Chapter 154 The Royal Dungeon Incident [Pt 1]
[Earlier That Day]
"It seems we're all ready."
As the sun slowly rose in the horizon, Adonis' blond hair swayed with every instance his lips moved.
His handsome face greeted everyone who stood before him, and even the equally beautiful Grand Mage who was beside him gave him all her attention.
Right now, all fifty of the Knights and Mages that the United Human Alliance could offer stood before him.
Also standing in front of them were the five Otherworlders who volunteered for this dangerous expedition.
The determined expressions on their faces made Adonis smile a little.
He had said all that needed to be said, and they were already briefed by Lucielle, so there was no longer any need to keep the mission waiting.
"We depart now!"
~VWUUUSHH!~
A wormhole was opened right behind Adonis the moment he made this declaration.
It shone with multiple colors, and it came from a cube-like item that Lucielle held in her unoccupied left hand.
Her right hand had a staff on, and she was currently outfitted in a pure white and red military outfit befitting of a Grand Mage.
She had a cap on—the kind a sailor or a royal emissary would have—and gold buttons and linings decorated her red and white attire.
Her crimson eyes glimmered brightly as the box in her grasp began to vanish once the portal it created stabilized.
This Enchanted Item was called 'The Gateway' and it was a one-time use Item.
It could open the doorway to anywhere that they could pinpoint, as long as it was an actual location.
Since Lucielle already detected Brutus in the lowest Floor—the 99th Floor—of the Dungeon, this Item had just created a portal that led to that very place.
It wasn't a one-sided portal, though, so they had to hurry if they wanted to gain the upper hand.
"Let's go!"
In response to Adonis' orders, the men and women began marching closer to the portal.
As the Hero, Adonis bravely stepped into the portal first, and the rest trailed after him.
Lucielle was the last to enter, and as soon as she did, the portal collapsed.
One of the conditions of use when it came to 'The Gateway' was once its user entered the portal it made, the spatial rift would close, so no one was surprised by this.
In fact, if this was the only condition, then a random person could have been the one to activate it, allowing everyone to venture in and out without any need to ascend the Floors to escape.
Unfortunately, that couldn't be done.
For one, 'The Gateway' was an incredibly powerful device that could only be used by a powerful Mage who had a high level of Magic Mastery.
In essence, Lucielle.
Yet another problem with this device was the duration of the spatial rift.
Even if Lucielle decided to stay behind, letting Adonis and the rest venture in to save their ally, the rift would close after two to three minutes.
Spatial Magic consumed a lot of Mana, and it couldn't possibly be maintained for too long.
If they bet on the chance that Adonis and the rest could save their allies within that time, it was possible that the portal would close before this happened, leaving Lucielle outside.
Before Adonis could conclude his line of thought, though, a voice echoed in the massive expanse.
"B-Brutus! There he is!"
Yet another distance from them—much further than the piles of Monster Cores—there was an almost naked man.
He had bruises all over his body, and he shamefully hung in the air, levitating through some sort of Magic effect.
His bushy beards and disheveled hair danced thanks to the current of Magic that raised his body. Dried blood painted his bare skin, and his bulging muscles appeared helpless under the restraints of Magic.
He appeared unconscious—perhaps even dead.
Lucielle's eyes brimmed with hope as she saw him, and everyone instantly knew what they had to do.
"To the target!"
Adonis and everyone rushed to their target destination, though they all had it at the back of their mind to be on guard.
That was the plan.
But...
"Oh? This is a surprise."
... Even they could not expect what came next.
"I didn't expect you'd come this early."
Appearing behind them, in a swirling pool of bluish-purple distortions in space, was a colossal entity.
It had a thick, scaly body that glowed under the illumination of the world that surrounded it; three twisted horns on its massive head.
Wings spread behind it as its tail swept about, creating an irresistible gust of wind.
Its brimming purple eyes stared closely at the group of fifty-
seven, and it gave a twisted grin.
No one needed an explanation as to what this being was.
They all knew instantly.
"N-no way...!"
"H-how can...?"
"T-this is..."
What kind of Monster had been waiting for them all along.
... A Dragon!
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[A/N]
Thanks for reading.
Finally! We get to see a Dragon finally!
Did you all expect this?