Caught between a rock and a hard place, the branch guild leader ultimately ended up choosing to inform the headquarters in the Free States about the situation while also asking for them to send help. In the process, to ensure his own safety and position in the future after having essentially gone against the main branch of the adventurer guild in the Great Sky Kingdom, he made sure to also inform the headquarters about the involvement of the Holy Flower Sect and the main branch's inability to send any assistance to stop a potential dungeon breach.

Although this would paint the main branch in a rather bad light, it wasn't untrue and was indeed something that could be blamed on them, as the main job of the main branch was to monitor the overall situation of the kingdom and be on guard against factions like the Holy Flower Sect.

The main branch not only failed in this regard, but from information he had managed to get access to since stepping out of the Howling Caverns, the Howling Caverns wasn't the only dungeon that had been targeted, as three other dungeons inside the Great Sky Kingdom had been targeted as well.

Among them, two had entered a state like his own and had been able to deal with the interference of the Holy Flower Sect in time before they could cause an unexpected monster stampede and dungeon breach before they had any time to prepare. Developing into slowly growing monster stampedes that had to be stamped out before they could grow out of control and cause a dungeon breach.

In fact, among the two other dungeons in a similar situation to him, he could be considered in the worst state, as he only had a single A Rank Adventurer to rely on while the other two had at least three. More than enough to at least stabilize their situation for now.

As for the last of the dungeons… The Holy Flower Sect had been successful and caused an unexpected monster stampede that had breached the defenses of the guild and caused insurmountable casualties before the main branch had the time to respond and establish a defensive perimeter.

B Rank and A Rank monsters were plentiful, with S Rank Monsters also rumored to be hidden amidst the now monster infested city.

Faced with this kind of terrifying monster flood that threatened the safety of the entire kingdom. Not just the guild, it had drawn the full attention of the main branch and could be considered the main reason why there had been no adventurers around to help him out in stabilizing the Howling Caverns outside his old friend and a few B Rank Adventurers.

Normally, it should have been the main branch informing the headquarters and asking for additional help in this kind of situation and had honestly been what he had expected to be informed about along with the refusal for reinforcements, but the main branch clearly didn't want the headquarters to get involved. Forcing his hand, as he didn't plan to just twiddle his thumbs hoping that the situation would solve itself before the Howling Caverns Dungeon was breached.

"Haaa… I hope whoever is sent over by the headquarters will be able to lend a hand dealing with those in the capital when the time comes…" Silently sighing to himself as he looked out a nearby window towards the Howling Caverns located at the very heart of the Howling Cave City, the exhausted guild branch leader couldn't help hoping that whoever was sent over by the headquarters turned out to be someone able to help him avoid any potential retaliation from those in the capital after the situation was solved.

At the very least, given that he was likely to be the first one to inform the headquarters about the current difficult situation that the entirety of the Great Sky Kingdom branch of the guild found itself in, he was certain that he would at least receive direct protection from the guild and should be able to avoid losing his position.

The only problem he felt like he might end up running into was the fact that the one currently in charge of the guild's main branch at the capital city was the nephew of a prominent member of the Great Sky Kingdom's upper class.

Although the Great Sky Kingdom wouldn't normally get involved with the guild's internal politics, it could certainly step in after the situation calmed down and limit trade going through Howling Cave City and the help provided for rebuilding the damage that was done inside the dungeon to the guild's infrastructure.

After all, even though the guild was the one in charge of the entire situation, it wasn't entirely without the influence of the local power.

In this situation, the Great Sky Kingdom provided the guild with resources and manpower to help built up dungeon infrastructure, while the guild paid a special tax to the Great Sky Kingdom every year.

Let's not think about this for now… The important thing is to first stabilize the situation inside the dungeon. After all, even if I send out a letter asking for assistance from the headquarters, it will take weeks to reach all the way to the free states…

Shaking his head as he decided not to think about any of the problems he would end up facing in the future after the situation was solved, the branch guild leader focused his attention on stabilizing the situation and different ways to stall the inevitable. Planning to hold on for as long as possible. Drawing out the situation for reinforcement to show up from the headquarters.

As for the main branch solving the situation at the dungeon that had already been breached? He doubted that would happen, as the reports on the state of that dungeon made it clear that even the few S Rank Adventures stationed at the Great Sky Kingdom working together were unable to solve the situation in the short term.

…

[Gained 1670 Exp]

Hehe~ Got another one~

Rooar~

Unaware of the current desperate situation playing out above her as the third floor of the dungeon had already devolved into a state of complete chaos, Scaly let out an overjoyed and not so heroic sounding roar as she cut down a large deer type monster with her claws.

Ever since she had left the human city ruins, she wasted no time starting to hunt down any monster she encountered in the forest. Having already killing dozens of monsters since she had stepped back into the forest, though, she hadn't encountered a single branch eater during all this time.

Although she had no idea what had happened to them while she had been asleep, it was clear that it had been terrifying enough to force all of them into hiding, none of them daring to poke their head out to taunt arrogantly like they had done in the past.

As for the progress she had during this time…

Name: Scaly

Race: Young Tempest Dragon

Dragon blood: 21% (Common)

Level: 29/30, 77%

Mana Heart: First Circle

STR: 607 |VIT: 1087 | DEX: 879 | M: 1592

Magic: [Dragon Water Magic, lvl 6], [Ice Magic lvl 1], [Wind Magic, lvl 6], [Lightning Magic, lvl 2],

Skills: [Dragon Bloodline, lvl 4], [Dragon Flight, lvl 5], [Poison Resistance, lvl 4], [Dragon Claw Strike, lvl 8], [Dragon Breath (Water), lvl 3], [Corrosion Resistance, lvl 3], [Pain Resistance, lvl 5], [Swimming, lvl 4], [Dragon Heart, lvl 1], [Endless Vitality, lvl 1]

Overall, she was now only a little over twenty percent away from reaching level 30, something that would at most take another hour to accomplish with her current hunting speed. The main thing outside of her progress towards level 30 was her Dragon Claw Strike skill leveling up from 7 to 8.

By far her highest-level skill, something that was only archivable due to her main form of combat inside the forest being her claws instead of her water magic that would have been used in the past. Especially now that it has become far stronger after developing magic like the water blade spell.

The main reason for this had nothing to do with her wanting to train in close quarters combat but instead had to do with the simple fact that she viewed her mana as a valuable resource in case she ended up having to escape from the branch eater worm swarm again. After all, even if she hadn't seen any sign of the branch eaters, she had to be prepared for a worst-case scenario.

Not to mention, it didn't really make much of a difference for her when it came to what she used to kill monsters with. All that mattered to her was that she could kill the monster and gain experience from it.

Whenever a monster that couldn't be easily killed with her claws appeared, she would still resort to using her water magic to cut it down. The main important change in her combat style being that she was less reckless with how she used her mana.

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