This was definitely not an illusion!
The stairway passage connecting to the deeper floors—based on Tiona's past exploration experience—was absolutely never this long.
So…
What exactly was going on?
She could only turn her gaze back, looking toward the handso young man following behind her. Ron's daily exploration was always like this—he probably knew the answer.
"Um…"
"Ron, have you noticed sothing off about this cave passage?"
"It's way too long!!"
"…"
Without the Dungeon wall luminescence, the stairway passage had beco extrely dim.
After hearing Tiona's question, Ron frowned, walked up beside her, and began steadily channeling the magic within his body.
Finally, it gathered in the palm of his right hand.
Shattering Crystal!
Clusters of crystal devoid of any warmth continuously ford in Ron's palm. It wasn't because there were dangerous monsters ahead—it was simply to use the azure crystals to light the path forward.
Under the clean radiance, like moonlight, they could see at a glance: the passage leading to the 14th Floor twisted endlessly, vanishing into the depths.
Was this normal?
Back when he had just beco an adventurer, Ron had encountered sothing like this before.
Only back then, it had skipped several Floors and sent him directly to the 6th Floor, dropping those Mimic War Shadows right in front of him.
But as his strength had grown, Ron simply couldn't believe that the Dungeon hadn't noticed—and would still use such a dumb thod to produce ordinary monsters.
A sudden toothache crept in as he looked at the carefree Tiona.
He sucked in a breath and said: "Probably…"
"Seems like… we might've run into a bit of trouble."
At the end of this stairway—what exactly was waiting for them?
Could it be the fire giant from Cassandra's dream?
The sun-browned girl frowned. "What kind of trouble?"
"There might be a very powerful monster waiting for us at the exit of the stairs."
"That's simple."
"If we can handle it, we fight. If we can't, we just run back up the stairs to the 13th Floor and regroup with my sister."
Tiona spoke as if it were obvious.
But just as her words fell—
Rumble—!
From behind them, along the slanted stairway stretching downward, ca the sound of sothing massive rolling toward them.
The ground trembled continuously.
Even—the previously stable rock walls began shaking loose dust and fragnts. With the rolling mass, the air surged violently.
Ron's loose clothing whipped loudly in the wind.
"Looks like…"
"The Dungeon isn't giving us a safe way to retreat!"
Using the illumination from the Shattering Crystal, he decisively turned back—and saw it:
A gigantic boulder, nearly filling the entire stairway, leaving no space to dodge, was barreling toward them.
A very familiar feeling.
"Damn it!"
Run?
At their current speed, they could definitely make it.
But compared to being deliberately forced deeper into the Dungeon, Ron would rather try smashing the incoming boulder with magic.
Gritting his teeth, he decisively increased the charge of the Shattering Crystal.
The crystal cluster, originally only thumb-thick, rapidly expanded, becoming dazzling like a brilliant gem under the blue light.
Whoosh—!
With a lift of Ron's hand, the condensed crystals shot forward toward the oncoming boulder. Instead of dispersing into fibers, they remained as solid crystalline spikes, attempting to shatter it.
Bang!
The magic exploded brilliantly upon impact—yet even this assault failed to break the boulder.
Because—the crystalline spikes rely embedded into its surface. As it continued rolling, they were like nails hamred into it.
The massive sphere showed no signs of damage whatsoever.
"Run!!"
If this were an upper Floor with narrow tunnels, Ron might've tried smashing it with his greatsword. But in this wide, nearly single-lane passage—with a boulder accelerating nonstop—this was no different from throwing yourself in front of a Truck-kun-level monster truck. Even if you sohow blocked it, who knew if the Dungeon wouldn't follow up with sothing worse?
Rely on Lefiya's magic?
By the ti she finished chanting, they'd probably already be scattered in pieces.
So he made a snap decision: "Run toward the end of the passage!"
"We can't break this thing!"
"…"
After hearing Ron—and witnessing his magic fail—Tiona completely abandoned the idea of confronting the rolling trap head-on.
As a Level 5 adventurer, the speed of the boulder wasn't particularly fast in her eyes.
But before she had gone far, she suddenly realized the key issue—Lefiya wasn't fast.
"Crap, I forgot!!"
She had promised the captain—no matter what, she would protect Lefiya's safety. Running instinctively like this would put her in danger.
Tiona slamd on the brakes.
But just as she turned to go back, she saw Ron running toward her—with the girl she had unconsciously overlooked.
At that mont, Lefiya was slung over Ron's shoulder.
"What are you standing there for?"
After all, she was his friend.
Ron had never expected Lefiya, a magic artillery-type, to match him physically—carrying her while running was just natural.
As for the posture…
At a ti like this, appearances didn't matter anymore!
But when he noticed Tiona had suddenly stopped ahead, his serious expression nearly broke.
Who the hell slams the brakes on a one-way path like this?!
"No ti to think."
There was no ti!
As Ron brushed past the sun-browned girl, his free left hand wrapped around her slender waist, locking her tightly with his arm—and hoisted her onto his other shoulder.
Compared to Lefiya, Tiona wasn't slender. Years of training in the Dungeon had given her a clearly defined muscular physique.
But in this life-or-death mont, under the surge of adrenaline…
Ron felt nothing of their weight. His only thought was—
Forward. Forward!
Until—they reached the end of the stairway.
Having never had such close contact with the opposite sex before, Tiona turned her head in a daze, looking at the equally stunned elf girl.
A completely unfamiliar feeling filled her chest.
'I get carried too?'
"…"
But looking at the boulder accelerating down the slope—calm quickly returned to Tiona's mind. She decisively said: "Lefiya, use magic to break that boulder behind us!"
"Even if you can't destroy it… you have to reduce its rolling montum, or we'll definitely get crushed into paste!"
"…"
That was indeed the most appropriate solution.
But feeling that strong hand gripping her backside—the Golden Yellow–haired elf felt her cheeks burning hot.
And of course, her heart was pounding wildly!
"…"
Lefiya's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz as she stamred: "I-I'll… try."
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