Chapter 166: Dungeon Outbreak [Part 1]

"This is terrible," one of the First Years muttered as they looked at the devastation around them. The walls of the small town were barely standing and many of the local people were badly injured.

The members of the Spirit and Magic Divisions, who excelled in healing magic, went to attend the injured people. Those who specialized in Earth Magic hurriedly repaired and reinforced the town walls. 

The captain of the guards that were guarding Dawsbury, was currently talking to Grent, Layla, and a woman with reddish brown hair, who seemed to be the Head Instructor of the First Year Spirit Division.

According to the captain, they barely managed to repel the first wave of the Dungeon Outbreak. Only Class E and Class D monsters had emerged from the dungeon, but their numbers were staggering.

(A/N: A quick recap on the classes of the High-Tier Beasts. Centennial Beasts (Class S), Millennial Beasts (Class SS), Myriad Beasts (Class SSR), and the final class is Calamity Class Beasts. Calamities are just a step away or already in the stage of a Demigod.)

Grent, Layla, and the woman with reddish brown hair, Miranda, nodded their heads in understanding. This was a common phase during a Dungeon Outbreak and veterans already knew what to expect.

Usually, during an outbreak, the people in the towns would immediately be evacuated while the Kingdom's army would be dispatched to subjugate the dungeon and destroy its core. However, the Hellan Kingdom was still recovering from the Beast Tide that happened four years ago.

Many strong fighters had died to protect the kingdom and four years was not enough to fill their ranks again. Although many new recruits had joined the kingdom's army after the Beast Tide, they were still lacking in battle experience.

These new recruits were the same people that were dispatched to protect the town of Dawsbury from the Dungeon Outbreak. 

"I estimate that the next wave will happen in four hours, perhaps even sooner," the captain reported. "How do we proceed from here?"

The captain had already been briefed that reinforcements from the Royal Academy would be sent to assist them. However, he was disappointed when he saw that the ones who came to support them were only First Year Students and their instructors.

The three heads of the different divisions could easily read the captain's thoughts through his body language. But, they pretended not to notice. This was not the time for internal conflict and the most important matter was to decide on their next course of action.

"We will resist the second wave while using the town's defenses," Grent stated. "After that, the instructors will head inside the dungeon in order to destroy the Dungeon Core. How many floors does this dungeon have?"

"Twenty Floors," the Guard Captain replied. "Most of the monsters inside it are a combination of dog and flying type monsters. However, there is one big problem. The monsters we fought earlier have a bit of miasma inside them. I'm afraid that, in the next wave, the miasma inside their bodies will be more potent than the last wave.

The expressions of the three instructors immediately became serious. Miasma was a poisonous mist that was usually found in the forbidden areas of the continent. According to the scholars, long exposure to miasma would create negative side effects in the body. 

Depending on its level of toxicity, miasma was known to corrupt the minds of people and bring out their powerful negative emotions. Once these emotions took hold of their body, they would enter a state similar to the berserked state where they wouldn't be able to differentiate between friend and foe.

In this state, they would be more like feral beasts whose only purpose was to destroy until they breathed their last breath. Corruption from miasma could be treated in the early stages, however, if treatment was not administered in time, the will of the infected person or beast would corrode.

This would continue until they lost their former selves and became mindless beasts.

"This is bad, the children may not be able to handle miasma poisoning," Layla frowned. "What should we do?"

"Spirit users are more resistant to miasma. However, long exposure to it will still corrode our minds," Miranda commented. "Although I have students who can cure miasma poisoning, they won't be enough to tend to all the First Years before they run out of Spirit Power."

Grent crossed his arms over his chest as he pondered their next course of action. After an hour of brainstorming, a plan was finally formulated.

All the children would stay inside the town and help resist the Dungeon Outbreak from the safety of its walls. The magicians, archers, and spirit users, would use long range attacks to whittle down their numbers. 

If any monsters managed to get past their bombardment, the martial classes would defend the walls and repel the advancing monsters. The magicians and spirit users would then play the role of support from behind.

Those who were starting to feel faint from miasma poisoning would immediately be taken to the rear of the defenders where the healers would tend to the miasma that had invaded their bodies.

All the students were briefed of the plan and immediately went to their designated positions. William, and the archers of the Martial Class, stood on the town's walls and looked in the direction where a black mist was rising up into the air. 

According to the captain, that was where the Roaring Quarters dungeon was located. 

Est stood beside him along with the bulk of the Magic Division Classes. A quarter of the Spirit Division was in the rear responsible for healing, and the rest were on top of the walls looking in the direction of the dungeon with bated breaths.

The students numbered less than a thousand, and the professors that came along with them only numbered in the thirties. If you added the kingdom's army that had been dispatched to the scene, their combined forces amounted to less than 1,400 people. 

"This is like the calm before the storm," Est said as he looked in the distance. "You told me in the past that Lont had experienced two Beast Tides. You were also present in both of them. Based on what you have experienced, what are our chances against a Beast Tide with our current forces?"

The other students who heard Est's question were shocked when they heard that William participated in a battle against the Beast Tide. The majority of them didn't believe Est's claim and looked at William in disdain.

The Beast Tide happened four years ago, and William was only fourteen years old. That meant that during the monster tide, he was only ten years old. How could a ten year old possibly participate in a battle of that magnitude?

William wasn't aware of their malicious looks filled with disdain because he was busy reminiscing about the past. He didn't know how strong the instructors were, but he liked to believe that the majority of them were capable of facing off against Class B and Class A Beasts on their own. 

Because if they were unable to do that then their chances of surviving this battle were close to zero.

"This force may be enough to contend against a Beast Tide," William replied after careful consideration. This was on the condition that the students were only going to fight against the small fries, and let the instructors fight against the stronger opponents. 

If the instructors were not strong enough to turn the tide of battle then the end game would result in their complete annihilation. 

"However, we are not facing a Beast Tide, but a Dungeon Outbreak." William made sure that he made this point across. "This is my first time participating in this kind of battle, so I can't compare the magnitude of the enemy's forces with what I have experienced in the past. Also, we are dealing with monsters infected with miasma. This will definitely not be an easy battle."

Est nodded his head in understanding. To be honest, Est felt safer when he was standing beside William than standing beside any of the instructors. For some reason, he thought that everything would be fine if William was around.

This kind of mentality had been born inside the Trial of Courage where he fought side by side with the red-headed-boy and defeated an enemy whom he had deemed impossible to kill. 

Most of the students were feeling anxious, but he was not. Est glanced at the young boy who had created a miracle for him, and prayed that he would be safe in the battle against the upcoming Dungeon Outbreak.

"Meeeeeeeeeh!" Ella bleated as her ears perked up.

"Everyone get ready," William said as he nocked an arrow to his bow. "The monsters are on their way. Archers load your arrows!"

"Magicians, start chanting your spells!" Est ordered. 

The archers under William followed their Head Prefect without a question, while the magicians reluctantly chanted their spells. The Spirit Division Class didn't do anything because they couldn't see anything from their vantage point.

The Head Prefect and Vice-Prefect of the Spirit Division thought that William was only joking with them, so they decided to ignore his words and didn't instruct those under them to prepare their long range spells.

They were waiting for William to make a fool of himself and see the consequences of his stupidity.

It was at that moment when they felt the ground tremble as if a minor earthquake was happening. From the mouth of the dungeon, a black tide burst forth en masse. Roars of beasts and the shrieks of flying beasts reverberated in the air as they charged towards the town of Dawsbury with the intention of trampling it to the ground.

"Start chanting your long range spells!" the Head Prefect of the Spirit Division Class cried out in panic.

"Archers, take aim!" Wililam ordered as he pulled the string of his bow to the fullest. He watched and waited until the monsters reached their strike range. The moment the first wave had passed the mark, William immediately ordered them to attack.

"Open Fire!" William roared as his arrow flew straight and true towards the head of a two-meter tall dog-type monster. 

The sound of the wind whistling echoed above the town's wall as hundreds of arrows rained on the monsters. Not long after, the long range magic attacks of the magicians joined the downpour and decimated all the creatures in their path. 

This was how the battle began and no one knew what the ending would be.