“What’s an Alarm? Like a spell?” I asked.
She shot me an irritated look. “Every party who goes to the dungeon has a magical item that if you crack open producing a warning alarm and gives your position. Strong parties are expected to go to it and see if they can help, weak parties are expected to get away, as it indicates a very dangerous area. It’s the only way to be safe! You did bring an Alarm, didn’t you?”
“Wh- of course… of course, I did!” I declared, hiding my expression as I waved for the girls to remove her bonds.
The concern on her face that someone was in trouble didn’t seem like something she could fake. Either way, I didn’t get the vibe from her I got from Salicia, the Bandit King, so she was probably safe. I was going to ask her another question, but before I could say anything, she dashed off. I glanced at the girls. The ones with animal ears were holding them down cutely, clearly not liking the sound of the alarm. The alarm may drive away opportunistic monsters too, like an alarm on a house.
“Let’s go!” I finally said, waving the girls to follow me.
It was clear to me that the Alarm was coming from the floor below. We headed to the stairs and went down to the fifth floor. We didn’t need to go much farther before I could hear the sound of fighting. There was the shouting of people, the roar of a monster, and even the dungeon shook slightly after a certain explosion.
“Get ready,” I instructed the girls as we turned a corner.
At the end of it was a pair of men. They seemed familiar. Actually, they were the men who we had transported with from the Capitol city to Dirage. They had given us a warning about the dangers of the Great Dungeon. They were running from a massive creature that looked like a wolf, except that it was almost as large as the hallway. Despite this, it moved wicked fast. It had massive claws and teeth, and its hair seemed to be almost like that of a porcupine. It kept pouncing forward and knocking the men down. However, it then retreated, failing to kill them. It seemed to be toying with them instead of just killing them.
The ninja girl leaped from the shadows and fell between the creature and the men. “Run, I’ll distract this guy!”
The two men were already completely panicked after being toyed with by the monster, so they fled at full speed. As they came near they finally noticed us.
“What are you doing!” One called out breathily.
“Run! Before it gets you too!” The other called.
They didn’t wait to see if we followed, instead of racing down the hallway to get to the stairway leading up to the 4th floor. However, I was more concerned about the ninja girl. Looking back down the hallway, I could see her begin to toss out throwing knives, trying to cause the beast to fall back. It didn’t seem like she had the desire to defeat it at all. Rather, she wanted to distract it and then likely go into hiding.
However, when she turned to back up, she noticed us coming. She immediately threw out her hands.
“What are you doing here? Get away quickly! This is a boss variant! We can’t handle this!”
The wolf took advantage of her distraction and lept forward. She spun and tossed a dagger, but he skillfully blocked it using his porcupine hide. The wolf immediately swiped at her. She tried to draw her sword but failed. The swipe struck her, and she went flying back as blood gushed from her open wound. The wolf crouched down, about to pounce and finish the job.