Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Abandoned Mine (4)
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Ultimately, Galen's prediction was only half right.
In any case, his guess that the monsters appearing as the exploration progressed would become fewer but elite turned out spot on.
"Damn it. Who would've thought I'd miss those ugly rock monsters."
After the earth dolls showed up, a few more battles ensued.
Galen faintly overheard Veron muttering under his breath.
The rock monsters Veron was referring to were undoubtedly the mud golems.
They'd been a hassle, but exactly at a level that posed no real threat, so it was regrettable from the expedition's perspective that mud golems stopped appearing entirely at some point.
If the ruins' defense system was operating on something like artificial intelligence, it might have realized they were useless and stopped deploying them.
Once every monster that appeared was at least an earth doll, the expedition's advance slowed even further.
Earth dolls were still no big deal for Gold ranks, but they were quite threatening for Silvers.
With those things popping up from walls and floors, they had no choice but to struggle.
The Golds had to prioritize the earth dolls swarming from front and back, so they couldn't babysit everyone individually.
"What's this now?"
Even new variants of earth dolls started appearing at both front and rear.
They didn't have much personality. Just giant earth dolls molded from enough clay for three or four regular ones.
Fortunately, their strength didn't scale proportionally with their size. They were only a couple times stronger and faster.
So, roughly... troll level?
Of course, no Gold would flinch at a mere one or two trolls.
But trolls continuously sprouting from the ground was a different story.
"Goddamn ruins!"
Akanksha vented her frustration as she shattered a giant earth doll.
The standard number for ruins exploration was two to three Golds.
But that meant two or three Golds could comfortably clear a 'low-difficulty' ruin.
For a 'high-difficulty' one, that was the minimum needed to retreat without heavy losses.
This ruin seemed closer to the latter.
Their combined force was stronger than average despite the poor teamwork, and with the pride of both humans and earth fairies on the line, they kept pushing forward.
But the expedition was starting to tire. The leaders had noticed, and even the watching supervisors could tell.
Where Galen's prediction went wrong, however...
Was that the expedition still gritted their teeth and refused to ask for help.
"So stubborn... stubborn..."
Galen muttered so softly even he could barely hear it.
Lilia's ears perked up right beside him. The only one who caught it, she whispered with a smile.
"Everyone's working too hard, huh?"
"If only they'd slack off just a little."
They had moved to the center of the formation.
Ever since the giant earth dolls first appeared, the leaders had agreed this wasn't working and reorganized.
They scrapped the old setup of splitting humans and earth fairies lengthwise with supervisors at the rear.
Now, earth fairies up front, supervisors in the middle, humans in the back.
Front and rear duties would rotate fairly with each ambush.
This change made battles flow much smoother than before.
Golds no longer had to rush to the rear, so they could hunt leisurely in place. Orders reached Silvers instantly, and Silvers could form up easily since allies were grouped together.
It was a win for the expedition.
Galen, who had no grounds to complain, was just bored.
He did snag a few earth dolls popping up in the middle...
But they were few, and since he'd already said he wouldn't demand a share for light work, he couldn't exactly brag.
"I figured if they offered verbal help, I'd take just enough to avoid looking like a sucker, but looks like they won't give a dime. Do I really look like some highway robber?"
"Maybe prejudice against mercenaries? They say mercenaries love money."
"Is that really it?"
"They only met the Brothers a few days ago. No way they know what kind of people you are!"
True, they'd resented the supervisors' involvement from the start, so they might be even warier since Galen mentioned shares.
Forcing themselves like this could lead to accidents. That'd be a headache. They should pace themselves.
At least with little action, his mana was well conserved.
The only spell he'd used since entering was Spirit Creation, and plenty remained. Everything else was full.
'At least infighting between sides is unlikely now. Everyone's exhausted except me and Lilia...'
Of course, right now they needed to focus on clearing the ruin safely, not worry about friendly fractures.
Best case: expedition wears down before the boss, begs for help, Galen shines just enough to crack the boss pot.
One boss beat a thousand trash mobs for EXP, so even a light dip would satisfy him.
No way they'd wipe their mouths and deny his contribution.
Putting complaints aside for later, Galen waited.
The expedition finished another battle, tidied up, and pressed on.
How far did they go?
Not very.
"A bend up ahead! Stay sharp!"
Akanksha shouted from the front.
The expedition tensed.
Bends hadn't come often, but each right-angle turn felt like a difficulty spike.
Giant and regular earth doll combos were scary enough—what horrors awaited now?
But the sight around the bend was utterly unexpected.
"Ah...?"
The passage ended there.
Not blocked— it just wasn't a 'passage' anymore.
As if its sole purpose was guiding here.
"Whoa..."
Lilia gasped unwittingly.
The towering ceiling, unreachable even by a Gold warrior's leap, was speckled with self-luminous materials like a starry night sky.
Even the lack of starlight reaching the ground matched.
The vast cavern—worthy of being called a plaza—stretched beyond lamplight or torch range, impossible to gauge.
"A space this huge underground? What madman dug this?"
"If you're questioning that, start with the tunnel."
"Fair. Anyone who can dig tunnels like that could make this cavern."
They voiced awe, but this first-of-its-kind situation left them unsure.
Lilia offered a clear solution.
"How about resting first and thinking? Everyone's tired, and it's about lunchtime!"
"Good idea."
The expedition entered fully and set camp near the entrance.
Earth dolls could still burst from the floor, but distance from walls helped.
They appeared intermittently anyway—no way right after a fight.
Everyone relaxed on that assumption. No attacks came.
No cooking here; they chewed rations and drank water to recover.
"Anyone injured? I'll heal you!"
"N-No, we're fine, but..."
"We have to offer at least this much to feel better. We've just been watching."
The two veteran priests moved through, casting healing miracles on those in need.
Among the sidelined supervisors, the priests had truly done nothing. Galen and Lilia handled any stragglers.
Guilt over that must have spurred them.
The main expedition had performed well, so only minor wounds needed treatment.
Over thirty minutes passed with no stir from the ruins.
"...This quiet's making me uneasy."
"Time to move?"
"Yeah. That's enough rest."
They piled torches haphazardly at the entrance and lit them.
Whoosh!
Marking the way, they proceeded cautiously along one wall.
Keen eyes gauged distance from the fading bonfire: the cavern was roughly circular.
Insanely vast. Even hugging the wall slowly, only empty space showed.
Over twenty minutes later.
"Opposite side, about here."
Lilia muttered, glancing back to track position.
"If circular, across from entrance..."
"Another passage!"
A voice called ahead. Pace quickened.
Sure enough, a passage.
Unlike the entrance, it looked passage-shaped but ended abruptly.
More like a warehouse sized for passage width and height. No door visible.
"Ooh!"
"Tr-treasure!"
Packed with intact or broken items, as expected.
But eyes locked on the shiny intact ones.
Glimpsing by lamplight revealed plenty.
"G-Good lord."
"How much is all that?"
Regular members—human or earth fairy—buzzed with excitement.
Leaders stayed calm, but you could see mental calculators whirring.
Only Galen and Lilia remained truly composed.
Lilia wasn't the type to lust after such sights.
Galen was interested, but more in bigger prizes—like EXP.
"...Treasure guardian."
"Huh?"
"Treasures are usually in the ruins' heart, with a guardian monster. Haven't met one yet."
"Earth dolls... too many and weak to call guardians."
"Maybe they bet on weak swarms over strong singles... but this cavern isn't here for nothing."
The leaders, listening since Galen spoke, furrowed brows at faint echoes.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Through ground or cavern walls, vibrations approached.
Fwosh!
Lilia summoned her Radiant Sword, raising it high to flood light blindingly brighter than torches.
Still not illuminating all, but enough nearby.
The monster horde's numbers matched the passage-cavern width gap.
"Going all-in on numbers, huh."
Akanksha smirked. Sachet sighed.
"Fighting here means no more after."
"If this is the heart. Everyone, form up! Phalanx!"
"Expedition, battle stations. Ignore rear treasure. Unless you wanna die."
Alon's orders to subordinates meant no looting—and stay focused.
"At least we've fought them before."
Veron grinned fiercely, charging the nearest giant earth doll.
Against hordes, Golds stirred chaos with max force—no one stopped him.
Well, one tried.
An earth doll stepping forward like a bodyguard.
Pathetic to Veron. He cleaved it in two instantly, then swung horizontally at the giant.
Clang!
The shield-shattering strike halted midway.
Even swung casually, impossible. Veron's eyes widened.
Whoosh!
The earth doll's shieldless left arm whipped a vicious arc.
Veron flipped back in shock. Head would've exploded otherwise.
"You pathetic worm!"
Furious, Veron struck seriously, but the wide rock shield blocked again.
Clang! Clang!
Dull clashes rang as human and doll collided repeatedly.
Peers saw he wasn't playing.
Lilia's eyes gleamed.
"That earth doll looks different! Way more refined!"
"N-Now that you say it!"
Akanksha gasped.
"This is insane! The doll's Gold rank?!"