Alex, Chuck, Renard, Dim Dim, and Lala spent two days inside the Dungeon of Beasts.

After great effort, they finally reached the Boss Room of the 20th Floor.

"Can we go home now?" Chuck asked. "We don’t have to beat the boss, right?"

"Of course, we can," Alex replied with a smile. "... Do you really think I’ll say that? Come on, and let’s get this over with. If you want to go home, let’s kill this boss first!"

Chuck heaved a deep sigh. He then glanced at his clothes, which were torn up in many places.

The clothes he wore weren’t ordinary. They had defensive enchantments cast on them, and yet they were still damaged. The brutal fights in the dungeon were proof that even with all of them working together, the enemies were monsters that couldn’t be underestimated.

Alex, despite his strong defense, didn’t escape unscathed in some encounters.

However, Chuck noticed that the young man’s presence seemed to have changed.

His gaze was now sharper. The way he fought seemed to have improved as well.

Renard was now practically topless since his clothes had long been torn apart during their journey. Even his pants seemed to be just an attack away from being discarded.

Of course, Chuck had asked the young man why he hadn’t worn any clothes, to which Renard only replied that clothes were expensive and that he planned to wear a new set of clothes only when they were about to leave the dungeon. Once again, Chuck was reminded of Renard’s stinginess.

The only one who seemed to be in perfect condition was Lala.

During battles, Alex and Dim Dim protected her, making sure that the little girl wasn’t hurt.

Little did they know that this decision touched her very much, making her regret the fact that she needed to go back home once they were done with the dungeon.

"Stop complaining," Renard said. "We’re going in."

The young man didn’t even wait for anyone’s reply as he pushed the entrance gate open.

Alex, Lala, and Chuck followed behind him, ready to face what was waiting for them on the other side.

As soon as they arrived, a buzzing sound immediately reached their ears.

A giant beehive could be seen in the distance. And from that same beehive, hundreds of Rank 1 and Rank 2 Killer Bees started to fly out of it.

While these monsters were weaker than them, their staggering numbers made up for it. The last Boss of the Dungeon of Beasts required multiple parties to clear it.

This was why twelve adventurer parties had been hired to clear the dungeon.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Chuck muttered. "What kind of nonsense is this?!"

"This dungeon only has twenty floors, Chuck," Alex said calmly. "Plus, this is the first time someone has challenged the final boss. Naturally, it will be the hardest battle anyone would face in the dungeon."

Before Chuck could voice ‌another complaint in response, a giant Killer Queen Bee emerged from the hive.

Renard, Chuck, and even Lala frowned after seeing the monster. A glance was enough for them to ascertain that it was very strong.

"It’s a Rank 6 Giant Killer Bee," Alex said as he summoned dozens of shields that hovered around his entire party. "Dim Dim, your priority is to kill that. Can you do it?"

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim saluted, and told its partner to leave the boss monster to it.

"Good." Alex nodded. "Everyone, we will all focus on defending while Dim Dim deals with the boss monster. Show it what you got, Dim Dim!"

"Dim!" The little bun then summoned a small magical shield before jumping on top of it.

It then summoned more shields around it, enchanting them with flames and steel spikes. Since the enemies were only Rank 1 and Rank 2 monsters, those were enough to take care of them.

"Chuck, use your strongest fire spell and don’t hold back!" Alex ordered. "Carve out a path for Dim Dim to charge!"

"Damn it! If I die here, I’ll haunt you, Alex!" Chuck shouted, but he still started chanting to gather enough magic power for his strongest attack.

However, their enemies wouldn’t allow him to finish his chanting so easily.

With a mighty screech from their Queen, the Killer Bees that were a meter big flew towards the teenagers with the intention of stinging them to death.

"Renard, don’t charge ahead and just focus on defense!" Alex ordered.

"Okay!" Renard replied as he braced himself for the incoming enemies that were too many for him to count.

Alex summoned dozens of shields and enchanted them with flames. When the bees were only dozens of meters away from them, he unleashed the shields for attack.

"Shield Chaser!" Alex pointed in front of him.

The shields flew at his command and collided with the bees, detonating at the point of impact.

Yet, despite that first wave of explosions, many bees still pushed through, closing the distance between them.

"Everguard! Full power!" Alex raised his shield, which suddenly increased its size. It then created a barrier that protected him and his friends, stopping the bees in their advance.

It didn’t take long before they were covered with countless bees that buzzed non-stop all around them.

The temperature was also gradually increasing as the bees used their swarm tactic ability called Bee Ball, which generated heat as they rapidly moved their wings.

This was the strategy they used in the wild whenever they fought bigger and stronger enemies who weren’t affected by their stingers.

"Chuck, anytime now!" Alex shouted as sweat streamed down his face.

"It’s ready!" Chuck shouted.

"Good!" Alex nodded. "Everyone, brace yourselves, I’m opening it up!"

Alex then raised his war hammer and slammed it on the ground.

"Grand Cross!"

A moment later, a radiant light rose up around him, annihilating the bees that covered his shield.

The moment it cleared up, Chuck unleashed his strongest spell, aiming it at the Queen Bee in the distance.

"Infernal Blast!" Chuck shouted.

Immediately, a searing beam of flames shot out from his hands, obliterating everything in its path.

At the exact moment the spell lost its strength, Dim Dim charged forward with its shields rotating around it.

It followed the path cleared up by Chuck’s attack, heading deep inside enemy territory.

Alex was a little worried about Dim‌. He was even tempted to use Shield Charge to follow it despite the swarm of bees blocking his path.

But right now, what he needed to do was believe in his partner, who had decided to fight alongside him.

A moment later, a blood-curdling screech reached their ears, and all the bees that tried to break past Alex’s defenses turned into black mist.

Countless cores soon dropped on the ground, creating a tinkling sound at the same time Alex heard a series of notification sounds go off in his head.

< Level Up! >

[Congratulations! You have now become a Rank 4 Oathkeeper!]

Several more notifications, including one about a new set of skills, appeared in front of Alex. However, he decided to set this matter aside for later and first looked at his friends, who had accompanied him on this difficult dungeon run.

Chuck’s legs had already turned to jelly as his adrenaline rush subsided. If not for Renard’s support, he might have already collapsed to the ground by now.

Renard caught him before he could fall, which was his way of thanking Chuck for his efforts earlier.

"We won nano!" Lala raised her hands and jumped in place.

But, thinking that wasn’t enough, she then jumped into Alex’s arms and hugged him tightly.

"Yes, we won," Alex said as he patted the little girl’s head. "Good work, Lala."

"Ehehe..." Lala smiled happily after hearing the praise.

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim called out to them from the giant bee hive.

The little bun told them that they could take it back home with them, and that the hive was actually filled with honey.

It was the First Dungeon Boss Clear reward for the Dungeon of Beasts. There was no doubt they’d earn a fortune from selling the extremely high quality honey.

Of course, Alex didn’t plan to sell all of the honey. He would give the rest to the girls, especially to Lotte and Lulu, who were in charge of cooking for everyone in the clubroom.

"By the way, are we going to take the Dungeon Core?" Chuck asked. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The dungeon spawned in the territory of his father. If they took the core, the dungeon would also disappear alongside it.

Although he didn’t have a good relationship with his father, the dungeon could bring great income to the Duchy and help its economy prosper.

"We won’t be taking it," Alex replied. "Don’t worry."

Chuck finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Alex’s decision. However, his next words almost made the young man faint.

"Why would we take it when we plan to return to this dungeon again?" Alex said matter-of-factly. "Wouldn’t that be a waste of experience points?"

Dim Dim and Lala giggled after seeing Chuck’s expression, while Renard only smiled faintly.

Fortunately, there was a teleportation circle that allowed those who conquered the 20th Floor to instantly return to the 1st Floor, saving them the trouble of returning by going through the upper floors once more.