Chapter 81: Planning the Rescue

Duke Ashburn sat in his study alongside his wife while discussing the matters of the day.

"I have decided to marry off our son to Rebecca Euklid," The duke said while looking down at several sheets in unimportant paperwork to avoid looking his wife in the eye.

"Without discussing it with me, dear?"

There was an icy undertone in Duchess Ashburn's voice which exposed her feelings towards this idea. The duke sighed before putting down the reports in his hands and finally looking at her, his expression filled with determination.

"You also know the likely outcome for him. He is still weak and the enemy is unknown. I have heard of several reports of individuals apparently on the side of the dungeon also seeking out information on Gabralter. It is a question of who finds out about the other side first, which we currently have an advantage in, but…"

"…Don't think I don't know what you are thinking. You are coddling him too much."

"Are you still angry by what he said the other day?"

"Of course I am! I am his mother, yet he dared step out of line in such a way!"

"Hayleigh…"

"…I also understand, but you are taking him off the chopping board just to throw him in the snake pit. Why can't we just send him to the capital or another noble's territory as an ambassador. It only needs to be in name."

"I have thought over that, but he is not yet ready. Whilst I do not wish to force anything on him, I must do so currently. You may not like the mother, but the daughter is polite."

"Hmph, the apple never falls far from the tree."

"…"

"Fine! But we will discuss this in more detail tomorrow!"

Duchess Ashburn sat beside the window and looked out the clear glass toward the bustling city outside. The study was on the fourth floor, so she had a wide view of everything outside and over the small inner city wall that not only walled off the mansion, but served as the dungeon city's final defence line.

Breaking the silence, Duchess Euklid threw open the study doors and stormed in with her chest heaving.

"My daughter is missing!"

The duke scrunched his brow and pinched the bridge of his nose while his wife raised her brows in surprise.

"What?"

"I said, my daughter is missing!"

The duchess slammed her open palms on the surface of the table, causing wood to splinter as the bent and appeared about to snap in two at any moment.

Lora and Dare, the two baronesses and Rebecca's companions on this journey to Lagoon Porter City, stood just outside the study door and nervously looked in. They timidly stepped forth as Duchess Euklid shot them a sharp glare and commanded them to get inside.

"Please inform Duchess and Duke Ashburn of what you told me."

The blonde baroness, Lora, nervously gripped the waist of her dress while deeply curtsying and trying to be as formal and respectable as possible.

"Umm… Earlier today, we secretly followed Gabralter to a very popular market to investigate the rumors surrounding him and a certain elf. Becca was acting a bit odd… then… she just… vanished."

"Vanished?" Duchess Ashburn asked in curiosity.

"Yes," Dare hurriedly nodded her head. "At first, we thought she slipped away from us or got lost somehow, so we were looking to gather with her… but she wasn't anywhere I could find."

The duke gave her a stern impression and asked, "That was hours ago. Why didn't you inform us earlier?"

Duchess Euklid also shot the two young women another glare, causing them to quiver and drop their shoulders.

"…"

Duchess Ashburn understood what was going on in their minds and felt whoever raised them was irresponsible. They were a part of the nobility, but did not have the courage or determination to resolve problems and didn't want to disturb their routine lives. They were afraid of being held responsible, so had been hoping she would return on her own.

Duke Ashburn powered a communication array on his mahogany desk and reported the incident whilst ordering an immediate search party being formed.

Gabralter was also called into the study and coldly blamed it on the dungeon.

"I told you that the dungeon was kidnapping our citizens to defile and commit all kinds of heinous acts. Now you have a case in front of you, are you finally going to do something?"

"There is no evidence of that. There are several criminal groups in the city too, so don't go ignore them."

"None of which would be brave enough to kidnap a duchess' daughter."

"…"

Duke Ashburn didn't know how to respond to his son. He wasn't incorrect in that none of the criminal groups had the courage to kidnap high nobility. Once the kingdom's forces truly came down upon them, they would have no protection and nowhere to hide. They knew this, and so long as they didn't cross the bottom line, dealing with them was of a lower priority than other matters.

"Has that arrogant earl come up with any useful information?" Duchess Euklid tapped her finger on the duke's desk impatiently, digging up wood with each tap.

Duke Ashburn thought considered it and decided it would be best to go visit the earl. Even if he had no tangible results, the walk would help calm everyone's nerves.

~~~~~

⠀

Earl Vermonte bon Housen had a printout of data taken from the dungeon spread across a large table he had the maids bring into a spare room.

Crystal lenses of various hues lay scattered over the paperwork while strange devices analysed the stored mana samples for different results. On the center of the large table was the soulium hunting blade surrounded by several scanning arrays intent on discovering its secrets.

The earl turned his head and scoffed as the group of nobles entered the room he had repurposed into a research station. The other researchers from the Royal Academy of Research and Technology had equally disdainful glares while not even bothering to deign them with words.

"Can you not see that we are busy?"

"You are in my home yet you continue to disrespect us."

"Oh, my mistake. Would you like us to pack up and leave?"

The words themselves seemed apologetic, but the earl had a scornful gaze on his face as he capitalized on the fact that the duke was the one who requested their help.

"…The duchess' daughter has gone missing, possibly kidnapped. Tell me what you know about the dungeon."

Despite his obnoxious attitude, the earl was very professional in his attitude towards work.

"And you suspect the illegal dungeon lord is behind this?"

"It is highly likely."

"Well, I have good news, mostly. There are a large number of unknown species inside of the dungeon, in great numbers too, but these are all First Step monsters and are of little threat, although the reported devil bee swarm is still somewhat dangerous. I can't give better detailed analysis on them without direct observation and testing, but that is unimportant."

"There are also a large number of elves within the dungeon, mostly Tree Elves and Stone Elves, but there are a few of this an that mixed in. Next is the most pressing issue. Look at this."

Earl Housen directed towards a giant, obvious spike on the chart, much like a glitch in whatever wrote on the page. Duke Ashburn took a crimson lense from the earl and looked through it, revealing an almost three dimensional rendition of the graph while also measuring the mana density of this spike.

"This is…"

"A Fifth Tier Monster Lord. If you duchess' daughter is truly there, you won't be able to get her back. Although, that Monster Lord will also be in violation of the Treaty of Gods."

"If you already understood all of that, why haven't you reported it to me?"

"I already pointed out that we are busy, did I not? There are some data facts which aren't adding up. The mana density does not match the informed age of the dungeon, it is as if the dungeon has been there for years at least. Secondly is this knife."

"What about it."

"That it's impossible. It has the same constitution, or similar to, many copper-gold alloys, but it is vastly different. We simply cannot fathom how such an advanced material was produced. I would simply love to know how it was made."

~~~~~

⠀

Duke Ashburn was determined to confront the dungeon this time. Knowing what dangers lied within it, he approached the main Temple of Eve within the city and informed the head bishop presiding there of the details, seeking assistance from the religious side of the temple.

Within the inner cloister. Duke and Duchess Ashburn along with Duchess Euklid sat in a regal room covered in religious reliefs, tales of Goddess Eve's ascension in the battlefield against hordes of dragons and becoming the sovereign deity of the Maple Dragon Kingdom.

"Lord Duke, you understand that even if a Fifth Tier Monster Lord is breaching the rules, we cannot control nor direct divine intervention directly. We cannot directly confront them either, as we would simply perish. You must think carefully about this or we could all die."

"This is a matter where I am forced to act."

The old head bishop sighed as his wrinkles seemed to increase.

"Lord Duke, would you listen to this old man's proposal?"

"Of course, I always take the temple's words into advice."

"Then, and I apologize if this is offending you Lady Duchess, but this is too hasty action. If the duchess' daughter has been kidnapped, then she is most likely currently alive. She would be useless dead. We may be able to negotiate her release without it turning into war against a Monster Lord. It will also buy time for our prayers to reach Goddess Eve."

"I… I suppose that is reasonable."

"Just remember but despite this world where the weak are eaten, immediately leaping into war is not always the best option."

"We still need to show our might to not be completely looked down upon though."

"Indeed, that is true."

~~~~~

⠀

The duke marched with an army of Second and Third Step guards numbering 20,000 strong, although only 1,000 of them were of the Third Step. They went directly to the dungeon while adventurers and mercenaries alike watched in silence.

Everyone knew of the duke's enormous bounty on the dungeon and illegal dungeon lord behind it. Many had lost their lives in this pursuit, and many more were prepared to risk their own lives for fortune.

Seeing the duke matching with an army personally, a lot of these people were now anywhere from displeased to directly enraged.

They thought the duke had decided to do the task himself now that more information on the dungeon was available, and would be keeping the dungeon core to himself. This public outrage was one of the main reasons why the duke hadn't originally wanted to make a move personally, but the reporters from The Relevant, his son's experiences, and most recent events of direct disregard to nobility and the kingdom's laws had forced his hand.

Armored boots hit the ground in perfect rhythm, creating their own drum beat which shook the forest around them. Every monster nearby had sensed their presence and fled long in advance before the army passed by.

At the front of the force was several high level priests who rung holy bells as they marched, their ring travelling across the army and filling everyone's vigor and stamina.

There were 13 armored forces within this army, each having their own specialty and use on the battlefield, from controlling the terrain to create advantageous ground for them, to sniping enemy commanders. Several mage forces would either create magical barriers or bombardments too depending on the requirement.

The victor was not always determined by who was strongest, but who could control the flow of battle and seize the advantage.

All of the troops here knew that they were marching towards the location where a Monster Lord was and held a nervous knot in their hearts. No matter how good their tactics were, it would be useless against a Monster Lord, even if it were just a weak one.

Duke Ashburn wasn't the only important figure here. Duchess Euklid, over deep worry and concern for her captured daughter, and Earl Housen, over research curiosity, were also accompanying.

~~~~~

⠀

Styx was sitting and eating dinner with all his woman and Rebecca as a guest. The human woman barely touched her food as if it was beneath her, but everyone else happily gorged.

Aura was eating elsewhere tonight as her mere presence caused the duchess' daughter to go into a nervous breakdown.

In the middle of his meal, Styx abruptly stopped and raised a brow.

"What is it?" Elena asked upon noticing Styx's surprise.

The dungeon cum dungeon lord in question looked to Rebecca and chuckled.

"It looks like your rescue party is here. Do you think they could redeem your freedom?"

Rebecca felt her heart skip a beat. She certainly hoped everything would work out, but she held subtle fears as she knew how unpredictable Styx could be.

Outside the dungeon, the army lined up in formation while a messenger escorted by several Third Step guards approached the grand temple like entrance and nervously called out his demands to meet the dungeon lord and negotiate the release of prisoners.

"Well, it looks like I am being called for. Aura, let's go say hello… Aura?" Styx chuckled at first, but stopped when the wolf girl appeared with an apprehensive expression.

"Don't stress, I will work things out. As long as we don't resort to direct conflict, it should work out. We just need to secure enough benefits."