[Dungeon of Night Serpents: Floors 12]
12 floors huh? Meaning we'll be facing 11 floor bosses before getting to the dungeon boss... Roy came to the conclusion.
They all descended down the winding earthy steps, silence reigning in their midst.
Very soon, they stepped into a steep passage wide in width, the air filled with a damp, earthy stench.
"From here on out, everyone be on guard. These beasts aren't brainless — sneak attacks are well-defined in their dictionaries."
The man speaking was an armored warrior from Vera's subordinates, his face obscured by a valiant helm. On his back was a broad sword, giving him the feeling of being dependable.
The nine quickly got into formation. They might have spoken disdainfully and dismissively about Roy, but when it came to it, they still included him among their protective form.
And so they moved, treading forward — the three fully armored warriors taking the front, four mages flanking the sides. The last two classes were hard to distinguish from their attire, but with how closely they strayed with him and Vera, he could figure they were defense types.
Suddenly, a faint rattling echoed across the passage. The group froze in their tracks. As the warriors drew their weapons, the mages' staffs started glowing a dangerous hue.
Cackle!
The constant creak rang through the air. The atmosphere became tense. Due to the misleading echoes, pinpointing the source was impossible, so they could only hold steady, their guards high.
Rumble!
And unfortunately for them, even with all preparations, they never expected the source of the attack would be from beneath!
Abnormally long heads burst from beneath their feet — open maws with dual long sharp fangs and a slit crimson tongue surfaced, aiming to take them all in one bite!
The worst part was that all 12 individuals were attacked at once!
[Shadow Vipers: Level 9]
Vera and her crew could take care of these oversized snakes easily. It would take nothing but mere seconds...
But therein lay the problem — Roy would be dead in seconds!
In their haste, they unleashed their killer moves. Normally such moves were too much just to handle a pesky level 9, but they'd rather use a sledgehammer to kill an ant so at least they could get enough reaction time to save Roy.
Annoying and disdained he may be, he was their master's ally — and that they had to honor.
Vera was also panicking. Dammit, I warned him of how perilous this may be but he insisted... A dreamy pink aura dyed her figure as she released a skill in full force, reducing the viper into immediate shreds of drops.
All ten individuals dealt with their ambushers as quick as a blink, but their expressions were solemn.
Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, a resounding noise rang amid them. Brows furrowed, foreheads creased — what was that?
It... it sounded eerily familiar, like something they couldn't help but feel they'd heard before.
It wasn't until they gazed towards Roy — the very man they were worried for — that they realized.
Eyes wide, mouths agape, they stared, unable to believe their eyes.
"Is... is that a gun?" one of them managed to ask, disbelievingly.
Roy stood at the center, his arm outstretched. In his grasp was a greenish Glock, its nozzle still smoking from fresh shots. Beneath him lay monster drops — and the same on Dio's side, who was also saved by his master.
"Y-you... where did you get that?" Vera asked, her eyes glued to the rare-class weapon in his hands, her pupils trembling.
Actually, it wasn't the presence of the gun that surprised her — it was something else...
Early comers had done all kinds of research in Arcana, and one of them included trying to recreate modern weapons in Arcana.
This project was an ultimate failure for two reasons. One: because of the change in laws of the plane, the weapons couldn't function as they would in this realm.
As for the other, even after taking the laws into equation and trying to brute force it, they discovered that these weapons were things of the past. Take a gun for starters — it was now useless before Hunters and Lords.
Even things like nukes would be ineffective before truly transcendent figures. So in the end, the mission of trying to revive modern weapons was abandoned.
But here she was, witnessing everything she initially believed being proved wrong. She felt suspicion when Roy pulled out the buggy previously — but now a gun?
Not just any gun at that — one that let a level 3 effortlessly deal with level 9 beasts. This... this was unheard of!
Roy, on the other hand, on hearing her question, tilted his head, brows raised, expression sincerely confused.
"What cop doesn't have a gun?"
What cop doesn't have a gun...
The rhetorical question reverberated through the air, pulling them into a daze. Even Dio wasn't exempt from this.
Putting it that way kind of made sense... but this was freaking Arcana, not Earth!
Things like these should be things of the past...
Rumble!
Suddenly, the ground trembled, startling them out of their daze.
Right in the distance, a whole group of level 9 vipers furiously slithered towards their direction — eyes glossy black, fangs widely exposed as they hissed rabidly.
They were just about to get their bearings and massacre the lot when...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rapid shots rang out — bullets so fast for the human eye whistled through the air, boring mercilessly into the bunch, making sure to dig out chunks of meat on impact.
Blood splattered, meat turned to mush, and the skidding carcasses of the vipers pixelized into drops in an instant.
Silence...
They all stared at this sight — with apprehension, disbelief, and a hint of horror.
Wasn't this cheating?
Yes, these beasts were nothing before them — but that's because of countless days of level grinding and death encounters. Only then did they reach levels in the high twenties and become pros.
But this... this shattered their confidence, their sense of superiority.
It made them aggrieved. This wasn't fair!