The red sky greets us on the other side of the barrier. We're surrounded by tall buildings with an architectural style reminiscent of the place where I fought the plant monsters and the giant slime. If I'm not mistaken, this is the place I saw in the distance when I went to meet the Witches.
I can already feel multiple monsters nearby. None of them are visible since they seem to be hiding inside the ruined buildings, but I can spot a much larger and much more powerful creature roaming the streets a certain distance away. There's a lot of power here for me to absorb, and since normal adventurers only get a bit of it, the rest should go to me.
The last member of our group enters the dungeon, and the barrier closes back behind us. The leader walks ahead and says:
"Let's split into two groups for now. We'll need to do some cleaning if we don't want to get swarmed while we're putting the disruptor in the ground. If you meet any powerful monsters, use your company-issued device to call for help. Do not engage unless you're certain of your victory, understood?"
Everyone nods, and we then split into two parties, one around each healer. I can also heal, but they don't know that, so they don't see me as a third healer. I end up in the same group as Jeremy, which I'm happy about. I've never seen a level 100 adventurer fighting in person before, so this will be a nice learning experience. Meanwhile, the leader ends up in the other group.
We head towards a nearby building. As one of the adventurers is about to enter, I say:
"That one's empty. We're not going to find anything inside."
The whole group turns towards me, astonished. The adventurer who was about to enter asks me:
"How do you know that?"
"I can sense the magical power of creatures around me. The building over there is full, but I can't sense anything in this one."
"Isn't there supposed to be a rather restrictive range on that ability? How can you be confident there's nothing at the top here?"
"I can sense things further than average, so I can tell even the last floor here is empty."
I did manage to sense that wyvern all the way in the sky some time ago, after all. These buildings seem to be five to six floors tall, so it's well within my ability to get full coverage on them.
However, the rest of the group seems skeptical of my claim. Jeremy intervenes:
"I'll quickly check this building by myself, just to be safe. The rest of you move on to the next one, I'll catch up as soon as I can."
We all nod. He's level 100, so even if there were monsters in that building, he'd be able to handle them by himself. The monsters I can sense in the surrounding buildings are much weaker than us, so we don't have to worry about his absence putting us in danger.
When we reach the next building, I can feel the presence of monsters on the other side of the door. No doubt that they're waiting to ambush us. I let the others know and take the lead. I can tell where they are even without seeing them, allowing me to better react to their attack.
I grab my sword, open the door and enter the building. With my first step, two small and bald humanoids jump at me, wielding short spears. With a swift movement of my weapon, I repel both attacks and immediately counter by impaling one of the two. The other lands on the ground and launches a small orb of flames at me, which I dodge before also impaling it.
"Imps, uh?"
One of the adventurers, a Battle Mage, is looking at the small dead bodies on the floor.
"Not much we can do with those, but their tails are valuable. We might as well grab them."
Grabbing materials from monsters is normal for high-level adventurers, so that's going to be a bit different from usual for me. While he takes care of the first body and the rest of the group enters, I cut the tail off the second one.
We continue cleaning up the building by moving up the floors and killing the imps we find. Thanks to my ability to sense their presence, none of their ambushes work, and we reach the top without sustaining any injuries. Once we make it to the roof, I tell the rest of the group:
"This building is clear, I can't sense any more monsters. Let's make our way back down and move on to the next."
The others nod. They seem to have accepted my authority, despite me not even being part of their company. They seem to trust in my power now that I used it to protect them.
Down on the street, we see Jeremy walking towards this building. As expected, he's safe. I jump down to reach him faster. The adventurers who can follow me do so while the others take the stairs back.
"Just like you said, the building was empty. Your ability is very impressive."
"Thanks! We just finished cleaning up this one, and there are still quite a few..."
I'm interrupted when the large monster I detected earlier starts running in a straight line towards us, passing through buildings on its way. Did we make too much noise, or did something else cause it to become aggressive? It doesn't matter, we're going to have a really big creature attacking us in a few seconds.
I point in its direction and shout:
"Something's coming!"
Jeremy raises his shield just as the beast bursts out of a nearby building. It's running on four legs, and its back as well as the top of its head are covered by a thick layer of red hide shaped a bit like an armadillo's shell. The rest of its body is closer to a white color, and its general shape reminds me of the wolves and tigers from our world. It's not quite canine or feline, but it reminds me of both.
Obviously its belly will be its weak point, that outer layer of reinforced hide seems not only to be very tough by itself, but I can tell a large quantity of magical energy is currently reinforcing it.
Despite being on four legs, the creature is taller than us. It's quite massive all around.
The beast rushes towards us, and Jeremy intercepts it with a shield bash, pushing it aside and interrupting its movement. The rest of the group who were still inside the building come out and position themselves to fight.
If I'm not mistaken, this monster's level is in the 90s. Jeremy is stronger than it, but since he focuses on reinforcing his own body, he's unlikely to be able to pierce through its hide or deal any other significant damage, even in the weaker spots. That means it's up to the rest of us to exploit an opening he creates and get the job done.
The beast quickly regains its footing and rushes towards Jeremy, who raises his shield in response. Behind me, the mages start casting spells, while the other frontliner next to me prepares himself to rush forward.
Jeremy and the monster clash, and the latter pushes the former over a few meters before he finally manages to dig his heels in and stop it. As soon as they're immobile, the casters launch a salvo of fireballs and ice spikes while the rest of us rush forward. The projectiles hit first, and as I expected, only leave minimal damage on the surface of the creature's hide. We then hit it with our weapons. The Battle Mage's hammer bounces off without leaving a trace. On my end, by sending a lot of energy into my sword, way more than an ordinary Sword Fighter would be able to manage, I create a small cut. Blood starts dripping out, but it's quite shallow.
The monster attempts to slam us with its head, but we all manage to jump out of the way. Now freed, Jeremy positions himself between us and the monster before saying:
"That attack didn't seem very effective. Do you have anything else you can do, or do we try to regroup with the rest of the party?"
The Battle Mage responds:
"Its defense is too high, but I believe it is vulnerable to magic."
The beast, seemingly not interested in letting us converse further, rushes forward again, trying to bite Jeremy's head. The Defender pushes it back with his shield as the healer asks:
"What do you mean, vulnerable to magic? Our spells barely did anything!"
"It's compensating by weaving an anti-magic field around itself. If we can disrupt that, your spells should go through."
I try to focus on the monster. I'm not familiar with anti-magic fields, so it's entirely possible I missed it. It doesn't take me long to see it: the magic flowing through its shell isn't just physically reinforcing it, it's also creating some waves around it. That must be the field! In that case, the shell is the source.
Is there a way for me to disrupt that flow?
I think about the spells contained in the bracelets and collar I wore recently. Without an item, I can't force the disruptive effect onto another creature. However... I've been studying the brand on my own body enough to know how it remains on a person and impacts the energy within. While I don't understand it entirely yet, could it be possible for me to create my own magic-disrupting brand?
It's not going to be stable, but if it gives us even a second we can exploit, we might win. And it's not like I can't cast the spell multiple times if we need to try again.
I turn to the rest of the group as Jeremy intercepts another attack.
"I might have a way to disrupt the field, but it won't last long. Casters, make sure to blast the monster with everything you have on my signal. Battle Mage, if you have any spell to increase my speed or distract the monster, now's the time to use is."
"I can blind it."
"Perfect, do that."
As Jeremy pushes the monster back, we all position ourselves, ready to put my plan in action. As it starts running towards us, we start running towards it, and I start creating a brand of my own in my hand.
