<~> Chapter 76Thick brambles grew out of the ground creating a physical barrier between us and the monsters.

  "Bel! Leave an opening to fuhem towards us!"

  "Okay!"

  The air began to smell like ozone as small balls of lightning began to form around Man's staff. Ohe walls in front of us were up she began lobbing them into the crowd of monsters. Tarklin drew a long and thin sword and used it to ssh and piery of the mohat got near with precise and fluid strokes. I only caught glimpses of Nora as she popped in and out of shadows, stabbing and sshing the demons that got through. Torien was standing on a rge crate near us and was using the slight height advao ly take out the demons that tried to climb over our thorny barricades.

  My long two-handed sword sshed through the demons endlessly. I quickly fell into a rhythm with our two protectors, we worked together so none of us would get overwhelmed or run out of steam. The small shadow demons weren't very tough, weaker than any of the demons we had fought before when we were ihe dungeon, but they made up for it in sheer numbers.

  When one of my sshes cleaved a crawling demon in half, I felt the knowledge of a new spell enter my mind. I didn't have time to properly read its effects but I could tell it was an enhaype spell that my [Novice Magian] css had alluded to. I just cast it, whatever buff it could give me would be wele right now.

  I felt a huge draw on my mana and the sword in my hand suddenly felt like aension of myself. I felt the shifts in its direal force more clearly and I could now properly use that fory advantage. My swordsmanship had probably looked amateurish pared to me now. I wasted less energy with each stroke, each ssh using the minimum amount of energy to kill the demons that ran towards me. The only time I used my brute strength was to shove enemies into each other, tripping them up and making them more vulnerable.

  We had been fighting for half a bell wherickle of the crawling demons slowed and one of the Shadow Horrors that we had first e across iehouse of the dungeon began to climb the brambly barricade Bel had first jured. Long deep green vines burst through the ground and twisted around its backward limbs. The monster kept pulling at them, dragging the vines out by the roots as it tio climb the brambles. Long bloody gashes covered the monsters limbs as it scrabbled over the barricade.

  I jumped forward and lopped off one of its long arms with a graceful ssh, my long swivihe range I o perform the attad step back without putting myself in danger. Nora dropped onto its back out of nowhere and ly stabbed it through the skull from behind. Her long bck dagger poked through its eye. Without missing a beat Tarklin lopped off its head as Nora jumped off the monster and disappeared once again.

  Rather than be relieved the victory only felt hollow. The gathering swarm of crawling demons now had another path across the brambles. It used the rge monster's corpse as a highway to quickly climb over the brambles and attack us from a wider area. Tarklin looked like he was about to make us retreat but Man's lightning magic gave me an idea.

  "Bel! Dry out the brambles as much as you !"

  "Got it!" Bel held up her scepter and I could see wisps of her nature magic pull back out of the brambles, making them quickly die and dry out.

  I used [Light Scribing] to quickly draw out the spark ritual I had practiced the other day and used my Magitrol to super heat them as much as I could. As soon as I had one circle going I created another and another until I had fic circles crag a multitude of hot sparks onto the dry brambles. The entire dead bramble bush lit up and a roar of screams from the shadow demons filled the air.

  The three of us now cut down the mohat scrambled away from the fire, no longer worried about them overwhelming us. Bel grew out and dried more brambles, spreading the fire around the monsters in a rge ring. All of the fire apparently gave Man more magic to work with and she was now lobbing sticky fireballs into the groups of demons as well, further spreading the fire like napalm among the monsters.

  The other adventurers in the area caught on quickly. The ohat could use magic either helped Bel spread the fire out or buffered the ground around the fiery brambles so the fire didn't spread too far. The advehat were still fighting in the ring of fire safely retreated outside the circle that was slowly enclosing the entire dungeorance. Something simir began to happen oher side of the dungeorance, pletely cutting off the monster's avenues of escape.

  It wasn't long until the entire dungeorance was a huge fire pit. The heat was sweltering and I could see others drenched i. The fire a didn't bother me but I could tell Man and Bel o back off a little. Bel looked exhausted now, probably at the dregs of her leftover mana. Man was in high spirits, excited by the battle and perfectly able to keep going.

  At some point Torien had switched to different arrows, a rge drum of them had been dragged over to her. She tinued sniping demons that got towards the top of the bramble fire, trying to find a way out of the inferno. Her stoid focused face was quite a cute trast to the pretty maid shooting arrows into a horde of demons.

  This kept up all through the night before the screams of dying demons slowed aually stopped.

  The early twilight of the approag su the sky as the raging inferno of the fire pit we created began to die down and burn itself out. Charred corpses littered the ground and now that the heat of battle passed I noticed for the first time how disgusting the smell of burning flesh was. Bel was resting on a nearby chair looking utterly exhausted while Nora stood guard o her keeping watch for any other threats. Torien sat on the box she had been standing on, tinuing to watch the fire burn itself out and taking a rest herself.

  I leahe ft of my bde against the shoulder of my breastpte. My arms were burning now, tired and sore for swinging my on non-stop for so long. I had never been more exhausted than I was in that moment. A rge man walked over to us, one I reized as Yefen once I could clearly see his face. His leather and carapace armor was drenched in bck blood now, making him nearly unreizable otherwise.

  He looked over the six of us. "It's good to see all of you are okay through this shitshow. I don't know what hors hose fug zealots kicked but at least it doesn't look like there are many losses."

  I was a bit surprised to see Yefen so agitated. I... suppose the situation called for it but to see the jolly bear man like this was a bit of a shock.

  Yefen looked over roup again, "Melna said one of you was a healer. We're a bit shorthanded on that front, you help us out?"

  I looked over at Bel. She had beeing but still looked exhausted from all of the spell casting she did tonight. "I don't think Bel is up for it right now, she used most of her magic creating the brambles we set on fire."

  "Ah that was you? I see, a nature mage and healer. If you're still willing to help I give you a mana draught. That will help your fatigue and as long as you ration your mana ariage properly, you'll probably be feelier than you do now."

  I looked over to Bel. "What do you think Bel? If you aren't up for it we go rest..."

  Bel shook her head and shakily stood up. "No. I want to keep helping."

  Yefen smiled, a glimmer of the ma st night shihrough. "That's good to hear, I really appreciate it Bel. They have a supply of them in the medical triage tent, follow me."

  The six of us stood up and followed him to the medical tent. There were dozens of injured adventurers but none of the people here looked like they were in serious dition. I was surprised to see Bel's mother here as well, she was using some kind of holy healing magi a e beastfolk man that had gotten badly burned. Despite all of her normal dislike of them she was effitly examining and healing him. All of her prior hostility was gone in this situation.

  Bel was given a tall and thin bottle and coaxed to drink it. Bel started to drink it before nearly gagging. She barely kept it in and even mao finish the bottle in front of the intimidating Yefen.

  "Good, you fi all. I would have been livid if you wasted that in this situation," he ughed heartily but Bel looked much less enthused by it. She did look a lot better though, the potion had breathed life intain. All of the sleepiness ahargy was gone from her faow.

  Tarklin turo Nora. "You watch over Bel, we'll be in the way if we stay here."

  "Are you going to be okay here Bel?" I looked over at her mother, now w with a new patient. Another beastfolk had bee in line for her but she showed no signs of giving them any less care.

  Bel smiled. "Don't worry about me, this is what I want to do. Heal people, help people. We'll catch up ter. You should go eat, bring me baething too. It's been a really long night."

  "Okay," I said returning her smile. I gave her a quick hug, long past g if the insane church people saw me. After killing so many demons all night I deserved at least that. After a thought, I decided to take off my sword belt with Mimi's sheath and give it to her. "Take this. She help keep you safe." Bel strapped Mimi around her waist without an argument, gently stroking Mimi's hilt.

  The remaining four of us walked out of the medical tent and towards the mess area Yefen had showed us st night. It seemed pretty obvious no one had gone back to sleep after the long battle. Everyone was still on edge and there were plenty of hungry advehat had just survived a long and grueling battle.

  It felt kind of lonely eating without Bel but Man sat o me and leaned against me for fort. I was happy that she was trying to cheer me up, my bond with her wasn't as strong as my bond with Bel but it was really o see that she cared. I patted her knee and got back to eating. When I looked up I noticed a raised eyebrow from Tarklin but he didn't say anything about it.

  Man sighed. "What a crazy night. I've heard of them of course but I've never witnessed a dungeon break before. It's also insanely rare for it to happen to a dying dungeht?"

  Tarklin nodded. "Yeah it's rather rare. Like Yefen said st night though, nothing that has been happening in this area has been normal tely. A dungeon break is rare but perhaps because this dungeon was such a young ohe demons were more proo esg than normal."

  I held my tongue. I wao ask what a dungeon break was but I could kind of figure it out based on text. I really didn't think this was the pce to show off how little I knew about this world. Tarklin seemed like a good person, his karma retty high as well, but he was als. Even if he was on our side right now, I couldn't be sure that my status as a [World Traveler] wouldn't cause an issue with him.

  It had been a long night and I hysically tired. Now that I was sitting a lot of the fatigue from our long fight was hitting me. I felt a bit on edge from being away from Bel right now but I agreed that I would probably just be in the way if I tried to hang around the medical tent right now.

  I sighed and took another bite of my food.

  Saine

  Hello! Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger like that but it just worked out that way. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, pretty exg stuff, I hope you e! See you ime!

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