Floor 37.
A pair of red eyes glowed faintly in the encroaching darkness. The light lasted only a moment before vanishing again, swallowed by the shadows.
*WHOOSH!*
*PU-CHI!*
Charlie's reaction wasn't slow, but he was still a step too late. The next instant, a piercing and terrible pain slammed into his abdomen. His figure was thrown back hundreds of meters like a rag doll caught in a storm.
"Cough… What the hell was that…"
Charlie forced his body to stop tumbling in the air, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood that felt hot and bitter in his mouth.
He stared at the gaping wound in his stomach with profound shock.
"I actually got hurt… That means the enemy's attack just now reached rank B or higher, capable of penetrating the Armor of Fafnir."
This was the first time Charlie had encountered something capable of breaking the defense of the Armor of Fafnir.
"Now's not the time for too much thinking, Aishia is in danger."
Even from hundreds of meters away, with his extraordinary Six Eyes, Charlie saw the mysterious figure that had attacked him now shift its target to Aishia, who looked surprised but swiftly prepared to fight.
Unaffected by the Dungeon's perpetual darkness, Charlie could clearly see the enemy's form.
The monster had two arms and two legs. Its long, thin arms were strangely disproportionate to its body. Its legs were also long and thin, but bent backward at the joints. Strangely, its almost fleshless form was covered in a shell that at first glance looked like a layer of armor. It shimmered with an eerie purplish-dark blue light. From the base of its spine protruded a stiff, four-meter-long tail.
Its jagged head was identical to an animal skull, except for the deep red light shining within its two empty eye sockets.
If Charlie had to describe its overall appearance, he would call it a dinosaur fossil.
The most striking feature of the monster was its tusk-like claws. Extending from the ends of its six-fingered hand bones, the disproportionately long claws glittered with the same dark purple color as its shell, appearing as sharp as newly honed swords.
(Illustration of the mysterious monster's appearance).
"This monster isn't recorded in the Hera Record. How is that possible? The Hera Familia has explored the Dungeon up to Floor 71! Every type of monster they encountered should have been recorded in detail within the Hera Record!"
Unlike Charlie, who failed to react in time, Aishia put up a fierce resistance against the mysterious monster's attack.
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
"GROOOAAARRR!!!"
With swift and precise movements, Aishia dodged the terrifying claw slashes and launched a series of elemental attacks with Spirit Arts.
"Cura."
Meanwhile, Charlie seized this precious time to carefully analyze the monster while focusing his magical essence to heal the gaping wound in his stomach as quickly as possible.
It was a pity that such a dangerous monster wasn't listed in the Hera Record given to him by Goddess Hera, leaving him completely blind to the opponent's abilities and weaknesses.
"No wonder hundreds of adventurers die in the Dungeon every day. Anything can really happen in the depths of the Dungeon. Being an adventurer is an extremely dangerous job."
After a few moments passed, even though his Six Eyes had scanned the monster from head to claw tip, Charlie still couldn't find any relevant information about the creature before him. There was no record in his memory of such a monster.
Unknown to Charlie, the mysterious monster currently attacking him and Aishia was called a Juggernaut.
Even the Guild's comprehensive records lacked any information about a monster named Juggernaut. It was Ouranos himself who gave the name Juggernaut to that terrifying irregular, after its first appearance five years ago.
Generally, the Dungeon would not give birth to a Juggernaut except in very specific and extreme situations. There were two main conditions that had to be met for a Juggernaut to appear.
First, no matter how much damage was inflicted on the Upper Floors, the Dungeon would not issue any "wails" or even the slightest warning. This was because the zone near the surface was heavily influenced by Ouranos' will. Therefore, Ouranos had decreed that monsters like the Juggernaut should not be summoned to that relatively safe area.
Second, the absolute condition required for a Juggernaut to appear was that the level of damage to the Dungeon floor had to be extremely severe, reaching a point where the Dungeon's natural regeneration capabilities could no longer keep up with the repairs. If such a devastating level of damage occurred, then a Juggernaut would appear on the same floor as a defensive response.
In other words, a Juggernaut could not be summoned without actions that significantly damaged the Dungeon's structure itself. It was estimated that the Dungeon's structure had to be destroyed by at least 20% for that irregular monster to appear.
No one in Orario knew about this terrifying taboo of the Dungeon. Even among the gods who had descended to the lower world, only Ouranos, as the Dungeon's overseer, and Goddess Astraea, whose entire Familia was annihilated by the first appearance of a Juggernaut five years ago, knew of the monster's existence and terror.
Even as a Reincarnator who should have the advantage of information from his previous life, Charlie didn't know about the Juggernaut because he had only watched the first season of the Danmachi anime. Information about that irregular monster only appeared much later in the storyline.
So, he had no idea that Bell Cranel and Ryuu Lion would face the same terrifying monster he was currently facing in the future.
However, unbeknownst to Charlie, the Juggernaut standing before him at this moment was many times stronger than the Juggernaut that Bell would face in the future.
After all, the Juggernaut's potential strength varied greatly depending on the floor it appeared on, with deeper floors consistently producing far stronger and more dangerous monsters.
The Juggernaut that Bell would face appeared on Floor 27—the Lower Floors—while the Juggernaut currently threatening Charlie and Aishia's lives appeared on Floor 37—the Deep Floors.
The difference between the Lower Floors and the Deep Floors was significant! Monsters on the Deep Floors were inherently much stronger, faster, and possessed more lethal abilities compared to monsters on the Lower Floors.
Charlie and Aishia were facing a monster on a completely different level of danger than what Bell and Ryuu would face in the future!
*WHOOSH!*
After confirming that the wound on his stomach had closed, Charlie shot forward at full speed to help Aishia, who continued to fight fiercely but appeared to be on the defensive.
*SWOOSH!*
'So fast!'
Charlie was shocked as the Terminus Est slash he aimed at the Juggernaut was easily dodged by the monster.
*WHOOSH!* *WHOOSH!* *WHOOSH!*
The Juggernaut's figure moved so quickly that it only left faint purple streaks in the air.
Remaining vigilant, his Six Eyes moved rapidly, tracking the Juggernaut's elusive movements. Even with his extraordinary visual abilities, Charlie could barely keep up with the opponent's speed.
'That monster moves with unexpected agility for its seemingly rigid body.'
'It's faster than Revis!'
Revis was the strongest opponent Charlie had faced in the Danmachi World up to this point, so he used the woman as a scale of comparison.