Chapter 132
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Calamity
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“A three-star… three-star labyrinth…”
As they watched Dion’s gentle smile, the group recoiled in horror.
Kael, in particular, forgot he was even commanding his demonic steeds and instinctively clutched the empty space where one of his ears had been torn off.
A three-star labyrinth, where monsters comparable to high-ranking Awakened Ones roamed like weeds and even transcendent-class bosses existed, was a demonic realm beyond human comprehension.
It was a place that could destroy not just a small or mid-sized manor estate, but even a high-tier one.
Their last expedition had taught them, down to their very bones, that it was a living hell one should never dare to enter.
And what if they were thrown into a three-star labyrinth now, while shrouded in this cursed fog?
Whether it was the Dogwiryeon or the Anti-Dogwi Alliance, they would suffer devastating losses.
…And that was under the optimistic assumption that there would be any survivors at all.
“N-No. Wait a minute! How is that even possible? A series of dungeon breaks happening one after another!”
“Hmm, you think it’s impossible?”
“Of course! Even if dungeon breaks are more likely to occur on a battlefield, there has to be a limit!” Naru pointed out, managing to remain somewhat level-headed amidst the chaos.
A dungeon break was a phenomenon where the labyrinth’s boundary collapsed due to an accumulation of corrupted mana beyond its limit.
For a series of them to occur within a few mere hours was something so rare it was nearly impossible, with few, if any, precedents in the thousand-year history of Odo Baekryeong.
However…
“Normally, that would be the case.”
“Then…!”
“But it becomes possible when Pandora’s curse is added to the mix.”
“……???”
Dion smirked at Naru, who was staring at him with a look of utter confusion, as if he’d just spouted nonsense.
He was right.
Logically speaking, Naru’s point was valid.
In fact, things had not progressed this rapidly in the first or second timelines.
…Though the tragedy and comedy of it all was that most of the estates that had participated in this war were annihilated regardless.
‘I never imagined it would turn out like this.’
That was why Dion had been somewhat optimistic about the situation.
He had reasoned that since things were better than before, when everything had gone wrong from the start and forced Pandora to intervene, such a disaster was unlikely to happen again. Even if it did, he thought they would have some leeway.
And for the most part, his prediction had been correct.
There was just one problem.
Lahr Arga was a far more brilliant sorcerer than expected—and a troll of unimaginable proportions.
No, perhaps it was too harsh to blame him.
He likely had no idea what mistake he had made, nor could he have imagined that things would turn out this way.
After all, even Dion hadn't anticipated the situation would devolve into such a complete mess.
“It’s a common misconception, but Pandora’s true talent isn’t cursing. It’s closer to the opposite.”
“The opposite… you say?”
“Yes.”
To be honest, it was an understandable mistake.
The power of the curse Pandora wielded was truly immense.
It was potent enough to make even transcendent Awakened Ones fear confronting her, earning her the title of the Vile among the Paljongyungma.
It was only natural, almost common sense, for everyone to believe that the curse was her true power and specialty.
Yet, the reason this catastrophe had occurred was simple.
Lahr Arga had mistaken one simple, yet crucial, factor.
That the power of a mere transcendent Awakened One was not enough to stop Pandora’s curse, and…
“I’m talking about sealing.”
“…What?”
“In short, Pandora isn’t a sorcerer who casts curses. She’s a living seal, containing that curse within her own body.”
That was Lahr Arga’s mistake.
Believing her to be merely a genius curse-wielder, he had reflected the curse back at her.
The result was a truly fantastic act of trolling that had instead unleashed the curse she had been suppressing, effectively opening ‘Pandora’s Box.’
Hearing Dion’s explanation, Naru’s expression went blank.
“Do you really think that makes sense?”
“Why? Does it sound impossible?”
“Of course! If what you’re saying is true…”
“Then are you saying that the curses Pandora has shown so far were just fragments leaking through the cracks in that seal?”
“……!”
Thud.
Naru was at a loss for words.
After opening and closing his mouth several times, he finally managed a rebuttal.
“D-Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way such a terrifying curse could exist in this world…”
“But it did, didn’t it?”
“……?”
“……”
“……!!!”
Even dozens of the greatest curse-wielders sacrificing their lives couldn’t create such a curse.
Naru, who had instinctively retorted, paused in confusion.
He retraced his thoughts.
And his eyes shot wide open.
In a rare display, he was genuinely horrified.
He had finally realized it.
In the long history of Odo Baekryeong, there was only one.
One such absurd curse—or more accurately, a being that spread that curse.
A horrifying monster that even legendary heroes could not eradicate, a creature they could only resort to sealing away for eternity.
“That’s why we have to stop Pandora now.”
“……”
“If we don’t stop her now, this won’t end with just a few dozen families being wiped out.”
This was their only chance.
The more time they wasted, the stronger the unsealed curse would become.
If they didn’t stop her now, they wouldn’t be able to escape either; they would be swallowed by the curse along with everyone else.
As everyone else stood frozen by Dion’s declaration, it was his favored concubine, Arsha, who managed to raise a question.
“I understand that we must stop Lady Jaeakgongnyeo quickly… but will we be able to find her in time?”
While the other estates were in chaos, the reason they could advance through the cursed fog unimpeded wasn't just due to their ample forces.
It was because most of the other estates were already empty, and they had a surplus of holy water since they had evacuated their people in advance.
But that was just buying time.
With everything thrown into disarray by the dungeon break and the labyrinth shrouded in cursed fog, finding Pandora was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
It was a task that would make even the most skilled ranger balk.
“Ah, don’t worry about that.”
But Dion himself showed not a hint of concern on that point.
He simply pulled a small vial from his belt, shook it, and smiled meaningfully.
“No matter where Pandora is, as long as she’s within a thousand li, I can find her.”
“……”
“The problem is whether we can get there…”
The farther they advanced, the more sluggish the divine beasts became, their reluctance to enter growing.
Considering the power of this curse, which was practically the natural enemy of divine beasts, their reaction was entirely expected.
If not for the drivers…
No, even with the drivers, under normal circumstances, they would have long since broken free and fled in the opposite direction.
The sole reason the Waryong Estate and the other four territories could press on was one person.
“My little charm.”
*Kyarung?*
“—You can do it, right?”
The divine beast carrying the Waryong Estate.
Perched on the basilisk’s head was a young Hunter-kin girl, who had been threatening the driver-captives from the Dogwiryeon with her teeth, stubbornly steering the estate in the direction Dion commanded.
Orr Kai didn't bother to answer Dion’s question verbally.
Instead, she just nuzzled his cheek.
*Gyarurung.*
“Yes, that’s my little charm.”
In response to her answer, clearer than a hundred words, Dion smiled with satisfaction and stroked Orr Kai’s head.
And so, they advanced.
Deeper, and deeper, and deeper.
As if swimming against a current.
In the opposite direction of all the others scrambling to escape.
Like a ship sailing into the eye of a storm.
They continued toward the heart of the labyrinth, the center of the curse…
Until at last, they arrived.
And found her.
—The cursed witch, despairing alone atop a high canyon peak, like a prisoner in a tower.
***
*Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!*
Nakrang Fortress.
The center of the Anti-Dogwi Alliance.
It was a high-tier estate where the largest number of territories had docked.
Thanks to this, Nakrang Fortress was currently fortified so heavily it could easily withstand the full force of the Dogwiryeon army.
Now, as Pandora’s curse ran rampant, as the dungeon break scattered everyone, and as each estate screamed while fighting crazed monsters and trying to flee the labyrinth, it was no exaggeration to say that Nakrang Fortress was the safest place to be.
…Or, it should have been.
But…
“Out of the way! Get out of my way!”
“How dare you commoners block the path of a nobleman! Do you wish to die?”
“Open the gate! Now!!!”
At this very moment, Nakrang Fortress was collapsing rapidly, plunged into a state of chaos greater than any other estate in the labyrinth.
“Everyone, return to your own estates! Any further approach will be considered insubordination in a time of war and will result in summary execution!”
“Summary execution? You cur! Do you have any idea who I am…!”
“Agh, don’t push! Stop pushing!”
Soldiers thrusting their spears.
Nobles screaming obscenities.
Commoners being trampled and crying out in pain.
In the heart of Nakrang Fortress, which had become a veritable pandemonium, a hulking figure in a robe stood with his pupils trembling.
‘Why… why did it come to this?’
When Pandora’s curse had exploded during the duel between Urk and Lahr Arga, and the dungeon break occurred, Kelton Lowger had been startled, but he had remained somewhat optimistic.
The situation was strange, but he believed they would be safe in Nakrang Fortress.
That assumption wasn’t wrong.
Indeed, unlike the smaller estates, the high-tier Nakrang Fortress had repelled the monster attacks with little difficulty.
…Yes, the monsters.
The problem was that monsters weren't the only crisis Nakrang Fortress faced.
The holy water, which had begun to dry up at a terrifying rate after the curse blanketed the labyrinth, was a fatal blow to the heavily populated estate.
Moreover, Nakrang Fortress, which already lacked drivers, was now connected to too many other estates, making it difficult to move.
No matter how well they held out, once the holy water ran out, it would be over.
That sense of crisis had thrown the entire fortress into utter chaos.
To make matters worse, not only the lord, Urk, but also Pandora, who could have taken his place, were absent.
And so, those who were cornered, noble and commoner alike, all flocked to the center of Nakrang Fortress.
They were trying to escape through the only exit from this deathtrap: the gate.
But…
“Why isn’t the gate opening!?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you really think the gate will open properly when the flow of mana is this unstable?”
“Th-Then does that mean Nakrang Fortress is in an Isolation Period?”
The people crowded before the gate turned pale.
Isolation Period.
A period when the gate becomes unusable due to the divine beast’s condition or the surrounding environment.
In Odo Baekryeong, this was a common occurrence.
One could either wait for the Isolation Period to end or travel through another estate.
Normally, it was a mere inconvenience, a situation that could be easily accepted…
But this piece of bad news, piled on top of the pandemonium inside and out, was enough to shatter their reason.
“Enough nonsense! Move!”
“Keuk!?”
“How dare you attack a soldier of the Cortell family in Nakrang Fortress!? Even for a noble, this is…! Ugh!”
“The gate opened! Let’s go!”
He may have been a fallen noble from the very bottom of the Anti-Dogwi Alliance, but he was still a high-ranking Awakened One. The moment he struck down the orc soldiers guarding the entrance and recklessly jumped into the gate, the crowd cheered and tried to follow. It was, in a way, a natural reaction.
But before they could even cross the threshold, they stopped in their tracks.
*Wooooong.*
“What’s happening? Why is the gate…”
*Splat!*
“Hiiik?!?!”
“*Cough!* You idiot… Don’t you know that entering a gate during an Isolation Period is suicide!?”
“N-No…”
“Ugh.”
The gate distorted, and what suddenly poured out was blood and chunks of flesh.
And among those chunks of flesh, the head of the noble who had just jumped into the gate rolled on the ground.
A gate connects one space to another.
But the pressure from the gate, its very space distorted by the dungeon break, had torn the body of a high-ranking Awakened One to shreds.
It was then, as the crowd despaired, having realized thanks to his sacrifice that escaping through the gate was impossible, that the gate began to stir once more.
“Wh-What now?!”
“Something’s coming out!”
Had another fool tried to force their way through the gate, only to be turned into a bloody mess?
The crowd backed away in terror.
But a moment later, they were surprised for a different reason.
*Kuuuung!*
“…Gate, a mess. Nakrang Fortress, hospitality, very bad.”
“……?!”
Her clothes were tattered.
She had wounds all over her body.
But her limbs were intact.
From the distorted gate that would have crushed even a decent transcendent Awakened One, a woman emerged with only minor injuries, as if she had merely walked through a thorny path.
The crowd stared in disbelief at the woman in the half-torn hood.
But the most shocked of all was the large young man who had been inspecting the gate to see if it was usable.
His pupils trembled.
He gulped, swallowing dryly.
And he stealthily began to turn his body away.
His movements were silent, belying his large frame.
Even those in the crowd right next to him failed to notice his movement, but…
“Ah.”
“……!”
“—Found you.”
*Fwoosh!!*
A fierce gust of wind kicked up, and the woman in tattered clothes appeared before the young man as if she had sprung from the ground.
She reached out, *thud*, to place a hand on his shoulder…
But belatedly realizing she couldn't reach due to the height difference, she grabbed his elbow instead and spoke.
“Long time… As you asked, I came to save you.”
“Ah, uh, um… Yes, thank you for coming all this way.”
He might be a coward, but he was a direct descendant of the Grand Ogre Clan, possessing power that had surpassed the transcendent wall.
Yet, the Grand Ogre was rendered completely immobile just by having his arm grabbed.
Muyonggong Kelton Lowger broke out in a cold sweat and squeezed his eyes shut.
He then bowed his head, stealing a fearful glance at the Oni woman, who was incomparably smaller and more slender than him, but had a much longer and sharper horn growing from her forehead, and whose sleepy eyes looked as if she could fall asleep at any moment.
“…Sister.”