Chapter 66 - Chapter 10: Breakthrough #4 (1/2)

Chapter 66 - Chapter 10: Breakthrough #4

Many things were necessary to break into a dungeon.

There needed to be a sufficient amount of food, water, weapons, trap detection and the combat power to defeat the dungeon guardians and monsters.

Additionally, there was one thing that was easy to overlook, even though it was very important.

Securing the right lighting.

The dungeons were dark. Most dungeons were underground and of course, they didn’t even have windows for sunlight to come through. Many dungeons had lighting devices or torches installed, but there were large gaps between the installed devices.

Thunderdoom Fortress was dark. It had been hundreds of years since the dwarves lived in the fortress, so having magic lights pour from the ceiling... that was already in the past.

As a specialist in ruins exploration, Felicia had prepared quite a few lighting fixtures. There were shining rods that could be called small flashlights while Delia at the front and Carack at the end were given glowing fist-sized stones. It emitted a very strong light that was able to stretch out 10 meters in every direction.

Currently, the only thing missing for the party was a sufficient amount of food and water. They hadn’t brought a lot of food because they were going to come back after getting a glimpse of the fortress.

”My stomach hurts.”

Carack caressed his belly as he sat down. In-gong was paying attention to Green Wind and replied vaguely,

“Aren’t you just hungry?”

”Uhh, I am also hungry.”

It had been three hours since they broke into Thunderdoom Fortress. They had been walking around for two hours despite being exhausted by the awakening potion.

Thunderdoom Fortress was big. It was a fortified city, not a mere fortress like the place where the Thunder Light Anvil was hidden, so the scale was really great.

‘But it is a range that can be explored in a day.’

Thunderdoom Fortress was a place built by digging into the mountains. There were various traps, monsters and dungeon guardians, but they should be able to explore from beginning to end in a few hours.

For the past two hours, In-gong’s party had encountered two trap rooms and two groups of dungeon monsters. If there was one attribute about it being a fortified city, it was the fact that the traps were less meaningful.

After all, this was a place where people lived. The more traps that were laid, the harder it was to live.

‘Fortunately, we haven’t met anyone else.’

He wondered about the questionable people in the fortress.

In-gong checked the minimized mini-map once again. In-gong’s group was currently located at the back of the Thunderdoom Fortress.

He hadn’t memorized all the dungeon maps that appeared in Knight Saga.

However, if he remembered the important points, the story would be different.

'If I go straight, there will be a turning point.’

Indeed, there were two paths leading to the control room of Thunderdoom Fortress. One way was short but was a literal trap field, while the other path took a long time because it passed through the settlements but had few traps.

”Your Highness, do you really not need to draw a map?”

Daphne asked carefully from a corner where she was drinking a mana potion. She had no experience in dungeon exploration, but she was well aware of the important of cartography when exploring a dungeon.

However, nobody was making a map despite the fact that they were exploring a strange dungeon. She was forced to feel uneasy.

However, unlike Daphne, everyone else had relaxed expressions. In-gong nodded and said,

”Yes, don't worry because everything is in my head.”

She became more uneasy after hearing him speak so confidently.

Felicia said with a smile,

”It might seem ridiculous, but it is the truth. I don’t know about other things, but you can trust him regarding maps.”

”You don’t know about other things?”

Felicia shrugged and giggled at In-gong’s incredulous question.

“Anyway, it is a waste. I wanted to investigate properly.”

Right now, the party was just advancing unconditionally. They walked passed the everyday products of dwarf life as well as the art and architectural style. Felicia was interested in ruins, so it was very regrettable for her.

”Well, you can come back later.”

“Even so. I didn’t think that it would be like this.”

She had expected some difficulties, but she had never imagined that they would be attacked and trapped inside the fortress.

Carack nodded.

”Well, that’s right. Things turned out like this. Prince always ends up getting caught up in something unexpected.”

“Yes.”

It really seemed like it.

The swamp mammoths had shown up unexpectedly with the Red Lightning tribe while monsters with purple aura had appeared in the casios subjugation. It was also true for their reconnaissance of the northern part of the Enger Plains. They had been surrounded by monsters unexpectedly and had been almost killed.

It wasn’t just the missions that were unexpected. Both of his court gatherings weren’t common.

In-gong recalled everything that had happened in the past. The translucent Green Wind appeared above White Eagle and asked,

'Master, is it really like that?’

In-gong laughed bitterly instead of answering. Even though it was true, he didn’t like it being brought up like this.

‘Are these things due to Protagonist Correction?’

In-gong unwittingly opened the skill window to check.

“But... we were able to handle the unexpected events thanks to Your Highness. I would already be dead if it wasn’t for Your Highness.”

In-gong wasn’t just the cause. They were able to resolve the unexpected situations thanks to In-gong.

Delia said so with a smile and Felicia nodded in agreement, with Daphne and Karma following suit.

In-gong looked at Delia with a touched expression before turning his gaze towards Carack and Green Wind.

”My stomach hurts.”

'I am always on Master’s side.’

In-gong couldn’t help laughing at the both of them. It was at that moment...

The darkness vanished in an instant. Bright light poured from the ceiling, not only the room where In-gong’s party was but all over the fortress. This was followed by sharp sirens.

Carack, Daphne and Kama sprang up at the sudden change. In-gong, Felicia and Delia were also astonished but the three people thought of something else.

Lights turned on and emergency sirens started ringing. It was a situation that would happen in a fortress or a city, not a small dungeon. Additionally, this situation didn’t happen very often.

It occurred when the most important facility in the ruin was attacked or when a guardian, with a rank that could affect the entire ruin, was attacked.

In-gong and Felicia looked at each other. It was obvious that they both had the same thoughts.

Someone was attacking the dungeon.

They had just arrived at the most important facility or had started a battle with the highest ranked dungeon guardian.

It must be the people who attacked In-gong’s party.

‘The purpose of those guys was to capture Thunderdoom Fortress?'

Did they ambush General Kashubal and In-gong’s party so that their fortress attack wouldn’t be hindered?

It was plausible, although he wasn’t certain.

General Kashubal had died a fortnight ago. If so, they had at least a fortnight to attack Thunderdoom Fortress.

Then why did they wait until now?

It wouldn’t have taken so long unless they were looking in every room and exploring the fortress like Felicia wanted to do.

There was something more. It was clear there was something that In-gong didn’t know about.

'And that is their purpose.’

What if their goal wasn’t to capture the fortress but to find something? Perhaps they were after the dragon slayer series of weapons, like In-gong?

‘Ascalon.’