Danmachi: Gacha Draw

Deep in the labyrinth, where there is no sunrise or sunset, only the hands of the clock inform everyone that the next morning will come.

In the dim phosphorescence of the ground and the light of the magical stone lamp in the shop, everyone arrived at the 51st-floor corridor.

Longsword, rapier, greatsword, axe, spear, wand, battle axe, short blade.

Everyone stood near the entrance of the passage with weapons in hand.

The members of the battle team, who were preparing to go deeper, were surrounded in the center, their weapons shining brightly.

"Chisel Breath!"

Riveria raised her wand.

A green magic circle spread across the ground, enveloping all the team members in a green magical light.

"I've applied defensive magic to you, but the effect will only last for a period of time, so don't rely on it too much."

Everyone nodded. Finn looked around and declared in a sonorous voice, "Let's go!"

A team of 16 people, including 11 fighters, 4 supporters, and 1 blacksmith, rushed toward the passage of the labyrinth.

The regiment members and senior blacksmiths who stayed at the base shouted loudly to see off their comrades.

As the vanguard, Link took the lead.

A strong wind wrapped around his footsteps, and a faint red light flashed on his black armor.

He sprinted toward the passage at an extremely fast speed.

Ais, Agnis, Finn, Raul's supporter, and Tsubaki, who had come to the ultra-deep for the first time, acted as the central defenders.

"Damn it, why do Bert and I have to be defenders?!"

Tiona complained sadly.

"You're so long-winded, Amazon!"

"Hahaha, young people are full of energy," the dwarf warrior behind the team laughed heartily while carrying a battle axe.

"Lefiya, your breathing is too fast; relax a bit."

Riveria slightly closed her eyes, as calm as ever.

"Don't forget the heart of the tree."

"Okay… okay! Lady Riveria!"

Lefiya nodded seriously.

"Hey, Raul, you too, relax! Why are you so nervous?"

Gareth stroked his beard and shouted loudly at Raul, who was curled up in the back center position.

"Okay!"

Raul straightened his back reflexively, feeling scolded.

The battle had begun as several pairs of red eyes emerged from the darkness

Link quickly faced them, wielding the Blade Ruohuo.

The black rhinoceros, which was over three meters tall, had no time to charge at Link before he mercilessly killed it, turning it into corpses and dust.

Then Link pressed forward, like the passing wind, continuing to run toward the depths of the labyrinth.

"Get through the 51st floor at once! Don't worry about those little monsters!"

Finn ordered, prioritizing speed.

"A monster is about to be born in the passage ahead of us!"

"Link! You don't have to worry about that! Agnis, Ais, you must take care of them!"

Ais raised her rapier and pointed the tip toward the sky as a light "screech" came from the sword.

Agnis also raised his giant axe and looked ahead with an indifferent expression.

Facing the herd of black rhinos that emerged from the wall, one of the two stabbed them with a sword, while the other slashed with an axe, instantly cutting the newborn rhinoceros monster into pieces.

"Pay attention to keep up with the team and not fall behind!"

The dungeon began to hunt adventurers, and the monsters on the entire floor received orders to prevent them from continuing to invade the labyrinth.

They came from all directions.

Monsters emerged from the forked paths, the three directions of the intersection, the ceiling, the walls, and the path behind them.

"Be careful!"

Link reminded her, and at the same time, he released a huge crescent-shaped slash that flew forward.

This slash not only cut down the monsters in its path but also left two lines of slash marks on the left and right walls of the dungeon trail.

"Wow! That's amazing! Link!"

As Tsubaki squinted her eyes to observe the upcoming battle, she used the sword in her hand to instantly kill the incoming black rhino.

As the black rhino turned to dust and disappeared, she quickly grabbed the fallen "black rhino horn" and happily stuffed it into the bag she carried on her back.

"Miss Tsubaki, you're obviously a blacksmith. How can you be so powerful..."

"Well, after making a new weapon, don't you have to test it by cutting it? I want to know the power and defense of my work, so I have to go to the dungeon to find monsters to test it... So I went underground, cutting and slashing, and when I came to, I was already running very deep and became stronger."

"Win..."

He suddenly felt as if he had been shot in the heart.

Why did he become so strong when he came to?

This was too.....

With Link's keen perception and Finn's command, the living map, more than half of the journey to the 51st floor had been completed.

Simply go down from the cave room in front and turn through two forks to reach the entrance to the passage on the 52nd floor.

"Lefiya, don't rush to refine your magic power now, as it will attract those new species. Just wait until you meet them before you sing. Now, leave it to Link and the others."

"I understand..."

In the rearguard position, Riveria, Lefiya, and Olga quickly ran side by side.

"Give me the double greatswords!"

"Yes!"

Without looking back, Tiona threw the greatsword with good properties behind her.

The Level 4 human female member, who acted as the vanguard's supporter, willingly threw the double greatswords away.

"Bebe ah ah ah—!"

Tiona ran past Bete and rushed toward an army of up to twenty monsters.

She poured all her strength into a spinning slash.

The heavy weapon made of the super-hard metal 'Steel' spun like a top, slicing all the monsters in its wake into two pieces.

At that moment, there was a sound completely different from the approaching monsters in front...

That dense cracking sound unique to arthropod monsters...

"Here comes a new species!"

The yellow-green mass flooded the entire wide passage.

Finn's eyes flashed, and he quickly shouted emergency instructions!

"Change formation!!"

Ais and the others rushed out from the central defense position in perfect harmony.

"Awaken."

Ais spoke, and a strong wind enveloped the sharp blade.

Link was still in the vanguard position.

He raised his knife and brought it down, turning the two worm monsters into flying dust.

"Ooooooooh!"

The worms leaned back in tacit agreement and sprayed corrosive liquid forward with the help of their elasticity.

"Wind barrier."

Link created a barrier to prevent all the corrosive liquid from entering.

"The harbinger of the end, the white snow.

Facing dusk, the strong wind blows to block the light.

The frozen ground throws snow all over the sky, and there are three severe winters. My name is Alf!!"

"Everyone, get out of the way!"

Finn shouted.

The vanguard and central guard immediately retreated to the left and right as the troops formed a mouth formation.

"Ecstasy! Fimbull Winter!!"

The silver staff held high by Riveria burst forth with flashes of ice and snow, and a blizzard formed by magical power flew along the passage in an instant.

A large number of new species of monsters, along with other monsters that had affected them, were frozen into countless ice sculptures, extending all the way to the end, transforming everything into a world of blue ice.

Immediately afterward...

"Thunder envelops my hand, touching it, penetrating, and annihilating everything!"

"Death Arc!!!"

The erupting lightning directly penetrated the group of monsters, instantly creating a huge gap and sweeping away all the remaining creatures!

Judging from Riveria and Olga's relaxed expressions, it was obvious they hadn't exerted their full strength.

Everyone was smashing all the monstrous ice sculptures as they sped down the hallway.

They finally arrived at the passage leading to the 52nd floor below.

"From now on, we probably won't have a chance to resupply."

Facing the long, wide stairs leading to the 52nd floor, Finn turned around and looked at all the team members.

Lefiya gulped and tightened her grip on the wand in her hand.

"The moment we enter the passage, we will have no way out and can only move forward."

Everyone's expressions tightened in unison.

"Remember, on the later floors, you must try to avoid fights and conserve resources. Get to the 58th floor at once. Do you understand?"

"Yes! Let's go!" 

At the entrance of the passage connecting the 51st and 52nd floors, the group was low on provisions.

After quickly adjusting their status, everyone ran into the passage again and officially entered the 52nd floor of the underground labyrinth.

In the dark labyrinth, which was no different from the 51st floor, everyone was still running at a much faster speed than before.

There was an indescribable sense of tension.

The frequency of monster appearances and the number of encounters remained unchanged, but since the adventurer team was unwilling to engage in battle and ran with all their might, the monsters surrounding them were left behind.

Only those unlucky enough to appear in their path would easily fall. 

"Ah! There was an item that fell, but I didn't pick it up!" 

Tsubaki still didn't understand the situation.

When she saw valuable weapon materials appear, her eyes lit up, and she was about to pick them up, but Link grabbed her arm as he wanted to leave the group. 

"I can't stop." 

"Huh? Why?" 

Tsubaki could only give up on the dropped items and continue running with the team as she asked Link.

The first time she came to this area known as "Hell," she didn't know any information. 

"You'll be attacked," Link replied simply. 

"Sniper?" 

Tsubaki felt a bit incredulous, and her eyes scanned the labyrinth with its rapidly changing scenery...

There was the same faint phosphorescence as before, the common forks and caves in the labyrinth, and the group of monsters trying to get close, but there was no suspicious shadow that wanted to attack them.

What's going on?

As Tsubaki was about to ask more questions, she suddenly noticed something.

Unlike her first visit to the 51st floor, there was now very little conversation.

Everyone held their breath and pressed forward fiercely, leaving the monsters' roars behind... 

"Stop procrastinating!" 

Then, the incongruous feeling became clearer and clearer, and Tsubaki finally sensed the trembling aura that sent shivers down her spine as a level 5 adventurer.

It was a sinister and cruel roar that seemed to rise from the ground. 

"Is this roar...?" 

"It's the roar of a dragon." 

Link took a deep breath and conveyed the second half of what Tsubaki wanted to say.

The Monster King's roar shook their eardrums, but there was no shadow of the enemy in their field of vision. 

"Underground..." Link only said half a sentence, then turned to look at Finn and reminded him,

"Finn..." 

"Yes." The leader of the small human clan nodded.

"It's close... Run! Run! Keep accelerating!" 

Finn gave the order to continue accelerating.

In fact, there was no need for him to urge them. Everyone had already heard the conversation between Link and Finn.

Knowing that danger was approaching, they had quickened their pace. 

A monster blocking the path once again appeared in front of him, and Link quickly took it down. 

"You don't have to worry about it. As long as you can run away, the monster will be left to me." 

"Sure!" 

As time passed, the roar of the Monster King continued uninterruptedly, and Lefiya's breathing within the team began to quicken.

It was clear that her physical strength was being exhausted too quickly under the tremendous psychological pressure. 

Link released the Zanpakuto, and the gushing flames incinerated over a dozen giant spiders and black rhinos.

After that, he didn't get too entangled with the monsters and quickly moved towards the team that had run a little more than ten meters away. 

Just then... 

"Here we go!" Link stopped and quickly stepped into the fork in the road next to him. 

"Change direction now!!" 

Finn immediately gave instructions, and the forwards and the central defenders behind veered off the regular route and rushed towards the fork. 

In the next moment...! 

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!!" 

The dungeon floor was lifted and exploded mercilessly. 

A blazing fire erupted upwards, followed by a red, lotus-like shockwave! 

Flames burst forth from the ground and shot straight towards the ceiling! 

The scorching heat seemed to have distorted the space of the labyrinth. The raging explosions engulfed and vaporized all the nearby monsters.

The floors were covered in red flames.

The scorching color enveloped Tsubaki's eye patch, and Finn's profile was painted red. 

Tsubaki opened her right eye wide.

Faced with such an unimaginable large-scale fire explosion, the screams of Lefiya and others were forced back into their throats, turning silent. 

"Keep running! Detour! West route!" 

Link supported the slightly weaker Olga and jumped through the flaming hole. The hole was filled with twisting airwaves, and several large gaps could be vaguely seen along with the ground... 

They caught up with the adventurer team, veered off the most commonly used route, and continued to run at full speed through the wide passages of the labyrinth. 

Soon, a terrifying, spine-chilling aura enveloped everyone again, and the ground began to tremble once more... 

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!" 

The lotus-shaped red fireball pierced through the ground and broke through the ceiling. A large hole erupted from the floor of the 52nd level.

The rock plate collapsed with a roar, and hot winds and sparks rushed towards Link and the others. 

Immediately afterward, the King of Monsters, who had ensnared the adventurer, continued to launch huge fireballs, pursuing the adventurers relentlessly, and furious waves of bombardment fired again and again... 

"Boom!!!" 

"Boom!!!" 

The entire team's formation was on the verge of collapse. Everyone, including the top-level adventurers, was focused solely on escaping for their lives.

The terrifying dragon roar haunted their ears. 

"Hey, it's endless! Do we have to get all the way to the 58th floor like this?" Tsubaki couldn't help but complain. 

"Don't get distracted and keep running!" 

"Boom!!!" 

Another nearby artillery shot caused the ground to explode, turning into columns of flames, and everyone's heartbeats continued to quicken involuntarily. 

Lefiya's breathing was disordered from running with all her might; her heart, deep in her chest, beat at an alarming speed, and the ever-increasing panic was about to burst out of her throat... 

At that moment, she saw the giant spider hiding in the darkness, opening its mouth and launching a sneak attack... 

"Raul, be careful!!" 

"Boom!!!" 

The ground opened up again, and a huge column of flames shot straight towards the ceiling. Raul was also caught by the giant spider web.

As he was about to be dragged into the retracted web, Link's slash split the spider in two, and it fell down along with the softened web

The thin pillar of flame fell right in front of him, just a hair's breadth away from being roasted! 

Thanks to Link's timely action, he barely survived! 

Puff! 

Puff! 

Puff! 

Several bundles of sticky, terrifying webs tangled around other blind corners... 

"Alicia!" 

Just as Lefiya was about to push Alicia away, her arm wrapped around her first, and she was carried into the air as the web was recovered. 

At the same time, Gareth used her battle axe to block a ball of web, but Alicia was also dragged into the air by the web. 

Link cut the web with a slash, but before he could go to rescue her, another huge pillar of flame flew out and swallowed Alice directly... 

Both elf mages fell into the huge cavity in the ground created by the two bombardments!!! 

"Lefiya!" 

"Alicia!" 

Everyone shouted in unison. 

"You go first!" 

After that, Link jumped straight into the hole, and Tiona and Tione jumped in as well. 

"Gossamer Breath!" 

Riveria immediately spoke and chanted the additional magic. 

The warm green light enveloped the falling Lefiya and Alicia, as well as Link, Tiona, and Tione, who were chasing after them. 

Ais, Asagi, and Agnis also bent their legs slightly, preparing to jump together. 

"Ais, Asagi, and Agnis, don't go!" Finn immediately stopped the three of them. 

Facing the doubtful gazes of the three women, Finn calmly said, "We still have Tsubaki, Raul, and Olga here. The rest of us will still need to rely on you to fight the new species. I'll let Gareth go down and help. There won't be any problems there, so we can just take the normal route to the 58th floor and meet up with them." 

The expressions of several people were a little bitter, but they still nodded. 

"Trust him; he'll definitely be able to do it..." 

Olga mused. 

"You know, he can always turn decay into magic!"