"Mimic Tear"
—but in the version of a Soulslike dungeon.
If this thing were placed in Elden Ring, it would probably be the Tarnished's big brother. But in the world of DanMachi, it instead became… an unprecedentedly special form.
It became a monster standing on the opposing side.
Most likely, this was still influenced by the Soulslike dungeon. The original "Newbie Killer," the War Shadow, now appeared before them in an entirely new posture.
"Why does it feel… a little hard to deal with?"
Ron still could not determine whether these special monsters merely possessed the outward appearance and physique of adventurers, or whether they had also absorbed their memories and strength.
If it was the former, it would not matter much.
At most, they would just be more resistant to blows during combat.
But if it was the latter—if the monster had fused an adventurer's combat techniques and skill magic, and then further received the unique strength-enhancing buffs of the Soulslike dungeon…
It would definitely be extremely troublesome!
After all, this was already a War Shadow known as a "Newbie Killer." There was no reason that, after fusing adventurers' skill magic, its strength would be weaker than the original version.
"Then let's give it a try."
Rashly probing like this was an action that would certainly require bearing risk.
Ron admitted that the special monster before him truly made him feel a sense of oppression he had not experienced in a long time.
So, he decided to choose the most skill-intensive tactical approach!
"Shield Thrust"
They say that wheelchair-style gameplay makes one lose the joy of Soulslike games.
But shield-thrust builds also require skill. You have to strike when the opponent strikes, and stop when the opponent stops—how is that not an experience of its own?
That was exactly what Ron thought.
Setting aside floor-guardian Boss monsters like the Goblin Guard, which could fling him away with sheer brute force alone, his shield-thrust tactic was essentially unbeatable.
Holding his shield up, he steadily advanced toward the mimicking War Shadow.
The brass heavy shield blocking his path ahead continued to give Ron an extremely strong sense of security, even when facing a special monster he had never encountered before.
"As long as I keep my shield up long enough, the monster will get tired and die first."
Controlled by intense hatred, even a mutated monster would normally be unable to resist launching an attack at Ron on its own initiative—but the one before him was different.
The War Shadow, which had taken on the appearance of Bruno, seemed to possess the muscle memory the adventurer had had in life. After drawing the greatsword strapped at its waist, it kept its distance and maneuvered cautiously.
Only after entering attack range did the mimicking War Shadow take the initiative to step forward. The thrust was extremely fast—covering a distance of roughly ten meters, it dashed in front of Ron in an instant.
The greatsword gripped in both of the monster's hands let out a brief tearing sound as it swung through the air.
But to Ron, this speed looked extremely slow. He merely raised his right hand and adjusted the angle, and the massive brass heavy shield completed the block.
Clang!
The violent clash of metal echoed through the cave passage.
The strength displayed by the monster was indeed formidable, to the point that even Ron felt a numbness creeping into his arms, yet his attacking movements showed not the slightest delay.
While continuing to press forward, his left hand thrust the rapier fiercely toward the mimicking War Shadow.
Thanks to the Weapon Mastery carried over from the Tarnished Character Save Slot, even though it was not his dominant hand, combat still did not feel the slightest bit unfamiliar.
"Pff."
The slender rapier struck with perfect accuracy, hitting the monster squarely in the abdomen.
It did not pierce straight through the mimicking War Shadow, but the damage it dealt was still enough to cause the monster's form to waver slightly for a brief moment.
As long as it was a monster, killing it meant it would stay dead.
Ron keenly caught onto this point. However, he did not press the advantage. When fighting monsters in the dungeon, maintaining patience was extremely important.
Immediately after—it turned into a one-sided war of attrition.
Having taken damage yet unable to land any effective attacks on Ron, the mimicking War Shadow, even with an adventurer's combat experience, gradually became reckless.
But that was purely because it was being forced into a corner.
No matter how tricky its methods of attack were, they were all blocked by the brass heavy shield of the human before it—and then, without warning, it would get stabbed in the waist!
It switched to rapid-assault tactics.
Even launching consecutive attacks in a short span of time, it was still unable to break through the shield in front of it.
Meanwhile, the rapier in Ron's hand was like a bone-deep parasite. Each time, it could take advantage of the recovery window after an attack to deliver a completely unremarkable yet effective strike against the mimicking War Shadow.
The injuries could not be fatal in the short term, but the focus was on being extremely humiliating!
A completely one-sided crushing.
By the end, when the mimicking War Shadow that had taken on Bruno's appearance had become so ethereal it was nearly transparent, with no remaining desire to attack, Ron still did not choose to change his tactics.
He continued to apply his combat techniques, relentlessly tearing away at the monster, preventing the mimicking War Shadow before him from launching a final desperate counterattack just before death.
The results were naturally excellent.
Dense clusters of wounds piled up, surpassing the monster's limit of endurance, causing the mimicking War Shadow—already on the brink of death—to be completely annihilated.
Yet in the instant before the monster vanished, within that suddenly solidified, twisted face, Ron seemed to see—deep contempt in the monster's eyes.
[Soul Shards +3]
Bad things were something he chose to forget.
And besides, from another point of view, was it not the mimicking War Shadow that had gotten greedy with its attacks?
Looking at the monster that had completely dispersed into black dust before him, as well as the dark-purple magic stone hanging there and clinking against the ground, Ron finally let out a long breath.
"An unexpected encounter with the mimicking War Shadow, winning through sheer skill."
"Light attacks woven between normal attacks, never forget to keep the shield up, apply buffs but don't bother learning speedrun routes—this really was the most skill-intensive dungeon run I've ever had!"
Ron's heart was filled with emotion.
If he were to truly engage the mimicking War Shadow in close-quarters combat, it would indeed allow his stats and techniques to improve effectively under such high-intensity fighting.
But at what cost?
A single mistake could easily waste one of his precious Revival uses right here.
More importantly, he still had not found a way back.
He felt he had to remain steady. After all, a truly qualified adventurer would never gamble with their own safety in an unfamiliar environment.
"But aren't this monster's drops a bit too ordinary?"
Ron bent down and picked up the magic stone that had fallen to the ground. Compared to other shallow-floor monsters, it was relatively large—nearly half the size of a baby's fist.
It would probably fetch a small amount of Valis at the Adventurers' Guild.
Aside from that, there was nothing else of value.
He did not choose to linger where he was. When facing a lone mimicking War Shadow, he could indeed crush it through tactical skill alone.
But the Dungeon is alive.
If the Dungeon were to become aware of this and decide to overwhelm him by spawning large numbers of monsters in an attempt to keep him here, the situation would become extremely complicated.
Ron swept his gaze across the surroundings.
He did not change his route ahead, maintaining absolute focus as he searched for a passage back to the shallow layers. As for encountering and killing monsters… that was merely incidental to dungeon exploration.
"So…"
"There's no way this damn Dungeon would completely block off all the passages between floors just because of me, right? That would be way too much…"
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---