That night, Dice Town was overwhelmed by an overflowing tide of cheers and applause.
The Dragon Slaying Competition, the largest gathering of adventurers in recent years, had officially begun.
More than ten elite adventurer teams would cross a hellish landscape of lava to reach the fire dragon’s lair.
Before the appearance of the dungeon, there had been campaigns against wicked dragons, but none had ever taken place in such a hostile environment. It was an unprecedented and unparalleled event, one destined to be etched into the history books.
Soon, under the personal guidance of Branch Manager Owl, the neatly lined-up adventurer teams stepped one by one into the teleportation circle before the dungeon entrance.
In fact, among the eight floors discovered so far, the Adventurers Guild had installed teleportation circles at every level to facilitate movement. However, to prevent novice adventurers from wandering into dangerous areas and meeting their deaths, the teleportation circle for each floor would only open to an adventurer after they had reached it personally.
Soon, as mana surged within the circle, more than ten adventurer teams vanished instantly before the audience’s eyes.
Just a few seconds later, Alette and his companions regained consciousness.
When they opened their eyes again, a rolling heatwave slammed into them. A wave of discomfort washed over their bodies, as if they were being roasted by an open flame. Red-brown rocks surrounded them, sparks floated in the air, and the roar of surging magma could be heard faintly behind the rocky walls.
The dungeon had already begun to bared its vicious claws and fangs at them.
“Don’t daze off! Let’s go!”
“Dela, cast a protection spell for heat insulation immediately.”
“Fluff, play a song to reduce fatigue.”
“Alette, stay by my side and stand by!”
Mello was the first among them to react. She issued commands to her teammates the moment they arrived.
Immediately, the Crystal Thorn adventurer team, having coordinated for a long time, followed her orders. They became the first team to begin their advance.
After Crystal Thorn set out, the many teams behind them finally snapped out of it. They hurriedly issued similar commands and departed one after another, throwing the area in front of the teleportation circle into a state of chaotic turmoil.
“OH!! THE FIRST ADVENTURER TEAM HAS SET OUT!”
“IT’S THE CRYSTAL THORN ADVENTURER TEAM, LED BY A BEAUTIFUL VAMPIRE LADY!”
“THEIR REACTION WAS INCREDIBLY FAST! THEY DIDN’T HESITATE FOR A SECOND, LEAVING EVERYONE ELSE BEHIND! IT’S CLEAR THEIR EXPERIENCE AND TEAMWORK ARE TOP-TIER!”
“IT LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE A DARK HORSE CONTENDING FOR THE TITLE OF DRAGON SLAYER!”
At that moment, everyone in Dice Town was staring intently at the magic screens in the sky, which were broadcasting the participants’ progress. A Parrot youth, who belonged to the same demi-human race as Owl, was gripping a microphone enchanted with amplification magic, passionately commentating on the current state of the race.
Soon, Crystal Thorn widened the gap between themselves and the group behind them at a remarkable speed.
The participants were now divided into three echelons: the first echelon, consisting solely of Crystal Thorn; the second echelon, which had reacted quickly enough to follow; and the third echelon, which had fallen slightly behind due to nerves or other factors.
However, Crystal Thorn’s advantage did not last long.
Once they rushed out of the safe zone centered around the teleportation circle, the true horror of the Lava Domain began to manifest. The surrounding temperature rose sharply, reaching a point where it felt scorching even with heat insulation magic.
Moving through a place like the sixth floor was a test of an adventurer team’s comprehensive quality at every step. A single mistake in any area would lead to an irreversible fate.
But soon, something more lethal than the high temperature appeared.
A swarm of monsters.
A large pack of lizards, each as long as an adult’s arm, gradually crawled out of the lava lake in front of them. These were Thermonuclear Lizards.
They were a relatively uncommon type of monster, usually seen acting in groups of two or three. They possessed a core that could store thermal energy. Normally, they stayed at the bottom of lava lakes to absorb heat, but once they detected a hostile creature, they used that stored energy to attack.
A single one was not a high threat, and two or three were only slightly troublesome. But now, the adventurers were faced with an entire swarm. Judging by the scale, there were at least seventy or eighty of them.
More than ten lizards with charred-black scales bared their sharp teeth, irritably blocking the path of the Crystal Thorn team. The rest of the swarm headed toward the main group behind them.
“OH! THE FIRST OBSTACLE OF THIS DRAGON SLAYING COMPETITION HAS APPEARED!!”
“IT’S A SWARM OF THERMONUCLEAR LIZARDS! AND A RARELY SEEN, MASSIVE GROUP AT THAT!”
“A SUPER CRISIS!!”
Along with the announcer’s shouts, the audience watching the magic screens gasped in unison.
“The race hasn’t even been going for two minutes, and they’re already throwing something this heavy at them?”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t last twenty seconds.”
“Tell us something we don’t know.”
At that moment, every member of the teams in the rear became nervous. Normally, at most five or six Thermonuclear Lizards would stick together. Why were there so many at once this time?
Of course, they didn’t know that all of this was related to the curse on a certain elf girl.
“Defend! Defend now!”
“Where are the mages? Hurry up and lower the temperature!”
“Those things are coming over!!!”
“IT’S SO HOT! AAAAAHHHH!!!”
The space in the dungeon was quite spacious, which meant that each adventurer team was separated by about twenty or thirty meters. In an instant, the massive swarm of lizards filled the gaps between the teams, cutting them off from one another and surrounding each team for an individual assault.
As the saying goes, there are tiers even among elites.
All were elite adventurer teams, all were facing a massive swarm of monsters, and all were facing an encirclement. Most teams managed to maintain calm command and response, preserving their condition while picking off the monsters one by one to force a breakthrough.
However, a small number of teams were thrown into a frantic mess, not knowing what to do when faced with these sudden events.
Within just thirty seconds of being surrounded, some teams had stabilized their positions and begun attempting to break through. Others, meanwhile, already had members who were wounded — it was a truly pitiful sight.
At this moment, the newspaper reporters began shifting their focus to the Crystal Thorn team at the very front.
As the frontrunners, they were facing the largest number of monsters. Yet, the moment they were surrounded, they began coordinating with one another flawlessly.
“Pay attention to the cracks in their black shells,” Alette said.
‘Thermonuclear Lizards must collect enough heat to perform high-temperature ranged attacks. If the cracks are glowing, it means they’re ready to attack.’
“Dela, keep a close eye on the glowing lizards. Use your cooling spells on them the moment they open their mouths!”
“The lizards without glowing cracks can only pounce and bite; they’re no different from wild beasts. I’ll handle them!”
“Miss, Fluff, you two are free to act as you see fit.”
While speaking calmly, Alette swung his greatshield, swatting away a pouncing lizard. Whenever it came to matters regarding monsters, he immediately took over the command.
“Understood.”
The team’s mage, the half-dragon girl Dela, immediately began acting according to Alette’s instructions.
The moment those lizards opened their mouths to spit lava, she used freezing magic to inject cold into their bodies, neutralizing them instantly. Alette stood at the very front like a Wall of Sighs, blocking every monster that attempted a physical attack. Fluff played a war song, providing buffs to everyone. Mello coordinated with Dela and Alette, delivering the finishing blows to every weakened lizard.
Their efficiency was terrifyingly fast. In just two minutes, they broke through the blockade of ten lizards and continued their advance!
“OH!!! THE FIRST TEAM TO BREAK THROUGH THE MONSTER SWARM HAS APPEARED!”
“IT’S CRYSTAL THORN! THE CRYSTAL THORN ADVENTURER TEAM!”
“SHARP STRATEGY, DECISIVE ACTION, AND CLEAR DIVISION OF LABOR! IN JUST TWO MINUTES, THEY WIPED OUT A GROUP OF TEN THERMONUCLEAR LIZARDS AND BROKE THROUGH!!”
“MOST UNEXPECTEDLY, THE MEMBER WHO WAS ORIGINALLY A HEAVY KNIGHT ACTUALLY TOOK OVER THE BURDEN OF COMMAND AT THIS CRITICAL MOMENT! HE CALLED OUT THE MONSTERS’ WEAKNESSES AND USED THAT AS THE CORE STRATEGY TO DEFEAT THEM!!”
“LESS THAN TEN SECONDS AFTER FALLING INTO A CRISIS, HE DIDN’T PANIC. INSTEAD, HE IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFIED THE THERMONUCLEAR LIZARDS’ WEAKNESS AND DEVISED A TARGETED COUNTERMEASURE. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE!”
“THIS IS DEFINITELY ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TEAMS AMONG ALL THE ELITE ADVENTURER GROUPS!”
Driven by the announcer’s impassioned commentary, the audience watching the screens broke into praise and exclamations.
“Holy crap, Thermonuclear Lizards have a trait like that?!”
“Even if you let me flip through an encyclopedia on the spot, I wouldn’t be able to find it…”
“Their teamwork is so good. It’s practically flawless, like they’re performing a show!”
“That Heavy Knight… he gives off such a strong sense of security.”
“Look closely and learn! Learn from him! I want a teammate like that too!”
Almost everyone in the audience was an adventurer, so they naturally understood how high the technical value of this display was.
There were more than 1,000 types of monsters in the dungeon. In the Lava Domain of the sixth floor alone, there were over 200 species. The threat, characteristics, and habits of every single monster were almost entirely different. Some monsters even had variations within their own species, such as differences between males and females.
Many people didn’t even know the names of the monsters they saw. To be able to state a monster’s traits and weaknesses without hesitation after an encounter began, while simultaneously commanding teammates with targeted countermeasures — even a scholar who professionally studied monsters might not be able to do it so perfectly!
And this Heavy Knight, who in people’s stereotypes was only supposed to be an iron turtle taking hits, had stood out and become the core of the entire team!
To the members of Crystal Thorn, this wasn’t anything worth being surprised about. It was merely a daily routine they had long since grown accustomed to during their adventures. Even Alette felt that this was nothing more than a standard command.
But to the announcer and the audience outside, this was absolutely a spectacular and eye-opening display! Especially when contrasted with those teams that were in a frantic mess!
The Crystal Thorn team on the screen didn’t dawdle for a second. After forcing their breakthrough, they continued along the designated race route, leaving the many competitors behind them far in the distance.
Two minutes later, the next team appeared on the screen —
“OH, THE SECOND ADVENTURER TEAM HAS BROKEN THROUGH!!”
“THAT’S THE ‘MONSTER HUNTERS’ ADVENTURER TEAM, ELITE COMPETITORS WHO HAVE DESCENDED AS DEEP AS THE SEVENTH FLOOR!”
“IT LOOKS LIKE A RIVAL FOR CRYSTAL THORN HAS APPEARED!”