“Get behind the motherfucking pillars!” Michael roared, as he teleported over and grabbed the tiny cat-girl, and briskly walked towards Talia.  Inari had already completely healed from all of her injuries a while before that, so she was able to easily sprint next to Alice’s hiding spot.

As soon as everyone got into position, the Boss began spinning at the center of the room and launching huge arcs of green conflagration.  Explosions rang out, as the ground shook, and the Human girls in those birdcages screamed in terror.

The hunks of half-eaten carcasses around the room, burst into flames, and the ceiling was filled with a pitch-black smoke.  At that point, the Nephilim realized another aspect to the fight: “Oi, Talia!  Put out those fires and clean up the air!”  

If they wanted the extra rewards, then they needed to keep those unranked, level-zero women alive.  As she was doing that, he teleported back out there and started ‘Tanking’ the Boss again.

It had been at least a minute since the fight started, and Karian was down to 39,984/50,000 HP.  However, his mana was almost completely gone, though the Stamina was practically inexhaustible.

Even though Alice, Jasmine, and Inari were barely doing anything, Michael, Sarah and Talia were dealing absurd amounts of damage.  Every time the Guardian blocked an attack, he received sixty to one-hundred damage, yet Elina was able to easily heal him to full in an instant.

The entire fight was meant to take ten people at level-twenty, close to nine minutes on average.  Obviously, in the event that team-members died, that’s when the Enrage Timer would come into effect.

However, the Tomb of Princess Carrabelle was definitely one of the easiest Dungeons that existed.  There simply weren’t any lower leveled ones, and rank-G was the absolute lowest difficulty.

Thus, it wasn’t particularly surprising that after another three Fiery Whirlwind Axe attacks, the first Boss was completely covered in Ironwood Arrows, gaping and festering gashes, and tiny bullet-holes.  Once Karian dipped below ten-percent of his health-pool, he activated ‘Fiery Armor’ and began roaring “I won’t let you kill me!” as he directly threw his giant battleaxe at Michael, while running towards the opening gateway.

Watching that spectacle, the Nephilim dodged the attack by Astral-Stepping in front of the door and yelling “Oi, where the fuck do ya think you’re going!?”  Since he couldn’t deal any damage, he used Arcane Push, and stabbed his Arcane Siegeblade into the giant’s groin.

That massive body was actually lifted off of the ground and sent flying back to the center of the room, as he tumbled across the floor.  Michael’s Strength with equipment and ‘Stat-Boost’ was a few points higher than the Minotaur’s, so it wasn’t a particularly surprising outcome.

The moment his flaming shield vanished, Talia, destroyed both of his eyes with a flurry of arrows.  Sarah managed to sever his spine, and a huge sword was used to slowly but surely, hack off the ‘mooing’ Boss’ head, as he remained ‘paralyzed’ on the ground.

Once he died, his corpse burst into bright-green flames and a message appeared “Congratulations!  You have defeated Karian the Gatekeeper, while freeing all six prisoners.  Your team has received +16 Exp Packs, +500 Arcane Favor, and +100 Gold.”

Michael suddenly unlocked a new tab, which had those sixteen Exp Packs, and he immediately muttered “Holy shitballs!  Each of these fuckers is worth like, a hundred experience!”  Since he was technically the Party’s leader, he was given all of the drops to distribute as he saw fit.

Thus, an amazing item appeared in each of his hands, the first was “Karian’s Fang Collection: +15 Defense Rating, +15 Strength, +15 Vitality, +15 Endurance.  Grants claws and fangs +10% Armor Penetration.  Counts as a collar and can only be used by magical-beasts.  Epic Quality, requires level-20 to wear.”

He tossed the necklace to Inari, and she caught it in her mouth, sending it into her first bag-slot.  Even if he used all sixteen Exp Packs on her, it still wouldn’t have been enough for her to reach level-twenty.

However, right after that, she began tearing apart the skulls and chests of those female Minotaurs.  Each of them was level-twenty, rank-F and an Elite, so for her, that alone was already eight-hundred experience points.

While she was doing that, Michael nonchalantly handed the other piece of equipment over to Talia, after making it Soulbound to her.  “Leather Boots of the Ancient Archer: +16 Defense Rating, +15 Agility, +10 Dexterity, +3 Strength.  Reduces Stamina consumption from running by 25%.  Soulbound to Talia Aeris Ramirez.  Epic Quality, requires level-20 to wear.”

She smiled at him, then bowed, “Thank you!  Not just for giving me these items, but also for allowing me to become one of your Companions…”

The Nephilim sighed, muttering “Yeah-yeah, here, I’m using five of the Exp Packs on you.” as her body was suddenly engulfed in a blinding light.

That monotonous voice didn’t appear, but she simply received a message: “You have reached level 20.”  The Huntress unhesitantly placed all six stat-points into Intelligence, and threw her ‘normal’ boots away, quickly wearing her new ones.

After that, she pulled the flower bracelet out of her inventory and placed it around her left wrist.  There was a childish smile on her face, as she giggled happily, and noticed the massive increase in her power.

As five Ironwood Arrows rapidly formed in the palm of her right hand, Talia curiously placed them into the mouth of that mysterious plant.  Then they were sucked inside instantly, and seemed to disappear.

When she placed her fingers near the opening though, it spat out a projectile that was significantly better than usual.  “Enchanted Ironwood Arrow: +43 Attack Rating.  Created by Talia Aeris Ramirez.  Rare Quality, no level-requirement.”  After that, she had to tediously place the rest of her three-thousand Ironwood Arrows into the strange quiver.

Sarah glared at Michael as she walked over, “Okay~, calm your tiny tits… I’ll give you eight Exp Packs.  Also, this thingy dropped off of that Ultra-Elite lizard-guy you decapitated the other day.”

The little girl, who was still wearing her equipment in their neutral state, grinned from under the shadowy veil.  Her body glowed brightly for a moment, and her level increased to twenty instantly.

She placed all six stat-points into Agility, and then looked at the strange item in her right palm.  “Obsidian Earring: +4 Vitality, +4 Endurance, +1 Luck.  Soulbound to Sarah Carelia, and can only be worn by her.  Rare Quality, requires level-20.”

After a few seconds, she just unequipped it, and automatically equipped it.  Since she was wearing a hood, it was impossible to see the tiny black piercing on her left earlobe.

By that time, Inari had completely devoured the twenty mana-cores and reached level-seventeen: placing her six stat-points into Agility.  Unfortunately, he only had three Exp Packs left, and she would have needed at least nine.

It was at that time, when a deep voice reverberated throughout the room: “Umm~, hey guys, aren’t you forgetting about something?  The girls you saved… you were supposed to do a whole ‘emotional rescue scene.’  Well, it’s kind of too late now, since you completely ruined it.  Anyway, I’ll just edit all this out later.  Hmm, I’ll send in some stage-hands to take those brats down, since you idiots would probably end up accidentally killing them all.”

The huge silver gates opened up and a couple dozen Hobgoblins and Humans, who were wearing blue uniforms, entered inside.  In less than five minutes, they had managed to ‘safely’ lower the bird-cages that were hanging from the ceiling, and freed those exhausted women.

They gave a few disdainful glares towards Michael and his Companions, before removing the keys from their necks and dropping them onto the filthy ground.  Watching that obnoxious behaviour, Sarah growled “Those fucking whores!  Oi, ya think I won’t slaughter you bitches?!”

Fortunately, the Nephilim managed to grab her left arm tightly, before she was able to Shadow-Step.  He shouted “Seriously, stop freaking out!  Shit, how the hell am I ever gonna take you anywhere?!  I mean, even if those ugly hoes are being stupid cunts, it doesn’t mean you should kill em all!”

When all of the Hobgoblins and Humans had left, Jasmine skipped over to the treasure chests, singing “Key~, keys~, I got the keys~, nyah~… Un, doesn’t fit~, how bout this one~?  Meow~, this is such a hard puzzle~…”

Michael grumbled “There’s only six keys and six locks!  Fuck my life, Elina, can you please just open them for her?  I don’t wanna spend forever in the first goddamn room of this shitty Dungeon!”