Chương 155

Darius remained silent long enough for the question to become heavier. Then he nodded.

"We accept." His voice sounded controlled. The armored fingers crossing his arms tightened until metal scraped against metal. Romus turned toward the offending party leader.

"Your group attacked first and used the spell that caused the initial collapse. Every member involved is banned from entering the Ironhollow Dungeon for one month." The man's head rose immediately.

"One month?" Romus looked at him. The objection died.

"Yes, Guildmaster."

"You will remain available for questioning and repair work during that period. If any member attempts to enter in any way, their guild registration will be suspended and the Fire Troop will receive an additional fine." Darius did not look toward his subordinate this time. Doing so might have tested the furniture. Romus shifted his attention to the opposing party leader.

"Your group did not begin the fight, but you answered with spells equally capable of causing structural damage. You had opportunities to retreat and report the dispute. Instead, you continued until the ceiling began falling." The injured leader lowered his gaze.

"Yes, Guildmaster."

"Your party is banned from the dungeon for two weeks. You will also assist with mapping and material recovery once the Sixth Level is declared stable."

"We accept." Lianne wrote each term carefully, including the fines, the names of every adventurer involved, and the exact periods of suspension. Her expression remained professional, though she occasionally glanced toward Darius whenever the metal around his arms produced another quiet sound beneath the pressure of his grip. Romus waited until she finished before speaking again.

"The judgment will be posted publicly. The guild will not conceal the cause of an incident that affected every party on the Sixth Level." Darius's subordinate visibly flinched. Darius did not. Inside, his anger became something much colder. The Fire Troop had been close to controlling access around the newly discovered region. Now every independent adventurer in Ironhollow would associate the clan with the evacuation and lost work.

Repairing that damage would cost more than ten thousand silver, and killing the fool beside him immediately would only create another incident inside the guild. He could wait. The guildmaster looked toward the door.

"You may leave." The leaders stood. Darius rose last, towering above everyone except Romus, though the lanky mage still appeared unimpressed by the difference. The Fire Troop clan master offered one stiff nod before turning toward the exit, while his subordinate followed far enough behind to postpone the conversation awaiting him outside. The opposing leader left through the same door with his injured arm held close to his body.

Several guild officers accompanied both parties, partly to document their departure and partly to prevent the argument from restarting before they reached separate streets. Lianne gathered the completed pages. The door opened again before she finished arranging them. A messenger entered without waiting to be announced. The young man wore the dark gray uniform of the dungeon checkpoint staff, though dust covered his shoulders and a shallow cut crossed one side of his forehead.

He bent over with both hands on his knees, trying to recover enough breath to speak while everyone who had been leaving stopped near the doorway. Romus's expression sharpened.

"What happened?" The messenger forced himself upright.

"Secondary collapses, Guildmaster." The room became quiet again.

"Where?"

"Several small sections on the First and Second Levels. None trapped active parties, and the evacuation routes remained open. Everyone on those levels has been brought out or accounted for." Romus relaxed by the smallest amount. The messenger continued.

"There is another blockage near the beginning of the Third Level. A major section of the return passage collapsed after the second tremor. We haven't cleared it yet." Lianne's pen stopped. She raised her head. The color left part of her face before she controlled the reaction, but not quickly enough to prevent Romus from noticing. Her hand remained motionless over the page, while the memory of the contract she had processed that morning returned with every relevant detail. Red Crystal Golems.

Crimson Excavation Route. Solo participation. Two-day expected return. Darius noticed her expression too. He had nearly reached the door, but now he remained still. Romus looked toward Lianne.

"Is something wrong?" She did not answer immediately. Romus continued.

"All active adventurers were concentrated on the First, Second, and Sixth Levels today, correct?" The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The messenger nodded.

"That's what the checkpoint records showed when the evacuation started." Lianne swallowed.

"There was one more." Romus turned fully toward her.

"Where?"

"The Third Level." Darius understood before she said the name. His gaze narrowed. Lianne looked toward the contract ledger on the table even though she no longer needed to confirm anything.

"Raiden accepted a Red Crystal Golem subjugation request this morning. He went alone." The Fire Troop clan master's annoyance disappeared beneath a more thoughtful expression. The handy adventurer. The strange smith. The exhausted buffoon who had publicly insulted him and somehow continued becoming involved in every unusual dungeon event around Ironhollow.

Darius had dismissed the possibility that Raiden killed five Fire Troop members partly because the man seemed too careless, sarcastic, and generally unimpressive to conceal something that serious. Yet the reports about him remained inconsistent. Raiden fought golems alone, exterminated Furnace Mandibles in numbers normally requiring parties, operated as both healer and frontline fighter, and helped kill the broodmother guarding the Sixth-Level shortcut. Now he was trapped below a major cave-in. Alone.

Romus rubbed his chin while staring at the map hanging on the meeting-room wall. The blocked section lay near the upper Third Level, while Raiden's assigned route extended well beyond it. Clearing the passage would require earth mages, structural inspectors, and miners working carefully enough not to trigger another collapse.

"That could be a problem." Lianne set the pen down.

"How quickly can we open it?" The messenger looked uncertain.

"The inspectors are still assessing the ceiling. They said forcing the rubble could bring down the adjoining corridor." Romus nodded slowly.

"Then they are correct not to rush." Lianne's jaw tightened. Romus noticed that too.

"The cave-in would have shaken every major crystal vein on the Third and Fourth Levels. Red Crystal Golems react strongly to sudden changes in the dungeon's mana flow, especially when deposits crack or shift." The messenger's expression worsened. Romus continued while studying the dungeon map.

"Many dormant constructs will have awakened. Existing ones may also move away from the damaged regions, which could force several of them into the same routes." Darius looked toward Lianne.

"He went in as an Iron rank?"

"He has a Bronze competency recommendation."

"That wasn't my question."

"No. He hasn't received the emblem yet." Darius folded his armored arms again. A lone Iron-ranked adventurer trapped among awakened Third-Level constructs should have been treated as a casualty waiting to be confirmed. Raiden complicated that conclusion because official rank had never matched the reports surrounding him. Romus glanced toward Lianne.

"How capable is he?" She considered her answer carefully.

"Stronger than his badge. Durable. Good judgment when he isn't deliberately being spiteful. He has healing magic, strong defensive equipment, and enough experience fighting golems to understand their cores." Darius almost laughed at the phrase good judgment when he isn't deliberately being spiteful. It sounded accurate. Romus returned his attention to the map.

"Supplies?"

"The contract allowed two days. He should have enough food and water for that period."

"That gives us time, but not much." Romus moved toward the door and began issuing instructions before anyone asked whether a rescue would be organized. The calm elderly scholar disappeared completely beneath the authority of someone accustomed to controlling dungeon emergencies.

"Send two earth mages and the senior structural team to the Third-Level blockage. No blasting spells. They clear it from the edges and reinforce every exposed fracture before moving central stones." The messenger nodded rapidly.

"Yes, Guildmaster."

"Notify the infirmary that we may receive trapped or injured adventurers once deeper routes reopen. Place a temporary ban on the established Third-Level entrance until the inspectors approve it." Lianne stood.

"I can guide the rescue team after the passage opens." Romus looked toward her.

"You know his assigned route?"

"I processed the contract and marked the map."

"Then prepare the route records, Red Crystal Golem activity reports, and every alternate connection between the Third and Sixth Levels. You can join the first search team once the structural crew declares the passage safe." Lianne nodded. The order was reasonable. She still disliked waiting. Darius remained near the door while everyone moved around him. The situation created an opportunity to learn exactly how capable Raiden truly was, though it was not one Darius had arranged or controlled.

If the man died beneath the dungeon, the mystery surrounding the missing Fire Troop members might disappear with him. If he survived alone long enough for the rescue team to reach him… That would answer a different question. Romus picked up the simple wooden staff resting against the wall. The room quieted again when his fingers closed around it.

"The collapse may have cut off his return route entirely. If he cannot climb toward the Second Level, he may attempt to descend and find another path through the Sixth." Lianne looked toward the map section marking the newly discovered shortcut.

"He knows about the Furnace Mandible passage."

"He helped discover it," Romus said.

"That may give him another route out." Darius's eyes narrowed. If Raiden was reckless enough to descend from the Third through the Fourth and Fifth Levels alone, the awakened golems would not be his only problem. Sixth-Level monsters would consider one isolated adventurer either prey or an unusually well-armored delivery. Romus rested the staff against one shoulder.

"For someone alone to be trapped there…" He paused while examining the damaged-route report one final time.

"Let's hope he can endure until we clear the passage." Lianne looked toward the guild doors as though she could somehow see through the town, dungeon compound, and several levels of stone separating her from the trapped adventurer. Her concern lasted only a moment before she gathered the maps and began preparing the search route. Darius watched her work. Then he looked toward the corridor through which his suspended party leader had disappeared. The veins along his temple finally became visible.

Raiden might be fighting for his life somewhere below Ironhollow, but Darius still needed to decide which underling would pay personally for ten thousand silver, a public humiliation, and the collapse that had complicated everything. Far beneath them, on a Fourth Level everyone assumed was empty, Aiden raised two shields as a pair of Red Crystal Golems advanced together. He had no idea that the guild had begun preparing a rescue. He was too busy having the time of his life. — — A ranged golem fired.

Both shoulder formations flashed together, releasing a spread of red crystal shards that crossed the corridor with enough force to carve narrow lines through the nearby pillars. Aiden raised the Furnace Claw Shield across his left side and angled the smaller buckler over his right shoulder, covering nearly his entire body before the projectiles reached him. Crystal hammered against both shields in a rapid series of impacts.

Several fragments shattered on the broodmother shell, while others bounced toward the floor and walls in glowing pieces. The force traveled into Aiden's arms, but the shields absorbed enough that his footing remained stable even as the heavier golem rushed through the barrage. The frontline construct swung both fists toward him. Aiden received the first against the Furnace Claw Shield, allowing Broodmother's Stand to anchor him against the impact.

The second came from his right, but he used Sliding Guard to catch the crystal-covered arm against the smaller buckler and guide it past his shoulder instead of blocking it directly. [Sliding Guard] The heavy golem overextended. His right fist was already moving before the construct understood that the shield had moved. The Furnace-Mandible Knuckle Guard struck the crystal formation around its elbow, and Heavy Hands transferred enough force through the joint that a fracture spread into the dark stone beneath it.

The golem attempted to pull away. Aiden punched the same place again. Then a third time. Each impact produced a deeper crystalline crack. His fists were not merely damaging the surface anymore. The blows sent vibrations through the mana channels inside the construct, making the red formations across its chest and shoulder flicker in the same rhythm as his strikes.