My Dungeon Comedy is Wrong, As Expected.

Author's note: Hello everyone, I'm finally back and with a backlog of chapters. Including the ones on Patreon, I'm 20 chapters ahead of the webnovel. There are already 10 on Patreon, and I have 10 more with me to ensure I don't miss a post and have time to catch up in case something happens. I will be posting 2 to 3 chapters per week. If it's 2, they will be on Sunday and Thursday, and if it's 3, they will be on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. I hope you enjoy the fic.

Hachiman's strategy was a razor's edge, desperate, yet terribly clear: isolate the Goliaths, take them down one at a time. Meanwhile, the other adventurers would hold back the second monster and the rising tide of horrors from the 19th floor. The Goliath, blinded by the Thunder Blade and foaming with rage from the 'Single Strike' that had torn its face, now hunted him with a sickening obsession, ignoring all other prey.

Hachiman tore through the dense vegetation of the eighteenth floor, the forest of ghostly trees and blue crystals blurring in his peripheral vision. The ground trembled beneath his feet with each colossal step of the Goliath on his heels. An icy chill ran down his spine – a sudden pressure in the air, a guttural sound swelling behind him. 'An air roar!', the realization hit him like a punch. The Goliath was about to unleash a sonic wave capable of pulverizing rocks.

With no time for a full dodge, Hachiman twisted his torso at the last instant. "Trace On!" A Thunder Blade materialized with the speed of thought, whizzing straight for the giant's open gullet. The unstable electric blade detonated with a blinding blue flash just as the roar was about to erupt, causing an internal convulsion in the monster's throat. The Goliath staggered, choking, the sonic attack aborted into a pathetic hiss.

Hachiman used the opening to sprint, gaining precious meters, but the respite was a mere breath. As he zigzagged between the trees, smaller monsters, attracted by the commotion or simply part of the damned invasion, sprouted from all sides. Kanshou and Bakuya danced in his hands with lethal precision. A Lygerfang leaped from a high rock, claws seeking his jugular; Bakuya ascended in a silver arc, splitting the beast in mid-air, a spray of black blood painting the pale leaves. A Lizardman with an obsidian spear emerged from behind a fallen log; Kanshou deflected the sharp point and, in a continuous flow, the reptilian head rolled across the ground.

Bugbears emerged in a pack from the sides, snarling, trying to close the encirclement. One of them, larger and more agile, almost hit him with a makeshift club, studded with sharp stones. Hachiman's free hand glowed. A mana dagger, overloaded to its limit, appeared and was thrown with explosive force. It embedded itself in the creature's chest with a wet THUMP, throwing it backward against a tree, which splintered in a shower of shards and monster dust.

But while he dispatched these minor threats, the Goliath, already recovering from its disorientation, its monstrous face regenerating in visible spasms, finally caught up to him. A gigantic slap, with the force of a landslide, came crashing down on him. Hachiman, squeezed between a particularly thick tree and the imminent attack, had no time to get out of the way. "Rho Aias!", the mental command was a silent scream. The seven petals of light bloomed, but he knew they wouldn't last long. The Goliath's slap shattered the first layer of the shield as if it were thin glass.

'I need space! Now!', Hachiman realized, cold sweat dripping down his temples. It was a matter of seconds. Taking advantage of the Goliath's brief distraction, as it focused its fury on breaking the remaining layers of Rho Aias, Hachiman dispelled the defensive projection and, in an agile move, launched two Thunder Blades directly into the giant's newly regenerated eyes. The Goliath roared, a sound of pure agony and surprise, instinctively recoiling, its hands going to its mutilated face. Hachiman used this opening to start running again, weaving through the forest, shredding the smaller monsters that dared to cross his path, while the blind and enraged Goliath followed him by sound and the trail of destruction.

He ran, a dark, ironic thought crossing his mind – this felt like a goddamn Souls-like on infernal difficulty. Hit and run, hit and run... for how long? – when a familiar voice cut through the chaos.

"Dragon Slayer! Over here!"

Asfi Al Andromeda appeared in the air beside him, propelled by her winged boots. "The mages are in position! We managed to gather a crowd in Rivira! Just waiting for your signal! The big one has to go down so they can aim without hitting you too!"

As she spoke, two swift shadows dived from the treetops above. Vouivres! The winged serpents, camouflaged by the dense foliage, attacked Asfi with reptilian cunning, catching her completely off guard as she focused on Hachiman. She reacted with lightning speed, her blades cutting through the air, but one of the Vouivres managed to sink its fangs into her shoulder, and the other tore deeply into her leg. Asfi screamed, the pain echoing through the clearing, and faltered in the air.

It was the opening the Goliath had been waiting for. With a guttural roar that seemed to come from the depths of hell, it lunged. Before Hachiman could even blink, one of its gigantic hands snatched Asfi in mid-air. She screamed again, a sharp, desperate sound, as the massive fingers closed around her like a vise.

'Shit! Shit! Shit!', Hachiman cursed internally. The Goliath was going to crush her like a rotten fruit. Without a shred of hesitation, he summoned Ningen Mukotsu. "Trace On!" The lethal white spear appeared in his hand. Channeling the crackling energy of 'Single Strike' into the weapon, he focused not on a sweep, but on a precise, concentrated, devastating cut. With a cry that tore his own throat, he leaped and delivered a brutal upward strike. The spear, imbued with the power to negate defenses and the concentrated force of 'Single Strike', sliced through the Goliath's gigantic hand holding Asfi as if it were made of wet cardboard.

The severed hand fell to the ground with a sickening thud, and Asfi plummeted with it. Hachiman caught her in mid-air, the impact of the fall jarring him. The Goliath roared, a sound of pure agony and indescribable fury, clutching the stump that gushed dark blood. Asfi was in terrible shape. Her arms were clearly crushed by the pressure of the Goliath's grip, and multiple wounds bled across her body.

"Asfi! Can you hear me?" Hachiman asked, his voice tense, instinctively shielding her as his eyes scanned the enraged Goliath and the horde of monsters that was beginning to approach again, drawn by the scent of blood.

"Y-yes... my arms... I don't... I don't feel them..." she moaned, pain reducing her voice to a thread.

The situation had just gone from terrible to catastrophic. Hachiman now had an injured and barely conscious Asfi to protect. With quick, precise movements, he pulled out one of his high-level healing potions from his spatial ring and, with difficulty, managed to make Asfi swallow the ruby liquid. The potion took effect almost instantly, relieving some of the excruciating pain and stabilizing her most severe injuries, but it was obvious she was out of commission. Her arms hung uselessly.

Carrying Asfi on his back as securely as he could improvise, Hachiman found himself quickly swallowed by an uncountable wave of monsters from the 19th floor, a hungry, howling swarm. Gripping Ningen Mukotsu with both hands, he took a deep breath, feeling the 'Savage Determination' burn in his veins like liquid fire, his eyes glowing with a sinister crimson light. With a powerful circular motion, supercharged by the energy of 'Single Strike', he unleashed a cutting whirlwind of pure destructive force. The spear spun around him like a storm of white steel, dismembering and obliterating every monster within a radius of several meters, leveling the area in an instant carnage, painting the forest floor with ichor and body parts.

Exhausted by the titanic effort, he prepared to swallow another high-level mana potion. His body screamed in protest, at its absolute limit. 'This... must be the second to last mana potion my body can handle today,' he thought, the memory of potion consumption limits and their dangerous side effects lingering in his mind. 'And that's in theory. In practice, I'm already running on fumes.'

At the exact moment Hachiman was about to bring the potion to his lips, the Goliath (now with a single hand, but still incredibly dangerous, its face almost fully regenerated into a shapeless mass of flesh and hatred) attacked again, a cry of pure vengeance echoing through the mutilated forest. Hachiman reacted on pure instinct, trying to summon Rho Aias once more. The petals of light appeared, but this time... they were weak, translucent, almost ethereal. His mana was at rock bottom; he didn't have enough energy to sustain the true form of the legendary shield.

The Goliath's fists came like meteors towards them. The ghostly petals of Rho Aias were pierced as if made of smoke. There was no way to escape. There was no way to block.

Seeing he couldn't avoid the blow and protect Asfi at the same time, Hachiman made a split-second decision, driven by a primal instinct. He spun, cradling Asfi in his arms, shielding her with his own body, and turned his back to the Goliath's imminent attack. 'At least she...', was his last conscious thought, a whisper amidst the roar of destruction.

The impact was total, absolute. A crushing force that seemed capable of pulverizing mountains hit him squarely. Hachiman felt as if every bone in his body was shattering, his internal organs rupturing under the inconceivable pressure. He was thrown far, a rag doll under the fury of an angry god. The pain was so intense, so overwhelming, that the world became a red, agonizing blur. It was, with absolute certainty, a fatal blow.

But, unnoticed by anyone, in the millisecond before the Goliath's fist completely crushed him, a subtle metallic glint, almost invisible to the naked eye, ran through Hachiman's body. An aspect of tempered steel, an impossible resilience, emanating from the depths of his soul and his Falna. His Development Ability, 'Beloved by the Forge', had activated at the last possible instant.