Sinner System-Chapter 503: Final Dungeon - First Floor (Part 2)

"[Explosion Sphere Scattershot]!" Exclaimed Ciel, firing off a barrage of spheres of explosive energy, deafening blasts ringing out as she wiped out dozens of Monsters in a matter of seconds.

I don’t think I fully realized just how broken her Explosion Magic is. In regular Dungeons, she has to hold back with smaller, more targeted explosives, but in this place, with its wide, open spaces, she’s just letting loose with reckless abandon.

She’s been blasting every group of Monsters we’ve come across, exterminating most of them in one go, while Ira and Acedia shoot down the handful of stragglers that manage to avoid the explosions.

Jaden’s been using his telekinesis to protect the team from the sonic attacks of the bat Monsters, and the rest of us...really haven’t done much of anything.

It’s been over an hour since we entered the Final Dungeon now, and it’s starting to feel like we’re getting nowhere.

We’ve covered a decent bit of ground, at least I think we have, but still no sign of any of the Sentinels.

"Think she’s probably wiped out well over a thousand Monsters by now," Remarked Jaden, as Ciel finished eliminating this latest group of Monsters.

"Yeah, but...fighting these regular Monsters isn’t getting us anywhere. Actually, I’m surprised they haven’t grouped up and swarmed us all at once, like the Monsters in the Dungeons on the outside did. It’s as if they’ve spread out for the purpose of wearing us out, making us wander around as much as possible," I replied with a grimace.

"It’s definitely starting to feel that way. So, what should we do?" Inquired Aria warily.

We already made it to the opposite end of the first floor from the entrance, but no luck. Maybe we should head for one of the corners instead?

"Um, maybe we should’ve done this from the start, but...what if we move along the walls, circle the entire space and then steadily move in, like a spiral," Suggested Cleo, following a brief silence.

"Well, it’s worth a shot, at least. There’s no telling how many more of these bat Monsters are on this floor, we’ll just wear ourselves out if we keep wandering about aimlessly," Pointed out Aarav.

"Yeah, I’d like to blast something stronger now," Chimed in Ciel, looking a bit worn out.

"Move to the back and take it easy for a bit, you’ve been firing off your Magic almost nonstop," I remarked, before glancing back at Jax, who nodded in response.

"[Mana Recovery], [Stamina Recovery]," He chanted as Ciel shuffled to the back.

We then continued on, moving along the walls. Yeah, Cleo’s right, we should’ve done this from the start.

Sticking by the walls means that there’s always one direction in which we don’t have to worry about any attacks coming from.

I had the Apostles form a tighter cordon around the party, on the opposite side to the wall we were walking alongside of.

"Hey, about forty Monsters, sixty meters ahead. I think there’s...sixteen Supersonic Bats and three Hypersonic Bats, the rest are Sonic Bats," Remarked Cleo, after pausing for a moment.

She’s getting better at using her Echolocation Skill, she’s gauging distance and numbers more accurately now, and she’s able to discern the species too.

"Got it. Ciel, we’ll handle this group, you take it easy for a bit longer," I called back.

"Aw, but I’m totally good to go, I-...," She began.

"Just listen to him. We’ve still got a ton of ground to cover, no sense in getting too greedy this early," Sighed Rex, as he glanced back at her.

"Hm...yeah, I guess that’s true. Fine, I’ll keep hanging back for now," She relented, looking a bit disappointed.

As we headed towards the Monsters Cleo had sensed, we slowed our pace a bit as we drew closer, getting ready to spring into action the instant we caught sight of them.

Of course, since they can echolocate too, they’ve probably already sensed us. But bat Monsters aren’t all that intelligent, they’re pretty instinctive creatures.

It wasn’t too long before they came into sight, Jaden swiftly putting up a telekinetic barrier around us as dozens of sonic screeches came blasting down towards us in unison.

"Alright, <Command: Kill Each Other>," I chanted, locking onto the Supersonic and Hypersonic Bats, before the Monsters began tearing each other apart in a vicious frenzy.

Aria fired out piercing blasts of Negative Energy as a few began to scatter away from the group, shooting them down.

It didn’t even take a full minute before all the Monsters were dead, reduced to a pile of bloodied corpses on the ground before us.

With that dealt with, we proceeded on, making our way along the wall. We soon reached a corner, having encountered a couple more groups of Monsters.

Ciel moved back up to the front as we made a ninety degree turn, heading along the wall to the left of the space. Well, the wall that was to our right when we entered the Final Dungeon, it’s now to our left, since we’re moving in the opposite direction we started in.

We continued encountering groups of Monsters at regular intervals, some groups of no more than thirty, and others as high as around a hundred.

Given the firepower this party possesses, Ciel especially, we were having absolutely no trouble dealing with these Monsters...but the time it takes to wipe out each group is really starting to add up now.

We can’t afford to let this drag on for too long...even if we do end up killing the Sentinels and Vaszel, it won’t mean much if everyone else gets wiped out by then.

How much longer before we-...?

"W-Wait, hold on! I...I sense something. Eighty meters ahead, a single Monster. And it feels different to the rest," Suddenly spoke up Cleo.

"Oh? Looks like we’ve found our target!" Declared Jaden with a grin, slamming his fists together.

"Yeah, this is it. As planned, the instant it comes into sight, blast it with everything you’ve got, Ciel. After that, us X-Aces will fan out and surround it, while the rest of you get some distance. We’ll overwhelm and crush it in one fell swoop," I stated, letting out a slow exhale to compose myself.

This is it. This is where our final raid begins for real...