Come to Think of It, It Made Sense

Come to think of it, it made sense. The Chimera prisoners here were high-level, possessed formidable combat power, and above all, were incredibly persistent. If there had been a boss monster, they would have found a way to deal with it somehow. But losing the key was something they couldn't do anything about!

The maze on the first basement floor was a powerful labyrinth constructed directly by the architects and mages of the Ancient Empire, and no detection magic worked inside it. To break through such a maze and find a key dropped within, one needed a divine Authority that transcended magic. Yes, indeed—the God of Luck!

'Hey...!'

Carbanog, always speaking its mind! Its words were technically correct. It was just that they left a bitter aftertaste.

'No wonder they welcomed me so warmly.'

"Now, Your Holiness! We have clearly witnessed your ability to find the main gate to the second floor directly! Please, find the key for us!"

"If it is Your Holiness, you can surely do it!"

The Chimera prisoners' eyes were filled with anticipation! It was his first time feeling so conflicted while receiving someone's high expectations.

"Alright, alright. I get it."

If he activated Akisus's Revelation, he could find... 'Wait. Didn't the second floor appear right away?'

Tae-hyun had broken through the first floor with Akisus's Revelation active! If the key had been there, and if finding it was the necessary path, a route to it should have appeared along the way... But instead, he had just arrived directly at the main gate of the second floor.

'What is this? Is it not on the first basement floor? Or is finding the key a bad move?' As Tae-hyun pondered, a sudden realization struck him. 'Come to think of it, didn't I obtain something recently?'

That was it. When he had gone outside to find the dragon's relic hidden by the three thieves in Frozeland, he had obtained the Key of the Ancient Empire Prison Fortress and the Sword of the Ancient Empire Prison Fortress Warden.

"...!"

The Incarnation and his God realized it and gasped in shock!

'What in the world...'

No wonder they couldn't find it for so long. It was outside, so of course they couldn't find it!

'Did the warden escape outside so the prisoners could never find it? How clever.'

Whoever the warden was, he was truly brilliant. He had escaped outside and buried the key and the sword deep within the snows of Frozeland. Because of that, the Chimera prisoners had been fruitlessly digging around for an agonizingly long time. If not for a stroke of sheer coincidence, Tae-hyun would have ended up wasting his time digging right alongside them.

'Carbanog. Just because you attribute everything to luck doesn't make it so.'

This was just a coincidence!

'Hmm. Anyway, what should I do now?'

Tae-hyun fell into deep thought. His party was currently waiting above, while he had descended with the Chimera prisoners. There was only one reason for this.

'I only brought these guys down because I thought it might be dangerous...'

Since the Chimera prisoners hadn't been able to break through for so long, he had assumed there was an incredibly powerful boss monster waiting below. The Chimera prisoners were essentially his meat shields! He had planned to assess the situation first before bringing his actual party down, but now that things had turned out like this, there was no reason not to bring them.

'No. Actually, it would be better to shake these guys off first and then enter the second floor.'

Since the second basement floor was the actual prison, it wouldn't be surprising if the Prince appeared. And he absolutely could not let the Chimera prisoners meet the Prince.

'I'll just meet the Bishop of the Archisus Church and then make a run for it!'

Tae-hyun's goal was clear. Once he secured the Archisus Church's Authority, he would sever all ties with these guys!

"Ah! A revelation from Akisus has descended!"

"!"

"!!"

"!!!!!"

The Chimera prisoners gasped in shock. A revelation from Akisus!

"C-could it be that we must slaughter each other from now on? Will a blessing descend upon the survivor?"

Just what do you guys think Akisus is?

"...What kind of crazy god would demand such a—no, that is not it. From this moment on, disperse across the first floor once again and search for the key!"

"But we have already searched hundreds of thousands of times...?"

"This time is different! Akisus has whispered to me. Trust in me!"

"Ohhhhh...!"

"Understood! We shall search again!"

Though they were half-mad Chimera prisoners, they obeyed Tae-hyun's words with absolute docility.

Scurry, scurry!

The Chimera prisoners scattered in all directions, plunging back into the depths of the first-floor labyrinth.

"Whew. Much cleaner now."

Time to bring the rest of the party down!

"This makes no sense! You belong to the Guild Alliance, so how could you possibly help Kim Tae-hyun?!"

First, denial.

"That's Kane! It really is Kim Tae-hyun who came! Argh! Kim Tae-hyun! Why are you helping a Guild Alliance bastard?! You're supposed to be a free spirit like us!"

'If Tae-hyun heard that, he'd beat them to a pulp.'

Next, anger.

"We know you haven't found the tablet yet! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Let's make a deal! We'll give you the tablet, so just hand over that Alcott bastard..."

Next, depression.

"We're finished! You idiot! Why did we have to flee to a place like this of all places?!"

Finally, acceptance!

The party whispered among themselves as they watched the trio's rapid emotional shift.

"Do those guys have some kind of emotional disorder?"

"Their mood swings are insanely fast."

"They must be crazy."

Meanwhile, Tae-hyun returned. Upon entering, he looked at the trio in confusion.

"Huh? Are they trying to copy Kane?"

"No, we're not!!"

Seeing the real Kim Tae-hyun, the three of them hung their heads in utter despair. The last thread of hope they had been clinging to had vanished.

"Whatever. We're going to clear the basement, so follow me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Let's bring those three along too."

"What are we going to use them for?"

"There are plenty of uses. We can use them as sacrifices, or even as bombs..."

Tae-hyun's nonchalant tone struck terror into the hearts of the trio. His completely emotionless demeanor was far more terrifying. He wasn't looking at them as human beings, but as some kind of resource!

After stealing the Dragon's Stone Tablet, the three of them had received all kinds of bloodthirsty threats.

But today, they realized that a completely emotionless attitude could be far more terrifying than any emotionally charged threat.

"Alright, let's move. You tied them up well, right?"

"Of course. It's not my first time doing this. Let's go, you criminals."

Kane urged them forward with excitement. Thinking about how these bastards had caused such a massive uproar across the continent made him want to hit them a few more times.

"H-Hey, Kane."

"What? Don't even think about asking to be untied or telling lies. It won't work on me."

"No, it's not that. How on earth did you adapt to having an extra arm... Urgh!"

"Shut your mouths, you bastards."

Of all the things they could ask, they had to bring up something so embarrassing!

"T-they're really here! It's the demons!"

At the Valley. The players looked at the demonic army appearing in the distance and fled in terror... Not. Because they already knew they were coming!

After the territory blasted advertisements dozens, hundreds, thousands of times, even those who initially had no interest were drawn in by the magic of word-of-mouth: "Whoa, is this demon hunt really that hot?""I'm telling you, it's the latest trend!"

Urgent message windows popped up all over the Valley! Players climbed onto the Valley's stone walls. The more proactive players entered one of the fortresses located outside the Valley.

"They're coming. Priests, we're counting on you!"

"Understood."

The high priests of the Archisus Church, who had been on standby, stepped forward in droves and began casting buffs indiscriminately on everyone.

At the same time, the chefs in the territory began handing out Weird Food to the players at random.

"Eat this before you fight!"

"Gag! Cough! Hic!"

"Hold it in! Just swallow it down!"

"Ugh, you call this food... Argh..."

"Just think of it as herbal medicine!"

"What's that?"

"They say there's a medicine like that in Korea! Just eat it! Kim Tae-hyun probably ate it too!"

"What? Is it a medicine that makes you good at games?"

The efficacy of Weird Food had long been proven. To fight, one had to eat! Furthermore, the blessings of the Archisus Church NPCs were nothing to scoff at. While the players' levels had generally risen, when these blessings stacked one after another...

"I-I've never landed three critical hits in a row before!"

"I wish I could get this buff every single time."

While the players completed their terrifying preparations, the demonic army approached the Valley.

Groooooooar!

The composition of the demonic army was diverse. Various beasts summoned from the Demon Realm. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Warlocks who worshipped demons. Warriors corrupted by evil energy. And commanding them all, high-ranking demons that had emerged from the Demon Realm! Their numbers were so staggering that even the Guild Alliance members who had come to spectate were left flabbergasted.

Superior Demons that easily looked to be over level 400 or 500 could be seen everywhere. Everyone knew how difficult it was for Superior Demons to cross over from the Demon Realm to the continent. This had clearly been prepared for a very long time!

The Guild Alliance prayed fervently. They desperately hoped Kim Tae-hyun would be ruined by this attack! Even if it was just half of how ruined they had been!

But there was one thing they were overlooking. While territory wars could be seen anywhere, a quest where a demonic army launched an invasion could only be witnessed here!

Millions of viewers flocked to the Valley! The Valley siege alone swept the top spots on the streaming platforms. What was most impressive was that it achieved this even in Kim Tae-hyun's absence! The fact that it could draw this much attention without Tae-hyun meant that the Valley had grown that much.

"This doesn't look like a prison at all."

"At this rate, it's practically a palace..."

The second basement floor was neither a maze nor a prison. It was cozy and beautifully decorated, resembling a room in a palace.

"Hmm. Can we take this main gate with us? I want to install it at the Valley's temple."

"If we could take it, that would be amazing. Just installing it at the entrance of the Great Temple or the Valley's main gate..."

"It would be perfect..."

Meanwhile, Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi were plotting something sinister. The technology of the Ancient Empire was truly marvelous. They possessed an incomparably sturdy main gate—one that the Chimera prisoners hadn't been able to breach for ages!

Its defense was on par with the golem they had encountered before! It had various attributes mixed together to prevent critical hits, and it even incorporated living components in places to defend against identical attacks. The only viable option was Engineering, but surprisingly, they had prepared for that as well. The components were finely segmented and blended together. To break this...

One would have to use Blacksmithing Skill to shatter the inanimate parts, use Engineering to detonate the living parts, and then shatter them again...

'It would take a horribly long time.'

Truly marvelous!

"Kim Tae-hyun! A golem appeared! A golem appeared!"

"Wave this sword at it, and if it still attacks, let me know then. I want to inspect this gate a bit more."

"Hey! Hey! That guy looks tough—wait, what? It's not attacking?"

Kane stared at the sword in surprise. Was it because of this warden's sword?