett drew upon his otherworldly power without holding back.
Bzzzzzzt!
The Chainsword blazed with an brilliance more dazzling than ever before.
At that exact moment, the motionless sand wall flinched. The eyeball snapped shut in a hurry, as if it had laid eyes on something it was never meant to witness.
Bennett swung the Chainsword with all his might.
Slash!
Though he was slicing through grains of sand, the tactile feedback in his grip felt like cleaving through dense, solid matter. A massive breach tore open where Bennett's Chainsword ripped through, and the party plunged through the gap without a second's hesitation.
The sand wall wriggled in an attempt to seal the opening, unwilling to yield passage so easily, but it failed to fully regenerate.
"Bennett-nim?"
"Keep running to the door!"
Bennett deliberately slackened his pace and dropped back to the rear.
The sandstorm had already closed the gap dramatically, looming inches from the wall. It was only a matter of seconds before the gale seeped through the breach. Bennett leveled Shooting Star straight at the opening.
Th-th-th-thump—!
Bennett squeezed the trigger and held it down. The drum magazine's payload of thirty enchanted bolts emptied in a single continuous burst.
The instant the projectiles collided with the raging sandstorm, their pure white arrowheads flared with blinding radiance. The magic compressed inside erupted like a volley of miniature supernovas.
KRA-BOOOOM!
A shockwave of raw magical force so intense it made Erika whip around in shock violently shook the corridor. It was only natural—in terms of spellcraft, Bennett had just detonated thirty spells simultaneously.
The devastating fury packed within the sandstorm subsided in an instant.
Sensing through Detection that the two opposing energies had collided and neutralized one another, Bennett let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Keep going up!"
Edgar, who had been hesitating at the threshold of the doorway, surged ahead to take point, while Kyle hoisted Erika onto his back and sprinted up the stairs. By the time Bennett reached the stairwell last, both the speed and ferocious power of the sandstorm had decayed significantly.
SLAM!
Yanking the heavy door shut behind them, Bennett hurried toward the fourth floor. The door rattled violently on its hinges, but it was spared the fate of being chewed into nonexistence like the furniture below.
Meanwhile, on the fifth floor of the same building.
A heavily armed scavenger party was ransacking an office floor.
"There's nothing here except zombies, huh? Everyone was saying people got completely wiped out last time, so I was sweating bullets for nothing."
"Don't get cocky. More than a few bastards have ended up six feet under because they looked down on the dungeon."
"Aiyoo, yes, sir! Understood, Boss!"
Their banter sounded relaxed and casual, but their movements told an entirely different story. The fluid, practiced ease with which they searched through drawers, paired with their cautious footing and vigilant scanning of the perimeter, proved they were seasoned scavengers.
"Still, is this place always this barren? Doesn't look like there's anything worth a damn—"
BOOOOM!
The party scouring the office snapped to attention, sweeping their surroundings. The building shuddered, but rather than panicking, they immediately assessed the situation.
Though the thunderous rumble was accompanied by noticeable tremors, they quickly verified that their immediate vicinity was secure. Their eyes naturally shifted toward their leader.
"Leader?"
Opening his closed eyes, the leader adjusted his grip on the long staff in his hands.
"I felt quite a strong mana shockwave from the floor below. Feels like someone tore several spell scrolls open all at once."
"Scrolls? What crazy bastard would do that?"
"Crazy? You mean filthy rich!"
"Right! We could use a sugar daddy like that in our squad. Seriously, I'm jealous!"
The scavengers smacked their lips and complained, but there wasn't a trace of fear in their voices. On the contrary, their eyes gleamed with curiosity at the prospect of something entertaining unfolding nearby.
"So." One of the squad members flashed an oily grin. "Are we going down, or are we staying put?"
"What do the rest of you think?"
"Well, we're always up for whichever option puts more coin in our pockets."
The leader's gaze drifted toward their backpacks. They had gathered a scattering of miscellaneous loot, but the bags were far from full.
Should they continue clearing the fifth floor and advance to the sixth? Or should they head down, find out who this 'rich bastard' was, and step in if an opportunity presented itself?
The leader looked back at his companions. Unlike him, who was genuinely weighing the risks and rewards, the members were already smirking as if their minds had been made up from the start.
The leader shook his head in fond exasperation. "Fine, fine. We're going down. Happy now?"
"Hell yeah!"
"However!" The leader set his face into a stern glare, making it clear this boundary was non-negotiable. "We assess the situation before making a move. Depending on how it plays out, we might be able to walk away with a profit without raising a weapon."
"Naturally, Boss! We're not stupid enough to think cracking skulls is always the answer!"
"You and that silver tongue... Move out."
And so, multiple parties began converging toward the epicenter of the detonation—some driven by bloodlust, others calculating like hyenas looking to pick the scraps clean.
Creeeeak.
The stairwell door creaked open, and a massive tower shield jutted out into the hallway.
"...Looks clear for now," Edgar reported, peering through the viewing slit of his shield.
Behind him, Bennett lightly swept the surroundings with Detection before patting the big man's shoulder.
Clank. Clank.
Equipped with the heaviest armor and gear in the group, Edgar inevitably produced a muted clatter no matter how carefully he stepped.
Only after reaching a secluded corner walled in on all sides—a relatively secure vantage point—did Bennett's party finally allow themselves to exhale.
"Take a short breather."
Following that chaotic escape, everyone had burned through a noticeable amount of stamina. Bennett, Kyle, and Erika took the opportunity to drink water and chew on dried meat. Once the three finished eating, Kyle took over holding the shield while Edgar had his meal.
Washing down the salty jerky with a swig of water, Bennett murmured in a low voice: "That explosion just now definitely drew attention."
Their action had been an unavoidable necessity for immediate survival, but to external observers, it was practically an open broadcast declaring, 'There are people here.'
Those who made a living hunting fellow humans for profit, as well as those who hadn't stooped to it yet but wouldn't hesitate if an easy opportunity presented itself, would inevitably be lured in by the signal. Even scavengers who had no interest in targeting people might come running if their own hauls had been disappointing.
...And there was no guarantee that only humans would answer the call.
"We cross the fourth floor as fast as possible."
"Understood."
Rejuvenated by the brief meal, Bennett's party swiftly set out. They moved in tight formation, paying zero heed to farming or looting, concentrating their entire focus on movement speed.
Yet as they made their way across the expansive office floor, the party slowed to a halt.
"...I think someone's up ahead?"
Even Erika, whose perception was the least sharp among them, could pick up the clamor echoing from further down the hall. Guiding the party against the shadow of a wall, Bennett quietly observed the open area ahead.
At first glance, the layout seemed simple enough, but between the scattered desks, file cabinets, and partition cubicles, office interiors were deceptively labyrinthine.
Deep inside that maze, two separate parties were locked in a tense standoff.
"You crazy bastards! That explosion just now—you set that off, didn't you?!"
"What kind of bullshit are you barking?! And what the fuck does that have to do with you anyway?!"
Observing the confrontation, Bennett's eyes narrowed. "Hunters."
"Pardon?"
One of the parties belonged to the Hunters—the very same crew of scavengers Bennett had crossed paths with before.
"Come to think of it, the bastards they're squaring off against... look like human hunters too, just like the Hunters."
It appeared two hostile factions that had been embroiled in a bitter cold war back in Dungeon City had finally run into each other inside the dungeon's corridors.
Both parties snarled and raised their voices, the hostility thickening with every passing second. At first, they merely traded insults and screamed...
"Die, you underhanded vermin!"
"Go choke on your own blood, you pieces of shit!"
Eventually, their pent-up rage boiled over, and both sides drew their weapons in unison.
Arrows crossed paths in midair, while swordsmen clashed blades wherever sightlines were clear.
"Two groups of human hunters slaughtering each other... Should we consider this a stroke of good luck?"
"Hardly. They're blocking our way."
"Ah, fair point."
Bennett masked a subtle frown.
He hadn't anticipated their advance being stalled by something so absurd.
If the windowed perimeter had been clear, they might have looked for an opening to slip past unnoticed, but those idiots were brawling with utter disregard for the Blue Moon. This floor had fewer broken panes than the one below, and most of the blinds and curtains hung intact, but it was still far from completely safe from the Blue Moon's light.
Sneaking past is out of the question.
Even if they committed their full combat strength to punch through, the brawling scavengers were too widely scattered across the floor. If Bennett's party made a careless move, they risked drawing crossfire from both sides at once.
Reaching a swift conclusion, Bennett whispered, "We fall back to the stairwell. The route to the fifth floor was barricaded, so we'll head down instead."
"Understood."
Bennett's party turned back immediately. Or rather, they began to.
"...Too late."
"What?"
Another group had just appeared from the very direction Bennett's party had arrived. Bennett silently clamped a hand onto Edgar's shoulder as a signal, and Edgar quietly melted back into the shadows.
The new arrivals were a ten-man scavenger party.
They hadn't noticed Bennett's group yet, their attention locked entirely on the commotion ahead as they conferred in hushed tones.
Bennett subtly activated Detection to eavesdrop on their conversation. Without infusing psionic energy, its range and resolution were limited, but it allowed him to spy without giving away his presence.
"Oh, looks like we're in for a good show. Good thing we climbed straight up when that third-floor door wouldn't budge."
"Guess that racket earlier was these guys going at each other's throats?"
"No need for us to get our hands dirty. If we sit tight, they'll tear each other apart. Let's hang back and watch."
A thinly veiled bloodlust laced their voices.
The newly arrived squad was brimming with confidence. Not only was their equipment of remarkably high grade, but the fluid coordination of their movements revealed formidable combat prowess.
And that was not the end of it.
CREEEEAK!
Moments later, yet another party slipped through the door that Bennett's party and the ten-man group had entered through.
"What the hell? Who are those guys?"
No matter how engrossed the ten-man squad was in the ongoing skirmish ahead, there was no missing another group barging in right behind them.
We're completely boxed in.
On a sudden hunch, Bennett shifted his gaze toward the far end of the floor.
And there, he spotted them—black silhouettes creeping forward in absolute silence from the opposite perimeter. Vague figures clad in dark tactical camo flickered in and out of sight between the shadows. It looked like a party comprised entirely of assassins, much like the Thief Clan they had wiped out before.
Having confirmed that at least five parties—six, including their own—were now converging within this single sector, Bennett quietly relayed the situation to his comrades.
The party's immediate reaction was concise.
"What a total shitshow."
"For once, Edgar, your choice of words is spot-on."
Survive This Shitshow
🎁 Reward: 150 EXP
💀 Failure: ???
Aside from the time he had destroyed the Outsider, this was the single highest amount of experience ever offered by a quest—a grim testament to just how lethal their current predicament truly was.