'Fog Gate'
Before the crumbling stone archway, thick mist flowed continuously. Standing outside the gate, one simply could not confirm what scene lay beyond once stepping through.
The good news:
There was no "Click to Enter" prompt from some two-word game, nor any elemental markers that required waiting.
"Ready?"
After making all preparations for exploration, Ron looked toward the girl at his side. Seeing the firm determination in Mikoto's eyes, he stepped into the fog gate without hesitation.
A brief sensation of dizziness followed.
What appeared before his eyes next caused his pupils to contract sharply.
The surrounding environment was dim—still ancient ruins of collapsed walls and broken structures. Yet unlike the situation outside the tenth Floor, this place resembled a circular altar.
Looking up, one could see the twisted, shattered dome overhead, beneath a blood-red sky.
"This atmosphere really feels kind of underworld-ish…"
There were no first-encounter kill traps, nor any path forward.
As for what awaited him next—Ron could guess it even with his eyes closed. It was absolutely the unavoidable boss life-or-death battle segment from a Soulslike game.
Sensing the fog gate vanish behind him, and the girl beside him growing slightly tense upon entering such an area for the first time, he took a deep breath. He could even smell the metallic tang of blood in the air. Keeping his tone steady, he said: "If we want to leave, it's simple."
"We just have to defeat the Floor Boss here."
The moment Ron finished speaking, he saw two mottled stone golems appear in the distance ahead. They possessed lion-like massive bodies and three canine-shaped demonic heads.
Each of the two monsters held different weapons—one a greatsword and shield, the other a staff.
Having existed for countless years, traces of moss could even be seen on their surfaces. The red capes behind them appeared worn and tattered.
As if sensing the presence of intruders, the Floor Bosses were steadily awakening.
Their moving stone bodies emitted harsh creaking sounds. At last, the watchdogs stood before them in an extremely bizarre posture.
'Erdtree Burial Watchdog'
But the DanMachi version.
A Floor Boss of this strength, if placed in Elden Ring, would absolutely be a pure trash mob. As for the composition of the two monsters before them—there was no telling yet.
Only after probing them would he be able to give an accurate evaluation.
"Two."
"We can only split up…"
After briefly explaining the current situation, it was clear that, at this stage, the combat techniques provided by the "Sekiro" Character Save Slot were definitely not enough to deal with the two watchdogs before them.
Ron decisively switched back to the "Tarnished."
Having just joined Hestia Familia and, on her very first exploration of the Dungeon, already encountering a Floor Boss, Mikoto's feelings were extremely difficult to put into words.
However, this was also the reason she had made her choice. Only high-intensity battles could bring about an increase in ability values!
The girl nodded solemnly. Just as she was about to ask how such monsters should be dealt with, she discovered that Ron had already taken the lead, greatsword in hand, launching the first attack.
His instantaneous burst of speed was astonishing.
Even while wielding a brass heavy shield and an enormous greatsword, he relied on his high mobility to arrive before the Erdtree Burial Watchdog that held the staff.
"Then…"
"I'll take care of the other Floor Boss!"
Mikoto tried her best to steady her emotions. Yet when facing the golem statue, she finally understood—why Ron had chosen to wield a seemingly cumbersome greatsword!
...
'Does this count as my first true battle, in the real sense, after advancing to Level 2?'
When facing two watchdogs at the same time, the best option was to focus on breaking through at a single point. The one Ron chose to attack was the most troublesome—the staff-wielding watchdog.
Compared to ordinary Imps, the monster before him could be described as massive. Leaving aside its mobility for the moment, at the very least in terms of attack methods, the Floor Boss before him absolutely qualified as sinister.
After all, it was one of the few Bosses capable of wielding magic!
Ron made a simple adjustment to his stance.
The battle intent rising in his eyes was not concealed in the slightest. He bent his body to gather strength. Even with a heavy shield and greatsword in hand, it did not affect his sprinting speed.
In the blink of an eye, he was about to reach the watchdog holding the staff.
He had not formulated any tactics, instead entrusting the fight to his body's instincts. Just as Ron swung his greatsword and initiated the first strike against the monster, it was the sword-and-shield watchdog that reacted first.
That golem body, which did not match its massive size, leapt nimbly from the ground, blocking his inevitable path. It raised its greatsword and brought it down in a heavy slash.
Bang…
At the moment the weapons collided, the recoil sent a numbness through Ron's arms.
Sparks flew continuously upon impact. Yet due to the disparity in weapon quality, a conspicuous chip appeared along the blade of the sword-and-shield watchdog's weapon.
He felt somewhat fortunate.
Had he used the brass heavy shield to attempt a parry, given the Floor Boss's strength, he would have been sent flying outright—shield and all.
There was not the slightest trace of underestimation in his mind.
Just as Ron prepared to attack again, waves of fiery heat surged from the golem head of the sword-and-shield watchdog. In an instant, three streams of flame burst forth.
"You mother—"
Even though he had already expected it, the Floor Boss's flame-breathing speed—without any wind-up whatsoever—still caught him off guard. An intense sense of danger surged straight into his mind.
Not only that, the other Boss, hiding behind the sword-and-shield Erdtree Burial Watchdog, was now raising its staff high. The faint blue light at its tip ultimately transformed into bone-chilling frost, which swept toward Ron's position.
"So you're trying to trigger a melt reaction on me, huh?"
His instincts told him that this thing was definitely the watchdog from the Consecrated Snowfield. Facing the combined technique of these two Floor Bosses, trying to tank it head-on would absolutely mean game over!
Ron raised the brass heavy shield before him.
Facing the sweeping flames from the sword-and-shield Erdtree Burial Watchdog, he endured the scorching heat enveloping him and dragged his greatsword along the ground as he quickly surged forward to counterattack the staff-wielding Erdtree Burial Watchdog.
When the shield's surface grew hot enough to burn his skin, he decisively abandoned it.
What awaited him next was frost magic. The temperature of the air plummeted instantly, as if every breath he drew into his lungs carried countless shards of ice.
The piercing pain briefly halted his thoughts, yet even so, Ron did not stop in the slightest. Facing the watchdog's arm raised high above him, and the heavy staff crashing down toward him—
'Combat Art: Lion's Claw'
The surge of adrenaline flooding his body rendered the pain incapable of slowing him.
As the staff slammed into the ground, sending fragments of stone flying everywhere, he dashed forward without hesitation. Spinning his body mid-motion, he leapt like a wolf and brought "Great Fortune" down in a slash against the monster's arm.
Bang!
That strike, infused with all his strength, unleashed tremendous power under the enhancement of Second-Class Armament. Even the statue-like arm of the staff-wielding Erdtree Burial Watchdog, at the very instant it met the blade's edge, displayed spiderweb-like cracks.
They spread at a speed visible to the naked eye until the arm completely shattered. Accompanied by the monster's shrill screech, the staff crashed heavily to the ground.
There was no need to strip the watchdog of armor.
After all, the monster's very nature was that of a stone statue!
With the horizontal sweeping slash of the sword-and-shield Erdtree Burial Watchdog behind him, and the Floor Boss in front attempting to use its remaining arm to retrieve the staff that had fallen to the ground,
Ron fixed his gaze on the staff inlaid with a deep-blue gemstone, his eyes turning ruthless.
He pried the glintstone from the top of the staff with his fingers, then decisively lowered his stance and rolled to evade. Throwing himself sideways with full force, he pulled back to a safe distance.
His skin tore against the ground, fragments of stone embedding themselves into his flesh.
The searing pain made Ron suck in a sharp breath. Yet as he looked at the radiant deep-blue magic stone in his palm, his eyes now held nothing but desire for the glintstone staff.
"This glintstone fell on the ground—figure nobody's claiming it…"
"So I'll just pick it up!"
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