Hidden Dungeon (1)
Hidden Dungeon (1)
He was caught in the blast and sent flying into the dungeon.
"Whoaa!"
A searing heat scorched his back. He rolled on the floor and steadied himself. Flames leapt beyond the spiral portal that was beginning to close.
A massive fire was engulfing everything.
As if that weren't enough, just as the aftermath of the explosion was about to enter the dungeon, the portal slammed shut and silence fell.
"Huuu..."
He breathed a sigh of relief.
'I'm alive.'
The red color in his vision is gone. But there's no reassurance. This is still inside a dungeon.
He doesn't know when or where death might strike.
"First..."
Redin began by assessing his physical condition.
There was a slight stinging sensation throughout his body and a dull ache in his back, but it was tolerable. He didn't have much trouble moving around.
Sigh!
Turning his attention back to Seria and Heather, he checked their status. They were both on the ground, unresponsive.
He walked over to them.
Quickly checking their breath and pulse.
Everything looks fine.
The shock seems to have knocked them out for a moment, but just in case, He activated the blood channels that boost their recovery.
This should help them regain consciousness quickly.
After confirming that neither was in any major danger, he looked around.
A dark night sky.
There was a single red moon.
Underneath the moon was a parched land, and above it was a cathedral-like building, with a tattered flag fluttering atop.
An inverted black cross.
There was only one place in the entire Bern Continent where this symbol was used.
The Demon Cult.
His eyes caught sight of a temple with all-black walls. There were carvings everywhere.
A bell tower was built next to the temple.
The pattern of a tower painted on a bell hanging in it.
"I'm in trouble."
There are several types of dungeons
Pawn-level dungeons, which contain the most common monsters you'll typically encounter.
Rook-level dungeons with bosses that specialize in Strong defenses.
Bishop-level dungeons with bosses that specialize in Psychic magic.
Knight-level dungeons with bosses that specialize in Devastating attacks.
A Queen-level dungeon with all three types of Specialized Bosses.
And then there's the King level dungeon, which has never been explored in the game.
The tower painted on the bell tower means Rook, which means that this dungeon has a defense-specific boss.
"What kind of bastard..."
There are certain named monsters that come to mind. From physical defensive bosses, to magical ones, to dual bosses that have both.
"It would be nice to have a boss that specializes in magic defense, but..."
That's just wishful thinking.
Just because it's a defense-specific boss doesn't mean there's no way to take it down, so he needs to go in, see what it is, and come up with a plan.
Whooosh!
When Redin turned his head at the sensation behind him, he saw Seria staring at him, her eyes wide open.
"This is... where are we?"
"A dungeon."
"A black dungeon, the kind that the Demon Cult supposedly makes?"
"That's right."
"Even if you're alive, you aren't."¹
Seria stood up from her seat and shifted slightly, checking herself and coming to stand beside him.
"What do we do now?"
"Kill the boss monster in there and get out."
"Is that as easy as it sounds? It'll take us at least a week to explore the dungeons, and we don't have any food or means of healing, which are the most important things."
"If we don't have it, we'll hunt for it."
"How?"
The poison toad is quite greedy.
And he's a calculating individual.
He didn't plant all those energy bombs just to kill the Burning Hell crew. He must have known about the existence of this dungeon.
If so,
"They'll crawl in by themselves, and we'll just have to wait patiently."
* * *
An old town in ruins.
A giant pit had been gouged out in the center, and the area was filled with collapsed buildings. Terry the Poison Toad marveled at the sight and spoke.
"Start."
The wizards waiting in the back cast a search spell. It wasn't long before they were using their magic to dig the pit.
"You know when you find it?"
"Yes."
Terry gave field instructions and moved to an abandoned building that had collapsed.
There were chairs and a table.
Simple fruit and wine were set out, and as Terry settled into his chair, the maid waiting beside him uncorked the wine.
glug glug glug!
Terry took a sip of wine.
"Mmm. Delicious."
He sat back, crossed his legs, and popped a green grape into his mouth as he stared at the ever-deepening pit.
Recently, he came across a record.
A record from the days of the Oberg Empire. It contained the diary of a mercenary leader who formed a mercenary group.
-We have recently recruited a mage, who claims he is a mage of the Oberg Empire and the gatekeeper of the empire's laboratories..
-We have received a request. The dungeon in the basement of Eleanor's estate is....
-Sent a few mages and swordsmen to...
-but they never returned, and the request failed. In the aftermath....
An underground dungeon in Eleanor's territory where the wizard who worked in the empire's laboratory entered.
To find it, Terry came to the old town.
After searching for quite some time, he couldn't find even the slightest trace. It was clear that whoever had tried to hide the dungeon had done something to it.
So they blew up the old town.
If you blow it up with a powerful explosion, you'll be able to find it with the Search Magic.
And now there's a reason to celebrate.
"I've found the dungeon!"
The pit widened, revealing a black dungeon. The corners of Terry's mouth turned up as he stared at it from the ruins.
"Vex."
A burly man came to Terry's side and knelt down.
“Did you call me?”
"The knights of the Bothaman estate will stand guard on the outskirts for a week or so. In the meantime, I want you to sweep the dungeon."
"Okay."
“If you can’t do it, tell me now.”
"I can."
"Then go."
Vex bowed his head and paced. He looked at the dozens of men gathered at the base of the ruined buildings and said.
"Let's go."
"Yes!"
The small procession followed Vex into the black dungeon. Looking down at the scene from above, Terry sipped his wine again.
"Then perhaps I should make an effort."
The object he was supposed to give Viscount Bothaman in exchange for blowing up the old town, and keeping the knights of the Bothaman estate on guard.
Time to go find it.
* * *
The Black Temple, where the boss monster will be.
Redin took up a position behind some rocks a short distance away. This is where he plans to hide and wait for a day or so.
“It seems like quite a bit of time has passed, but shouldn’t we move on now?”
Seria gave him a worried look.
For the fifth time already.
The appearance of urging every two hours was quite different from the image of Seria shown in the game.
It seems to be a similar case to Rebecca.
The Seria he knows is the Seria of five years from now, and the Seria of today is still a baby.
Although she is said to have trained her mind and body through all kinds of training since childhood, she has always operated from a position where she has an advantage.
Gather solid information.
Complete situational control.
It's unsettling to be dropped into an unfamiliar situation without being able to move around in it. She's never been in a dungeon before in her life.
Redin could see all those emotions written all over her face.
"If the people you mentioned don't come, we're just wasting time, and we need to find a way out of the dungeon now..."
"Think of it like this. If you go in now and get wounded, you could be killed by the next person to enter the dungeon."
Seria's mouth closed.
"Didn't you trust me enough to follow me here?"
"...."
"Then just hang in there. I don't intend to die here for nothing, either."
"What the hell do you trust that makes you so sure?"
"My experience."
Terry's personality tends to lean toward the impatient.
Once he has a plan, he moves quickly, and if he sends his men, they'll be in this dungeon within a day at least.
Rumbles!
Heather in the front, gripping his stomach, muttered something about dying.
"I'm hungry... I think I'm going to die."
He probably hasn't eaten since he was captured by the Magnes. They don't show that much mercy to their prisoners.
"Just a little...."
Just as he was about to tell him to wait, he felt a number of movements. Redin quickly turned his head to see where they were coming from.
A spiral portal that appeared in front of the Black Temple.
A group of people gathered in front of it. The burly man at the head of the group appeared to be the leader of the group.
Behind him, two mages with long staffs.
Six swordsmen bearing swords and shields.
At the end were three porters with heavy backpacks.
They made their way to the Black Temple. Once he was sure the last of the porters were no longer there, he stood up.
Seria and Heather, who were behind him, approached.
"Hey, they actually came? How is this possible?"
"F-Food... Is it Food?"
"Now is the important part. Remember the plan I told you about?"
Seria nodded.
"You go in first, pick up some supplies, and we'll start later. We'll eat what you find and focus on recovering our strength until you get back, right?"
"We need to move carefully, because if we rush in and accidentally draw their attention, things will be worse for us."
"I can do it."
Seria's eyes were full of confidence, and the anxiety she had shown earlier was gone.
That look in her eyes is reliable.
"Okay. I'll see you later."
Redin left them, and began to move.
Kicking the ground, he released his mana.
Using Ghost Walk, he stood before the Black Temple. He could sense the presence of many people through the slightly ajar doorway.
He waited in place for a while longer.
In general, you'll need a high-level Expert Intermediate Knight or a 4-circle Wizard to tackle a Rook level dungeon.
The composition of their group is ideal.
If there's a knight or a 5th circle wizard in there who's an Expert or higher, the difficulty of the raid will drop dramatically.
This means that the leader of the group is likely to be at least Expert Intermediate, and at most Advanced.
One wrong move and he could be discovered.
Even if there is a ghost walk, it's not completely undetectable, so it's best to move with caution.
"Huuu..."
He gauged the distance, keeping an eye on them, and stepped into the black temple. He could feel a gentle flow of magic.
[Resistance to Magic due to your Bloodline trait].
Redin dismissed the message and walked away.
Red moonlight streaming through the window illuminated the dilapidated hallway. It created a grotesque and terrifying ambiance.
Normally, he would have cursed out loud in fear, but his [Cold Heart] brought him a great deal of calm, instead of terror.
As they moved at a distance, the leader of the group began to pick up speed. Naturally, the porters were left behind.
There's no such concept as monster respawn, so if you're in the lead and take out all the monsters in the dungeon, there's no danger to the porters except for traps.
At this point, Redin decided to close the distance a bit more.
Up ahead, he could see a porter shaking in fear, shuffling his feet.
"Hey... guys... let's go together!"
"Why is this fucker who kills people afraid of ghosts?"
"Because he's an idiot, I guess. We're gonna go ahead."
Leaving him behind, the other two walk off into the hallway.
"Fuck!"
Redin approached the cursing porter and pulled off his hood. He checked his face and used the [Mask of the Dead].¹
"Wha... Ahhhh!"
"Shhh!"
He clamped his hand over the screaming porter's mouth and plunged his sword into his heart.
[The target was killed.]
[Harvesting the damned soul].
Throwing the body out the window, he pulled something to eat out of his backpack and set it aside.
Enough to feed a couple of people.
"Stop messing around and get over here, man."
"Connie, I'm seriously going to leave you behind."
At the sound from up ahead, he used the mask of the dead.
[Transforms into Connie's form].
“Wai… I'm on my way."
** ** **
TL/N:
1. Seria stating that even if they escaped the Magnes Organization since they're stuck in a Dungeon they aren't still scot free.
2. [Mask of the Dead] a Hidden Piece that transforms your face to a target you wish to kill, after killing the set target the user can freely use/transform to the killed target.