“This way!”
Bried led five Rescue Team members to the edge of the cliff.
There were originally seven members, but along the way, they spotted Lar lying on the ground in an ORZ pose, unconscious, and two members split off to carry him away.
Bried wanted to say there was no need to care about that trash, but to save time, she didn’t argue with the Rescue Team.
Bried confirmed the location again—it was definitely here.
Everyone rushed over and saw a weathered suspension bridge at the edge of the cliff, the ground marked by messy footprints and a large pool of blood.
There wasn’t a single person in sight.
“Is it really here?”
“….Yes.”
Bried felt a bit guilty.
The Rescue Team first took out a box, infused it with mana, and activated a Barrier that wouldn’t easily attract monsters, then began their search.
Bried checked LINE again, wanting to ask Cass what happened.
What exactly happened between those two, and Cliff and his gang were missing too…
Did they encounter a monster and get wiped out?
Fall into an unpredictable trap?
Run into the Fallen Demon Association?
With no new information or clues, Bried worried about the two, her imagination running wild.
Could my judgment have been wrong? Would it have been better to try and grab Siloque and escape back then?……
Apple Risotto…
If Siloque isn’t here, I can’t eat that delicious breakfast anymore.
Guuu——
Thinking too much, Bried’s stomach reacted again.
Just as Bried was at a loss for what to do next, a message from Siloque appeared on LINE.
Bried quickly checked:
—I’m with Cass, safe and sound, already back. You should go home too—
Thank goodness…..
Bried felt relieved, but new doubts arose.
Are you hurt? Why did you go to the Dungeon so late at night? What did Cliff and the others want from you?—
How is Cliff?—
Bried looked around. Aside from the busy Rescue Team, there was no sign of Cliff or the others.
Still unclear—
Alright.
Cass and I are fine, we can train tomorrow morning too. We came to hunt monsters, but ran into them by bad luck. They wanted to vent their anger on me, that’s all—
Vent their anger…
Bried immediately recalled what Cliff and the others did in Class F before.
Bullying the weak, a disgrace to the strong.
No, those people didn’t even deserve to be called strong—just a bunch of thugs with brute strength.
She hated those who abused their power the most.
You’re really not hurt, right? Don’t lie to me—
Siloque sent a photo. It showed a window and a table, the image so dark it looked odd.
—?—
—I’m in my room—
Bried finally relaxed.
—As long as you’re okay—
Just as she was sending a message, someone suddenly shouted behind her:
“This way! Grab a 50—no, 80-meter safety rope… forget it, just take the longest one you have! Ready weapons, send two people down to fish them up.”
Strange, didn’t Siloque say he was fine?
Bried went up to look, and the horrific scene before her made her hold her breath.
Three barely human shapes lay at the bottom of the valley.
One’s left hand and right foot were twisted like a pretzel, half his face embedded in a rock and splattered with blood.
Another’s lower body hung from a tree branch, while a Slime lay sprawled on the cross-section of his upper body—the dead man’s organs floated inside the monster’s translucent, viscous bubble.
The third was still conscious.
Thanks to his red hair, he was barely recognizable as Cliff.
He was muttering something, covered in blood, dragging a grotesquely twisted left leg bent out 90°, and swinging his fists, trying to drive off three Vampire Bats nearly three meters long gnawing at his body.
“Slipped and fell?”
That was Bried’s first thought.
After driving away nearby monsters, the Rescue Team hauled up two unknown corpses and Cliff.
“This guy’s tough. Falling from this height with so many monsters below, he actually survived… Though with these injuries, he’ll be bedridden for at least a month.”
Why didn’t he just die…
Bried listened to the Rescue Team’s comments, secretly feeling regret.
At that moment, Bried finally heard what Cliff was muttering.
Cliff spat blood, his face twisted in rage and hatred:
“Silo…! Que!…..I’ll kill you!…. Absolutely… absolutely kill… I’ll…..Siloque….”
“Hey! What did you say? Siloque? What did he do to you?”
Bried went over to question him, but Cliff’s mouth only spewed curses at Siloque before he was carried away.
After explaining to the Rescue Team that their companions were safe, Bried left the first floor with them.
On the way, Bried replayed the entire incident, questions bubbling up like soda in her mind.
The reason being, Siloque survived a blow from Cliff and still managed to escape…
But on LINE, he said he was safely home.
At the scene, the blood and footprints clearly showed a fierce battle had taken place.
Come to think of it, Cliff and the others didn’t have wounds consistent with weapon slashes.
Maybe their injuries were so severe it was hard to tell.
Siloque messaged that they were fine. But with just Cass at Lv7 and himself, there’s no way they could have pushed Cliff and his group—Lv10—off a cliff.
How could a Lv2 beat a Lv10? It’s as absurd as a kitten killing a whale.
It makes no sense.
How did Siloque escape unscathed from veteran explorers…?
Could it really have been Cliff and the others who slipped and fell?
Guuuu~~
Bried grew hungry after thinking for so long and simply pulled out Chestnut Cream Bread from the Ring Chart to munch on.
Forget it. I’ll just ask Siloque tomorrow.
“Sigh… Why do I feel like Siloque has become more and more of a stranger to me? The old him should’ve been more timid and reluctant to interact with people… It’s like…”
They’re two completely different people.
***
“Whoa…..”
Cass couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.
In a word, the scenery was breathtaking.
Outside, the sun had already set, but in this area of the Dungeon, bright sunlight poured down.
Even calling them giant trees wasn’t enough—Maples stretched endlessly, the smallest trunk a meter thick and over thirty meters tall.
Golden beams pierced through layers of leaves, creating a fantastical scene.
Cass activated the Ring Chart’s camera function to capture the beauty.
“The visuals here are stronger than in games.”
Siloque walked ahead, bathed in dappled sunlight.
Bried is a good person after all.
Seeing her message of concern on LINE, Siloque smiled warmly.
To fool her, Siloque had randomly taken a photo while tidying his room earlier, slapped on a filter, and sent it to Bried.
“We’re almost there.”
Siloque put away the Ring Chart, swept his long black hair over his shoulder, revealing a slender white neck.
His smooth, dark hair shimmered in the light.
Cass unconsciously pressed the shutter for a burst of photos.
“Siloque?”
“Ah…um!”
Cass, caught staring, quickly hid his hands and jogged after Siloque through the thick carpet of fallen leaves.
“It’s hard to believe such scenery exists on the first floor. How did you find this place, Siloque?”
Cass hurriedly changed the subject, praying Siloque hadn’t noticed the candid shot.
“I found it while searching for materials in the Library. This is a Hidden Area on the first floor, called Maple Court Garden. The outer area is mostly tree-shaped monsters, but the deeper you go, the fewer monsters there are.”
“Garden? Shouldn’t a place this big be called a Maple Forest?”
“Who knows? Maybe to the owner of this area, this is just a ‘garden’.”
“Owner?”
But if Cass went to the Library himself, he’d find there was no information about Maple Court Garden.
“Cass, don’t think I’m nagging, but you mustn’t tell anyone about these Hidden Areas, okay?”
“If word gets out, rare grinding spots will get stolen by others—I know that much.”
After walking for another three minutes, they reached a vast clearing.
Dreamlike golden light shone on a giant tree that seemed to reach the first floor’s ceiling.
The trunk’s center was a dark hollow that made you want to plug it with something, and tangled roots connected to a clear lake, which looked only a meter deep from the bottom.
“It’s like a place where elves would live.”
“Elves are on the fourth floor. That’s still far off. Plus, their magic resistance is ridiculous and hard to fight.”
“Siloque, you’re way too battle-hungry…”
As Cass was about to take a photo with the Ring Chart—
Siloque’s next move shocked him.
He drew his greatsword from his waist and, without hesitation, slashed a bloody line across his palm.
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