Chapter 265: A Source of Concern
<<Previous Chapter | Live Dungeon! | Next Chapter>>
Several days later, Ealdred Crow’s Team 1 reached the eighty-fifth layer — deeper than they had ever ventured. But there, they were unceremoniously wiped out, helpless against the monsters waiting for them. The mid-boss, the Fallen Lich, commanded a vast legion of Fallen Angels that eclipsed the blood-red moon, each minion overwhelming them with the elements of light and darkness.
Before this, creatures that could manipulate both elements were rare, perhaps one appearing in the occasional battle. But beyond the eighty-fifth layer, their numbers swelled. Worse still, the Fallen Lich ambushed Explorers near the Black Gate itself, unleashing devastating sorcery that left them with little time to prepare. Without equipment specifically resistant to both light and dark, progress beyond this point teetered on the edge of impossibility.
Yet, despite the slaughter, Ealdred Crow seemed determined to continue their struggle against the eighty-fifth layer. For Absolute Helix, that meant it was prime time to gather the right equipment in secret before the attention was on them. But their efforts proved fruitless so far; after days of monster hunting with Silver Beast on the eighty-third layer, not a single treasure chest had appeared. The outlook was grim.
In the meantime, Weiss, leader of the Scarlet Devil Squad, returned from the Royal Capital. At his side was a mysterious girl, her identity supposedly vouched for by a noble house. Though the photographs that circulated masked her face, any Explorer who had seen her in the flesh before could instantly recognize who she was — Meena.
And sure enough, the capital had dispatched messenger knights, and they delivered a briefing to Absolute Helix about Orbis. They revealed that Meena was no ordinary girl, but a queen-type monster, one capable of commanding insect hordes. Should anyone try to kill her, she could unleash her swarm to raze cities or even threaten the Royal Capital.
Despite her destructive potential — enough to rival the devastation of the last Stampede — Meena apparently longed for a quiet, normal life. But her power could not simply be overlooked. It was decreed that Dungeon City would take her into custody. Weiss would accompany her whenever she went into town, and should she enter God’s Dungeon, she would be isolated within a multi-layered magical Shield, meticulously crafted by House Babenberg.
Although Meena had shattered Babenberg’s Shields during the last Stampede, this new one was different — fortified with immense time and magical energy. It was built to withstand even the devastating blasts of the Devourer Dragon — far more powerful than what Meena was capable of as an individual — and if she so much as tried to chip away at it, Master Babenberg and his children, whose senses were linked to it, would know in an instant.
“Haaah…” Tsutomu released a heavy sigh as he watched the knights exit, their briefing complete. Lately, his sighs had come often, mostly over the lack of treasure chests. But this one carried a weight all its own. Even Ollie’s apprentice, who entered the living room with a basket of laundry, started in surprise at the sound.