Chapter 219 This Is Our Fight

Dungeon Spire— Thirtieth Floor

It only took a moment, no a mere instant.

The moment they entered the thirtieth floor, the air suddenly thickened as if some sort of unknown pressure pinned them to the ground. A cloud of thick smoke enveloped the entire floor, causing the others to blindly walk forward while Plunder took the lead. This was their last floor for the day, and after this they could finally return to the surface and rest for tomorrow.

"Don't let your guard down, not even for a second." Plunder said in a hushed tone while briefly glancing behind him. Receiving a couple of nods, he pressed forward, anticipating a monster to take the jump on him at any second.

Fwoooosh~! The smoke cleared as a light hissing sound could be heard from the corners of the room.

Monsters in humanoid form, wearing red and black robes surrounded the entire room while another monster in the shape of a giant orc sat on the throne on the other side. The robed-monsters had this frightening gaze and aura which was felt by the others as pressure. Plunder stopped short, extending his hand as a gesture that everyone else should stay behind him.

That's when the chant started.

...zan-bai... zan-bai...

zan-bai...

Slowly, the monsters on the edge of the room started dancing, waving their arms up and down in a rhythmic manner whilst chanting away the words Zanbai repeatedly. An intense gust of wind seemed to blow from above, pressing against Plunder and the others like a gravity manipulating skill. Even with their current superpower, they couldn't resist the gravity manipulation at all. Grunting, the group was pressed on the ground, lying on it like sitting ducks about to be slaughtered.

'What's going on?!' Plunder gritted his teeth in frustration.

... zan-bai... zan-bai...

zan-bai...

The chant intensified by the second, adding to the pressure that pushed everyone down, almost to the point where they felt like they were being flattened. At first, Splatoon summoned his robot army to shield the others from the pressure but as it turned out, everyone was affected no matter what they did. In the end, all they could do was support each other. While the healers tried to heal, the casters tried to give the entire group physical buffs.

"My power... it's not working." One of the casters called out.

"I... I can't heal." A healer uttered.

Seconds passed and the despair that everyone felt took a turn for the worst. Not only were they drained of energy, they also have no way of escaping the floor. They were stuck there, and the monsters didn't give them a break at all.

Crack!

"Aghk~! My arm! My arm!"

Crack!

"Kiiheuukk!!! It' hurts. I can't breathe."

Crack!

The longer they were affected by the pressure, the more cracks they heard coming out from each other. Their bones were reaching their limit, and due to their lack of energy, there was nothing they could do but wait for their bones to inevitably break. For the first time during the exploration, all of them felt utterly helpless.

"So this is what the best comes down to. How disappointing."

Gasp!

"T-the... the monster... did it just talk?" It was getting harder and harder for everyone to breathe let alone speak. It took all of Tatsuki's strength just to let those words out of his mouth.

Splatoon and the others nodded.

Without waiting for a response, the giant orc-like monster stood up and approached the group. "Are these really the strongest?" It commented before kicking Technomarine into oblivion.

.....

Back to the present.

"Stop this! Right now!" Satoshi screamed from afar while doing a t-pose.

Currently, Satoshi and Emma still hasn't given their report to the SAO. In fact, there aren't any exploration done to the Dimensional Portal aside from what they did. And yet, it seemed like the country was keen on getting rid of the Dimensional Portal altogether.

That's why Satoshi stood, or rather, floated in front of the battleships, trying to act tough in front of the countless cannons pointed at him. The group was a joint-partnership with the Japanese Government and the SAO, which made it more powerful than the usual army.

Even after all that, Satoshi stood in front of the group, knees buckling.

"Midoriyama Satoshi, son of the Midoriyama Duo, I wouldn't do this if I were you." One of the commanders screamed via a megaphone. "Please step aside."

"You can't do this! There's a forest on the other side of that portal!" Satoshi screamed back.

"We don't know what's in there! And we can't have another threat to our world while we're dealing with a Dungeon!" The commander returned.

No matter what the commander said, Satoshi didn't budge. Even Emma, who had been behind him this whole time, was beginning to get worried. With the two of them, there's no way they'd be able to stand up against such a massive army. If they were regular people, sure, they'd probably fare well against them but no, almost ninety percent of the group consisted of superheroes. If they're not superheroes, then they're probably supers— a general term for those with superpowers— who are part of the army.

"Satoshi, maybe we should go. I'm sure they'll changer their mind once they see what's on the other side." Emma tugged at Satoshi's sleeves and tried to persuade him.

"No, they have no plans of going over to the other side. If they had any intention of peace, then they wouldn't have brought that many battleships with them." Satoshi gritted his teeth. He dreaded to think of the bloodshed that would ensue if they allow the army to pass. "You don't have to join me here, Emma. You can leave if you want, this is my fight."

"No, this is our fight," Emma responded, standing atop the White Lion to get a better view of the army in front of her.

And just then, a couple of superheroes started flying at them, determined to bring them down.