Reverse Dungeon

“Fire!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ian gave the order. Louise and Sema immediately unleashed arrows and Water Balls in every direction.

A two-headed crocodile scrambled up the tree Ian was perched in. At the same time, Genea launched herself from the spire below. Kicking off the branches one after another like footholds, she shot upward before driving her heel down into the monster as she descended.

Thud!

One of the crocodile’s heads exploded. The remaining head shrieked and opened its jaws wide enough to swallow a person whole. Then its tongue lashed out, wrapping around Genea’s ankle.

“Hold on tight!”

“...!”

Genea instantly grabbed the beast’s upper jaw. The moment she held fast, Ian’s arrow tore straight into the crocodile’s throat.

Squish—crunch!

A burst of light erupted as the arrow punched through the roof of its mouth and burst out through the top of its skull. An instant later, the second head exploded as well. The sacred power and innate demonic energy inside the creature violently collided, killing it on the spot and scattering demonic energy into the air.

Genea kicked off the corpse, sending it crashing down into the burning swamp below.

“Lord Ian! Lord Ian!”

Sema shouted frantically. Ian wiped the sweat from his face.

“Yeah, I’m not dead.”

“That’s not what I mean! How are we supposed to escape?! We’re getting roasted too!”

“What kind of wizard are you?”

Ian barked out a laugh.

“Uh... a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Water Mage?!”

“Exactly.”

“...?”

Why was this lunatic wasting mana on the sea of fire below? Was he seriously trying to cool the air with a low-tier water spell?

“Water Ball!”

At last, Sema aimed in the correct direction.

Ian squeezed his eyes shut.

Splash!

The Water Ball smacked him directly in the face.

‘Is this idiot serious?’

A direct hit from Water Ball—a spell originally designed for combat.

“Argh! Sorry! Sorry! Water Ball! Water Ball!”

“...”

After graciously enduring Sema’s barrage, the party emerged from the inferno completely drenched. Thanks to the sloppy Water Balls, their HP hadn’t dropped much. The real problem was the burns.

Ding!

[You have been afflicted with ‘Burn’.]

Ding!

[The ‘Burn’ status has worsened.]

[The condition has escalated to ‘2nd Degree Burns’.]

‘Manageable.’

At least the Water Balls had cooled their bodies enough to stop the burns from worsening further.

“Mom!”

At that moment, Actus burst into view above Ian’s head. Ian nearly bulged his eyes out. Had the dragon finally decided to abandon them and flee into the wild?

Fortunately, that wasn’t it.

Actus spread his wings. His tiny body rapidly expanded until he was large enough to carry four people with ease.

“It’s too hot here. Let’s get out quickly. Climb on.”

“Actus!”

Ian suddenly shouted. The dragon flinched.

“W-What is it, mom?”

“Good job!”

‘Bringing him along was absolutely worth it.’

Actus’s tail wagged happily. A stray demon flying in the wrong direction instantly became a distant star in the sky.

The group climbed onto the dragon’s back. A few powerful beats of his enormous wings carried them high above the swamp and into the clear blue sky. Fresh air washed over them, gradually easing the burning debuffs.

“Phew...”

Ian wiped his overheated face with his cape.

Below them stretched a horrifying yet spectacular sight.

The swamp monsters desperately chased after the fleeing group. Winged creatures flapped frantically through the smoke, while the others clawed over trees with everything they had.

Whether they were pursuing Ian’s party or simply struggling to survive the catastrophe consuming the swamp was impossible to tell.

The Elf Rangers stared blankly at the chaos unfolding beneath them.

“M-My village... our beautiful village...”

“Goddess above...”

‘No...’

“What are you doing?! Run!”

Ian shouted, but it was as if they couldn’t hear him. Even if the sound reached their ears, their minds failed to process it. Their unfocused eyes stared into the flames.

Among the hellfire, Ian alone remained clear-headed.

“Keith!”

“Oh, Lord Ian. I’m relieved to see you’re safe.”

Keith stood atop the corpse of a gigantic monster floating above the swamp.

When had he killed that thing?

Still, Ian had known from the start that flames like these wouldn’t reduce Keith to ashes.

“Stop moping!”

“I wasn’t moping... Though I would appreciate being informed beforehand if you intend to do something like this again.”

“You knew how to dodge. Snap them out of it!”

“To be trusted so deeply is an honor...”

“I don’t have time to argue with you!”

“Argue with Lord Ian? Such a thing would be absurd...”

“Stop dragging every sentence out!”

Keith finally stopped bickering and began smacking the Elf Rangers awake.

The flood of monsters, the helplessness of watching villagers be devoured alive, the destruction of their home—

One disaster after another had shattered the Elf Rangers’ ability to think rationally. Keith hurled them evenly through the air, forcing them back to their senses.

“Ugh?!”

“Aagh! What are you doing—?!”

“Wind Spirit!”

One quick-thinking ranger caught the others with a current of air before they crashed, but everyone still looked dazed.

They stood outside the village barrier, staring numbly at the catastrophe unfolding within.

Black smoke billowed into the sky. Monsters swarmed through the flames like moths drawn to fire.

The air reeked of death.

Yet what finally captured their attention wasn’t the carnage below, but the enormous wings spreading across the heavens.

A dragon was flying overhead.

A legendary species believed to have vanished long ago.

The wise and mighty dragons had once secluded themselves deep within the forests, offering wisdom to those who sought them. Under their guidance, every race had coexisted peacefully, revering the dragons as sacred beings.

And the elves—blessed with long lives—still remembered them.

To the elves, dragons were not creatures of myth. The oldest among them had seen living dragons with their own eyes.

The wise guardians of nature.

The Elf Goddess had sent the World Tree to bring peace to the villages, and dragons to protect the forests.

It had been a beautiful age.

Then one day, as though it had all been an illusion, the dragons disappeared. Soon after came the era of the demon race, plunging the world into darkness.

But the shadow cast by this dragon was not dark.

It shone with brilliant light.

That radiance summoned a fresh wind that tore through the monsters below. The sharp-eyed Elf Rangers realized the human riding the dragon was responsible for it all.

The revelation struck them like lightning.

‘How is this possible?’

A human commanding a dragon.

Could such a being still be called human? Wrapped in divine power, purging the monstrous tide below...

“By the Goddess...”

Ranger Vice Commander Hiikan unconsciously whispered a prayer.

Could this person... be a messenger sent by the vanished Goddess herself?

Of course, Ian wasn’t actually commanding the dragon.

The enlarged Actus was simply struggling not to fall out of the sky during his very first flight.

And incidentally collecting experience points while he was at it.

‘Man, this is incredible.’

In the original prologue of Genea’s route, the village elves were overwhelmed and slaughtered by the swamp monsters. Only a handful survived long enough to escape.

That had been the intended opening sequence.

Genea herself could only begin moving after the attack was already over.

A dying ranger would crawl to the prison, unlock the door, and gasp, “Save the village elves...” before collapsing dead. Only then would the game begin, with the surviving elves fleeing deeper into the forest.

Ian reflected on it.

‘That was ridiculously harsh.’

Merging worlds had only cranked the difficulty higher and turned everything into complete chaos. Which lunatic had designed this?

Exactly the kind of thing a top-tier game company would pull.

Right. If they were going to wreck the balance and sabotage smooth progression, then boosting the leveling zones and handing out bonus rewards as compensation was only fair.

The Reverse Dungeon developers had done their job properly.

Squelch—thud!

Boom!

The Power of Purification collided with Momisia’s special fire arrows, shattering demons into pieces. Every fragment carried purifying energy, turning the impact zones into fields that cleansed monsters on contact.

Ian had known from the start that the individual monsters emerging from the swamp would be relatively weak. Truly powerful monsters rarely appeared in large numbers.

But mowing down huge waves of low-level enemies still translated into massive experience gains.

‘Ahahahaha!’

Ian nearly burst out laughing.

If Keith hadn’t grabbed the tail of the wildly acrobatic dragon and climbed aboard beside him, he probably would have.

Thump!

‘Is this man even human?’

Keith spoke in a perfectly serious tone.

“This creature is unstable as a mount. We should leave the area immediately.”

“Mom, throw this human off my back!”

Actus smacked his tail against his own back.

Slap!

“Ow!”

Louise ducked aside, leaving poor Sema to take the hit directly. He clutched his head in horror.

“W-Why me?!”

‘Completely thoughtless.’

Ian glanced down at the blazing sea of fire below.

Then he noticed something strange.

Something interesting was happening within the flames.