Flashy Adventurer System : Show Off to Get Stronger! - Chapter 556

Chapter 556: Bad Start
The strategy for the first four floors was quite standard: two scouts advanced thirty meters ahead of the main group.

One scout watched for enemies while the other checked for traps.

On the other hand, the main strike force’s job was rather simple.

They just needed to adopt the standard dungeon exploration formation: one warrior at the front, with the ranged attackers—such as the archer and mage—alongside the support characters, like a priest/priestess or bard, positioned behind.

Finally, another warrior would serve as the rear guard, protecting the ranged attackers from assassin-type creatures.

Since the shielder should always be in front, Shye naturally became the rear guard.

He kept an eye on their teammates as they moved forward, following the mini-paintball marks left by the two scouts, with his [Mana Pulse] skill activated in vigilance mode.

The slow advance was unsettling for most of the party members. It was gnawing at their sanity.

Not only was the dungeon dark as f*ck, but it was also eerily silent.

They’ve been advancing for around 45 minutes now, yet, they haven’t encountered any monstrous creatures.

However, this didn’t mean that the journey had been smooth.

There were a few minor traps that the scout in charge, Freeze, failed to detect.

If not for Rai Hou’s swift reflexes and Dalton’s tough physique, Mira and Walter would’ve been in danger.

This naturally infuriated Dalton, who was usually the one dealing with the traps.

“That damned incompetent scout!” he raged, smashing his mace into the ground in anger.

The leader, Rai Hou, wasn’t pleased with Freeze’s performance as well. However, he knew that this wasn’t the time to fight amongst themselves.

Hence, despite his own annoyance, Rai Hou took a deep breath and tried his best to regain control of his emotions.

Getting angry wouldn’t magically turn one of their teammates into a more competent one.

It would be better to focus on the task ahead and account for Freeze’s incompetence as they moved forward.

In reality, Freeze wasn’t an incompetent scout; the traps were simply hidden in the void and extremely difficult to detect.

After all, they were inside an (S) ranked mana dungeon, one that no party had managed to conquer in the past seven years.

Fortunately, despite a few setbacks due to traps, none of them suffered major injuries.

Only Dalton sustained a few very minor injuries: a void flame trap that suddenly appeared and burned a small part of his skin, and a void arrow trap that bypassed his shield and pierced shallowly into his chest.

Aside from those two minor issues, they encountered nothing else.

Their peace was short-lived, though, as the scout responsible for the failed trap detection returned a few moments later, looking somewhat anxious.

“Y-You! Don’t you know th–”

“Rai Hou!” Freeze rudely interrupted Dalton’s angry tirade, further infuriating him.

However, noticing that Freeze had something urgent to report, the Yon Augenn champion silenced Dalton with a cold, commanding gaze that sent shivers down his spine.

“Freeze, what happened?” he asked with a hint of nervousness.

Koneko was their lead scout.

If she somehow fell into an extremely unfavorable situation, or worse, perished, then their entire dungeon clearing operation would be in utter jeopardy.

Freeze’s abilities were simply insufficient.

“Koneko and I encountered a humanoid monstrous creature that transported her to a separate dimension! Before I left the area, I sensed mana disturbances at the site of her disappearance. I suspect they’re in a duel in that other dimension!”

The Kreborian scout’s words made everyone, especially Mira, panic slightly.

However, they knew their only option was to hurry to the location where Koneko had been taken and hope she would either win or survive until the effect of the monstrous creature’s domain-type skill wore off.

“Lead the way, Freeze!”

Nodding at Rai Hou, Freeze quickly sprinted back to the location where he and Koneko had encountered the humanoid void-type monster.

Unfortunately, as usual, they struggled to see in the dark.

Except for one person: Shye.

Though his eyes, enhanced by the Pill of Permanent Night Vision, couldn’t see as clearly as during the day, he could still discern everything within a thirty-meter radius.

‘Hmm… the humanoid monster she encountered might be one of the dungeon’s bosses…’ Shye inwardly thought as he scanned the spacious room.

As someone who had cleared dungeons solo, he was no stranger to “roaming bosses,” having encountered them twice before: once in the (A-) ranked Abomination Lord Dungeon and once during his first mandatory mission as a regional champion.

Roaming Bosses were typically direct underlings of the main boss, tasked with weakening adventurer parties and taking them down individually whenever possible.

“Tch, what luck to encounter a roaming boss this early in the dungeon, and for it to have an isolation-type domain…” Rai Hou muttered, clenching his fists in frustration.

Given his experience clearing dungeons alone, Rai Hou also understood that the monstrous creature Koneko encountered was likely a roaming boss and that she would probably have a hard time surviving its attacks on her own.

“I should’ve adopted a more cautious approach…”

As regional champions, and given their usual arrogance, Rai Hou assumed they could handle the dungeon in the usual manner without issue.

It was a mistake on his part as a leader.

Unfortunately, they had no choice but to wait now and pray that somehow, Koneko survives.

A few minutes later, the moment they had been waiting for finally arrived: a huge purple sphere materialized from thin air, slowly revealing two humanoid silhouettes.

“NO!! MISS KONEKO!!!” Mira suddenly screamed in utter horror as she saw the humanoid monstrous creature holding a young woman by the hair, her body completely limp.

It was unclear whether she was dead or alive.

“Hihi…Stupid humans. You enter our territory? I slaughter you all, one by one…” The humanoid monstrous creature laughed eerily and said in a raspy voice.

It then vanished into the void before anyone could react, taking Koneko, whose vital status was unknown, with it.