Ch.53The Double Dungeon Is Dangerous (2)

The hunters of the raid party were plunged into silence, unable to utter a word for a while.

Finally, one of them gathered their wits and spoke with difficulty.

“No way. So you’re saying there’s a dungeon inside a dungeon?”

“…That seems to be the only explanation.”

“Then we have to clear that one too to get out?”

It was something that defied common sense. Everyone understood it intellectually, but couldn’t accept it.

“How are our supplies holding up?”

“…About four days’ worth. If that’s a large-scale dungeon or bigger, our chances of clearing it are extremely low.”

Whatever the case, it wasn’t good. They couldn’t even analyze the dungeon’s rank and size at this point.

It was truly a situation where they had to enter pitch-black darkness without seeing an inch ahead.

“M-maybe we should just wait here until the dungeon break occurs?”

That would be the orthodox approach if safety was the priority. Typically, large dungeons break about a month after formation, so a break would occur within the next two weeks.

But even that was difficult now.

“Even if we ration, our food won’t last. The environment here isn’t good, and resources are scarce.”

“With another dungeon appearing, there’s no guarantee the break will happen normally either.”

They essentially had no choice. The only option left for the raid party was to move forward.

“Damn it all. There’s no solution here.”

There was a slight possibility that the newly formed dungeon might not be that threatening.

But given the situation and how things were unfolding, it was honestly hard to imagine things working out that well.

“…I think we have no choice but to regroup and then enter.”

“Yeah, what’s the big deal? If it’s not a large dungeon, we can handle it, right?”

Finally, a decision was made.

After recovering from the boss battle and reorganizing their supplies, the hunters gathered in front of the newly formed portal.

“Well then, let’s go.”

Hoping it would be a dungeon they could clear without much difficulty, the hunters entered the portal with trembling hearts.

Whoosh.

And immediately regretted it.

“…Oh, shit.”

The interior of the dungeon resembled an ancient ruin, and an extremely dense magical residue was emanating from everywhere.

#

As I mentioned, I had been feeling a certain unease since discovering the cave with the boss room at the cliff.

And the moment I entered the new dungeon through the portal that appeared in the boss room, I instantly understood the source of that unease.

‘…There’s a high-level undead here.’

The thick, viscous aura permeating through the dense magical energy was unmistakable. The master of this dungeon was clearly an extremely powerful undead monster.

“D-did everyone feel that?”

“Damn it! I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

“The magical concentration is too dense. Even worse than the boss room we were just in.”

The hunters’ faces were instantly filled with anxiety.

It was understandable. Even I had never felt such dense magical energy in Earth’s dungeons before.

‘No matter how I look at it, this seems above B-rank.’

The party began to advance through the corridor with visible tension.

“…Still, judging by the magical concentration and internal structure, it doesn’t seem to be an extremely large dungeon.”

That was good news amid the bad. Although it might be a higher-ranked dungeon than expected, if they could somehow find the boss room and clear it, survival would be possible.

They had Yoon Byungho, an A-rank hunter and the raid leader. Clearing shouldn’t be impossible against most opponents.

“…Master. The air feels strange.”

Song Hayeon also seemed to detect something unusual as she came over to me and whispered.

“Th-there might be something quite dangerous.”

“But it won’t be a problem for you, right, Master?”

Well, I don’t know. Although I still had enough capacity to use the Book of Death and the cooldown on my Mental Stabilization Ring would soon reset, I couldn’t maintain firepower for long in my current state.

When I averted my gaze with an ambiguous expression, Song Hayeon continued in disbelief.

“…Is this place really that high-ranked?”

“Ugh. I don’t know either.”

When I waved my hand dismissively, Song Hayeon stepped back with a disgruntled face.

Clank.

Clank.

Thud.

After advancing for a while, a signal came from the scouts at the front indicating they had spotted enemies.

“Combat ready.”

Crack.

Boom.

Boooom.

Creak.

Grrrk.

What appeared was a giant skeleton making loud bone-rattling noises—a Skeleton Giant.

“W-what? It’s just a Giant?”

“Oh! So this is a B-rank dungeon, right? Right?”

Just as the party’s faces lit up with hope, a massive monster exuding a terrifying aura appeared behind the skeleton.

Clop.

Clop.

Heeheehee!

A headless knight riding a spectral horse, holding a sword in one hand and its own head in the other.

It was a Dullahan, considered an A5-rank monster.

“Hiccup.”

“D-Dullahan!”

“Oh, shit…”

A female hunter who saw the terrifying figure up close began hiccupping, while the other hunters gripped their weapons and let out hollow laughs.

They had a premonition of their imminent future.

Heeheehee!

Clatter!

Clatter!

Crash!

Slash!

“Argh!”

The Dullahan that began charging instantly collided with the hunters at the front.

One hunter who collided with the horse was crushed against the corridor wall, his armor crumpling, while someone else’s arm flew through the air from the following sword strike.

As the hunters scattered in panic, Yoon Byungho quickly stepped forward to confront the Dullahan.

“Everyone get back! I’ll handle this one!”

Heeheehee!

Crash!

Craaash!

Clang!

“Annihilation Strike!”

Slash!

Crunch!

Pushing back the opponent with a powerful skill, Yoon Byungho, with support from the rear hunters, managed to defeat the Dullahan after several exchanges.

Just as everyone was looking at Yoon Byungho with admiration, a group of banshees and another Dullahan appeared from the far end of the corridor.

Clop.

Clatter.

Heeheehee!

“More enemies! Combat ready!”

And so, the raid party engaged in battle once more.

While desperately trying to ignore the anxiety seeping from the depths of their hearts.

#

Thankfully, due to Yoon Byungho’s efforts, the battle ended in victory for the raid party.

However, the situation was far from good.

“What about Jonghyuk?”

“…He’s already stopped breathing.”

One dead, and three others injured.

It was a devastating result after just two battles.

“Two Dullahans right from the start.”

“…So this is truly an A-rank dungeon.”

“What do we do? We can’t handle an A-rank with our current strength!”

Although they had A-rank hunter Yoon Byungho, he wasn’t invincible. It was clear that even with his power, handling an A-rank dungeon boss would be difficult.

‘……’

I too was conflicted in my thoughts.

While I could handle a Dullahan without much trouble, I couldn’t waste my strength here.

The real threat in this dungeon was surely not something as trivial as a Dullahan.

‘It’s well-organized.’

I could tell just from a brief look. This dungeon was literally a fortress. And from what I could guess, its master had likely already noticed our presence.

“So what exactly are you suggesting we do? Do you have any better ideas?”

“…We shouldn’t have entered in the first place. We’ve made an irreversible mistake.”

The mood among the hunters after the battle was grim.

They had already lost one member, and more would likely follow.

Most of them had fallen into despair and were at a loss for what to do.

At that moment, Kim Seungmin, who had been quiet until then, spoke up.

“Blaming someone won’t change anything.”

“……”

“Finding the boss room and confronting it as quickly as possible before our strength is depleted—that’s the best we can do right now.”

It was certainly true. As the hunters’ mood somewhat calmed, Kim Seungmin looked in my and Song Hayeon’s direction and spoke again.

“Can you raise the monster corpses?”

Immediately, a sarcastic retort was fired back. It was clearly from another necromancer who belonged to the Hanul Guild.

“Huh, I wondered what made you so confident, but you don’t even know the basics. You think someone at your party member’s level can control such high-rank monsters? Besides, this place is already thick with death energy, making it difficult to properly use necromancy. I’ve already tried.”

At those sharp words, I nudged Song Hayeon with my chin. She whispered to me in response.

“That man says it’s not possible?”

“H-he’s just relying on skills without finesse. Even in a weakened state, force it to rise.”

At my words, Song Hayeon approached the fallen Dullahan with a doubtful expression and chanted a spell.

“Undead Call.”

Whoosh.

Rustle.

Boom.

[Grooah.]

The Dullahan slowly rose, staggering. The hunter who had objected earlier wore an expression of disbelief and clicked his tongue.

“Th-that’s impossible.”

Although it clearly exuded a much weaker aura than before, having an additional force to utilize was good news, and everyone expressed their admiration.

“I didn’t think it would work…”

“Hmph, famous people really are different.”

Perhaps because of this, the party’s mood seemed somewhat refreshed.

And then, a strange voice began to reach us from somewhere.

Static.

[…Well, this is quite a welcome.]

Looking in the direction of the sound, we saw a small undead floating in the air that had somehow approached us.

At this surreal situation, the party’s tension escalated.

[Let’s have a little chat.]

The entity extended an invitation to us without causing any harm.

That place was the dungeon’s boss room.