Klaus looked forward while gripping his sword tightly as his knuckles turned white around the leather-wrapped hilt.

The Were-Hound’s eyes immediately locked onto the four of them standing at the top of the staircase. Its muzzle was still stained with fresh blood from the witch whose bisected corpse lay nearby with steam still rising from the exposed organs.

Before Klaus could assess the tactical situation properly or give any orders about formation and strategy, Taula shot past him in an explosive blur of motion that left afterimages in its wake.

The wind from her passage was strong enough to blow everyone’s hair back violently and kick up dust from the stone floor.

"I got it!" she shouted with obvious enthusiasm, her voice echoing through the boss chamber.

As an A-rank Adventurer of Galen Town, Taula had already fought her way up to the Fiftieth floor of this World Dungeon multiple times.

She’d faced bosses far more dangerous than this Floor 20 mini-boss and she’d even killed it a bunch of times... This Were-Hound, while certainly formidable for most adventurers, wouldn’t be much of an issue for someone of her caliber.

In fact, it shouldn’t be an issue at all since she’d killed worse creatures before breakfast.

SLASH!

She swung her massive two-handed axe through the air in a devastating horizontal arc, the weapon wreathed in golden aura that crackled with raw power.

The sheer force of the swing created a visible distortion in the air. She was heading straight for the Were-Hound’s neck, clearly intending to decapitate it in one blow and end the fight immediately.

The creature reacted with supernatural speed, hopping backward in a powerful leap that carried it several meters away. Taula’s axe missed its intended target and slammed into the reinforced stone ground instead.

BOOM!

The impact created an explosion of shattered rock fragments and billowing dust that kicked up in a massive shockwave, spreading outward in concentric circles.

Deep cracks spider-webbed across the floor from the point of impact, some of them extending five or six meters as small stones and pebbles were sent flying in all directions like shrapnel.

The Were-Hound landed gracefully on both hind feet several meters back from where it had been standing, its claws clicking against stone. Its muscles tensed, preparing to rush forward for a counterattack while Taula was supposedly vulnerable.

Then a concentrated beam of silvery moonlight struck it directly in the right eye with pinpoint accuracy.

This time, Mirela’s aim was absolutely perfect. The beam didn’t just graze the surface or cause minor burns... t pierced completely through the eyeball and deep into the socket, burning tissue and nerve with concentrated magical energy.

"AWOOOOOOOO!" The Were-Hound threw its head back and released a howl of pure agony that echoed through the entire chamber and probably several floors beyond with how loud it was.

It staggered backward on unsteady legs, shaking its head violently from side to side as if trying to dislodge the pain as blood streamed freely from its ruined right eye socket, matting the black and white fur around its face.

Taula seized the momentary opening without hesitation and charged forward immediately, her boots pounding against stone.

Her axe began glowing even brighter with concentrated golden aura as she prepared to deliver what should be a finishing blow while the creature was disoriented but in that critical instant... in the split second before her axe would have cleaved through the Were-Hound’s skull... something else moved between them with desperate speed.

A regular Direwolf, smaller and less powerful than the Were-Hound but still easily the size of a horse, leaped from the shadows near the wall and intercepted Taula’s strike with its own body. It was a sacrifice play, using itself as a meat shield.

Her axe cleaved through the Direwolf effortlessly, the enchanted blade parting fur, flesh, and bone like they were made of wet paper.

The creature was split cleanly in half from head to tail, the two halves falling away in opposite directions with blood and internal organs spilling across the floor in a gruesome display but the tactical objective had been accomplished... Taula’s momentum had finished, her killing blow had been wasted on a lesser creature, and the Were-Hound had been given precious seconds to recover.

Klaus’s eyes widened as he quickly scanned the entire boss chamber more carefully with his instincts screaming that something was very wrong.

Within the numerous holes in the walls... openings he’d initially dismissed as just natural cave formations or architectural features, there were multiple pairs of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness.

The shadows themselves seemed to writhe with movement... There were dozens of eyes, maybe more than that.

The entire chamber was filled with them. Direwolves had been waiting in those caverns the whole time, and now they were emerging into the open space while snarling and growling.

Then the roof of the dungeon began moving in a way that stone definitely shouldn’t move.

What Klaus and the others had dismissed as strange rock formations or stalactites hanging from the ceiling suddenly unfurled with clicking chittering sounds. Eight legs each, covered in rocky armor and massive bloated bodies that had been camouflaged perfectly against the stone ceiling.

Giant spiders... Klaus counted at least twenty of them in a quick glance, possibly more hidden in the shadows hung from the rocky ceiling of the Galen World Dungeon’s twentieth floor, their multiple cluster eyes now reflecting the dim torchlight like malevolent stars.

"Damn..." Taula muttered under her breath then her grin returned, it was wider and more crazier than before. "Klaus, everyone! It’ll be a massacre!"

"I think you might seriously need a bit of therapy, Taula," Klaus sighed heavily, raising his sword into a proper middle guard position that would let him respond to threats from multiple angles.

The fact that there were this many monsters densely packed into a single boss chamber meant Floor 20 had somehow transformed into something comparable to a death trap.

Hadn’t the A-ranks including Taula cleared this floor before without issue? Why were there so many adds this time? Had the dungeon’s difficulty been rebalanced? Or had they just gotten incredibly unlucky?

’Doesn’t matter right now...’ Klaus thought, forcing himself to focus on immediate threats rather than unsolvable questions. ’Deal with what’s directly in front of you. Survive first, ask questions later.’

He felt aura beginning to pump through his body in bursts... his newly acquired Apprentice-tier trait activating as he consciously channeled the energy into his muscles, bones, and nervous system. It wasn’t as smooth or powerful as Taula’s mastery, but it significantly enhanced his physical capabilities beyond human limits.

He moved forward in an explosive burst of speed, going past Taula fast enough that the wind of his passage made her blonde hair blow wildly and forced her to close her green eyes against the gust.

"I’ll take care of the boss!" Klaus shouted back at his party members. "You three handle the adds! Don’t let them surround us!"

"Okie!" Taula chirped with cheerful enthusiasm, as if they weren’t in mortal danger.

She immediately jumped to the right side to avoid a thick strand of sticky webbing that one of the ceiling spiders had shot at her position like a projectile.

The web splattered against the stone ground where she’d been standing a moment before... it looked viscous and probably strong enough to completely immobilize someone if it made contact.

Taula covered her oversized axe in golden aura that glowed with power.

"Take this!"

The axe whipped through the air with tremendous force as she threw it like a massive spinning projectile, creating a shockwave from the speed alone.

It flew upward toward the ceiling, rotating end over end. The weapon slammed into one of the giant spiders that hung there... impacting directly against its back, which was protected by a thick rocky shell that had evolved specifically to defend against attacks.

CRACK!

The sound of fracturing chitin echoed through the chamber. Cracks immediately spread across the spider’s carapace like lightning bolts as they spider-webbed outward from the impact point. The creature released a horrifying screeching sound.

The axe began falling back down toward the ground due to gravity, but Taula had already planned for this.

She jumped after it with enhanced leg strength, caught the thick metal handle mid-air with one hand while still airborne, used her momentum and body weight to add force, and slammed the axe blade into the spider’s already-cracked shell a second time.

CRAAAACK!

With another devastating shockwave that rippled through the air, the spider’s entire carapace shattered completely.

The creature exploded in a shower of blood, yellowish ichor, and shell fragments that rained down across a large section of the chamber like some kind of disgusting hailstorm.

Taula somehow found purchase on the rough ceiling stone with her free hand... using aura to enhance her grip strength to supernatural levels and now hung there casually like some kind of predatory creature in its natural habitat.

Her entire body was now thoroughly stained with monster blood, ichor, and bits of shell, making her look like she’d bathed in carnage.

Her green eyes glinted with a crimson aura.

"Hehehe~ You’re next," she said in a singsong voice, turning her gaze toward the nearest spider, which was easily ten meters away.

The creature actually recoiled away from her with some deep survival instinct recognizing that this small humanoid was far, far more dangerous than its size would suggest.

Back on the ground level, Serra lifted her ornate staff high above her head with both hands and placed her free palm flat against the wood just below the mounted crystal, beginning to channel holy mana into the focusing jewel.

The gem started glowing with pure golden light that grew progressively brighter.

"Uhm... Serra, How do you fire off multiple blasts at the same time?" Mirela asked with obvious curiosity and a hint of envy, watching Serra’s technique with close attention. "I can only make one beam right now."

The Direwolves had intelligently split up their attack pattern rather than all rushing forward in a single disorganized mob.

Some of the pack were heading toward Klaus and the Were-Hound, clearly intending to support their alpha or pack leader.

Others were rushing toward Serra and Mirela’s position, since Taula was currently on the ceiling terrorizing the spider population and drawing most of their aggro and attention.

A huge chunk of spider corpse... probably weighing fifty kilograms at minimum suddenly fell from above like a gruesome meteor. It impaled two charging Direwolves simultaneously, crushing them beneath its weight and killing them instantly with audible snapping sounds as bones broke.

The other wolves in the pack didn’t even pause to mourn or acknowledge their dead packmates... they just kept howling and charging forward with single-minded aggression.

Serra fired a concentrated beam of holy light at the first wave of approaching wolves. The singular golden beam suddenly branched outward mid-flight into seven separate smaller beams, each one still packed with destructive holy energy.

They struck seven different Direwolves and destroyed them completely as the creatures didn’t even have time to yelp in pain before they were reduced to ash and scattered monster cores that clinked against the stone floor.

She turned her head toward Mirela while still maintaining her combat awareness and keeping one eye on the approaching threats. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"The easiest way to split your attack is to let your mana naturally branch at a very specific point during the casting sequence... right before the energy leaves the focus crystal but you need something like a proper staff or wand to focus the energies with enough precision. That’s why most combat wizards use staffs as their primary weapon and magical implement. It’s not just for show or following tradition... there are real practical reasons."

Mirela’s distinctive goat ears perked straight up in understanding and her eyes literally lit up.

"Oh right... I have a staff now."

Serra blinked in genuine surprise, nearly losing her casting concentration. "Since when?"

"Master Klaus bought it for me a few days ago..."

While Serra had been busy the past week teaching that illiterate girl Maurie how to read basic words and recognize common letters which was a frustrating task that was taking forever and while Taula had been helping her grandmother run the increasingly popular herb shop, Mirela had been the one dutifully helping Klaus supervise and manage the mining workers at his recently purchased resource dungeons. Apparently, he’d been impressed enough with her work ethic and dedication to buy her a rather expensive gift as thanks.

Mirela now owned a storage ring, she focused her mana on it and a beautiful staff materialized in her hands in a shimmer of blue mana.

It was absolutely gorgeous... made of white wood with intricate silver inlays running along its length in artistic patterns and mounted at the top was a perfectly clear crystal jewel the size of a large egg that looked like compressed moonlight given physical form.

"Oh wow," Serra said, though there was definitely an obvious hint of jealousy creeping into her voice despite her best efforts to sound supportive.

Her own staff wasn’t cheap by any stretch... it had cost her literally months of carefully saved-up earnings from multiple dangerous dungeon raids but this one Mirela now held was clearly superior in every measurable way.

It had better craftsmanship, better quality materials, better mana conductivity, and probably better enchantments. This had probably cost Klaus five or even ten gold coins at minimum, maybe more depending on where he’d bought it.

"Boss really likes you, huh?" Serra said, trying to keep the envy out of her voice and mostly failing.

"Oh~" Mirela’s face flushed slightly pink, her goat ears twitching with embarrassment and pleasure. "Are you perhaps jealous, Sister Serra? All you have to do is spend more personal time with Master outside of dungeon raids. I’m sure he’d buy you nice things too if you put in the effort."

Serra averted her eyes and didn’t respond to that particular pointed comment, focusing instead on charging another spell.

Both young women had momentarily forgotten the rather important fact that they were currently about to be attacked by a pack of Direwolves that were rapidly closing the distance with fangs bared in snarls.

Serra snapped back to full combat awareness with a start. "Right! Do exactly as I explained... split the mana right at the moment before release!"

Mirela nodded seriously and focused intensely, channeling her moon mana through the new staff carefully.

The transparent crystal at the top began glowing with pale silvery light... the distinctive color of moonlight reflecting off calm water and she planted her feet in a proper combat stance, extended the staff forward with both hands for stability, then fired.

The beam shot forward as a thick concentrated blast of silvery energy. Then, just as Serra had described, it branched outward at the last possible moment into five separate smaller beams... each one still powerful enough to be lethal, streaking through the air like bullets fired from an advanced mana gun.

They struck five approaching Direwolves with perfect accuracy and obliterated them completely, punching clean through their bodies and leaving smoking holes.

One of the beams went slightly off-target due to Mirela’s inexperience with the new weapon and nearly struck Klaus in the back.

Klaus sensed the incoming magical attack with his enhanced combat instincts, dodged sharply to the left side, and shot Mirela an exasperated look over his shoulder while still keeping his sword raised against the Were-Hound.

"Watch where you’re shooting that thing!"

Mirela’s goat ears drooped down flat against her head in acute embarrassment. She hugged her beautiful new staff close to her chest protectively. "Okay, Ma-Master. I’m so sorry. I’ll be more careful."

Klaus immediately turned his full attention back to the Were-Hound, which had been warily circling him during that brief exchange.

The creature lunged forward suddenly with predatory speed, slashing with three wickedly sharp claws extended on its massive paw.

CLANG!

The claws raked across Klaus’s raised blade with a screech of metal against keratin.

The impact created a small visible shockwave that rippled outward. Klaus’s arms absorbed and distributed the tremendous force... his enhanced strength from the active aura trait allowing him to block successfully without being overpowered or knocked off-balance.

’If it had been Taula fighting this boss one-on-one...’ Klaus thought with a mix of admiration and mild annoyance, ’she probably would have finished this in literally ten seconds flat with overwhelming force.’

But Klaus wasn’t struggling by any means... He was holding his own just fine, maintaining superior defensive positioning and controlling the flow of combat.

"RAWWW!" The Were-Hound attacked again with increased aggression, slashing with both clawed hands in rapid succession... it came left, right, left, overhead, right hook, and even a sweeping low attack.

Klaus parried every single strike with minimal wasted effort and movement with his blade moving in precise arcs.

Each defensive motion deflected the incoming blow just barely enough to avoid taking damage while conserving his stamina. It was almost like a carefully choreographed dance, really... the way he flowed from one defensive position seamlessly into the next with efficiency looked beautiful.

The Were-Hound was strong and fast, but it relied primarily on overwhelming physical power and animal aggression while Klaus had actual technique and tactics on his side.

Finally, the Were-Hound committed fully to a massive overhead slash with its right arm, putting all its considerable strength and body weight into one devastating blow clearly meant to cleave Klaus completely in half from head to groin.

Klaus didn’t try to block it... that would have been stupid against that much force. Instead, he ducked smoothly under the attack, bending his knees and lowering his center of gravity.

The deadly claws passed through empty air just centimeters above his head, close enough that he felt the wind of their passage ruffling his hair.

His sword came up in a lightning-fast upward slash, cutting cleanly through the Were-Hound’s extended right arm just below the elbow joint where the flesh was softer.

The severed limb spun through the air in a spray of dark blood and then it landed somewhere on the floor with a wet thump.