Chương 10: World Gate Key and the Dungeon's Malice

The first leaf shone with brilliant light. A power that had once existed only in Cael's imagination had become reality. World Gate Key.

"Finally. It finally became real. This is the ability I wanted most." Cael's heart burned, and his entire body trembled with excitement. This was the power he had looked forward to most, the power he wanted more than anything, and the power he was certain he had to possess. It was the possibility born from successfully crossing worlds. At first, he had written down Dimensional Travel, but that could not be established. World Gate had failed as well.

In the end, he could only settle for manifesting the key that opened a World Gate. A key was, as the name implied, only a key. It did not guarantee that the door would open. A key had to match the lock of the World Gate before the door could be opened successfully. That meant there was a probability involved, and the probability was extremely low. Even so, an extremely low probability still meant there was a chance to travel to other worlds.

As the ability's meaning suggested, a door he opened could be used freely to come and go. It was not a one-use ticket in one direction. It was a permanent gate. Having just gained the power he desired, Cael could not wait to try activating it. Hum. An illusory golden holy gate appeared before him. Only he could see it. Unreadable patterns covered its surface, filled with the mysteries of worlds. The World Gate. A golden key appeared in his hand, and his heartbeat felt as if it might burst from his chest.

What he was doing now was opening a gate between worlds. It was something even gods could not do. As long as he opened this sacred door, he would be able to travel freely between other worlds. With a nervous hand, Cael guided the golden key toward the only keyhole in the World Gate. He slowly turned it. Reality betrayed his wish. A moment later, the key shattered. The World Gate burst into scattered light and disappeared.

"It failed." Cael was not disappointed. The probability of opening a World Gate was extremely low. If he tried ten thousand times, one attempt would eventually succeed. Hum. But the moment the World Gate vanished, an inexplicable terror descended. Cael froze. His body would not move. Sound, breath, heartbeat, senses, thought, everything was taken away. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. His soul seemed to sink into deep darkness.

In that darkness, a pair of enormous crimson eyes filled with malice and killing intent slowly opened. They stared silently at his back. A moment later, everything vanished without a trace. Cael came back to himself, sweat pouring down his forehead. His teeth trembled, and endless cold swept through him. Cael swallowed hard.

"What... just happened? It felt like I was about to die." Before he could recover from that bottomless fear, the ground shook violently. Crack. Crack. Crack. The sound of stone breaking rang out like a string of firecrackers. Rumble. Crack. The floor and stone walls of the cave, stretching an unknown distance around him, suddenly split open. Pair after pair of crimson eyes opened inside the cracks. Monsters dropped from the walls one after another like newborn creatures hatching from a nest.

Short, hunched goblins with green skin and mouths that could tear prey apart. Demon wolves covered in gray fur. Wolf-headed humanoids two meters tall, capable of standing upright and fighting. Kobolds howling as they brandished bone clubs. There were even Killer Ants, monsters that should only appear from the seventh floor onward, wrapped in exoskeletons as hard as iron. One. Two. Three. Twenty. Within seconds, the entire narrow cave passage was packed with crimson eyes full of killing intent and malice.

It was as if Cael had fallen into the deepest level of hell. He was surrounded from the front and back. There was nowhere to run. One law of adventuring said never to be attacked from both sides, or survival became nearly impossible. But this was no longer being attacked from both sides. This was an ambush from every direction.

"What... What is this? Did Miss Eina's death flag actually come true? You have to be kidding me. A Monster Party? This is far beyond a Monster Party. And this is the fourth floor. That kind of thing should only happen from the seventh floor onward..." The sudden change left Cael's lips trembling. Sweat continued running down his forehead. Words could not describe what he was seeing. But his thoughts moved with extreme speed, and he realized something in an instant. His gaze sharpened.

"It was the moment I used World Gate Key. That terrifying gaze... Was that the will of the Great Labyrinth?" The only cause Cael could imagine was that his attempt to use World Gate Key had stimulated the Dungeon. Those terrifying crimson eyes had been the manifestation of the labyrinth's will. The mother of monsters. He had tried to open a World Gate inside the labyrinth, and he had angered the Dungeon's will. This was bad. Very bad.

"Hah..." Under extreme fear, Cael instead became calm. He breathed out, drew the absurdly expensive decorative sword at his waist, and held both swords.

"Basic structure, analyze." Blue magical light appeared around his hands. His eyes, a little wild now, fixed on the countless red lights in the darkness. Hestia's cute smile when she gave him Falna appeared in his mind. So did Eina's strict lecture.

"Heh. I did not expect something like this to happen, but regretting it now is pointless. There is only one thing to do."

"If I die here, then every dream I had meant nothing. It would only prove that I was never more than this."

"In other words, I am fired up now."

"Monsters, so what if this is the Dungeon's malice? My goddess is waiting for me to come home for dinner. Do not get in my way." Cael's gaze sharpened. He slowly grinned and pointed the sword in his right hand toward the dense red eyes in the dark. Both swords had been reinforced into tungsten carbide, one of the hardest substances modern humanity could make, a metal used to cut other metals. Courage was the proud posture one held while facing fear. A piercing wave of countless shrieks rang through the cave.

What Cael did not know was that at that moment, an abnormal situation was occurring across the entire upper section of the Dungeon. Every adventurer in the Upper Floors had fallen into panic. On the sixth floor.

"What kind of joke is this? A large number of Infant Dragons that should only appear on the ninth floor spawned on the sixth. It is a Monster Party. Run!"

"I have never heard of anything like this happening. Help!" On the seventh floor.

"Why? Why are saber-toothed tigers and orcs from the eleventh floor spawning on the seventh? This is an Irregular. I heard upper-class adventurers talk about it before. This is a sudden disaster that should only have a tiny chance of happening in the Middle Floors. Lower-class adventurers cannot handle this. Run!"... On the twelfth floor.

"Damn it, how can the monster spawn rate be this fast? It is seven or eight times higher than normal. What is that? A Minotaur! Help!"

"Middle Floor monsters are spawning in the Upper Floors? Run! I want an explanation from the Guild!"

"Bastard, do not leave me behind! Once I get out, I am going to make you regret this!" On every floor of the Upper Floors, the monster spawn rate had increased abnormally. Monsters that should have appeared deeper down were spawning higher up, and large-scale Monster Parties were breaking out on every floor.