Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Monster Wave (2)
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‘This is getting annoying.’
Adel Bittenfeld’s face was stiff with tension.
The monsters residing on the 34th floor were Venom Ogres and Bloody Lizardmen, exhibiting completely different lifestyles.
The former operated solo, while the latter hunted in packs.
The two species usually avoided each other, but now that the Monster Wave had begun, the situation was different.
The ones that had been fiercely fighting among themselves switched targets the moment they spotted the humans, baring intense hostility.
Already terrifying in normal times, they had grown even more ferocious under the Monster Wave’s influence and were now banding together.
It was nothing short of a disaster.
“Kraaaang!”
Three Venom Ogres roared in unison.
Their 4-meter frames, with hides and muscles like armor, exuded overwhelming pressure just by looking at them.
But their most fearsome weapon was something else.
The Venom Ogres simultaneously opened their massive maws toward Oliver von Bittenfeld and the rest of the Bittenfeld household.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Thick purple liquid shot out at high speed, reminiscent of a dragon’s breath.
“Everyone, scatter!”
Oliver issued the urgent command.
Purple liquid exploded where they had stood.
Sizzle!
The rock melted in an instant, forming a pool completely covered in the viscous purple fluid.
The acid’s potency was truly terrifying.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
Purple smoke rose from the pool and began spreading rapidly.
“Don’t let your guard down just because you have guardian stones! Even a single breath of that gas is lethal! Control your breathing meticulously!”
Oliver shouted again.
Dungeons were full of monsters with special abilities like deadly poisons or curses.
To counter them, mages had created guardian stones that blocked various special effects, which had become essential gear for adventurers.
However, that didn’t make guardian stones invincible.
The Venom Ogres’ poison alone was potent enough to shatter one in a single hit.
‘It’s not just the poison.’
Adel calmly observed the Venom Ogres.
While their deadliest weapon was the venom, their basic physical prowess rivaled that of normal ogres.
Focusing solely on the poison would get her killed for sure.
“Krraaaang!”
As Adel predicted, the Venom Ogres kicked off the ground, their speed astonishingly fast despite their massive bulk.
The lead one charged straight at Oliver, swinging a fist like a boulder down at him.
Kwaaaang!
But the fist passed harmlessly through Oliver, smashing only the ground.
Oliver had evaded with phantasm.
He shifted to the left, escaping the fist, then swung his sword wrapped in a blue aura blade.
Slash!
The Venom Ogre’s Achilles tendon was severed, and it lost its balance.
At the same time, Bastian Friedrich, captain of the Azure Dragon Knights, leaped high.
He too unleashed a cyan aura blade and brought it down with all his might.
Shraaaack!
His strike cleaved the Venom Ogre’s upper body in half.
It was the prowess expected of the Bittenfeld family’s only two 7th Circle powerhouses.
Yet no one in the group relaxed.
The remaining two Venom Ogres were unleashing a barrage on Oliver and Bastian.
They couldn’t afford to focus solely on them either.
“Keeek!”
“Kiiik!”
Over thirty Bloody Lizardmen began charging ferociously.
Each stood 2 meters tall with hulking builds, armed with weapons made from their kin’s bones.
Oliver raised his voice.
“Otmaer Brigel, take your knights and hold off the Bloody Lizardmen!”
“As you command, family head!”
“Adel Bittenfeld, disrupt their ranks! You’re the only one who can!”
“I obey, family head.”
Otmaer Brigel, vice-captain of the Azure Dragon Knights, and Adel replied in unison.
Otmaer then turned to his knights and shouted.
All eight were squad leader-level elites, so he usually respected their judgment.
But not now.
“Each Bloody Lizardman matches a regular knight in skill! Don’t get complacent just because they’re monsters, or you’ll pay dearly! Everyone, maintain formation and intercept them methodically!”
As Otmaer gave orders, Adel charged toward the pack of Bloody Lizardmen.
Per Oliver’s command, to shatter their formation.
The frontliners hurled javelins at her in unison, but she showed no fear.
She had already activated phantasm.
Kwaduk! Kwaddduk!
The mana-infused javelins passed harmlessly through her body and embedded in the ground.
Closing the distance, she rematerialized, spun like a top to the left, and swung her blade wrapped in blue aura.
Clang!
The targeted Bloody Lizardman raised its bone longsword to block.
Or so it thought.
Shraaaack!
Adel’s sword cleaved through space itself.
The unstoppable strike split the Lizardman’s weapon—and its torso—in half.
That was when it happened.
The surrounding Bloody Lizardmen thrust their swords at her in unison.
Even in their berserk state, they had noticed she rematerialized when attacking.
But.
‘Too slow.’
Shweeeek!
The Lizardmen’s onslaught passed harmlessly through her body again.
This was phantasm.
Half-hearted attacks lost all meaning.
“Everyone, attack!”
“Wipe them out in one go!”
As the Bloody Lizardmen’s attention fixed on Adel, the Azure Dragon Knights under Otmaer charged.
The Lizardmen didn’t sit idle.
They clustered in tight formation to block the knights’ assault as much as possible.
Aura-wrapped knight weapons clashed violently with the monsters’ mana-infused ones.
As the battle intensified,
“Kiiik!”
“Keeeek!”
Cries from Bloody Lizardmen echoed from the opposite side.
Adel bit her lip hard, grasping the implication.
Ignoring the blood trickling from it, she whipped around.
Nearly forty of them were charging toward the knights.
If they linked up, their side would be fully encircled.
‘We need to retreat.’
True to their elite status in the Azure Dragon Knights, there were fatigued members but no casualties yet.
With their forces intact, pulling back now was the right call.
The problem was she had no authority to order it.
She urgently turned toward Oliver.
“Tahat!”
Oliver was overwhelming the Venom Ogres as befitted a 7th Circle powerhouse.
Each swing of his sword sent blue aura blades effortlessly slicing through their tough hides and sturdy bones.
Nor was Oliver the only one shining.
Bastian Friedrich was also displaying the full might of a 7th Circle expert.
Thanks to them, Venom Ogre corpses began piling up.
Yet it meant little.
The Ogres kept summoning more kin to offset their losses.
It felt like every Venom Ogre in the dungeon had gathered here.
The two were so strong that the immediate situation looked favorable, but Adel’s instincts told her otherwise.
That momentum wouldn’t last.
“Family head, we must withdraw!”
“Damn it!”
Oliver spat a curse.
He hated turning his back to mere monsters.
But he knew it too.
Pride wouldn’t help here.
“Everyone, fall back to the entrance!”
As Oliver gave the order, Adel breathed a sigh of relief.
But then.
Kwa-boom!
A crack suddenly appeared in the ceiling and collapsed.
A Venom Ogre dropped from the large gap, maw gaping wide toward her.
Caught off guard, Adel recoiled in shock but desperately tried to activate phantasm.
Her effort failed.
Kwaduk.
“Aaak!”
A sharp cry escaped Adel’s lips.
One of the watching Bloody Lizardmen had hurled a spear, grazing her left side.
Even that glancing blow brought excruciating pain, causing her to miss the phantasm timing.
Amid it all, the Ogre’s venom shot toward her.
She was going to die.
Her instincts screamed the warning.
‘Hoo. What a mess, all because I got the wrong dad.’
She stared blankly up at the descending venom.
If she was dying, she didn’t want to look pathetic.
That let her witness it.
The sight of golden aura blade trajectories pouring down endlessly.
Shraaaack!
The trajectories didn’t just scatter the venom—they shredded the Venom Ogre to pieces.
“Ugh!”
To shield herself from the flying chunks, Adel attempted phantasm again, but pain made her fail once more.
Wung.
The space in front of her warped, a rift opening, and a young man emerged.
He thrust his sword with full force, a golden wave repelling the Ogre fragments.
Adel, barely surviving.
She called out the rescuer’s name.
“……Martin Adalbert.”
It was absurd.
To be saved like this by the man who’d piqued her interest.
‘Not like some fairy tale.’
Still, she couldn’t help her pounding heart.
* * *
In truth, it wasn’t some fairy-tale romance.
Before his regression, while staying with the Egret family, Martin had heard one piece of news.
Adel Bittenfeld had lost her left arm in a dungeon.
Which also cost her the heir position.
He hadn’t known exactly when or where the crisis occurred.
So he’d shadowed the Bittenfeld group as closely as possible.
Of course, with the changed circumstances post-regression, the exact same event might not happen.
‘Still, had to watch.’
He owed her his life, after all.
He wanted to settle that debt, and fortunately, he had succeeded.
“How are you……here…….”
“Drink this.”
Martin cut off Adel and handed her a top-grade potion from his subspace.
Adel took it in a daze.
Leaving her behind, Martin stepped forward.
He ignored Oliver’s glare full of displeasure in his peripheral vision.
“Uwoooor!”
The Venom Ogre roared and smashed down with its interlocked hands.
But instead of dodging or blocking, Martin wagged his left index finger.
Kwa-kwa-kwa!
Enhanced gravity crushed the Ogre’s massive body.
Its knees buckled but it didn’t fall.
It glared at Martin, somehow enduring.
‘Tough bastard.’
He could finish it himself but saw no need.
He wasn’t alone.
Wung.
Cien appeared in midair, spinning like a top and unleashing a roundhouse kick.
The aura-wrapped kick smashed into the Ogre’s head, snapping its neck.
Unable to withstand the impact, the Ogre staggered.
Cien landed, stomped the Ogre’s right thigh for a boost, and swung her zweihander with full power.
The aura-charged blade neatly decapitated it.
“Kuhrraaang!”
“Kraaaang!”
Killing one didn’t mean they could relax.
Over twenty Venom Ogres crowded this narrow space.
And the Bloody Lizardmen had already formed an encirclement.
Full clash would rack up friendly casualties.
‘Why’s he smiling?’
Adel eyed Martin in confusion.
He knew they were in peril—how could he look so relaxed?
Then it happened.
“I’m going first!”
The shout of Lucas Hoffman, captain of the White Dragon Knights, shook the area.
Wreathed in blue lightning, he charged at blinding speed and crashed into the Bloody Lizardmen.
Kwaaaang!
Just the body slam caused an explosion.
The hit Lizardmen and those nearby were crushed to pulp.
And that wasn’t all.
Philip Allofs, captain of the Golden Dragon Knights, unleashed a flurry of sword strikes.
Silver flashes pierced the Lizardmen’s bodies wildly.
Oriana Flores merely flicked her fingers, snapping Lizardmen necks.
Her unique ability, telekinesis, was in play.
The combined assault of three 7th Circle powerhouses was more than enough to shatter the Lizardmen encirclement.
No, it was overkill.
“Damn it!”
Oliver cursed.
He hated being rescued by Martin.
But now wasn’t the time for venting—he signaled Bastian Friedrich.
“Don’t show those guys our pathetic side!”
“Wipe them all out!”
Bastian led the charge against the Venom Ogres.
Otmaer bellowed and followed suit.
Stung in their pride, the Azure Dragon Knights fought even more fiercely than before.
In the end, the monsters were quickly mopped up.