On the 16th floor of the dungeon, in a wide, glowing passage, a struggling adventurer team pressed forward.

The team consisted of only four members: one man and three women, all from the Takemikazuchi Familia.

The leader was Ouka, accompanied by Chigusa, another woman Orsted didn't recognize, and a fourth member.

The rest of their group was gone.

Ouka and his team were in rough shape. A blood soaked bandage wrapped one of Ouka's arms, the fabric stained crimson.

Though the wound was hidden, the amount of blood suggested it was severe.

Chigusa, carried on the back of the female adventurer, was no better off. Her hair was matted with blood, and she was unconscious.

The female adventurer carrying Chigusa, a supporter with limited combat ability on the middle floors, had only minor injuries.

As a rear guard member, she could at best shoot hidden arrows to harass enemies.

The Takemikazuchi Familia once had six or seven members, but now only four remained, each gravely injured.

This was the dungeon's cruelty.

The Hestia Familia's rapid progress was an exception, driven by Orsted's presence.

Without him, a newly formed Familia like Hestia's wouldn't grow so quickly or powerfully.

The Takemikazuchi familia's precarious situation was typical for small Familias in the dungeon.

Medium sized Familias, more established, rarely faced such dangers on the upper or middle floors.

"Can you still fight?" Ouka asked Chigusa wearily, staying alert to their surroundings without turning his head.

His exhaustion was palpable.

They had been fighting on the middle floors for two days and nights with almost no rest, their untreated injuries worsening.

It was remarkable that Ouka had endured this long.

Chigusa's face twisted with bitterness and guilt.

If not for her rank up, the team wouldn't have tested the middle floors with two level 2 members, leading to their current plight.

Several companions were dead, and their situation was dire.

"It's my fault. If I hadn't ranked up, we wouldn't be here," Chigusa blurted out.

"Stop it," Ouka interrupted in a low voice.

"We decided this together. It's not just your fault, it's ours. We overestimated ourselves and underestimated the dungeon."

He had thought the middle floors, while more dangerous than the upper ones, were manageable.

But their peril far exceeded his expectations.

As level 2 adventurers, he and Chigusa could have handled the middle floors alone.

But with additional personally, facing waves of monsters, they couldn't protect everyone.

Chigusa was soon gravely injured.

After her injury, Ouka planned to evacuate the dungeon.

But the dungeon seemed to have a will of its own, blocking their retreat to the upper floors with relentless monster waves.

No matter how hard they fought, they couldn't break through.

Strangely, the path deeper into the dungeon was unobstructed, as if the dungeon was luring them downward.

After discussion, they decided to head for the 18th floor's safe zone, hoping to entrust stronger adventurers there to escort them back to the surface.

They had no other choice. Staying on their current floor meant certain death from endless monster spawns.

Venturing deeper offered a slim chance of survival.

But the deeper they went, the greater the danger.

From the 15th to the 16th floor, they lost several companions, leaving only four, all badly injured.

Ouka's mind was clouded with doubt. Could they hold on?

His strength had plummeted. He doubted he could handle even a single Minotaur now.

Unfortunately, Minotaurs were the most common monsters from the 15th to 17th floors.

Could they survive another encounter? He didn't know.

If Orsted knew their ordeal, he'd recognize it as the dungeon's endless malice, described by Ryuu in the anime, a cunning force that strikes when adventurers are exhausted and vulnerable.

Ouka's group was clearly its target.

But in the anime, this fate befell Bell's party.

Hearing Ouka's words, Chigusa fell silent, biting her lip until it bled.

Suddenly, a violent tremor echoed ahead.

In their vision, seven or eight Minotaurs, wielding stone axes, emerged from the walls.

Despair filled the eyes of the three conscious members.

This was their end.

---

Read advance chapters at:

patreon.com/verse7

Powerstones:

200 Stones = 1 chapter

400 Stones = 2 chapter