Ch.46Dungeon Dive

The betrayal of the Aborix Clan was becoming certain.

I had wondered if there might still be room for dialogue, if their actions might have stemmed from a misunderstanding, but the memories I absorbed in this dungeon confirmed my suspicions.

I began running quickly with the children.

When conquering a dungeon, running at such speed wasn’t advisable.

You never knew when or where traps or monsters might appear.

But this dungeon already had an advance party ahead of us.

That meant they were taking care of the dungeon’s traps and monsters.

The structure of dungeon diving inherently favored those who came later.

It wasn’t difficult to track the Aborix bunch.

We had Hwang-gu, the master tracker, with us.

Whenever we reached a fork in the road, Hwang-gu would sniff the air and confidently point us in the right direction.

“This way! This way!”

Pitter-patter!

Hwang-gu ran energetically in her girl form.

A dungeon is a place where combat could break out at any moment.

Hwang-gu seemed aware of this fact, as she never transformed into her wolf form.

As we approached the deeper parts of the dungeon, signs of battle left by the Aborix group became more frequent.

Judging by the state of the blood on the floor, they had passed through not long ago.

After running for some time, we spotted a group of vampires at the end of a corridor.

They were fighting a Fusion Body, and they didn’t seem to notice our approach because of it.

“Gasp…!”

“Gasp…!”

This was perfect timing.

I sprang forward, leaving the suddenly halted children behind me.

It seemed that Hwang-gu and Aurel had no experience with dungeon diving.

There was no need to hesitate or think deeply.

After all, being in this dungeon meant they were part of the Aborix Clan.

Everyone moving around in this dungeon besides us was an enemy.

Dungeon diving typically happens when the advance party is engaged with monsters.

In other words, this was the optimal moment to ambush them.

I couldn’t waste time explaining the situation to Aurel and Hwang-gu.

The children were quick-witted; they’d soon follow my lead.

Swoosh-

The shadows moved according to my will.

The shadow rose like a wave.

A black katana emerged from it.

I could handle three at once.

My running body leaped into the air, and I grabbed the head of the vampire at the front.

One.

“Die…!”

Crack!

A clear, chilling sound.

Something burst between my fingers, and hot blood gushed out.

The attack wasn’t over yet.

The ambush was so sudden that the enemies hadn’t noticed me yet.

I twisted my body in mid-air and swung the katana.

The shadow blade extended along the katana’s edge and sliced off the head of a vampire who had been shooting fireballs from the side.

That makes two.

At that moment, the smell of blood began to spread.

Vampires are sensitive to the smell of blood. They seemed to notice the scent and immediately turned toward me.

But it was too late.

The third attack had already begun.

Swoosh-!

The shadow attack moved according to my will.

The shadow that rose from the floor formed into a sharp spike and pierced the head of a vampire with a surprised expression.

That makes three.

“You, you are…!”

“It’s an ambush!”

After the successful ambush, the initiative shifted to the enemies.

But it didn’t matter. The ones remaining here were all just small fry.

It seemed the Aborix Clan had split their forces.

Five remained.

After recognizing the number of enemies, I was about to launch an attack when—

“Hayah!”

“Hiyah!”

Aurel and Hwang-gu came running up behind me.

The two girls leaped forward and unleashed their powers against the enemies blocking my path.

When Hwang-gu’s tiny fist struck a vampire’s chest, the vampire’s body burst open, staining the white laboratory corridor red.

Hwang-gu followed with a roundhouse kick.

Her soft thigh extended, and her small foot struck the enemy’s head.

Crack-

With a horrifying sound, the vampire’s neck twisted.

No, the twisted head couldn’t withstand the impact and exploded.

Splat-!

Almost simultaneously, Aurel’s actions followed.

With red blood energy wrapped around both hands, Aurel showered the nearest enemy with a flurry of soft punches.

“Adadada!”

Aurel’s level was now 14. Though she had worked hard to level up, she was still not strong enough.

However, the Aborix Clan remnants left here were also low-level.

“Acho!”

As if delivering a finishing move, Aurel struck with a powerful punch accompanied by a strange battle cry.

Although Aurel was the weakest in our group, thanks to concentrated attacks and the element of surprise, she was able to turn her opponent into a bloody mess.

After my ambush, five enemies remained.

Aurel and Hwang-gu had taken care of three of them.

Now only two were left.

Just as I was about to move again after recognizing the enemies, someone else appeared and dealt with the remaining two.

It was Firin.

Whoosh-!

A blazing fire arrow and—

Crack-!

A massive ice spike spreading cold air.

The two spells that flew quickly enveloped the two enemies who were standing frozen in place.

Crackle-!

Crack-!

A charred black corpse and, in contrast, a frozen shattered corpse.

Though all enemies were gone, I didn’t let go of my katana.

The Fusion Body they had been fighting was still alive.

I stepped forward and thrust my katana into the head of the Fusion Body covered in blood among the corpses.

Stab!

The brief battle ended.

I exhaled the breath I’d been holding and took a deep breath.

“Phew…”

“Take that! Take that! Die!”

Of course, there was still someone who hadn’t finished fighting.

It was Aurel.

She had mounted the vampire she had turned into a bloody pulp and was attempting to finish it off.

The vampire, with its neck caught between her soft thighs, was being pummeled in the face without even being able to breathe.

Judging by its twitching body, it seemed to be barely alive.

“Is this the end?”

Hwang-gu asked, licking the blood on her hands.

I shook my head at her question.

“No, they seem to have split up. They’re probably looking for the secret room.”

“Secret room?”

Dungeons have hidden secret rooms.

Secret rooms were usually found near the boss room, and typical dungeon raiding parties preferred to split their members to quickly find these hidden secret rooms before entering the boss room.

I felt strangely excited.

Like playing a game.

It wasn’t a good feeling.

I shook my head to clear away that emotion.

“Hey, Charlotte. What usually comes out of secret rooms?”

I tilted my head at Hwang-gu’s question.

A level 20 user would have had to run dungeons, so it was strange that she didn’t know about secret rooms.

At that moment, I remembered that she still hadn’t recovered her memories.

That’s why I had given her the name Hwang-gu.

I smiled lightly and answered Hwang-gu.

“Secret rooms have treasure chests.”

“Treasure chests?”

“Yes. They usually contain the best items that drop in the dungeon. Excluding boss drops, that is.”

I nodded, recalling hazy memories.

Because the rewards from treasure chests were so good, users who couldn’t form regular parties would do what was called a “chest run.”

They would enter the dungeon, ignore all monsters, run to find the secret room, loot the chest, and leave.

“Treasure chests… it’s been a while…”

Firin also smiled lightly, seemingly recalling old memories.

Anyway, if they had scattered, we needed to follow them.

Our goal wasn’t to clear the dungeon but to punish the traitor clan.

“Huff, huff…!”

At that moment, Aurel, who had been panting, got up from her spot.

It seemed she had completely destroyed the vampire she was dealing with.

The sight of red blood dripping from both her hands was quite chilling.

Aurel carefully licked the blood on her hands.

At the same time, her expression immediately contorted.

It seemed the taste wasn’t good.

“That way!”

Aurel, who had been munching and savoring the taste of blood, pointed to the right and shouted.

She seemed to have absorbed his memories by tasting the blood of her own kind.

Hwang-gu also sniffed the air and nodded.

Our next destination was set.

I ran again with the children.

I kept all my senses sharp, ready to fight at any moment.

I didn’t let go of the katana in my hand.

After running for some time—

“Sniff, sniff!?”

Hwang-gu, who had been running well, suddenly darted forward and jumped toward an ordinary-looking wall.

If left alone, it seemed like Hwang-gu’s soft cheeks would hit the wall with a splat.

But the next moment, Hwang-gu’s body passed through the white wall without any resistance.

Secret room.

We found it.

“There it is!”

I followed Hwang-gu and jumped toward the wall.

I was a bit scared of hitting it, but remembering Hwang-gu, I kept my eyes wide open and led with my face.

Swoosh-

A large room unfolded as soon as I passed through the white wall.

Hwang-gu was already engaged in battle inside.

I quickly assessed the enemy information through my Mystic Eye.

There were ten enemies.

Among them, information about someone named Aborix unfolded.

[Aborix]

Level: 20

Race: Vampire

Health 92%

Mana 64%

Emotional state: Excitement, Confusion, Anxiety, Slight Fear

Finally found him.

I jumped toward him without hesitation.

Although the enemies outnumbered us, I wasn’t worried.

I wasn’t alone.

Tap-tap-tap-!

My rapidly running body rose into the air.

Immediately after, a vast shadow curtain spread wide.

“An-another ambush!”

“Enemies! There are more enemies!”

As the Aborix group’s shouts scattered, white girls poured out from the widely spread shadow.

No separate orders were needed. They must have been watching this whole situation from within the shadow.

“Hayaaah!”

“Hiyoaah!”

“Hieeeh!”

The subordinates each let out energetic shouts and rushed toward the enemies.