I am the Demon King of the Dungeon!

Nine hours later.

At the entrance to the twentieth floor, five figures emerged from the teleportation array in sequence, stepping onto the golden sand.

"Such a powerful magical reaction."

Alicia walked at the front, her silver armor still bearing the marks of the battle on the nineteenth floor, with a deep dent left on the orc hero's giant battle axe breastplate.

"The entire desert is alive."

"It seems the real challenge begins from the twentieth floor." Logan carried the giant hammer, his arms bearing several scars, the deepest of which was a diagonal cut from his left shoulder to his right rib, inflicted by the Dragon Roar Chieftain with his battle halberd.

Although Avira's healing technique brought the wound to a close, the newly formed skin still had a pale pink tinge.

Suddenly, the sand beneath their feet began to collapse.

The entire sandy area seemed to have its foundation ripped out instantly, suddenly sinking downwards. Richie reacted the fastest, using his levitation spell to envelop everyone and float them into the sky.

The Sandworm Queen burst out of the collapsed sand pit and pounced straight at the five people in mid-air. Its petal-shaped mouthparts were fully open, and deep inside the mouthparts were five rings of teeth, each of which was rotating at high speed, making a piercing friction sound.

Richie's levitation technique only managed to lift everyone up less than ten meters. The Sandworm Queen was over forty meters long, and when her upper body was lifted out of the sand, her mouthparts were less than three meters away from Logan at the bottom.

"Get out of the way!"

Alicia slapped Logan with her palm, using the force to shift sideways.

Logan was pushed out of the Sandworm Queen's attack path, its mouthparts grazing his side, the serrated edges tearing a corner of his shoulder armor.

shhhhhh!

Three explosive arrows were fired simultaneously.

Sylvia's arrow pierced the oral mucosa and detonated, spraying out green fluid. The Sandworm Queen let out a shriek and her body writhed violently.

"It's going to shrink back!" Logan shouted.

"We can't let it shrink back!" Alicia's gaze swept over the part of the sandworm queen that was exposed above the sand. "If it shrinks back into the sand, it will launch a surprise attack from another place. We have to drag the whole thing out."

"Deep freeze!"

Richie raised his staff high, and the magic was instantly unleashed.

The frost spread rapidly downwards along the exposed segments of the sandworm queen. The ice layer did not just cover the surface, but seeped into the gaps between the sand grains, and the sand layer froze into frozen soil.

The Sandworm Queen's writhing body suddenly froze.

Its lower body was frozen in the permafrost.

"Now!"

Alicia landed first, and holy light exploded from her shield, transforming into a golden chain that bound the Sandworm Queen.

Logan landed on the other side and smashed the giant hammer into the gap in the sandworm queen's carapace, wedging the edge of the carapace with the hammerhead.

Sylvia's arrow pierced the soft tissue between the segments, its fletching tied with a thin steel wire, the other end of which was wound around a winch at her waist.

All three exerted their strength simultaneously.

The sandworm queen was dragged out of the sand layer inch by inch. Her thick shells collided with each other during the dragging, making a dull thud. She twisted and turned frantically, her mouthparts opening and closing repeatedly, but the frozen soil clamped her tail tightly, preventing her from gaining leverage or diving deeper.

When the last two segments of the Sandworm Queen were dragged out of the sand, Avira's long chanting magic was also completed.

"Parasite vine!"

A green orb rose from the palm of her hand, floated to the top of the Sandworm Queen's head, and exploded, scattering countless tiny seeds onto the soft tissue between the Sandworm Queen's segments.

The seeds begin to germinate the moment they come into contact with bodily fluids, roots penetrate the crevices of the shell, and vines spread at a visible speed, tightly binding the sandworm queen.

The surface of the vine is covered with tiny barbs that secrete a paralyzing venom that seeps into the sandworm queen's body. Her struggles become weaker and weaker, and the opening and closing of her mouthparts becomes slower and slower.

Alicia's longsword pierced the seam of the Sandworm Queen's head carapace, and holy light burst forth from the sword, traveling down the joint and igniting the entire worm from the inside out.

The Sandworm Queen froze for a moment, then collapsed with a crash.

Logan released the hammerhead stuck in the carapace, panting heavily. "This guy is even more troublesome than those orc chieftains on the nineteenth floor."

"Don't relax." Alicia sheathed her sword and glanced around. "The BOSS hasn't come out yet."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a soft laugh came from afar.

"Oh."

All five people looked toward the source of the sound.

A figure appeared atop the sand dune, his deep red armor gleaming darkly in the blazing sun. His spear pressed against the sand, the bell at the end swaying slightly in the heat, making a soft, tinkling sound.

"Wow, that's amazing. The Sandworm Queen was a pet that Pirian had kept for a long time, and you guys killed it in one go."

Pierre paused for a second, then his smile deepened.

"Then let's have some fun!"

"A child?" Richie conjured a magical shield, enveloping himself completely. "She's the boss of the twentieth floor?"

"They actually ran out like that?" Sylvia gripped the arrow, focusing intently on sensing her surroundings.

"Perfect!" Logan gripped the hammer handle. "I'm really too lazy to search slowly in this desert!"

"Don't be careless." Alicia's pupils contracted slightly. "It possesses a Noble Phantasm, and its magical energy fluctuations are more than an order of magnitude stronger than the orc hero who is the boss of the nineteenth floor."

"Level 400 or above." Avira tried to probe Pirian's information through her senses, but to no avail.

Upon hearing this, everyone became even more vigilant.

For the Oracles, the twentieth floor of Dark Hemkas is a completely new challenge, and could even be described as an adventurer's creation, as they are making history.

"Welcome to my Infinite Sand Dunes."

Pirian descended the dune, her toes lightly touching the sand without sinking in or leaving a footprint. Carrying her spear, she walked step by step toward the five people, the bells ringing rhythmically with her steps.

"You guys just fought your way up from the nineteenth floor, right? Seven orc tribes, seven chieftains, and one hero. It must have taken you a long time; you must be exhausted."

She stopped about ten steps away from the five people.

"Pirien hates bullying tired prey, because that's no fun."

"Would you like to take a break first?"

The five people did not answer and simultaneously entered battle mode.

"Aren't we going to rest?" Pirien's eyes crinkled into crescents as he looked at the adventurers' unwavering fighting spirit. "Then let's just start the game!"

The spear swept across.

Twelve fountain-like columns of sand erupted from the sand, and twelve sand scorpion kings burst forth from beneath the sand layer. Each one was the size of a calf, with its tail held high and the stinger at the tip gleaming with a ghostly blue light under the blazing sun.

They surrounded the five people from all sides, their pincers snapping open and closing with a series of clicking sounds.

"Pierreon likes playing games," Pierreon said, standing outside the circle. "The rules are simple—"

"You can attack with all your might. Pilian won't make a move, but the number of Sand Scorpion Kings will increase every now and then. When there are twenty Sand Scorpion Kings, Pilian will start moving. When there are thirty Sand Scorpion Kings, Pilian will start attacking."

"Of course, you can also choose to attack Perion directly; Perion won't dodge."

"How was it? The rules are simple, aren't they?"