Chapter 193
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 193
After squeezing through the narrow gap, we successfully made it inside the dungeon.
Elena brushed the dust from her knees and palms as she emerged from the hole.
“Well, this is a new experience.”
“Everyone should try it at least once in their life. The barrier, please.”
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes for a moment, brought her hands together, and manifested a barrier around us.
Shaaa—
A shimmering, transparent dome enveloped our surroundings.
Since this magic was cast on the space itself rather than a specific target, it didn't cause me any discomfort. Of course, divine power was still divine power, so I felt a slight chill, like standing next to a wall of ice.
Philip pointed to the holy barrier and asked, “Why are we doing this?”
“If you’re curious, step outside for a second.”
“As you wish.”
Philip nodded and stepped beyond Elena’s barrier. He moved his arms and legs around experimentally before looking back at me. “I don’t feel anything strange.”
“Just stand still. You’ll feel it soon enough.”
“Hmm, now that you mention it, my body does feel a bit sluggish…”
Hit by the dungeon’s debuff, Philip’s agility was steadily dropping.
“It’s not just a feeling. You’re actually slowing down. Without the protection of Elena’s barrier, the dungeon’s curse will eventually render you immobile. Get back inside, quickly.”
“What?!”
At my warning, Philip scrambled back inside Elena’s barrier as if his tail were on fire.
Chloe let out a small laugh at the sight, then carefully surveyed our surroundings.
“This place feels different from other dungeons. It’s less like ancient ruins and… well, more like a tomb.”
“Sharp instincts. This place is essentially a massive cemetery.”
“It is?”
“Elena, can you feel it?”
Elena’s gaze turned cold as she stared into the darkness.
“Yes. A murky, stagnant energy fills this entire space.”
This dungeon was a colossal graveyard.
The debuff cast throughout the area, the ‘Gaze of Death,’ was rooted in its history.
The Meteor Archipelago—or the Dark Archipelago, as it was once known—was a land teeming with monsters, but there was once a tribe that managed to put down roots here. Their king, a worshiper of darkness, dreamed of eternal life and scoured the archipelago for a stone of immortality.
What he found instead was the ‘Cognitive Acceleration Stone.’
While it possessed the ability to manipulate time, it wasn't the artifact the king had hoped for; it couldn't prevent aging. It merely accelerated the mind, making a single moment feel like an eternity. In fact, because one’s body moved while others were perceived as stopped, the user would actually age faster than everyone else.
In the end, the king never obtained the eternal life he so desperately craved. After his death, thousands of his loyal tribespeople were buried alive with him. Their wrongful deaths festered into a deep-seated grudge—one that constantly pulled at any who entered the dungeon, trying to prevent them from ever leaving.
The debuff that continuously drained one’s agility until they could no longer move was a direct result of this lore.
This all happened in the distant past, long before the continent’s fugitives formed their underground city, but the massive tomb they built remains to this day in the form of this dungeon.
Of course, I didn't bother explaining any of this to the group.
Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
If they knew the truth, Philip and the students from Izelin might have sleepless nights knowing their academy was built directly on top of a mass grave.
‘But… this is a little different from what I remember.’
The dungeon’s interior felt slightly different from its depiction in the game. It bothered me a little, but I brushed it aside, figuring the discrepancy was because we had entered through a side passage instead of the official entrance.
Click—
Chloe took out her camera and, while snapping pictures of the interior, asked, “If this is a cemetery, will there be undead?”
“Yes. I didn’t bring Elena along just for her company.”
Elena was both the shield protecting us from the dungeon’s debuff and the sword that would strike down our enemies.
‘This time, it’ll be hard to appease their souls and fulfill their grudges like I did in the Spooky Dungeon.’
It would be nice if I could resolve it that easily, but undead were monsters with physical forms, not simple spirits. Though their bodies may have rotted away, they still possessed ‘flesh’—the link that tied them to this world. Even I couldn't just transfer their resentment and elevate their souls.
Elena nudged me with her elbow.
“Looks like I’ll be earning my keep and then some. To think I’d be fighting undead in a giant underground cemetery.”
“My apologies.”
“No, it’s been a while. I think I’ll let loose a little.”
Elena smiled and rolled up her sleeves, looking ready to unleash the power she had shown during the summer training camp.
“I’ll take the lead. Everyone, follow me.”
With the dependable Elena at the front, we ventured deeper into the dungeon.
The corridor was long and narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. The further we went, the more the air filled with an indescribable, ominous energy and a heavy mana that seemed to weigh on our limbs.
After navigating the winding corridor for some time, we arrived in a large chamber.
“This place is…”
It was a vast, square space enclosed by walls on all four sides. In the center of the room, a massive, stele-like pillar supported the ceiling.
To think a space this large could exist underground. It might have been the result of space distortion magic, or perhaps we were transported to a completely different location the moment we passed through the entrance.
Elena surveyed the eerie, fog-filled chamber and then looked at me. “Where to, Roen? There’s a door in front of us, and one on the left and right as well.”
In this large room, there was a door on each of the four walls. One for each cardinal direction—north, south, east, and west—making a total of four, including the one we had just entered through. The structure was so repetitive that it seemed like you could easily lose your way if you weren't careful.
Instead of answering, I took out a signal stone and placed it in the center of the room. The stone began to blink with a green light, illuminating the space. With this, we could find our way back even if we got turned around.
“For now… let’s go straight.”
Normally, I would have acted as the guide and led us through the dungeon without hesitation, but contrary to my expectations, the internal structure of this Chrono Dungeon had completely changed.
‘Has the lore been altered?’
It was a little unsettling, but with Elena here, there was no need to worry too much. Her divine magic would protect us from any trap the dungeon could throw at us. If you can’t clear a dungeon with an OP character like Elena in your party, you don’t deserve to be called a veteran player.
We passed the stele in the center of the room and opened the door on the opposite side.
Beyond the door, another chamber appeared.
It was a room with a stele-like pillar in the center and a door in the middle of each of the four surrounding walls. It looked identical to the space we had just passed through, as if we were looking at a reflection in a mirror.
“S-Sir Roen, what is this?”
“Is this a coincidence?”
In response to Philip and Ciel’s questions, I pointed behind us. It was a bit risky to proceed like this. It was better to go back and regroup for now.
“Let’s head back.”
We turned around and headed for the first room.
However…
“Huh? Sir Roen, the signal stone is gone!” Philip shouted.
The signal stone I had placed was nowhere to be found.
Philip ran forward and opened the door we had first used to enter the room. But beyond the door, instead of the long, narrow corridor we had come through, an identical cubic space awaited us.
Even our way out of the dungeon had vanished.
“N-No way!”
While Philip clutched his head in despair, Elena calmly asked Chloe for her professional opinion.
“Is this some kind of maze, Miss Chloe? Do you have any idea what’s going on?”
“I-I’ve never seen a dungeon of this type before. I’m sorry.”
As expected of our dungeon-crawling mascot, Chloe was of little help.
Ciel looked at me with expectant eyes.
“Sir Roen, do you know something?”
“…”
Normally, I would have confidently told them to just follow me, but the situation was different this time.
‘The dungeon’s layout has changed.’
This dungeon’s structure was different from when I had cleared it in the game. None of the other dungeons in Myrillin Saga had a layout like this.
I calmly pointed to the pillar in the center of the room.
“Let’s examine the stele first.”
That massive pillar was the only clue left in this space, aside from the walls and doors. Unless the dungeon’s designer had a truly twisted sense of humor, they would have left at least a minimal hint.
We cautiously approached the pillar and examined it closely.
Faint characters were engraved on its surface.
Chloe looked at them through her magnifying glasses before shaking her head.
“This is… a script I don’t recognize. I can’t even guess at a similar system. Could it be the writing of an isolated tribe?”
“So you know nothing.”
“It’s okay not to know everything!”
“Fine. I’ll decipher it.”
I placed my hand on the pillar and infused it with mana. A blue inscription appeared, glowing brightly on the stele’s surface.
I stared at it blankly, and the words began to flow from my mouth. Even though I didn't fully understand the language, the meaning was clear.
“Comfort the fallen souls. Twelve times. And I shall guide you to the correct path.”
“What does that mean?”
At Chloe’s question, I smirked.
“What do you think? Get ready to fight.”
At that exact moment—
Rustle—
The ground beneath us twitched, and a skeletal hand burst through the hardened floor.
Swoosh—
A monster rose, sand and dirt pouring from between its empty ribs. A skeleton.
If there had been only one, I would have scoffed and sent its skull flying with a single blow.
Crack— Crunch—
But soon, countless skeletons erupted from the ground, quickly surrounding us.
Clack— Clack—
The unsettling sound of hundreds, thousands of bones clattering together filled the air. With shambling, jerky movements, they gradually tightened their encirclement.
“M-Miss Chloe! Get behind me!”
Ever the knight, Philip drew his sword to protect the non-combatant Chloe, even as his body trembled.
Ciel silently assumed a fighting stance, while Elena watched the skeleton army with an unimpressed expression.
“My turn, I see.”
“Indeed.”
Elena raised a hand to the sky and shouted, “Turn Undead!”
FLASH—
Along with Elena’s clear voice, a pure white light illuminated the dark space.
As the brilliant flash lit up the room, the skeletons—which had been animated by little more than mana and lingering spirits—crumbled like sandcastles.
Crumble—
In the blink of an eye, the skeletons collapsed, forming a mountain of bones.
Of course, the skeletons weren't the only ones affected.
Although I wasn't undead, my skin tingled and I felt a wave of lethargy as Elena’s light touched me. The durability of my ring even decreased slightly.
Shaking off the eerie feeling, I looked at the bones piled high on the floor and grinned.
“AoE really is the best for clearing mobs.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Incredible performance.”
Elena placed her hands on her hips, looking proud.
“Thanks for the compliment. You have to be at least this good to be a candidate for sainthood. Besides, I didn't get to do much last time.”
It seemed she had been bothered by the fact that her divine magic wasn't very effective against the fishmen.
“How many do you think there were?”
“Thousands, at a glance.”
The vast space was filled with the bone fragments of skeletons. Even if they were just weak mobs, it would have taken a long time to defeat them one by one.
I was glad I brought Elena.
“They’re all defeated, but where do we go now?”
“Just wait.”
Shaaa—
After a moment, the bones piled on the floor dissolved into dust and vanished, leaving behind a single red orb.
I picked it up and examined it closely.
‘Not a mana stone… a guiding stone?’
I could feel a faint magnetic pull from it. It seemed to be pointing the way.
“Looks like it’s that way.”
We followed the guiding stone’s lead and passed through a door.
Beyond the door, an identical space appeared once again.
Seeing the familiar scene, Chloe asked with a dubious look, “Are you sure we came the right way?”
“Probably.”
There was no way to tell if we had even entered a different room.
There was only one way to find out.
I walked over to the pillar again and placed my hand on it.
As I prepared to infuse it with mana, Philip asked in a trembling voice, “Sir Roen, more skeletons aren't going to pop out, are they?”
“Who knows? Something scarier might appear. Be prepared.”
Vwoom—
As I poured mana into the pillar, the space began to vibrate again.
Rumble—
Grrrk—
This time, ghouls clawed their way out of the ground, one after another.
The difference between ghouls and skeletons was the rotten flesh clinging to their bones, animated by mana. As such, their stats, like strength and agility, were higher than a skeleton’s, and they were far more durable. They were a clear upgrade.
However.
‘There are fewer of them.’
Their numbers were clearly smaller than the thousands of skeletons we had just seen. About half, I estimated.
I looked around at the ghouls surrounding us and cautiously asked Elena, “Does Turn Undead work on these too?”
“Ghouls have a higher resistance to divine magic than skeletons.”
“So?”
Elena grinned and raised her hand.
“It just means I have to use a bit more divine power.”