Something has gone very wrong – it didn't take a lot of time for everyone to realize that.
The chimeras at the entrance of the cave were only the gatekeepers, and they weren't the end of the danger that existed in this dungeon. In fact, they were nothing close to it. Jung Chul's death was unlucky, like most deaths.
Perhaps that was for the better; because he would have felt less fear.
Screams resounded in the pitch black darkness. Sounds of crashing, shattering, collapsing, and pouring. Most of the sounds were from screams, and were usually followed by the smell of blood. Even light, whether it was from magic or from the torch, could not light this darkness.
'Black fog'. These were the words that Bern shouted before the magic was casted. Sungmin did not know what kind of might this 'black fog' had. However, now he knew.
This fog… blocked vision. An assault from the darkness. His sense of direction was all messed up, and did not know where the other mercenaries were. Sungmin calmed his breath and strengthened his grip on his spear.
Sungmin was used to swinging his spear in the darkness. His sixth sense, trained in the mountain, allowed him to move even in this situation. Sungmin reflexively avoided the attacks from the monsters that came from where he couldn't see. Perhaps that attack was from a monster, a chimera… or perhaps a mercenary like him.
But that didn't allow him to be merciful in his moves. Although he wasn't able to see, he felt that he had pierced the opponent from the feeling he got from his hands. When he pulled out his spear with a deep breath, he felt something swaying and heard something collapsing onto the ground.
He swung, lashed out, or dodged with his spear several times like that, and eventually, the darkness disappeared with a flash of light.
It took too much time to dispel the black fog. Bern panted but then frowned after looking at the scene in front of him. Although he casted his dispel magic while under the protection of shield magic… it was already after the intention behind the black fog had been achieved. On the floor were corpses of mercenaries and monsters.
"There's too much damage."
Uttered Xeon. Although he said that, neither he nor the Corona mercenaires had taken any damage.
"Should we retreat then?"
"We received so much damage, it would be a loss if we retreated now."
Xeon shrugged his shoulders at Bern's question. There were already more than ten mercenary casualties. Due to the black fog, all the other mercenary groups, except the Corona mercenaries, had been wiped out. Now, there were only 8 mercenaries rank, including Bern, Xeon and Sungmin, and the only one left of the rank was Tang Misook.
"I, I…."
Tang Misook, who had fallen on the ground, stuttered in terror. Her heart had already snapped after this incident. Although the floor beneath her was damp, no one laughed at her.
"…If you are not confident, then you may return."
Muttered Bern to Tang Misook.
"But we cannot protect you. That is the same whether you go forward, or whether you flee. … We don't have that kind of leisure."
"Ugh…"
Tang Misook trembled. She slightly raised her head to look behind her. The path was filled with monster corpses, and the entrance to the cave couldn't be seen. They had already walked too far in. Although they did kill all the monsters that blocked their way in, would a path back be really safe? After hesitating for a while, she stood up while staggering.
"I, I'll go together."
No one stopped her from doing so. This wasn't a good situation. Sungmin bit his lower lip. Over ten mercenaries had already died, and it was definitely that the lord of this dungeon, the black mage, lay deep inside.
This was a completely different turn of events from his previous life. In his previous life, there weren't many casualties in the dungeon expedition. The dungeon was already empty, and although there were a few magic traps left, there weren't any lethal ones. The expedition was carried out more like robbing an empty house, and the magic armor was.
The magic armor was…?
'Wait.'
He felt something was off. This was a very strong sense of unfamiliarity. In his previous life, the black mage was no longer in this dungeon. Then why were there various artifacts left in the dungeon including the magic armor? Using common sense, the black mage should have left the dungeon with those artifacts when he abandoned this dungeon, no?
This didn't make sense. The black mage dungeon was discovered 3 months earlier than in his previous life, and the black mage, that was supposed to be gone,was still here. Yes. That was acceptable.
Did something happen within those three months? Something so urgent that the black mage had no time to take those artifacts… No, these were all just hypotheses.
Amidst the doubt, th expedition kept walking inside. There were many other magic traps after the black fog, but due to their prior experience, Bern stood at the front and dispelled the traps beforehand. Thanks to that, the expedition's speed was slow, and Sungmin had plenty of time to organize his thoughts.
He couldn't think of a reason for the magic armor and the artifacts to be abandoned. A situation that leads to that…. a situation where the black mage had to urgently leave. The expedition? Did the black mage choose to flee rather than meet the expedition head on? No, he didn't think that was the answer. The expedition in his previous life was much weaker after all.
Then did the black mage run for another reason? Or….
"What are you thinking about?"
The one who spoke to him was Xeon. Sungmin flinched and looked towards Xeon. Looking at him making a nonchalant expression, Sungmin shook his head.
"…It's nothing."
"It doesn't seem like you're nervous."
Xeon laughed after staring at Sungmin's face for a while.
"Nor does it seem like you feel guilty."
"…What guilty."
"Didn't you kill your allies?"
Xeon made a smirk. Sungmin's eyes cooled down rapidly at those words. Kill his allies – Sungmin didn't need to think about what that meant. When the fog dissipated, some of the corpses of the mercenaries around him were due to a spear piercing their bodies.
"Aren't you being spiteful?"
Replied Sungmin while looking at Xeon. It was the same to him as well. The battle in the black fog – mercenaries attacked each other thinking that they were attacking monsters, and the weak ones among them died in the process. Xeon should have killed a few as well.
"Quite cold, eh…. or are you pretending to be?"
"I think it's much better than being scared stiff."
"I quite like you."
Xeon showed his teeth in his smile.
"I like you more now that I see you like this."
Saying that, Xeon walked past him. Hearing those suspicious words, Sungmin glared at Xeon's back, but did not reply to him. The priority was to break through the dungeon and slay the black mage.
There were no more chimeras The magic traps no longer activated after a certain point. This was definitely strange.
"Were the monsters and traps simply to stall for time?"
One of the S-rank mercenaries muttered. It sounded very likely. Stalling enough time to run – the black mage might have given up resisting and may have left. The other mercenaries also nodded in acceptance, but Bern and Xeon did not.
Sungmin was the same.
The twisty path was leading underground. Although there were no stairs, everyone knew that they were heading 'down'. The torch did not flicker in the windless depths of the cave. Only the shadows moved in parallel. There were no traps nor monsters. It didn't smell of corpses and blood either.
The silence was horrifically annoying and fearful. It would be better if something appeared, or something happened – one of the mercenaries started humming. It wasn't anything worthy of compliment, but no one asked him to shut up.
The downward gradient levelled off. When they arrived in front of a large, closed door, the humming stopped. Xeon, who stayed silent all this time, took a glance at Bern.
"Is it a trap?"
Bern did not reply and closed his eyes. He swung his staff lightly to cast detection magic.
"No, it's just a door."
"I wish it was over already."
Muttered Xeon as he approached the door.
"I don't even want to look at caves for a while."
The door opened.
Beyond the door was a corridor with a large rug on the floor. This place had traces of a person living in it. Xeon glanced at the corridor and spoke.
"There are no presences."
"Okay."
Bern moved his staff. A large scale-detection magic swept across the corridor. Nothing was caught in it. There were no traps, nor were there any moving things. Bern frowned.
"Did he really run? Why?"
"Well, it must have been pressuring to fight us head on. There are two SS-rank mercenaries and the S-rank ones are intact too."
Xeon muttered as he walked. There were numerous doors on the corridor. Sungmin heard his heart thump hard.
this was the place. He remembered back to the words that the mercenary with the magic armor spoke while he was drunk. A corridor with a rug. A painting on the wall. The door right next to it – inside….
"Let's explore this place then."
Although they still hadn't completely let down their guards or nervousness yet, Bern spoke like that. Xeon and the Corona mercenaries did not listen to him. They were already opening the doors and looking inside them. There were no presences and magic detected nothing either. This place was safe – everyone accepted that.
Sungmin quietly walked forward. Tang misook, who was terrorized all this time, ran across the corridor and opened the doors that people didn’t open yet.
He walked across the corridor. Wasn't this too easy? It should be a trap. It has to be a trap. No, even if he knew it was a trap…
Sungmin opened the door. Since the other mercenaries were opening and rummaging through the rooms, they didn't care about what Sungmin did. Even Xeon, who Sungmin was wary of the most, was the same.
The room was like any other study. Sungmin approached the shelf where it was full of books. The books weren't anything extraordinary either. They were just books, and not magic books. Sungmin desperately combed through his memories as he searched the shelf.
A red book.
Title, 'That Night.'
He didn't know what it was about. It was probably a novel. In the first place, that wasn't what was important. When he pulled the book out, the shelf moved sideways. The hidden room showed it self. Is it there? – Sungmin gulped and entered the secret chamber.
It was there.
A pitch-black armor was hung on the wall.
Magic armor, Devnack.