"Have we truly escaped that space?" Elena murmured, her eyes fixed on the small room before them.
Rei nodded in response, though his own gaze remained fixed on the door with equal suspicion. "I believe the room itself served as the trigger to lure adventurers into the space loop."
"So the Bone Dog lurking in the chest was nothing more than a decoy to keep us from realizing the truth."
Elena stared at the door with a look of bitterness, but she soon exhaled a sharp breath to regain her composure and looked down the corridor. "There is no point in dwelling on a trap that has already been sprung. We move forward. Vel, keep your guard up—I won't have us walking into another one."
"Roger, roger. My pride won't survive getting caught in the same trick twice, so leave it to me."
Vel replied with his usual casual tone, but a flicker of genuine humiliation danced in his eyes. Beside him, Kyuste remained silent, his jaw clenched as he brooded over the shame of falling for a monster’s trap.
"Come now," Ara said, lightly tapping the shoulder of the armored noble. "Vel is a professional, but you haven't had that kind of training, Kyuste. Don't take it so hard. Besides, the others are moving—if you stay here, you’ll be left behind."
Ara hurried after Elena and Rei, her Power Axe resting against her shoulder. Noticing the gap in the line, the two men quickly followed suit.
"To be honest," Vel muttered under his breath, "falling for something that simple is a real sting to my self-esteem."
"Hmph. I see you actually had a modicum of pride left in you," Kyuste scoffed.
"Hey, that’s a bit cold, isn't it? Though I am surprised you're the one so upset about it."
"As a noble, it is only natural to feel humiliated at being outwitted by mere monsters," Kyuste spat venomously.
Vel gave a wry smile and pulled a canteen from his waist pouch, taking a long drink before offering it to the other man. "Here, have some. Getting angry in a place like this won't help. Let's just both promise to be more careful."
"...Hmph."
Despite his scoff, Kyuste took the canteen, drank a few swallows, and handed it back.
By the time they caught up with the others, the group had reformed their formation. With Rei and Seto in the vanguard, Elena and Vel in the midguard, and Ara and Kyuste guarding the rearguard, they began their cautious advance once more.
"Given the nature of the last trap, we must assume there are more," Elena cautioned. "Stay vigilant. Vel, focus entirely on trap detection. Seto is with us, so unless something truly extraordinary happens, we can trust the scouting to it."
"Guruuu!" Seto gave a confident cry, as if to say leave it to me, and led the way alongside Rei.
They continued through the stone corridors for roughly ten minutes before Seto came to a halt.
"Gururuuu..." The Gryphon let out a low, warning growl, its eyes fixed on the darkness ahead.
"Enemies already?" Vel asked, readying his bow. "Did they panic because we broke the loop and rush out an interception force?"
"Perhaps. But do not let your guard down," Elena replied, her hand moving to the hilt of her whip-sword. The others followed suit, weapons drawn and ready for combat. "Ara, Kyuste! Watch our backs. If the Undead on this floor are being coordinated, a pincer attack is highly likely."
"Understood! Leave the rear to us!" Ara shouted back.
"I will not repeat the pathetic display from earlier," Kyuste added firmly.
Soon, the sound of movement reached them from deep within the passage.
Splat. Squelch. Splat. Squelch.
It was the wet, heavy sound of something soggy striking the stone floor. There were many of them—a small army's worth of footsteps.
"Guruuu..." Seto let out a cry of pure disgust.
A moment later, a wave of rot hit Rei’s nose. Because his five senses were significantly sharper than a normal human's, the stench was an absolute physical blow.
"Ugh!" Rei instinctively covered his nose with his free left hand.
Elena and Vel looked at him with confusion for a few seconds, but then the smell reached them as well. Vel, whose senses were also keen, groaned and covered his face, while Elena wordlessly knitted her brows in revulsion.
As the footsteps drew closer, the source of the noise and the stench finally emerged into the dim light. Some of the approaching figures were half-rotted, their grey ribs protruding through tattered skin; others moved with eyeballs dangling from their sockets by thin strings of gore. With every wet step, they left a trail of putrid fluids and sloughed-off meat on the dungeon floor.
"Zombies," Rei muttered through his hand.
The smell was so intense that his nasal passages felt almost paralyzed. Seto was in even worse shape, its superior senses making the experience a living nightmare. The Gryphon growled deep in its throat, glaring at the horde of nearly twenty Zombies shambling toward them.
Vel squinted at the approaching monsters and turned pale. "Hey... look at those ones in the back. They're wearing armor. Is that...?"
"Likely so," Elena confirmed, her voice grim. "They are the remains of adventurers who fell on this floor."
"Gross. I really, really don't want to end up like that," Vel muttered.
It was a sentiment shared by everyone present. To die in a dungeon was a risk they all accepted, but to have one's corpse turned into a shambling puppet for a Lich or a necromancer was a fate worse than death.
Fire and holy magic were the primary weaknesses of the Undead, though one could also destroy the magic stone hidden within the rotted flesh if they didn't mind getting close enough to touch them. Elena felt a surge of genuine gratitude for Rei and Seto’s presence—as the Princess General, she was used to blood, but the thought of hacking through wet, stinking Zombies was enough to turn even her stomach.
Even Kyuste, despite his growing resentment toward Rei, couldn't help but feel relieved that he wouldn't have to engage the creatures in melee.
"Kyuste," Ara whispered, her voice tight.
Kyuste, who had been imagining the horror of his spear piercing a bloated stomach, snapped out of it. "What is it?"
"It’s happening just like Elena-sama said... listen."
Kyuste concentrated, filtering out the squelching sounds of the horde in front of them. Beneath the primary noise, he heard a faint echo—more wet footsteps, coming from the opposite direction.
"Tch!" Kyuste spun around, leveling his Magic Spear at the darkness behind them. "Elena-sama! Enemy contact from the rear! Footsteps suggest more Zombies!"
"Whoever is behind this is certainly giving us a warm welcome," Elena called back. "Ara, Kyuste, hold them off! Focus on defense until Rei and Seto can clear the front!"
The two rearguards braced themselves as the second group of Zombies shambled into view.
"If I hit those things with my axe, it’s going to be a nightmare to clean," Ara muttered.
"I feel the same," Kyuste agreed.
"But you have a spear! You’ve got the reach advantage!"
"That may be, but I am loath to soil a spear of the Brashin house with the putrid fluids of a Zombie. I would prefer to wait for Rei or Seto to handle them."
"Hmph. Fine. Let's just buy some time, then."
Kyuste let out a frustrated grunt, clearly hating the idea of relying on Rei again. However, since the alternative was ruining his family heirloom, he reached up to the earring on his right ear. He channeled his magic power into the catalyst and began to chant.
"Great Water Spirit, reveal your five fierce fangs."
The air rippled as the earring glowed, manifesting five conical spikes of compressed water in the air. Each was roughly ten centimeters in diameter. Although Kyuste specialized in recovery magic, this was the strongest offensive spell in his repertoire.
"Water Fang!"
The spikes shot forward, puncturing the chests, faces, and limbs of the approaching Zombies. However, the monsters felt no pain. Despite being riddled with holes, the Zombies only stumbled for a few seconds before resuming their slow, inexorable march.
"That's it? That's all you've got?" Ara shouted, her sliver of hope vanishing.
Suddenly, a massive shape soared over their heads and slammed into the ground between them and the horde.
"Guruuu!"
It was Seto. Rei had already begun incinerating the front group with fireballs, leaving the rest to his partner.
"Ara, Kyuste! The front is under control! Let Seto handle the rear—stay behind it and focus on defense!" Elena commanded.
Ara tightened her grip on her Power Axe as Seto faced the silent, reaching monsters. The Gryphon took a deep, rattling breath.
"Gururururururuuu!"
A torrent of Fire Breath erupted from its beak, engulfing the front rank of Zombies. Because the skill was only at Level 2, the fire didn't instantly vaporize the moisture-heavy corpses. The burning Zombies continued to lurch forward, their charred skin crackling as they reached for Seto.
Just as they were about to close the distance, Seto let out a second roar that shook the very walls of the dungeon.
"Gurururururuuu!"
A second blast of Fire Breath bathed the monsters. This time, the heat was too much for the rotted meat to endure. The Zombies carbonized instantly, collapsing into piles of black ash and bone before they could even swing their arms.
The scene repeated twice more until every Zombie that had attempted to ambush them from the rear lay as a scorched ruin on the floor.
"Gururururuuu!" Seto cried out in triumph.
Rei, having finished off the last of the vanguard, walked over and stroked the Gryphon's head. "Good work, Seto. You handled that perfectly."
"Gururuuu."
Rei pulled some dried meat from his Misty Ring and fed it to his partner before looking toward Elena. "Elena-sama, we should move. If we stay here, whoever is controlling them will just keep sending reinforcements."
"Agreed. Rei and Seto are our only truly effective weapons against the Undead; we cannot afford a war of attrition. Let’s find the path to B6F before the day is out."
The party nodded and moved on, stepping over the charred remains of their enemies.
Rei looked back at the piles of ash with a hint of regret. The magic stones had been destroyed by the intense heat, leaving him with no materials to experiment with. He had hoped to see if the Death Scythe could learn new skills from Zombie or Skeleton stones, but he didn't have the heart to make Seto eat something so foul just to retrieve them. He decided he would simply have to be more careful with his aim next time.