Chapter 140

The size of Vittorio Arcade is comparable to that of a major city. However, this is only a calculation of the surface area.

When grasping the dungeon’s actual size, assessing it based solely on its planar width is akin to eating only the peel to determine the flavor of a fruit. The dungeon’s domain extends vertically as well.

When considering the vertical dimensions, the total area of a city-level dungeon surpasses imagination.

For this reason, the map of Vittorio Arcade Dungeon remains unfinished. Unexplored regions exist as blank spaces.

Within those blank spaces, many people with various stories have hidden away. From those who have incurred massive debts to wanted criminals, and those who are at the end of their ropes in life.

However, visitors coming here are not fugitives.

The dungeon is a place perfectly isolated from the outside world. There are almost no ways to communicate with the outside unless specific methods are employed. It means they can evade the eyes of clans or the federal army.

Thus, in the secretive spaces of Vittorio Arcade, all sorts of bizarre events occur that ordinary folks couldn’t even imagine.

At this moment, as Violet and her team drive through the main road in their truck, it’s only natural for Leragy Veleston and the Mystical Research Department’s Exploration Team 3 to feel disgusted.

When they arrived at their destination, it was packed with deranged worshippers.

“Oooh! Heretic!”

“Oooh! Ascending!”

Somewhere within a pillar-surrounded indoor plaza in the deep zone, a variety of people had gathered. Different in gender, age, and skin color, but the madness ignited in their eyes was the same.

Lera hid her body behind a wall with her teammates.

In the midst of the crowd was a table on which a man with his limbs chained lay.

Judging by his attire and equipment, he looked like a hunter, but the chest of this unnamed unfortunate hunter was split open.

Among the fanatics, a person wearing a peculiar pointed hat held up a heart and mumbled something. The believers cheered.

“Salvation beyond dimensions!”

“The inflection point is coming! Ascension is coming!”

Watching the fanatics, Lera felt rising contempt. They seemed like insane parasites that were no help to humanity.

「Team Leader, what should we do? The relic can’t be seen! It seems the fanatics have taken it!」

A new recruit looked at her with anxious eyes. The telepathic transmission from the rookie on site was filled with impatience.

「No, the target is still safe.」

Lera responded calmly. A small sphere resembling an eye flew up to the ceiling and surveyed below. Among the throngs of devotees lay a sphere entangled with jewels and gears.

「I transmit. Judging by the ceremony and motto, they are Unity Cult members. Move to your respective positions and wait.」

The team members quietly moved in to encircle the group. Unity Cult is a new cult. Although the level of their teachings is low-quality, they have awakened members and are not an easy opponent.

While the members moved, the zealots jumped around like children singing hymns containing the teachings of their sect. Some zealots drooled and were swaying back and forth. Watching them inject syringes into their own arms, it looked like drugs.

“When that day comes, all pain and tears will vanish!”

“I shall enjoy eternal life and happiness!”

A bizarre collective ecstasy stirred the crowd. The elders of the sect with pointed hats adeptly controlled them.

“Dear brothers and sisters, time is short. It’s time to take action! Let’s quickly gather the relics. The early bird catches the worm. Only the diligent shall taste salvation.”

The leader skillfully soothed the zealots. The heads of the fanatics, caught in fervor, began to cool down gradually.

“Ah… I’m sorry! I got too absorbed in the rituals… Elder, please forgive me!”

“Haha, I was like that once too. I understand. I forgive your sins!”

The elder smiled broadly as he raised his hand and patted the zealots.

“Now, it’s time to work! Let’s take it to the sect!”

Lera, who overheard the elder’s words, was extremely surprised. Their target was also the relic.

Without hesitation, she signaled her agents while simultaneously deploying her magic. The magical device attached to her back absorbed mana. An invisible barrier of magical energy spread throughout the building.

“…What’s this?”

“Elder?”

While the elders and awakened zealots sensed the flow of mana and felt something was off, strange masked figures appeared from all sides, raising their hands.

“Uagh! A heretic!”

The elder screamed. The yellow flames erupting from the hands of the agents engulfed his body. The elder was reduced to ashes.

One furious zealot plunged a syringe into his own body and drew his sword to charge. Lera raised her staff and lightly swung it. Blue lightning shot out like a whip, wrapping around the zealot and shredding him to pieces. The lightning darted like a snake, incinerating six zealots that followed.

Magnavis agents slaughtered the panicked Unity Cult fanatics unilaterally. Some horrified zealots, managing to regain their senses, pulled out guns and aimed them. The bodies enhanced by drugs moved as fast as awakened ones.

A blurry face came into view between the sightlines.

“Salvation is coming!”

The zealots shrieked and pulled the triggers. The fanatics’ faces twisted with excitement as they anticipated martyrdom, illuminated by the lights.

-Click!

The sound of a bullet striking the firing pin. Nothing happened.

“Uh…? Why!”

The zealots were flustered by the unexpected situation. The weapons that should have unleashed their wrath upon the enemies were malfunctioning. A zealot pulled the magazine handle to extract the misfired round and attempted to fire again.

Only the empty click echoed from the chamber.

“A, no!”

The last thing the despairing zealots saw was a baptism of magic arrows. As the final fanatics collapsed, the agents approached the relic.

“All threats have been dealt with. You may move now.”

As Lera issued the command, the agents began their work. They examined the relic sphere with various precision instruments and magic. Then, they slowly removed the securing devices and placed it in a metal box.

The Mystical Research Department’s Exploration Team 3 began their withdrawal. The mask-wearing agents who had been quietly waiting also slowly began to move. As Lera stepped towards the entrance, one of the masked men behind spoke up.

“If you requested a dispatch due to these drugged cultists, I’m disappointed. You could have handled it yourselves. Vanguard has plenty to do.”

Lera turned her head at the discontented mechanical voice. The Vanguard agent shrugged, feigning boredom as he yawned.

“Safety is the priority in the deep zone. Situations like the Unity Cult can arise again during relic exploration. You may need the elite troops, like the Vanguard. And during operations, it’s standard to communicate via telepathy…”

The agent who heard her waved his hand dismissively.

“I know the rules. But you really are too cautious. If it were Croscelle, he would’ve handled it. Well, your caution is why the Grand Mage holds you in high regard.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“When are you coming back to the field? I heard you’re playing strange student games at the academy. You’re the student council president, right?”

“No. I’m the vice student council president. I can’t go into detail about the mission, but it should wrap up within a month or two.”

“That’s the same thing. Anyway, tell Croscelle and Kaim to hurry back to the field. I have no idea what you’re doing at the academy, but… I’ll head out first.”

The Vanguard agent shrugged before leaving. His subordinates followed. Alone, Lera looked around to ensure she hadn’t missed anything before exiting.

The indoor plaza grew silent. The only remnants were the corpses of the zealots.

*

The Violet Squad races down the road in the border area. Every time they hit the twisted pavement, the truck rumbled loudly.

The Violets shouted excitedly.

“Yay!”

“Yippee! This is thrilling!”

It hadn’t been an hour since their adventure began, and it already felt like a rollercoaster ride. The road was rough, the floor uneven, yet this pickup truck held up surprisingly well.

“Kalia! Pass along my thanks to Uncle Marco! It’s thanks to him that we’re riding like this!”

When 642, in the driver’s seat, said this, Kalia, sitting in the back, got annoyed.

“642! Look ahead! We’re driving! And slow down a bit! You’re not the only one in here!”

“Huh? Wasn’t it fun?”

“Fun my foot, look at those two!”

As Kalia pointed behind, she saw a pale-faced duo of siege weapon operators.

“Ugh, where are we? Grandma, Grandpa…”

“I’m sorry!”

I immediately slowed down. I got too carried away with the excitement.

We were now moving towards the designated area marked on the map.

There’s something unusual about Vittorio Arcade. After removing a relic, objects reappear at the same spot after a certain period. To put it simply, the relics are replicated.

The problem is that it takes several days to a week for a single relic to disappear and respawn. As if mushrooms are sprouting, it could happen that a strong individual or clan could unlawfully occupy a spot, monopolizing the relics that appear while stealing others’ relics.

Ultimately, clans agreed after experiencing several bloodbaths. They implemented a regional cycling allocation system within the border areas.

Once a region has been looted of relics, access is restricted during the regeneration period for those relics.

During this time, people conduct exploration and excavation in the area where relics are generated.

And the areas are divided into three groups: individual entrepreneurs, small clans, and large clans, allowing each group to work separately in different regions. This way, they are on relatively equal footing, alleviating worries of outright theft.

Of course, this applies only to border zones. In deep zones, it’s every man for himself.

Since we were not individuals, we operated in a small clan’s territory. We drove the truck into a building. The interior was oddly bright.

The shopping building inside appeared as if it had been forcibly stretched like elastic. Just the height of the entrance was two to three times that of a regular building’s entrance. The inside was more so. It felt like entering a giant’s land.

Once we entered the building, we saw many other people working besides us.

A male and female hunter were explaining something in front of the workers.

“Everyone. If you spot a monster, you must call us immediately. Remember, no more than three go at a time. Let’s call out our motto and move in! “Safety first! Safety first! Safety first!”

The workers shouted their motto and rushed into the bizarrely enlarged closet. Considering their exo-suits, they seemed to be non-awakened.

In another section, students who looked slightly older than us were digging through narrow gaps in the walls and bizarrely large drawers.

“I found it! Enhancement fabric!”

“Wow! How do you find things so ghost-like?”

The building was large, yet curiously, the sizes of the relics remained ordinary.

It was time for us to start working as well. We parked the truck in front of a dark corridor inside and got out. As we walked down the corridor, something came running toward us, making a fuss inside.

“Kaohhh!”

A cheerful cry, it was Scrags. There was even a Scrags caster.

“Combat readiness!”

As the Violet members forming a barricade in squads, their shooters aimed at the enemy.

“Fire!”

Rifles spewed fire from behind shields. Bullets whizzed through, flashing sparkles as they ricocheted.

“Ugh! It’s a barrier.”

“The monsters surrounded the relic. Look over there!”

Irene pointed at them. Looking closely, these monster bastards were wearing necklaces! Their bodies were bizarrely fitted with weird suits too. Definitely relics.

“Damn, they’re freakishly tough. Don’t you have a powerful attack? You’re a mage, right?”

Kalia, who was firing her magnum, asked Lucian beside her. He grumbled back.

“I’m shooting! It should break through soon.”

Watching those treasure monsters that blocked everything, I felt my mouth watering. If we could take what they had wrapped around their bodies, we’d become just as tough, right?

“Alright, then we need to prepare for melee combat. Irene, Daphne, your unique abilities, please…”

“Hahaha! You trash! Disappear!”

-Purfung! Boom!

A rain of mid-sized bolts poured down upon us, who were preparing to charge. The barrier broke. The bodies of the Scrags were smashed like overripe tomatoes. Turning my head, I saw Levi who had set up a tripod and was unleashing a barrage of ballista bolts from an elevated position. When did he get there?

“Hahaha!”

He screeched with glee. Once the shooting stopped, Granite charged like an enraged boar. The startled violet shield wall automatically opened up.

“Uwooooooooo!”

He dashed through the monsters, wildly swinging his axe. With a single swing, the limbs of Scrags flew into the sky, and with another, their entrails splattered everywhere.

“Uwaaa! Uwaaa! I’ll sweep them all away!”

-Bam! Bam! Bam!

The throng of monsters was shattered. Covered in the blood of the monsters, the axe-wielding giant howled amidst the debris.

“I am a man!”

We gaped at the sight.

“Um… Is it normal for Levi and Granite to act like that? I didn’t think so…”

“Yeah. What the heck…”

As Daphne asked, her expression bemused, Irene shook her head. Suddenly, someone lightly tapped 112’s back. It was Kalia.

“Violet. I saw you stick close to those two last time we went to the dungeon and say something. Now that I think about it, it’s strange. What did you do to those two? Did you do something weird?”

“It’s nothing!”

“Stop lying. I’ve told you so many times that your face gives it away.”

“Hehe…”

As I awkwardly laughed, the three girls looked at me suspiciously. Why do they doubt their friend? It’s a sad matter.

Lucian, who had been watching from behind, muttered.

“Looks like she’s indeed a secret agent…”

*

Putting the small happenings behind, we returned to focusing on the work. Sadly, the results of our first battle were pathetic.

“Uwaah! What is this, it’s all broken!”

432’s face was crumpled as she picked up a relic’s remnants. The little girl and the big boy who saw the sight turned their heads away, embarrassed.

“S-sorry… haha…”

“Umm, this is…”

Sadly, this couple of siege weapon operators wrecked all the Scrags using brute strength. As a result, the relics the Scrags were adorned with were completely destroyed.

“This won’t do. Before a large monster appears, you two follow 342 and carry the luggage. Got it?”

“Ugh…”

I felt incredibly disappointed. A barrier necklace or a magic-resistance outfit!

Perhaps we could replicate it.

Fortunately, after ridding the area of the Scrags, the place was filled with relic fabrics. The Violets and the silly couple loaded colorful bundles of fabrics onto the truck.

While the Violets were hard at work, a loud bang resonated from the side.

The source of the sound was the closet the workers had entered earlier.

Moments later, a man with smoke wafting from his body walked out alongside a woman. The laborers followed, dragging out a large unidentified monster.

“Damn it, caught another one! This one couldn’t stand a chance with just one hit!”

“Sure enough, you’re amazing!”

The woman laughed. The man, puffed up with pride, fiddled with a large spear he was holding.

One end of the spear was charred and broken. The man twisted the rear part and detached it. Then, he took something cone-shaped out from the bag he was carrying on his back and fitted it to the end of the spear.

At that moment, the monster lying on the ground began to thrash its limbs.

“Graaaah!”

As the laborers stepped back in surprise, the man chuckled and jabbed the spear at the monster. A miraculous occurrence unfolded.

-Kwahng!

As the spear, or rather spear, pierced the monster, it exploded, shattering the monster!

I was jolted awake. I never knew such a magnificent weapon existed! Whatever it is, I have to get it.

I approached the man.

“Excuse me, sir. Where do they sell that?”

“Oh, this spear? This is a Brain Spear. Don’t you know?”

The man hesitated only briefly at my abrupt approach before beginning to explain kindly.

“So, at the tip, there’s a bomb, and if you stab it, it explodes?”

“It’s no ordinary bomb. It’s a Brain Spear! It contains high-performance special plastic explosives. What do you think? Isn’t it cool?”

Once the man finished his explanation, I felt like I had been reborn. A Brain Spear, such a beautiful weapon could exist!

The principle was simple. Attach a heavy spear tip with plastic explosives to a changeable spearhead. Then, pierce the enemy with the sword energy.

The sword energy allows the weapon to pierce through the monster’s Ether Protection and thick hide initially. Then the special plastic explosives that exploded inside the monster’s body would devastate it from within.

The tip can be recycled two to three times before discarding. In some ways, it might be a more efficient weapon than self-destruction.

A combination of martial arts and chemical engineering!

I looked at the hunter uncle with shining eyes as I spoke.

“Sir? Do you have any plans to sell it?”

“Oh, this one has one use left, but do you want it? It’s a bit dangerous…”

“Sure!”

I quickly paid and bought the Brain Spear. As I turned around, Daphne called out to me.

“What are you doing there?”

“I bought an amazing weapon!”

I rushed to Daphne, brimming with excitement, and explained what I had purchased.

“It has explosives inside, so if you stab it, it’ll explode!”

“…Is it a rocket?”

“No, it’s a Brain Spear! If you run and stab it, it’ll explode!”

As I finished explaining, Daphne’s expression weirdly changed.

Her expression was akin to someone who bit into a cream bread only to find the cream taste replaced by toothpaste.

“Th-that’s not good.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You’re planning to charge with that, aren’t you? Laughing like a maniac! Aren’t you?”

“Gasp!”

How did she know? It seems Daphne has developed telepathy. Could it be due to the effect of the Ether Emitter?

“Who on earth would use such a weapon! Just safely use swords and magic like the others!”

“But…! Isn’t it cool?”

“You’ll get hurt!”

While I was arguing with Daphne, Irene approached, wondering what was happening, and upon seeing the Brain Spear, let out a short sigh.

“Goodness, Violet…”

I belatedly realized that I wouldn’t be understood. This was a bit disheartening.

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