Phase Three and the Demon Lord

“Host, the third phase of the dungeon has commenced. As the number of cleared rooms exceeds half, the disaster beasts have been further empowered, and the Demon Lord (BOSS) room has been generated.”

With the notification, the ground trembled slightly, much less than when Frost Snow Sovereign had violently breached the door earlier, so there was no risk of falling.

Red Spider Lily glanced at the minimap that Su Xiaoqian had placed in the upper right corner. On the upper left of the map, a small red icon of a horned figure appeared. Since that area remained unexplored, only its outline was visible, the interior still shrouded in darkness—no indication of what type of room it was.

This dungeon replicated the entire city. To have cleared half of it already impressed Red Spider Lily. She had no real sense of how much time had passed—the dungeon’s sky never changed—but it felt like quite a while.

“Also, Host, exceeding half is merely the minimum requirement to trigger the third phase.”

“Huh?” Red Spider Lily was puzzled. What was wrong with empowering the disaster beasts earlier? The dungeon seemed eager to throw every possible buff at them, the intruders.

“Once the Demon Lord room is generated and the boss inside is defeated, the dungeon will be cleared. According to the rules, all intruders within the area will be expelled from the dungeon, and it will enter a period of cooldown and sealing.”

As Su Xiaoqian explained this, Red Spider Lily’s expression shifted from confusion to complexity.

‘Wait… it can’t be what I’m thinking, right?’

****

There were a total of eighteen D-class superpowered squads in Hehe City. Twelve had shown up for this dungeon, which was a substantial turnout. Though not every squad was at full strength, those present had enough ability to protect themselves.

Add to that He Mo from the C-class squad ‘War Shadow’ and Frost Snow Sovereign.

In short, this lineup made it clear that the main objective—or at least the primary one—wasn’t rescuing Saint Lily.

Still, everyone had their own agenda. If they happened to encounter Saint Lily along the way, they would certainly lend a hand if possible.

After all, Saint Lily being in a disadvantaged position was deeply ingrained in everyone’s minds.

He Mo returned, looking as though he doubted his own existence. His first words, when he asked her, were: “Is Saint Lily really that strong?”

Tan Yuhan shrugged, indicating she had no idea either.

It seemed the world hadn’t changed—only Saint Lily had.

Had she gained experience from the dungeon, or had she been hiding her true strength all along?

Tan Yuhan suspected the latter. That ‘Lucky Garden’ team was universally absurdly powerful.

“Sister Lily!”

“Lily!”

“White Rose~”

And then she came back… bringing White Rose with her.

The promotional video had made a strong impression. The new captain of ‘Lucky Garden,’ who had once chased them relentlessly with storms, forcing them to flee, now looked utterly battered and beaten. Meanwhile, Saint Lily appeared completely unharmed.

That confirmed it even more.

Was she really that good an actress?

But that no longer mattered.

Tan Yuhan blinked, rubbing her chin. If this was the case, she had to make sure to hold onto the favor from Saint Lily.

“Where’s Red Spider Lily?” Saint Lily asked, looking around after handing White Rose over to Hyacinth.

“Have you seen her?”

****

Su Mo walked with her hands in her pockets, faint ripples in space as she swiftly passed over the dungeon’s rooms.

“Host, once the dungeon enters its sealing period, I think it will be very difficult to find an entrance again.”

“And if it accumulates enough power, it can rise and cover the original city. By then, finding the dungeon’s core will be extremely hard.”

Su Xiaoqian, nestled in Su Mo’s hood, spoke softly in her ear.

“Hey~ didn’t you say before that we couldn’t leave without breaking the core?” Su Mo said helplessly.

“But I didn’t expect the core to be such a coward,” Su Xiaoqian replied, half amused. After a moment, she added, “Maybe Frost Snow Sovereign was too terrifying! Even the second phase activation couldn’t stop her. So the core decided to sacrifice the rook to save the king—cutting off its own arm to survive!”

“Uh…” Su Mo clicked her tongue. “That dungeon core is way too smart.”

Right now, the core, like a flickering candle, had used a trap card similar to ‘Forced Ejection Device.’ When the monster with the highest attack on its field was destroyed, it activated, ejecting all enemy characters from the field and granting itself invincibility for a certain number of turns.

She glanced at her phone.

It was Hehe City’s official forum. About the arrangements for civilians and evacuation—still no official word.

She wondered what they were waiting for.

For Frost Snow Sovereign?

But the problem wasn’t her, was it? It was whether they wanted this dungeon or not.

If they did, they should get moving.

“Little Qian, what do you think are the chances of evacuation being arranged if Frost Snow Sovereign succeeds?”

“Host, I think it’s low.”

“Wait, aren’t you a system? Why can’t you give me some real-looking data to convince me? How low is ‘low’?”

“Based on current models, the probability of civilians being evacuated is approximately 11.97%.”

“Wow~ really?”

“Fake.”

Su Mo was speechless. “Little Qian, you’ve learned to be naughty.”

****

An Lan stared at the tall creature before her—a humanoid figure with goat horns and a bare chest, sporting three pairs of bony wings.

“Mortal, to have come this far, I acknowledge your courage…”

But before it could finish its boss introduction, a giant icy hand grabbed it like a chick.

“Urgh… AHH!!!”

It clutched at the edge of the hand with both hands, black flames erupting from its body. “Mortal! How dare you interrupt the great Baphomet’s speech…”

An Lan looked at it calmly, then snapped her fingers. The black flames, instead of burning through the giant hand, were instantly frozen.

“How can you…”

And the creature itself was frozen solid.

But it was only frozen, not destroyed.

The boss of this large-scale dungeon was too weak. Was it because it hadn’t matured?

An Lan frowned. Too weak—she couldn’t expect anything good from it. Besides, she knew the rules: once she defeated this thing, she’d be forced to leave.

She had been in the mood, but ending it like this was far from satisfying.

The prey that had initially shown hostility toward her was probably still hiding.

Just being more cautious.

‘Where is it? Where are you?’

‘Surely a trap set for me wouldn’t end like this!’

‘Little prey, I’m getting tired of hide and seek~’ An Lan looked around.

‘Ah~ gotcha~’ She raised her hand, an ice sword forming in her grip. She stepped forward and slashed ahead.

Frost and ice-blue energy tore open a pitch-black space. A small white light sphere trembled, cowering in fear.

“Hmm…” An Lan frowned, showing disdain. “It’s the dungeon core? Tsk. Don’t do things that give the wrong impression if you’re not going to follow through.”

Clearly, An Lan had no intention of destroying it.

Though this dungeon run wasn’t great, she could wait and let it grow. Next time might be better—a better experience.

It was a large-scale dungeon, after all.

She was bloodthirsty, not stupid. She knew the difference between a one-time meal and sustainable harvests.

‘But if that hostile feeling came from this little thing, did I make a mistake?’ An Lan mused.

Suddenly, a beam of flame shot toward her from behind.

An ice shield rose, scattering the flames.

“I knew it. Little prey, you’re so mischievous!” An Lan turned around, smiling at Su Mo in the distance. “A perfect ambush—you completely concealed your killing intent. Too bad your target is me.”

“But the target wasn’t you~” Su Mo shrugged.

“?”

Realizing something, An Lan spun around. The scattered flames had already pierced the small white sphere repeatedly. It let out a whimper of reluctance before gradually turning gray.

“Then, Sovereign, see you next time~”

“SU MO!!!”