The interval between each volley was three seconds.
For Leon and the others, those three seconds were only enough to sprint a few steps before the tightening bowstrings forced them to halt and brace themselves again.
And ever since the giant appeared, they were still hundreds of meters away from him.
It was torture.
Utter torture.
If the gravestones were still intact, they would've had cover. But they weren't. With the dense rain of arrows pouring down on them, their only shield was Sword Saint Gapar's flawless, 360-degree protection.
Without him, they would've been wiped out during the very first volley.
Normally, adventurers were meant to inch forward by hiding behind gravestones—one wrong move meant instant death, but once you knew the strategy, this section was considered manageable.
Monsters always had weaknesses. If Gapar weren't with them, they would've already figured out the real method and started trying to kill the giant properly.
Now they could only crawl forward at a snail's pace. As they approached the broken city wall where the giant perched, Leon noticed something strange:
Around a hundred meters before the wall, all gravestones and tall weeds disappeared, leaving only barren ground.
As if the dungeon itself was saying:
"Go ahead. Run through the arrow rain. If you survive, you're incredible."
From over a hundred meters away, a regular adventurer could reach the wall in a few seconds—
but that was more than enough time for another volley to land.
Two routes appeared before them:
A stairway leading up the wall, where the giant waited.
A small room beneath the wall, lit by weak torchlight, leading to a deep, unknown underground passage.
The room was much closer. If they rushed inside and shut the door, the arrows would be blocked easily.
But Leon felt something was off. According to intel from other teams, there should've been at least three routes, each guarded by an elite monster meant to weaken the Death Rite Bird.
But where was the third route?
There was no time to think. Instinctively, everyone dashed toward the stairs to confront the giant.
They hated him now—every single member wanted to turn him into dust.
Whether the gravestones were intact or not no longer mattered. Gapar swung his sword rapidly, the sky flashing with dazzling sword light. Two steps forward. Stop. Sword art. Repeat.
Even if Gapar's techniques were beautiful, watching them nonstop almost felt surreal.
His arms never tired. His eyes never blinked. His stamina was monstrous.
Eventually the group went from terrified to numb. All they could do was watch the Sword Saint show off—and he agreed wholeheartedly.
"Hahaha! You don't get battles like this every day! What a great dungeon!" Gapar bellowed.
But as they were nearing the wall, new monsters suddenly joined the battlefield.
And when they saw what they were, Gapar's expression instantly collapsed.
Rust Monsters.
"Again…?"
This time Gapar absolutely refused to use his sword. Even if it was a random blade he picked up from a blacksmith's shop, every sword was precious to him.
So he grabbed a broken gravestone and bashed the Rust Monsters' skulls in with it.
Terl rushed over to help, swinging his massive arms with brute force—
but he got carried away, and a stray arrow pierced straight through his shoulder.
A single arrow could pierce Terl!?
He winced as Drew healed him while lecturing him at the same time.
When they finally climbed onto the wall, all the plains archers vanished. Only a row of about ten archers appeared on the narrow top, and the giant glared at them with his dried, twisted face.
"Take care of yourselves," Gapar said.
This time, he didn't protect them. He charged straight at the giant. Other than summoning archers, the giant had no other attacks.
A flash of steel—
The giant howled, dissolved into ash, and dropped a glowing item.
"Yours," Gapar said casually, waving off the kill reward without a care.
"As expected of Master!" Leon clapped enthusiastically, fully aware of Gapar's personality.
"It's nothing," Gapar replied humbly—but a smile tugged at his lips. Replaying the battle in his mind, he thought his own moves looked increasingly stylish.
Swordsmanship was cool…
But magic was even cooler.
People were always drawn to the things they didn't understand but looked powerful—magic was exactly that for Gapar. He couldn't even conjure a basic spark. Studying magic was turning into an obsession.
The reward from the giant was unprecedented—
[Latenna the Albinauric Ashes]
[Usable once per dungeon run against elite or higher monsters, with unlimited duration. Outside the dungeon, usable once every twenty-four hours, each use summoning three archers to assist in battle.]
"Ashes…?" Drew muttered, uneasy. Using remnants of the dead to summon spirits felt a little necromancer-ish.
But remembering the strength of those archers…
Never mind. This was great. They were absolutely using it.
The Ashes System didn't shock this world too much—necromancers already existed.
Wade's bootleg ashes didn't require a Spirit Calling Bell, but as a result, the summons were slightly weaker.
If adventurers eventually obtained a proper bell and used it as a catalyst, the ashes' full power would be restored.
As for the outside-world cooldown—Wade originally wanted no restriction, but the mana cost skyrocketed tenfold. After adding limits, it finally stabilized.
It was as if the world itself refused to let him create truly broken abilities.
Maru took out her Hunter's Manual. As a participant in the fight, new information was automatically updated:
[Hunter's Manual · Monster Category]
[Name: Grave Guardian
A nameless giant entrusted with guarding the graves. To prevent innocents from entering, and to stop the wicked from approaching the abyss-tainted nation deeper below, he and the archer spirits stand eternal watch.]
This monster was a fabrication by Wade.
"Prevent innocents from entering—?"
Maru remembered the torrential arrow fire.
Is this your definition of 'preventing entry'!?
"Guarding the graves… or guarding the abyss? Does that mean he was ordered by the Farron Undead Legion?"
She groaned. Why was the manual so vague?! Too much empty space! Everything required guesswork!
"The nation corrupted by the abyss…"
A chill crept up her spine. If Darkwraiths alone were that terrifying, what about an entire abyss-tainted kingdom?
And something like that lay beneath this cemetery?!
Who in the world would dare go there!?
When she shared the information, Gapar's eyes sparkled.
He dared.
The team exchanged looks.
If Gapar wanted to go there, they were absolutely finding an excuse to leave first.
Knowing your limits meant staying alive.
After killing the giant, they finally took the time to look around. The cemetery plain ended at the wall—beyond it lay a ruined, waterlogged city. The buildings were rotted, collapsed, and damp. To continue, they had no choice but to enter.
But… where was the third path?
Other teams might have hidden information about monsters or traps, but lying about an entire route?
Was the intel completely fake!?
They searched around the base of the wall—and found nothing.
"They gave us fake intel?! Those bastards!" Maru kicked a stone angrily.
The stone rolled into the weeds—
and then they heard a clattering sound, like it had tumbled downward.
Downward?
Maru lunged into the weeds—her foot slipped—and she yelped as she fell.
When everyone rushed over, she shouted excitedly:
"There's another path down here!"
The edge of the cemetery wasn't flat—it was a cliff. Hidden beneath the weeds, a narrow trail hugged the underside.
Taking this trail would completely avoid the archers!
And halfway along the path, a ladder led up to the top of the wall—perfect for ambushing the giant.
Clever.
Too clever.
Everyone felt something indescribable.
When most adventurers saw the giant and the wall for the first time, they would instinctively rush toward the small room.
But the timing was perfectly calculated—
midway, the arrows would shred them.
They imagined a stubborn player repeatedly charging the wall, dying over and over, only to discover this hidden path at their lowest point.
Would they feel ecstatic?
Or enraged?
Probably both.
"Master, can we take this path?" Leon asked eagerly. This route not only led to a good ambush position, but also continued deeper underground.
So this was the third route.
The intel had been correct after all.
"Doesn't matter to me," Gapar said casually. It never did.
The group jumped down onto the hidden trail and continued forward. The path sloped downward and eventually merged into the stone layer—they were now heading underground.
Then—
Footsteps echoed from ahead, like armored soldiers running in unison.
Maru squinted.
A pale skull mask led the charge.
A Darkwraith.
And an entire squad of them.
She instinctively backed up. The previous Darkwraith had traumatized her—at this rate she'd be traumatized by every frightening monster they met!
But then she remembered—Gapar was here. She didn't need to fear the darkness now.
However, the moment she stepped back—
The ground rumbled violently.
She turned around—
The path behind them had collapsed.