Chapter 92: Became the Mafia of the Academy

The march signaling the start of the battle echoed through the chamber.

At the entrance to the boss room on the 10th floor.

The 'Miner' was the overall commander of the villains deployed to prevent any possible dungeon exploration by the Academy students. He was currently watching through an ice crystal as the Academy students who had climbed up to the 9th floor encountered the villain 'Snow Girl Fa,' who was responsible for this terror.

"Hmm, to have already come this far, they must be skilled, right? Or... did they just get lucky and wake up on the 9th floor?"

For the Miner, who was spending his time guarding the 9th and 10th floors using his ability to penetrate the dungeon's terrain, this was quite an entertaining spectacle. Putting down the pickaxe he was holding, he took out a cookie he had prepared in advance and watched the situation reflected by the villain 'Snow Girl Fa's' magic.

"Judging by the badge colors, they seem to be first-year students... huh? That hair color, could it be the successor of the Changcheon family?"

The Miner, who had expected them to be easily dealt with, felt a sense of anticipation as an unexpected character appeared, and he smiled.

"Well, I thought it would be boring waiting here, but this is turning out to be quite interesting?"

The Miner just chuckled and watched the kids through the ice crystal. He could have gone down to help if he wanted to, but the opponents were just freshmen from the Academy. If he lost to such amateurs, it would only mean that she was that weak. To villains, comrades were merely disposable entities.

"Then, let's see how the freshmen of the Academy fare, shall we?"

The blue ice crystal floating in front of the Miner showed the situation on the upper floor.

* * *

"Didn't expect you to come so quickly? They said nothing would happen for at least two days."

The villain 'Snow Girl Fa' chuckled as she cast a spell, looking at the freshmen who had arrived in front of her.

"They're cute."

Fa slapped the head of the snowman she was sitting on, and the ice crystals that rose from there transformed into blue spikes.

"First, let's exchange some greetings, shall we?"

As soon as Fa finished speaking, the spikes shot out. Seo-a stepped forward from behind Yeong-je and spread her hands wide.

At the same time, the ice spikes intentionally missed them and embedded themselves elsewhere.

"Oh, even coordinate interference? Interesting kids."

As Fa laughed, seeing that the kids were more skilled than expected, Seo-a and Yeong-je gritted their teeth and looked at the snowmen.

"Seo-a! I'll unleash a big attack, so please target them for me!"

"Leave it to me!"

With Seo-a's affirmative response, Yeong-je swung her fountain pen.

"Grandioso (Majestically)!"

A massive flame rose from the tip of the fountain pen, soaring into the sky. At the same time, Seo-a, who had received the control of the magic, spread her hands wide.

At that moment.

"Scatter!"

Seo-a, who could see the spatial coordinates and the flow of magic power, instantly predicted everything and split the single pillar of fire into dozens, dropping them on the snowmen's heads.

As the cold ice met the hot flames, steam rose instantly, filling the chamber with mist.

The 9th floor chamber was quickly filled with thick steam.

However.

The snowmen, though slightly smaller, were still very much intact.

"Ha ha ha! My ice is the true nemesis of mages, freezing even magic power! Did you really think that would work?!"

"Not really, but it's enough."

Fa looked down at the cold voice coming from below. Chae-yeon was swinging her sword, clearing the smaller snowmen.

Fa's body trembled, but she slapped the snowman's head again.

"Stop that girl!"

-ROAR!!

The snowman, making a sound that seemed impossible for a snowman, started to move. Bumps and bulges appeared on its body, forming arms.

Chae-yeon and Seo-a, seeing this, grimaced.

"Ugh. What is that?"

"...Disgusting."

But it seemed that their reactions were of no importance. Frost began to form on the arms that had risen, and ice crystals took the shape of swords.

"Snow! Destroy them all!"

-ROAR!!

The snowman raised a massive ice sword and swung it vertically at Chae-yeon. She quickly moved to the side to dodge.

However, her feet were already frozen to the ground by the ice.

She managed to raise her sword, but the overwhelming mass of the ice sword pierced her head, causing a massive wind to sweep through the chamber.

"Chae-yeon!"

Seo-a, who was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the snowmen, shouted and reached out her hand toward Chae-yeon.

Suddenly, a purple flash appeared around Seo-a, and Chae-yeon appeared in front of her.

"Thanks to you, I'm alive."

Blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth, indicating she might have internal injuries. Chae-yeon, wiping the blood, inspected her sword and noticed a crack.

"...Maybe two or three more times. We need to finish this within that time."

Chae-yeon, calculating that she had only a few more attacks left, began to think of a way to win, considering the surroundings and their condition.

Would a special move be enough to cut through the snowman?

--No.

The probability of success was very low, and if she failed, she would have to fight it bare-handed.

Is there any other way?

Chae-yeon quickly looked around.

The options available to her were limited. The opponent's ability was not compatible with her speed, and the cold inside the chamber was making her movements increasingly sluggish.

In other words, it would be difficult for her to take down the snowman alone.

So, she needed to create some other variable.

Her eyes turned to the other two, who were dealing with the smaller snowmen.

"...I'll go for the mage on top of the snowman. Support. Possible?"

The two nodded, even while fighting.

"I'll try to deflect any magic aimed at Chae-yeon."

"Got a plan? I'll support as much as I can."

With their agreement, Chae-yeon nodded and prepared to charge.

"Thanks."

"Allegro (Quickly)!"

With a thud, Chae-yeon pushed off the ground and charged at the giant snowman. Yeong-je's supporting magic followed her, gradually increasing her speed, which had been slowed by the cold.

Fa, surprised by Chae-yeon's sudden change in movement, shouted.

"Snow! Cut her down this time!"

-ROAR!!

The snowman raised its massive ice sword, and Fa tried to freeze the ground to stop Chae-yeon's charge, but...

"Keep going!"

At that moment, Seo-a, who had appeared in front of the snowman, punched its face with her bare hands and twisted her wrist, altering the coordinates where Fa's magic would activate.

In the end, the wrong place was frozen.

"That damned spatial mage! Even if you do that, you can't get up here-- huh?"

Fa, who had tried to stop Chae-yeon's charge with another spell, realized her hands wouldn't move.

Her hands were stuck to the snowman's head.

"What the...?"

The ice mage had frozen to her own creation?

While the snowman was confused by this absurd situation,

"Tranquillo (Calmly)."

Yeong-je's voice came from below. Fa looked down to see Yeong-je smirking.

"You... how did you use ice magic?!"

Until just now, Fa had seen only reinforcement and fire magic from Yeong-je. Using another attribute of magic here?

"Damn...! Snow, fall back!"

Fa, quickly using magic to melt the ice, shouted, but...

"--Too late."

Chae-yeon, who had already leaped into the air, raised her sword above her head.

"This is my first time fighting such a large opponent. It was fun."

Chae-yeon, with a very calm face, muttered. A blue aura rose from her hand, instantly engulfing the cracked sword.

It was a very beautiful blue light, but to Fa, just looking at it made her instincts scream.

--I'm going to die.

"Damn kids...! I'll get my revenge. I'll definitely get my revenge!"

While she was silently seething in the white snowfield,

"Ugh?!"

She let out a short scream and collapsed onto the snow.

Behind her, an unknown figure appeared and quietly looked in the direction of the children.

* * *

"Hmm, as expected, they're just kids."

At the entrance to the boss room on the 10th floor of the dungeon.

The Miner was watching the situation on the upper floor through Fa's magic.

"Ugh... It seems to be taking longer than expected. Fa might be in danger, so maybe I should go help her."

The Miner, whose body was trembling with excitement from the shock that could be felt even on the 10th floor, couldn't contain his excitement as the ground continued to shake.

"...Wait, what?"

He suddenly felt something strange and stopped in his tracks.

His sensitive perception of vibrations allowed him to realize that the ongoing tremors were not natural but caused by something artificial. He began to look around.

"Because of the guys upstairs? No, they didn't do anything that would cause vibrations, did they?"

He looked at the massive stone door behind him, where the boss of the dungeon was presumed to be trapped on the 10th floor.

But the tremors coming from inside were too small to be from the boss.

"Then, what could it be...?"

At that moment.

[Ding Dong.]

A sound that seemed out of place in a dungeon.

[This is the 10th floor underground.]

"Wow, you mean you can get to the 10th floor in one go?"

"I pressed it because there was a light, but I didn't expect it to go this far."

"Then, isn't this a great shortcut, Boss?"

"No, that would take the fun out of exploring the dungeon."

The Miner slowly turned his head at the sudden human voices.

The pillar in the center of the room, which he had thought was just a decoration, suddenly split open, revealing two people.

"Huh? Boss, there's someone there? What's with the safety helmet?"

"...Safety helmet?"

The eyes of the two people who had come out of the elevator and the Miner met.

"...That's."

Eun-jin's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the man in the safety helmet, then her lips curled up in a grin.

"--I found you."