Dungeon (2)

The players gathered at the search party's forward base numbered twenty in total.

Each had their own reasons for braving the dangers of the west.

Some had come with genuine intent to find Ian. Others sought information about the still-unexplored western ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠region. Still others had come chasing new opportunities.

But at this moment, their goals had aligned into one.

Quest Clear.

They were to subjugate the three elite monsters that existed in the west.

And in the process, the players had to make a choice.

How to form their parties, and which party would face which monster.

Countless discussions took place over the course of a day. From party composition to strategy. The twenty players finished every possible preparation to turn their plans into reality.

And so the players left the forward base, each heading out to defeat the elite monster they had been assigned.

The hot, humid tropical rainforest of Limbahitam greeted them once more.

Among them, the party Ian belonged to was moving south to subjugate Solar Bloom.

As they walked, Ian recalled what Kalinia had told her.

'Solar Bloom… She definitely said it was a monster that absorbs and emits sunlight.'

After the players had accepted the quest, Kalinia had shared with them everything the dark elves had learned about the monsters' characteristics.

Solar Bloom.

An elite monster that absorbed powerful sunlight and released it.

According to Kalinia, its destructive power was the greatest among the four elite monsters. The solar rays it emitted could reduce anything they touched to ashes in an instant.

“Which means shields and similar weapons will be useless against Solar Bloom.”

Anyone foolish enough to try blocking it would simply be incinerated by the sunlight.

That was why Emily and the other players who used shields, axes, spears, or staves had been excluded from the Solar Bloom subjugation party.

In other words, this elite monster raid would be carried out with an entirely new set of party members.

Ian reviewed the information on her new companions once more.

'That pink-haired woman over there is a level 16 swordsman named Veronica.'

The petite girl beside her with snow-white bobbed hair was Lily, a level 17 martial artist. The slender woman with dark skin was Zola, a level 18 martial artist. The woman walking at the very back, with the largest chest and charming doe-like eyes, was Aya, a level 16 archer.

And then—

“What are you thinking about so hard?”

Her friend who had suddenly appeared and draped an arm over her shoulder—Naira, level 18.

Including Ian, six players in total were participating in this Solar Bloom subjugation. Though, coincidentally, the entire party consisted of women.

Ian shrugged.

“I was wondering how to shake off this annoying arm.”

“Oh my, have I already become annoying? What about our relationship then? Was last night just you playing with me?”

“We just shared the same tent! And please stop saying things that could be misunderstood if someone overhears!”

Watching Ian huff and puff ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in agitation, Naira flashed a mischievous smile.

But that smile didn’t last long.

“Whoa…” Naira let out an admiring sigh as she took in Ian’s outfit, which left her figure completely exposed. “This new outfit is pretty bold too. Have you decided to just go all out and seduce everyone?”

“Seduce? As if. I’m only wearing it because I don’t have anything else.”

“Well, I do prefer this look. If you just showed a little more of your stomach, it’d be perfect.”

“That’s never happening, so you can stop dreaming.”

Although the incident in Lundel had made her somewhat numb to exposure, Ian had absolutely no intention of deliberately showing more skin.

After all, two months ago she had still been a man. Just walking around with this face was already a miracle from Ian’s perspective.

Besides, she didn’t have the luxury of worrying about her clothes right now.

“So, have you finished organizing your thoughts, leader?”

Ian smiled bitterly.

Because, just as Naira said, the leader of the Solar Bloom subjugation party was none other than herself.

Why had it come to this?

Excluding special cases like Shaura, tank users who wielded shields or axes usually took on the role of leader in most parties. Since they stood at the very front facing the enemy, they had the best grasp of the overall battle situation.

However, there was no one in Ian’s current party who had previously performed the leader role.

So they had ultimately decided by vote, and the result was an overwhelming 5-to-1 in favor of Ian becoming the party leader. Because she had the highest level and was the strongest.

But Ian didn’t like the position at all.

'I want to run away.'

To her, the title of leader felt like an indelible brand that would never fade. Even now, it felt as though someone was pressing down hard on her shoulders.

At that moment, Naira’s voice reached her.

“Are you okay?”

“…Yeah. It’s nothing.”

Ian forced a smile in response to her worried gaze.

But Naira had seen Ian’s hands trembling. Her complexion was poor, and her eyes were fixed on the ground rather than what lay ahead.

'Did something happen?'

She was curious, but Naira couldn’t bring herself to ask. The Ian before her now looked fragile, like glass that would shatter at the slightest touch. All she could do was walk carefully by Ian’s side.

Before long, the party arrived at the location of Solar Bloom.

“That’s the dungeon we need to clear…”

With the exception of the Alraune, each of the other elite monsters had its own dungeon where it resided.

The dungeon where Solar Bloom dwelled was called the Garden of the Sun.

The tropical rainforest they had just been walking through seemed like a dream. Warm sunlight poured down, and flowers bloomed in riotous color. The scenery stole everyone’s attention.

However, the players could not easily approach that beautiful sight. Just as one might call a pretty mushroom a poisonous one, every flower in that place was a carnivorous plant that devoured people.

That was why everyone present turned their eyes to Ian.

Under the barrage of gazes, Ian closed her eyes for a moment. She clenched her fists tightly to hide her trembling hands.

“Huuu…”

Finally, after taking a deep breath, Ian slowly lifted her heavy eyelids and spoke.

“Everyone, let’s move out.”

Toward the Garden of the Sun.

The moment they set foot inside the dungeon, countless carnivorous flowers welcomed the players.

Ian charged toward the flowers alone and shouted.

“I’ll block all the attacks! Take them down one by one starting from the left!”

Her body spun dramatically so that the monsters would focus solely on her.

“Top Blade.”

The blue blades spun fiercely. The flowers’ bodily fluids splattered in every direction.

But the attack had only been meant to draw their attention. It hadn’t dealt fatal damage.

The attacks from the still-standing monsters poured down on Ian.

Her recklessly aggressive movements left the party members stunned.

The one who snapped them back to their senses was Naira.

“Did you forget the instructions? Start attacking from the left, now!”

Her arrow pierced through a flower. At the same time, the other party members regained their composure, raised their weapons, and unleashed their skills one after another.

Despite their initial panic, the hunt itself went smoothly thanks to Ian, who was perfectly drawing aggro from the front.

Naira and Aya’s arrows pierced their targets. Lily and Zola’s fists pummeled the stems. Veronica’s sword sliced through petals.

Before long, even the last monster had fallen. Ian’s party had defeated the entire group without a single injury.

While everyone caught their breath, Naira approached Ian.

“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

“I’m fine. All I have to do is block. This much is normal for me.”

“Still, it’s too dangerous.”

The Ian she knew was a warrior who defeated enemies with well-balanced offense and defense. But what she had just seen was the height of recklessness—so extreme that even Emily would have been left speechless.

At Naira’s suspicious gaze, Ian let out a dry laugh.

“It’s fine. I’m level 20. I’m really okay.”

“Really?”

“Look. I didn’t get hurt at all.”

Just as she said, aside from being a bit dirty from the bodily fluids, there wasn’t a single wound on her.

And it was also true that her recklessness had allowed them to defeat the monsters with surprising ease.

“Alright. But still, be careful.”

Naira decided to keep an eye on Ian for now. She hoped her worries would turn out to be nothing more than groundless anxiety.

After defeating two more groups of monsters this way, a wide clearing appeared before them.

And there—

“That’s…”

In the center of the clearing stood an enormous Venus flytrap the size of a three-story building.

-Creeeeak…

The gatekeeper of the garden stretched out long strands of sticky liquid and spread its leaves toward the players.

The flytrap’s body tilted forward at high speed.

Ian stomped the ground and shouted.

“Everyone, dodge!”

As expected of those who fought on the front lines, the players moved swiftly.

Once again, the one running ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the very front was Ian. A blue glow gathered on her sword.

“Sword Rush!”

Her charge, like a streak of meteor, slammed into the flytrap’s stem.

It didn’t sever it, but the flytrap twisted in pain as it sprayed bodily fluids everywhere. To shake Ian off, its massive leaves began spinning violently.

Ian had no choice but to create distance. The other close-range dealers also hesitated to approach.

At that moment, arrows from Naira and Aya, who had been waiting for an opening from afar, sniped the flytrap.

Basic Archery Skill, Third Form.

Straight-line Piercing Shot.

“Pierce Shot!”

The two spinning arrows collided with the rotating flytrap like drills.

-Thud!

The impact stopped its rotation, and the flytrap’s body shook violently. In that opening, Ian shouted to those waiting.

“Lily, Zola—attack the stem! Veronica, attack the leaves!”

“Roger!”

A whirlwind of blue and violet energy slammed into the flytrap.

During the exchange, the leaves occasionally targeted the players, but Ian slipped into the gaps and protected them from the flytrap.

The continuous barrage of close- and long-range attacks inflicted numerous wounds on the flytrap.

Finally, having reached its limit, the flytrap’s body turned bright red.

“It’s phase two! Fall back for a moment!”

At Ian’s command, everyone except her retreated to where Naira and Aya were standing.

And at that moment, the flytrap—which had briefly closed its leaves—opened them wide once more.

Sunlight poured over the flytrap. With an enormous amount of light, its body began to grow larger and larger, and all the wounds they had painstakingly inflicted healed completely.

Not only the party members, but even Ian was taken aback.

“W-what the hell is this thing?”

She had thought it would be somewhat easy. After all, rooted to the ground, the only thing it could move was its leaves.

But now, standing before a fully recovered flytrap that had grown to the height of a four-story building, Ian felt a surge of tension.

The fully grown flytrap’s spread leaves came crashing toward Ian.

Dodging the leaves, Ian thought to herself.

'Its speed itself hasn’t changed much from before.'

That meant they could still push it to the brink of death if they attacked the same way as before.

But the problem was that they had no idea how many more times it could recover. If it grew any larger, it might fill the entire clearing.

'We have to completely sever the stem before the next growth phase begins. And the only one who can do that is…'

Having made up her mind, Ian issued new orders.

“Naira and Aya, keep pressuring it from range. Lily and Zola, focus exclusively on hit-and-run attacks. Just chip away at its stamina. Veronica, stand by!”

“Okay!”

Though questions naturally arose, the party members chose to follow Ian’s instructions rather than ask. They continued drawing their bowstrings, throwing punches and retreating, steadily draining the flytrap’s health.

Under the relentless assault, the flytrap’s body staggered violently once again.

And in that fleeting gap, Ian’s eyes flashed.

“Veronica, now! Attack the stem!”

“T-this? O-okay!”

Though flustered, Veronica followed Ian’s command and swung her most powerful attack at the flytrap’s thick stem.

“Haaap! Double Accel!”

Two slashes struck the stem. Her sword strikes severed one-third of the flytrap’s stem.

But at that moment, the flytrap spread its leaves wide once again.

“D-don’t tell me it’s going to recover again?!”

Everyone watching cried out in shock. Just as sunlight was about to pour down on the flytrap again—

A blue wind brushed past Veronica’s side.

“Slash!”

Ian. Her sword was sucked into the wound Veronica had created.

-Slice!

Ian’s blade severed the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠remaining two-thirds of the stem. Sunlight poured down belatedly, but it could no longer restore a stem that had been completely cut.

-Boom!

With a cloud of rough dust, the flytrap’s massive body collapsed.

It was the end of the gatekeeper of the garden.