"Great work, everyone." Ralyks clapped as the last of the Monsters fell.

The Otherworlders were done with a little over a hundred Monsters in the blink of an eye, and they barely even broke a sweat.

Even Ralyks had no choice but to be impressed.

"These Items are amazing. I don't even feel tired at all!" One of the Otherworlders commented with excitement.

"I Leveled Up three times just now!"

"Four for me!"

"This is insane! Dungeon Raids are awesome."

There were sounds of excitement echoing from so many of them that it was safe to assume that they unanimously enjoyed their activities.

Brilliant smiles and bright eyes shone among the teenagers who stood amidst the carcasses of Monsters.

It seemed like they no longer feared anything.

"Kukuku… is that so?" Ralyks chuckled slightly.

No one could see what was beneath his mask, but it was clear that he was amused by their reactions.

"Well then, since you're not exhausted, let's keep advancing into the Floor."

The moment he said this, everyone—well, almost everyone—looked at him, perplexed.

"What's with those faces? You didn't think this was all there was to the Second Floor, did you?" The moment Ralyks said this, the ground trembled a little.

Loud noises and screeches echoed a far distance away from the students, deeper down the path they were meant to traverse.

"W-what were those?"

"They sound like a lot more of them."

"How many more of them will be on this Floor?"

The overwhelming confidence that the Otherworlders had built was beginning to crumble.

However, their worries didn't last for long.

"We're all a lot stronger than we were before. We also have better gear. Lastly, we have Sir Ralyks. Is there really any reason to worry?"

As Adonis' words of encouragement echoed among the group, the members all nodded in approval.

The tension and unease vanished.

"Well said, Adonis. Let us proceed."

Ralyks floated in the air, right behind the students, and they began their advance towards the terrifying screeches and growls.

Despite all they heard, and were about to see, no one expressed any form of hesitation.

In the end, they wanted to grow stronger.

And this was the only way!

*********

[Moments Later]

"Guark!"

Clark yelled as his body was thrust into a wall with so much momentum that his body felt it greatly,

~BOOOOOOM!~

Debris scattered from the point of impact, and his armored body dug into the wall as he struggled to regain focus.

He looked around him with blurry eyes and found that the rest of his comrades weren't faring so well either.

… All because of one Monster.

They were currently in the Boss Room of the Second Floor, and their enemy was a single entity.

A massive wolf who had the height of at least ten meters,

It had spider appendages stemming from its back, and its wolf-like body was extremely agile for its size.

It could become a blur and appear anywhere in no time at all, making it extremely unpredictable.

Its several appendages were also used for offense, and having so many sharp and strong spider appendages made it nearly impossible to catch it off guard or attack a blind spot.

It had a defensive barrier active anytime it wasn't attacking, and also a sonic attack that rushed from its mouth for long-

range attack.

It was this sonic attack that hit Clark, forcing him to land on the wall without any way to resist.

"Tch… come on!" He grunted, peeling himself away from the rock that he was stuck in.

Fortunately, he was able to jump away from there before the Boss Monster appeared there and impaled him with its appendages.

~WHUUUSH!~

The moment the Boss appeared where he had previously been, Clark used his [Icy Breath] to lock him in place, but the beast's shield suddenly manifested to block the assault.

"KRIIIIIIIIAAAAKKKK!!!" It roared, sending Clark flying to the ground, where the rest of his comrades were standing.

All nine of them watched the Boss with annoyance.

They were clearly powerful enough to take it down, but the problem was its annoying ability to evade attacks or downright block it.

"I'm ready!" Eric yelled, stepping forward and stretching his wand to the air.

"Everyone step back!"

They all listened to his voice, all of them covering their ears as well.

"Vibrato Resonatia!" He yelled out, swinging his glowing Enchanted Item as he activated a Spell from his [Grand Sound Magic].

At that instant, a screeching vibration echoed into the air, piercing the world around them.

Adonis activated [Absolute Defense] around his comrades, protecting them from the attack, but the Monster wasn't so fortunate.

Its barrier or evasion could not protect it from sound itself.

As a result—

"SKRIIIIAAAAKKKK!!!"

—It collapsed to the ground, screeching and screaming in its monster tongue.

"Now! Attack now!"

No one needed Eric to say anything before making their move.

Everyone rushed towards the Boss, but no one was nearly as fast as Adonis.

Streaks of golden light passed all the Otherworlders and closed the distance between everyone else and the affected creature.

In no time, Adonis appeared before the Boss and moved his hand to finish it off.

~SWISH!~

Following the flow of the blade, the severed head danced off the neck of the beast, and everything was over at that moment.

Adonis ended the life of the Boss Monster, thus concluding the Raid on the Second Floor.

Everyone collapsed on the ground the moment their task was over.

Heavy-layered sighs and deep breaths were taken as the Otherworlders clearly displayed how spent they were.

The only one left standing was Adonis, and he was right in front of the Boss he had just dispatched.

"Haaa… haaa…" The Hero heaved a few sighs, white fog rushing from his lips.

So far, he had killed the most enemies out of everyone else. He never took a break, and he constantly fought with all his strength.

It was no surprise that the exhaustion was beginning to catch up to him.

"We did it…" He whispered, a smile forming on his face despite how tired he was.

"I.. I did it!"

*

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Thanks for reading!

Who's your favorite character among the Otherworlders?