Chapter 450 Day Of The Conquest [Pt 2]
Fear of the UNKNOWN.
It is a popular term coined by those who lived in the world.
But how true is it, really? Do humans really fear the unknown?
What of children—babies, even?
They know nothing, yet fear is such a distant emotion for them.
For most, fear is taught… alongside pain, in a way to determine the difference between right and wrong.
… Good and evil.
The fear of the unknown does not exist.
Ignorance never breeds fear—at least not directly. Instead, it is the catalyst for a process that eventually leads to fear.
When we come into the world, we know nothing.
We fear nothing.
But, we grow curious. Then, we learn. We receive the taint of knowledge, which then brings us to a particular point.
The point where we know that there are things that we do not know—blots in existence that hide forbidden truths from us.
This is what breeds fear.
And so, as they stood before overwhelming gates that lead to a place none of them understood, the Adventurers weren't scared because of their ignorance.
No, they were frightened because they had knowledge.
They knew what had happened to their predecessors who took on this impossible task. They knew how fatal Miasma was. They knew what it meant to feel pain… to suffer… to watch others die, and to nearly die themselves.
That was what caused the fear to sprout.
They were not innocent lambs being led to the slaughter, neither were they babies who embodied ignorance.
If they were, none of them would flinch at the slightest sign of such terror.
But, these men and women who braved themselves for the darkness to come were aged.
And so… they couldn't escape the fear.
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~CREEEAAAK!~
The loud noise caused by the massive gates opening caused everyone's excited faces to turn grim.
No one smiled any longer—not one.
The repulsive energy the leaked out from within the place caused many to shiver. Still, they braced themselves.
They didn't come this far for nothing.
The massive entrance was almost fifty meters in height alone, and it was so wide that a hundred people could walk in, side by side, without any discomfort.
The overwhelming Dungeon itself was already a massive fortress, so it made sense for its entrance to be so eerie.
Then—
"We will now begin the first Grand Calamity Class Dungeon Conquest since three hundred years ago!" Guildmaster Richard's voice filled the air.
Everyone tightened their hold on their weapons and readied their trembling legs.
It was too late for those having second thoughts to turn back now.
The crowd of ten thousand was about to march forward at the signal of the Guildmaster. It would be an unstoppable stampede.
"CHARGE FORTH!"
As the voice sprang forth, a thunderous yell from the crowd dominated the space and everyone rushed forward in a straight march.
For glory… for power… for wealth… for freedom.
It didn't matter what their motivations and inclinations were at that moment.
All that mattered was the Dungeon in front of them, and the sole life they had to live.
********
'The Miasma is bearable…'
Rey thought this as he and his team stepped into the massive hall of the Dungeon's ground floor.
It was too large that massive felt like an understatement in describing it.
Purple flames burned eternally atop vials that hung on the walls, so it wasn't entirely dark. Yet, the looming shadows around could not be completely vanished.
It created an air of unease as Rey carefully observed his surroundings.
The distance between the ground and ceiling was about a hundred meters, and the entire space around felt overwhelmingly big—even for the size of fortress around them.
'I suppose this is the same weird phenomenon that goes on in energy-dense areas.' Just as with the 99th Floor of the Royal Dungeon, where the concept of time was distorted, it seemed this one affected the space around.
Or perhaps this was simply the influence of some kind of Magic or Skill.
Rey couldn't tell.
In their hundreds, the Adventurers trailed in, having more than enough to occupy the room, and their numbers didn't even exceed the first half of the room's total space.
The tiled floors seemed to be made from some sort of black stone, and the ancient walls seemed to consist of large bricks that seemed aged.
It looked like an abandoned castle of sorts, with an unbelievably large flight of stairs standing an impossible distance from them.
A non-functional chandelier even lay suspended on the ceiling.
'This structure looks different from most Dungeons I've studied about. I know it's a Grand Calamity Class, but still…'
Unlike most Dungeons that seemed to form naturally—perhaps through caves and caverns—this one seemed a little odd.
It looked like a house—or more specifically, a mansion.ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
There didn't seem to be any concept like 'Floors' in this place, and even though Rey was spreading his senses around to confirm this, he felt nothing.
'The Miasma is interfering with my senses, but I can still perceive things.'
Regular Dungeons had Floors, and the ground floor was usually considered the easiest. Depending on the kind of Dungeon, the lower or higher you went meant the difficulty increased.
'But this… what exactly is this?'
A Dungeon with no Floors, having a structure like a castle meant one thing.
'There are several rooms here, with upper and mid regions. I'm guessing each room is like a Floor, but since they're so random, it's sort of impossible to tell which is more dangerous than which.'
To put that into perspective, they could end up skipping a Floor 2 and enter a Floor 9. If that happened, it would be too overwhelming and a slaughter was bound to happen.
'Someone definitely built this Dungeon. Maybe there's some sort of clu—?'
~BAM!~
The loud noise of the gates shutting tight echoed in the air, causing many to leak out gasps while staring behind them.
At that very moment, bright purple light rose from the other side of the room, revealing a hidden darkness that occupied the depths of the ground.
Before they realized it… something was beginning to emerge.
—Something evil.
Chapter 451 Grand Calamity Class Dungeon [Pt 1]
'A dark hole under the ground, huh? Looks like Necromancy.'
That was the first thought on Rey's mind as he saw the bright purple light shine bright and felt an emergence from underneath the floor's surface.
He had seen Ater use the Skill before, so he understood how it worked.
"BRACE YOURSELVES, EVERYONE!" Richard's voice reverberated amongst his fellows, and the many that stood behind him.
"FIRST WAVE INCOMING!"
The Adventurers, at least the sensible ones, tightly clutched their weapons and spread themselves out. They took battle stances and readied themselves for the incoming horde.
Those who could used Buff Skills began to activate them, and the Magic Users swiftly chanted out their Spells.
The air of tension did not vanish, and with loud noise radiating all over, many did not hear the pulsating sounds emanating from the ground.
They felt like chattering—lots of chattering.
The disgusting sound of bone grating upon bone, almost as unpleasant as metal scraping metal.
Those at the forefront heard the sounds clearly, though, and they prepared themselves for the challenge.
Then—
~SHWUUUUUUUU~
—The creatures from beneath began manifesting.
They had darkened white bodies, their forms a grotesque and twisted representation of false life.
Skeletons, animated ones, faced the Adventurers, all of them having some kind of purple glow within their empty sockets.
"T-that is…!"
"No way!"
"Incredible!"
Miasma was associated with Necromancy, so this sight did not surprise anyone.
It was the sheer number that made their eyes widen.
The Skeletons were at least thrice—no, perhaps four times—as many as the Adventurers that stood opposite them.
Some looked like ordinary bony Undead, but others were different.
About one-tenth had normal armor, obsidian black in color. They also had swords or spears in their hands, making them standard soldiers.
Another one-tenth had robes on, and while they had no weapons equipped, it was clear that they had no use for one. Their clattering teeth made it clear who they were and what they were doing.
These were Caster Skeletons.
Yet another one-tenth was dressed with light armor, having arrows in the quiver behind them, as well bows in their dominant bony hands.
These were Archer Skeletons.
Then, there was the last variant—smaller in number than the rest—yet having a much more dangerous vibe as mere individuals.
They had incredibly bulky armor, and their weapons were a lot bigger than the rest.
You could only count about ten of them, and each had distinct weapons that they wielded.
One had a halberd, while another had a long sword. The one beside it had a bastard sword, while the next one had a spear.
It went on like that.
These were clearly Skeleton Knights, at least B-Tier Monsters.
"To think we'd encounter B-Tier Monsters on just the ground floor…" Someone whispered, though no one knew who it was.
In essence, the entire army of Skeletons was about 36,000 in number.
3,600 of them were Soldiers.
3,600 of them were Casters.
3,600 of them were Archers.
All of these were C-Tier Monsters, just for clarity sake.
10 of them were Skeleton Knights—B-Tier Monsters—and the rest were mere Skeletons, which fell in the D-Tier Category.
Some thought they belonged in a lesser rank, due to their low offensive abilities.
However, since Undead were rare to come across, and they didn't feel pain, exhaustion, and couldn't really die unless you performed specific actions—in the case of Skeletons, crushing their head—they were ranked higher.
On the side of the Adventurers, there was no real count done to determine their Ranks, but there were only about a hundred Master Rank (5 Star) Adventurers in the City, and about a thousand Expert Ranks (4 Star).
Veteran Ranks (3 Star) were a few thousand, but the majority of Adventurers belonged to the Common and Novice Ranks (2 Star and 1 Star respectively).
In essence, when looking at the total number of Adventurers in the City, and the ones that made it to the Conquest, it was easy to see how clearly outnumbered they were.
'Based on what I can sense, only about three thousand of us are going to be of much use in this fight…' Rey sighed to himself.
The rest were fodder, but that didn't surprise him.
'Older and more experienced Adventurers tend to me more cautious, and they wouldn't throw their lives away on a mission that they aren't guaranteed to win.'
The people that would readily sign up for this sort of thing were ignorant Adventurers or those who were desperate to make a name or fortune for themselves.
Well, arrogant bastards existed too…
'In any case, the stage has been set.' Rey smiled, dropping his briefcase to the ground.
'I could easily kill all of them on my own, but… I guess we have to stick to the plan.'
The briefcase opened on its own, and just by stretching his hand downward, the blade within flew to his grasp.
After that, the briefcase disappeared.
"Cool sword." Noah's voice echoed from beside him.
Rey glanced to his side and saw that Noah had already taken the miniature blade off his neck. It now floated above his hand, brimming with so much energy it felt like the thing would explode.
"I could say the same about yours." Rey added as he witnessed the floating blade manifest even more power.
"Yeah." Noah smirked, ignoring the commotion in front of them both. "A friend gifted it to me."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then—frёeωebɳovel.com
"Watch this…"
In a single second, the blade grew in size, becoming a katana that he swiftly wielded in no time.
"Cool." Rey smiled at him.
"Cool."
Noah's blade had three effects, and Rey still remembered them till date.
One was to grow and shrink in size in a mere second.
There were two other abilities it possessed.
~FSHUUU…~
The blade turned invisible, even the energy escaping from the senses.
'The second function…'
As soon as he did this, though, the Skeletons started moving, so all attention had to go to them.
'Here they come!'
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