Boom—!
All fourteen Minotaurs collapsed the moment they were contaminated by the black mud.
At first, Cao Ye thought the first one had died by accident.
But later he realized—
It wasn't an accident at all.
These monsters were completely incompatible with black mud.
No… more accurately—
Their core was extremely similar to the substance of black mud.
Cao Ye even suspected that if he could touch their core, the magic stone, there was a high chance he could corrupt it with black mud.
If that happened, he might be able to control them.
But reality was different.
Every monster that the black mud invaded collapsed before corruption could occur.
And this collapse didn't seem like the monster dying naturally.
It felt more like some kind of mechanism had been triggered, causing the Minotaurs to be destroyed instantly.
"…Could it be…"
Cao Ye looked around.
More precisely, he looked at the magnificent labyrinth surrounding him.
Everyone knew that inside the Dungeon, monsters were born from the walls and ceilings.
They were enemies of humanity.
When monsters were killed, their bodies turned into smoke, leaving behind only magic stones and materials.
Most monsters had very low intelligence, lacking learning ability, acting purely on instinct.
Yet this labyrinth attracted countless adventurers.
They entered it, killed monsters, and harvested their magic stones.
The Dungeon itself existed long before the gods descended to the lower world.
Back then, monsters poured out from underground and ravaged the surface.
They were the embodiment of disaster.
Thousands of years ago, the great god Ouranos built the city of Orario over the Dungeon entrance.
He personally stayed there, using divine power to suppress the Dungeon.
For thousands of years, he continuously prayed to restrain it.
That was how the Labyrinth City came to exist.
But if that was the case—
Why did the Dungeon continuously create monsters?
No one knew.
Cao Ye didn't know either.
All kinds of strange monsters existed inside the Dungeon.
They could all be considered children of the Dungeon.
And when monsters died, their bodies turned into smoke, leaving only a magic stone.
This made Cao Ye think of something.
If these monsters were creations, and suddenly an external force tried to take control of them…
Then what would the Dungeon's will do?
Would it destroy those monsters immediately to prevent that from happening?
Of course, this was just Cao Ye's speculation.
There was no way to prove it.
But the thought had already been planted like a seed in his mind.
In Fate, black mud was extremely terrifying.
If a Heroic Spirit was swallowed by it, they would become corrupted and blackened.
Crack… crack… crack…
Suddenly, chaotic sounds echoed around him.
Cao Ye instinctively looked up.
And what he saw nearly made his heart stop.
All around him—
A massive number of monsters had appeared.
Different shapes.
Different species.
A terrifying quantity.
But they all had one thing in common.
Their crimson eyes were locked onto him.
"Because you have incurred the hatred of the Dungeon's Will, you will now face judgment."
"Special mission triggered—"
[Special Mission: Malice of the Dungeon!]
Completion Condition: Escape the Dungeon alive.
Reward: 500 Diamonds + Limited-Time Gacha Pool unlocked.
Seeing this mission, Cao Ye froze.
What the hell was this?
The Dungeon's Malice?!
ROAR—!
HISSS—!
GRRR—!
The surrounding noises were chaotic.
Cao Ye quickly scanned the monsters.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
Goblins.
Orcs.
Killer Rabbits.
Hellhounds.
War Shadows.
Minotaurs.
Kobolds.
And many more.
Almost every upper-floor monster had gathered here.
What was this?
A monster mobilization?!
"…Looks like I'll have to go all out."
Being stared down by this many monsters made even Cao Ye feel numb.
ROAR!
Suddenly, a blazing fire burst from the monster crowd.
Cao Ye recognized it immediately.
A Hellhound's flame.
He had fought and killed plenty of them before.
BOOM—! BOOM—! BOOM—!
Like a fuse being ignited—
All the monsters exploded into action.
They roared as they charged toward him.
At that moment, Cao Ye felt overwhelming pressure.
His life really was miserable.
He thought he was about to reach the peak of life.
Instead, he ran into this disaster.
"Damn it!"
"If I die, I die! If I survive, I live forever!"
"Let's go!"
Cao Ye tightened his grip on the two black swords.
Mana Burst activated again.
Black mud enhancement surged through his body.
Even though he had no idea what his chances of winning were—
There was no other choice but to fight.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Although there were many monsters, most were upper-floor monsters.
Under Cao Ye's dual enhancement, they were killed with a single strike.
At this moment, the ferocity deep inside Cao Ye's bones was completely unleashed.
Facing so many monsters trying to kill him—
He wanted to kill them all.
This was no longer a battle.
It was a hysterical slaughter.
Each sword strike splashed blood into the air.
Each strike took another monster's life.
But inside the Dungeon—
There was never a shortage of monsters.
Especially upper-floor monsters.
The thread called reason in Cao Ye's mind was close to snapping.
Replacing it was the survival instinct of a beast.
The instinct to survive at any cost.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Rifts opened around him.
Swords and weapons shot out from Imaginary Space, killing monsters one after another.
But in the process, many weapons were stepped on or smashed by monsters.
The loss of weapons was enormous.
At this point, Cao Ye couldn't care anymore.
His eyes saw only monsters.
Cao Ye had already gone half-mad.
His fighting style became reckless.
Under the monsters' attacks, his body quickly filled with wounds.
Cuts and injuries appeared all over him.
The ground around him was dyed crimson with blood.
Some belonged to monsters.
Some belonged to him.
ROOOAR—!
BOOM!
A Minotaur suddenly slammed into Cao Ye's side.
Caught off guard—
He was sent flying through the air.