Chapter 30 - Ikelos Familia (Patreon)

I walked slowly down the stairs and approached the man, who was struggling to get back on his feet. Crouching down, I grabbed him by the collar and looked him in the eye.

“Like I said before, I don’t care who you are. But if you mess with me or the people close to me one more time, you’re dead.”

The man’s body trembled, and he stared at me as if I were a ghost.

I let go of him and continued down the stairs as if nothing had happened.

“If you still want some fun, meet me down below. But know this: down there, there won’t be anyone to defend you.” Killing these guys outside the dungeon in broad daylight would be a problem, but inside? It would be easy.

Loki would find out about it, but would she care? I’m sure she wouldn’t.

Especially if they attacked me first.

It was just self-defense. I attacked because they attacked me.

As soon as I reached the first floor, I looked back to see if the men were following me, but unfortunately, they weren’t. That would have been fun. I kept walking, moving deeper through the floors.

I used only my sword.

After a while, I noticed the sword was starting to get damaged.

Its quality wasn't as high as I remembered.

‘And sure enough, the number of spawning monsters has increased. There are far more monsters on the second and third floors. Yet, their strength hasn't changed.’ They remain as weak as ever.

However, when I reached the fifth floor, I realized the true dangers of this change.

I started encountering groups of War Shadows.

The War Shadow is a dangerous monster, especially in a group. Unless you’re a Level 2 adventurer or higher, you’re sure to die if you run into a pack of them. In fact, even a Level 2 adventurer could die here.

Even I struggled a bit. Every time I blocked one of their claws with my sword, a new attack would follow. Dangerous strikes came from every direction. It took a while to take them down, but I managed it.

They were never prepared for my leg strikes.

Once I’d finished them all off, I started to feel a bit tired.

"I don't know if I can use the 'Boost' skill again."

I sighed and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Then, I sensed the presence of people right behind me—or perhaps monsters; I couldn't tell. But my intuition warned me that the presence was dangerous.

Rounding a corner, I saw them: five men.

The leader was in the lead; the moment he spotted me, he flashed a bizarre grin and unslung the massive sword from his back.

The other members of his group—all swordsmen—drew their blades as well.

"Shit, this is getting dangerous..."

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POV: Third-person

A short while earlier, as soon as Rui vanished into the depths of the dungeon, the man stood up and shouted, "That son of a bitch!" He grabbed his sword—which had nearly fallen into the hole—and walked out of the dungeon.

He saw the four members of his party lying on the ground and yelled, "You idiots! How did you manage to get beaten so quickly!? Why didn't you do anything the moment he attacked me!? You're useless!"

The man was practically foaming at the mouth with rage.

The other adventurers—members of "normal" Familias—were looking at him as if he were an idiot.

The man noticed their stares and shouted, "What are you looking at!? Do you want to die!?"

The other adventurers looked away, and the man began kicking each of his companions. "Come on, get up! We're going after him."

"Huh? After him?"

"Of course! We were humiliated; you want to just let that slide? Besides, that son of a bitch broke my brother's arm!"

None of the four felt confident they could do anything against Rui.

Rui was handsome, influential, and part of a powerful Familia. His strength couldn't be underestimated. They had gotten a small taste of that strength when they took those punches just minutes earlier.

And when they took those punches, Rui hadn't even seemed serious.

If Rui had been serious, would they even still be alive?

"Hurry up, get up!" Still, they didn't want to defy their leader's orders.

They stood up and reluctantly began to follow the man.

Time passed.

Keeping a safe distance, they continued to follow Rui, who didn't notice their presence because he was too distracted. Some adventurers spotted the man's group and realized they were tailing Rui, but...

They simply ignored it.

Why would they get involved in someone else's trouble? Especially regarding the issue involving an "important member of the Loki Familia."

Then, they reached the fifth floor.

Upon arriving at the fifth floor, the men began to notice something strange. It had been a while since they had entered the dungeon, so they were unaware that it had begun to change.

The number of monsters had increased, keeping the men busy.

As time passed, not only was Rui growing tired, but so were the men.

The number of War Shadows was abnormally high.

But the group leader reasoned, "Even if we get tired, there are still five of us. He’s definitely more exhausted." The leader noticed Rui was panting; surely, he would struggle to fight against five enemies.

Especially against five adventurers armed with swords.

"Come to think of it, why is he using a sword?" the leader wondered.

Everyone who knew Rui knew he usually fought using his fists and legs, just as he had done before. Yet, here he was, slaying monsters with a sword—and displaying great skill with it, too.

'He’s not quite at the level of a veteran adventurer, but he knows how to handle a blade. He’s striking only the monsters' weak points. Still, he’s making heavy use of his legs. We need to watch out for that.'

The man warned his subordinates to be careful, and then, the moment finally arrived.

The moment to end the life of the fool who had humiliated members of the Ikelos Familia.