“Release our limiters?” The warrior who was sitting repeated. He was in slight shock, this was only the first floor but they had to release their limiters?

The warrior did not think about it too long, and quickly removed the earing he wore. The other three followed suit. Though one might wonder what could a tiny possible earring do? However, the change was too obvious. The air about them completely changed after they removed the earring. The four then dived into battle.

It was five versus two thousand.

If the warriors were fast before, then their current speed and strength was on a whole new level. In a single second, the warriors were able to cover hundreds of meters of distance. They were rushing through the lines of the marching orcs, stabbing and killing each orc as they passed it. With a single blow, they could easily tear apart an orc in half.

If one would say as expected from bulky warriors…then Crayford’s attacks would leave one in greater shock. Crayford was lifting orcs with a single hand and throwing them around as if he was holding a pillow. His ‘throw’ would send the orc nearly fifty feet away. It wouldn’t be wrong to say, he was indulging in a pillow-orc fight; where the pillow was an orc.

There was complete chaos on the battle field.

The orcs didn’t know, but unconsciously they stopped advancing a long time ago. They just couldn’t keep up with this party’s quick killing pace. Normally in a battle, when you lose one member another takes his spot. What do you do when you lose fifty at a time?

There were four Orc generals and they had no control over their orc armies…..mostly because they were insta-killed by Claire right in the first four seconds of the battle.

The terrifying demeanour of the Orcs was lost in a flash as the chaos ensued. If they swung their weapon, it only hit on of their own or thin air….and that was it. The next moment, the attacking orc would die.

The ‘five’ were nothing more than blurs as they streaked through the battlefield, leaving only a crimson trail behind them.

This battle wasn’t a battle any more but a one sided slaughter. The five were behaving as though they had been possessed by a great evil – they were smiling as they killed the orcs. There was even bits of casual banter doing rounds every time the explorers crossed paths with a fellow comrade. It appeared that they were keeping count of kills the most. Claire was winning with 847, Crayford was close behind with 600.

The five were no longer using their weapons but were using their bare hands to crush the skull of orcs.

The Orcs seeing this one sided slaughter began to tremble. Their skulls were thick and hard, further they wore high quality helmets….to see their fellow comrades’ skull being crushed so easily – how could they not tremble in fear?

It wasn’t just skull crushing but a simple punch was like a bullet shooting through the orcs’ body; creating holes in their oversized bodies could not be considered easy. However, these five were doing with such ease one could only believe that the orcs were weak.

It took a little over five minutes but the orcs had been wiped out.

“Well that was over rather quickly…” Crayford said as he wiped the blood off his fists.

“I win!” Claire happily shouted out, “1001!”

The scene of a beautiful maiden jumping up and down happily whilst being surrounded by piles of dead orcs could only be described as absurd.

Crayford smiled as looked back at her.

***

“What do we do now?” A tiny goblin asked Sora.

“They wiped away all five waves?” Sora asked calmly as ever as he watched flickering images in a crystal ball. It was a magical item that let Sora view recordings of the battle.

“Yes!” The tiny goblin replied back in panic. He was panicking for two reasons – one the imminent doom, two – the casual attitude of the new Gate Keeper.

“During the third wave, they appeared more stronger?” Sora asked, as he paused and looked up at the Goblin. The change in strength was too dramatic compared to their earlier movements.

“Yes, in the first two waves, they didn’t reveal their true strength.”

“Is that so…how very admirable of them….”

“They are now headed to the third floor…” The goblin added.

“Isn’t that the new boss floor?” Sora asked as he scratched his skeleton-chin.

“Yes…”

“Well then we still have plenty of time. There is nothing we need to be concerned about. There is still the fourth floor, they need to clear…”

“But there are no monsters left for the fourth floor! You sent all the monsters from the first five floors to attack in the first two!!” The goblin cried out. It made no sense, what was the point of having a floor if there were no monsters to defend it?

“Yes…I expected lower malice concentrations ….would work to our disadvantage….but there is nothing to worry about. On a side note, I was wondering, if there is something we can prepare for the fifth floor.”

The goblin looked hopeful, is the new Gatekeeper finally taking this seriously? Additional preparation for the fifth floor at last? So far other than a long maze, there is nothing on the fifth floor. Not even a trap. At least the fourth floor maze, also has traps, but the fifth floor? It is nothing more than a stroll in the park.

“Send some monsters who can create fireballs….”

‘A defense involving fireballs?’ The goblin wondered.

“Also, I need a beach chair and an parasol. You do know what a beach chair is right?”

The tiny goblin’s mouth was left dangling open when he heard the other requirements. Beach chair? Parasol? What the hell does this even have to do with our defences??

The tiny goblin never raised its concern; it simply bowed and carried out the request of the new GateKeeper.

Sora replayed the third wave battle scene. It was the wave where the ‘intruders’ suddenly levelled up. He was particularly paying attention to the actions of the intruders– removing of a tiny earring.

Could those accessories be some kind of power sealant?

Sora frowned when he saw that – he remembered seeing those types of accessories before….Feladonian soldiers wore the same thing as well? Well, whatever….