Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society - Chapter 48 – Hermes (3)
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Chapter 48 – Hermes (3)

“Commence Exploration!”

The moment I spiritedly shouted out, the crosses nearby trembled and then shot up. I had a sneaking suspicion earlier that they were gravemarkers. What popped out from them were, of course, zombies. As if to show that they were different from the 23rd floor zombies, their bodies were much more intact. They even carried swords and shields, or bows and arrows.

“Guoooo…”

“Warrior’s…blood…”

These were zombie warriors. Unlike zombies that were born from corpses imbued with mana, the zombie warriors were said to be born in large numbers when the magic of the night seeped into the corpses of low-class soldiers left on battlefields after large-scale battles.

They were known to always appear in large numbers, and they would sometimes turn the people they killed into zombies, adding to their zombie army.

However, there weren’t that many zombie warriors in front of me. They were likely poor souls who were forced to fight when they were alive and could not rest even after they died.

“Blood…war…”

“Calls…us…”

I gulped down a mouthful of saliva as I watched them slowly get up with their weapons. Their eyes rolled within their decayed eye sockets.

I shouted, “Tempest!”

When I lightly attacked with my spear, the zombie warriors exploded into pieces and scattered.

They were extremely weak.

“Guoooo!”

“So it still works.”

[It’s because Master is strong!] Peika stated proudly.

Although they were stronger than normal zombies, I had been strengthened by all sorts of elixirs and even had the level 4 high-rank spear technique. It was slightly embarrassing for myself to say this, but I was in a completely different league than normal explorers on the 24th floor.

Despite knowing that I had cleared the 21st through 23rd floor in 5 hours, Loretta clearly didn't know me well enough. My overwhelming superiority would not change just because zombies had been upgraded to zombie warriors or because ghouls had appeared.

“Guooo! Human, living, breathing human!”

“Hot blood, soft skin! Human!”

More zombie warriors got up from their graves. At the same time, I saw ghouls trying to ambush me by shooting out of the gaps in the dungeon’s walls. They were certainly faster than the zombies, had tougher bodies, and had claws that gleamed threateningly.

Moreover, their eyes clearly showed signs of intelligence. That said, they only seemed to think about devouring me.

I taunted, “Come, you ghoul bastards! I’ll return you to your graves!”

When I heard Loretta’s warnings about ghouls earlier, I wasn’t entirely sure how bad they could be. Even if they were fast, could they be faster than the ratmen? Even if they were strong, how much stronger could they be compared to the lizardmen? As for their claws containing neurotoxin, I could just avoid them. Even if I were hit, I wouldn’t be poisoned unless they could break through my helmet and armor.

Of course, because Loretta warned me about them so much, I decided to come to a conclusion after fighting them first.

“Guooooooo!”

“Humaaaaaaan!”

They were slightly faster than ratmen. However, my physical ability was completely different compared to when I fought the ratmen. I could see the ghouls’ movements clearly.

If I wanted to dodge them, I could do so with ease. However, if I faced many of them at once, I was bound to be hit by one or two attacks. In that case, knowing how strong their attacks were would help me clear the 24th floor more easily.

All of these thoughts flashed through my head in the short instant that the ghouls shortened the distance between us. I deliberately stood in the trajectory of their claws. Bracing myself for impact, I prepared to counterattack.

However, the moment their claws hit my armor, an absurdity I never expected happened.

Snap.

“Ghoul, claw broke! Ghoul hurt!”

“Hurt!”

“Ghoul claw hurt!”

“Ghoul weak! Super weak!”

I had not even used Dragon Skin, but the ghouls’ claws broke upon hitting my armor, and they ran away with pained faces. Why did this happen, again? Oh, right! I had heard that if my defense was overwhelmingly higher than their attack, the weapons of the attacking enemies would break.

Defense was calculated using HP, constitution, equipment, and how much mana you used to strengthen your body. With high-rank martial arts, my body was further strengthened, which then affected my defense as well.

“Ghoul hurt!”

“Ghoul return. Ghoul hurt!”

“Ghoul call stronger ghoul! Strong ghoul take revenge!”

I grumbled, “Can you guys stop crying like little kids!? And don’t talk like you’re calling your older brother after being hit by the local delinquent!”

As I had been wearing the Dark Ratman’s Leather Armor set until the 20th floor, my defense hadn’t been all that high. Now that I was wearing the Lizard Knight Set and had increased my constitution, normal monsters couldn’t pierce through my defense anymore. Since I had never let myself be hit by the zombies, I only found out now how ridiculous my defense was. Even if I did let the zombies hit me, I wouldn’t have thought that even the 24th floor’s ghouls couldn’t do any damage…

After realizing all this, I stood still and blankly stared into the sky. Meanwhile, the injured ghouls (except the one that went to call his…brother) were devouring nearby zombies while complaining about how much pain they were in. Once they finished, they attacked me again, broke their claws, and went back to eating zombies…

“Ghoul recover!”

“Eat zombie, recover!”

“Ghoul attack! Ghoul hurt!”

“Ghoul claw hurt!”

“Ghoul go back!”

What did they call this? Aggro? I looked at the ghouls sprawled around me with disappointment, then held up my Black Earthen Spear and aimed at them. Although I was starting to like the way they talked, I didn’t need to hesitate now that I knew how weak they were.

I instructed my elemental, “Peika, take as much mana as you need and open a way in front of me. I’m going to run.”

[Okay, Master! I like running too!]

With my permission, Peika started to freely take my mana and shone with a radiant light. Soon, sparks flickered from her body. She then charged forward, burning every zombie and ghoul in her path to crisp. Naturally, the zombies died instantly while the ghouls took a huge amount of damage and staggered around. Without hesitation, I lifted my foot off the ground. It was time to make use of my special passive skill, Dash.

“Uooooooo! Clear the paaaaath!” I screamed happily.

The moment I lifted my foot off the ground, the surrounding scenery began to be pushed backwards. The zombies stared at me with blank expressions. The ghouls that came after me bounced right off.

They then clumped up and tried to block my path forward. However, like exploding grenade shells, they were sent flying in all directions by Peika’s lightning and my charge.

Whoa, so fast! I really like this Dash skill!

If Ren saw me right now, he would regretfully say, ‘So it really was possible to make your legs disappear!’ Now that I thought about it, Ren had not contacted me since we parted. Did he lose after challenging the Floor Master alone? If so, I was going to need to start the thrashing phase, season 2…

“Guooo!”

“Ghoul dying!”

I pointed my mana-strengthened spear forward as I ran using Dash, so the zombies and ghouls in my way were all sent flying. It didn’t matter even if the ghouls’ bodies were stronger than steel. After all, I could pierce a plate of steel that was an inch thick with my spear at the age of 14. My current strength was miles away compared to back then. Thus, ghouls bounced off the same way zombies did.

I didn’t check whether the monsters I sent flying were dead or alive. I didn’t need them to be dead to clear the floor. I just had to get to the end of the pathway alive.

In the past, I believed I needed to kill all the monsters to clear the floor. However, that was only because I would likely be killed by the monsters otherwise. In fact, killing all the monsters wasn’t a necessary condition to clear a floor. I had heard some dungeon explorers honed their stealth abilities to the max so they could clear dungeon floors while avoiding battles as much as possible.

Regardless, I was currently running while ignoring most of the zombies and ghouls. Even so, I constantly heard the sound of gold piling up because Peika was killing them continuously and the ones I bumped into also died from my impact.

At some point, I hit a large ghoul and discovered he had not been sent flying after colliding with my spear. I realized that it was special at that point.

“Krrrrrr! Kruka punish human!” the ghoul growled menacingly.

I exclaimed, “You’re the older brother ghoul!”

“Krrrrrr!”

I first cut off the head of a random ghoul that had been glaring at me from the side, and checked my remaining mana. Because Peika had been continuously taking my mana, I only had about 50 percent of my total mana left. The large ghoul was over six feet tall, and had a freakishly large right arm. Judging by the color of the right arm’s skin, it was undoubtedly stronger than its other parts.

“Peika, come in my spear!”

[Okay!]

“Krrrrr! I kill! Then I beat and make tender!”

The moment I activated Spirit Aura, Kruka swung its massive right arm at me. Although I dodged the original trajectory of the attack, it suddenly changed its direction in mid-air and chased after me. Startled, I hurriedly ducked and rushed to close the distance between us. Regardless of whether the opponent was monster or human, fighting became easier when the enemy was an arm’s distance away versus being right up in your face. Kruka was no exception. Without knowing what to do, it tried to strike me using its entire arm.

“Hap!”

With a short, spirited shout, I shot my spear toward its head. It was still a named monster. Hence, it had a much tougher head that did not explode out like all the other ghouls’ heads. It only let out a painful scream. Immediately afterwards, I was struck by its forearm. Although it was heavy enough to make me groan, I did not receive much damage, as I had minimized the amount of impact force I received.

As I endured the pain, I shot out my spear again. It hit the same area, and its poisonous blood spurted out into the air.

“Kruk! Annoying prey!”

I taunted, “Only eating meat isn’t good for you! In your next life, eat some goddamn vegetables!”

Kruka attacked once again with its large arm. This time, however, its arm split into two mid-flight. Was it still considered a ghoul at this point? It had to be a mutant! I would be severely injured if that thing hit me, so I didn’t try to dodge it like usual.

Instead, I simply concentrated my body’s energy and mana and shot forward with my spear. I was activating an attack that used 20 percent of my HP and MP!

“Heroic Strike!” I shouted.

White light combined with Spirit Aura enveloped the spear, giving it an imposing look similar to Heavenly God’s lightning. At the same time, it exploded Kruka’s head into oblivion. Its arm had no chance to strike me.

In the next moment, a notification flowed into my ear.

[You have defeated the named monster ‘Kruka’! You have obtained ‘Event Dungeon Entrance Ticket: Giant Zombie’s Attack!’ as a reward!]

“…Why did I get a zombie-related dungeon from a ghoul?” I complained reflexively.

Wait, that was the wrong reaction.

“Yes! An Event Dungeon!”

That was the right one!