The twenty-seventh time! Herring slid to the side and dodged Gundyr's attack. Under its overwhelming might, the ground next to Herring cracked into pieces.

The ground on the entire square was covered with Herring's blood, along with the gullies and shattered stones smashed by Gundyr's halberd.

After dying twenty-seven times, Herring had figured out some of the combat rules of this Nightmare Dungeon.

One of the most important rules was that when she did the actions of sliding and rolling, she would be able to barely dodge the attacks from her enemy.

However, the recovery time for rolling was too long. Even though Herring had had special training, she chose the sliding action that had lower fault tolerance but was more flexible in the end.

Since she was good at using daggers, she was already familiar with sliding and dodging in reality.

However, no matter how familiar she was with the move, it wasn't a one-size-fits-all approach in front of Iudex Gundyr.

When the halberd hit the ground, Gundyr suddenly changed its strategy. It directly swept the halberd towards Herring.

Herring regained her footing and launched her offensive. Although she had avoided the blade, she was still hit by the body of the halberd.

A huge force threw Herring against a wall on the side.

"Ahem…"

Herring felt that her right arm had fractured, and her head was dizzy because of the clash.

However, she didn't dare let down her guard. While Gundyr was rushing over to her, Herring took out the glass bottle containing a liquid like Minute Maid from her back and poured it into her mouth.

Once the golden yellow liquid slid down her throat, the wounds on her body started to heal rapidly. She even felt that her consciousness and energy had been restored a lot.

This supplement bottle called element bottle was also the key to her being able to challenge Gundyr so many times.

The golden yellow liquid inside was enough for her to drink three times. Each sip could virtually revive Herring from death.

This time, her injury was a bit too serious, though.

Si. When Herring was about to take the second sip, Gundyr suddenly swung its halberd and broke the element bottle Herring was holding.

The golden yellow liquid inside splashed all over the ground. At this moment, Herring made contact with the eyes behind Gundyr's metal helmet. It seemed to be saying, "You still have the mood to drink juice?"

"Damn it!"

Breaking the element bottle in Herring's hands had thoroughly angered her. In a fit of rage, she left two deep gouges on Gundyr's helmet with her two daggers.

A lot of cracks spread around the two marks on Gundyr's helmet.

Was she winning?

No… Herring didn't lose her vigilance. The left side of Gundyr's armor suddenly shattered to pieces. A disgusting liquid burst out of the gaps of the armor, like some black and sticky oil. The liquid made a terrifying roar.

The liquid was alive!

This was Herring's third time seeing Gundyr's second stage. Hence, she was even more certain that the consciousness of this Nightmare Dungeon was behind this giant armor. In fact, this sticky, realistic liquid must be the consciousness itself.

Its power was divided into a hundred portions for killing the other Dream Eaters, which was why Herring had the chance to beat it.

This liquid creature called the Human Pus opened its giant mouth and bit Herring like a python, directly swallowing her. Herring didn't even have time to resist.

The two red words "YOU DIE" appeared before her eyes. Herring woke up next to the bonfire once again.

"Damn it!"

Herring hammered the ground next to the bonfire, stirring up a lot of ash. The torment of being killed twenty-eight times surged into her body, making her so painful that she held her body and twitched.

Herring curled up next to the bonfire just like that. She had no idea why she wanted to cry. This frustration of being defeated continuously, the anger of the wanton ridicule of her enemies, and the feeling of helplessness and despair enveloped her whole.

Her body, in reality, should have been severely injured as well…

This was truly an agonizing nightmare!

Herring, who was lying on the ground, saw a fire message burning in front of her eyes.

"Let me guess how many times Miss Herring has died? Twenty? Thirty? Forty? Or is she secretly hiding somewhere after bluffing? Anyway, it was truly an extremely stupid behavior to go challenge the guardian of a Nightmare Dungeon as a mortal."

This message made Herring struggle to get up. She didn't refute this guy… because she still had a dash of hope in her mind.

The feeling was strange. Iudex Gundyr was indeed powerful. It was so powerful that it could take Herring away in three attacks while she had to deliver countless slashes to kill it.

Understanding this point, she realized that this was a strong enemy that couldn't be defeated!

But the more she challenged and died under its halberd, the more a feeling grew stronger in her mind—Iudex Gundyr could be defeated!

She had rehearsed the opponent's fighting tactics and habits countless times in her mind. The more she died under Gundyr's halberd, the more damage she could cause to it when she challenged it again!

Herring didn't even touch Gundyr the first five times. Starting from the tenth time, Herring could only reduce one-tenth of its Health Points with the daggers in her hands.

And only one-fourth was reduced the twenty-first time. Now, she could force Gundyr to use its trump card, the Human Pus in its armor.

She could win! As long as she kept trying!

Herring walked through the mist door again with her broken and tired body. She stood in front of Iudex Gundyr, who had recovered as before, and split the dagger in her hand into two.

The thirty-eighth challenge began!

She forced the Human Pus out of Gundyr's body, just like last time. And once again, Herring got pushed down the cliff on the side.

When Herring was reborn, she noticed that these dark liquid creatures seemed to be afraid of fire?

So, finally, after dying fifty times, Herring looked at Iudex Gundyr, who had less than one-tenth of Health Points, before her. She shouted as she almost collapsed and sped towards the giant mouth of the Human Pus.

She was swallowed by the Human Pus again, but this time, Herring was well-prepared. A prop named a flame pot appeared in her hand.

"Go to Hell!"

Herring shouted out the three words that she had said countless times in her life but had never made her so emotional like today. After the flame pot exploded, the Human Pus was immediately reduced to ashes. She also landed on the ground again.

Iudex Gundyr, which had an enormous body and seemed like it couldn't be defeated at all, lost all its power and knelt in front of her, turning into a pile of residue.

She won. She had defeated this horrifying nightmare guardian!

Herring wanted to cheer at this moment at the top of her lungs. She even had an urge to cry. If someone was next to her, she would definitely hold him up and spin him in the air to celebrate this unforgettable moment.

And yet, nobody celebrated with her. The energy that surged out of Gundyr's body went into Herring's body, easing her exhaustion and pain caused by so many deaths. It made her feel warm.

That's it? It's gone?

After the rush of excitement, there was a strange sense of loss in Herring's mind. As if responding to her sense of loss, a closed-door on the other side of the square opened slowly.

She would be able to see the creator of this nightmare on the other side of the door? But before that…

Herring ran back to the bonfire and left a message there.

"I killed that nightmare guardian! Nobody can stand in my way now, not even Iudex Gundyr! You cowards, just wait for reinforcements to come!"

Herring's message immediately caused an explosion in the chatroom of the Dream Eater Team next to the bonfire.

"Captain really killed that nightmare guardian with her daggers? Looks like it's true! There's an achievement tag of 'Defeat Iudex Gundyr' below Captain's name!"

"She's indeed the captain I look up to!"

"Too… powerful. I'm willing to follow you until I die!"

One by one, the Dream Eaters of Team T confirmed that Herring… had truly killed that unbeatable Iudex Gundyr. Their minds were filled with a sense of pride all of a sudden.

It was especially when they were arguing with the Dream Eaters on the other team!

"Why are you yelling? Our captain cut the head off that unbeatable nightmare consciousness. What about your captain? Take a few bites of the ashes on the bonfire right now!"

So, the Dream Eaters of the other team, who were still arguing happily, all shut their mouths. Herring also relished how her subordinates bragged about her.

"Captain, can we go to challenge it too? Maybe we can meet in the Nightmare Dungeon later."

Some Dream Eaters who weren't afraid of dying wanted to give it a try.

"If you're not scared of dying, follow me! I'm going to have a good chat with the creator of this nightmare now."

Herring left after dropping this message.

The Dream Eaters of Team T were in high spirits. They all ran to fight with Iudex Gundyr. Most Dream Eaters were professional soldiers; they licked the blood on their swords.

Their captain had proved that Gundyr could be defeated by action! Then, they couldn't hide next to the bonfire and be a coward as well.

The Dream Eaters in the second team had the same thought.

"Captain, should we move?" a Dream Eater of the other team asked Karl.

"Don't do something stupid! A nightmare guardian isn't so easy to beat! That woman must have used some kind of tricks to kill it! Don't be fooled by her. Our first priority now is to preserve our combat power."

Karl comforted his team members in this way. After some time, the Dream Eaters of Team T came back to the bonfire, laughing like a madman.

"I killed Gundyr as well. It's easier than I thought! Who else is still staying next to the bonfire and can't even beat Gundyr?"

"I don't think there's anyone who can't beat Gundyr?"

At this moment, the Dream Eaters of Karl's team felt humiliated and couldn't bear it anymore. They also went to challenge Iudex Gundyr, who seemed to be unbeatable. In the end, they truly defeated Gundyr one after another.

"I command you to stay put!"

Karl instantly became anxious. The Dream Eaters under his command had defeated Gundyr after paying the price of dying multiple times. The damage would be reflected in the real world and they wouldn't be able to fight for a long time. There was even a possibility of dying altogether.

And yet… nobody listened to him. More and more messages from the Dream Eaters appeared next to the bonfire, saying that they got the achievement of "Defeat Iudex Gundyr."

Karl's message, which had no notice of achievement below it at all since the beginning, was… remarkably conspicuous.

"I suggest that those who can't beat Iudex Gundyr before the ten hours of invasion time ends should leave the team themselves. Don't embarrass the Dream Eaters."

A new message soon appeared next to the bonfire, making Karl so furious that he almost put out the bonfire in front of him.

"Bastard!"

Was it something impressive to beat a nightmare guardian with a mortal body?

Sorry, it was truly impressive, so impressive that these Dream Eaters proudly wanted to show off to people everywhere after they won.