Death Guns In Another World

Chapter 2092: Dungeon Race

The morning was crisp and quiet. The sun was just a pale promise behind the mountains. Alex and Saeko stood before the entrance of a new dungeon. This one was called the Caverns of the Echoing Depths. The entrance was a dark crack in a mossy cliffside, smelling of damp earth and old stone.

They didn't need to talk about a plan. They just looked at each other, nodded once, and stepped inside.

The first room was a wide cave. The ceiling was covered in thousands of soft blue glow-worms. The light was dim and peaceful. But from the shadows at the edges, giant centipedes with shiny black shells scuttled out, their many legs clicking on the stone.

Alex raised his hand. A small, warm orb of light appeared above his palm. He tossed it gently into the center of the room. The blue glow-worms dimmed. The centipedes, confused by the new light, all turned toward it.

That was Saeko's signal. She was a silent green blur. Her katana didn't whistle through the air. The wind she used was a hushed breeze, just enough to make her movements ghost-quiet. She weaved between the centipedes. A quick stab to the back of a head. A low slash to sever legs. They fell without a sound, collapsing into piles of twitching segments. Before the last one realized the light was a trick, her blade found the joint in its neck.

The room was still. The glow-worms brightened again. Alex and Saeko moved to the next doorway.

The next floor was a forest of giant, spongy mushrooms. The air was thick with floating spores that could put you to sleep forever. They stepped in and held their breath.

Alex snapped his fingers softly. A tiny, clean breeze swirled around the two of them, pushing the spores away. It was a perfect bubble of safe air.

Monkeys with spore-covered fur and glowing red eyes dropped from the mushroom caps, screeching silently. They were fast.

Saeko and Alex moved back-to-back. She didn't look. She just listened to the shift of his weight, the whisper of his cloak. A monkey leaped at her from the left. She leaned right, and Alex's elbow shot past her shoulder, his black fist connecting with the creature's skull with a muffled thump. One dropped from above Alex. He ducked, and Saeko's katana flashed over his head, cutting the monkey down. They moved in a slow, turning circle, a unit of perfect defense. In less than a minute, the silent monkeys were all on the ground. They walked on, their bubble of air moving with them.

A wide, dark river cut through a rocky tunnel. The water flowed silently. Long, pale eels with needle teeth broke the surface, watching.

Saeko stepped to the water's edge. She placed a hand on its surface. The water didn't ripple. Instead, it began to freeze in a straight, narrow path right across the river. She wasn't using ice magic. She was using the wind to pull all the heat from the water in a single line.

They walked across the ice path. The eels, enraged, surged up to break it. Alex didn't even draw his sword. He pointed a finger at the water on either side of their path. Small, intense bolts of lightning shot down. The water crackled. The eels stiffened and sank, stunned. They reached the other side. The ice melted behind them.

This was a grand hall filled with stone statues of warriors. As they entered, the statues' heads turned, their stone eyes glowing orange. They stepped down from their pedestals, heavy stone feet grinding.

This was Alex's turn. He walked forward alone. The stone warriors charged, their movements slow but powerful.

Alex didn't fight them. He danced between them. He would touch a statue on the knee as he passed. Where his black fingers touched, a spiderweb of cracks would appear. He'd tap one on the shoulder, and its arm would crumble. He wasn't breaking them with force. He was using a vibration, a frequency that made the stone fall apart. By the time he reached the other end of the hall and turned around, the statues were just piles of gravel. Saeko walked through the rubble, a small smile on her face.

The final chamber was a huge, wet cave. In the center, on a nest of bones, was a giant spider, as big as a house. It was furry, with too many glittering black eyes. Around it, hundreds of smaller, dog-sized spiders skittered.

For the first time, they both moved at once.

Alex ran straight for the big Queen. He needed her attention. He fired his magic gun. The crack-hiss was loud in the cave. The mana bullet sparked against her thick head, not hurting her, but making her shriek in fury. All her eyes locked on him.

As the Queen focused on Alex, and the smaller spiders rushed to defend her, Saeko went to work. She didn't attack the spiders directly. She moved to the edges of the cave. With swift, sure strokes of her katana, she cut the thick, supporting strands of web that anchored the giant nest to the walls.

The nest began to sag and tilt. The smaller spiders stumbled, losing their footing on the shifting web.

The Queen, confused by the movement, hesitated. That was Alex's chance. He sprinted up a falling strand of web, right toward her face. His black arm pulled back. He didn't punch. He placed his palm flat on the spot between her largest eyes.

There was a deep, bass thump, like a drumbeat inside the mountain. The Queen's body shook. All her legs folded. She dropped, lifeless, into her collapsing nest.

The little spiders, with their mother and their home gone, scurried away into dark cracks.

Silence fell again.

Alex jumped down from the rubble. Saeko walked over to him. They were both a little dusty, but unhurt. They hadn't spoken a single word the entire time.

He looked at her. She looked at him.

A slow, satisfied nod passed between them. That was all that was needed.

They found the treasure chest in the back of the cave—some gems, some coins. Alex put it all in his item box. Then they turned and walked back the way they came, through the silent, cleared floors, and stepped out into the morning sun.

It was still early. The birds were just starting to sing. They had cleared an entire dungeon before breakfast, without a sound, without a flaw. It was just another day's work.