Sinner System-Chapter 447: Calamity Raids (Part 5)

"<Command: Don’t Move>," I chanted, before whipping my blade across and slitting the throat of an Ogre, blood spraying out of its neck.

A loud crash rang out as Ai slammed her foot onto the middle of another Ogre’s stomach. Blood gushed out of its mouth as it went hurtling back through the air and crashed onto the ground, skidding back along the dirt.

Agonized, stuttering roars echoed out, along with a sharp crackle, as Acedia fried several Ogres to death with intense blasts of lightning.

Invidia then came into sight as a couple of Ogres collapsed onto the ground, having snuck up behind them with Stealth and stabbed them through the back of their necks.

Looks like that takes care of all the Monsters on this floor. We were up to the hundred and forty-first floor now, not much further till we get to the Boss Room.

After we cleared the hundredth floor, we stopped running into Hobgoblins, and instead began encountering packs of Ogres.

Still far from a problem for any of us, but after their numbers started to increase, we stopped taking turns soloing each floor, and proceeded in a more orthodox manner.

Well, sort of. Two or three of us would rotate and hang back on each floor, we simply didn’t need all of us to fight. We’d probably just end up getting in each other’s way if all of us fought up front at the same time, so yeah.

"Still no sign of any deviance, the pattern has persisted right throughout. Think it’ll stay that way all the way up to the Boss Room?" Petrus asked me thoughtfully.

"Hard to say for sure, but it is increasingly starting to seem that way. Let’s proceed with caution, and prepare ourselves for any sudden deviances that might occur," I replied warily, feeling a bit on edge.

Even with how easy Dungeons have been lately, I’m still not all that used to things going so smoothly. Whenever things feel too easy, I can’t help but feel like something is about to go wrong.

I wonder if the other four Calamity Level raids are going the same as this one? The rate of progress should be relatively similar if so. Hope Aria’s doing okay...

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Point-of-View: Ariella Velle

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I raced forward and lunged at a Giant Fire Slime, before driving my fist towards it as I closed in, generating enough force to burst through its gelatinous body, before just barely reaching its Core and grabbing hold of it.

I yanked it out with a sharp jerk of my arm, before crushing it in my fist, the Monster’s body collapsing into a large, gloopy puddle.

I glanced across as a Giant Frost Slime came slithering towards me from the left, extending out several slimy tendrils with cold mist flowing around them. I swiftly turned that way and fired out a rapid, piercing beam of Negative Energy towards it. The beam drilled right through the Monster and struck its Core, shattering it as the attack pierced and burst through the orb.

And with that, we’ve just cleared the penultimate floor of the Dungeon. All that’s left now is the Boss Room.

I glanced back at the others, Damien casting Enchantments on them to replenish their Mana and stamina.

Cleo’s finally starting to look a bit worn out, it’s now been over forty hours since we entered this Dungeon.

It’s too bad Kai isn’t here to give us a shortcut out of the Dungeon after we clear it. Oh, well, it’s fine, we just need to kill the Dungeon Boss and we’re done here, all that’s left after that is to make the journey back.

"Does anyone need a break, or shall we press on to the Boss Room?" I inquired, as I glanced at them.

"Wait, are we all going in?" Ciel asked me.

Hm, good question. Yeah, we don’t all need to go in there, particularly those of us who won’t be much help against a Calamity Level Monster.

"Alright...in addition to myself, I’d like Ciel, Rex, Brid, Iqra and Cleo to join me. Damien, cast Enchantments on everyone except me," I remarked, before adding as I glanced at the Detector, "And I’d like you to accompany us through the tunnel, just until you sense and confirm the presence of the Dungeon Boss."

"Sure, I can do that."

"Do I have to come? Seems unnecessary," Rex sighed in response.

"In case something goes wrong in there, you’re the only one who can make a quick retreat, so yes, you’re coming," I nodded dryly, before adding, "Don’t worry, I’ll be doing most of the fighting. Ciel, I’d like you to back me up with your explosions. The rest of you, hang back unless I say otherwise. Alright, with that settled...let’s wrap this up, shall we?"

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Point-of-View: Lachlan Bollinger

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Hm, if all’s going well, then the parties assigned to the Calamity Level Dungeons should be approaching the end of their raids by this point.

I hope they’re-...

"Sir! Sorry to barge in, but we’ve got a problem!"

Oh, no. This can’t possibly be good, what is it now?

"What’s going on?" I inquired with a sense of dread.

"We’ve detected unusual movement in the Mana Currents, the activity is similar to what we saw when that single-floor Dungeon appeared here in Sanctuary Theta!"

"Huh? You mean another one like that is appearing here? Alright, contact all our available Aces and request back up from the other Sanct-...," I began, doing my best to keep a level head.

"Actually, it isn’t here, sir. This is happening in three of the other Sanctuaries. Specifically, Gamma, Zeta and Epsilon. Or, in other words..."

"The only three Sanctuaries that don’t have X-Aces," I realized grimly.

There’s no way that’s a coincidence...we know the Demon Lord is capable of sharing his senses with the Dungeon Bosses, which likely means that he at least has some idea of the level of firepower each Sanctuary possesses.

Don’t tell me...the five Calamity Level Dungeons, are they just diversions? Were they deployed to keep our X-Aces occupied?

"Contact our available Aces and put them on standby, have them ready to respond to any requests for backup effective immediately. I’ll coordinate with the HUC in the meantime," I remarked, as I tapped on my I-Watch.

"Yes, sir, understood!"