Ch.118Carmine Dungeon

Like many rural forests, the Carmine Forest was not a particularly famous place.

This was truly fortunate for the forest animals and towering trees.

Thanks to that, they had been able to live peacefully.

Until now.

After a dungeon flowing with dark mana was discovered, the Empire dispatched troops to block off the forest.

Waiting for knights or someone with knight-level skills to come investigate the dungeon.

If I hadn’t received this request, several Imperial knights would have headed here already.

In the end, animals that had been running around the forest outskirts became snacks for the soldiers, and some trees ended their long lives as firewood.

At the forest outskirts, soldiers with spears guarded the entrance while setting up temporary barracks.

To prevent reckless fools or adventurers seeking quick riches from getting hurt unnecessarily.

When Demian, who was driving the carriage, showed them the official orders, the surprised soldiers saluted and cleared the way.

Their expressions were bright. After all, the reinforcements they had been waiting for had finally arrived.

I gathered my equipment and got off the carriage.

From here on, we couldn’t proceed by carriage.

Unlike us, the horses pulling the carriage wouldn’t be able to withstand the dark mana.

After leaving the carriage with the soldiers, we walked into the forest.

—-

The inside of the forest was dark and quiet.

Tangled branches blocked the sunlight like a massive umbrella, casting pitch-black shadows on the weed-covered ground.

There was hardly any sign of living creatures. No deer, not even squirrels or birds.

Seems like they all fled. Sensing the instinctive threat.

When dark mana spreads, they’ll all die anyway.

“This is kind of creepy…”

Millia murmured anxiously.

After walking for about thirty minutes, the scenery around us gradually began to change.

The lush green forest landscape was gone, replaced by blackened dead trees and twisted, dried-up sandy ground.

The air we breathed began to mix with an acrid scent.

Evidence that dark mana was spreading.

It meant that from here on was clearly a danger zone.

“Demian, Millia, take these. Drink them whenever you find it hard to endure the dark mana.”

Frider handed small pouches to the two.

The pouches, designed to be attached to belts, contained vials of holy water.

Holy water.

An essential item for fighting monsters.

Properly consecrated holy water by priests has the effect of purifying evil things.

Curses, poisons, certain diseases… even dark mana.

That’s why holy water was one of the main products of the churches.

Though not all churches could produce it.

The two thanked Frider.

“What about me?”

“You have mana resistance, so you don’t really need it, right?”

That’s true.

Mana resistance. A power with clear advantages and disadvantages.

The person can’t use magic at all and barely benefits from enhancement magic.

In exchange, curses and binding magic don’t work well, and even damage from dark mana is greatly reduced.

For me, it’s all advantages.

I don’t know how to use magic anyway, and my bare fists are stronger than knights enhanced with magic.

I looked down at my left hand, wiggling my fingers.

A power that could shatter steel like glass and tear people apart with just a touch resided there.

Not long after, the dungeon entrance finally came into view.

—-

At the bottom of a massive rock face.

Dark mana leaked out little by little through a huge crack that looked like a cave entrance.

Broken boulders were scattered around the entrance.

It seems those had been covering the entrance, which is why it hadn’t been discovered until now.

Naturally, there were no living creatures around.

“I’ll take the lead, you and Millia in the middle, and Demian at the very back.”

“Yes, senior.”

It was a textbook formation.

Two people with wide attack ranges at the front and back to watch for enemies, with the archer positioned inside.

And I, who was like a wild card, in the center to prepare for unexpected situations.

I could take the lead and push through everything myself, but…

Then the others would hardly get to see the results they came for.

Frider, with a mana lamp attached to his waist, took the lead.

—-

The inside of the cave was dark and dry.

The acrid air invaded my nostrils, but thanks to my mana resistance working properly, I didn’t feel the corrosion of dark mana.

The other three probably weren’t so lucky.

“My nose stings…”

“Hmm… I’ve felt it before, but it’s still uncomfortable.”

“Before? Oh, right, didn’t you say you caught a monster in virtual training? Bare-handed against an undead type, at that.”

“Rather than caught, we both collapsed.”

Demian shrugged his shoulders.

Well, he did catch it, but he also suffered near-fatal injuries.

If it had been real, Demian would have died shortly after without escaping.

“Just bringing it down is impressive. Anyway, you seem fine for now, but make sure to drink the holy water if breathing becomes difficult. Unless you want to wheeze for the rest of your life.”

The two nodded.

The cave wasn’t as deep as expected. At least, the cave part wasn’t.

After walking through the winding path for just five minutes, a large door greeted us.

A rusted red iron door.

The sound of wind flowing through the dented gaps sounded like crying.

“This must be the real entrance. But I wonder if this rusty thing will even open?”

Frider pushed the door after saying this.

As expected, the iron door didn’t budge.

Frider gave me a look, as if telling me to use my strength.

I approached and pushed it slightly, and it was indeed extremely stiff.

I positioned myself properly and pushed with real force.

With a spine-chilling friction sound, the inside of the iron door gradually began to reveal itself.

“Keeeeek!”

Something leaped out as if it had been waiting.

A monster. It had been hiding behind the iron door, waiting for a chance to ambush.

I headbutted the monster as it lunged for my face.

With a splat, the monster’s body slammed into the floor.

Blood burst from its shattered back, staining the ground.

“A monster…!”

Startled, Millia drew an arrow.

As if a broken back wasn’t enough to kill it, the monster jumped up and raised its claws to pounce on me.

The monster’s characteristic tenacity seemed to allow it to move despite its shattered spine.

Well, if it didn’t die from one hit, I just need to hit it again.

I swung my leg toward it.

The kicked monster flew like a cannonball and crashed into the cave wall.

Its upper body, with all bones crushed, fluttered like a sheet of paper.

Millia’s arrow pierced through its head.

—-

Up close, the monster’s form was bizarrely grotesque.

It was barely as tall as Millia’s chest.

Three eyeballs bulged and glistened from both sides of its frog-like head and the middle of its forehead.

Inside its wide-open mouth was another insect-like jaw hiding within.

A long, thin tongue drooped from between its jaws.

Its rat-like ears and body were covered with stiff fur.

While its front legs resembled those of a lobster, its hind legs were more like an eagle’s.

Bat wings sprouted from its back, but they were already tattered, perhaps crushed in the first attack.

“It’s a bat-frog.”

Frider spoke after examining the monster’s corpse.

“A bat-frog?”

“Yes. Maybe the nickname ‘imp’ is more famous? It’s among the lowest of hybrid monsters. It’s so weak that even scholars who classify simple monsters treat it as such.”

Imp.

A monster that flies around, ambushes prey, firmly grips them with its limbs, and tears off their heads.

It was one of the representative minor monsters.

Even as a minor monster, it was still a monster with somewhat tough vitality.

“Occasionally there are ones that spit paralytic poison, so just be careful of those.”

Imps that spit paralytic poison were somewhat dangerous. In many ways.

Those were the ones aiming for reproduction rather than hunting.

—-

“This place is… unusual.”

The inside of the dungeon we finally entered had a strange appearance.

A vast underground space as if the entire interior of a rocky mountain had been carved out.

Massive pillars supported the ceiling, and the walls and floor were smoothly cut.

Broken statues were scattered throughout the alleys, with broken and rusted spears and swords strewn nearby.

“It’s an ancient ruin. I’m not sure how old it is though.”

Frider replied nonchalantly and continued walking.

Not long after, we sensed numerous creatures busily flying toward us.

“Imps are coming! About twenty of them!”

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

At my and Frider’s warnings, everyone took combat positions.

Frider drew his chain axe, and Millia took out an arrow and nocked it.

As Demian raised his greatsword, I also picked up my bow.

Soon after, with the sound of dozens of pairs of wings flapping, a swarm of imps poured out from the other side.

Above the rocky ceiling about 4 meters high.

The imps gathered tightly, circling in the air while glaring at us.

“Remember what I said? Just be careful of the paralytic poison.”

Frider gripped the chain and spun the axe like a windmill.

Seeing this, the imps began to screech threateningly.

With Millia’s arrow shooting down one imp, the battle finally began.