Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 633: You Should Be More Worried About That Monster

Alex looked at the map on his Status Page, while Chuck held the real map in his hands.

This was his first time entering the dungeon, so the map only showed the areas he and his friends had explored. The rest was still covered by a black fog, preventing him from seeing anything else.

They had covered a surprising amount of ground despite their strategy of traveling down the dungeon as efficiently as possible.

The two jogged lightly despite the roars up ahead.

Renard was an unstoppable killing machine, paving the way for his teammates.

< Level Up! >

"Ah, the sweet sound of success," Alex muttered after hearing the familiar notification. He had barely done anything so far!

This was the main reason he had entered the Dungeon of Beasts. Truth be told, he was lucky to have someone carry him all the way.

But Alex understood that when they reached the thirteenth floor, even Renard could no longer win easily against the monsters that spawned there.

Because of this, he simply conserved his strength, allowing Renard and Chuck to handle the heavy lifting.

Dim Dim was also perfectly fine with not doing anything aside from snacking on potato chips while resting on top of Alex’s head.

"I’ve found the staircase," Renard reported. "Shall we proceed?"

"Yes," Alex replied before glancing at Renard’s gauntlets. They were now covered with blood.

A part of him wanted to tell the young man to clean his gauntlets. But thinking that they would become covered with blood again very soon, he decided to just keep his mouth shut.

The moment they set foot on the thirteenth floor, Renard, Alex, and Chuck immediately felt an oppressive pressure that made all of them frown.

A moment later, they heard people screaming. They exchanged a glance, nodded, and then ran toward those screams.

————

"Young Master, Young Lady, please get out of here!" Captain Jonas shouted. "We will hold it off!"

The Cleric and the Spear Knight also stayed behind in order to support their captain in the battle with the Crimson Mantis.

Astrea didn’t hesitate and ran as fast as she could while supporting her brother. The healing potion hadn’t been enough to heal his injuries completely.

She knew staying behind would just drag their protectors down, so she obeyed Captain Jonas’ order.

However, the Crimson Mantis’s real target was Astrea.

For some reason, the mutant could feel great power inside of her. It believed that if it managed to eat her, it would grow significantly stronger.

Seeing her run away made the monster extremely angry. It ignored the knights in front of it and simply flapped its wings. There’s no need for the mantis to deal with these obstacles when it could pursue its target directly using its superior speed and mobility.

"Stop!" Captain Jonas shouted desperately. "Face me, you monster!"

But the Crimson Mantis ignored him and locked its gaze on the fleeing young lady with blood-shot eyes.

"My Lady, watch out!" the Spear Knight shouted. "Behind you!"

Hearing the warning of their protector knights, Astrea looked behind her.

Time seemed to slow down as the Field Boss Monster raised its deadly scythe to strike her down.

Thinking of Cassian’s safety, Astrea pushed him away before bracing herself for the blow that ought to end her life.

But the pain she expected never came.

Instead, she heard a metallic ring that made her open her eyes.

A young man stood between her and the Crimson Mantis, blocking the monster’s strike with his shield.

"Don’t worry, Astrea. I’ll protect you."

At first, Astrea didn’t recognize the young man because his back was facing her.

But after hearing his voice and noticing the little bun jumping from his head in order to throw something at the Crimson Mantis, Astrea finally recognized her savior.

"Alex Stratos..." Astrea muttered in a daze as she watched the young man use his shield to bash the Crimson Mantis and push it away from her.

The Mantis failed to respond right away because Dim Dim had thrown a sandal at its face, making it stagger backward.

Using that opportunity, Alex used Shield Charge and pushed the monster back. It was quite unfortunate, but the sandal’s insta-kill wasn’t triggered during the first attack.

However, it still dealt massive critical damage to the Crimson Mantis, which made it screech in pain. It might not have died, but the blow it received was so painful that it might have preferred to die instantly instead!

Clearly, Grandma Agnes’ sandal was the bane of all insect monsters!

A second later, Chuck and Renard arrived at her side.

"Chuck, protect her," Renard shouted. "I’ll help Alex!"

"Okay!" Chuck replied. "Are you alright, Lady Astrea?"

As the son of a duke, Chuck had the names of most of the young nobles from their kingdom memorized!

Of course, he had prioritized remembering the names of the noble ladies, so he recognized Astrea instantly.

"Y-Yes," Astrea replied shakily. "Thank you. But will they be alright?"

"You should be more worried about that monster," Chuck quipped. "Those three will be more than enough to kill it."

They watched Alex bash the monster’s body with his shield while Renard kicked its legs out from under it.

To make matters worse, the little bun was already right in front of the monster’s face, holding the wooden sandal. Every instinct the monster had screamed, "Run!"

Unfortunately, it couldn’t run away, so it only watched as the little bun raised its sandal to slap it silly.

"La Chancla!" Dim Dim shouted and unceremoniously slapped the Mantis’s face, sending it flying toward a tree, which promptly snapped into two.

Alex cursed inwardly because the insta-kill didn’t activate again. However, it didn’t change the fact that the sandal had dealt massive damage to their enemy.

The wooden sandal had a 10% chance of insta-killing any Insect Type Monster. So repeated attacks usually guaranteed a death-blow.

But for some reason, this monster was lucky enough to survive two attacks from Dim Dim. That usually would’ve been enough to kill any monster of its kind.

Yes, the Mutant’s luck was higher than most monsters.

This was also why it was attracted to Astrea. It could feel that the power she possessed would benefit it once it ate her flesh.

However, it had lost the chance to devour the young lady the moment Alex and his party arrived.

There was no way that the young man would allow one of his Queens to be killed right under his watch!

"Enchant Flames!" Alex roared. "Enchant spikes!"

Everguard was now covered with flames and deadly spikes that would hurt if stabbed someone.

"Shield Charge!" Alex slammed his shield on the Crimson Mantis’s chest. It screeched in pain as it was slammed to a nearby tree due to Alex’s momentum.

Renard didn’t miss this opportunity and unleashed a flurry of blows and kicks on the monster’s body.

He targeted the joints of the Mantis’ arms, preventing it from using its deadly weapons to attack them.

Out of desperation, the Mantis tried to bite Alex’s head, but Dim Dim appeared on its right and slapped its face, forcing it to collapse on the ground.

The wooden sandal guaranteed a critical hit every time it hit a target. No insect could survive that, especially when combined with Alex’s and Renard’s attacks. The Crimson Mantis was only able to give a long and pained dying screech before turning into red mist and leaving its two scythes and its beast core behind.

The knights protecting Cassian and Astrea, alongside the surviving adventurers, could only watch in disbelief as the three newcomers easily dealt with the monster they had thought would end them all.