Boom!
Like a missile launch, the black short axe embedded itself into the wall with a thunderous crash.
Screech—!
The Minotaur, which had not yet fully emerged, died in its infancy, letting out a shrill scream before dissipating into black smoke. Only a fist-sized magic stone remained, falling to the ground.
"Monster?"
The toad-like ugly woman walked over, picked up the short axe, and looked around but didn't see anyone.
"All of you, keep a close eye out! If that legendary beautiful boy escapes from here, don't blame me for not caring about our familia's camaraderie!"
After shouting in her hoarse voice, she left the passage with the short axe, continuing her search of the 15th floor.
"Tch, when has that ugly hag ever cared about camaraderie? She always steals the men we're interested in!"
Only after she left did one of the hooded women speak up, her expression filled with resentment.
"Let's keep patrolling. He should be around these floors. Hopefully, when she gets her share, she'll let us have some scraps..."
The others sighed and continued to linger around the passage entrance.
"Brown skin, stealing men... This kind of behaviour, are they Amazoness?"
Around the corner.
Eiji's figure appeared out of nowhere, as if he had teleported. Seeing that no one noticed him, he took a step back and then quickly walked toward the deeper floors.
***
16th Floor.
After reuniting with Line and Lefiya, Eiji shared the information he had gathered.
"The Amazoness have blocked the entrance to the 14th floor?"
"And there's an ugly woman with strength comparable to Miss Tiona?"
Line and Lefiya exchanged glances, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
"With so many high-level adventurers among the Amazoness, it must be the Ishtar Familia. But would they dare to make a move against us?"
After all, they were part of the Loki Familia, one of the strongest familias in Orario. They took pride in being members of the strongest familia.
When out and about, almost no one dared to provoke them. Even the Freya Familia, another top-tier familia, rarely engaged in any real conflict with them.
"Not everyone in this world is rational."
Eiji shook his head.
If all intelligent beings restrained themselves with rationality, there wouldn't be so many messy situations in the world. But most people choose to follow their desires.
Especially when it came to his charm, which was enough to make people lose their rationality.
That ugly woman must have heard about him somewhere or seen him once, and then completely lost her mind.
"So, what do we do now?"
Lefiya looked left at Line and right at Eiji, feeling somewhat at a loss.
"The three of us are probably being targeted. It's unlikely we can slip out unnoticed... Should we wait for the familia's executives to come rescue us?"
Line frowned, also unsure of what to do.
"But reinforcements won't arrive until at least tomorrow morning."
Eiji countered, "And those Amazoness are searching floor by floor. They'll definitely find us before tomorrow morning."
The Loki Familia didn't have the habit of checking rooms at night. At the earliest, the familia's executives would notice their absence tomorrow morning and send a rescue team.
But with the Amazoness closing in, they couldn't afford to wait that long.
Breaking through head-on wasn't a good option either.
If the Amazoness only had some Level 2 or Level 3 adventurers, then taking the risk to break through wouldn't be too difficult. But the problem was that among them was a Level 5.
That ugly woman, whose presence was comparable to Tiona's, was undoubtedly a Level 5.
And from here, it would take at least an hour to return to the surface. They couldn't possibly win a chase against a Level 5 that lasted an hour.
"Um... then how about playing hide-and-seek with them in the dungeon?"
Lefiya proposed a somewhat naive idea.
Playing hide-and-seek with the Amazoness in the dungeon, if they could safely hide until tomorrow morning, it might work. But this plan had obvious flaws.
"Too reliant on luck. I don't recommend it."
Eiji shook his head, then paused before continuing, "There's also a critical issue—we're out of food."
"Gurgle~"
As soon as food was mentioned, all three of their stomachs growled in unison, causing Lefiya's face to turn bright red.
"Running out of food is indeed the worst situation."
Line touched her flat stomach, her expression turning grim.
Stamina potions could restore stamina but couldn't replace food.
If they went too long without eating or drinking, their condition would deteriorate significantly. Their minds would become foggy, their bodies weak... Forget escaping the Amazoness, they might not even be able to fight the dungeon's monsters.
"There's a relatively safe method."
After struggling for a moment, Line finally spoke up.
"What method?"
Eiji had been about to suggest that he distract the Level 5 while they escaped back to the familia to call for help. Hearing Line's voice, he looked over in surprise.
"The 18th floor."
Line raised a finger, her expression serious.
"The 18th floor is a safe zone in the dungeon. No monsters spawn there, and there are fruits unique to the dungeon. There's even a street established by adventurers!"
"There's such a place?"
Eiji exclaimed in surprise. He had been here for twenty days but had never heard of this.
"Since we never go there, we didn't mention it."
Line shook her head.
They always returned early and rarely entered the 18th floor, so they hadn't told Eiji about it.
"If the 18th floor is a safe zone, and there are even adventurers living there, then it's definitely the best place for us to take refuge."
Eiji's spirits lifted slightly.
"Once we get there, we can hire some adventurers to send a message to the familia for us. That way, even if the Ishtar Familia has a Level 5, they won't be able to cause much trouble, right?"
The Amazoness wouldn't dare to block the passage entirely, as that would be too brazen. Their goal was likely just to keep Eiji and the others trapped below, not to stop other adventurers.
This method was much safer than the one he had thought of.
If they went with his plan, he was confident he could escape from the Level 5, but Line and Lefiya might be targeted by other Amazoness, which wasn't ideal.
"That's what I was thinking too."
Line nodded in agreement, but her expression soon turned heavy again.
"The only problem is that the depths of the 17th floor might have the floor boss..."
True.
If they happened to run into a fully spawned floor boss, it would be a disaster. They would be caught between a rock and a hard place.
No.
In fact, with Eiji in the team, such a situation wouldn't be a matter of chance—it would be inevitable.
"...Let's go take a look."
Eiji closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then looked up.
"Staying here and overthinking won't help. The longer we hesitate, the closer the danger gets. We need to take action now. As for what happens, we'll deal with it when the time comes!"
As he spoke, his expression was resolute, as if he had made a firm decision.
"Alright!"
Line and Lefiya exchanged glances and nodded solemnly in unison.
***
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