The new adventurer ran as quickly as his legs could carry him as the Minotaur chased him through the narrow dungeon path.
Each step the Minotaur took was enough to send tremors through the dungeon and caused loose stones on the roof of the dungeon to crack and fall. It didn't bother slowing down, it simply moved forward, smashing through the rocks and narrow turns like they weren't even there.
The adventurer didn't bother looking back, the only thing on his mind was creating as much distance as possible as if were to be cornered he's dead.
He glanced back for a little bit to check the distance between him and the Minotaur but to his surprise it was closer than he imagined
"…Tch you've gotta be kidding me." He muttered to himself as he lifted his hand mid-run, forming the bow as well as an arrow. Without pausing, he twisted his upper body just enough and fired without losing much momentum.
The arrow moved swiftly and struck the Minotaur on the shoulder but nothing happened, it didn't scream nor did it slow down it just kept coming after him
He quickly conjured up another arrow while taking another right in the dungeon. This time, he aimed higher than before and fired again except this time it hit the Minotaur on the same eye as earlier but even then it didn't stop, didn't even slow. If anything, the irritation only made it more angry and push harder
"Tsk….still not enough." He clicked his tongue, adjusting his pace as he reached another bend. He turned once again, fully this time and fired a single arrow.
He flicked his fingers which caused it to scatter into multiple arrows and while all of them hit they were still all useless. The creature simply powered through them without hesitation and began closing the distance at a rate that made the gap feel nonexistent.
"…Yeah," he muttered quietly, already turning away again, as he resumed his run. "Honestly, I don't even know why I still bother."
After running for some minutes he took another turn only to bump into a dead end. He tried to back up but it was already too late as the Minotaur was blocking the exit
"…You've got to be kidding me."
_____
Back at the guild, Cypher and Caelus were having a conversation with Eina when suddenly, the doors were forcefully slammed open causing everyone in the guild including them to turn towards that direction
Then Lyra ran in, nearly collapsing as she grabbed onto the frame to keep herself up. "H-Help—!" Her voice cracked badly, breath uneven, hands shaking like she might fall over any second.
People rushed towards her immediately.
"…Hey, calm down—"
"Sit her down first."
They all helped her up and led her to a chair to sit while she struggled to breathe properly, chest rising and falling too fast.
"Take it slow," another voice said, crouching slightly. "What happened?"
"I—we—dungeon—" she stammered, words barely coming out right. "There's… there's a Minotaur—!"
Those words shocked everyone present in the guild
"…What?"
"In a C-Rank dungeon, that's not possible."
"It is!" she snapped, almost yelling despite her condition. "It killed Brann—he—" She choked on the words, forcing herself to continue. "We couldn't stop it… we couldn't even slow it down…"
The room went quiet for a second, still processing what a monster like that could be doing in a lower dungeon.
"…Your party?" someone asked. "Are they?….."
"They were all wiped out" She replied clenching her fist as tears rolled down her eyes, then she stood and grabbed one of them by the shirt before she continued. "…The new guy… he's still there…..he told me to run and get help while he held it off please….. help him"
But after all she said, no one moved, not a single person stepped forward. The silence that followed said everything. A few glanced away, others muttered under their breath, but none of them stepped up, just quiet refusal.
Her body swayed slightly, she took a small step back, like her legs almost gave out, eyes slowly going hollow as reality settled in. No one was going to help.
Eina's expression tightened slightly as she looked around before letting out a quiet breath. "…Even if we send a request out, it'll take time before a higher-ranked adventurer arrives."
"I'll take on your request" Caelus stood as his voice broke the silence which caused a bit of hope to return to Mira's eyes
A few heads turned immediately and murmurs spread through the crowd
"…Him?"
"Isn't that the new guy"
"Is he feeling cocky because he managed to rank up quickly these past few weeks"
Caelus didn't react much, he simply just shrugged lightly. "What? I like to think of it as a good chance to rank up… maybe build up my reputation."
When suddenly, a hand grabbed him by the arm.
"Hey—" the man started, grip tightening slightly. "You're that new guy, right? You just started not long ago. This isn't something you mess with, you'll just get yourself killed."
Caelus paused and slowly turned, staring the man dead in the eyes before he spoke "You will kindly remove your hand"
The man's grip loosened almost immediately before he pulled his hand away completely followed by silence a couple of seconds later.
"…Let's go, Cypher."
A small smile made its way on her lips and she stepped forward without hesitation, already heading for the exit.
"Wait—" Eina called out, her voice carrying just enough concern. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"The captain?" she said as she paused at the door, then continued with a smile before leaving. "Don't worry, he's stronger than he looks."
_____
Back in the dungeon, the adventurer was left with no other space to run, just walls all around him and the only exit being blocked by the Minotaur.
"Looks like I've gotta hold my ground until she returns with some help" He exhaled once and then slowly removed the eyepatch on his right eye and opened his eyes revealing a pattern inside it which was lit faintly.
The Minotaur roared loudly.
But the adventurer didn't give it an opportunity to move but rather he moved first.
He quickly formed a bow again in his hand, it had this supernatural glow and looked like it had been stitched together from energy. He fired without stopping; One arrow, then two, then three, each one sharper, brighter than the last, slamming into the body of the Minotaur with more force this time, actually pushing into its flesh but still not enough to stop it.
"…Still not strong enough." He muttered to himself as the Minotaur charged towards him
The deconstructed the bow and a shield replaced it mid-motion. Though it absorbed the impact from the punch he was still sent flying into the wall but he didn't pause, the shield vanished and he flicked his fingers causing chains to burst out, wrapping around its arm.
And with a flick or his write it pulled the Minotaur and launched it into the wall, then he followed up an arrow which caused a massive explosion
For a second, nothing happened but then the Minotaur walked out of the dust cloud.
"This is gonna be problematic." He muttered after realizing that he was slowly running out of mana, the stood frozen for a little bit and as soon as the Minotaur began its charge, the adventurer snapped his finger causing multiple chains to erupt from the ground, wrapping around the Minotaur's limbs, torso, locking it in place as it struggled violently.
He slowly raised his hand and his bow began to form, except this time it wasn't instantaneously like all the other times due to the lack of mana, It dragged itself into existence. Then the arrow followed, almost cracking under its own pressure.
His hand trembled and blood slowly slid from his eye.
"…Just a bit more…"
The Minotaur struggled even more and the chains slowly began to snap. One, then another followed.
"…Almost—" he gritted his teeth
Then, the chains completely snapped and the Minotaur tore free and closed the distance instantly.
He didn't even get to release before he was slammed into the wall, the weapon shattering into nothing as his focus broke. Before he could even recover, the monster grabbed him once more and flung him into another wall, this time hard enough to knock the air out of him completely.
His vision blurred as the monster slowly made its way towards him then raised its arm.
All of a sudden, a blur followed by a punch so hard, it sent the Minotaur flying straight into the wall. It didn't even get an opportunity to recover when suddenly, multiple fireballs were launched towards the same spot causing a massive explosion
It was Caelus and Cypher
"Looks like he's in pretty bad shape" Caelus stated
"Yeah surprised he held out this long" Cypher replied
"Am I...saved" he thought to himself before everything slowly went dark.