– Cough!
A beast charged at me. Its red fur whipped in the wind. Its maw opened wide, releasing a howl that echoed.
Red Leaf Hound. It’s easily twice my size. If I saw it with my own eyes, my view would have been completely blocked.
As I pondered this, the striking red fur of the Red Leaf Hound caught my attention.
As the name suggests, it must have originally had red fur, but… through spatial perception, I could also see ‘human blood’ mixed in its fur.
Especially near its maw.
Crunch…! I clenched my fist. I poured a hefty amount of magical power into my Enhanced Body technique, covering it with strength.
I didn’t like its maw. I brought my fist down from above.
– Bam!
The flesh was crushed, and the solid mass beneath shattered. The unpleasant sensation of something squishy inside bursting was clearly transmitted through my fist.
The wide-open maw snapped shut. The upper and lower teeth collided, shattering against each other. Its eyes popped out comically due to the impact.
I killed one. But one Red Leaf Hound is not the only one.
Even amidst battling the dungeon, my spatial perception was doing its job. Two more Red Leaf Hounds were charging from behind. I immediately activated my mana.
Fwoosh! The wings of the sky, which had been spread out like a cloak, unfurled.
‘Transformation.’
The tips of the sharp feathered wings shot forth like blades.
Swoosh! The lead Red Leaf Hound’s forehead was pierced. Unlike its usual fluttering appearance, it cleanly penetrated the flesh and skull.
With one Hound dropping, the other charged in.
I pushed mana into the feathered wings again. Whoosh! The wing sliced through the neck of the approaching Red Leaf Hound.
– Swoosh!
Blood gushed from the severed area. The Hound’s bulging eyes widened, then it collapsed as if its legs had given out.
The sliding Red Leaf Hound skidded close to me. I swiftly approached the thrashing creature.
I lifted my foot. Channeling mana and wrapping it in strength, I slammed down hard. Crack! The large head shattered, and blood splattered across the ground.
I frowned and took a few steps back. Given its enormous size, the amount of blood it spewed was plentiful.
I activated spatial perception again, just to be cautious, and scrutinized the area closely.
Everything around was red. Not only because of the blood it gushed, but also due to the piles of monster corpses stacked nearby.
I had killed all the monsters in the vicinity. Having confirmed that, I turned my head.
A little further away, there were people hiding among the ruins of a collapsed building. One man, one woman, and a child sandwiched between them. They looked like a family.
I opened my mouth…
‘It’s okay now… okay… damn maw.’
I shut my mouth tightly and tapped on my smartwatch.
The connection to the outside was cut, but the basic functions were intact. These features derived from the power of the Tower of Harmony, and it would be troublesome if this too was unavailable.
[It’s safe now. Please move to the evacuation route quickly.]
“Thank you, thank you so much…!”
The man kept bowing his head.
His disheveled hair, covered in dust, and his tattered clothes were stained with a faint hint of blood. He looked like a refugee.
The man, seemingly out of his mind, awkwardly thanked me and turned toward the direction of the shelter.
The woman, looking equally ragged, moved her trembling legs as she fled in fear.
Yet, it was impressive that her grip on the child remained steady.
– Phew…
I scanned the direction they were heading with spatial perception again. Upon confirming no monsters were around, I let out a weary breath.
It had been nearly two hours since the dungeon rampaged began.
After escorting the child to the shelter.
I had been continuously roaming the rampaging area, slaying monsters and rescuing those unable to evacuate.
My spatial perception was superior to that of any ordinary high-level adept. Finding those who couldn’t evacuate was something I excelled at in this space.
Killing monsters wasn’t difficult either. The dungeon’s level was 4.
The standard rank of monsters that appeared was at best 8, and considering the dungeon’s influence, they rarely exceeded rank 7.
The Red Leaf Hounds that had just charged at me were also rank 7. I had taken down nearly hundreds of them. It wasn’t hard, but it was exhausting in many ways.
I briefly checked my condition.
I was exhausted, but my physical stamina was alright. However, I was overworking my circuits and core to compensate for the drain of mana.
In the Tower of Growth, things were relatively good.
I had intentionally overworked myself to encourage growth, and because the mana concentration inside the tower was off the charts, even a little absorption filled me up quickly.
Here, too, the mana concentration had risen significantly as it was within the rampaging dungeon… but it couldn’t compare to the interior of the Tower of Growth.
‘Guess I should be thankful it’s only level 4…’
I continued killing monsters. Most were Red Leaf Hounds, and at most, they were rank 7.
Occasionally, I encountered high-level adepts. Most were roaming about, hunting monsters and rescuing people in party units.
There weren’t many, but it was somewhat comforting to know I wasn’t the only adept caught in this chaos.
I also helped people. I guided those too terrified to leave their buildings to the shelter and steadily hunted the monsters along the way.
Many had died.
‘……’
I bit my lip. Some were caught in buildings that collapsed due to the dungeon’s rampage. Many were killed or eaten by monsters that suddenly appeared.
Spatial perception conveyed this to me without filter.
Corpses crushed by heavy buildings, bodies left unattended after not being completely consumed by monsters, and flesh-like remnants stuck in monster bellies…
‘Damn it.’
Nausea rose in me. I felt like I wanted to vomit it all out, but I had no luxury for that.
While I delayed by throwing up, the body count might increase. It wasn’t that painful, so I could endure it.
Even now. I quickly checked my condition and stomped down. I stomped the outer wall of a building, climbed onto the rooftop, and leaped over to the other rooftop.
I felt my body’s capabilities anew. With just a few jumps, I was on a building’s rooftop, leaping across rooftops between buildings.
In the past, I wouldn’t have even imagined such movements.
‘Are there… no more survivors?’
The dungeon’s rampage hadn’t engulfed the entire region of Shipnara.
Although multiple dungeons rampaged together, expanding their range, it was unrealistic for all of Shipnara, which is part of the city, to be swallowed.
Yet, a considerable part had been consumed. At least more than half was included in the affected range, meaning many people were caught up in it.
Shipnara was just a small city with a low population. If this happened in a large city with a high population… I didn’t want to imagine it.
‘……’
The rampage of dungeons. A typical disaster of this world.
A reason for losing regions, including the current Africa, and if things continued as in the story, it would be an everyday disaster that occurs right after graduating from Shio-ram.
Although it was uncertain if it would awaken later… compared to the invading towers, it was nothing significant.
If I survive this and graduate from Shio-ram in one piece… After achieving a short lifespan and securing a decent future, what should I do?
Should I oppose it? The thought that suddenly popped up left my head spinning. I felt too weak to face such a disaster…
– Huh…
I exhaled. I pushed aside the rising thoughts and brought information into focus through my fully expanded spatial perception.
Some time had indeed passed. As I and other adepts continuously led survivors to shelters, there were now no survivors visible in spatial perception, only a sea of monsters.
I scattered the prepared spell. I needed to conserve my mana.
At first, I worried that wandering monsters might ambush a person, so I cleaned them up, but now there were no people left to ambush.
‘Shall I head to the shelter soon?’
I had wandered the rampaged area several times. Since I swept through with spatial perception, there was no need to worry someone may have been missed.
I turned my direction. Everyone who could be rescued was saved. All that remained were corpses that couldn’t be retrieved.
If I considered (a villain proficient in necromancy) or monsters, I should have been clearing them as I came across them, but… it shouldn’t be necessary now.
Not long after, I arrived at the shelter. Using my enhanced body, I swiftly leaped across rooftops.
At the edge of my spatial perception, I saw the entrance to the shelter. Surrounding it were piles of monster corpses stacked like a mountain.
When I first arrived, there were hardly two guarding the entrance, but now there were five or six keeping watch nearby.
Their aura felt… weaker than mine. Does that mean my growth is abnormal? I stamped down on the ground again with a peculiar expression.
‘……!’
I was about to leap. Just as I pushed against the ground, an unexplainable intuition slammed into my spine.
It was a powerful intuition, not something I could dismiss as just a feeling.
After experiencing real intuitions when creating the 13th iteration, I didn’t wholly regard intuition negatively.
Right now… even more so. There was no process, just the fact that it was dangerous fully hit me in the brain.
No process? I might be wrong. Only moments ago, just across from the shelter, the end of my spatial perception caught sight of a beast with red fur entering.
A canine monster with red fur. I couldn’t conclude it was a Red Leaf Hound.
It had red fur. Exactly the same. But it was different. If an ordinary Red Leaf Hound was akin to filthy blood, the blood on that one’s fur was disgustingly premium quality.
It was gigantic. That one was even more massive. An ordinary Red Leaf Hound is roughly twice my size, but this one was surely three to four times bigger.
It stood on two legs, making it feel even larger. Spatial perception had observed that beast.
At least a few hundred meters away, those bloodshot eyes pierced through me.
Killing intent struck my body. I felt my limbs solidifying with fear, yet thankfully, my survival instincts compelled my body to move.
I stopped my feet as my intuition indicated. It felt the same even now.
Without considering looking back, I drew up my mana.
I operated my enhanced body to the max.
I wrapped myself in thick strength.
Not stopping there, I fully spread my wings of the sky around myself.
I summoned the sword I hadn’t taken up until now to the front of my body and constructed a defensive spell around me.
My spatial perception had never missed an attack before.
On the day of the freshman welcome ceremony, when I collided with Hong Yeon-hwa, I saw an attack coming but couldn’t move in time.
Katsuki Yusei had similarly attacked me. I had definitely seen it coming, but my body had simply failed to respond.
The same was true for the duel with Professor Atra. Even though I anticipated her actions, my movements were subpar, causing me to be unable to evade any of her attacks.
Right now, too, it was the same.
I saw the attack.
The massive body leaping and shattering the ground, thick front paw pulled back, and the bloody mist wrapping around it…
– Crash!
My defensive magic couldn’t hold and broke through in an instant.
The sword I had drawn was sliced away like a blade hitting wood. Even wrapped in strength, it did nothing.
Soon after, the wings of the sky were torn apart, and the thick strength enveloping my body was next.
A gigantic front paw approached. Its size was enough to cover my upper body completely.
– Bam!
My mind went blank. With my spatial perception adding mental strain, I was received with overwhelming agony.
I was thrown. My body fell from the rooftop, crashing into the damaged street below.
– Crash!
I felt a scream rising within me. Thankfully, the suddenness of the situation left me no time to scream.
My dizzying senses sharpened clearer than before.
I felt my death approaching. My eyelids trembled with agony. I examined my body using spatial perception.
One side of my left forearm had been gruesomely torn away. The bone wasn’t exposed, but the sensation of loss was evident.
That last attack. Had I lacked any defensive element, I would have died. It wasn’t just my forearm that was torn away; my arms could have been ripped off, and my insides laid bare.
– Thud!
A rough vibration spread from the ground meeting my body. As I lay somewhat distanced, the gigantic beast leapt down to the ground.
– Growl…
It emitted a deep, guttural sound. The unique howl of a beast filled my ears.
It was a sound I had tediously heard over the past few hours, but the roar of that monster felt entirely different.
‘…That guy.’
I felt I had seen a similar one before. No, I recognized it almost entirely—it was a nearly identical entity from the original work.
The clarity brought about by facing death stripped open memories of the original work, retrieving related information in no time.
In “Savior,” there was no definitive final boss.
There were various entities that felt like final bosses, but none were precisely defined within the game system.
While it wasn’t exactly a final boss, there were plenty of strong entities.
‘……’
Entity name: Blood Cloud’s Aelus.
Measured by the association, it is a rank 3 alpha.
A monster that would devour several supreme heroes in the distant future.
That was a creature exhibiting itself right before me while in its pre-growth stage.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
