Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

---Abyss Bridges---

After crushing the Stoic Twilight, Seth and Tatzel went on a long descent down a spiral staircase. Both had been looking forward to the next floor, but what came next was underwhelming.

"Another bridge?" Seth mumbled, lifting his eyebrows in slight surprise.

Before them appeared another bridge. It led across the same bottomless abyss. They could even see the previous bridge from below, however, they had been unable to see this one from above before. Seth couldn't see any details in the vision above, suggesting that what they saw above them was an illusion and the floors were not actually connected.

This second bridge was made of stone. Like the previous suspension bridge, this one also looked old and derelict, as if it had not been maintained for centuries. The stone railing had mostly broken away, part of the left and right rims of the bridge had, too. Seth even saw a brick or two missing right in the middle.

He couldn't help to suspect that, just like the brittle planks previously, some of the stones would give out under them, taking down anyone that happened to step or stand on them. Since the bridge was already so similar...

~Yes, the walls around us are full of winged creatures, too.~ Tatzel affirmed his suspicion.

<Stoic Twilight lv.95>

The creatures on the walls were the normal versions of the previous "boss". This bridge was essentially the same floor but with a higher difficulty. Like before, every time they made some progress on the bridge, a number of the Stoic Twilight on the walls would wake up and attack the bridge.

Landing on the bridge in a state of disrepair, they would try to lever out stones from its paving, or the foundation to make it ultimately collapse. Even if one said this was a higher difficulty version of the previous floor, the rise was not significant enough to change Seth's and Tatzel's strategy.

The flashes and explosions of magic filled the dark gorge, ending lives left and right. It became a little monotone to keep shooting at these clay pigeons, but the two spell slingers could hardly complain about the constant stream of experience.

The only thing Seth really disliked about this dungeon was that all bodies fell into the darkness below and couldn't be looted at all. Although he mourned for the lost materials, the lost souls hurt even a little more. Even if Seth wasn't going to harvest them, since he wanted the experience, there were still the ordinary drops, but they mostly fell into the abyss with the creatures.

At the end of this bridge waited a creature called <Valiant Twilight>, waving a sword made of shadows and awaiting them for a fight. Before Seth could act, Tatzel made his move and covered the miniboss in streams of lightning, killing it where it stood, without a valiant fight, or duel to speak of.

~Why are you looking at me like that, Mom? You took the last one, so this one was mine.~ he explained matter-of-factly.

The next "floors" went by in a similar fashion. Different kinds of bridges and stronger kinds of monsters started appearing throwing themselves at them, trying to destroy the crumbling bridges.

<Ding! You have leveled up! You are now lv.93!>

Four bridges and several hundred kills later, Seth gained another level. Although they had been rushing through these places, the blacksmith had to admit that the last one had become a little more challenging as more elites started appearing among the creatures attacking the bridge.

Ordinary mobs were already able to survive a few of their attacks already, Seth had to personally go into combat to stop them from breaking the bridge, instead of just firing quick spells. The dungeon also seemed to accustom to them, as the creatures that started to appear had a high resistance to fire and lightning despite being wind and darkness attributed.

The bard already knew that the abyss was supposed to be harder, but now he finally started feeling a little pressure that had him change the approach a little. They had turned to Seth in the role of tank and vanguard, while Tatzel took a little time to cast stronger spells, to keep the bridges safe while they walked across.

~Hehe, if this keeps going you definitely will need the help of the great me!~ Puffles teased them.

~Oh, really? How will the great Puffles move on these narrow bridges? The gorge is still a no-flight zone. You won't be able to enter aerial combat with them.~ Seth reminded the nightmare centipede of the small hole in his theory.

If Seth really summoned the giant centipede, the Ivicer was more likely to throw them off the bridge, than to be of any help.

~Puffles is too fat for the bridges.~ Tatzel summarized this point curtly.

~I can't believe you've done this!~ Puffles exclaimed incredulously.

~ I'm simply stating the truth.~ the snakelet countered gloating.

"When had they become so competitive?" Seth asked himself as he listened to their banter. It seemed like Puffles was also surprised by the Imugi's sudden attitude.

"Calm down, you two. I think we just rest here for now and continue once we had some sleep." Seth interrupted them. They had reached the start of the next bridge, which should have been their 6th floor.

Despite the fights not being that difficult, the bridges were extremely long and it was hard to estimate how long they had been walking through the darkness. Seth felt tired enough to take a nap before continuing.

The next moment a pair of golem knights appeared beside Seth to stand guard while they rested. He had left most golems at Minas Mar to make up for the field teams having a field trip, but he still took a few along for duties like this.

…

---Mushroom Dungeon---

"Maybe we should look for another dungeon..." Mike finally suggested.

After resting they had looked for a path to the next floor. The search didn't take long. Past the clearing where they found the boss, they found a rough earthen tunnel at the foot of a mushroom reef.

There was no staircase or anything, only a slippery dirt slope. They had followed it for a while before they reached a floor that didn't look any different from the previous floor. The monsters on the other hand were. And their difficulty made a huge jump.

<Fungus Knight lv.95(Elite)>

They had a humanoid size but were covered in the same mushroom armor as the Hyphen Hound, looking like humans overgrown with mushrooms. Like the boss, they were fast, strong, and resistant to fire and ice.

Even when they were weaker than the boss, they were an absolute pain to fight. After several battles, Mike finally made his suggestion. It was incredibly clear that they had terrible compatibility with this place. It would be easier to leave while they were still at the start and look for a different dungeon.

"Might not be the worst idea," Mina agreed slowly.

Seeing the power of the normal monsters on the second floor, they doubted they would be able to take on the boss of the second floor.

"It just has a terrible compatibility with us it takes too long, compared to the experience we gain," Lyxiss tried to justify their decision weakly. It was more for their own pride though. Despite their legendary items and divine powers, it was a fact that they were giving up.

The Abyss had gotten its first victory.

---Theater Dimension---

A hooded God slightly leaned over to the God in a gaudy robe covered in stars.

"Round Two got a little tougher. Are you already regretting betting with me?" the hood asked the robe mischievously.

He felt really happy that he managed to strike up a bet on Minas Mar's results in the holy land. He was absolutely confident, that they wouldn't have an easy time. The bet was simple. The system god bet that none of the people of Minas Mar that entered the abyss would die. The dungeon god bet against that. The stake was a...favor.

"What are you saying? They entered your heartland and are still getting through just fine. Wait for the time when they come back prepared. I doubt the next dungeon with pose such a hurdle," the system god answered confidently.

"Hmm, the next you say? You are still underestimating this dungeon."

The dungeon god only smiled knowingly.

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