Chapter 194
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 194
“Turn Undead!”
At Elena’s cry, a light even more brilliant than before flooded the chamber.
Fwoosh—!
It was a flash of divine power as dazzling as the sun itself.
The ghouls melted away like ice cast into a furnace, collapsing into a viscous, sludgy mess on the floor. Soon, their remains were nothing more than a heap of skeletal remains.
A foul, piercing stench choked the air, but only for a moment. The corpses quickly dissolved into black particles and vanished into nothingness.
This time, the toll on her divine power was clearly significant. Elena wiped the sweat from her brow and exhaled sharply. “Whew... using it in succession like that is pretty tough.”
I nodded, rubbing my skin. It was still stinging from the collateral radiance of her divine magic.
“I’d imagine so.”
Elena had been shielding us from the dungeon’s debuffs with a divine barrier while simultaneously vaporizing thousands of monsters with wide-area spells. If she could wield that much power and still be perfectly fine, she wouldn't be human.
Shaaa—.
As the black particles sank into the ground, a red orb was left behind once again.
Unlike before, there were now two Guiding Stones. The two spheres resonated with one another, tugging at my senses and pointing in a specific direction.
“Looks like we’re taking the right door this time.”
In this endless loop of identical rooms, the Guiding Stones were our only compass. Following their lead, we moved into the next chamber.
The room we entered was structurally identical to the one we had just left.
Chloe asked, her voice tinged with exhaustion, “...How many more times do we have to do this?”
“Didn’t the stone tablet say twelve? We’ve cleared two, so ten more to go.”
“...”
I offered a reassuring look to the dumbfounded Chloe and Philip.
“Let’s rest for a bit before moving on. Elena needs time to recover her divine power, too.”
Even for Elena, divine power wasn't an infinite well. Although her total reserves, efficiency, and recovery rate were dozens of times greater than a typical priest’s, she was still a mortal with a physical body. If her ‘Mana Path’—the channel for her divinity—were to overload, it could be fatal.
It was a phenomenon similar to a mage’s mana backflow or a knight’s qi deviation. The only difference was the specific vessel being used: the Mana Path, the Mana Heart, or the Mana Hole.
After a short break, we proceeded to the next space and touched the stone tablet.
Just like before, the room reacted, and a massive swarm of mummies rose from the floor. They were corpses bound in ancient, rotting cloth. Through the swaying rags, I could see flesh that had dried and hardened into a blackened husk.
The preservation process must have been superior to the ghouls, as these monsters were stronger, faster, and possessed higher magic resistance. Furthermore, the bandages wrapped around them were imbued with magical properties, making them far more versatile. They could even extend the cloth like whips for mid-range attacks.
However, their numbers were half that of the ghouls—roughly a thousand.
The enemy count was halving with every room we cleared. I fell into thought, analyzing the pattern.
‘The monster ranks are increasing as their numbers are cut in half.’
The first room had four thousand. The second, two thousand. This time, one thousand. It was just an estimate, but the trend was clear.
As I pondered the dungeon’s mechanics, Chloe raised a question.
“But why are there mummies in the Meteor Archipelago? Dried mummies are usually found in desert regions.”
“Who knows?”
Lazy developers might have just recycled assets, or perhaps there was some deep dungeon lore I wasn't aware of. Or perhaps…
‘This entire space is an illusion, distorted by high-level magic.’
The spatial structure and monster placement of this Chrono Dungeon felt fundamentally different from a standard dungeon. I couldn't rule out the possibility that our current surroundings weren't even real.
Shaking off the thought, I took a step forward.
“Elena, we’ll help out this time.”
Once the enemies reached the level of mummies, wiping them out with a single wide-area spell became difficult. Their individual resistance and durability meant they wouldn't all go down in one hit. With their numbers down to a thousand, it was manageable enough to clear them through direct combat.
“Philip, protect Chloe.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
“Ciel, watch the rear.”
Ciel nodded, sliding on the gauntlets she had brought.
Kieeeh—!
With our roles set, we charged into the closing swarm of mummies.
Thwack—!
Ciel moved with fluid grace, shattering heads with her fists. Elena, also looking to conserve her divine power, stopped casting wide-area spells. Instead, she began to pummel the mummies directly, her hands and feet wreathed in golden energy.
She plowed through the undead like a bulldozer. When she threw a serious punch—
KABOOM—!
Dozens of mummies were sent flying by the sheer pressure of a single straight. It was a terrifyingly magnificent sight.
‘What kind of divine power shoots out like a ki blast?’
I made a mental note never to get on Elena’s bad side.
‘I can’t let them have all the fun.’
I joined the fray, using Enchantment Magic to bind the mummies’ feet and transmuting the floor into sharp stone spikes to impale them.
Thud-thud-thud—!
“Kieeek!”
There were many of them, but compared to the fishmen horde we had faced previously, this was a walk in the park.
“Hoo... hoo...”
The battle didn't last long. The area was soon cleared, leaving behind piles of burst flesh and torn rags. After a moment, the remains turned to dust and vanished, revealing another red orb.
We now had three stones in total. We were making steady progress.
The only problem was...
“I mean, it’s just mummies for now, but what’s going to show up later?”
As Chloe pointed out, the ranks were climbing: skeletons, ghouls, mummies. If this continued, I was both curious and concerned about what awaited us in the final stages.
I answered Chloe in a playful tone.
“Maybe a Bone Dragon will show up at the 12th stage?”
“Don’t say such scary things!”
“It’s fine. There’ll only be one of them by then.”
“Even one is not fine!”
She had a point. A Bone Dragon was a boss-level calamity that usually only appeared in the endgame. Even Elena would struggle against one at her current level.
After clearing the mummies, we leaned against a pillar for a brief rest. Philip chugged some water, wiped his mouth, and looked at me.
“But Sir Roen, at this rate, we won’t finish the exploration today.”
He was right. The Chrono Dungeon was a high-level zone, a tier above anything we had tackled before. It was only natural that it would take time. I didn't mind staying overnight, but Elena was a different story.
“Elena, will you be okay missing the service?”
Today was Saturday. Tomorrow was Sunday, and a mass was scheduled at Seintea. If we didn't finish today, she wouldn't make it back in time.
Elena shrugged, looking entirely unbothered.
“Oh, it’s fine. I’ll just take this chance to skip for once. It sounds like fun.”
There wasn't a trace of worry on her face. If anything, she looked a little thrilled at the prospect of a "legitimate" excuse to play hooky. It was like watching a straight-A student discover the joy of rebellion. I felt a twinge of guilt, wondering if I was being a bad influence.
Once we caught our breath, we pushed on.
In the fourth room, we were met by 500 Draugr—elite skeletons. In the fifth, 250 Specters—ghost-type monsters—attacked.
The Draugr were a hassle because of their heavy armor, but the Specters were instantly vaporized by Elena’s exorcism magic. It was a clear reminder that not all monsters were created equal; difficulty often depended on racial traits and elemental weaknesses. This was exactly why Elena had hired me for my knowledge of monster-slaying strategies.
Finally, we reached the sixth room.
This time, we were surrounded by empty suits of armor.
Living Armor. Sentinels that wandered the world without masters.
Elena unleashed her divine magic, but the spells simply skittered off the polished metal surfaces.
“My magic isn't working!”
“They must be enchanted.”
It felt similar to the magic armor Meyer had created. Though cruder, these suits clearly had divine resistance magic inscribed on them. Elena could break through if she poured enough raw power into it, but it would be a waste of her reserves.
“What should we do?”
“What else? We beat them down.”
We had to manually dismantle all 128 Living Armors. Unlike the previous waves, these were incredibly durable and their attacks were genuinely threatening. It was a grueling struggle.
The dark magic protecting the armor deflected most spells. Even when we smashed a limb, the suits would often pull themselves back together as long as their ‘mana core’ remained intact.
We eventually triumphed, but by the end of the sixth stage, the spike in difficulty was undeniable. I collected the Guiding Stone and wiped the sweat from my face.
“We should camp here for the night.”
Ciel and I could keep going, but if Elena became too exhausted to maintain the party’s protective barrier, we’d be in trouble. It was better to play it safe.
Philip plopped down against a pillar, looking drained. “Sir Roen, the enemies are getting so much stronger. Are we really going to be okay?”
“...I don’t know. It’s possible this straightforward approach isn't the intended solution.”
“But the pattern is so clear,” Chloe argued. “The stones increase, the enemies halve. If we do this six more times, we’re done, right?”
She was right about the pattern. Normally, one would assume following it would lead to the exit.
However...
“That might be exactly what the creator of this dungeon wants us to think.”
The most dangerous moment is when you believe you’ve found a sure path. We couldn't afford to be blind to other possibilities.
“Anyway, that’s enough overthinking for now. Let’s rest.”
I pulled camping gear from my subspace pouch: tents, sleeping bags, cooking tools, and rations. We sat in a circle near the stone tablet, set up our camp, and lit a fire in the center. The chamber was so vast that ventilation wasn't an issue.
As we huddled around the flames, Elena spoke up.
“This reminds me of the summer training camp.”
“Does it?”
“Yes. I wish I’d been on your team from the start, Roen. It was a shame we only got to work together for those last few days.”
Elena and I had been on opposing teams for most of that event, only joining forces right before the fishmen attack.
“I really wanted to use that cooling device you brought, too. It was so hot I had to take ice baths.”
“...”
So the cooling device was her true motivation.
We sat there, eating and chatting. Philip, mid-way through a chicken skewer, looked at me curiously. “Is it really true? The stories about the fishmen attack?”
“Of course it’s true.”
Rumors of the event had swept the continent, even prompting the Union to tighten security, but those who hadn't seen it firsthand remained skeptical. Without photos or video, it was hard for people to grasp the scale of the carnage.
Elena began to chatter excitedly.
“It’s all true, Philip! Roen was so cool back then. He charged straight into the enemy lines to save someone. Right, Ciel?”
“...”
Ciel gave a silent, slow nod.
Elena continued to recount the events of that day with infectious enthusiasm, while Ciel offered quiet confirmation. She described my "heroic deeds" with such flair that I actually felt my face heating up from embarrassment.
And so, the night in the dungeon deepened.
*
The next day.
After packing up, we headed to the next chamber. With tense expressions, we channeled mana into the pillar to summon the next wave.
If the pattern held, we expected something even more formidable than the Living Armor.
But what greeted us was...
Clatter—.
“...Skeletons?”
It was the same 4,096 skeletons we had defeated on the very first day.