"I-I don't want to die!"
"Relax. Traps like this are usually just arrows or logs. I can stop it."
"O-okay... t-tei!"
Elena jumped and Daniel caught her midair, smoothly passing her into Sophia's arms.
The moment he let go, arrows shot from the wall. Daniel's sword flashed, knocking them aside with sharp metallic clangs.
"Sophia, looks like I picked up some new arrows for you."
"I already have a full quiver... You're hoarding too many. Master, you really are frugal, aren't you?"
Daniel shrugged. "I'll stash them in the treasury. Arrows are expensive to buy. Might as well restock when the dungeon provides."
"Only you would think of using traps as a supply line..." Sophia muttered, half exasperated.
――It's like an infinite ammo trap in a game, Daniel thought.
Elena, on the other hand, was the one always getting caught in these traps. Sophia was sharp enough to spot most of them, and Daniel himself never faltered. But Elena? Careless, humming dirty songs as she walked.
"Really... I'm glad I came with you, Daniel," Elena sighed with relief. "If I'd been with Derek and his group, I'd have died a dozen times already..."
Her words trailed off as her hands slipped toward Sophia's chest.
Sophia immediately slapped them away. "Stop pawing me! You're too obsessed with sex. Keep it down. There are even demons Derek ignored roaming around here."
Daniel noticed it too. Compared to before, demon encounters were more frequent, but the number of corpses left behind had dropped.
That meant Derek's group had started avoiding fights instead of finishing them. Which, in turn, meant at least one of them was still alive, pushing deeper into the dungeon.
The three of them pressed on together. The demons grew larger and stronger—clear signs they had reached the lower levels. Still, Elena's fire magic scorched most of them to ashes quickly. She might have been careless, but her sheer magical power was undeniable. Sophia's first assessment of her had been right.
"Still..." Elena lowered her voice. "I can't help feeling guilty. Like I betrayed Derek just for Daniel's cock. If I don't talk about sex, it's all I think about..."
Daniel raised an eyebrow. "...Wait, you actually feel guilty?"
He was genuinely surprised. From the way she'd mocked Derek before, he assumed she had written him off completely.
"What do you take me for?!" she snapped.
"A pervert," Daniel said flatly.
"Totally a pervert," Sophia added.
"I AM a pervert!" Elena shouted, her face red.
"You finally admit it..." Daniel muttered.
Sophia gave her a slow clap, her eyes cold. "Congratulations, pervert. Life begins with self-awareness."
Elena puffed up her cheeks. Daniel just shook his head, smirking faintly—then his expression hardened. Up ahead, a gaping dark stairwell came into view.
"It's the path to the lower floors."
Sophia's face tensed. "Derek's making a lot of progress... I'm honestly starting to get scared. You'll protect me, won't you? Derek's going to be furious if he sees me like this."
"Yeah," Daniel said simply. He reached out and tapped her head lightly. "I won't let him have you."
Elena trembled under his touch, her breath shaky. "Daniel... you're so kind. Ah—I-I'm getting wet already. I even put on new panties today..."
"You're hopeless," Sophia muttered. "Would you even want it gentle your first time?"
Elena's eyes darted between them. "Eh!? Isn't it normal to be gentle with a girl her first time?!"
"It was for Sophia," Daniel admitted, smirking faintly. "But you? I figured you'd prefer something rougher."
Even when he'd only used his fingers, Elena had lost herself, panting like a beast, body trembling with climax after climax.
"I-I'll leave it to you..." she whispered, face flushed. "As long as it feels good..."
――Maybe being taken like that... is what I really want?
Her thoughts blurred. She'd already lost count of how many times Daniel's fingers had broken her.
"Let's focus on the dungeon for now," Daniel said firmly. "If you die here, none of it will matter."
"Don't scare me like that!" Elena squeaked. "I'm already the one who keeps triggering traps!"
"Then walk with some awareness of your surroundings," Sophia scolded.
Together, the three of them descended the staircase.
The end of the dungeon was near.
*****************
Derek's body was covered in wounds.
His party was down to only three survivors, including himself.
The rest of the hired men had been lost to traps and battles with demons. Even so, Derek pressed on without mercy.
"Damn it… damn it… damn it! Why is this not working?!"
"Derek! Fred and George are dead because of your recklessness!"
The leader of the remaining men, voice cracking with grief, snapped at Derek.
The contract might have said their lives were on the line, but losing his comrades still filled him with rage. It was even worse because their deaths came from an unreasonable march. His own exhaustion only added to his frustration.
"Shut up! I wasn't told they were that weak! You said they could handle it!"
"If we keep wandering this dungeon without rest, we'll all end up the same! I warned you over and over!"
They had been pushing forward with less than an hour's break for food or sleep.
The dungeon stretched on endlessly. Food and recovery supplies were dwindling. Arrows and other consumables were running low.
Unlike Daniel's team, Derek and his men wore full armor weighing about fifteen kilos each. Add water and other necessities to their backs and each man carried nearly forty kilos. Yet they were moving at the same or even faster pace than Daniel's group.
It was far faster than the normal speed of dungeon adventurers.
Daniel, Sophia, and Elena were traveling lightly, carrying only essentials thanks to their private treasure room. Derek's group had no such advantage.
No matter how many traps they disarmed, more awaited them, and the demons were unlike anything seen above ground. This was the demons' home. They were faster, stronger, and more vicious here.
Even careful steps drained their spirits and strength.
The surviving men, except for the leader, walked silently, eyes downcast. The never-ending march was eating at their hearts.
It was too far to turn back now. They couldn't even say the words.
The only hope left was to press on and conquer the dungeon. Maybe there would be no more obstacles. But that hope felt thin. Without the belongings of their fallen friends, starvation was a real risk. Many of the demons weren't even edible.
Regret began to gnaw at them.
They should have had Elena with them to calculate the dungeon's numbers and asked the nobles for more men.
Even so, the reason they plunged into the lower levels without permission was Derek's charisma, built on the legend of "Thunder."
He had told them the reward would be massive if they broke through with fewer people. They had believed him.
And Derek was indeed strong.
That was how this nightmare was born.
He was still standing when others could no longer keep up. But even Derek's mind was fraying under the pressure.
A delusion haunted him — a real "Thunder" behind him, enormous as a mountain, cruel and merciless.
It seemed more terrifying than any demon he had ever faced.
I have to conquer this… quickly… get the most powerful spell from the Forbidden Magic Book… if I don't, I'll be killed.
At first Derek had only aimed for money and status. But after facing death again and again, survival became his only purpose.
The horror of the dungeon had turned the imagined "Thunder" into something monstrous.
He's capable of conquering this hell and he doesn't even brag about it. That means it was easy for him. It's nothing for "Thunder" to be proud of.
In reality, Daniel had nearly died breaking through alone. But Derek didn't know that.
"Shut your mouth… your share increases with their deaths!"
"My share…"
"Yes. With two less, that frees up more treasure. I don't know the total amount in this dungeon, but it should still be enough to live on. Besides, it's almost over. The demons are getting stronger but fewer. Even they're not infinite. Numbers turning into quality means we're close to the end."
"Wait… are you saying there might be something at the very top of that quality…?"
The leader's face darkened at the thought.
Derek had considered that from the start.
As they descended, he'd seen the demons' hierarchy shift.
First weak herbivore-like creatures. Then chains of predators. Clear divisions between eater and eaten at each level.
Here, lion-like demons prowled in packs. The level before had been dominated by larger, cow-like beasts.
The next level would surely hold something stronger than lions.
If this pattern continued, eventually there would be something stronger than everything else in the dungeon.
"I guess so. To break through the dungeon, you have to become the strongest in this world of dungeons… and I can do that."
"No way! We're all at our limits, out of strength and magic! We need to rest somewhere!"
"Where? It's the same everywhere. If I fall asleep here, I'll be food. This is where life steps in."
If you don't become real, you become nothing.
I'm not going to live a miserable life.
"If only we had Elena here…! Why did you leave her behind? She was supposed to handle the magic battles and calculate the loot! She was your girl!"
"It wouldn't have mattered if I brought her. She'd have died here anyway. Women are just for men's needs. It doesn't matter. Keep up and I'll take care of you."
He had left behind what he saw as a useless tool.
Derek's perception of Elena was more like that of an object than a person.He didn't think of her with any affection.
To him, she was just a tool—something to be used, possessed, and discarded.There was no love in his heart for her.
His attachment was nothing more than possessive instinct, mixed with calculation.In that sense, Elena choosing Daniel over him had been the right decision.
"...Do you see it?"
"Yeah... what is that? The road down... it's massive."
Derek and his party came upon a vast staircase.
The air carried the same oppressive weight as the passages that had led them down before, but this staircase was entirely different in scale.
Up until now, the paths had been just wide enough for two people to walk side by side. But here, the stairway was broad enough for ten men to march shoulder-to-shoulder.
"The lowest level... this is it! I've read about it before! The final floor is said to be the largest in the dungeon, without walls, stretching out into an endless open space!"
"...So we really made it through?"
Unlike Derek's trembling excitement, the leader of his companions looked grim.
Everything they had seen so far told him this couldn't be good. If anything, it screamed trap.
"Let's go! Hahaha! We're about to be rich!"
His armor stained and dented, Derek forgot his exhaustion and rushed ahead, eyes blazing with greed.
He didn't yet understand that what waited for him beyond those steps would be the harshest trial of all.