Chapter 44

44. Corroded Ruins 3

“Is this a Ruins Dungeon?”

Upon entering, the first thing that caught my eye was the ceiling carved out of stone. The building was severely corroded, so the exact time is unknown, but it was a fairly old ruin.

“As you can tell just by looking at the architectural style, it is a very old building.”

Ergan, who came in next, looked around and said. There are torches hanging on the walls, but they are so dark that they don’t make much sense.

“Aw, that’s gloomy. I hate it.”

Shuire, the wizard who crossed the portal, grumbled and spread her hands.

“light.”

When the spell was cast, a glowing sphere was created.

The gloomy interior of the ruins suddenly brightened.

“Now that the lights are on, you can come in.”

“Thank you Shuire-sama.”

“Thanks to you, I feel much better.”

Others then entered the ruins one by one.

“The first challenge failed because the number of monsters was higher than expected, but this time we can break through.”

Ergan gathered the party members to their seats and said.

“The goal is to defeat the boss monster deep in the dungeon and clear the dungeon portal.”

When the boss monster is defeated, the dungeon collapses and the portal disappears.

Therefore, in order for the adventurers inside to escape, a temporary portal for escape was needed.

‘There are three main ways. Create by breaking the boss’s core, or order a return scroll from the Mage Tower. Or the wizard draws a magic circle and makes it.’

“There is no need to draw a magic circle in advance, right? It takes a lot of magic to maintain it.”

Wizard Shuire looked around and said.

The return scroll is expensive and difficult to use in a normal party, and the boss’s core can be disassembled and turned into a powerful magical essence.

That’s why I usually put a wizard in my party.

“When everyone is ready, let’s go.”

Leader Ergan led the way. Others started walking after him.

Instead of walking, Seunghyun Kang swept the wall with his hand. It didn’t feel like a bite.

‘Corroded ruins...’

The reason why rocks usually corrode is because of water and air. However, since this is a place deep inside the ruins, it would not be air, and since there was no moisture, it would not be water.

‘Then... it must be magic. That’s also dark magic.’

Contaminated magical power affects surrounding materials. Seeing that the inside of the building had been corroded to this extent, it was said that thick black magic was filling the space.

‘Anyway, the owner of this ruin seems to be the one who handles black magic. Haven’t the guys who depended on divine power not noticed?’

If there was even a little bit of dark magic left, there was no way the priest wouldn’t know. It seems that all the remaining dark magic has disappeared after so long time has passed.

“Why are you standing like that, Mr. Kang?”

“I was thinking for a moment.”

Organizing his thoughts, Kang Seung-hyeon followed the others.

-How far did you go inside the ruins? Kang Seung-hyun arrived at a narrow passage.

“It’s here. Everyone, get ready.”

“To think I’d have to fight them again.”

Ergan’s party explored this far, but seems to have retreated after being attacked by monsters.

“come!”

Along with Ergan’s cry, the party members took out their weapons.

Sasasasak.

A buzzing sound was heard from all directions.

“Scarabeda!”

A terrible bug monster that looks like a scarab. They started coming in droves. Each monster is weak, but there is no such thing as a disaster if they come in such a small space.

“Disgusting!!!”

Shuire screamed and lifted the staff. A magic circle was drawn under her feet, and dozens of magic bullets flew.

Dismiss! phut! Pababang!

A mass of pure magical energy burst the scarab. Starting with that, the others also took out their weapons and attacked the Scarab.

“Aaaaaaa Cesco!!!”

Kim Ho-jeong was frightened and swung her sword.

Scarab corpses piled up on the floor, but

they were gone.

Sassack.

Another scarab crawled over the corpse of a comrade.

“This never ends!”

“How many people are coming?”

Kim Ho-jung and Tina said with tears in their eyes. Because no matter how many times I caught it, there was no end to it.

“It is impossible to catch them all. They will come endlessly.”

Ergan said while crushing the bug with his hands.

“I have no choice but to move forward somehow.”

“You’re saying there’s no choice but to pierce through the number of heads.”

Even if it was a small potion, no one handed out large potions. Especially if it was an expensive magic potion.

Instead of taking the potion, Kang Seung-hyeon asked Ail.

“It must cost a lot of money to prepare this many magic potions.”

“Oh, that’s fine. The person I know is a pharmacist, so I can get it cheaper than the average price.”

Then he added that he had nothing to worry about. It’s something you do because you like it.

“Isn’t it easy to complete the request only when the party members are safe?”

“...”

“If everyone has a good rest, we’ll start soon.”

As Ergan put out the bonfire, the party members stood up one by one. Seunghyun Kang stood up as well.

“Eh? Don’t you drink, sir?”

“I don’t want to drink.”

Kang Seung-hyeon threw a magic potion into his inventory. Instead, he took out a stamina potion.

“Well, Sensei didn’t need to eat magic potions. That friend spent money needlessly.”

Kim Ho-jung thought so, but in fact, there is another reason why Kang Seung-hyun did not drink the potion.

‘Beware of those who act kindly for no reason.’

His survival philosophy 4 is

one of the things he realized while living on the Azul continent for the past three years.

‘Because those who pretend to be nice like that have a bad back.’

There is no good deed without reason in the world, and every action has a purpose.

‘Is that bastard suspicious?’

Those who are kind for no reason are not to be trusted. There must be some ulterior motive.

‘Perhaps... he could be a really nice person with a 01% chance.’

There is no need to drink magic potions anyway. It is better not to drink this or that.

“Phew, everyone is keeping their mouths shut, so it’s hard to talk about something.”

Kim Ho-jeong grumbled as she broke the empty potion bottle.

“I’m not in the mood to talk right now.”

Inside the dark, endlessly gloomy ruins.

A space where swarming bug monsters constantly pour out.

Everywhere you look, there is an eerie feeling. If you can talk in a place like this, that’s a talent.

‘Above all, the more you go inside, the worse the corrosion is.’

Corroded walls and ceilings added to the eerie atmosphere. The damage is so severe that it is incomparable to the entrance.

‘It must mean that I am getting closer to the boss monster.’

The boss monster is obviously a black magician who uses black magic.

Divine power and dark magic do great damage to each other, so if there is a priest in the party, there is usually nothing to worry about...

‘The problem is, can that cowardly priest do it?’

Kang Seung-hyeon looked at Priest Sahita. Still trembling, she clung to Lakramati’s back, clutching the Bible.

‘I can’t believe it at all.’

When a divine skill and a black magic skill are combined, it is ultimately the skill and experience of the caster that determines victory or defeat. However, Priest Sahita was too timid and didn’t seem to be of any help.

‘Should I step in as well?’

Seunghyun Kang thought about this and that and walked forward.

– “Everybody stop.”

It was in the middle of defeating monsters and advancing. Ergan, who was walking in the lead, stopped his colleagues.

“There is a fork in the road ahead.”

Until now, it had been a one-way street, but here it was divided into a left road and a right road.

Seunghyun Kang looked at the walls and floor.

‘Both of them are highly corrosive.’

At first glance, there was no discernible difference. It was just corroded under the same influence of dark magic.

“I don’t know where to go.”

“Let’s divide the group into two. I’ll go left.”

It was the moment Shuire approached the left path.

“Wait a minute! stop!”

Lakramati exclaimed loudly. Sahiti behind him trembled and muttered.

“I can feel strong black magic on the left side of the road...”

“Really? Then which way is right?”

“I don’t feel anything over there.”

Lakramati shook her head and said.

On the left is the road where you can feel strong black magic. The right side is the same road as before.

Due to the nature of the fork in the road, one of the two must be a trap.

“Then there is nothing to worry about. The one on the left must be bad.”

“I can go to the right.”

Ergan was about to take the right path.

“No, not to the right.”

Kang Seung-hyun stopped and said.

“You must take the left path.”