Chapter 39
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Witch's Forest (1)
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"How many enemies are left?"
"...We're missing three."
"Damn it. They got away."
The battle had ended in victory, but Weylin let out a low sigh.
He seemed deeply bothered by the escaped foes.
But that concern didn't last long.
The hunter tracking teams soon spotted traces of the fugitives.
"That way."
It was none other than the portal that had appeared right when the Heavenly Sky Cult showed up.
The entrance to the hidden dungeon that Jun had triggered as a hidden piece.
"Looks like they went inside the dungeon."
"Tch. Should I not have used that spell?"
"No, not at all. We owe you our lives thanks to that."
It might have looked like they'd slipped away amid the confusion from Jun's magic, but without his intervention, the cursed hunters might not have survived.
Aware of this, the hunters shot Jun grateful looks instead.
"We checked the bodies just now, and it seems we've missed their leader—our main target."
"What about the curse shaman?"
"..."
He'd gotten away too, apparently.
With the core targets missing, the hunters were in a tough spot.
Not only would this not count as a proper mission completion, but they also couldn't predict what the enemy might do next.
"I know it's shameless to ask, but... could I request one favor?"
"Shoot."
"We'd like to follow you into the dungeon."
Was capturing the Heavenly Sky Cult that crucial?
Even for hunters, piggybacking on someone else's discovered dungeon was incredibly rude—they knew that full well.
Jun naturally turned to his team.
Colton nodded in acceptance, while Aiden seemed to be mulling it over.
Maya's gaze on Weylin felt oddly emotionless, for some reason.
"Do we absolutely have to catch them?"
"...Yes. There's some circumstances, but it's tied to our honor."
At that, Jun thought how convenient his Black Guard backstory was.
Explaining everything away with 'honor'—who even does that?
But questioning their honor here would sour their mood big time.
In the end, Jun accepted the request.
After all, three foes tough enough to challenge knights had slipped into the dungeon.
It was the safe choice.
"We've settled that, so now let's talk profit shares."
In the end, the hunters' cut was so pitiful that any mercenary would point and call them thugs worse than thugs.
But stepping into an undiscovered dungeon alone made it worthwhile for them.
Just the hidden dungeon intel could fetch a high price, and it'd boost their precious honor immensely.
"We've finally arrived..."
The Witch's Forest.
The hidden dungeon they'd entered after a proper rest.
Unlike the name, it wasn't a full forest—just a plain dotted with clusters of trees here and there.
"Is the destination that way?"
Jun nodded at Weylin's question.
Smoke was rising not far off.
"Then we'll advance in the same formation as before."
The smoke trailed toward a wooded area.
No telling when the Heavenly Sky Cult might pop out, so the hunters took point.
The lineup stayed the same: Jun in the center, Aiden and Maya guarding him, and Colton's mercenaries on rear guard.
Soon, they found the cabin where the smoke was coming from.
The difference? Bloodstains splattered everywhere around it.
"Good, no issues so far. But this..."
"It's their traces."
As Weylin said, the Heavenly Sky Cult clearly had business in this dungeon.
"Mercenary. Shall we head inside?"
"Please do."
At Jun's word, Weylin cautiously entered the cabin.
Blood trails everywhere. Torn bandages scattered about—they must've done emergency treatment here.
But even that had limits.
In the end, one hadn't made it.
"...The magic was stronger than expected. Shame it's just a grunt. Not the leader or the curse shaman."
"..."
Jun stared at the corpse, more than half-charred, then spoke.
"So now it's down to two left?"
"Probably. But this dungeon's weird. No monsters on the way in."
At Weylin's remark, Jun scanned the cabin.
Luckily, the Heavenly Sky Cult had been too busy treating wounds to touch the cabin's stuff.
"Long ago, a witch lived here."
"Just like the dungeon name."
"Yeah."
Jun turned to the roaring fireplace and spotted a single portrait above it.
Even Jun, no art expert, could tell it was masterfully painted.
Probably the cabin's owner.
A woman with purple hair sat demurely, smiling gently in the picture.
"According to an old tome I found—well, a game forum post—this was a witch's hideout. One day, a religious group came looking for her. Obviously to kill the witch."
But the witch wasn't one to go down easy.
Jun pulled a lever hidden behind the portrait.
Clunk—
"Her only wish was one thing: to live a full life in this forest. But the world denied her even that."
Rumble rumble rumble—!
A massive roar echoed from all sides.
No—from outside the cabin.
The entire forest shook.
"And the religious group overlooked one key fact: she wasn't just any witch."
Despite the massive earthquake outside, the cabin inside remained eerily still. What dissonance.
The forest view kept changing by the second. Trees uprooted like in a disaster, green earth erupting like volcanoes.
"No way she'd hidden here without defenses."
And then.
Far off, gray walls thrust up from the crumbling ground.
A wall encircling a 1km radius perfectly. Buildings popped up around the cabin too.
"The witch who secluded herself here for ages was actually from before ancient times—the mythic era. The last descendant of a group that once ruled the world."
Only now did the cabin start changing.
Furniture that seemed ordinary began emanating mana, and soon the windows reflected the scene beyond the walls.
And outside that view? Something even more shocking unfolded.
"W-What is that...?"
A roar echoed from the once-quiet cabin exterior.
The window clearly showed the source.
"Colossal Divine Soldiers. The mythic era's ultimate war machines, commanded by the witch's ancestors."
So massive, size was hard to gauge.
Compared to them, the golems from the Black Forest looked like kids' toys.
"D-Do we have to fight those?!"
Colton's voice trembled at the sheer scale, but Jun shook his head to reassure him.
"No way. That'd make this layer 8 difficulty, not 2. Those are allies, actually."
"A-Allies?"
"Yeah. This dungeon... it's a defense one."
"Defense? You mean a defensive battle?"
At the same moment, a horn blared from afar.
"The ancient religious group, Erbonac Order. That's the enemy we'll face here."
The Heavenly Sky Cult remnants were surely inside these walls too.
From now on, Jun and his party had to fight the incoming Erbonac Order—while watching their backs for the cult.
The dungeon 'Witch's Forest' was a hidden piece with its own unique story.
And the progression tied heavily into that story.
"Listen up—I'm explaining the strategy now."
Clearing 'Witch's Forest' was complex in many ways.
First off, the Colossal Divine Soldiers blocked the Erbonac Order waves. But not perfectly, so manpower was needed on the walls.
"Aiden and I will handle that."
"Just you two?"
Jun nodded at Colton's question.
"There are smaller golems inside the walls too."
Archer golems firing arrows, massive shield golems blocking entrances—they came standard.
"Of course, the Colossal Divine Soldiers aren't infinite power. Look at 'em—they guzzle energy."
"Y-Yeah..."
"So, Colton, you and your crew find the power sources."
"Power sources?"
"Yeah. Gather the mana stones scattered around the village. Bring 'em to the altar in that temple."
"We'll be running our asses off... But what if those Heavenly Sky pests show up?"
"I'll assign Maya to you."
Maya, nearing level 4's end, could handle them fine.
"Hrng. Just two, so it'll work. Got it!"
"What about us?"
Weylin asked with resolve, but...
Truth was, the hunters didn't have much to do here.
Jun had planned to clear it with his original team anyway.
And they weren't replacing the Colossal Divine Soldiers either, so he pointed to the vast village.
"You're still the trackers. Hunt down the Heavenly Sky Cult and eliminate variables."
"...Understood."
They'd already realized their limited role and accepted readily.
"Alright, to your positions."
Bwooooooo—!
Rumble rumble—!
"W-Wow..."
Standing before the gate, Aiden gaped at the battle outside the walls.
The Colossal Divine Soldiers loomed so high he had to crane his neck to see their faces. Each step shook the earth.
Five of them encircled and guarded the outer walls.
Facing them were holy knights in faintly glowing heavy armor.
A sight grand enough on a movie screen was now right before his eyes, stirring something in Jun too.
'Why do mech stories always get a guy's heart racing like this?'
He watched their clash alongside Aiden's similar awe for a moment.
Soon, holy knights pierced gaps in the light barrier ringing the walls and breached.
"Sunbae, they're coming!"
"No need to exert ourselves yet."
As Jun said, arrows downed the barrier-breakers.
But the arrows embedded in their chests were unnaturally huge.
"Can't even deflect those with a sword..."
"Golem-fired arrows."
Ballista-sized, they rendered armor and shields meaningless.
But the barrier cracks widened, enemy numbers doubling over time—outnumbered badly.
"Sunbae, what do we do?!"
We can't do jack. Grab some popcorn!
...No way to say that, so Jun pointed to a wall section.
"See those pipes? Load mana stones in there. It'll activate the magic cannons."
"Ah!"
Aiden bolted toward the magic cannon wall.
Jun watched him go with pity in his eyes.
"Royalty or whatever, the battlefield treats everyone equal..."
To Jun, Aiden looked just like any artillery grunt hauling shells.