—•——•——•——•——•——•—
August waved a hand, trying to clear the thick fog enveloping the cavern.
"Is there any way to blow this mist away?" he asked Liliruca Arde.
"No, that's not possible," Lili said as she pulled out a map covered in special symbols. "The mist on the tenth floor is always made by the walls around us. It never moves up or down, it just stays here."
"There are also monsters here that are almost dium-sized," Lili said, checking her notes. "And you have to be careful about sneak attacks in the fog. These monsters aren't like the ones above—they can sense where we are on their own."
How troubleso.
"Is that so?" August muttered. "Let's switch up our transportation, then."
Hearing this, he prepared to pull out the armored vehicle he had requisitioned from his inventory. But the mont he reached into the void, his gaze suddenly snapped toward a specific direction in the deep mist.
"What's wrong?" Lili asked, noticing his hand freeze mid-air. She instantly drew her hand crossbow, going on high alert.
"Soone is watching us..." August frowned.
He had just felt a strong sensation he couldn't ignore. It was an Adventurer's intuition. The feeling was intense, not like the wild danger of the Labyrinth. This was a human gaze, cold and careful, from soone hiding and watching him.
August snapped his fingers.
A heavy machine gun appeared from the void and instantly opened fire on that exact coordinate.
BRRRRRRRRRRRT!
The heavy gunfire tore through the mist, cutting a deadly path toward where the gaze had co from. But there were no screams, just the dull thuds of bullets hitting the stone wall.
"Did they run?" August stared into the fog.
For a mont, he was sure he hadn't imagined it. Soone really had been watching him from that spot. A gaze that careful and hidden almost had to belong to an enemy.
'The Labyrinth? No, it can't be Fels,' August thought. 'Fels wouldn't be this hostile toward . It felt more like a group of Adventurers.'
"Hoh, interesting. It seems another Familia has their eyes on ."
August didn't think he'd be targeted this soon, since he had just reached the tenth floor. The thick mist made it easy for soone to follow him without being seen.
"A pity thermal imaging is useless here," August sighed in frustration.
If his thermal optics worked, he could have tracked them down easily. But the Labyrinth was alive, and its walls were always warm because they created monsters. That heat made thermal scopes useless.
"Well, since we have company, I won't hold back."
"Lili, drop the bait. I want every monster on this floor driven into a frenzy." August ordered, deciding to incite a massive riot across the entire tenth floor.
"Yes!"
Lili imdiately pulled the prepared monster bait from her backpack. She threw chunks of the pungent at in every direction, making sure to hurl a large piece toward the exact spot August had just fired at. She intended to force them out of hiding.
As expected, this plan worked extrely well—
The strong sll of the bait drew the Dungeon monsters in, making them rush straight toward it. In seconds, the whole tenth floor was thrown into chaos.
"Hey! Who the hell is dropping monster bait down here? Are you insane?"
Several Adventurer groups who had co in from other paths were shocked when they slled the bait. Who would be crazy enough to throw monster bait in the middle of a foggy floor?
But the very next second...
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
A booming curtain of gunfire resounded across the mist.
"OH CRAP, IT'S THAT MONSTER ROOKIE!"
Any Adventurer who had seen August fight recognized the apocalyptic sound right away. The monster rookie was here on the tenth floor, and only he could make that kind of noise.
"RUN!"
The Adventurers rushed back toward the stairs to the ninth floor. None of them wanted to stay on the sa floor as that maniac. It would be suicide.
The Adventurers knew better than to stick around. They left right away because they knew how wild August's indiscriminate fighting could get. From the safety of the entrances, they watched the bright flashes from his gun light up the fog. The bullets ripped through the mist, shaking the air.
The constant gunfire cleared a large part of the fog, revealing the harsh reality of the tenth floor.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
The Imps and Orcs lurking in the mist let out shrill screams as they were cut down. The tenth floor beca a nightmare of gunfire and death, with monsters dropping one after another, their bodies quickly crumbling into ash and Magic Stones.
"That monster rookie... his thods are ruthless."
"If that were us, how much of that do you think we could block?"
"Block? We'd be turned into Swiss cheese in a second."
The Adventurers watched the chaos below. Just like the rookie had warned in the plaza, teaming up with him almost guaranteed friendly fire. Anyone who joined him had to be ready for a dangerous crossfire.
—•——•——•——•——•——•—
Obviously, hiding among the fleeing Adventurer parties was the covert team that had caused the riot.
"We almost died at the hands of that rookie..."
"His instincts are scary. We only looked at him once, and he fired at us right away."
The three-man squad of male Adventurers had just narrowly escaped death. If they hadn't all been Level 2 veterans with enhanced agility, they would have been gunned down on the spot.
"The captain really overestimated us," one muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "Sending us on a mission like this..."
As they watched the chaos below, the three Adventurers knew it was their fault. If they hadn't run as soon as they were seen, they would have been killed on the spot.
Their Familia had been ordered to investigate the anomaly known as August. They hadn't expected to end up with a near-suicide mission.
"Well, at least we confird the rumors are true. The rookie is the real deal."
"Getting close to him is out of the question. His instincts are too sharp."
"So, are we still doing the mission?"
"Do what? We've already completed our objective: confirm his capabilities. We'll leave the rest for the captain to decide."
"Understood."
After a quick talk, the three Adventurers decided to head back to the surface and stay away from August. They knew they wouldn't survive eting him again. With that choice made, they disappeared into the shadows.
—•——•——•——•——•——•—
anwhile, August was still deeply bothered by that piercing gaze.
That was why he had started the riot on the tenth floor. He wanted the chaos to shake things up and force the hidden Adventurers to show themselves or run away.
Although August hadn't seen them, he rembered the distinct "feel" of that gaze. The next ti he t them, his instincts would recognize it right away.
"As the price for spying on ..." August sneered, racking the bolt of his weapon. "...you monsters of the tenth floor can pay with your lives."
—•——•——•——•——•——•—
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