Inside the cave, the Pujis that had leapt out landed atop the broken body of a strawman, striking a domineering pose as it swept its gaze around.
Then, in the very next instant, it was clawed to death by another strawman. Its remains happened to fall right on the edge of the spatial rift and were sliced neatly into two pieces by the invisible spatial force.
But that was only the beginning.
A second later, several blasts from Artillery Pujis streaked out of the rift with a shrill whistling!
The strawmen near the rift were instantly blown apart, scattering into showers of grass fragments.
Right after, new Pujis leapt out of the rift without pause, landing and charging straight toward the nearest strawmen without hesitation!
Dense Artillery Puji fire rained wildly in the narrow cave, the shockwaves rattling the stone walls, sending rocks tumbling down.
Veyra’s trio pressed themselves against the cold wall, squeezed into a corner. Fein strained to maintain a thin shield, barely holding the chaotic energies at bay.
There were nearly thirty strawmen besieging them.
Now, they were being gang-rushed by Pujis…One after another, Pujis poured from the rift. In a blink, there were already over a hundred!
The small cave was crammed full of round, white bodies, so crowded that some Pujis were shoved against Fein’s trembling shield.
The strawmen were soon buried under the Puji tide, vanishing from sight.
After the enemies were crushed, the Pujis all surged out of the cave together.
“Veyra… what… do we do now?” Fein’s voice trembled. The strain of continuous casting and the suffocating chill seeping from beyond the rift left her exhausted and shaking.
“The Pujis aren’t attacking us—let’s move while we can!”
In truth, it wasn’t so much that the Pujis “spared” them, but rather that the mushroom creatures completely ignored the humans, focusing all their fury on the monsters.
Phylline nodded hard, a spark of hope in her eyes. “If only the Pujis could wipe out everything out there too…”
But when the three carefully stepped out of the cave, the sight before them made their breath catch in their throats.
The entire fifth floor had turned upside down!
Everywhere they looked was a battlefield.
Pujis and strawmen fought savagely, the “boom-boom” of Artillery Pujis firing echoing without pause, punctuated by the thunder of Puji suicides detonating.
And it wasn’t only strawmen. They saw many monsters that clearly did not belong to the Amethyst Dungeon.
One Puji wielded sharp bladed tendrils, locked in close combat with a strawman. Not far away, a gigantic chitinous worm slammed onto the scene, ignoring Veyra’s group completely as it barreled into the melee, crushing Pujis and strawmen alike under its bulk. Then it retracted its head and hunkered down, its massive jaws working as it chewed the prey it had just captured.
Strawman attacks and Puji blasts glanced off its armored hide without effect.
The three also spotted a slime-covered crawler hissing at them, spitting out corrosive venom—only to be interrupted as encroaching strawmen forced it to turn and grapple with new foes.
The chaos wasn’t confined to the ground. In the glowing light of the mushrooms above, swarms of Bat Pujis clashed midair with giant moths, bodies tumbling down or exploding into shreds.
The fifth floor had become a frenzied arena of monsters!
Amid the chaos, a swift black shadow burst from the smoke, hurtling straight at them!
Phylline, fresh from pinning a poisonous lizard with an arrow, didn’t even think—she turned, drew, and fired instinctively!
The arrow whistled past, missing.
Veyra lunged forward, shielding the two girls behind her.
At that very moment, a pleasant voice spoke in halting human tongue: “Wait! I am not a monster! Human friends, can you tell me… where am I?”
As the smoke cleared, the figure was revealed.
A flawless face marked with green patterns. Long, elegant pointed ears. Eyes deep and bright, like emeralds glittering with starlight—
An elf!
“Th-this is…” Phylline repeated blankly, missing the question entirely, “The Dungeon…”
Fein quickly supplied, her voice clear and urgent: “The Amethyst Dungeon! Fifth floor!”
“I see!” A flash of realization lit the elf’s gaze. “So it is the human-controlled dungeon!”
“This isn’t the time to talk—move!” Veyra warned, curved blade at the ready as she eyed the ongoing chaos.
“I cannot return that way. Let me go with you!” The elf crossed her hands swiftly in front of her chest, forming a strange seal.
Emerald light bloomed between her palms.
Two strawmen lunging toward them were suddenly snared by thick vines bursting from the ground, their grass-stuffed bodies bound tight and immobilized.
A druid!
Veyra glanced once, then nodded. “Go!”
Using the battle’s chaos for cover, they made it to the stairway.
But as they stepped onto the cold stone steps, a familiar figure came into view—the swordsman captain!
His teammates were nowhere to be seen. He lay unconscious, gravely wounded, a dark pool of blood spreading beneath his waist where a gaping wound still leaked. His face was ashen, deathly pale.
Around him lay several strawman corpses—the safe zone was clearly failing.
Veyra immediately reached for her healing potion, but the elf stopped her.
Puzzled, Veyra watched as the elf crouched beside him, extending slender fingers over the wound. A soft, verdant glow spilled from her fingertips, sealing the bleeding.
The swordsman stirred, his brow twitching. His eyelids cracked open with effort.
“Cough… cough…” He tried to push himself up, but pain ripped through his abdomen, cold sweat soaking his forehead.
“Don’t move!” Veyra knelt quickly, steadying his shoulder. “How do you feel?”
“…They’re all gone… All of them… trapped inside…” His coughing worsened, blood flecking his lips. His eyes, dull with despair, fixed on the stairwell’s darkness. “I won’t make it out either. Don’t… waste magic on me…”
“Stop talking nonsense!” Veyra snapped, yanking a deep purple vial from her pouch. Without hesitation, she poured it down his throat.
“Ugh—!” He gagged as the scorching liquid seared down his throat like molten rock.
An explosive surge of violent energy erupted within him, coursing through his body. Veins bulged, his pallor flushed crimson, his pupils contracted sharply.
“What… is this?!”
“Bloodboil Elixir,” Veyra said grimly. “It’ll force your body up for now. Afterward, the backlash will be brutal—but it’s better than dying here!”
“Haha… cough… haha…” The swordsman wheezed a laugh between coughs, staring at her. “Good old Veyra… Did you know? Everyone says during drinks—you’ll get yourself killed one day, meddling in everyone’s business…”
But with strength flooding back, he staggered up with Veyra’s help. “Veyra… if… if I make it out alive this time… this life… it’s yours! I owe you!”
“Then make sure you live, or else I’ll be cheated.” Veyra grinned.
Phylline and Fein, long used to Veyra’s ways, weren’t surprised.
But the elf’s gaze lingered on Veyra’s back, eyes shifting thoughtfully.
With a heavily injured man in tow, their pace slowed.
Fortunately, the upper levels were calmer than the fifth floor’s madness.
A few scattered monster attacks were swiftly handled, thanks to the druid’s powerful nature magic.
When at last they emerged into daylight, the guards’ shocked cries greeted them.
“Gods! At a time like this, someone actually made it out alive?!” One guard snapped back to his senses, shouting hoarsely, “Quick! A stretcher! We’ve got a critical case here—move!”
But when the survivors reached the town, what awaited them was the sight of mass evacuation…