Yafeng Town, Adventurers’ Guild branch.

Mirabelle burst into the guildmaster’s office.

Oberon shot his intelligence chief a disapproving glance and scolded,

“Not even a knock—why rush in like this?”

“N-no… it’s bad,” Mirabelle panted, words stumbling, “the detection crystal… it picked up… an intense surge of mana…”

“A surge of mana?”

Seeing her so out of breath, Oberon finished the sentence for her.

“So the Demon Tide erupted two days early. Hardly worth panicking over.”

He looked utterly composed now, nothing like the man who had first panicked when news of the Tide broke.

The two nearby cities—Fishing Sail Harbor and Norwede—had promised to send troops to suppress it.

They’d arrive in two or three days at most.

And the Demon Tide always started weak before building in strength. Even if it began early, the first days would be manageable.

He had already recruited swarms of adventurers. They could easily handle the opening monsters.

By the time the horde grew beyond their control, the armies would be here.

No reason to panic at all.

Clearly, Mirabelle still lacked composure.

Oberon shook his head with faint disappointment, sipping at a delicate glass of island moon-wine.

But Mirabelle wasn’t finished. She gasped out:

“Not just a surge… resonance!”

“Cough—!”

Oberon spat the wine all over, choking.

“Impossible! If another Dungeon had erupted, headquarters would have informed me!”

“It’s not a Dungeon within the United Kingdom,” Mirabelle pressed, finally catching her breath. “It’s the Dragoncliff Dungeon in the Hermit Empire!”

!!!

The Dragoncliff Dungeon—one of the world’s six great Dungeons, far to the north near the wastelands.

Its denizens were dragon-beasts, far stronger than those of the Amethyst Dungeon.

And “resonance” meant two Dungeons whose Demon Tides erupted at the same time had linked internally.

In that case, the rule of “the first few days being weak” no longer applied.

Because the first floor here could suddenly open directly into the deep floors of the other.

The danger depended entirely on what the partner Dungeon was.

And with the Dragoncliff—far stronger than Amethyst—the situation was dire.

“But… how? That spans half the continent!” Oberon still resisted the idea.

“Distance doesn’t matter with Dungeon resonance!” Mirabelle nearly shouted. “We need a plan now!

If we throw unprepared adventurers at dragon-beasts, they’ll collapse instantly!”

She was frantic now. If Yafeng Town was destroyed, both she and Oberon were finished.

“You—send every man we have to the gate.

Get the logistics division to hand over all our anti-dragon gear—every last piece!

I’ll contact the armies and make them march faster.”

Mirabelle nodded and turned to leave—but Oberon caught her sleeve.

“And one more thing. Don’t let word of the resonance spread. Just make sure our people have the gear.”

“…”

Mirabelle froze, her eyes showing a flicker of fear.

She understood: he wanted to keep the adventurers ignorant, to stop them from deserting.

Practical, perhaps.

But ruthless.

The unknowing adventurers would face a suddenly transformed Demon Tide—and die in droves.

Oberon was prepared to feed them all into the grinder just to buy time.

———

“Break free… destroy…”

Get out of my head!

Lin Jun shook off the strange, echoing voice intruding into his mind.

So that was what warped the Dungeon monsters?

Magnetic, seductive even—but it had no hold over him.

What worried him more was what had crawled into the fifth floor.

A dragon!

Was this a joke?

When the colossal head fully pushed out of the fissure, Lin Jun nearly broke down.

There were dragons in the deep floors? Since when?!

But then, as its body emerged, he breathed a little easier.

Not a true dragon—something dragon-like.

The panel confirmed it:

【Species: Dragon-Beast – Bladetail Whip Dragon】

【Level: 42】

Dragon-beast—a broad category. Any monster with a trace of dragon blood counted.

Not a true dragon, then. Thank goodness.

Still, even dragon-beasts weren’t weak.

Its scales alone granted [Magic Resistance LV5]. His mushroom cannons would hit for much less.

What would it do? Attack him? Or rush for the upper floors?

The creature’s tail began to uncoil, segments stretching, blood-red scales rising, bone blades jutting outward.

What had been a two-meter tail extended into a ten-meter whip of flesh and steel.

It snapped its haunches—and the tail lashed at the Pujis.

Lin Jun was ready.

[Assault Leap LV5]!

The Pujis bounded backward in unison, evading the strike.

So that’s why they called it a Bladetail Whip Dragon. Apt name.

But it meant a fight was inevitable.

Even as the whip recoiled, the mushroom cannons fired.

The beast was huge—five meters long. Impossible to miss.

Over a hundred blasts slammed into it. Even with high resistance, its body was ripped raw, blood pouring, its roars weakening.

Lin Jun wasn’t lacking in firepower.

Compared to those two agile beastmen of similar level, this was easy.

But he couldn’t celebrate. This was only the beginning.

Two more dragon-beasts crawled from the fissure.

One spread wings immediately, soaring into the air—an agile type, his least favorite.

The flood of monsters poured forth, battle raging hot.

And this was only the prepared chokepoint.

On the other side, with just thirty Pujis holding… disaster.

A two-headed dragon-beast pushed through.

The Pujis fired—but its flames consumed the shots.

Two nearby mushrooms were roasted alive.

Hopeless.

Then—a black shadow streaked from the rift, circling in the air before plunging down.

It landed atop the two-headed beast.

Talons sank into both its necks, crushing scales, blood gushing.

With brutal force, it wrenched upward. No amount of fire-breathing saved it.

Both heads were torn free.

The violence stunned even Lin Jun.

At last, he saw the figure clearly.

Humanoid—but clad in scales darker than iron, dragon wings folded along its spine, a massive tail trailing behind.

Under the scaled face, humanlike features could still be glimpsed.

【Species: Dragonkin】

【Level: 58】

Its golden vertical pupils flicked toward the Pujis.

It glanced at their soft, plump bodies—then at the hard, lifeless dragon skulls in its claws.

The dragon heads were tossed aside like trash.

In the next instant, the Dragonkin blurred forward, covering ten meters in a leap.

It seized a struggling Puji, jaws parting, twin rows of fangs flashing—

And bit down eagerly.