Chapter 60: A Sudden Turn (2)
Boom! Bang! Boom!
Various colorful fireworks decorated the sky of the training dungeon.
The explosions blooming in mid-air grabbed our attention with their unique sounds and flames.
It seemed as though someone was desperately trying to reveal their location.
The unexpected fireworks were incredibly beautiful, but neither Vincent, Helena, nor I could smile.
And for good reason… these weren’t for fun. Each of them was a distress signal.
Our minds went blank as we stared at the sea of signals filling our view.
What was going on? What was happening?
I… was unaware of such an event’s existence.
If the entrance exam was a manipulation tutorial, the dungeon training was a dungeon tutorial.
Logically, it was the first dungeon one would enter in a normal playthrough.
But what on earth was this scene before us?
Something had gone wrong without my knowledge and for unknown reasons.
And it seemed to be a very grave matter.
Amidst the heavy silence, Helena was the first to speak.
“Brothers, what shall we do?”
Helena gripped the rosary placed over her ample chest with both hands.
She spoke in a devout manner, almost as if she were praying.
“We know from our own experience that Evil Rabbits alone can’t endanger the academy students. There must be something else at play.”
“Something else, you say?”
“… I suspect it’s the cultists.”
At Helena’s words, a light bulb went off in my head.
Yes, it had always been the heretics causing widespread chaos in dungeons.
They always freed the dungeon monsters and recruited them to their side, either to bolster their strength or to enhance the power of the evil Gods they worship, thereby accelerating the pace of the seals breaking.
But…
“How? How did the cultists get in here?”
Vincent’s skepticism was valid.
The training dungeon was under strict supervision by the academy.
Weren’t they always hiring numerous guards to thoroughly manage both the interior and exterior of the dungeon?
Their primary job was to manage the dungeon, so they always emphasized safety.
But now, cultists were in here, causing chaos without anyone noticing.
This was no ordinary occurrence.
The professors were supposed to be watching us from outside. Would they just stand by and watch the cultists?
Professor Jason, though modest in ability and without any grandiose goals, still saw the heretics as scum and believed in protecting the students.
Professor Christina? Wasn’t it a given that a priestess would abhor those associated with evil Gods?
Lastly, Professor Iona.
She was always complaining, but Iona participated in the Great War 300 years ago.
Having rejected the evil Gods, she lost all her clan members. Since then, she has been single-mindedly seeking revenge.
That was why she’s called a “Lord-level” vampire and not a Vampire Lord.
She had no clan.
All three of them would have valid reasons to come out right now and take on the cultists…
There must be some problem, for sure.
Perhaps outside, there was someone on par with the three professors, and they were in the midst of a battle.
Or maybe the entrance to the dungeon was blocked.
… Controlling the dungeon’s access implied someone was capable of manipulating space and time at will. But that seemed unlikely.
Though there was such a person among the cultists, he was currently incapacitated.
I continued to ponder, but no other theories came to mind.
From the beginning, I didn’t have enough information.
However, there was one thing for sure.
This had to be stopped.
Somehow. Absolutely.
The entrance exam attack was a kind of violent demonstration.
To weaken the academy’s future by killing the prospective freshmen and to spread the fear of the evil Gods to others as a form of terror.
It wasn’t initially about directly confronting the academy.
But didn’t the current situation feel like they were resolute about showing their strength?
I didn’t know which cult it was from, but if this continued, countless Class A students would lose their lives.
You could even say that potential talents that could face the revival of the evil Gods in the future would be lost.
As my thoughts reached there, frustration, irritation, and anxiety surged.
Aargh!
I should have somehow insisted on bringing Carla!
I didn’t even realize that my breathing had become rugged. I took deep breaths to calm myself and slowly opened my mouth.
“Like Priestess Helena, I also think that this is an attack by a cult or something similar.”
“But there are professors outside, and this place is managed by the academy, isn’t it? I’d rather think this is a test set up by the professors to deal with unforeseen situations.”
“…”
It wasn’t a test. H&A didn’t have such content.
Maybe I didn’t realize that something changed after I entered, causing a butterfly effect…
“Either way, it doesn’t matter. I’m thinking of heading in the direction where that signal is coming from, whether it’s a surprise test or the cult. What about you guys?”
At that, Helena nodded as if she had been waiting for it.
“I will join you, Brother Yandel.”
Her tone was soft, but it held determination.
“Thank you, Helena.”
“Why? If it’s a test, we just have to solve it. If it’s the cult, we just have to kill them.”
Her face wore a faint smile, but the emphasis on the cult part made her seem a bit scary.
Unlike Helena, who responded quickly, Vincent took a moment before speaking.
“A test would be better. But if they’re really like the cult… Can I be of help to you?”
“Just as you are now, it would be more than enough.”
“I see. Then I will assist you with my sword.”
As if taking a vow, Vincent thudded his left chest.
No matter what, he was a good guy.
Well, now that we’ve all decided to check the source of the distress signal, speed is essential.
The field-type dungeon was wide, regardless of the monster’s level.
“Before we head out, come here for a moment.”
“Why, Brother?”
“Do you have a plan?”
Their curious expressions were met with my sly smile.
“I didn’t expect this situation… but I prepared some things just in case.”
I glanced at my inventory.
Stored potions and scrolls were abundant.
The effectiveness of buffs diminishes as they stack.
Especially buffs of the same kind. Only the strongest would be applied, not combined.
But efficiency diminishes. The fact that buffs were beneficial remained unchanged.
Hence, numerous H&A players tried to discover efficient potions, and I was no exception.
I made several combinations myself and even memorized combinations discovered by others.
Terrain, class, individual characters, party combinations, adversaries, concept play, user tendencies, and more.
Memories of researching optimized potions for various situations remain vivid in my mind.
After such a long time, I concocted a customized potion for Vincent and Helena.
Perhaps it was a concoction that only I could provide in this world.
The result?
“Insane! You’re truly insane! Carrying around such potions and scrolls! My body feels so light. It doesn’t seem like my own!”
“Yes. Moreover, I meticulously created it so it wouldn’t counteract your divine power. It truly feels like I sense the extensive effort you’ve made to be this strong.”
We were speeding through the forest at more than twice our usual speed.
The Evil Rabbits that sporadically sprang up were either too intimidated by our momentum and ran away or were too slow, getting kicked and meeting their end.
Yet I had one more thing prepared.
“By the way, are you really sure about lending me so many magic tools? What if they break…?”
“Don’t worry about it. Use them freely. I still have plenty left.”
“Hmm… Did you run a magic tool shop before enrolling in the academy?”
Vincent asked as he saw the sheer number of magic tools I lent him.
Most of them had low-tier magic engraved, so they were hardly used now…
Before recruiting Karla, I had been supplementing my insufficient power with these magic tools.
I thought it was wasteful to just stuff the remnants of that obsession in my inventory, so I decided to use them all this time.
Originally, I held back from relying on items this much because of the potential deductions, but now there was no need.
However, considering there was precedent with an over-stuffed Karla, I couldn’t maintain this state for too long.
With urgency in mind, we rushed to the closest location with a signal.
The reality waiting for us there was slightly worse than I imagined.
“Shiiiiiik!”
“Ugh… No, please…!”
Two students lay on the ground, tainted in purple, and one barely clung to consciousness.
And the culprit of this situation appeared to be a creature, half-human, and half-snake.
Only after seeing the toothmark tattoos on the long, roughly 2-meter-tall creature did I realize.
The assailants were followers of the God of Tainted Unity.
I had previously killed one of their bishops and prevented an ambush during the entrance exam.
Thanks to that, the followers of the God of Tainted Unity marked me as a public enemy.
…..
Could it be that they sharpened their blades this much just to catch me?
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