◈ 197. [Free Exploration] Call-up
same time.
Lake Kingdom Underground Dungeon.
Area 5, which comes out after passing through Area 4 [Grand Park]. [Street of Fountains].
Even in the dungeons in District 5, this is the most difficult place that must be passed in order to enter the next deep dungeon – District 6, where the inner castle is located.
In the days when the Lake Kingdom was once prosperous, it was a beautiful marble walkway that stretched between huge ponds spouting all kinds of colorful fountains.
Above the stinking pond, which is now black and dry, only fragments of an uglyly carved stone path remain.
“… … .”
Anonymous stood on the road holding his sword.
She remembered that it had once been beautiful, but she could not remember the scenery.
So many years have passed, and her memory is fading as this city is weathered. Like her worn-out name.
Just, according to one’s duty engraved on one’s body.
Killing, killing, and killing the monsters that have occupied this place is just to stop it. To keep them from escaping to the outside world.
and-
that buck that buck that buck
In front of her, three shadows with evil energy approached.
A huge muscular werewolf with a silvery red mane.
A dreamy demon with a voluptuous figure exposed through a worn-out monk’s attire.
And, wearing a black coat and a pure white crow mask, leading swarms of flies and rats – ‘something’.
The three monsters trudged along the ruined fountain path, stopping at ten paces from Nameless.
Moo-myeong put a sneer on his lips as he looked at the monsters.
“The Wolf King, the prostitute, and the owner of the plague. Three nightmare corps commanders came out to die on their own. It’s a party today.”
seureung-
An old sword held in a nameless hand was pointed forward.
“Good. I was in the process of repairing the sword, and I wanted to test whether it sharpened well.”
But the monsters didn’t seem particularly interested in fighting Nameless.
The white crow mask in the middle stepped forward. A deep, cracked voice leaked out from behind the mask.
“Get out of the way, nameless one. You have no business today.”
“Why don’t you have business? We have a duty to die and kill each other.”
“Today we went out in search of another game.”
A cold rage lingered in the voice of the White Crow Mask.
“The humans of the outside world… … Small creatures that will become our livestock in the future have killed Orlop and Selendion.”
“… … .”
“Besides, they are arrogantly strolling around the Lake Kingdom right now.”
I’m talking about Ash and his friends. The nameless mouth was tightly shut.
“It is our mission to catch him and present the truth to King Wangjung. It takes precedence over the pleasurable but meaningless struggle with you. So, get out of the way. The one who has lost his name.”
The werewolf who had been listening to the story growled ferociously.
“Those human bastards, how dare you blemish the great Nightmare King’s army with a lowly worm! I will give you pieces of meat with my claws!”
Then, the dreamer next to him covered his mouth and laughed.
“It is barbaric. Rather, how about being mesmerized by my charms?”
The dreamer’s long fingers gently ran over her softly curved body.
“I am interested. Even so, Orlop, you killed that Selendion! Wonder, wonder, wonder! What kind of person are you? What will it taste like? What will you scream? Haaa, I will hold you in my arms and make your body and mind my slaves.”
Then the White Crow Mask spat out in a low, seething voice.
“The mere pain of self-injury, the mere pain of delusion, cannot pay for the sins committed by those little creatures.”
The white crow mask whipped off its black coat, then raised its white-gloved hand forward and clasped it tightly.
“I will make you the host of all plagues in this world while you are alive and breathing. Then he will be able to taste all the pain that exists in this world.”
While staring at the monsters proclaiming that they would kill Ash in their own way, Nameless laughed.
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about, monsters? Who said they would send you here?”
Chew-!
As Nameless swung his sword lightly, the black water droplets at the bottom of the dried-up pond were swept away by the sword wind and rose round.
“Even if you suddenly go mad and go out to do good, I will stop you. It is my duty to face you monsters.”
“… … .”
“Pick up your weapons, monsters. Isn’t any language or dialogue meaningless between us already?”
The white crow mask, which had been staring at the unknown, tilted its head.
“okay… … Did you repair that sword today, the one whose name is lost?”
“The blade has been sharpened well. Enough to slap you on the neck.”
“Hasn’t the frequency of repairs increased more than before?”
Unknown’s eyes widened at the sudden words. The White Crow Mask was now laughing loudly.
“In the past, you didn’t even care about repairing your sword, and you fought through hundreds of nights without even breathing a sigh. Couldn’t that be possible now?”
“… … .”
“It means that you and your sword are worn out.”
“The day will come when I will rust and fall, but it will surely come.”
The nameless voice became ferocious, and a dazzling white light began to emanate from her sword.
“That is not today.”
“I agree, nameless one. Today you are still dazzling.”
The werewolf stiffened his reddish-silver mane, and the dreamer prepared the magical power of seduction by exuding a thick scent.
Huge white crow wings spread out on the back of the white crow mask. Countless swarms of flies and rats swarmed behind him.
“However, the time is near. Soon your virtuous soul will be corrupted without a trace. As all great men do.”
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“… … .”
“And on that day, the Lake Kingdom will finally fall into complete darkness, and the outside world will also be swallowed up in nightmares.”
The white crow mask smiled bleakly in a deep, cracked voice.
“I will happily wait for that day, counting the plagues and curses that will befall you, who have become so dirty.”
Towards such monsters, Nameless rushed head-on.
In this endless hellish struggle, there is only one thing I wish for.
‘Light it up, Ash.’
A small torch piercing the darkness of this place. To protect that tiny possibility.
‘And don’t put out the fire.’
That was all.
***
Glimmer!
Smack! Smack!
Making a sound like water-soaked jelly, the monsters roll.
“Aaaaaaaagh! I hate it!”
Unknowingly, I freaked out and threw myself back.
The monster of this season is slime.
It is a jelly-like monster that is used as a monster in the early stages of many games.
“Lord!”
Lucas ran in front of me and raised his longsword. I dried quickly.
“Oh, Lucas! no!”
But already Lucas’s sword is honestly falling down. oh my!
Molkan-!
With a cute sound, the slime split in two.
and… … .
Molkan! Molkan!
While making a cute sound twice as much… … It’s ‘split’!
Although it was exactly halved in size, it was divided into two entities that looked exactly the same. Seeing this, Lucas’ face was shocked.
“My sword won’t work?!”
“Eh, look out of the way, mister!”
Then, Evangeline, who came running, stabbed her spear.
Molkan-
As expected, the tip of the spear pierced the slime while making a cute sound.
However, the slime, stuck in the spear, tangled like pudding, and then dripped down.
Seeing that there was no damage, even Evangeline was angry! and screamed.
“My spear won’t work?!”
<Defend the Empire>’s physical attack attributes are divided into three: slash, penetration, and blow. In other words, cut, stab, and hit.
There are different advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation, but in the case of slime, it is quite a headache.
‘If you receive a slashing property attack, it will split, and you will not receive almost any damage from a penetrating property attack!’
Of course, if you aim for the spiritual core and properly cut or stab it, you can send it off in one shot, but the slime’s spiritual core is harder to detect than that of a vampire. More than anything.
slap! slap!
A lot!
Too many of these slime babies! Besides, if you accidentally cut it wrong, it will keep dividing, so it’s even more annoying to kill!
‘There is a fixed number of divisions per individual, but it doesn’t mean much in front of this number… … !’
In the end, I summoned the two avant-garde knights to the back.
“Lucas! Evangeline! Back off!”
“Kuh… … !”
“Ah, I get it!”
At the same time as the two knights gasped back, I reached out to Junior.
“Junior! Show me the price of the new equipment!”
Junior smiled and began to prepare the thunderbolt magic.
“You made an excellent investment, Your Highness!”
Junior swung his new wand wide,
Flash-!
Dozens of bolts of lightning struck the slime swarm.
At once, dozens of slimes were fried by lightning, and they melted and disappeared. The few that were still left were sniped and destroyed by Damien.
Damian’s sniper also had the penetrating attribute, but thanks to [Clairsight], it was possible to aim directly at the enemy’s spiritual core.
“Whoa… … .”
Seeing the slimes swept away, I let out a sigh of relief.
This is Lake Kingdom Dungeon Area 3 [North of Outer Castle]. It’s a fairly easy place to clear at our current party level.
However, the two vanguard knights became useless. It’s a situation where the equipment compatibility is too bad.
‘A avant-garde character needs to have good offensive performance to achieve defensive performance.’
At this rate, there is not enough means to stop the slime, so the two of them won’t be able to survive in the vanguard.
After thinking for a while, I gathered the party members.
“Retreat!”
I nodded my head at the party members who looked at me with surprised eyes.
“Our weapon compatibility is really bad for the slimes. Let’s go back and get the proper equipment.”
The slimes will come again during the next defense battle, so you have to go back to the Crossroads and make a weapon that the two knights can use. A blunt weapon with a striking property.
‘I’m thinking of borrowing a blunt weapon from Kelly Bay at base camp, but… … .’
The old man had already shut himself in to make the equipment he ordered earlier. I won’t see your face until it’s finished.
“If you need a blow, just hit it with the side of my sword!”
“I have a shield!”
The two knights raised their weapons and argued, but I ignored them.
“How long do you think you can fight like that? Don’t do that, let’s make a sub-weapon one by one.”
It’s not the main weapon for the two of them, it’s an auxiliary equipment that will only be used this time.
You will be able to make it at the blacksmith in no time. You can also bring some ready-made equipment.
In the end, we returned to Crossroads much earlier than planned.
***
Flash!
After passing through the teleport gate and returning to the mansion, the first thing that caught my eye was.
“uh?!”
It was a scene where the walls of the mansion, which had been painted with Evangeline’s bling-bling color, were being restored. Workers are hard at work putting new colors on it.
Evangeline opened her mouth and made a stupid noise.
“uh?! uh huh?!”
The same goes for the inside of the mansion seen through the window. Workers are busy restoring the interior of the parlor and dining room to their original state.
I’m oops! and wiped his forehead with his hand. The interior restoration work was not finished because it returned too early.
Noticing the situation, Evangeline freaked out, clutching both cheeks with her hands and screaming.
“Kyaahhhh! No dear dear! My small and precious interior!”
Evangeline ran into the mansion screaming.
I nodded my head in satisfaction. It was the reaction I wanted to see.
I wanted to see more despairing faces after the interior was completely demolished, but the current scream wasn’t bad either.
“I will go to the dungeon again tomorrow morning. Rest well today… … .”
After ordering the rest of the party to rest, I looked towards the city and murmured.
“Where is Quylan?”
This is also earlier than planned, but it can’t be helped.
‘The opponent for this stage is Slime. Strike attribute is valid.’
A fighter born as a blow attribute dealer.
It was time to call up the bandit king Kuylan to the first team.
