The room comes to a suffocating silence for a few minutes. Saeldir let Aurdis absorb everything he said in silence.
He knew that what he said was not something Aurdis would easily accept.
"(A-Are you telling the truth?)" Aurdis asked with a trembling mouth after the long silence.
Saeldir nodded his head firmly. "(I didn't believe it at first either. But, that's what came out from the Dark Elf's mouth that Erend fighting.)"
Dark Elf. Even hearing the name, Aurdis already felt trembling.
Knowing their definite involvement made her feel a great sense of dread.
After such a long time, a Dark Elf finally appeared again.
"(But... How...)" Aurdis looked nervously at Saeldir.
"About that, I still don't know,)" Saeldir replied. "(But I think it's an indisputable fact.)"
Aurdis bit her lip. "(We have to do something before the damage they do gets any bigger.)"
"(Of course. I think so too. But all the Elves in the palace will definitely oppose us. Especially Aerchon. You know he's an idiot.)"
Aurdis bit her even lip harder and harder without her realizing it.
How is she going to say all this Aerchon? That is something very difficult to do.
In fact, it was almost impossible to convince Aerchon without being accompanied by a shout and perhaps some retributive action that would come out of him.
"(What if...)" Aurdis looked at Saeldir. "(Shall we ask the Forest Elf for help?)"
Saeldir suddenly cast his gaze on Aurdis. "(You know that's impossible.)"
"(Do we have a choice? At least asking the Forest Elf for help is a better chance than telling Aerchon the truth.)"
Saeldir didn't immediately refute it even though he knew that what Aurdis said was something very difficult to do.
He knew that there was truth in her words. Saying everything directly to Aerchon would only lead to bigger problems.
Saeldir sighed. He didn't expect that the Elves in the palace could face such a difficult problem.
Even they could not expect help from their leader and had to think about seeking help from a very distant party.
"(I'll try to find a way to deal with all this first,)" Saeldir finally said.
However, those words received a look of skepticism from Aurdis. "(Are you sure? What if the situation gets worse?)"
Saeldir looked at Aurdis. "(Then, if that happens, we do as you say.)"
Aurdis felt the anxiety and fear in her heart grow bigger and bigger. Waiting any longer would only give their enemy a chance to escape, or prepare a new plan.
After all, by now the traitor must have realized that his Dark Elf's allies had failed and were ready to do something.
Aurdis took a deep breath. She cupped her palms over her face. Aurdis wanted to cry again now.
~~~
"SHIT!"
Erend who entered the third hall of a Level 1 Dungeon was surprised by the enemies waiting in that hall.
They are not a problem in the real world. But in this Dungeon, they all get a buff that makes their annoying level increase by five times.
They are the rats. But these rats are about the size of a cat -- which is ironic -- and very agile.
[ Skill activated: Fire Breath (Lv.1) ]
*BWOOOSSHHH!*
Erend spit fire for the fifth time. But the rats can move very fast to avoid bursts of fire.
The flames that previously could scorch the spiders in seconds only hit one or two before the rats scatter again out at once.
The rest managed to scatter at the right time and only suffered minor burns to their tails or skin.
That little burn wasn't enough to kill them and they would come back to Erend.
*CHICHICHIT!*
One more thing that makes these rats very annoying is their squeaking sound that never stops.
Erend had heard a rat squeak before. But the rats' squeaks seem to be five times louder than they should be.
The attacks from the rats didn't hurt that much. But the attacks came continuously from all directions and with a speed that was difficult to overcome.
Then, sometimes the rats running in front of his feet often made him fall.
*BRACK!*
"FUCK!"
Just like this time. Seeing Erend who fell the rats didn't miss the opportunity.
They immediately surrounded Erend from all directions. With their loud squeaks, they landed bites and scratches on Erend.
Fortunately, Erend's body was still covered by [Dragon Scale]. Of course, Erend made sure to activate [Dragon Scale] whenever he saw his enemy.
The attacks from the rats couldn't penetrate the skin. But their voices and movements piled on top of Erend's body and made him burn with anger.
However, this was also an opportunity when they gathered like this.
[ Skill activated: All Fire-based Power (Lv.1) ]
*ZWOOOSHHH!*
Flames spread from around Erend's body. Burning the rats that surrounded him.
Even so, there are still some rats that can escape.
[ 10 Exp has been received! ]
[ 10 Exp has been received! ]
[ 10 Exp has been received! ]
...
Erend could actually just lie on the floor and let the rats swarm around him. After that burn them with fire.
But Erend couldn't help feeling disgusted as his body was surrounded by rats as big as a cat.
Erend didn't know how many rats there were. He didn't have time to count.
But it was clear that there were far more of them than the monsters that had inhabited the previous two halls.
Until now Erend had gained 70 Exp but these rats were still a lot.
Erend thought that he would Level Up about two or three times after killing all rats in this hall.
"Well, let's get this over with as fast as possible then!"
Erend starts attacking again. This time with more ferocity than before.
Finally, after going through a fight that tends to be more annoying than dangerous, Erend managed to kill all the rats in that hall.
[ You Leveled Up! ]
[ You Leveled Up! ]
Erend Leveled up twice. Now he was already at Level 15.
He saw that there were two doors that appeared at this time. This of course made him confused because previously there was only one door that appeared.
Erend's eyes moved to look at the door on his right and left alternately. Then Erend scratched his head.
"Which one should I choose, eh?"
[ "Actually whichever one you choose is not important. In the end, all ways will connect to one goal. That is, the end of this Dungeon." ]
"But I don't know what monsters I'll meet here, do I?" Erend asked.
[ "Yes, for now, you won't know. But once you finish the Dungeon you'll know everything." ]
Erend exhaled loudly. "That's obvious, Tut."
After that, the answer from Tut did not come again. It was as if he realized that what he said earlier was something that wasn't very useful, so he held himself back from saying something more.
"Anyway, which way doesn't matter."
Erend walked to the door on the right and pushed it.
What awaited him at this door this time was a little different.
Instead of the hall made of black bricks as before, Erend arrived at a very large cave.
The ceiling rose about twenty or thirty meters above him. One thing that is still in this cave is the lighting that comes from the torches attached to the cave walls.
"This cave is big enough for me to turn into a Dragon," Erend muttered as he stepped further inside.
[ The monster in this cave has noticed your presence! ]
When the notification appears, usually Erend immediately gets an attack from the room-dwelling monsters.
But now, Erend only found silence. Erend's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"This is unusual."
[ Skill activated: Dragon Scale (Lv.1) ]
Erend hastily used [Dragon Scale] because he was afraid that suddenly this cave-dwelling monster would suddenly attack.
The notification indicated that the monster had realized he was there. Meaning he was waiting for the right time to attack from behind the shadows.
[ Skill activated: Dragon Eyes (Lv.1) ]
Erend's eyes turned into Dragon's eyes that glowed yellowishly. He looked around in all directions for the whereabouts of his opponent.
It wasn't long before he found it.
A monster hung upside down above the cave ceiling. The size is quite large, maybe about three meters.
As soon as he realized his existence, Erend's eyes widened.
The monster had a form that was terrifying enough as if it were fuel from the deepest nightmare.
At first glance, Erend looks like he saw a big bat. But not only that. With [Dragon Eyes] he could see everything in better detail so that the horror of the monster could be clearly seen in his eyes.
The giant bat has no eyes and no nose. His face was just a flat black surface. But he has a wide mouth. Behind the mouth were large, knife-like teeth.
The strange bat monster opened its mouth and a green light appeared from inside its mouth cavity.
Suddenly it disappeared. A moment later, what Erend knew is he had been thrown to the other side of the cave with pain in his chest.
~~~
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶