Chapter 379: Escaping the Dungeon

Creak, creak......

Bones shifted and scraped atop the mountain of magical beasts. Countless monsters swarmed over the crest, pouring down the other side.

“ROAR!”

They howled and pounced toward Terrag.

“HACK!”

Terrag abandoned his shield, wielding his greatsword to hack apart the onrushing beasts.

But the horde was endless.

More and more monsters broke through his defenses, closing in around him—threatening to swallow him whole.

“Terrag——!”

Farna Kegris screamed in urgency, swinging her wand toward him.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM......

Fireballs erupted from her wand, streaking through the air.

The monsters lunging at Terrag were shot down one by one.

Yet in her panic, she neglected to watch her own back.

SWISH!

A shadowed arrow flew out of nowhere, piercing her shoulder blade.

“Guh!”

Farna’s body jolted, a cry of pain escaping her lips.

SWISH!

A second arrow struck home.

Blood soaked through her robes.

Her vision blurred, and her strength seeped away with every passing second.

SWISH......

The whistle of more incoming arrows filled the air.

Farna’s legs buckled beneath her. Her body tipped forward, crashing toward the ground.

In her final moments of consciousness, she forced her gaze upward. The last thing she saw was Terrag being completely engulfed by the tide of monsters......

THUD.

Farna hit the ground. Blood spread across the stone floor around her. At the base of the re-forming monster mountain, the sounds of resistance grew fainter and fainter.

Just then—

HUM......

Far behind them,

a single pinpoint of white light flickered to life.

In the next instant—

BOOM——!!!

That tiny light burst forth into a tidal wave of light, swallowing everything in its path.

“ROAR......”

The howls of countless magical beasts faded away into the brilliant glow.

Seconds later, the tidal wave of light receded.

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Then—

Ding! Clang! Ding~! Clang......

The sound of countless Magic Stones clattering to the ground echoed like a sudden, brief downpour.

Tap, tap......

Through the haze of her consciousness, Farna thought she saw a figure approaching her......

......

An indeterminate amount of time passed.

“Ugh...... Where am I......”

Farna’s eyes fluttered open slowly.

When her vision cleared, she found herself staring at the dungeon ceiling, which seemed to be moving constantly.

“......Is the dungeon moving? No...... It’s me who’s moving.”

As her awareness returned, she realized she was being carried forward.

“Miss Farna—are you awake?”

A voice from ahead caught her attention. She craned her neck to look forward.

There, she saw the petite figure of a young girl.

“Hulim?! *”

Farna gasped in shock.

“Did you save us?”

“Yes. I came up from the lower levels and rescued you two on my way.”

Hulim Heyerar replied, glancing back at Farna.

“Miss Farna—can you move on your own now?”

“Right now?”

Farna was about to say she was gravely injured—when she suddenly realized she felt no pain at all. She looked down, and her eyes widened in surprise: she was floating steadily in mid-air, moving forward without any effort of her own.

Staring at her body, suspended in defiance of gravity, Farna’s heart skipped a beat. She hurried to speak.

“I can! Please let me down!”

“Very well. Watch your step so you don’t fall.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Hulim canceled the magic holding Farna aloft.

Farna immediately felt the invisible force vanish. Her body plummeted toward the ground—but at the last second, she tensed her legs, twisted her body in mid-air, and landed smoothly on her feet.

“Phew—safe.”

She let out a sigh of relief, then quickly checked her body.

To her astonishment, the grievous wounds she remembered were completely gone.

“I swear I was seriously hurt back then...... Hulim, did you heal me?”

“Yes. Your condition was critical, so I administered some emergency treatment.”

“Thank you—you have no idea how much this means.”

Farna said earnestly, her voice filled with gratitude.

“I owe you my life. I’ll repay this debt with everything I have once we get out of here.”

“There’s no need for that. It was just a small favor.”

“Ugh......”

At that moment, a groan escaped Terrag’s lips.

“Terrag! Are you awake?!”

Farna rushed over at once to check on him.

“......Lady Farna?”

Terrag blinked his eyes open, his voice groggy with confusion.

“What’s going on? Are we...... still alive?”

“Yes! We’re alive! Hulim saved us!”

“Lady Hulim......”

Terrag smiled, a look of relief washing over his face.

“So it was you. We really are lucky......”

After some time,

Terrag regained full mobility as well.

He stretched his arms and legs, then turned to Hulim and asked,

“Lady Hulim—you must have reached the deepest levels of the dungeon. Could you tell us what happened down there?”

“Of course.”

Hulim nodded, then briefly explained to the two of them about the upcoming massive dungeon uprising and the sealed demon’s impending escape.

“What?! This is happening?!”

The two gasped in shock.

Compared to the looming catastrophe, their near-death experience seemed trivial by comparison.

“Lady Hulim—we can’t waste another second! We have to get out of here immediately and report this to the guild!”

“That goes without saying. I’m already heading for the surface. But......”

Hulim glanced at the two of them, her eyes thoughtful.

“Are your bodies up to the strain?”

Even though their wounds had been fully healed, their exhausted stamina hadn’t recovered so quickly. Add to that the overwhelming fatigue weighing on their minds, and pushing themselves into a forced march might take a toll on their internal organs.

“Thank you for your concern, Lady Hulim,” Terrag replied firmly. “Our stamina is severely depleted, but we’ve been adventurers for years. We’ve endured far worse than this. You have nothing to worry about.”

“He’s right! Getting this message out is far more important than how we’re feeling!”

Farna chimed in.

“Very well. If you’re determined, then I have no objections. We’ll pick up the pace from here on......”

With Hulim leading the way,

the trio’s journey forward was surprisingly smooth.

Virtually every magical beast that dared to show its face was incinerated or obliterated by a single spell from Hulim before it could even attack.

Once again, the two were reminded just how immense Hulim’s power truly was.

Gradually, a faint glimmer of light appeared at the end of the corridor.

“It’s the exit! We’re almost there!”

Farna cried out in joy.

The three quickened their steps.

Half a minute later,

the soft glow of dawn spilled over the horizon, bathing the three of them in its warm light.

Farna spread her arms wide, greedily inhaling the cool, fresh morning air.

“We really...... made it out alive......”

She let out a long breath, then glanced around.

“Where’s the chief examiner? Where did he go?”

“I’m right here.”

SWOOSH!

A figure descended from the sky, landing in front of the three of them.

“You three made it out surprisingly quickly~.”

Dimik said, nodding in approval at the trio.

“Lord Dimik, we apologize—but we didn’t come out here because we finished the exam.”

“Hm?”

Dimik’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“What do you mean? What happened down there?”