Chapter 227

(2)

3.

Reconnaissance Report from the Eastern Jungle.

There were three main pieces of notable information from Sven’s story.

First, hundreds, if not thousands, of Undead suddenly emerged from underground, all at once, driven by beings disguised as beasts.

“Beast disguises, you say….”

“Those monsters we saw in the last battle.”

The snake-masked and water buffalo-masked monsters.

Cadel frowned, recalling the powerful creatures, while Ian murmured with a seriously stiff face.

“It’s surprising that they’re strong enough to move in the Master’s Domain, and they have the ability to summon Undead…”

“What on earth could they be?”

Laurea had a puzzled expression as well. On the other hand, Ulan and Noa had no particular reaction, as they already knew the identity of the creatures.

However, they chose to remain silent for now, as there was still a need to explain things first. Sven’s reconnaissance report wasn’t over yet.

“The second notable observation is the presence of human mages moving alongside the monsters.”

“Human mages, you say?”

“Yes, dressed in gray robes.”

Just that one line about the human mages in gray robes moving with monsters helped the group piece together what they were dealing with.

“…Abyss Worshippers.”

Delia muttered lowly.

After that, both Cadel and Ian nodded.

They had already fought against Abyss Worshippers before coming here.

“Then we can roughly guess the identity of the beast-disguised monsters.”

Abyss Worshippers don’t typically move with ordinary monsters. They only show interest in things related to the Abyss.

As they were speculating that these creatures were Abyssal Monsters, Sven’s third report continued.

“The final notable observation is the appearance of unidentified monsters in the jungle.”

“What kind of monsters?”

“They’re enormous eyes floating in the air, and it was hard to find any special weaknesses in them.”

Right after Sven finished his last report, Ulan and Noa, who had been indifferent until now, suddenly changed their expressions. They had an inkling about the “eyes.”

Meanwhile, Cadel nodded as if he understood what kind of monster Sven was talking about.

“That was the one that ambushed you back then.”

“Yes, that’s right. A peculiar point is that they employ intangible attacks, making it difficult to detect their presence and trajectory with just their eyes.”

A giant eye floating in the air.

It has no obvious weakness and uses intangible attacks. Based on all the information so far, Ulan and Noa were sure about the identity of the monster.

‘Rakus’s Minion.’

The 6th ranked Lord.

The howling Eye of the Abyss, Rakus.

Everything Sven mentioned about the peculiarities lined up perfectly with the abilities possessed by Rakus’s minions.

‘That means…’

It also indicates that Rakus has entered the world.

For minions to move around, they must receive Abyssal power from their master.

‘But that’s not the only problem.’

If Astevan and Rakus left the Abyss, the chance that the last remaining Lord of the Abyss, Giant King Rargtan, acted similarly was very high.

With all the other Lords leaving the Abyss, there would be no reason for him to stay behind alone.

‘In other words, assuming the worst-case scenario, it wouldn’t be off the mark to think that all the Lords have come out.’

After completing this speculation, Noa’s face turned serious.

It was only natural. There were still many years left before the Gate of the Abyss could open, so the movement of the Lords already was unthinkable.

On the other hand, Ulan reacted differently.

“This might actually be a good thing.”

Unlike Noa, who was tense and afraid, Ulan smiled widely. This left Noa utterly baffled.

“Huh? A good thing? What do you mean?”

“We can eliminate them all without having to wait for the gate to open.”

A straightforward and clear answer.

Yet there was no way to refute it. Ulan had a record of taking down three Lords so far.

Just as a somewhat awkward smile crept onto his face.

Suddenly, someone tugged at her sleeve.

“Noa.”

A familiar voice followed.

Soon, what came into view was the little girl resembling the young Fertisha. The Spirit of the Abyss.

The spirit, who had emerged quietly, pointed towards the jungle and began to speak.

“The power of the Abyss is increasing.”

“Hmm? What does that mean?”

“Literally what it means.”

The spirit explained calmly.

The power of the Abyss that had been felt in the center of the jungle suddenly began to expand rapidly.

“So be careful.”

After the warning that it might explode at any moment, the spirit vanished. Ulan tilted his head in confusion.

“What was that supposed to mean?”

“Who knows? I’m not really sure either…”

Noa also had a puzzled expression.

To summarize what the spirit said: the power of the Abyss is expanding to the point that it could explode, so they should be careful about that.

“Still, since the spirit came out to warn us, something is definitely going to happen.”

“Hmm, I agree with that.”

Ulan’s group had already taken out three Undying Minions, including the Priest Kapra they encountered on the way to Shulfern.

Since the minions functioned like extensions, Astevan wouldn’t have remained unaware of their disappearance. There was a high likelihood of some kind of scheme taking shape.

As both kept their silence, they quietly gazed in the direction the spirit had pointed.

Meanwhile, over on the other side, they were discussing their next moves based on Sven’s reconnaissance report.

“What about sending an extermination squad?”

“Huh? To the jungle?”

“Yes. Now that the castle walls have fallen, defending doesn’t hold much meaning.”

The one who first proposed the dispatch of an extermination squad was the leader of the Holy Knight Order. Then the Head of the Inquisition chimed in to support his opinion.

“I agree too. If we don’t eliminate the root cause of the Undead, there will just be a pointless war of attrition.”

“Even so, sending an extermination squad in this situation…”

On the other hand, Laurea frowned at the suggestion.

Of course, it was fully understandable to want to eliminate the perpetrator of the ambush as quickly as possible.

‘But what if a large-scale attack happens again while the extermination squad is away, just like earlier?’

The outcome was just too easy to predict.

Shulfern would be annihilated, and all remaining soldiers would turn into Undead. So she was hesitating to agree to the dispatch of the extermination squad when—

“I also agree on the extermination.”

Someone raised their hand.

Paladin Master, Kadel Dun Shanktus.

He explained his agreement to Laurea, who showed a surprised expression.

“During the mission assigned by the Saintess earlier, I sensed unholy power.”

Back when he was rescuing Sven.

Kadel had felt the evil wave of power emanating from the center of the jungle. Reflecting on that, Kadel spoke with a stiff and serious face.

“This is just my intuition, but I feel like if we don’t eliminate that quickly, something truly terrible is going to happen.”

“Huh? Is that so serious?”

Laurea’s eyes widened in surprise.

It was understandable. She had never seen Kadel speak so strongly before.

Was that why? The discussion gradually started leaning towards dispatching the extermination squad. Hearing this, Noa also quietly nodded.

‘Sending the extermination squad is the right choice.’

As said before, elite units were favorable against Undead. At the same time, Noa recalled the master of the unholy power that Kadel mentioned.

‘Lord of the Immortals, Astevan.’

The strongest among the Lords, ranked 1st.

To fight him, there were two crucial things to be aware of.

First, the most dangerous was the Curse of the Immortal.

It activates when wounds are inflicted on all the minions and underlings of Astevan, and if the curse isn’t lifted, they turn into Undead.

‘But right now, he’s not a big threat.’

Ulan had the Magic Armor.

Plus, with Saintess Laurea by his side, even if he were to take a hit, her Divine Power could cleanse the injury.

Therefore, Noa remembered the second thing to be wary of when facing Astevan.

‘…The Maze.’

The Lord of the Immortals, as powerful as he is ranked 1st, uniquely doesn’t engage in direct confrontations with heroes.

Instead, Astevan creates dungeons or mazes to lure heroes. He traps them to drain their strength completely.

‘Among those, the maze…’

Once trapped, escaping becomes incredibly difficult.

Additionally, it’s created from Abyssal power, resembling the environment of the Abyss. In a sense, it’s similar to the Source of Magic, Zone 5.

So they must tread carefully to avoid being caught in a maze. Of course, no matter how cautious one is, there are limits.

‘Especially with the moving maze.’

A maze that approaches silently and devours the hero party. Remembering the experience encountered rarely in the original work, Noa shivered.

With a disgusted expression accompanying it.

‘And one more thing.’

Besides the points previously mentioned, there was one more thing that felt uneasy.

It was the fact that Noa had never once faced Astevan in an extermination.

‘While other Lords have been exterminated at least once across multiple playthroughs…’

The Lord of the Immortals had never been exterminated.

Of course, there had been many attempts, but every time, they were inevitably caught in the maze and defeated.

Or even if they managed to escape the maze, they often lost the fight due to exhaustion.

‘Ulan is in the same predicament.’

The last life that Ulan remembers is the final playthrough that Noa played. Hence, he too had never defeated Astevan.

But that’s not the only problem.

Unlike in the past life, most of the heroes still hadn’t experienced their trials. Meaning, they were not prepared to face the Lords.

‘So we must prepare thoroughly.’

To increase their chances of winning even slightly.

To do this, first, they must share the information about Astevan and the maze with the group.

Fighting an enemy without any knowledge about them versus being informed made a difference as vast as heaven and earth.

‘But the problem is…’

How to convey this information.

If it were just Ulan and Laurea present here, Noa would have said it right away. Both were aware of Noa’s identity as the player.

However, the others weren’t privy to the secrets of Noa and Ulan. So to reveal this, they’d have to disclose the secrets first.

‘Ugh, what should I do?’

Should she reveal the secret right now?

Or could she find a way to convey the message without revealing the secret at once?

As Noa struggled with her thoughts, the group’s conversation surrounding the extermination reached its final stages.

“So, are we giving up on Shulfern?”

“Yes, we are. With the walls down, there’s nothing more we can do.”

Milena nodded her head.

As previously mentioned, since all the castle walls had fallen, Shulfern had lost its fortification advantages. Thus, Milena chose retreat over resistance.

“It would be wiser to move to Murka and prepare for a second assault.”

“Hmm, then…”

Laurea’s concerns were eased.

That meant it was okay to proceed with forming the extermination squad.

After concluding all discussions, the group split into two. One group led by Milena was to flee, while the other formed the extermination squad that included the heroes.

However, as per Laurea’s order, the forces of the Holy Nation were tasked with escort duty for the fleeing group towards Murka, in case of any surprise attacks.

“We’ll be leaving now.”

“May the Divine Being’s grace be with you all.”

The Commander and the Head Inquisitor bowed to the Saintess and her group. While the leading group was departing from Shulfern—

“Alright then, let’s get ready.”

The extermination squad consisted of a total of nine members.

It included the hero party with Laurea, Noa, and Paladin Master Kadel.

They originally planned to set off right after Milena’s rear guard left Shulfern.

But then, things suddenly went awry.

“Enemies attacked! Enemies attacked!”

“Darkness is flooding in from the jungle!”

The sudden shouts from the soldiers.

Darkness flooding in? The group, not understanding the meaning, immediately looked toward the jungle.

And at that moment.

Everyone’s faces stiffened.

“……!?”

Just as the soldiers had said, black fog was rolling in from the jungle.

However, they could do nothing in response.

Immediately discerned that darkness was coming, it had already reached their proximity.

Moments later.

The darkness engulfed Shulfern.

Chapter 52. The Maze