Chương 65: Chapter 64: Just Our Luck

Gern stood in the center of the party with his arms folded. His heavy shield rested against his thigh, planted firmly on the ground. Ahead of him, Jack and another swordsman were each keeping a skeleton occupied. A third skeleton had already collapsed, with only its skull still rocking faintly on the ground. The young ranger seized the opening and swiftly drew his bowstring, sending an arrow through the gap between Jack and the other swordsman. Crack!

The arrow struck the fallen skull with perfect accuracy, shattering it into fragments.

"Yes!" The ranger clenched his fist and let out a quiet cheer. Gern glanced back at him, one eyebrow rising before he gave an approving nod.

"Nice improvement, Raymond. At least this time, you didn't get so eager to claim the kill that you shot one of your own teammates." The smug smile vanished from Raymond's face in an instant. He put on a straight face and fixed his gaze on the battle ahead.

"Captain! I'll never make such a stupid mistake again!" Gern planted his hands on his hips and burst into hearty laughter. The booming sound echoed through the cavern, painfully loud in the confined space. Jack knocked aside the skeleton's slash, sending it staggering several steps backward. Instead of immediately pursuing, he remained where he was and quietly waited for the skeleton to regain its footing. When the next slash came straight at him, Jack instinctively took a step back.

Then Gern's earlier words suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Aaahhh!" Jack roared, clenched his teeth, and widened his eyes, staring intently at the incoming rusted sword. He raised his left arm and bashed his round shield outward with all his strength. Clang! The shield slammed hard into the skeleton's rusted sword. This time, the skeleton could no longer keep its balance. Its entire body toppled to the ground. Jack panted heavily as a smile gradually spread across his face.

He immediately rushed forward and smashed the skeleton's skull with a single sword strike, then let out two bursts of laughter he couldn't hold back.

"I did it! Captain! Did you see that?" Gern stuck a finger into his ear and twisted it around. After pulling it back out, he casually blew on the fingertip and looked at Jack through half-lidded eyes.

"I saw it, and I heard it. Are you trying to burst my eardrums with all that yelling?" Jack chuckled before glancing toward the swordsman still fighting the final skeleton.

"Harry, need any help?" Harry did not answer. He turned sideways to evade the rusted sword swinging toward his face, then suddenly swept his left arm upward and slammed the rim of his round shield into the skeleton's jaw. Thud! The blow lifted the skeleton off its feet and sent it flying backward a short distance. Harry took one step back, then stepped forward again. His longsword came crashing down, cleaving the skeleton's body in two.

Before the fallen skull could bounce more than twice, he raised his foot and crushed it beneath his boot. Only then did Harry slowly turn toward Jack. The corner of his mouth rose slightly.

"No. Thank. You." Jack immediately pursed his lips and glared at him indignantly.

"What's that supposed to mean? I was only trying to help!" Harry raised a hand and casually swept his hair back. Then he smiled at Jack and lifted his chin slightly.

"I'm not sure how someone who has to yell just to work up the nerve to fight a skeleton is supposed to help me." Harry sheathed his longsword, slowly walked over to Jack, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Still, well done. At least you didn't get yourself wounded this time."

"You... You..."

"All right, you two brats. That's enough." Gern waved a hand helplessly.

"You both did well. Happy now?" Although neither of them had suffered any serious injuries this time, both had still picked up a few scrapes and bruises during the battle. Kyle did not need long to treat them and apply fresh medicinal salve. Raymond used the opportunity to gather up all the loot.

"Whoa, two more magic crystals! We're way too lucky today!" He cheerfully shoved the two red magic crystals into Gern's hands. Seeing how delighted he looked, Gern could not help feeling his own mood brighten as well. Ah, traveling with youngsters really is a lot more fun. Even I feel like I'm getting younger. At that exact moment, the entire cavern began shaking violently. Gern hurriedly braced his shield against the ground and barely managed to keep his footing.

The others lost their balance one after another, falling to the ground and shouting in panic.

"Stay calm! Stop yelling! It won't help anything!" Gern roared at them. Only then did Jack and the others calm down slightly, lying flat on the ground and no longer daring to move recklessly. The violent shaking continued for quite some time. Small rocks rained down from the cavern ceiling as thick clouds of dust filled the air. A growing sense of dread crept over Gern. He had been training newcomers in Rockspring Dungeon for nearly ten years, yet he had never experienced such a severe tremor here before.

"Damn it... We really are fucking lucky today." Only after the shaking finally subsided did Harry slowly climb to his feet, still badly shaken. His hair and shoulders were covered in dust, but he had no time to clean himself off. He immediately turned toward Gern.

"Captain, something doesn't feel right. Should we turn back?" Without turning to face Harry, Gern reached down, pulled Kyle to his feet, and brushed the dust from Kyle's clothes.

"Mm... I think we'd better call it a day and leave the dungeon." After speaking, he turned and swept his gaze across the four young men one by one. Only after confirming that they could all stand and walk normally, with no obvious injuries, did Gern nod.

"All right. Check whether you've lost anything. Once you're done, we're leaving immediately."

"Understood, Captain." Gern did not allow them to spend long preparing. After roughly three minutes, he called an end to their preparations.

"That's enough. Time to go. Who knows what else might happen if we stay here?" Jack's face was pale, but he still summoned the courage to speak.

"Captain, what might happen?" Gern's expression darkened. Two words forced their way out from between his clenched teeth.

"Demonic Tide..." If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Jack's face instantly grew even paler, and he practically darted to Gern's side. Kyle and the others no longer looked anywhere near as calm as they had before.

"Are we going to be swallowed up?"

"I don't know. That's why leaving immediately is our best option." Gern picked up his shield and continued in a grave voice, "Once we're outside, I'll have to hurry back to town and report what happened here to the Guild." Harry swallowed hard. His eyes remained fixed on Gern's still-composed face.

"Captain, how do you know it's a Demonic Tide?"

"I don't. I'm only saying it's possible." Gern gave a cold snort.

"A dungeon suddenly shaking this violently is one possible warning sign of a Demonic Tide. Wasn't that in the Guild's guide for new adventurers? You lazy brats really do have nothing but muscle between your ears." Gern gave Harry and the others no opportunity to keep asking questions. He immediately led the party toward the exit at a run. But the moment they rounded the next corner, Gern stopped short. The people behind him had no time to react.

They crashed into Gern's back one after another, bunching together behind him.

"Captain, why did you stop all of a sudden?" Gern did not answer. He merely stood frozen in place, staring at the monstrous thing blocking the passage ahead. It was an enormous dark-red slime. Its massive body nearly filled the entire passage, while its viscous surface rose and fell with every slow movement. How could something like this appear here? A slime? No. This was not one of the varieties commonly found in Rockspring Dungeon, and it was far too large. Bronze-level?

No Bronze-level slime could possibly grow this large. Which meant...

"Silver-level..." A bitter smile slowly appeared on Gern's face. The front section of Rockspring Dungeon had only a single passage. There were no other paths that would allow them to circle around the slime before them. Several passages deeper inside formed a square loop, but Bronze-level skeletal warriors constantly patrolled them. They did not have time to clear the monsters out one by one.

If they recklessly retreated deeper into the dungeon, the entire party would only end up caught between enemies on both sides. What should he do? Just as Gern's mind raced for a solution, the enormous slime suddenly began to move. Its massive body undulated forward, the viscous dark-red mass rolling over itself in waves as it inched closer to Gern and the others.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why did this fucking thing have to appear now?" Gern raised his shield and hefted his spiked mace onto his right shoulder.

"Hey, you lot. Whatever happens next, don't make a move." He stared at the approaching slime and settled into a low stance.

"Let me see what this bastard can do first." Rather than waiting for the dark-red slime to reach him, Gern broke into a run and charged straight toward it. Before he had even gotten close, the writhing dark-red mass already filled nearly his entire field of vision.

"This thing is way too fucking big... Aaahhh!" Gern swung his spiked mace with all his strength. The sharp spikes on its head tore through the slime's viscous outer layer and smashed deep into its body. Thud! With a single blow, he created a crater the size of a human head in the slime's body. However, just as the corner of Gern's mouth began to rise, the depression started to writhe. The surrounding dark-red slime flowed inward, filling the crater in the blink of an eye. Gern did not stop.

The slime was still advancing, leaving him no choice but to retreat while swinging his mace, smashing one massive crater after another into its body. Yet the slime's regeneration did not slow in the slightest. Sweat streamed down Gern's face. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the slime was rapidly closing in on Jack and the others. What should he do? Order them to keep retreating? But how much farther could they go?

Thoughts churned through Gern's head until he could barely think straight, leaving him no closer to a solution. Just then, something mounted on the wall caught the corner of his eye. A lamp. Gern's eyes lit up, and he immediately turned his head and shouted, "Kyle! Gather every packet of powdered medicine in your bag, soak them all in strong liquor, then bundle them up and throw them to me!" Kyle pulled the medicine bag from his waist almost the instant he heard the order.

He crouched down and spread it open on the ground. He gathered every cloth packet containing powdered medicine into one pile, then pulled the stopper from the ceramic flask at his waist with an agonized expression.

"My money!" Kyle let out a mournful howl as he poured all the strong liquor over the packets, then quickly wrapped them into a single bundle.

"Captain, catch!" Gern swiftly broke away from the slime and ran several steps backward. He caught the dripping bundle in one hand, then pulled a piece of flint from his belt pouch. He crouched down and struck the flint hard. Sparks scattered over the alcohol-soaked cloth, and flames immediately leapt upward, transforming the entire bundle into a blazing ball of fire. Gern cast his shield aside.

Enduring the searing pain in his left hand, he grabbed the burning bundle and charged toward the slime once more with his spiked mace in his other hand. He swung the mace violently. Its sharp spikes tore through the slime's outer layer again, smashing another enormous crater into its body.

"Aaahhh!" Gern roared. Veins bulged across his forehead and neck, and his entire face turned bright red. He stared at the rapidly closing crater, then thrust his left hand, still clutching the blazing bundle, deep into the wound. The slime closed around his left hand in an instant. A moment later, the burning bundle buried inside the slime flared violently. The slime's enormous body convulsed as bubbles of every size swelled across its dark-red surface. Boom!

The wound exploded from within, and the force of the blast hurled Gern backward. He slammed into the ground, his face twisting with pain. Even so, he did not close his eyes. He only clenched his teeth and stared at the slime before him. This time, the wound finally failed to close. Yet the hole the blast had torn in its body was pitifully small compared with the slime's massive bulk.

"Fuck... That still wasn't enough?" Then the slime shuddered again. Slender dark-red tendrils erupted from its surface. Some wrapped around Gern where he lay, while the rest shot past him and coiled around Jack and the other three farther back. The rage and defiance on Gern's face instantly froze. So the slime had been able to attack them from the very beginning. Then what the hell had all of that been?

It could have captured every one of them whenever it wanted, yet it had merely crept forward while allowing him to attack it again and again. Had it only wanted to watch them struggle helplessly? From start to finish, they had been cruelly toyed with by a monster. The slime gave them no time to react. The dark-red tendrils around their bodies abruptly tightened. Agony surged through Gern's entire body, and the next moment, he was violently dragged into the slime. Ice-cold. Slick. Impossible to breathe.

Viscous dark-red liquid pressed against him from every direction. Gern could not even move his arms or legs. He could only watch as Jack was dragged inside as well, struggling in terror with a face twisted by pain. In the final moment before he lost consciousness, nothing remained in Gern's heart but boundless hatred and guilt. If he had taken them to Blackstone Dungeon sooner... Would any of this have happened? Darkness gradually swallowed his consciousness. Inside Rockspring Dungeon, everything went quiet again.

◆ ◆ ◆ An ominous dark-red glow permeated the dim room. Gern suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit, hacking up glob after glob of viscous dark-red liquid. He struggled to open his eyes, but his vision remained blurred. He could barely make out a single shape. A stone pedestal. A stone pedestal covered in ominous dark-red patterns. Gern tried to move, only to discover that he could not budge at all. He hurriedly lowered his gaze.

Only then did he see that, aside from his head, his entire body was still encased in a mass of viscous dark-red slime. Was it that slime? It didn't eat me!? Gern immediately turned his head. Sure enough, Jack and the others were trapped nearby. All four of them were deathly pale, their eyes still closed. None had regained consciousness. Just then, a dark-red diamond-shaped core slowly rose from the stone pedestal ahead and floated toward Gern.

"Ig-ignorant... human." Gern's eyes widened sharply. That shape, along with the dark-red light flickering deep within the core, was something he could never mistake. It was a dungeon core. Years earlier, when he had still been a member of a large adventuring party, he had taken part in a core subjugation. He had watched a similar core crack beneath blow after blow from their weapons until it finally shattered. Only now did he realize that dungeon cores could communicate directly with humans.

"You... You damned monster!" Gern coughed again, then raised his bloodshot eyes and glared furiously at the Rockspring core.

"If you've got the guts, kill me!" The Rockspring core slowly floated a little closer.

"Y-you don't want... to get them out alive?" Gern's pupils abruptly contracted to pinpricks as he stared at the diamond-shaped core before him.

"..." He did not answer. Gern did not know what he could say, nor would he allow himself to respond. If he answered, the monster would know it had found his weakness.

"Why... won't you speak? Mute?" The diamond-shaped core slowly turned toward Harry beside Gern. The dark-red light across its surface grew slightly brighter. Gern immediately noticed that the dark-red slime encasing Harry was rapidly constricting. The next second, Harry, who had still been unconscious, suddenly screamed and was forcibly dragged awake by the pain.

"Stop!" Gern roared in a hoarse voice.

"Stop it! Don't touch them!" Only then did the Rockspring core slowly turn back toward him. Beside him, Harry's head drooped limply against the slime's surface while ragged, painful breaths escaped his lips.

"C-can... speak now?" Gern clenched his teeth tightly, but the light in his eyes was gradually dimming. He had to get them out. No matter what price he had to pay. Even if it meant dealing with the devil, he would do it.

"Spit it out!" Gern raised his head and glared viciously at the Rockspring core.

"You didn't kill us immediately, so there must be something you want us to do." The Rockspring core slowly rose until it hovered slightly above Gern's eye level.

"Contract... Find... Blackstone's location..."

"Blackstone Dungeon?"

"Yes... Just... swallow... contract formed..." A strange rustling sound suddenly came from the darkness nearby. Gern immediately turned toward it. A moment later, something utterly revolting wriggled slowly out of the shadows. It was a lump of rotting flesh. At the center of the twitching mass was an eyeball about the size of a thumb, still slowly rotating. The next moment, the eyeball rolled free of the flesh and came to a slow stop on the ground, right in front of Gern's chin.

"Come... swallow it... safety..." Gern's face instantly turned deathly pale. His stomach churned violently, nearly making him vomit on the spot. However, when he looked at Harry, still panting in pain beside him, and then at Jack and the others, who had yet to awaken, he slowly closed his eyes. A single tear slid from the corner of his eye. Gern opened his mouth. Refusing to let himself think any further, he swallowed the eyeball whole. The next instant, agony tore through his mind.

Gern's entire body trembled uncontrollably. His eyes rolled upward, and saliva streamed from the corner of his mouth. Only after a long while did the pain begin to recede. Gern panted heavily as he struggled to raise his head and look at the diamond-shaped core hovering before him.

"Th-this... is enough now, right?" He clenched his teeth and shouted hoarsely, "Let them go!" The Rockspring core hovered in place. The dark-red light across its surface pulsed irregularly, as though it were confirming something. A moment later, it slowly lowered itself and returned to its place above the stone pedestal.

"Take them... to the entrance..." The instant it finished speaking, the dark-red slime encasing the group began to writhe. Before Gern could say another word, he and the other four were dragged out of the Core Chamber by the slime. The heavy stone door closed again. The Core Chamber fell silent once more, with only a few faint rays of dark-red light illuminating the stone pedestal and the surrounding walls. A moment later, a broken, muddled whisper drifted through the chamber.

"The traitor... cannot... be forgiven..."

"Find... Blackstone... Demonic Tide..."