"Ressa!"
The five-man squad was cheering just a second ago.
Now, only three were left standing.
The two who died didn't even leave whole bodies behind.
The Infant Dragon roared, its glowing red eyes locked on the survivors.
A massive horde of monsters swarmed in from the dark tunnels, blocking every exit.
Even with a full party, getting out alive wasn't guaranteed.
Now? Their front line was completely wiped out.
Maris, who usually fought in the middle of the pack, was the only vanguard left.
Her legs shook as she couldn't stop them from trembling.
The other two survivors locked eyes.
A dark, ruthless look passed between them, and they gave a quick nod.
"Hey, Maris," one of them yelled. "Cover us!"
"Huh?"
"We need to chant! Buy us some time!"
Maris blinked, totally stunned.
Seeing them actually prep for a magic chant in the middle of this nightmare gave her a spark of hope.
They didn't give up yet!
She remembered one of the guys talking about his wife and kids back home.
He risked his neck in the Dungeon to put food on the table.
He couldn't just roll over and die.
Did she have anyone waiting for her? Yeah, she did.
Eina, the half-elf advisor who always nagged her.
Eina would be crushed if she died down here.
'I don't want that!'
"Alright!" Maris screamed.
She ripped a small pouch from her belt and lobbed it right into the monster horde.
It was a decoy bomb.
It didn't smell bad, but it put out a thick cloud of dust that gave monsters severe allergic reactions.
The beasts choked on the smoke, getting agitated and trying to back away.
But there were way too many of them.
The ones in the front just crashed into the ones in the back. Nobody could move.
Maris stepped up, ripping a piece of her own cloak off to fan the smoke deeper into the crowd.
She made sure every single monster locked its eyes on her.
She fanned the smoke hard.
Her heart was beating so loud in her ears that she didn't realize it was totally quiet behind her.
No chanting.
No magic gathering.
She only figured it out when a massive Orc broke through the smoke and slammed a heavy fist right into her chest, throwing her hard to the ground.
Gasping for air through the burning pain in her ribs, she choked back a mouthful of blood.
She looked through the gaps in the monster horde and saw her two teammates sprinting down the tunnel in the opposite direction.
They didn't even look back.
'They... ran away? What about the magic?'
Maris couldn't wrap her head around it.
Looking at the Orcs closing in, the ugly truth hit her.
She got played.
Those guys told her to cause a scene just to use her as bait. The "chanting" thing was a lie from the start.
All that talk about fighting for their families? Just a cheap act to cover up their own cowardice.
They threw her to the wolves so they could escape!
"Damn you!!" Maris screamed.
She reached into her back pouch and pulled out the glowing crystal Noah sold her.
Remembering the kid's instructions, she crushed the crystal in her grip.
In a flash, a wave of blistering heat exploded around her.
Maris stared in shock as her cheap iron sword caught fire.
Roaring, bright orange flames wrapped around the blade.
'Wait... this isn't wind like last time!'
Fire magic. A literal sword of flames.
The heat coming off the blade was so intense that the Orcs flinched just getting near it.
Scared of the fire, the dumb monsters threw their thick arms up to protect their faces and stumbled backward.
Maris didn't hesitate.
She gritted her teeth and swung her flaming sword right at the closest Orc.
The blade sliced through the monster's thick hide like warm butter.
The flames followed the swing, blasting a massive arc of fire across the tunnel.
'One... one hit?'
She didn't have time to stand around as she realized this was her chance.
She might actually make it out alive!
She swung the sword again. Now that she knew how crazy the fire magic was, she didn't put her whole back into it.
She just gave the blade a quick, light sweep and the arc of fire cut three Orcs clean in half.
This buff was insane!
But the biggest problem was still in the room: the Infant Dragon.
The giant beast roared, pissed off that the Orcs were blocking its prey.
It stomped forward, crushing the smaller monsters under its massive claws, and charged right at the blue-haired girl.
Maris raised her flaming sword, planting her feet.
Right as the dragon lunged, its foot caught on a pile of dead Orcs. The beast lost its balance, its massive body pitching forward.
'An opening!'
Normally, Maris would be too panicked to notice.
She would try to dodge or block, totally missing her one shot at victory. But with the crystal pumping power through her veins, her senses were sharper.
She had room to breathe!
Gripping the hilt with both hands, Maris sprinted right at the falling dragon.
She swung the flaming longsword in an upward arc. The fire roared, slicing clean through the Infant Dragon's thick neck.
The massive head hit the floor with a sickening crunch, flattening a couple of Orcs in the process.
Boom!
The giant corpse turned to gray dust, leaving a massive magic stone clattering against the rock.
Maris fell to her knees, gasping for breath.
The crystal gave her insane attack power, but it didn't give her infinite stamina.
She was already worn out before the ambush, and that one desperate strike took everything she had left.
There were still plenty of Orcs in the cavern, but her arms felt like lead.
She couldn't swing the sword again even if she tried.
Seeing the surviving monsters backing away from the fire, she scrambled forward, snatched the giant dragon stone off the floor, and bolted for the upper levels as fast as her legs could carry her.
'Huff... huff...'
The monsters were stunned right now, but they would definitely chase her once they snapped out of it.
She couldn't stop to rest.
'I have to get back! Back to the Guild! I have to see Eina!'
....
Thump.
The heavy doors of the Guild hall banged open as the two cowards stumbled inside, leaning on each other.
They collapsed right on the pristine lobby floor.
Other adventurers and staff saw the blood and rushed over.
"Hey! What happened to you guys?!"
Behind the front counter, Eina heard the commotion and bolted out of her chair.
When she saw the two bruised panting men on the floor, her eyes went wide with dread.
"You guys are in Maris's party!" Eina gasped, pushing her way through the crowd. "What happened? What's going on?!"
"Cough."
The two men put on a great show. They acted weak and exhausted, keeping their voices low so they sounded traumatized.
"We... we ran into an Infant Dragon down on the 12th Floor."
An Infant Dragon!
The rookies and low-tier adventurers in the lobby gasped.
An Infant Dragon was the apex predator of the upper floors.
Even a fully stocked veteran party risked a total wipeout if they ran into one. For a bunch of rookies, it was a death sentence.
Looking at the two battered survivors, Eina's heart sank into her stomach.
If these two barely made it out alive, their teammates were probably...
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