Even against Floor 8 monsters, we could win easily enough as we were now.
The real question was whether we could win just as easily while Seeker and Asceticism were active.
"Hinata-san, I’m going to try using Seeker and Asceticism for the next one. Could I get a Bless?"
"Sure, I understand. Be careful, okay?"
"You got it!"
As we ventured deeper into Floor 8, fighting several battles against goblins along the way, I finally decided to test out my Seeker-type skills.
If I struggled here, then grinding the Monster Room would be impossible. If I couldn't handle a pack of five with ease, then I had no business being here.
Before long, we encountered a new group of goblins.
The lineup consisted of five: two Guarders, one Bow Knight, one Archmage, and one Commander.
'Whoa, that’s a troublesome composition!'
'Two Guarders? That’s brutal...'
'A Commander too? This is low-key nasty.'
'It’s an obvious setup, but those Guarders are way too in the way.'
As the comments pointed out, this was a rather annoying pack composition.
The two Guarders lined up in the vanguard were a massive pain to deal with. It was a textbook formation: the tanks pin the enemy down while the backline hammers them. Plus, with a Commander present, the entire group's stats and coordination were boosted.
I had to assume that spells and arrows would be flying at us with much nastier timing than in a pack without a leader.
Furthermore, a Commander on this floor should have at least Level 3 Leadership. That meant a minimum 30% boost to all their stats.
If the Guarders focused entirely on defense, it would be difficult to get an attack through to the backline. Meanwhile, we would be subjected to a one-sided barrage.
However...
In truth, if I didn't care about the methods, even a Guarder's Iron Wall wasn't that hard to pierce.
A Flying Blade reinforced by Mighty Blade should be enough to cleave through even an active Iron Wall, shield and all.
Think about it. I had previously defeated a Divine Knight-san—clearly a higher-tier class than a Guarder—using Mighty Blade.
While Divine Knight-san possessed healing magic and Sword Aura skills, I recalled his shield glowing as well, so he likely possessed Iron Wall as well.
Even if Iron Wall doubled the shield's constitution value based on skill level, my strike back then—reinforced by various skills including Mighty Blade—had a 115.2x damage multiplier. The damage multiplier is the final value applied to the sum of my Strength, weapon performance, and skills. Even if Iron Wall offered a similar multiplier, my growth rate was far higher.
On top of that, it was a strike exceeding 100x power.
There was no way it wouldn't kill them.
Furthermore, while I described Iron Wall as granting knockback immunity, in reality, it just dispersed the impact, and it wasn't perfect. In fact, Divine Knight-san had been sent flying by my attack.
All that explanation aside, what I wanted to say was that even against a Guarder with Iron Wall active, they were easy to kill if I used Mighty Blade.
Though, I wasn't going to use it for this fight.
"Hinata-san, Bless, please."
"Okay. —Bless!"
At any rate, the battle began with Hinata-san casting Bless on me.
The key was how to bypass the defense of those pesky Guarders.
As the battle opened, I raised my voice along with a Taunt.
"Hey! You chicken bastards! Drop those shields and come at me!! (wishful thinking)"
I activated Seeker, Indomitable Spirit, Fighting Spirit, Goblin Genocider, and Sword Aura in rapid succession, finally triggering Asceticism.
Instantly, the searing agony of Pain pierced my body, and the Poison status ailment manifested within me. Frailty drained the strength from my limbs, while Consumption began eating away at my HP and MP. And then, with a heavy thrum, the Mark of Death was engraved in the center of my chest—
"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!"
Driven mad by the Maximum Aggro, the goblins let out a roar that vibrated through to my very core—
"Ah."
"Ah."
'Ah' 'Ah' 'Ah'
Hinata-san, the viewers, and I all let out identical, dumbfounded sounds.
The goblins abandoned their formation entirely and sprinted toward me at full speed. This included the Commander, the Bow Knight, the Archmage, and even the Guarders who were supposed to protect the rear. All of them were gripped by such intense fury that they forgot to fire arrows, cast spells, or even raise their shields. They hadn't actually dropped their shields, though.
...Right.
Is it possible that the Mark of Death is actually a debuff skill for monsters rather than a status ailment for me?
Feeling a bit let down, I calmly took the goblins down one by one.
If this were a massive horde like in a Monster Room, I might have been crushed by the sheer momentum, but against only five, this was effectively a massive nerf to them. After all, the Guarders had lost the defensive techniques that made them Guarders, the Bow Knight had lost his marksmanship, the Archmage had lost his high-output area-of-effect flame magic, and the Commander had lost his ability to give precise orders.
There was no way I could lose.
I dodged, blocked, or parried the reckless attacks of the goblins—who at least had impressive momentum—and countered.
The total combat time was somewhere between ten and twenty seconds.
Without a single problem, I cut down every last goblin.
"...G-good work, Takeo-kun!"
"Ah, thank you, Hinata-san!"
After the battle, Hinata-san spoke up to break the awkward silence and heavy atmosphere, and I hopped onto the conversation with everything I had.
That finally seemed to restart the comment section.
'I can’t believe it ended like that lol'
'Why did they all just charge into melee? lol'
'Use your shields and bows! And Archmage, use your magic!! lol'
'The bloodlust is too high, I’m dead lol'
'Oh yeah, I forgot the Mark of Death does that...'
'I used to think Asceticism was useless, but maybe I was just using it wrong...?'
'Wait, is Asceticism actually a god-tier debuff skill...?'
'This is a god-skill every explorer should get lol'
'No no no!! Wait, wait!!'
'It’s easy to think that after seeing this, but the Mark of Death is seriously dangerous, okay?!'
'Don’t you dare try to copy this!!'
'If you get hit by the same enemy twice, it’s instant death, no questions asked. And you have to activate Asceticism for it, meaning you’re super weakened by Pain, Poison, Frailty, and Consumption! Don’t forget that!!'
'This is only possible for Leveling Junkie Bro, who for some reason can fight normally even with Asceticism active!!'
'Wait! You’re right!!'
'Leveling Junkie Bro made it look so easy I got confused!!'
'Hey, Leveling Junkie Bro!! At least pretend to struggle a bit!!'
'If pure-hearted kids see this, they’re gonna misunderstand and think Mark of Death is a debuff skill!!'
What the heck.
Also, DungeonTube is an 18+ site, so I don't think "pure-hearted kids" are watching.
...Wait, if there's a censored version on Yo!Tube, there's a chance they could see it?
I should be careful....Though it feels weird that I'm the one who has to be careful.
Anyway.
After picking up the magic stones scattered on the floor, I checked the experience points gained from that battle.
The total was—unbelievably—85,184!
For only five enemies, that was a staggering amount. Well, I did have Seeker, Asceticism, and even Awakened One active this time. With a 12.8x multiplier, I suppose this much was to be expected.
If this was the case, I could really look forward to the experience points from the Floor 8 Monster Room.
"Alright! Hinata-san, let's keep going!"
"Yeah, okay. But don't rush, okay?"
"Of course!"
Feeling good about the massive XP gain, we pushed forward.
Before long, we finally reached the Floor 8 Monster Room.
Standing before the stone door—which felt slightly larger than the one on Floor 7—I did a final check with Hinata-san. We had already discussed our strategy while traveling, but it was time to confirm.
Once that was finished, I had Hinata-san top off my HP and cast Bless on me one more time.
Then, I activated only Seeker. Indomitable Spirit and Goblin Genocider couldn't be activated until I was inside, and I would activate Asceticism after entering as well. The same went for Fighting Spirit and Sword Aura. My preparations were complete.
"Alright, let's go!"
"Okay!"
'Finally, the Floor 8 Monster Room!!'
'An army of 64 goblins that are basically Ogres versus two people...'
'Just hearing it makes me feel crazy!!'
'Normally, this would be a suicide mission lol'
'But if it’s Leveling Junkie Bro and his partner, they should win!!'
'In the worst case, just blow them away with the giant slashes from Sword Aura and Mighty Blade.'
'I’m just praying there isn't a stream-ending accident.'
'Don’t die! Seriously, don’t die!!'
'Go for it, you two!!'
I placed my hand on the massive stone door.
Suddenly, the door slid open of its own accord. I lunged inside, and before even surveying the room, I threw my backpack toward the wall.
I immediately drew my sword and took a stance—looking toward the center of the massive Monster Room, which was as large as a municipal gymnasium.
There, a giant magic circle should have been glowing—but it wasn't.
"Huh?...What?"
"――?!"
I stood there, blinking in confusion. Hinata-san, who had followed me through the door a split second later, gasped behind me.
'Huh?'
'What?'
'Wait?!'
'Someone else is here?!'
'No, but they're...!!'
Near the center of the room.
Five men who appeared to be explorers lay scattered across the floor, their torsos violently bisected.
The stench of blood was strong enough to reach us even from this distance—proof of how much had been spilled. Even without looking closely, it was clear they were dead, with their entrails spilling out from the cross-sections of their bodies.
Behind us, the heavy sound of the stone door closing echoed through the room.
I didn't even need to look back. The closed door would have melded into the wall, vanishing from sight. After all, there was still a monster remaining in the Monster Room.
This meant we couldn't leave this room unless we defeated the monster that these men had summoned and lost to.
That monster was not an army of 64 goblins.
However, it was a goblin.
Just one.
A single goblin stood in the center of the explorers' remains. A longsword was gripped in its right hand, fresh blood dripping steadily from the blade.
I had a sense of déjà vu about this situation.
I knew immediately that the goblin standing in the center of the room was unlike any goblin usually summoned in the Floor 8 Monster Room. Its equipment was different. Its appearance was different. One look was all it took to tell.
Which was exactly why.
There was no possibility that this single goblin was simply the last survivor of 64 that the nameless men had fought.
This meant that this one creature had been summoned alone and had bisected and killed a superior number of explorers.
I had an overwhelmingly bad feeling about this.