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Chapter 399 Monster Stampede [Part 2]

?Due to the speed of Ethan’s Water Snakes, they outpaced all the Adventurers who were trying to run to safety.

Unlike the others who could only run on the ground, Ethan’s water snakes could crawl on the walls, as well as on the ceiling, giving them better mobility without impeding others in their escape.

The last thing that Ethan wanted was to be caught in the rush of panic-stricken Adventurers who might lose their footing and trip.

If that happened, a domino effect would happen as the Adventurers running behind them would bump into them, making them fall on the ground as well.

This was something he wanted to avoid at all costs, so he decided to summon the Water Snakes for faster transportation.

Nicole, Samantha, and Lady Johanna didn’t need to worry about breathing inside because he made sure to leave a bubble of air inside the body of his Water Snakes, giving them plenty of air to breathe.

A journey that should have taken them a few hours to take, was completed in less than an hour.

After reaching their destination, Ethan dispersed the Water Snakes, making his teammates look at their surroundings in surprise.

“We’re back in the safe zone,” Samantha exclaimed. “Amazing.”

“Don’t be amazed,” Ethan stated. “We’re still not out of trouble. Although we are safe for now, it won’t change the fact that we cannot move forward because of the pack of Monsters, whose numbers will grow as time goes by. Nicole, do you have any suggestions?”

Nicole shook her head. “Right now, this is the safest place on the Seventh Floor. Of course, we can retreat to the Sixth Floor and escape back to the city. But I don’t want to do that. We will lose so much progress if we retreat.”

“Then what about our lives?” Lady Johanna asked. “Are you saying that we should stay here? A Monster Stampede is no joke. While it isn’t as critical as a Dungeon Outbreak, it is the second-highest cause of death among Veteran Adventurers.

“Right now, with Ethan’s powers, we can still make it back to safety and exit the Dungeon. If we stay here, those Monsters might camp outside of the safe zone. There’s also no telling if this place will continue to be safe as the Monster Stampede progresses.

“Remember this, there is no absolute law in the Dungeon that states that anywhere is safe. It just so happens that no Monsters frequent this place, making people call it a Safe Zone.”

Nicole frowned but didn’t reject Lady Johanna’s words and concern.

What the Elder said also made sense.

There was no guarantee that the “Safe Zone” would remain safe in the case of a Monster Stampede.

If she guessed wrongly, she, Ethan, Samantha, and Lady Johanna would all die because of her gamble.

Nicole closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She was the leader of this expedition, and her decision would determine whether they lived or died. Because of this, she thought about things calmly with a clear mind.

Ethan’s presence was reassuring, making her feel that he would give her all the time in the world to think of an answer.

Unfortunately, Nicole knew that she didn’t have all the time in the world.

She could already hear the screams of the Adventurers that were echoing across the Seventh Floor, and she didn’t know whether their screams were due to them fighting against the Monsters or being slaughtered by the Monsters, who had blocked their path of escape.

“Ethan, take us back to the surface,” Nicole said with a regretful sigh.

It took everything within her to make this decision, but in the end, she still chose the path of survival.

She couldn’t fall here, especially since her mother’s fate fell on her shoulders.

As long as she was alive, there was still hope.

The moment she died, her mother would follow her to the afterlife shortly thereafter.

Nicole was not only a strong-willed person, but she was also very ambitious.

She hated the life of mediocrity and looked down on people who were “content” with living mundane, ordinary lives.

She hated people without any drive or ambition to pursue greater heights because, for her, it was no different from waiting for your death.

Not moving was equivalent to stagnation.

And she, of all people, didn’t want to live that kind of life.

After hearing her decision, Ethan once again summoned his Water Snakes, who swallowed up the three ladies.

A moment later, he controlled them and sped up to the higher floors, warning all Adventurers that he passed by that a Monster Stampede was happening on the lower floors.

Beads of sweat started to form on Ethan’s forehead as he maneuvered through the Dungeon with the fastest speed that he could muster without endangering his life, his teammates’s lives, and the lives of other people.

Controlling the Four Snakes for such long periods of time was putting a strain on his physical and mental strength. Not to mention that his Magical Reserves were also being used up at a rapid pace.

Even so, he didn’t stop and kept moving forward.

Similar to Nicole, there were people who were waiting for him back in the academy.

He couldn’t fall here.

Ethan would rather start from scratch than face a horde of Monsters, whose numbers would continue to grow in the hundreds.

That day, dozens of Adventurers died on the lower floors since they were unable to escape quickly enough before it was too late.

They would also find out a bit later that one of the candidates of the Heir Wars, Preston Asta, had teleported outside of the Dungeon sooner than them.

He was the first one that encountered the Orc Champion on the Ninth Floor, who had, for some reason, rallied all the Orcs and High Orcs in the vicinity, attacking all the Adventurers who were unlucky enough to cross their path.

He knew that it was impossible to fight hundreds of Orcs, so he did the only thing he could do and that was to escape for the sake of living another day.

The Elder, who had gone along with him, also carried a teleportation crystal, which he had purchased for a very high price.

Preston’s bodyguards managed to survive as well since both of them were Wizards who specialized in Wind Magic.

After creating a gust of Wind that blew away their opponents, both of them flew back to the upper floors with the fastest speed they could muster.

Nicole’s and Luca’s groups weren’t able to meet with them because the Wizards took a different route to reach the Fifth Floor, which was far from the route that the two teenagers had taken.

Because of this, they didn’t know that they were about to have a collision with an Orc Army, which was led by the Orc Champion whose sole purpose was to slaughter all the Humans that stood in its way.

Nearly half a day later, Ethan managed to bring his group out of the Dungeon before almost collapsing on the ground due to exhaustion.

Nicole and Samantha hurriedly supported his body to prevent him from falling to the ground.

Meanwhile, Lady Johanna noticed that the Guards who were usually stationed outside the Dungeon were missing.

‘Perhaps they already knew of the danger that is coming from the lower floors,’ Lady Johanna thought as she helped the girls support Ethan back to the Town, where the Town’s Guards had already raised the gate to prevent the Orc Army from setting foot in the city.

Fortunately, the Witches didn’t have any problems with this arrangement and simply used their flying brooms to fly over the City Wall and return to the inn to let Ethan rest.

While this was happening, the Adventurers and the Guards stationed in the city were preparing for a possible Dungeon Outbreak.

Although the likelihood of that happening was low, they still didn’t dare to casually rule out this possibility.

Everyone who could fight was mobilized to fight, and those who couldn’t were forced to pray that the worst-case scenario of a Dungeon Outbreak wouldn\'t come to pass.

They were ill-equipped to handle such an Outbreak, and only the Army of the Capital would be able to deal with such an event.

While all of this was happening, Ethan was resting in his room and trying to recover his strength for what was about to come.