Chapter 23

Roland recruited new members through the quest reception office, and skilled individuals who had heard of Monica's reputation flocked in droves.

The promise of exploring the dungeon with Class A adventurers had a significant impact.

Although the official announcement from the quest reception office had not been made, the well-informed adventurers had heard that Class A adventurers had been born, and they volunteered to join the team to seize the opportunity to explore the dungeon with Class A adventurers.

Roland appraised each of their current skills, interviewed them, and asked about the rewards they desired.

Among them, some wished to improve their adventurer rank, some desired money, and others wanted specific items.

Their situations varied.

Some had been away from the city when the dungeon appeared and had fallen behind in the exploration, some had joined because they believed their guild could not reach the 10th floor this time, and others had joined the "Guardians of the Magic Tree" out of resentment towards the "Golden Eagle."

After a few days of gathering members, Roland managed to assemble a melee combat team and attack mages, all with Class B equivalent strength.

After completing the deployment of the new members, Roland gave tasks, goals, and advice to the members who had left the "Guardians of the Magic Tree," encouraged them, and then led the team back to the entrance of the dungeon.

Before long, the scouts who were monitoring Roland's movements delivered a message to the Coater brothers.

The Coater brothers hastily gathered their team and followed Roland.

While Roland was steadily preparing his team, the Coater brothers were not idle, wasting time.

To strengthen their team for the exploration of the 10th floor and beyond, they requested additional forces from Lucius.

They told Lucius honestly what had happened in the dungeon.

One of the archers in Roland's team had cleared a Class A quest.

Furthermore, they had already defeated the Guardian and reached the 10th floor.

Therefore, it was expected that the 10th floor would become the main battlefield from now on.

To carry out their mission, they urgently requested that a Class B shield team and melee combat team be deployed under their command.

Otherwise, they would not only be unable to track Roland's team but also lack the strength to resist the monsters on the 10th floor, making it impossible to move properly within the dungeon.

At this point, Lucius began to doubt Willic's words.

(Class A archer in Roland's team? Nonsense. This is different from what he said.)

If special forces were to be deployed with a Class B shield team and melee combat team, it would affect the composition of other teams currently engaged in dungeon exploration.

A fundamental reevaluation of strategy was necessary.

Lucius called Willic and questioned him about the matter.

"Yes, Roland is lying."

Willic said calmly.

"Lying? But according to the Coater brothers' report, Roland's team has a Class A archer..."

"What are you talking about? If Class A archers could be so easily cultivated, no one would have any trouble. As I predicted, Roland's cultivation is not going well. He is even making false reports to cover up his failures."

"Is that so? But if the Coater brothers' report is true due to some mistake..."

"That's also part of Roland's deception. He is spreading false information to confuse us. Or what? Do you not trust what I say? If so, then it's fine. From now on, I will not provide any information about the 'Guardians of the Magic Tree' to Lucius. I will end this relationship. Please waste your budget by being misled by Roland's false information."

Since Lucius could not doubt Willic any further due to his confident tone, he gave the following instructions to the Coater brothers.

"The guild has no spare forces or budget. Continue to track Roland's team with the current forces and prevent them from completing their quest."

Upon hearing this order, the Coater brothers were shocked and tried to request reinforcements again, but Roland did not give them the time and completed the team formation, entering the dungeon.

The Coater brothers had no choice but to follow Roland with their weak vanguard team.

The 11th floor was a rare ruin stage.

There were huge buildings that seemed impossible for humans to live in, as well as buildings with passages so narrow that humans could hardly pass through.

This was the best evidence that there were monsters like the "Giant Ogre," who were much taller and stronger than orcs, and the "Wise Goblin," who had the knowledge and dexterity to alter buildings.

These monsters were much stronger and smarter than those on the floors before the 10th, and they could command many subordinates, transforming the ruins that were originally inhabited by humans to make them more habitable or easier to ambush humans.

Roland's team and the Coater brothers' team, who had reached the 11th floor using the shortcut ring, felt the presence of much stronger enemies from the dungeon's atmosphere, and everyone tightened their focus.

"Monica. 'Hawk Eye.'"

"Yes."

When Roland gave the order, Monica immediately switched to "Hawk Eye."

Her "Hawk Eye," now at S-class, could see everything on this floor.

She could grasp the map from the entrance to the exit, the locations of the monsters, and which routes would allow them to avoid or encounter specific monsters.

Furthermore, she could even see the monsters hiding inside buildings from the stagnation of the wind.

Cobold goblins with bows and blowpipes, orcs about to jump down from the upper floors onto the road, and the angles and points from which these monsters could be shot were all clearly visible.

"Amazing. This is the true power of 'Hawk Eye.' I can see the movements of the monsters lurking in the dungeon as if they were in my hand. With this, I can conquer the dungeon according to my plan."

"Monica, how about it? Can you see the route to the exit?"

"Yes. There are three main routes to the exit. One is a route where you won't encounter any monsters. Another is a route with a very high number of encounters. The third is a route with a very high number of hidden monsters."

The two leaned in close to whisper so that the Coater brothers' team behind them couldn't hear.

"Good job, Monica. If we know this, we can almost conquer the dungeon. Can I ask you something a bit more difficult?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Not only do I want to conquer the dungeon, but I also want to shake off the guys behind us. To do that, we need to stop them. Is there a route that can make the monsters attack only the team behind us?"

"Wait. Let me check."

Monica switched back to "Hawk Eye" and searched for the route.

"I found it. Among the three routes, if we take the one with the most hidden monsters, the monsters will likely launch surprise attacks from several points behind us. If we run at those points, perhaps..."

"Good job."

Roland patted Monica's shoulder.

"...Yes."

Monica blushed slightly and looked down, answering.

A new motivation was growing within her.

To be of more use to Roland and gain more recognition.

This was her small happiness now.

(If I work harder and be more useful, maybe Roland will notice me.)

"Hey, Captain. How long are you going to whisper? We're wasting stamina just by waiting. Let's move on already."

One of the newly recruited members complained.

"Ah, sorry for keeping you waiting. Let's go. Monica."

"Yes."

Monica aimed her bow at the sky and fired an arrow.

Her arrow, describing a parabola, hit a "Wise Goblin" holding a poison spear just beyond the entrance to the dungeon, revealing it to the team.

Everyone present turned pale.

(A "Wise Goblin" with a poison spear at the entrance to the dungeon... This is brutal. If we had advanced carelessly, at least one of us would have become the prey of that poison spear...)

(No, more importantly, this woman eliminated an enemy in a complete blind spot with one shot. Is this the skill of a Class A archer?)

The new members were both terrified of the goblin lurking at the entrance and of Monica.

"Let's go. I'll lead the way. Everyone, follow me."

Monica declared loudly and led the team into the dungeon.

The team moved quietly and steadily.

While Monica was moving, the team followed her, and when she stopped, the team stopped as well.

When she stopped, she would aim her arrow and shoot down enemies hiding in the shadows or inside buildings.

When she couldn't kill the enemy with arrows, she would inform the shield team of the enemy's location, have them form a shield, and advance to corner and kill the monsters.

Everything was decided by her.

The other members of the team simply followed her instructions.

At one point, Monica saw with "Hawk Eye" that about five kobolds were circling around the team's flank, moving behind a building.

(!! The kobolds are moving. They're trying to flank us!)

They were equipped with bows and poison arrows.

"Roland. Keep moving forward."

Monica said this and, using "Silent Run," left the team and preemptively eliminated the kobolds at the position they were about to occupy.

She then rejoined the team without incident.

Thus, the team advanced through the dungeon without any problems.

On this route with many ambushes, shooting alone was generally sufficient, but there were places where melee combat was unavoidable.

This was the Gate of the Victor.

Beyond the square, this massive gate bore the emblem of a giant ogre, clearly indicating what lay ahead.

Monica fired an arrow over the gate, but it seemed the enemy had shields, and no matter how many arrows she fired, they did not open the gate or come out to attack.

"Monica, can you see the enemy's composition?"

"Yes, let me check."

Monica used "Hawk Eye" to investigate and found that the enemy consisted of three ogres, fifteen orcs, ten werewolves (who not only had high agility but also used weapons in two-legged form during attacks), five bull bison (who not only inflicted damage with their charge but also had a high probability of blowing shield bearers away and disrupting the formation), and five gale eagles (whose flapping wings created strong winds that immobilized the team or deflected arrows).

The most troublesome were the giant ogres and the bull bison.

The bull bison could disrupt the formation with their charge, and if not stopped by illusion magic or crust magic, they could directly attack the rear mages and archers.

The bull bison tended to charge in a group, so they could be handled with Shagma's support magic, but the ogres could attack individually, and their attack power was overwhelming.

They could attack two or three people at once and significantly reduce the health of a fully equipped warrior with one hit.

Even a Class B shield bearer would lose more than half their health.

Therefore, to defeat the ogres, a healer capable of casting wide-area healing magic was necessary.

Roland had a plan for this as well.

"Yufine, let's try what we discussed."

"Yes."

Yufine was given the "Silver Staff," but the improvement in accuracy was limited, and they could not find a way to heal the entire team at once.

So, they decided to try a different approach: instead of casting healing magic during combat, the melee combat team would position themselves on a pre-activated healing magic array.

Yufine's magic power far exceeded that of a normal person, so she could maintain the healing magic during combat without depleting her magic power.

This meant that the melee combat team could fight while continuously healing.

The only concern was whether the wide-area healing magic could form a neat formation.

Roland's team entered the square and approached the gate, ready to engage in melee combat.

As they passed the midpoint of the square, the gate suddenly opened, and monsters poured out.

The team quickly deployed based on the enemy's composition and formation.

The monsters that emerged were, as Monica had described, composed of bull bison, ogres, werewolves, armored orcs, and gale eagles.

The vanguard was the bull bison.

As expected, the five of them charged together towards the right flank.

Next were the ogres.

The three heavily shielded ogres, after passing through the gate, spread out to attack the right flank, center, and left flank.

Behind them were the werewolves, armored orcs, and gale eagles.

"Shagma, deploy 'Crust Magic' on the right flank! Melee combat team, form your formation along Yufine's healing magic! Monica, engage in anti-air defense!"

"Understood!"

Roland gave rapid instructions, and the team members quickly changed positions and faithfully executed the orders.

Shagma took the lead on the right flank and cast "Crust Magic."

"Crust Magic" is a spell that raises the ground to form a fortress.

The plan to stop the bull b