Down below, a massive form was unfurling its wings. Half of the dungeon boss was nestled into the bone skull, and the other half was currently pushing off all the dirt and stones layered over it, obscuring its form beneath the ground.

A maw similar yet starkly different from all the giant burrowers rose out of the bottom of the pit, staring at the group of hunters with hunger. The boss was considerably smaller in size, only two dozen meters long. It's maw too, was only half as wide as the rest of its kind, yet Lev would never willingly near it. The teeth on the boss were both larger and much, much more lethal.

"Is this normal?" Lev asked Umbrina, who calmly stared back at the monster.

"Somewhat," she replied, unconcerned. "In some unlucky delves, things can snowball enough to attract the monster in the first few hours. Not sure what caused it to look over this time, though."

Hmm, yes. Very big mystery, Lev almost rolled his eyes and glanced at Beatrice. She blinked, not understanding what he meant.

"How do you plan to get a sizable chunk of essence for yourself?"

Beatrice looked at the massive monster, then back at him. "What can I even do?"

"Not much this time," Lev allowed, keeping half an eye on the harpies and burrowers facing the hunters, and the other half on the ascending boss. "But you will need to in the future. Watch and note all the ways you can make your Mana Barrier useful, otherwise evolving will take decades."

Wide wings unfurled, far more uniform and sturdy in their making compared to the average burrower. The boss coiled on itself before shooting forward with a flap of its wings, eating the distance between them in a blink.

"Remember," Umbrina spoke just as she vanished. "It prefers to swim underground. Make use of that habit."

Ronald glanced at him, ready to go. Seeing his mana was also over 90%, regenerating rapidly under his concealed bubble, Lev nodded back to signify he was prepared.

Like a well-oiled machine, the wind mages in his team immediately cast flight spells on everyone, pulling them along with a gentle yet strong gale. Lev followed in his bubble, not willing to step out of his ranged role unless necessary. Even more so because all the remaining monsters of the dungeon were rushing at the three teams that were left behind.

Umbrina had made the right call to do so, in Lev's opinion. Just by looking at the boss, Lev knew that they had no chance of facing it. Not only were their lives going to be at risk, but they were probably going to get in the way of Lev and Ronald's team, who were going to go all out from the very start.

"Beatrice," Lev addressed her the last time before the boss reached them. "Try to use three of them at once."

"Here!?"

He grinned. "Of course! Where better to test than in the face of a platinum boss?"

Then he jumped out of the bubble, leaving her alone in there to buff everyone by keeping the bubble in range. Down below, the monster was close enough for Lev to inspect all of it closely.

[Earthen Diver - ???]

Scales adorned the length of its body, each the same brown color as the rest of the monster. Most importantly, the boss's body looked tough. Condensed. Cursory scans were enough to deduce that Lev was going to have to use a large portion of his pool to bring it down.

Though, Lev thought as they lured the boss away from the rest of the hunters. That also depends on how Ronald's team performs. If they were in the tournament, I doubt any team could've beaten them in Team Combat. Let's see how they do.

Two large bolts of wind mana clinked against the boss's scale, leaving significant gouges but not even drawing blood. Another ten bolts landed on the same area, eroding its defenses even further.

Roaring, the diver sped up before turning abruptly, rushing into the stone slope of the pit surrounding them. Lev paused when its aura and mana signatures vanished completely, leaving them blind to its location.

As a precaution, he ascended higher and away and took the bubble with him. The other team followed, eyes peeled for the next attack. From their left, right, and below, several barrages of massive boulders flew at the floating humans. Each was large enough to pulp them with a direct hit.

Lev glanced at the cloaked Beatrice once, letting her know it was her time to shine. Wind walls formed around Ronald's team, along with several other projectiles. Large barrier shields protected Lev, all enchanted in less than a second.

Amidst his barriers, a pale white barrier took form. The square barrier felt robust to his senses, nearly as durable as his overloaded shields, and quickly moved in front of the duo. Then another one formed, and the hint of a third started to take shape. Beatrice's mana struggled to create it, and the boulders reached them long before she could finish the last construct.

Lev zipped between the boulders, dodging all he could while blocking the rest with his shields. All of them shattered one by one and were resummoned, protecting both him and the bubble from any direct hits.

He never forgot to keep an eye on his fellow hunters, either. Ronald hacked apart the stone with strong, neutral mana slashes, whereas the rest were cleanly cut in two by sharp wind slashes.

While they were busy dodging and deflecting, the boss hadn't been idle. It was already close to reaching them, having timed its charge to match the barrage. Lev supposed the move would be considered smart if one only had the barest hint of intelligence, like the monster did.

Lightning lances welcomed it, landing on the side of its maw as it dodged at the last moment. Each blew up in a small storm, charring its scales and jolting the flesh underneath. Despite that, it came out mostly unharmed and dove back into the ground with a cry of pain.

… Not very dangerous for a boss.

Perhaps it still had some tricks up its sleeve, but that was unlikely. It could already fly and use earth magic, which was way more than the other burrowers could do. Still, Lev didn't let his guard down.

More stone projectiles followed, trying and failing to distract the hunters who attacked it relentlessly without moving closer to the ground, eliminating any chances of a surprise attack.

Within a few minutes, several large wounds were present on its body, giving the hunters just as many openings to injure it even further. The boss realized that as well and changed its strategy.

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Instead of them attacking from the sides, it launched out of the ground with a huge wave of boulders leading the charge. Lev cursed and flew out of the way as fast as he could, just as Ronald's team fled in the opposite direction.

Watching them escape with narrowed, maddened eyes, the boss curled on itself and twirled, spinning its lengthy body in a full circle. Lev watched on with wide eyes as its tail curved in an arc to slap him to oblivion, just barely managing to duck underneath as the bubble escaped by ascending higher.

On the other side, the hunters only marginally dodged the huge maw coming to gobble them up, and even launched several attacks in retaliation. Lev was too surprised to make use of the opening as the monster was momentarily left defenseless.

He noted to make use of it the next time as he kept his eyes on the boss, that kept flying higher. After nearly a kilometer, it turned around, using its massive bulk as a dive bomb.

Fucking hell, Lev hurriedly ran out of the way, unable to believe the strategy unfolding in front of him. That thing is going to land like an atomic bomb.

Ronald's team was also putting up as many defenses as they could while backtracking, never letting the diver leave their sight. It was on track to miss all of them, which was still horrible news. Just the dust cloud from its fall was going to make things much harder for them.

His ears threatened to pop as it displaced massive amounts of air with its descent, producing an extremely loud sound. With a gigantic shockwave, it landed maw-first on the pit's slope, immediately burrowing inside to prevent the worst of the damage.

Lev braced himself, creating a second bubble around him and enchanting it. A wall of dirt and stone launched both bubbles even further away from the site of impact, rendering their sight useless in the aftermath.

Air around him rushed somewhere below Lev, and he immediately fired several lightning lances where he expected the diver to be. It powered through them, maw wide open to swallow him.

Stargazer was waiting for that moment. It was vibrating with the sheer amount of fire and lightning mana stored in its form, eager to let it all out in a calamitous slash. Lev obliged, releasing it all with a deceptively slow overhead swing.

Like an image being visualized by a painter, blue and fiery mana first coalesced in a half-moon shape before flying at the monster with a loud boom. Leaving a trail of flames in its passing, the diver wasn't given a chance to react as the slash entered its gaping maw, landing somewhere deep inside.

Lev was already rushing away from the monster's trajectory. A flood of fire and lightning escaped the monster's mouth, utterly annihilating the softer interior. He was already at a considerable distance, waiting for the notifications to roll in.

The boss died before it could even hit the ground, beyond eviscerated inside the still-intact scaled body. Lev's slash had done a thorough job if the flames rushing out of the deep wounds on its scale were any indication.

Target me more, you fuck, Lev thought, slightly miffed. It was a good thing because it opened up the boss to a big counterattack, but still. Every monster wanted him, whereas he didn't want any of them. Except for the levels they offered. Those were nice.

[

Your Group has slain [Earthen Diver - Level 325]

Mana Tempest has reached Level 200

Mana Tempest has reached Level 201

Rapid Infusion has reached 3rd Level 4

Heavier Lifting has reached 3rd Level 4

Crescent Decimation has reached 2nd Level 4

Crescent Decimation has reached 2nd Level 5

]

Around the humans, many more monsters and swarms came alive from the death of the boss. Suddenly, hundreds were rushing down the steep pit, hellbent on tearing the hunters apart.

Lev and Beatrice immediately returned to the remaining teams, only a step behind Ronald's.

"Good job, even if it would've been better if you guys took longer," Umbrina praised, pointing all around them with her dual shortswords. Lev's eyes were glued to the weapons instead. He could confidently say that they were a pair of epic items or higher rarity just by glancing at them. Their cloaked enchantments were just that potent.

"You like them?" Umbrina asked, apparently not beyond showing off when it came to the swords, as she turned them around in her hand for Lev to observe.

"They're a masterpiece, as far as I can tell," Lev genuinely praised, very impressed.

"That they are," she agreed and then vanished. Everyone paused and looked around, only finding her when monsters started tumbling down the pit, their heads rolling next to them.

One by one, all of the hundreds fell to an entirely unnoticeable Umbrina in less than a minute, bringing an anticlimactic end to the delve. Five minutes later, they were all teleported outside.

The Master warrior guarding the dungeon scanned them all thoroughly and nodded when he saw none missing. Umbrina appeared next to him without any fanfare and gave a precise report.

"The Boss took notice early and had to clear all the stragglers," she calmly explained, eyeing all the hunters checking up on their equipment and generally relaxing. "Saw more monsters than usual but nothing out of the ordinary."

"Good work," the warrior nodded and looked at Lev. He didn't need to say more as Lev pulled Beatrice to the side with him where a sound ward covered them. Umbrina was also present inside it.

"The Silver Night has requested your presence immediately after the delve ends. Do not dally and go see him in the guildmaster's office on the first floor."

Lev nodded and glanced at Beatrice, who was quickly giving herself a once-over. Finding no blood or anything dirty, she straightened and followed him. Umbrina just watched on with a small smile, proving Lev's theory that she knew more than she let on.

"That went well," Lev remarked once the bubble scooped them up. "Took only four days as well."

"It did feel easy," Beatrice agreed. "But then again, if you weren't there, things would've been quite a bit more difficult. It's surprising how well you keep track of everything happening at once. More than once, I failed to move my barriers in time, but your shields were already there."

"We also had competent teams who followed Umbrina's orders down to the letter," Lev added. "Overall, the dungeon was both easier than expected and much harder than I was hoping for. Didn't know platinum dungeons mostly have second-threshold monsters."

"Right… your solo delve. Still up for it?"

He shrugged. "That'll depend on whatever Hakim wants to say."

Conversation cut off after that as they flew back to the city. Both of the platinum dungeons were way off, requiring hours of travel to reach them. Lev didn't rush and took a bit more time than necessary for the flight. It proved good to just decompress and prepare themselves for the repeating future.

Five hours later, he knocked on the guildmaster's office door with Beatrice standing behind him.

"Come in," Hakim's order came through as the doors opened.

Lev sauntered inside, all smiles when he noticed Sherron seated there. Poor Beatrice was frozen in the door, unable to do anything but close her eyes and take deep, steadying breaths to calm herself.

He took a seat. "First time's always horrible, huh?"

Sherron nodded, taking in the girl's visage and aura. "Quite so, especially for an aura mage. Are you alright, girl?"

"Y-yes, Lady Exalted," Beatrice stammered out and bowed at her waist. "I greet the Exalted."

… Woops, I forgot to do that, Lev acted casual, hoping nobody would point that out. They were closer than that, right?

"How was your first brush with platinum dungeons?" Sherron asked once Beatrice took her seat next to Lev, the furthest she could sit from the Exalted woman.

"Boring," Lev replied immediately. "So few levels and risk. Couldn't do anything with so many people watching. Also, who's Umbrina?"

"Caught your eye, did she?" Hakim answered instead, more relaxed than usual. "All I can tell you is that she trained me when I was a kid."

Lev's mind went blank trying to comprehend the ages involved. Hakim was somewhere around a thousand years old, and Umbrina was even older. Just what was the lifespan of a Master?

"… Alright. She reminded me of Orianna but things are probably the other way around."

"They are," Sherron agreed and changed the topic. "Do you still want to clear it solo?"

"Yes," he immediately replied.

"You really shouldn't," Beatrice found the courage to speak. Lev looked at her, not knowing why she was insisting all of a sudden. "There were thousands of monsters, and hundreds were in the second threshold."

"But that just means more levels and training," Lev retorted, confused. "It's not like I'm gonna rush in and attract all of them at once. I've prepared several illusion and concealment formations to make sure of that."

"That didn't help on the spire," she mumbled.

Lev sighed in his head, finally understanding where her concern came from. "There are no monsters in the dungeon that are beyond my ability to handle. I made sure of that by holding back all the while. Trust me, things usually end up going my way when there aren't third-threshold stormriders breathing down my neck."

Seeing that Beatrice was done, Sherron spoke after a few seconds. "… I still don't know what went down in Runespires."

"What else? I am the same snack that is becoming ever-tastier."

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