The Cloud-Raised Brave Man's Travels

At least Hercules ensured that Koya wouldn't be beaten unilaterally by Goliath...

Time passed quickly, and Koya felt like he had just woken up from his bed, but now he was about to leave.

This time the separation was not as sad as everyone imagined. After all, there was a live broadcast room where the girls could see Koya at any time. Although sometimes they would see Koya being affectionate with other girls while they could only grit their teeth and turn their heads away outside the screen, generally speaking, there was really no feeling of difference because of the existence of this thing; and because Koya could come back at any time as a reward for killing the zombie king, these two conditions immediately eliminated the atmosphere of separation.

But lunch was still very rich, and all of it was Koya's favorite.

"Speaking of which, where are Mafuyu and Hinagiku?"

"I went out to search for survivors and collect supplies."

……

When Koya opened his eyes, he was already standing on the ground of the dungeon. Because the largest light crystal on the eighteenth floor's ceiling had been destroyed, the scattered crystals could no longer illuminate this safe floor. Torches were lit, and the warm orange light transformed the area into a twilight forest. This sudden change of scene made Koya feel as if he were in another world, but he quickly adjusted his mindset and focused all his attention on Goliath not far away.

There were a few unlucky guys where Goliath landed. Now they had come into direct contact with Goliath, but because the distance was too far and the light was too dim, Koya could only see a few figures jumping up and down beside Goliath, looking a little embarrassed.

The first group of adventurers who came into contact with Goliath were none other than members of Apollo's family. They were eating hot pot and singing songs to celebrate the success of this dungeon adventure. Then, with a snap, the monster fell on top of them. What bad luck!

The battle took place on a flat grassland, the temporary base of the Apollo Familia on the 18th floor. Like the Loki Familia, these larger Families typically built simple bases on safe floors for ease of adventure, used for rest, equipment maintenance, and resource storage. The once orderly camp had been completely transformed by Goliath's fall. The flat grassland had become pockmarked, as if it had been struck by magical artillery fire. Tents and other items had long since been reduced to ruins, and the weapons and supplies in the warehouse were scattered all over the ground...

The Apollo Familia targeted by the Goliath let out miserable cries. Most of the members in this stronghold were only Level 2, leaving them powerless against this unique Goliath. Those who didn't have time to escape were struck hard by the sturdy arms and sent flying into the air. Even if they dodged the direct blow, it was useless; their bodies flew away like confetti.

It turned out that the jumping up and down Koya had just seen were just these people being sent flying and falling to the ground. The Apollo Familia were truly in dire straits. After this incident, at least 80% of their core strength must have been decimated. Having personally experienced Goliath's fists, Koya knew that these adventurers, who were less physically fit than him, would definitely die if hit by Goliath's punches.

"Woooa ...

Like the rout of a defeated army, a group of people were scattered and fled in panic. Some adventurers even deliberately tripped the people around them to make them stay and attract Goliath's attention. It was really unbearable!

"……Whoa whoa……"

Seeing the little bugs running around him, Goliath's expression twisted, the same expression you would have when a mosquito kept flying around you in the summer, the buzzing sound kept ringing in your ears, but you just couldn't hit it.

However, thanks to this group of mosquitoes attracting Goliath's attention, Loki's family has already set up the crossbow, the logistical equipment has been distributed to every adventurer, and the magician team has also assembled.

Watching the countless tiny figures scatter, Goliath gave up trying to catch up. His blood-red eyes gleamed fiercely, and his back tilted slightly back.

Goliath's proportions are quite odd. His legs are short, and his powerful upper body accounts for about 60% of his body mass. His well-developed arm muscles allow him to frequently maintain forward-bending positions. The most interesting thing about Goliath is his long, silky black hair. If you still don't have a clear image, think of the tank from Left 4 Dead. Goliath is just a tank with jet-black hair, magnified several times over! Even his moves are similar.

Perhaps he was really annoyed by the little bugs around him, so after falling back, Goliath activated his skills, the same unique skills as the master of the seventeenth floor.

“—Huaaaa!”

The shock waves released at a high volume were like continuous waves. The dust on the ground was shaken up and down as if it was boiling. The ceiling also made a clanging sound. The light crystals that were originally few in number were now all scrapped. Even though they were so far away, Koya felt that the sound of thunder seemed to be exploding next to his ears.

The shockwave struck the farthest Apollo Familia adventurer. Goliath's aim wasn't good, and he missed. Instead, the blade landed on the grass two meters away. With a bang, the grass exploded, and the man was blown away before he could even scream. He rolled across the ground like a puppet with his strings cut. The adventurers not far away were luckier; they were merely blown away by the shockwave, but not killed.

""roar"……!"

The signature skill of the Eighteen-Layer Labyrinth King is a long-range weapon infused with magical energy, unleashing pure impact. If the roar of a regular Goliath is like artillery, then this special Goliath's roar is like a rocket!

After this blast, no Apollo family members were left standing. Even those who could still escape simply dropped to the ground and pretended to be dead, roaring. There was no point in running any further. Instead, Key accidentally attracted Goliath's attention while running, and a single blast destroyed him! So it was best to stay where you were and pretend to be dead. Maybe you'd be lucky enough to survive!

"Hoo ...

After seeing the mosquitoes around him finally disappear, Goliath raised his head and shouted to the heavens. The floor master's roar spread to every corner of the floor, and it was answered by all the monsters on this floor.

From forests, from grasslands, from wetlands.

Numerous monsters from the 18th floor were summoned to Goliath's side. These monsters, once considered harmless, now gathered together, displaying unprecedented hostility towards the adventurers. Seeing this swarm of monsters approaching, the adventurers in the town froze.

Monster waves roared and attacked from all directions.

However, in the blink of an eye, the blond adventurer disappeared like a gust of wind.

Ais, her long golden hair flying behind her, was the only high-ranking adventurer in Loki's clan whose weapon was intact. She finally took action, launching an attack from the side of Goliath's blind spot, accompanied by the magic of the wind spirit - her sword struck the enemy's left knee fiercely.

Chapter 101: Unsuccessful Crusade

Following Ais's actions, the members of Loki's clan instantly deployed in battle formation. Livilia began chanting magic. The arrows from the archers and the arrows from the ballistas perfectly connected as Ais escaped from Goliath's side. The rain of arrows stopped, and Livilia's attack magic was unleashed again above Goliath's head...

The coordination was seamless, each attack connecting seamlessly. Koya and Hatsune stood beside Lefiya, stunned, watching the Loki Familia's performance. Koya then realized why he was considering a one-on-one duel with the Loki Familia around. Was he overestimating himself, or underestimating the Loki Familia?

Yes, it's true that the weapons of the first-level adventurers were damaged, but these adventurers' strength wasn't due to their weapons; their most reliable weapon was always themselves! Weapons were merely the icing on the cake. The attacks of the magicians and archers ceased. Finn bit his thumb, frowning as he watched Goliath's wounds rapidly heal. His recovery was so strong that even if Livilia's magic had destroyed half of his body, he could still recover in a short time, even the hair on his head could be restored.

"Bert, Tiona, Tione, go support Ai Si. Grace, get ready for the beast tide."

Before Goliath could come up with a good solution, the tide of beasts summoned by it had already arrived near the base of Loki's clan. They were so densely packed that there was no end in sight. Finn didn't even know that there were so many monsters on this safe floor.

On the other side, Bert and the other two had already come to Ais's side. The four of them just looked at each other and confirmed the next attack plan. The long-standing tacit understanding allowed them to save a lot of time in this emergency moment.

The double-edged axe, the greatsword, and the two swords simultaneously landed on Goliath's left knee—

Click, ding, ding, ding.

The hard touch instantly changed their expressions. The Floor Master's skin was tougher than even solid metal armor. This makeshift backup weapon couldn't even break Goliath's skin. Wasn't this guy too much? Strength, defense, recovery, and the ability to summon and attack from a distance—even the Loki family had never encountered such a comprehensive monster!

"Why is this guy so hard?!"

Tiona's complaint was recognized by Bert and the others. If the commonly used weapons were still there, it would not be difficult to break through this guy's defense, but the problem was that there were no weapons!

"Tiona, don't you like challenging monsters with your bare hands? Try tearing this thing apart with your bare hands."

"Sister, is this the time to tease me? But let me be clear, when I return this time, I must buy an indestructible weapon!"

"I agree with that."

I don't know if Goliath heard the Amazon sisters' discussion, but he stared at them intently, his eyes wide. He was a special boss after all, and yet they dared to chat in front of him? Did he look down on him? The giant twisted his waist 90 degrees like a spinning top, and his extremely thick arms, filled with anger, lashed out at the Amazon sisters like a whip.

"Ugh, Ooo ...

"coming!"

Goliath's swinging punch created a whirlwind, but the Amazon sisters, both seasoned warriors, easily dodged his attack and fled backwards. Goliath, not wanting to let them go, pursued them directly, opening his mouth and aiming [Roar] at the Amazon sisters, who had already strayed away. But Bert and Aisi had already circled behind him. Aisi's sword struck Goliath's neck without hesitation, while Bert began to chant his magic.

"Ordained Wolf King. One wound, bound. Two wounds, screaming in pain. Three wounds, driven into a stake. Hungry and salivating, his only hope. ………………The chains are freed, a roar resounds through the heavens. O genealogy of anger, I command you to gnaw the moon on my behalf, to drink of the millions. With your flaming fangs, devour them all."

I have to say, Orario's magic is indeed troublesome. It is really troublesome to recite such a long string of magic.

"[Hati]!"

·Dividing line·

At the Loki clan's residence, the beasts had already reached the outside of the fence. The wooden fence was almost useless to the monsters in the dungeon, but behind the fence, the adventurers of the Loki clan had formed a formation under Finn's command and were quietly waiting for them to cross the fence.

"Pay attention to protecting the magician and archer teams. The supply warehouse can be abandoned. Low-level adventurers should not approach."

When the monsters' roars and the adventurers' battle cries intertwined with each other, Koya and Hatsune were also protected in the center, and next to Koya happened to be Bell. The two met here in this kind of battle.

Giant beetles, strange bears, dragonflies, ferocious bulls... a myriad of mid-level monsters swarmed from all directions, endlessly brandishing their fangs, claws, and horns at the Loki clan's defenses. Spears pierced shields, slaying the monsters. The adventurers behind their shields mechanically repeated these two movements. With each strike, they could feel the spearhead piercing flesh, yet the monsters' attacks seemed endless.

The monsters attacked from all sides, front and back, and left and right, leaving Loki's followers exhausted. They could only shrink their front lines. The ranged troops stopped their attacks on Goliath. At Finn's command, bows, arrows, and magic were unleashed upon the beasts attacking their base. Koya was among them, constantly drawing his bow and shooting at the monsters. Each time he fired, he now fired three arrows, each one piercing the monster's head with pinpoint accuracy.

It is also thanks to the fact that the monsters in the dungeon will turn into ashes and disappear after death, otherwise the monsters behind can jump into the defense line in minutes just by stepping on the corpses of the dead monsters in front.

【Roar, roar, roar!!】

The roars of the monsters were incessant. If you defend for too long, you will lose, especially on this uncovered plain. Soon, a hole was torn in the defense line of the Loki clan. The Lv.3 adventurer holding a shield was pushed by three bear monsters at the same time. The huge force directly lifted him up. Although the adventurer behind him quickly pushed up, this kind of thing will happen again. The appearance of the hole proved one thing: the defense line was about to collapse.

Soon, as the number of monsters increased and the speed of clearing monsters in the back row decreased, the shield guards on the front line could no longer withstand the pressure of so many monsters.

"Evacuate in an orderly manner. The target is a cliff 300 meters to the right and rear. Grace will lead the team there. Guards Teams 3 and 4 will stay with me to buy time for the evacuation."

In the end, Finn gave the order to evacuate. There were too many monsters. They perfectly illustrated the saying "many ants can kill an elephant". The expedition team of Loki's family could even conquer the deep dungeon with 50 floors, but when faced with these endless monsters, they had no choice but to evacuate.

Chapter 102: Rivera Town

The first condition for evacuating from the encirclement of monsters is to break through their encirclement. The main force for breaking through is naturally the magicians. Only powerful magic can create a gap in this tide of monsters.

Even so, the Loki Familia's advance remained slow. Every time they advanced a few steps toward a gap, the beast tide would close it, forcing the Loki Familia to halt and await Livilia's next attack. Koya, however, found success in this endeavor. His archery skills improved at an alarming rate, and he could now nock five arrows simultaneously.

By the way, are there so many monsters on the eighteen floors?

Finn's brows were furrowed tighter and tighter. He didn't expect to encounter such an exaggerated beast tide on the eighteenth floor. Although the Loki clan could still hold on now, if the beast tide was endless as time went by, the Loki clan would definitely suffer.

"Finn, the passages to the seventeenth and nineteenth floors are all blocked, just as you expected."

"Riviera Town also suffered a beast tide, but they have dealt with it and have come to support."

"Finally, I heard some good news."

After hearing the information brought back by the clan scouts, Finn's brow finally relaxed. It was good to have support.

·Dividing line·

When the giant just fell, Asfi and Hermes had already arrived in the town of Rivera.

"What the hell is that?"

On the vast grasslands near the center of the floor, home to the Apollo family, a pitch-black monster wreaked havoc. Its thunderous roar could be heard even in the distant town. Adventurers gathered in the cliffside plaza, gazing blankly at the spectacle of a demon king from hell wreaking havoc on the world.

The safe floor gave birth to the floor master. Faced with this sudden and unusual situation, even the adventurers in Rivera, who were most adept at self-preservation, were unable to take action. Things happened too quickly, and without a leader to tell them what to do, the adventurers in Rivera Town stood there like wooden fish, at a loss.

"——Perce! Perce, are you there?!"

"Asifi! Where did you come from? No, I should say you actually returned to Orario?"

"That's not important! Perce, gather all the adventurers in town and all the weapons we can use. We're going to defeat that Floor Master!"

Asfi gave instructions to the owner of the purchasing station, who held a prominent position among the adventurers in Rivera Town. Purchasing stations were undoubtedly the most profitable industry on the Safe Floor, and anyone who could manage the only purchasing station there must have some savvy. Perth was certainly one of the most prominent figures in Rivera Town. Asfi knew him because she was also Perth's partner, having sold many potions and items to him, so they were considered acquaintances.

Hearing Asfi's words, the tall boss with an eyepatch panicked and started shouting while spitting saliva:

"Crush, crush? Stop the nonsense, Asifi! Why should we have to pay out of our own pockets to deal with that giant? When we encounter a monster like this, the right thing to do is to run away!"

"The retreat route is blocked! The passages to the 19th and 17th floors have completely collapsed. There's no way we can escape this floor!"

Asfi shouted back, even louder than Perse. If they were to make these merchants pay, they had to understand there was no turning back. The one-eyed boss, stunned by her shout, turned back toward the dusty south.

"As long as we can buy time and dig the cave open quickly, escaping is not impossible..."

"That's a good joke you told. From this far away, we can see that the entire cave has collapsed. How long will it take to dig it back through? Half a day, or a whole day? I want to see whether the cave is dug through first, or whether those so-called time-buying people of yours get chased away by the floor owner first!"

"...Well, there's no need for us all to go out. It's just a Goliath. We only need to take our elite troops..."

"Does that look like a normal floor master to you?"

Asfy's gaze darted towards the Black Goliath, seemingly fused with the darkness. The giant waved its massive arms, causing the ground to rumble constantly. Even from afar, the grave threat could be felt.

"My guess is that the current claustrophobic state of this floor is probably connected to the Goliath who controls it. Unless you defeat that guy, there's no way you can escape from here. Don't expect any help from the outside world."

“…Damn bastard.”

After listening to Asfy's explanation, the one-eyed dragon Perce seemed to have given up and looked dejected.

He didn't remain depressed for long before he raised his ferocious face, waving his arms and shouting at the top of his voice:

"You all heard it, didn't you? Let's go fight that monster! Whoever dares to run away now will never set foot in this town again!"

With the command, the others seemed to have decided to go all-in. The adventurers staying in the town also rushed out, weapons in hand, and advanced towards the prairie. However, before they could take a few steps, they all retreated in a swarm, having also encountered a wave of beasts. While their numbers were not as overwhelming as those of the Loki Familia, they were still no match for their strength. The adventurers retreated back to Rivera Town and, under Asfi's command, began to mop up this wave of beasts.

"Damn it, I lost a lot this time."

"Okay, it's good enough that we can survive. How many offensive potions do you have in your warehouse, Perce?"

"About a hundred bottles. This stuff is too dangerous. It will explode if it encounters a collision. I don't dare to store too many in the warehouse."

"Take it out! Hurry and deal with this wave of beasts. The sooner we defeat that Goliath, the less damage you'll suffer. You don't want to rebuild Rivera Town, do you?"

"Even if you're trying to fleece someone, don't just focus on me... Never mind, you're right."

Perth went to the warehouse and took out the explosive mixture that he was going to use to make a fortune. He really didn't want the town of Rivera to be destroyed, because if it was rebuilt, he would not be able to continue to be the owner of the purchasing station.

In addition to the explosive potion, the healing potion, bows and arrows, and three crossbows were all moved to the town's fence. At the same time, he asked the adventurers who stayed in the warehouse to open the warehouse directly and allow anyone to enter and take the necessary supplies.

Pers would undoubtedly suffer a loss this time, but if Rivera could survive the beast tide, his position in the town would be immensely solidified. The adventurers who had taken items from his warehouse owed him a debt of gratitude. Remember, only Level 2 adventurers could reach the safe floors, and Level 2 adventurers were already the backbone of the clan.

So, businessmen will never suffer losses.

Chapter 103: Thirty Seconds of Opportunity

"Finn!"

"Burt? Why are you back?"

The beast tide could not stop Lv.6's pace at all, and Burt came to Finn's vicinity so easily. He came back this time to convey an important piece of information.