Whoaaa... that's a lot of gizmos.

I was able to climb up the spiral staircase-like road up to the commando room, and this place is making me doubt I'm in a fantasy world. The place is covered with wall-to-wall machinery. Control boards and security monitors, strange hologram-like displays, seriously something better for a sci-fi world than one of sword and magic.

Another point worth mentioning is that this place is big enough to make me feel like Jack with the beanstalk. The owner was the boss snake, so I guess it's so big for a reason...

The reason why I'm pointing out the size of these things is that this also means they're gonna be a whole lot worse to destroy.

Good thing I came prepared with my secret weapons. I present to you: the exploding flail!!

The concept behind it is a stroke of genius: I added some stretchy webbing to one of those bomb fruits with exceptionally long vines, then I carefully placed the whole thing into my storage from the fruit first before cutting the vine and closing the "storage entrance".

I'm making use of the bomb fruit's trait that "its vine acts as the fuse for the explosion" and "the stuff inside the storage can be placed in stasis". The real bombs I stored inside my storage didn't receive the "explode" command back when I mistakenly pushed the activation switch, and nothing that I've put inside it has ever shown to grow old.

It's cool that I don't need to worry that the foodstuff I put in there won't grow moldy, but even better, the bomb fruits can be placed within my storage while "freezing" their countdown before the explosion.

What? It's not that impressive? Like you know how hard it is to create new weapons inside this blasted Dungeon!!

Speaking of blasting, let's do just that.

I opened my storage, selected the webbing attached to the bombs, and used all my strength to lob several big fruits at the machinery before hightailing it outta here! Run! Run for your life!!

---

Floor 10, The Underground Lake

In the darkness of the cave, a single source of light, too weak to be seen from a distance, existed.

It was a blue sphere, placed on top of a pillar made of stone. Attached to the sphere and the pillar was pipes that were connected to many different types of machine-looking objects. Some of them had the initials "B.B." on them.

The lake was empty except for a certain something swimming around the lake. It kept itself hidden in the water, except for its head sticking up from the waterline.

Suddenly, a voice resonated in the empty cave:

[......INTRUDERS OF HIGH THREAT LEVELS DETECTED. NUMBERS: 2.

SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION ABOUT INTRUDERS......

INTRUDER NR.1, IDENTITY CONFIRMED: LORD OF THE WILD HUNT.

REASON FOR INTRUSION BY NR.1......

THE REASON FOR INTRUSION IS PRESUMED TO BE THE HEIRLOOM LOCATED ON FLOOR 6.

RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: DO NOT ENGAGE IN COMBAT AND ALLOW INTRUDER NR.1 TO RETRIEVE THE HEIRLOOM.

THE ARTIFACT LACKS VALUE FOR THE DUNGEON, SO NO DAMAGE WILL BEFALL TO THE DUNGEON BY STAYING CLEAR OF INTRUDER NR.1.

INTRUDER NR.2...... IDENTITY UNKNOWN.

THROUGH ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION, THE IDENTITY OF INTRUDER NR.2 IS BELIEVED TO BE A DEITY FROM A DIFFERENT WORLD.

INTRUDER NR.2 IS HEREBY CONSIDERED AN OUTER DEITY.

REASON FOR INTRUSION BY NR.2...... UNKNOWN.

POSSIBILITY OF NR.2 BEING A THREAT... UNKNOWN. MORE INFORMATION IS REQUIRED.]

After that, the cave returned to its silent self again. The only sounds that remained were the waves that were created when the certain "something" was made when it swam around the island with its dead, empty eyes...

---

Garami's PoV:

*KA-BOOOOOM!!*

Too close! The bombs went off just as I managed to exit the secret entrance. With this, the quest is...cleared?

Hmm? No system message? This means...the bombs weren't enough. Tch. I guess some randomly-grown fruits can't compare to the explosives I'm used to from my previous life. Does anyone have some C4 I can borrow?

As I was about to climb up the secret entrance again, I suddenly felt an awful chill climbing down my...spine? The anatomy of this body's too weird for me...

Following my hunch, I fled behind some of the boulders nearby. Just in time to see the big snake climbing up from the abyss.

Eh? That wasn't enough to kill him?

"Who was the idiot to allow those Dread Spirits to infest this floor!? Why am I even asking? It's that goddamn-stupid lord of mine!!" - Glant snake

Someone's sounding stressed. Is he getting enough sleep?

And now has the ghostly "I-don't-wanna-know-what-that-is" in the abyss started howling. Stop that! It's scary!

"Shut up! ...hmm?" - Giant snake

Did he notice me? ...no, that's not it. Rather, this is...the same chills I felt before. Weren't those coming from the big snake? Not that I have any skills that let me notice that...which is a good thing to pick up. I better look those skills up at a later date.

While I was busy laying it low, I saw that the giant snake suddenly turned its tail and ran across the bridge network over the abyss. Or maybe I should say he's "fleeing"? I'm no snake-knower, but that guy looks like he's being chased by the devil himself...

The chills are getting worse, so I've decided to follow the smart guy. The Demon-Express is heading for the 7th floor!

I ran across the bridge while making sure not to stare down the abyss. With how restless those guys are down there, stimulating them any further would be a foolish thing to do.

But after a while, I noticed that the source of the wails had changed locations. From below to behind me.

I made a quick stop and turned my body to see what was going on. Back at the entrance to this floor, Dread Spirits, in such amounts that they looked more like black muck had climbed up on the ledge, started to create something that looks like a magic circle, sacrificing their bodies in the process from the looks of it.

I continued my escape after seeing that. I've seen enough cartoons and animes to know that magic circles created by something that evil-looking are no good for anyone else.

Alas, I didn't make it. A strong blast of wind struck me from behind as the magic circle was completed. I was almost blown off the bridge there!

I used some webbing to stick myself to the ground and tried to figure out what was happening. Or, it's better to say that I couldn't do anything but that. The wind's too strong! And at this local typhoon's point of origin, something really bad was making its entrance.

From its appearance, I would say it was some knight king? It had full-plate armor and the helmet was fashioned like a crown. But the armor was made of a rusty dark material, and the "king" was using some dull-grey robe as a mantle. Resting on his left hip was a broadsword made of burnt orange metal with a black, serrated edge. On his right side was something covered with a grey rug. Maybe it's his lunch?

Nonetheless, I'm not sticking around to ask him. Because that rust-colored blade of his is starting to glow scarily!

I kept on running without looking back as the light from the sword gradually got stronger until a loud *crash*-sound could be heard from over there. In addition, a larger gust of wind came. There are even several pieces of rocks flowing in the air! So glad that I'm keeping myself stuck with my webs.

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

You have acquired your quest reward for the quest: [Cutting the Water-Knot, Part 5].

You have acquired 7.0 Aether Points.

Due to the Blessing: "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 7.0 Aether Points were earned.

Eh? Wait, why did that happen just now?

In my confusion, and against my better judgment, I turned around and saw that the wall that was connected to the secret entrance to the commando room was cleaved in half, all the way from the bottom to the top, and even further on both sides as well. The ghost knight is currently facing the wall, so it must have been him who did it.

Why? Did the knight want the AP? And why did I get them? ...maybe because the bombs from before did enough damage to count me as "having participated in the room's destruction" or something?

*Crack*

...uh-oh. That slash, it messed up with the bridgeeeee-!

---

AAAIIEEEEE!!

Falling-, I'm falling! I knew that the abyss was deep and all, as the distance between the 6th and 7th floors is around three times more compared to the other floors, but this is too deep!

If there's one good thing here it's that there aren't any more Dread Spirits down here. Fighting them while falling to my death is too much of an overkill.

Even then, the biggest issue is the ground! It's too far down and too close for comfort! And it's getting closer by the second!

I started throwing threads like crazy in the hope of one of them being able to stop my fall. I'm twirling around like I'm in some laundry machine, so I don't exactly have the luxury to aim here!

Some webbings hit something, but it's in freefall like me, so it's no good. Rather, there's too much rubble falling alongside me that I can get a good shot at the solid rock pillars that are part of the bridges on the "surface". Time to switch strategies.

Instead of thread-like webs, I opted to shoot web bombs and create literal safety nets to stop me from falling. The pillars are luckily not that far from each other, so a well-placed bomb should be able to turn into a decent net.

After a few dozens of bombs, I finally managed to make a net! Wo-hoo! I'm saved-*RIP!!*-...

Note to self: a single, hastily produced web isn't enough to stop a spider demon who's falling with too much speed.

In that case, let's up the bet!

I threw more bombs without fearing running empty of them and created as many nets as possible. All of them that I landed on couldn't handle my acceleration, so they were ripped to pieces like the first one. But I seem to be slowing down with each net, so I didn't pause and continued to throw webs until...

*Smack!*

L-landing... I'm alive...just barely...

I picked myself up from the ground and started to look around. The powerful gust blew me far into the middle of the floor, and this place was too deep for me to climb back up without some special tools or a designated pathway.

As I was preparing myself to leave, I noticed that one of the threads I'd been throwing around at random was still attached to my wrist. And it's connected to something that's stuck in one of the lower nets that I didn't crash through on my way down.

At first, I thought it was another rock, but it turns out to be a cage. A birdcage. "Why's this thing here?" were my thoughts at first before I noticed the black cloth flying in the air. Then it hit me. This cage is what the ghost knight from before was carrying! It must have been blown down here along with me. Geez, that mister knight needs to treat his belongings with more care. And everything else! Especially me!

Taking the cage away is gonna earn the ire of the knight...I think. Let's leave it be.........after just one little peek!

I climbed up the wall and looked onto the cage in the web. Inside it was...tch. Just a plain old crow? How boring. Not enough to risk my life over-

"Ahh, so this is where my life ends..."

Huh? Who said...?

"Kidnapped, dragged around, thrown into the wind, then finally, found by a vicious spider monster. Ahh, what a pitiful existence I am..."

...excuse me! What part of me is "vicious"?! You stupid birdy!!