[Arc 2] Chapter 25: Treasure Hunt in the Cursed Capital

[A Dungeon?] - Armveil

"With a capital D. And it's the whole capital to boot." - Garami

The day after we had defeated the horde of undead mooks, I activated the communication magitech I had gotten from Armveil before we left.

It's a wonder of an item, only made possible thanks to the combination of the R&D1Research & Development. department and vice-leader Blott himself. Many would kill for one of these, as communication across long distances is difficult to implement without the necessary skills.

On a side note, they supposedly tried to set up communication towers before, but they were all destroyed by monsters. Something about the signals attracting monsters. This led to people forgetting about phones for a while, but the R&D has done the impossible. Their creations are still only prototypes, and the portable types, like this laptop-like invention right before me, can only be used once.

[...If that is true, then you're right that the value of that place's going to break the roof. But, do ya got some proof for that?] - Armveil

"I've got five reasons to believe this:

"First, the 'artifact' mentioned in the legend has a high potential to be a Dungeon Core with a Death attribute. That would explain why the 'wild undeads' can be considered 'different' from the eyes of the natural undeads here, who were 'born' due to the miasma leaking from the Dungeon.

"Second, the undead horde was armed with Demonbane weapons. Meaning they have someone who can create them, along with knowing there would be a demon among the natural undeads. This further strengthens my belief in this place is a Dungeon. One that specializes in treasures and undeads." - Garami

Dungeons can recreate almost anything that exists on Terra Sol, excluding certain masterpieces, such as special swords only smiths can create after putting several years' worth of blood, sweat, and tears, behind their work. I hope they're too expensive to mass-produce...

"Third, the 'barrier' that the natural undeads are using as a safe area... is a Safe Area for real. The kind that one can find sometimes in Dungeons. No Dungeon-related personal can enter the place, but one can't attack from inside the barrier either. " - Garami

A Safe Area is one of the many facilities of a Dungeon. Facilities such as traps or whatever in a Dungeon consume something called Facility Points, but stuff like a Safe Area, a place that keeps invaders safe from the monsters of the Dungeon, essentially a negative for the Dungeon, is placed so the Dungeon will gain more Facility Points.

"Fourth, this place is classified as the 'Cursed Capital: Tir na Nog'. However, the current capital of the Velantas region is the city of Velantas. It should just be called Tir na Nog then unless something changed the very concept of the area and renamed it. Like turning the whole city into a Dungeon.

"Fifth, my self-recovery abilities have increased drastically since we arrived. I didn't notice before getting wounded yesterday, but this is definitive proof." - Garami

[You make a good point... alright. I'll have Regina come over to you guys tomorrow.] - Armveil

"Why not right now?" - Garami

[She's drunk. And when she's out cold like that, no recovery method's going to help except for a good old night of sleep.] - Armveil

Then considering she needs to take a day to go through the tunnels... two days...

[Should I send in some rank-and-files in the meanwhile?] - Armveil

"...Don't. If the enemy gets to know that we're a large organization that's possible to send reinforcements with, they could take drastic maneuvers like destroying the tunnel." - Garami

[Yeah, that's what I would have done if I was in their shoes.] - Armveil

"We will try to stay active in the areas except for the castle. You just send over Regina with the orders of burning that place to ashes when she arrives and the enemy has their attention on our group." - Garami

[Just be careful. We can't lose our promising new General to some random undead. Armveil, over and-!] - Armveil

The magitech ran out of juice before he could finish. Well, we got everything done, so no probs. 

---

After the meeting with Armveil, I gathered the other three... four, with Iron included, at the plaza. There, I showed them the map the Skeleton Assassins had made while we were sleeping. This thing's pretty detailed. That's what you get for focusing everything off those Cheat Undeads into scouting and stealth.

"So, the inferno's gonna arrive within two days." - Garami

"What the heck do you mean 'inferno'? Don't come and tell me this General-woman will burn away absolutely everything?" - Mira

Yeah, no way. I was joking along with Armveil on the radio, but there's no way she... she won't, right?

"Probably." - Alf

"Yes. If it is General Regina, that is a certain event." - Noire

......Seriously?

The two veterans must have sensed my question, as they simply nodded wordlessly.

"...G-G-Garami! T-this is bad! All the treasures out there will-!" - Mira

"Calm down. This place is big enough for some of your precious treasures to stay safe... probably." - Garami

"NOOO! MY PRECIOUSESSS!!" - Mira

...Note to self. Never let her get a ring from this place.

"Let's push that aside and focus on the now. Considering the stories and all, we can conclude that the 'center' of the Dungeon is that castle on the hill. If anything, we should look for clues on how to breach it." - Alf

That's a good plan, but just where...

"Hey, this place is kind of strange. Couldn't Garami's undeads get to that place?" - Noire

Which one... oh, that one. It's a large building in the middle of a plaza several times larger than the one we're currently in. This shape...

"A church?" - Garami

"I had the same thoughts." - Alf

"Really?" - Mira & Noire

Oi! You girls outta all people shouldn't fail to recognize that, light spirit and angel!!

"...Oh, right. Churches aren't exactly 'normal' in Solomar." - Alf

...Thinking about it, the fallen angel's previous home was literally heaven. No need for churches there.

"Undeads dislike that place. Excellent hiding spot." - Iron

And suddenly the living ornament started to speak!

"You know this place, Iron?" - Mira

"Affirmative. Used it sometimes. Never went further in than the entrance." - Iron

"You don't say? And the odds some other undeads having gone deeper than that?" - Alf

"...Extremely low." - Iron

"Mira, I think we've found a treasure box for you after all!" - Alf

"Yippie!" - Mira

I've got nothing against some easy cash, just don't fall into a trap hole or something, 'kay?

---

"...Why... Just why~~..." lamented Mira in the shadows of the alley, right before our goal.

We arrived at the large plaza where the church's located... but three nasty lookouts are guarding the place. To be precise, a trio of undead dragons. One that looks like pieces of its meat's melting off, one that's just bones, and one that looks like rotting meat. Still better-looking than the first one, mind that.

"You have to be messing with me here..." - Noire

"Hey, Iron! You never told us dragons were guarding the church!" - Alf

"They do scare off other undeads." - Iron

"I know! But the problem is that it's not just 'scare', and not only 'undeads'!!" - Alf

The trio in the plaza... or better said, the ground zero, consists of the Skeleton- and Zombie-variant of dragons, plus the pre-evolved stage that they both share. If there's any luck in this catastrophe, there is that these dragons are rank E and D, instead of rank C that "real" dragons are normally.

Coming back from the dead doesn't count for that "anything that doesn't kill you just makes you stronger"-saying. An important life lesson. Gotta value your life.

"How did you get past those monsters before anyway?" - Noire

"Played dead. Then ran over when they didn't look." - Iron

Huh? Oh, oooooh. I get it. Those rotting reptiles must have mistaken him for some toy or something. They do look stupid. Their stats agree with me on that.

"Hey, don't they all have Destroyer in their title list?" - Noire

"Seeing the area here, that doesn't come as a surprise." - Alf

"Then it's extremely dangerous for Iron to try getting past them? He is an armor when you think about it." - Mira

...Let's not risk that.

"You guys keep yourself hidden while I try to sneak past them." - Garami

"What?! That's crazy!" - Alf

"It is, but it's still possible. Those guys lack any form of search skills, and since they're undeads, their senses must be weaker than normal animals, or dragons in this case. I've got speed up to my ears, so I can run away from them in case they catch on to me. Just be ready to flee the place if things go south." - Garami

"There's no way we can-" - Alf

"Okay. We will meet at the Safe Area if we get separated. Good luck!" - Mira

Yeah, yeah. But I can't guarantee there will be any souvenirs.

---

......Goal!

Phew, that was nerve-wracking. The smell from the Corpse Dragon almost made me hurl halfway through. I should have used the same smell-negation accessory that the others use instead of sticking to my pride.

Anyway, I've reached the church. Hope this place's as interesting as I'm hoping it will be...

The church's a strange place in this Dungeon. If it scares off undeads, why don't the Dungeon Master or whoever's behind this gig, just remove it? They've got several hundred years to do so. It could be that it's the dragons that's the problem and Iron just forgot to mention that small piece of info.

Even in the worst case, there should be some holy water or whatever here that we can use. Let's do some scavenging. 

But man, this place's gloomy. Despite holding itself nicely for being who-knows-how-many-years old it is, the many seats have rotten away to almost nothing. The altar holds pretty well, but the many statues that are probably representing the god, or gods, this church worshipped has collapsed due to deterioration. Creepy.

Nothing of interest here, so let's check the inner rooms.

Tch, the door's locked. I could break it, but that's probably gonna alarm the dragons... hmm? 

Something shiny caught my eye as I tried the doorknob again. By the small pedal at the alter's side. Move it already...! There! Damn, that thing was heavier than expected. But I got it! A... key?

Is this like when people hide the key to their home in the potted plant near the door? That's not so important now. How did I know that the key was... [Discover]! I almost forgot. That skill helps you find hidden stuff. Kinda plain, but it saved me lots of time now. 

Thinking about it, aren't I perfect for this kinda job? The main reason I wanted to come to this island was to improve my necromancy, but at this rate, won't I become a better thief instead? Eh, let's call it "treasure hunter" and be done with that.

The inner rooms were in a better state than the main hall. There's no lack of dust though. After covering my face with my handmade scarf, I started to look for some valuables... I've gone completely "thief", haven't I?

One of the rooms must have been owned by someone who was a Scribe as a side-job or something. They had tons of handwritten books on their shelves. Most of them hadn't survived the passing of time, and those that did are unreadable. As in, I don't get what's written here! Is it because the language is different now than before? Even if I have [Language Adaption]? I'll take them anyway. Still got lots of space left in the Storage.

The next rooms were simple dorm rooms with many bunker beds. For the students of the head-priest? The final room was more interesting. A storage room, filled with lots of stuff. Mostly weapons for some strange reason. And there are tons of them!

Was this church planning to go to war? ...Knowing the story of this island, that may not be far from the truth. Well, they're mine now. Can sell 'em to Armveil.

There are also lots of bottles containing... Holy Water? Sounds like something I need to be careful with. Can come in handy, along with the other stuff I've been ready to use in case of an emergency.

I've wasted enough time here already. Let's go-

*Rumble. rumble, rumble*

An attack!? No, an earthquake? 

It stopped as suddenly as it started. Nothing to worry about then? Was this region close to a volcano? Or did some crazy guy start a fight somewhere? It wouldn't surprise me if some A-rank monstrosity had a skill like [Earthquake].

It's not a good thing to stay inside a dilapidated church, so let's flee the place!

I hurried back to the entrance, turning my stealth-skills at full force since before I exited the door to the inner rooms and was met with... nothing. The dragons had left the area close to the church and started to attack the buildings in the distance, a hundred meters away, give or take a meter or two.

It's not far from where I left Mira and the rest, but it's not close either. Did the earthquake agitate the undead dragons? Stress relief in the form of crushing buildings?

In any case, those dragons could be a threat. I still remember the dragonic creature that looked at me over the wall when I left the island back when I and Gust were heading for the city. If those guys are related to that... 

Let's squash them. Better strike first before they notice Mira and the rest. Worst-case scenarios always happen, so let's get a preemptive strike. If this is a regular event, then the undeads won't find it strange even if we make some more noise alongside the destruction. 

Of course, I'm not expecting to win in a fair fight, but at this distance, I think I have a good shot. 

Preparations set? Then... Zahhak cannon, fire!!

The python-like dragonhead flew towards the Skeleton Dragon at an incredible speed. All thanks to the support of [Shooting]. The dragon of darkness clasped its jaws into the Skeleton Dragon and let the darkness seep into its victim's bones like poison, weakening the undead dragon little by little. 

The Skelton Dragon's two rotting comrades quickly noticed the attack. The Corpse Dragon tried to rip off the Zahhak of the Skeleton Dragon, but it only led to it being weakened by the Extra Skill's effect. The Zombie Dragon instead aimed for the source of the attack and ran towards the church where I was hiding.

I intercepted the incoming dragon with various Light spells and [Glow Bullets], but the dragon tanked them all. My bombardment only led to its charge being slowed a little bit. 

Tch, that regeneration skill of its is too damn effective. As long as that guy, or its partners, are outta the sun's reach, they can regenerate any damage they take! And the Dragon Scales interferes with the construction of magic.

It's essentially a Magic Resistance skill. And a better variant even, since [Magic Resistance] resist all magic, even support spells. Heck, even your own magic would be weakened. Not to mention that other methods of using mana would be slower and less useful with that skill. 

Dragon Scales on the other hand doesn't have that weakness. They only interfere with the construction of magic, not mana itself. And they're sturdy enough to withstand the remains of the magic construction that got disrupted. Even if it's these guy's lesser variants of the skill...

I kept my barrage going as the Zombie Dragon crept closer. The Skeleton Dragon was still at the mercy of the Zahhak, and the Corpse Dragon finally understood it couldn't do anything with the dragon-head on its own, so it turned to my direction as the Zombie Dragon did.

Just then, my plan finally worked! The Zombie Dragon finally passed the 40-meters line... which was marked by the thin, but adhesive spider-web I had covered the entire area with.

The Zombie Dragon was so distracted by the barrage of Light attribute attacks that it never noticed the web and got glued on it while running, making it lose its balance. The web's made so that those guys will definitely step on it with their big feet, but I have more than enough space in the holes in the web to run across the area.

The dragon fell right into the web... and it even got its head stuck underneath its body!

Nice! That neutralizes that guy completely! There was the chance it would start acting like a stationary turret with its Dragon Breath, but no way it can do that now with its head trapped.

And here comes the Corpse Dragon. With its mouth wide open. Did he also have Dragon Breath? No... crap!

What came outta the Corpse Dragon's mouth wasn't a Dragon Breath in the purest sense, but a foul breath. I'm serious here! Black-purple smoke escaped the undead dragon's mouth and headed towards me... it stinks!!

This is what I smelled when I sneaked past those guys before! If I have to describe it, it smells like someone had forced a whole zombie apocalypse into a massive blender and made a smoothie of the whole mess. That's what it smells like. And now it's a hundred-fold of that again!

Despite dodging the attack, I-I'm feeling faint...

The Zahhak got turned off, releasing the Skeleton Dragon. It turned its head towards me, and if it had eyeballs, it would have murder in them.

It opened its mouth like the Corpse Dragon, dead set of not getting close to the web area. Hey, hey, a breath right off the bat?

As I prepared to escape the attack, something struck the skeletal dragon on both the top and bottom of its head. 

The blow from below was a huge wall of ice, while the upper one was a blast of holy energy. Those guys...

The mouth of the dragon was forced to close, while the breath was still charging inside it, resulting in the Skeleton Dragon having a literal taste of its own breath.

The Corpse Dragon didn't even look towards its "big brother" and rather threw a large rock towards me. Fast! Still too slow. And I don't even need to dodge.

From the shadow of the rubbles came Iron out, shield ready to receive and deflect the large rock. Damn, this guy's too daring. The Corpse Dragon made a nasty face until it got slashed at the neck by a sword covered in silver light.

Damn those four, I've gotta reward them for this afterward. 

Despite the brilliant attacks on the two dragons, they swiftly recovered from the damages as if nothing had happened. Seeing this, I proceeded with my plan and used the Chaotic Zahhak, forming several dragon-heads made of darkness to assault all three dragons, weakening their stats even more. A feat possible thanks to the improved recovery ability due to being in a Dungeon.

Seeing the dragons getting weak enough, I ordered Mira and the rest to stay back as I brought forth the final piece of the puzzle while chugging down a Mana Potion.

The Corpse Dragon was the first. It got sucked right into the Kigal-Note with almost no resistance. The Skeleton Dragon tried to claw itself to the ground when it came to its turn, but I got the Zahhaks to strike at it until it let go. And with the Zombie Dragon not being able to move, it was only a question of time before it too got added to my collection.

As the threat was gone, Mira and the rest came running to... uh-oh. 

"Garami, you basta-aaaard!?" - Alf

I stopped the running lariat from Alf by sticking some threads to the ground.

"Is that the way to greet your leader?" - Garami

"Just what kind of leader risks their subordinates' lives by picking a fight with THREE dragons at the same time!?" - Alf

"This one. The one part of an evil organization. And what did you want me to do? Wait until those guys started crashing you guys?" - Garami

That made Alf shut up before he started to break free from the threads by freezing them... hey! You can do that?

"Did you kill them? The dragons?" - Noire

"Nope. Only captured them. We'll have them secured inside here until we got to a place with enough sun to scorch them back to death." I said, holding the Kigal-Note above my head to show it off.

"Damn, that's nasty... Garami!!" - Mira

Huh? What's... wrong... where did the Note go? 

Before I could notice, the Kigal-Note had disappeared from my hand. Wait, how's that possible? 

"U-up there! That black-clothed one!" - Noire

We all looked up to the sky and saw... something... covered in a large, black mantle, sitting on some pole that was floating in the air. Where did that guy come from? I never noticed him, even with [Presense Perception] up and running. And in his hands... my Kigal-Note!

Eh, nothing to worry about. Sorry about that, stranger, but my Kigal-Note's not that...easy... why's it not returning? Why's the Kigal-Note not automatically returning!? 

While I looked confused at the empty hand which the Kigal-Note did not return to, the black-clothed mystery-person started to fly away.

"A-after that guy! Don't let him get away!!" - Garami

Greydra

Kigal-Note/Undead: Corpse Dragon

Description:

The Corpse Dragon is an undead taking the shape of, or used to be, a living dragon. Their massive powers from when they were alive have been lost, but that has not weakened this creature enough to be considered an equal to normal undeads like Skeletons or Zombies.

Appearance:

The Corpse Dragon has the appearance of a dark-grey dragon with parts of its body decomposing to an extent that parts of the flesh have turned semi-fluid and fall off, only to be regenerated thanks to the dragon's regenerating powers.

Abilities:

A Corpse Dragon is still a dragon, despite being rotten. It has massive physical strength that dishonors its racial rank of E, and its regenerating powers are in a league of its own. They are, however, extremely slow and clumsy due to their big size, and their intelligence is lacking compared to the living dragons.

The Danger Rank of this undead creature is variable, as it is extremely vulnerable to fire and sunlight, but if it is fought in dark areas, then its regenerative powers will outpace most attempts in burning it. In these situations, consider the dragon to be equal to creatures with a Danger Rank of D+.

Garami's comment: The stench alone is rank A+.