Striking the vitals directly.
The brain was crushed.
This three-meter-tall behemoth had even its final scream stuck in its throat, as its original violent charge instantly turned into uncontrollable inertia.
Its massive body, like a collapsing mountain of flesh, crashed to the ground.
Kicking up a cloud of dust.
Immediately after.
The Pigman turned into black ash.
...
As Kikakujuo Mary flicked the bloodstains off her sword.
"Roar—!"
A rock behind and to the side of Kikakujuo Mary suddenly exploded.
A slightly smaller Pigman charged out from there!
Its thick arms raised a spiked club as thick as a thigh high, taking advantage of the sneak attack to swing it through the biting wind straight at the back of Kikakujuo Mary's defenseless head.
If this strike landed.
Never mind a head, even an iron melon would be smashed into mush.
"Marie!"
Rin turned her head just in time to see this scene, her pupils shrinking sharply.
Fortunately.
In the next second.
The frame froze.
Swish!
The Pigman held its spiked club high, frozen in mid-air in its swinging posture.
A cruel grin of impending success still remained on its face.
Suddenly.
An extremely thin line of blood appeared abruptly on its neck, which was so thick that ordinary swords would find it hard to cut through.
Squelch—
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
Immediately following.
That massive pig head, like a ripe fruit, slid off the neck without any warning.
Thump, roll, roll...
The head hit the ground and rolled twice.
Only then did the headless, massive body realize it was already dead.
Thud.
It turned into a thick cloud of black ash and scattered with the wind.
"Tsukiyo?!"
Originally, Rin thought it was Inaba Tsukiyo who had acted.
As it turned out.
"It was little Satori who did it~"
"Be more careful next time~"
Appearing behind the dissipating black ash was Tamaba Satori.
She was smiling with her eyes curved, looking harmless to humans and animals alike.
If one ignored the bloodstains at her feet that hadn't dried yet.
She probably really was just a cute girl next door.
...
"..."
Seeing this scene.
Standing on a high rock and overseeing the overall situation, Tsubaki's mouth twitched slightly.
She glanced down at her pocket watch.
"The 12th floor..."
"How much time has passed?"
Three hours?
Or four hours?
For a normal rookie party, even if led by a Level 2 or even Level 3 veteran, wanting to advance from the 1st floor to the 12th floor would take at least two or three days.
After all, the Dungeon is not a stroll in a garden; with every floor down, one must adapt to a new environment, new monsters, and increasingly heavy psychological pressure.
But these guys...
It's practically like they're on a picnic.
And the kind of picnic where they're in a hurry, at that.
From the beginning, they were fighting individually to snatch kills.
Then, as the number and strength of monsters increased.
She thought it would be able to stall these girls for a while.
Who would have thought.
They actually self-taught themselves into a bizarrely efficient tacit understanding.
Kirukiru Amou was responsible for head-on confrontations and drawing fire.
Rin, Hanazake Warabi, and that Black Bear named Fierce Person were responsible for flank cover and clearing out small fry.
Kikakujuo Mary was responsible for precisely picking off those who slipped through the net or high-threat targets.
Tamaba Satori was like a ghost drifting on the edge of the battlefield, specializing in dealing with those 'campers' who liked to sneak attack.
As for Inaba Tsukiyo.
This blind girl was like a stabilizing anchor.
Although she drew her blade very few times.
As long as her hand was on the hilt, the entire team's rhythm was terrifyingly stable.
"How is this a rookie Adventurer group..."
Tsubaki looked at the girls below who were even discussing who had killed more just now.
She couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"They're clearly a pack of monsters that have just been released back into the wild."
"I'm afraid it won't be long."
"Before the Middle Floors are also turned upside down by them."
...
At the same time.
On the surface.
Orario.
North Street, high-end commercial district.
Shops lined the streets here, with rare goods from all over the world displayed in shop windows, and even the air was filled with the fragrance of money.
Inside a high-end furniture store called [Oak Heart].
The air seemed to have frozen solid.
It was so quiet that only the 'tick-tock' of the wall clock could be heard.
The shop owner, over fifty and pot-bellied, was currently pulling out a handkerchief and constantly wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
—He was truly sweating.
From his perspective, he glanced tremblingly at the customer who had appeared in front of the counter.
Dressed in standard armor with iron gauntlets.
That serious, pretty face that was always set, and a pair of blue eyes.
—The Captain of the Ganesha Familia.
—The 'staff of the elephant god', Shakti Falma.
If it was said that in the Dungeon, monsters feared the swords of Adventurers most.
Then in the commercial district of Orario, what merchants feared most was definitely a sudden visit from this Captain of the Military Police.
After all.
Shakti rarely went shopping.
Every time she appeared in a shop fully armed, there were usually only two situations:
First, the shop was suspected of smuggling contraband.
Second, the shop was suspected of harboring a wanted criminal.
No matter which situation.
It meant one result.
—Closure!
"Gulp."
The shop owner swallowed hard, feeling his legs turning to jelly.
He desperately tried to remember if something had gone wrong with his recent supply channels, or if some blind clerk had accepted something they shouldn't have.
...
"That... Captain Shakti..."
The owner forced a smile that looked worse than crying and approached while rubbing his hands.
"I didn't know you were gracing us with your presence today. Do you... do you have some official business to attend to?"
"If it's a routine inspection, we will definitely cooperate fully! Fully cooperate!"
"The account books are all here, you can check them as you please!"
The owner said.
He was even about to go and get the account books.
"No need."
Shakti's cold, hard voice rang out.
The owner's heart skipped a beat.
It's over.
She's not even looking at the account books; does she already have ironclad evidence and is going to arrest me directly?!
However.
In the next second.
Shakti stepped aside, revealing Heimdall behind her.
"I am only accompanying this Lord today to purchase some daily necessities."
"Purchasing... daily necessities?"
The shopkeeper froze.
He blinked his small, beady eyes twice, looking at the serious-faced Shakti.
Then he looked at Heimdall, who stood nearby holding a long spear with a relaxed expression.
His brain short-circuited for three seconds.
The Captain of the Military Police... accompanying someone to buy furniture?
What kind of combination was this?
An incognito inspection?
Or a sting operation?
...
Regardless of which one it was.
The shopkeeper understood only one thing—and that was that this deity's identity was definitely not simple!
To have the Captain of the Military Police following behind like a bodyguard, just how massive was his background?!
"Ah! So that's how it is! I see, I see!"
The shopkeeper reacted instantly, the smile on his face becoming much more sincere.
"I wonder what this Lord requires?"
"This shop is one of the premier furniture stores in Orario. Whether you want Elven-style wicker, Dwarven-style stone carvings, or that... Amazonian-style..."
"Something simple will do."
Heimdall interrupted the shopkeeper's incessant sales pitch.
He glanced around at the dazzling array of high-end goods in the store.
"I want the sturdy and durable kind."
"Preferably something that can withstand a lot of wear and tear."
-------------------------------
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