Chapter 250

Chapter 253: Wasteland Rising Star (Please Subscribe!)

The sound that echoed in everyone’s ears was akin to that of an eggshell cracking.

Adventurers were absolutely not strangers to this sound.

Because they heard it every day, familiar with it to the point of memorization. It was the precursor to monsters being born within the dungeon.

It wouldn’t be long before the walls surrounding the cavern space were all cracked.

“!”

“Of all times, now!?”

Bert and the others instantly changed expressions.

From the graphite-colored dungeon walls, the sound and scale of the “shells” breaking open grew larger, almost predicting the appearance of monsters in various corners of the cavern.

“Monster Feast.”

The nine people in the team had encountered this kind of situation countless times in the dungeon, a familiar “abnormal condition.”

But this time’s situation was undoubtedly the worst one yet.

With their powerful weapons dissolved, and a troublesome new type of monster group chasing them from behind… monsters began to emerge in large numbers as if planned beforehand.

As if calculated, the dungeon activated an unreasonable trap.

It seemed to want to surround them from both inside and out, aiming to capture them all here.

“Izay, Refia! Prepare your magic! Gress, Bert, Tione! Hold off the monster group to give Izay time! Tiona, Raul! Provide cover with your Magic Swords! The new species will be handled by me and Ais—!”

Finn gave instructions quickly, as if he had foreseen this situation.

Thanks to this, Bert and the others only froze for a moment before reacting according to the leader’s words, rushing towards the walls to prepare for the enemy assault.

In the next instant, over fifty black rhinoceroses emitted fierce cries and were born wrapped in dark red energy.

At higher positions on the walls, there were also huge spiders hissing with red and purple hues.

“Refia, I’ll bury all the monsters, and you blow them up with magic, okay?”

“Eh? I’m blowing them up!?”

“I want to save some magic for our return to camp.”

“…I understand!”

Refia roughly understood Izay’s intentions.

As two members of the faction with levels closest to each other, she and Izay often teamed up to go into the dungeon.

And experimenting with their own magic effects in the dungeon was also a common occurrence.

Over time, just as Izay knew her magic inside out, Refia also understood much about Izay’s magic. So after only hesitating for a moment, she nodded forcefully in agreement.

Then, the two retreated to what was relatively still a safe corner of the cavern behind the team.

At this moment, Finn stood beside the blonde girl.

“Ais, if the wind can’t defend against that corrosive liquid, don’t force it. Just buy time for Izay to get ready.”

“Mm.”

“Maybe I don’t need to worry about this…”

Choosing to have Ais deal with the new species of monsters together with himself, Finn had these considerations in mind.

Ais’ Wind Armor could deflect many attacks, including liquid ones.

And her wind was also within the range of magic, so Finn placed his hopes on her.

While conversing, colorful monsters swarmed into the cavern.

These new species varied in size and structure; the largest ones were almost “squeezed” in, taking advantage of their insect race advantages to pass through tunnels five meters high.

The smaller ones might only be as tall as Finn.

“[Tempest]!!”

Facing the slowly approaching tide of colors, Ais drew her spare Longsword and chanted a super short incantation in a crisp, calm voice, activating her magic.

Suddenly, a breeze swept up.

The visible air currents danced around Ais like a waltz, her golden hair shimmering like sand gold, flying and undulating in the wind.

“—I’ll go first!”

Ais tilted her body slightly forward, the swirling wind following suit.

Then, with a kick off the ground, she created an explosive roar and dust cloud, disappearing from sight.

With the immense power of a first-class adventurer and the added wind force, the girl gained rapid acceleration.

What could be seen with the naked eye was merely a fleeting shadow.

Ais, imbued with magic and transformed into a gale, charged straight towards the army of monsters.

“——!?!”

The large species of monsters only barely noticed when the girl was already charging at them.

Despite having no eyes, their faceless forms somehow experienced the emotion of “shock.”

Then they tried to react!

Unfortunately, Ais didn’t give the enemies that chance, swinging her sword from a diagonal downward angle.

The blade wrapped in gale winds trailed a silver streak, cleanly slicing the monster in half.

And the purple liquid that burst forth when the monster fell was all deflected by the wind surrounding her.

“Indeed, it works!”

Finn approached the worm-like monster closely behind Ais, nodding upon seeing her neatly dispatching a monster.

He held Ais’ weapon, the {Sword of Despair}, which possessed the attribute of eternal durability. Considering the captain’s situation during combat, Ais temporarily entrusted him with her beloved sword.

The Sword of Despair, as special equipment, was one of the two weapons in the team capable of withstanding monster poison.

The other one… well, without its owner, it couldn’t function effectively.

Near the entrance of the battlefield, Ais and Finn, relying on their formidable strength and combat experience, overwhelmingly suppressed the enemies in terms of momentum.

However, this suppression didn’t last very long.

“!!”

At a certain moment, these new species of monsters suddenly acted like hungry wolves catching the scent of blood, all standing upright and pointing towards the corner of the cavern, madly rushing there.

No matter how they attacked, they couldn’t stop these monsters’ advance at all.

The place where these new species of monsters were fixated upon, countless dazzling golden magic circles were being drawn.

Izay looked down at the front, his hand in a gesture of holding something intangible.

In the palm of his hand, three square magic circles overlapped and interlocked into the shape of a “lock,” and below the “lock,” a brilliant golden ring rapidly formed, acting like a “seat” supporting the “lock.”

Underfoot, a massive magic circle served as a foundation, the esoteric array diagram expanding widely, rising with radiant particles and nearly tangible magical elements.

Most of the spacious square cavern, hundreds of meters wide, was illuminated by the golden magic circles.

Not just one, but countless of them!

The number even exceeded the monsters in the cavern!

Countless dark golden rock element fragments were forged within the magic circles, floating out and flashing with light as if resonating, emitting energy that compressed the space.

Without exception, they all converged towards a single point!

Even the monsters touched by them along the way floated towards the convergence point.

Struggling against it was futile; no matter how they thrashed their bodies, they couldn’t escape this process!

And the final convergence point—was the exact center of this cavern!

At this moment, all the monsters within this cavern, including those still being born accompanied by dark red energy, were completely enveloped within the range of these magic circles!

“—『Wasteland Rising Star』!!!!”