The atmosphere inside the dungeon was dark and very frightening. The air was heavy and cold. The enemy was already hiding in that darkness, waiting for the right opportunity to attack.
But they had not realised what kind of team they had let in.
The monsters came out suddenly and attacked. The Divine Rhino Corps reacted immediately. They defended themselves from the attacks easily. Swords flashed, weapons roared. The monsters were cut down one after another.
Countless enemies surrounded them, and among them there was a giant monster too. The team saw it at once. It was as ugly as the other monsters, but it was much bigger and far more dangerous. Even so, the team did not panic.
A member of the team released a snake. The snake moved forward rapidly, clung to the giant monster's leg and bit it. The giant monster froze. A message appeared: the target was affected by an advanced poison. Its effect was immediate, and the affected part seemed to lose its mobility.
The giant monster suddenly fell to its knees.
Another member took out a bow and pressed the attack. Two arrows were released at lightning speed and went straight into the monster's eyes. As the arrows pierced through, the giant monster screamed in pain from the deep wound.
At that very moment another companion came forward. He had bright red hair and stood with a heavy axe-like weapon in his hands.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward and stood right in front of the giant monster. There was no fear in him at all. He looked directly at that ugly creature, and he challenged that terrible monster as though it were no more than one more enemy he was about to kill.
He noticed something immediately. The giant monster's HP had dropped below twenty per cent. His Ripper class passive skill activated, which increased his damage by thirty per cent.
Without hesitating, the red-haired warrior jumped into the air. Raising his heavy weapon above his head, he struck downwards with force, aiming straight at the giant monster's head. In one stroke, the axe ripped the giant monster's neck open. The blade moved so fast that for a moment it seemed as if nothing had happened at all.
Then the monster's giant head separated slowly and fell hard to the ground.
The red-haired man relaxed. He put his axe on his shoulder and smiled proudly. The victory had seemed easy, and he was happy with the precision of his attack.
But he did not know that the demon's eyes had suddenly turned red.
The head was lying on the ground, yet its shining red eyes opened again. The red-haired man immediately felt something move. Then the monster's headless body shook. The corpse slowly began to move again, its muscles tightening. Its twisted fingers and its large, awkward body began to shudder, as if it were still alive.
Seeing the headless monster moving like that sent a shiver running down the red-haired man's spine.
The scene was so terrifying that anyone might have frozen, but fear could not stop him. He moved forward again and drove his axe in with even more force. The heavy blade ripped the giant's body open in a large arc. The body was clearly divided into two parts. Blood spurted out and spread everywhere, spilling across the ground and all around the battlefield.
Even the severed head of the demon was seen reacting. Its glowing red eyes widened, as if it still felt pain despite being separated from the body.
The red-haired man did not stop. He kept attacking, hitting the body with his axe over and over so that he could be sure the monster would never move again.
Yan Hanu reminded his companion that this was an SSS-level dungeon, and that its enemies could not be judged by normal logic. He warned everyone to stay concentrated, alert and vigilant at all times. The red-haired man agreed immediately.
The team continued exploring the dungeon. But only a little while later they were suddenly attacked again. The team stopped at once. This time the enemies appeared in even greater numbers. The ground shook with their heavy footsteps, because they were coming from different directions.
As the enemy surrounded them, Yan Hanu began to think about the situation.
He was beginning to feel that the monsters in this dungeon relied on massive numbers rather than on individual strength. Perhaps this was a horde-type dungeon. After all, no main warrior who had challenged this place before had ever made it out alive. That was why all information about the dungeon had been kept secret. There was almost no reliable information about what waited inside.
Yan Hanu turned at once to Samo and ordered her to slow the enemy's movement and hold them in one area.
Samo, who looked like a quiet nun, obeyed immediately. She slowly closed her eyes and folded her hands in prayer. Her calm face made her seem innocent and peaceful. She prayed to the Holy Mother and begged for mercy, so that she could show her enemies the way.
But then, suddenly, that shy nun revealed something no one would have expected. There were many guns hidden under her dress. Without a moment's hesitation, she took them out one by one.
She was no ordinary nun. She was a deadly woman, and the place she wanted to send her enemies to was hell.
The moment she started firing several guns at once, there was destruction and chaos in every direction. She almost looked like a lunatic. She swayed from side to side, raining bullets across the battlefield throughout the fight.
The bullets pierced enemies one after another. At the same time, an attraction effect activated. Attraction increased tenfold. The small enemies suddenly changed their aim. Instead of attacking the team, they attacked the giant monsters. Under the pressure of that effect, the small creatures ran towards the joints of those giants. They climbed up their feet, wrapped themselves around their huge bodies and began attacking their heads brutally.
Then another figure went ahead with a sword and activated his ability, and it was none other than Yan Hanu. The ground cracked and huge stones flew into the air, jumping as though gravity had suddenly disappeared. Then he used the Lotus Stance. In a series of quick, precise blows, his sword cut dozens of those floating stones into small pieces.
The blows were so sharp and powerful that even stone pieces flew through the air like deadly missiles and collided directly with the enemies. Some were cut by the edge of the sword; some were crushed by the flying stones.
It was said of Yan Hanu that he killed without cruelty — that is, he finished an enemy quickly so that it would not feel too much pain.
But the red-haired man said, laughing, that he had just cut enemies into small pieces, and yet here he was, daring to say a thing like that.
Yan Hanu ordered the team to clear the area.
The battlefield soon fell quiet. The ground was covered with defeated enemies. Blood and broken bodies were scattered everywhere. Area after area was confirmed safe, and the team began moving deeper into the dungeon.