The room within the dungeon was filled with the signs of battle.
The marauder, Ifrit, kept his eyes closed as he focused on controlling the mutated creatures he had created.
“Damn.”
The mutated spiders, crafted from the weaving of webs, were reduced to ash in a clean sequence of spells cast by the elf mage. In just an instant, two-thirds of the mutations that Ifrit had painstakingly crafted over nearly two weeks exploring this dungeon were erased.
“…It’s over.”
Ifrit disconnected from the writhing, electrified mutations, opened his eyes, and stared aimlessly at the ceiling.
Even the elf mage, who had been clearing mines by weaving through the webs, turned out to be far stronger than Ifrit had anticipated. From the outside, the mage appeared to have the mana level of an average mid-ranking mage, but the completion and combination of his spells were extraordinary.
There was no way Ifrit could flee any deeper into the dungeon.
Wounded and nearly out of strength, Ifrit would need time to recover, but his opponent had an excellent guide navigating the labyrinth.
They would reach Ifrit’s current room in less than ten minutes.
It was the perfect representation of a rat trapped in a jar.
Still, the marauder did not despair. He did not sit and accept death quietly.
He had no sense of pride or duty like the soldiers of the continent.
Rather, writhing around disgustingly in his final moments to leave a scar on them would serve his race better than simply sitting still to die—a symbol of his pragmatic and utilitarian mindset.
“Hmm…”
Ifrit massaged his chin in a calm manner entirely unfitting for someone facing imminent death.
“Did they dive into this dungeon simply for its treasure? No… They must know that our kind outside is eyeing the Achilipthus Forest. Could they still act so casually?”
Ifrit remained composed as he retraced the reasons for their presence here.
“The elf mage willingly risked danger by walking into a room filled with mines and dismantling them. This is not the behavior of someone merely aiming to escape or clear the dungeon.”
Gradually, Ifrit revisited the initial encounter with the group.
“…Is their purpose here to dismantle the mines?”
His calm reasoning quickly reached a conclusion.
“I don’t know the exact reason, but it’s definitely tied to that. There’s no other explanation for their peculiar behavior.”
“…Should I flee far away? No, it wouldn’t make much difference. The guide seems capable and will find me soon enough.”
He sent orders to the fleshy masses scattered about the dungeon to deliver the final remaining mines to his location as a parting gift.
“Better to send them back as a present.”
A grotesque organism, resembling a lump of dough with two enormous spider legs, soon arrived, carrying a glowing purple mana mine on its head before entering the room.
Ifrit quietly took the mine into his hands.
The slightest wrong move of his fingers could trigger the detonator, immolating the surrounding area.
“…Gather.”
Behind Ifrit, all his mutations began to assemble upon his command, from the small recon probes to the grotesque spider clumps ready for combat. The fleshy masses carefully surrounded him, their black masses rippling and secreting toxins as they opened a path and began to roll toward an unspecified destination.
“I can leave them with a scar, at least.”
Even before his end, the marauder Ifrit maintained a chilling, emotionless expression.
*
“Please wait a moment. The air is too hot to allow thunderclaps just yet…”
Through the translucent barrier, a room filled with white ash and thick mist was visible. Seeing the horrific fleshy masses and their toxin-heavy secretions turned into white ash, Rex burst out in dry laughter.
“…Is he really only a 4th Tier? With all these geniuses around me, I feel like a total mess.”
In response to Rex’s words, Lir appeared unsure of what to do, fidgeting before burying her face in her robes.
‘She gets irritated when I praise her, but she’s happy when Rex does?… Did I really do something wrong?’
Even after the situation ended, Lir maintained the ‘isolation’ spell, waiting for the blazing air to cool down enough to prevent thunder sounds.
As the wait concluded, and the ‘isolation’ spell was released, a sticky, stifling air brushed against our cheeks as we stepped into the room with grimaced expressions.
Ash.
Ash.
Ash.
The room was littered with nothing but pure white ash, as the lightning strikes caused by Lir had blackened the walls, formed craters in the floor, and even melted the frescoes on the ceiling.
“They’ve been wiped out entirely. Could you have been a bit gentler?”
Trian swept his hands across the ash-filled floor, grumbling.
The giant floor, at least 30 pings in size, was entirely covered by the white ash. Even Trian would need a significant amount of time to uncover any clues hidden beneath.
“It will take a while to find any leads. Take a rest in the meantime.”
For some reason, Trian addressed me directly.
‘In the battle, I did nothing. Most of the work was done by Lir, yet I feel oddly favored in this situation.’
Of course, the discomfort aside, I intended to make the most of this rest period.
“Phew…”
As soon as Trian finished speaking, I slumped against the wall, sitting on the floor.
I did nothing, yet my body feels inexplicably exhausted.
Seeing me sit down, Lir cautiously approached me. With her wide-brimmed hat already on and her face hidden within her robes, Lir’s face was nearly invisible.
Carefully, I swept away some of the dust near my seated position with my humble hand. Without a word, Lir moved to the cleared spot, leaned her back against the wall, and gently sat beside me.
Despite not showing it, Lir was also quite tired from keeping up with Rex and Trian’s hurried pace.
“…Rex, do you see anything over there?”
“There are some traces of corrosion, but I can’t tell if it’s from the mutated creatures’ blood spray moments ago or from when the marauder passed through.”
“Remember the location. After we’re done here, I’ll go check it out…”
Doom…
The ominous vibration traveled through the wall against my back. I instinctively straightened and turned my head toward the sound.
“…”
Had he sensed the vibrations as well?
Trian, rummaging through the ash in the adjacent room, stopped talking instantly and turned his head toward us.
Before I could even process the sound, the vibration came again.
Doom…!
The dust on Trian’s fingertips danced briefly.
Rex instinctively reached for the axe strapped to his back.
A foreboding fear crept in that whatever was causing the vibrations wasn’t friendly.
“…Mages, get up.”
Boong!
The vibrations intensified before I could even fully rise.
Rex immediately seized his axe and rushed towards the room where Lir and I were resting.
“Over here. Let’s form a defensive position…”
Lir quickly stood up with her signature agility and reached out a hand for me. As I grabbed her hand and pushed off the floor with my other hand, a tremendous vibration shook the ground beneath us.
Boong!
Boong!
Boom!
Boom!
The vibrations continued to grow stronger, mutating into a slimy sound. It sounded like some viscous, dirty liquid clinging to and then falling off the ground repeatedly, the sound being incredibly loud.
Rattle!
Before my mind could fully process the situation, the doors of the room where Lir and I were resting opened.
The three tightly shut doors simultaneously swung open, disgorging grotesque masses of vomit-like substances.
A deluge of flesh and bones surged toward where Lir and I had been sitting.
This was a clear sign of intent, a characteristic of the mutations controlled by a marauder lurking behind them.
This ambush, hitting just when the battle seemed over and tensions had loosened, indicated that the marauder manipulating these mutations was an experienced and seasoned combatant.
“Rex!”
“Understood!”
“…A, this is too close.”
I reflexively began channeling my mana into lightning around my body in response to the sudden ambush. Pale, white currents began to encase my slim figure.
“Here’s no good!”
Lir quickly shouted, pulling my arm and running toward the room filled with white ash. My concentration faltered momentarily, dispersing the currents around me.
“The thunderclap is too loud! Even with ‘isolation’ sealing the room, the power is so overwhelming it’d break the seal instantly. It’s too overkill in too many ways!”
Lir quickly noticed my attempt to unleash my Awakening magic and shouted to stop me.
Awakening may indeed be a powerful skill, but it emits vast amounts of electricity and relentless thunderclap sounds. Activating it would not only alert every monster nearby but likely disturb even those resting on the opposite end of the dungeon.
Adding to that, using Awakening in this sealed space could endanger others, including Lir, with lightning strikes, and risk severly damaging our eardrums.
Furthermore, the five-minute duration would leave me unconscious afterward—an event to avoid within the confines of the dangerous dungeon.
Whoosh…
An enormous spear pierced through the overwhelming amount of flesh filling the room, drawing a straight line.
The steel tip pierced through everything in its path, embedding itself in the opposite wall. It immediately began rusting from the toxic blood before slowly dissolving.
“Into this room! The bastard seems rushed; the quality of these mutations is all over the place. If we form a proper formation, we should be able to handle them without strong magic!
Whoosh!
Behind me, the sound of a massive axe carving through bones and flesh echoed. The spilled blood corroded other fleshy masses, which then began a chain reaction of corrosion.
At that moment, a massive spider mutation with visible stitching on its great belly blocked our path.
The situation resembled an infernal battlefield. Though Rex tried his best to stop the fleshy masses advancing toward us, he only had one body.
Spotting a large fleshy mass sneaking through as Rex swung his axe, I focused on the strange sensation in my chest.
“Manifestation.”
Fine particles erupted from my chest, quickly forming a yellowish crystal. As soon as it took shape, the crystal emitted a mechanical whirring sound and spewed deep crimson beams of light.
One of the beams precisely pierced the head of the gigantic spider mutation.
The monster’s head turned into ash, and its body began to topple backward.
Surveying the situation, I turned my head. I needed to be vigilant in case Rex missed some other approaching mutations.
If we could at least retreat to the next room, the narrow entrance could funnel the masses, allowing us to eliminate them effectively.
The most urgent task right now was to form a formation.
If we could safely retreat to the next room, Rex could calmly withdraw from this nightmarish situation.
“Is this what you’ve been looking for?”
Before I could finish my thought, a chilling voice resonated through the room.
An unheard voice before today.
A voice so calm and serene amidst the chaotic battlefield that it evoked a primal sense of unease in those who heard it.
I instinctively turned toward the source.
There stood the marauder, his entire body melting away from the toxic substances coating him, clutching the final mana mine we had been searching for.
The torso of the tumbling mutation behind him revealed all stitching torn apart.
It wasn’t definitive evidence, but I assumed he’d been hiding inside that mutation.
Whoosh!
Before my and Lir’s brains could fully process the situation, a steel arrow tip pierced through the marauder’s head.
“Damn…”
Trian’s sigh faintly echoed in my ears.
I hastily redirected the crystal’s tip toward the marauder, but it was already too late.
Even as his body melted and an arrow pierced his skull, the marauder greeted us with a fearsome grin.
“Take this.”
In the air thick with blood and flesh, the sound of his hands pressing the mine’s trigger was startlingly clear.
Click—
