The dungeon air was thick with the suffocating stench of ozone and fresh blood. Aryan stood like a solid human shield in front of the unconscious girl, his lungs burning from the previous betrayal, his posture screaming that he was ready for whatever came next. The remaining monsters were closing in, their hideous faces twisting in the dim, damp light of the seventh floor. Aryan gripped his fists, preparing to push his newly upgraded health and defense stats to their absolute limit.
But right as he was about to unleash a desperate, solo survival play, the heavy stone archway at the edge of the cavern echoed with sudden, fast-paced footsteps.
Three figures burst into the room. Their gear was pristine, their coordination was high-tier, and they carried themselves with the absolute confidence of a veteran squad that never missed a target. They did not pause for a briefing; they took one look at the monster horde and immediately synced up for battle.
"Horde spotted. Clearing the field!" the girl in the front called out. Without a second of delay, she raised her hand and manifested a massive, roaring fireball. The sheer thermal energy illuminated the entire cave, turning the damp shadows into a blinding orange glare. With a sharp flick of her wrist, she launched it straight at the leading monster.
The impact was loud enough to shake loose pebbles from the ceiling. It was an undeniably powerful attack, but as the smoke cleared, the monster let out a guttural screech, shaking off the soot. It possessed high fire resistance; the initial spell had not finished the job.
"Fire resistance is high! Switching to physical-piercing magic!" one of the guys yelled, pulling up his holograph-blue system window with a slick swipe of his fingers. His hands blurred over the screen as he selected his primary offensive skill: [Fire Bullet].
Suddenly, a massive array of glowing, hyper-compressed magic circles manifested around him. In a fraction of a second, a barrage of thin, blindingly fast projectiles made of pure, white-hot flames tore through the air. The speed was terrifying—sounding like a supersonic jet tearing through the cavern. The fire bullets slammed into the first monster, punching clean through its thick hide and leaving glowing, molten holes. The beast did not even have time to scream before its health bar dropped to zero, bursting into a shower of glowing pixels.
One down. Two monsters left.
The third guy in the squad did not waste a single heartbeat. Swipe, click. His system window flashed gold.
SKILL ACTIVATED: [Iron Cage Spawn]
Right beneath the feet of the second monster, heavy, glowing iron bars erupted from the solid stone floor, snapping shut in a perfect cube. The monster smashed against the barriers, roaring in absolute rage, completely locked down and unable to move.
While the second monster was throwing a tantrum in its cage, the third monster charged at the squad, its claws scraping against the stone. But the girl was already steps ahead. She pulled up her menu and tapped her secondary high-tier spell.
SKILL ACTIVATED: [Burning Lava Floor]
The solid stone beneath the charging monster instantly melted, turning into a churning, bubbling pool of liquid magma. The monster's momentum carried it straight into the trap. It let out a horrific shriek as it sank into the glowing orange sludge, its body dissolving rapidly until it sank completely and vanished into the lava, dead.
"Finish the locked target!" the cage-summoner shouted.
The top of the iron cage automatically slid open like a mechanical hatch. The second guy stepped forward, his eyes locked onto the trapped beast. He pulled up his system, activating his most lethal burst skill: [Magic Mix Bullet Fire].
His palms erupted in a chaotic, multicolored storm of elemental energy. Dozens of highly volatile, multi-elemental magical bullets poured from his hands, raining down into the open top of the cage like a futuristic minigun.
The explosions inside the cage were contained but devastating. Lightning, ice, and force damage blasted the monster simultaneously. Within a matter of seconds, the monster's shrieks cut off abruptly. The cage dissolved, leaving behind nothing but a pile of loot and dust.
The three adventurers exhaled, lowered their stances, and looked around the quiet cavern. Their eyes quickly landed on the messy scene near the wall: Aryan, covered in blood and bruises, standing protectively over the unconscious girl with pale blue hair.
The squad leader deactivated his system and walked over, his heavy boots clicking against the rock. He stopped a few feet away, looking Aryan up and down.
"Yo, you good? What even happened here?" he asked, his tone shifting to genuine concern.
Aryan let out a dry, jagged breath, his regeneration skill still slowly working in the background to patch up his internal injuries. He did not sugarcoat it. He explained the whole situation—how he had gone to the Adventurer Guild, met a party of two guys who seemed like they needed a plus-one, and how the moment the loot bag was full of monster teeth, they hit him from behind, beat up the girl, and left them both to rot on the seventh floor so they would not have to split the gold.
The squad leader listened, his expression hardening. He shook his head, letting out a frustrated sigh.
"Figures," the leader said, crossing his arms. "Look, you got lucky this time because we happened to be clearing this floor. But you need to watch your back out here. Seriously. People in this world are ruthless. Everyone is looking out for their own bag, and they will betray you the first chance they get. Only a select few are actually decent people. Keep your guard up."
Aryan nodded grimly. "Yeah. Lesson learned. Facts."