Antagonist Protection Service

'―Wonder what the chances are of finding some loot down there...'

Part of me felt a desire to go through the destroyed bars and into the dark chamber to find out, but at the same time, I really didn't want to keep getting sidetracked and waste time.

'This is only the Twelfth Floor, anyway. I doubt there'd be anything useful here regardless.'

And so, I withdrew my attention, stepping away from the breach and briskly continuing down the hall, soon coming across another great door.

Although, judging by the even more massive hole in the wall where the door was supposed to be, as well as by said door being implanted firmly into the stone brick below as if cartoonishly knocked down and trampled over, I didn't think there was much of a need to question what had occurred.

"..."

Whatever it was, the escapee certainly seemed strong.

"Haah, I don't care... I just want this dungeon to be over already..."

Sighing and muttering under my breath, I reached up to stretch my neck before passing through where the formerly imprisoned creature had evidently ran through, encountering mostly 'harmless' undead and skeleton soldiers.

At some point, it led to an abnormally large, square hole in one corner of the floor, like an elevator shaft leading down.

Perhaps only naturally, there was nothing like a platform to carry passengers down, and the reason for that didn't need to be stated, the walls on every side of the shaft having vicious claw marks running all the way down.

'You're kidding...'

Fortunately, there just so happened to be a human-sized ladder that also led down. Still, at this point, I couldn't deny that I was beginning to lose it a little.

Deciding to hurry it up so I could actually make it to the next Floor before the end of the day, whenever that was, I heaved another sigh in exasperation and grabbed onto the old, rusty metal ladder, lowering myself down and putting one step before the other.

Eventually, I reached the bottom of the shaft.

And wouldn't you know it?

[Floor 13]

[Objective: Eliminate the dungeon boss and escape]

"Oh, my god."

The chain was still going.

'Maybe I should've just stolen that map those other guys had...'

This definitely wasn't the correct way you were supposed to go, and it wasn't even because it was exceptionally dangerous, but rather due to how incredibly drawn-out and boring it was swiftly becoming.

"...Just go. Stop complaining and get on with it..."

At the bottom of the shaft, there was, of course, another chamber, this time with actual decoration―in the form of stone statues lining the walls.

They were all about human-sized, and they all possessed the same form of some fat creature I hadn't ever seen nor heard of.

Either way, it didn't take a full second before I was struck with memories of the Fifth Floor, where the statues of that jungle temple abruptly rose to life for the second Objective.

I wasn't necessarily worried, but I did keep the possibility in mind.

"..."

As I warily walked through the chamber, I began to sense multiple presences further ahead.

'Hm? Wait...'

Furrowing my brows, I hastened my steps and progressed through the first chamber with a new goal. Coming across another corridor containing a large, completely destroyed iron grille window on one side, I immediately heard the clashing of weapons, as well as something else alongside it, like the mixed result of a man's grunt and the low grumble of a beast.

Approaching what was effectively just a big hole in the wall, originally just a place to oversee the vast chamber below, lit around the periphery with blazing torches, I quickly realised what was going on.

Fighting together, a group of six Challengers were gathered, patently newbies, with a great beast as their opponent. Like a disturbing mix between a wolf, a lion, a bat and a big cat, the bus-sized monster covered in thick black fur deftly pounced between those daring to take the frontline, swiping its tremendously sharp claws repeatedly.

Now that I could get a better look at it, this thing was undoubtedly on a different level compared to the Fourth Floor Boss. Whether that was because this creature was particularly powerful or not, well I guess it didn't matter.

A couple of the human opponents were familiar―evidently the very same Challenger duo I had briefly stalked to find a way down to the Twelfth Floor, but the four others were a lot I hadn't seen before, containing a mix of ranged and melee fighters.

I was temporarily puzzled by how those two had managed to reach this area before me, but when I thought about how I indeed ended up taking a strange path, I could at least somewhat accept it.

What was most interesting, however, was the giant, bloodied corpse positioned behind the beast.

A colossal, frankly fat creature, its excessively round appearance most similar to that of a hobgoblin, and with what looks to be a fitting, torch-shaped scepter on the ground beside it.

It was obviously supposed to be what those previous statues were imitating, and whatever it was, the thing's gullet was ruthlessly torn open, spilling copious amounts of blood beneath it, likely enough to kill it in a single go.

Glancing back to the black beast and even the great tear from which I was observing, I didn't think there was much need to consider what had happened.

'Guess that was supposed to be the boss...?'

Maybe there was some lore to this dungeon that I wasn't understanding, but rather than piquing my curiosity, it only pissed me off.

All this hassle, all this bother, just to come here and watch the fight already taking place.

Speaking of which...

"Hk-?!"

SLAM-!

"Max...!"

"Oh, there goes one..."

...It was going pretty terribly, at least for some.

Of the two Challengers I was already familiar with, the male just failed to react to the beast's attack in time and got sent flying into the wall, crashing horribly into a cloud of dust.

His partner, the female mage, exclaimed, but rather than wasting her time with that, shouldn't she instead be using the opportunity following the attack to fire off her magic?

With regards to the others, there seemed to be a second duo and two single Challengers, though I could only tell thanks to the severe gap in teamplay between them.

Incidentally, the second duo consisted of a tankier guy in heavy full plate armour, and a swifter one with a rapier, and as for the two solos, there was one young ranger, and what could only have been a mage.

At least, they seemed to me like one―with no weapon by their side and a dark cloak disguising both their face and figure, I only had those details and the impression of their magic energy to go by, which, as it happens, certainly appeared to be the highest of the group.

My gaze lingering on that most suspicious person for a few moments, I quietly brought a hand to my chin.

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something felt off about them indeed.

Maybe it was just because they weren't showing their face, like me.

'Hm... I guess I can spectate for a minute or so.'

The moment I thought that, an intense flash of fire illuminated the hall.

❖─────★★★★☆─────❖

Right after the first frontline was knocked all the way out of the fight by the beast's swipe, the remaining tank and agile fencer stepped up to prevent its advance to the backline.

At the very same time, the archer nocked an arrow onto the string of her bow as she took aim, holding a few spares in her non-dominant hand ready for some quickfire action, and as for the mage, the cloaked figure simply directed an open palm at the vicious creature, upon which something incredibly bright then began to materialise around him.

Intense white light snaked over and around his body, slowly gathering and coiling around his arm to convene at the space before his hand.

"Watch out! Flare...!"

Fwooaaarr~!

All of a sudden, the magic energy that had surged to form a ball at his palm burst into flames, exploding violently forth towards the beast. The two fighters taking the boss' attention hurriedly jumped out of the way to avoid the attack, letting the scorching eruption hit the enemy directly.

Retaining its previous colour, the pure, white fire raged, setting the thick fur of the beast alight but somehow not spreading to encompass the whole of its body.

Letting loose deafening shrieks and howls, the attack certainly appeared at least somewhat effective, but not nearly enough to take it out in a single shot―blatantly furious, it pounced forwards, aiming directly for the human that dared to cause it such burning agony.

"...?!"

In the blink of an eye and without any opportunity to stop it, the beast arrived at its target's location, its eyes flashing a deep red as if to showcase its overt state of frenzy.

"Hk-!"

Menacingly, the beast huffed and growled, raising its forelimb to reap the life of the mage, who fell back on his ass in horror of his imminent demise, causing his hood to fall down, revealing his young face.

At least, it would have been, if not for him.

Shiing~!

Thud.

"...Eh?"

Before anyone had realised it, the beast's giant paw had abruptly hit the ground, utterly and cleanly severed from its body.

Slowly moving his gaze up, the mage saw him.

A masked figure stood between them, brandishing an ominous black sword.