Chapter 281: Forced Retreat

Feeling a sense of pride as she looked at the destruction that her dragon breath had ended up causing, Scaly could not help silently smirking to herself before quickly reminding herself about the current deadly situation that she found herself in.Although that attack just now had been extremely powerful and was a splendid display of strength that would leave any of the surrounding monsters who had been planning to attack her quivering in fear, she didn’t forget that the attack just now had essentially used up every single bit of mana inside her body. Leaving her with less than half a percentage. Barely enough for three or four water blades if she was lucky.

Not to mention the threat from the surrounding monsters that might be eyeing her, she had to avoid being noticed by the terrifying adventurer overseeing the battle from the spiral staircase. Understanding very well that this person would be looking for the one behind the destruction of the barrier and wouldn’t allow the one behind it to escape.

Whoosh~

With that in mind, before she ended up being targeted- and using the shock that had momentarily spread throughout the battlefield following the destruction of the barrier, she slipped into large horde of monsters and seamlessly merged with the crowd. Disappearing as she made her way in the direct opposite direction of the city now behind her.

Understanding that in case that powerful human adventurer couldn’t find the culprit, he would certainly take his anger at the destruction of the city barrier out on the monsters... And though he had shown how powerful he was in the past, it was clear that a large portion of his strength had been dedicated towards keeping the barrier guarding the city intact. Only showing a surface level strength that had already been more than enough to leave her shivering.

After all, though her attack just now had been incredibly powerful, she doubted that it would have been able to kill that powerful human adventurer. The only real reason why her dragon breath had been able to succeed in the first place and had managed to evade detection by that terrifying human and end up being blocked before it could reach the barrier, was because the other party had already disregarded the terrifying fluctuations coming from where she was located as being her and the rage bull clashing with each other, a simple mistake that ended up with her being able to break the barrier.

As for the monsters that had originally wanted to target her... Although she did still feel a few gazes lingering on her after she had broken the barrier, it was clear that none of them had been brave enough to make a move after seeing the terrifying dragon breath she had just pulled off. Instead, deciding to follow the rest of the monster horde as it began surging forth towards the now defenseless city-

BOOOOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Well... Defenseless wasn’t entirely accurate, as she soon enough heard countless terrifying explosions echoing out behind her from what she could only assume to be the terrifying human adventurer dedicating all his strength on fighting the monster horde. Every single one of those terrifying attacks carrying no less power than the attack she had used to break the barrier earlier.

So... This is an adventurer above level 100...


Narrowing both her eyes as she thought this to herself while briefly glancing back to catch the glimpse of what looked like a massive fire tornado tearing through thousands of monsters at the same time, Scaly could not help unconsciously lowering her head a bit. Understanding that she was still some distance away from reaching that kind of level.

At least, using all her strength, she had been able to unleash a dragon breath attack that had reached that level, as truly reaching that level... She had a feeling that she would have to master the unique dream magic that came along with her fifth evolution and reached the max level for her current evolution.

Speaking of her dream magic, she really wanted to learn how to use it as fast as possible now that she had gone through a life and death situation once again so shortly after undergoing her fifth evolution. After all, if she managed to learn how to enter the dreamscape, she would be able to easily escape from any danger she encountered.

At that point, even in the face of the terrifying human adventurer currently causing destruction behind her, she would feel confident in potentially waiting for a chance to ambush the other party- if her mana hadn’t already run out.

...

"Did a monster take advantage of the distraction caused by the rage bull and monster with a dragon bloodline fighting with each other to launch a powerful attack to break the barrier after seeing me not paying attention to the area around that battle any longer? But... That kind of action and the power just now could only have come from an S Rank Monster- and not just any normal S Rank Monster, but one far more intelligent than the average S Rank Monster!"

Frowning visibly as a look of worry appeared in his eyes, the S Rank Adventurer looked down at the chaos that had broken out below as the monster began swarming into the city in an unstoppable manner after the barrier that had originally blocked them disappeared.

Not only the weaker monsters that had acted as the frontline beforehand, but the stronger monsters that had waited for an opportunity had also joined this time around. Making it impossible for those A and B Rank Adventurers below to hold the line, as they were continuously being forced back.

But this wasn’t the real problem, the main problem was that there was an intelligent S Rank Monster lurking somewhere in the monster horde. Potentially waiting for him to make a mistake, something he had already experienced with the fall of the barrier.

With that in mind, holding Fish Stone City essentially became impossible, as any major moves he made to try and force back the monster horde might result in that hidden S Rank Monster getting the opportunity to ambush him.

"EVERYONE! RETREAT! MOVE UP THE STAIRCASE! RETREAT TO THE SECOND FLOOR!"

Because of this, though unwilling to give up on the city that essentially served as the last line of defense against the monster horde that had already turned into a stampede, he was forced to retreat. Knowing that this was the best course of action, as attempting to hold Fish Stone City in its current state would only result in useless sacrifices.

Instead of that, it was better to regroup at the First Floor of the dungeon where they would be able to make a final stand.

At the same time, it would also give the rest of the adventurers inside the city a chance to gather and for the rest of the S Rank Adventurers inside the Howling Caverns Dungeon to gather.

Although the S Rank Monsters they were dealing with were important, the situation had changed and the monster hordes had already developed in a true monster stampede.

To ensure that the dungeon wasn’t broken, they could only give up on the infrastructure on the third floor of the dungeon and gather to use all their strength to hold the line at the first floor of the dungeon where the final barrier against a monster flood and dungeon break was located.

"But... To buy the others enough time retreat to the first floor and at the same time also inform the leader at the capital about the situation, I still need to buy some time and delay the monster stampede for as long as possible!" Muttering this to himself with a determined look on his face as he glanced up the spiral staircase where an adventurer specialized in speed had already disappeared to inform the rest of the guild about the situation and have them prepare for a final stand at the first floor of the dungeon, the S Rank Adventurer who had remained relatively impassive in the battle so far directly stepped off the spiral staircase.

Fwoosh~

However, before he could plummet to the ground, a burning platform made entirely of flames appeared beneath him as he hovered in the air, his gaze soon travelling towards the monsters rampaging below.

"This city is already gone... No need for me to worry about any damage done it!" Smiling a bit to himself as he said this while looking down at the buildings below already being torn apart by the monster, the S Rank Adventurer and also Archmage gently raised one of his arms as a terrifying quantity of mana began to gather in his hand-

RUMMMBLE-!

FWOOOOOSH-!

And with an equally gentle motion of his hand, the mana that had gathered exploded outwards before turning into a sea of fire that cascaded down towards the monsters below-

Roooar!?

Roooar!

Roooar...!

Giving them no time to react as they were incinerated by the terrifying flames that soon enough gathered into an enormous fire tornado that swept through the horde of monsters while barely avoiding the adventurers who were left in a state of awe at the terrifying display of magic.