Chapter 650
Zeon quietly approached the direction from which Brielle’s voice had come.
Brielle was standing beneath a dune quite a distance away from the dungeon.
Sensing Zeon’s presence, Brielle pointed ahead with her finger.
“There!”
Someone’s arm was sticking out from the spot she indicated.
When Zeon waved his hand, the sand was pushed aside in both directions, revealing the bodies buried beneath.
The corpses were all dried out like firewood.
Their moisture had been completely stolen by the terrifying heat of the desert, turning them into mummies.
Judging by their clothing, they were clearly the Awakeners who had been guarding the dungeon.
Frowning, Zeon examined the bodies.
“They weren’t killed by magical beasts.”
“How can you tell?”
“If magical beasts had attacked them, not even a fragment of bone would have been left behind.”
“That’s true. Magical beasts don’t just leave after catching prey.”
“This was done by humans.”
When Zeon lifted part of a robe, a wound resembling a stab mark became visible.
The flesh had twisted as it dried, making it impossible to determine what weapon had been used, but it was clear they had been killed by humans or other races, not magical beasts.
Only humans and other races used weapons this sophisticated.
Brielle grimaced.
“Then they were attacked after Giselle left this place?”
“Maybe...”
Without giving a definite answer, Zeon continued examining the wounds for a long time.
Just then, Levin and Giselle approached Zeon and Brielle.
“So you found the bodies. Damn it! What kind of bastards...”
“Haah! This is my fault. If I’d known this would happen, I would have taken them back to Steel Fortress.”
Giselle let out a deep sigh.
Zeon spoke to her.
“Their deaths are not your fault, Lady Giselle. So please don’t blame yourself.”
“Haah! I know, but it still feels awful. Like I’ve fallen into a sewer.”
“Do you have any idea who might have killed them?”
“Not at all...”
Sadness filled Giselle’s face as she shook her head.
After burying the bodies again beneath the sand, Zeon spoke.
“If outsiders have entered the dungeon, we need to hurry.”
He led the group back to the dungeon entrance.
The dungeon still remained in the form of a crack.
An ordinary person might have hesitated before entering, but the four standing here were veterans who had conquered countless dungeons. Without a trace of hesitation, they jumped into the fissure.
A dizzying sensation of floating overtook them, and their surroundings changed in an instant.
“A... city?”
Levin wore a bewildered expression.
He had entered countless dungeons.
Among them had been dungeons shaped like ruined cities. But never once had he seen a city preserved this perfectly.
While looking around the city, Brielle spoke.
“I think this is Kurayan.”
“Kurayan?”
“Yeah. It matches the scenery my mother used to describe. She said architecture like this only existed in Kurayan.”
Brielle pointed at an especially large building.
Compared to the size of the structure, the pillars were unnaturally thin and too few in number.
They didn’t look capable of supporting the roof or second floor at all.
“They reduced the number of pillars to maximize interior space and reinforced everything with magic instead. Wealthy people in Kurayan built their homes like this.”
“That’s architecture only possible in a place where magic was highly developed.”
Levin looked genuinely impressed.
Zeon turned to Giselle.
“Have you entered this place before?”
“No. When we entered, it was a snowfield with heavy snowfall.”
“A snowfield?”
“Yeah. The snow was piled up to our waists, so moving around wasn’t easy from the start.”
Giselle looked around the city with a stunned expression.
She had only seen it from afar before and never expected the interior to be preserved this well.
“It seems there are multiple entry points connected to the fissure. At least we weren’t scattered all over the place.”
“This feels like a troublesome dungeon. Whenever a dungeon starts off like this, the difficulty usually shoots up.”
“Seriously. Still, a perfectly preserved city? This is really fascinating.”
Levin kept looking around.
Aside from the absence of people, the city remained completely intact.
If they described this sight to others, no one would believe them.
“Are there no magical beasts?”
Usually, the first things encountered inside a dungeon were magical beasts. Yet not a single trace of one could be seen anywhere in the city.
Brielle said,
“A city and magical beasts don’t really go together. Humans maybe, but—”
Before she could finish—
People and members of other races suddenly appeared throughout the city.
But something was strange about them.
Pale faces.
Eyes without focus.
Some had flesh rotting from their bodies.
Others walked with their internal organs exposed.
Zeon recognized what they were at a glance.
“They’re undead.”
“Damn it! Of all things, undead.”
“Tch.”
“This dungeon really has everything.”
Among all enemies encountered in dungeons, undead were one of the most troublesome types.
Unless struck with holy water or weapons made of silver, they were difficult to kill, and even severe injuries did little to stop them.
“They seem to have been residents of this city.”
Zeon muttered while watching the undead shamble toward them.
Giselle fired a spell first.
“We can think about that later. Let’s deal with the undead first.”
Boom!
The Ice Missile she launched exploded, sending the undead flying in all directions like bowling pins.
An Awakener would never get back up after taking a hit like that.
But the undead were different.
Even with arms or legs torn off, they felt no pain and simply staggered back to their feet.
“Tch! Undead right from the start. What rotten luck.”
“Quit whining and take down one more of them instead, idiot!”
“Got it!”
At Brielle’s scolding, Levin unleashed Purple Lightning.
Crackle!
Chunks of undead flesh exploded apart as lightning struck them.
Bones were exposed.
Entrails flew everywhere.
Yet the undead still rose and continued advancing.
Their vitality was truly monstrous.
Unable to watch any longer, Brielle pulled out a bottle of holy water from her subspace and handed it to Levin.
“Try using this.”
“Perfect!”
Levin grabbed the bottle and transformed into his ghost form.
Flying above the undead, he scattered holy water like rain.
—Kraaah!
—Grrraaah!
The undead writhed and screamed as the holy water touched them.
Using the holy water, Levin cleared away the undead that filled the streets.
Zeon, Brielle, and Giselle passed through the path Levin opened and left the city.
Looking at Levin with admiration, Giselle spoke.
“So the rumors were true. They say you’re the hottest rising star these days.”
“His abilities are completely broken, aren’t they?”
His ghost form alone was absurd enough, but he could also unleash lightning techniques of overwhelming destructive power without restraint.
Levin was the kind of person every raid leader would covet.
Even now, he was using holy water simply because it was the most efficient way to deal with the undead, not because his own abilities were lacking.
If he unleashed his lightning skills at full power, many of the undead would probably disappear without leaving a trace.
But mana wasn’t infinite, so conserving it whenever possible was the smarter choice.
Now that they had left the city, all they had to do was find Jang Yong-Beom.
Yet for some reason, Zeon stood motionless like a statue, staring at the city.
Sensing something unusual, Brielle cautiously asked,
“What’s wrong? Is something strange?”
“What era is that city from?”
“Huh?”
“Is it Kurayan before its destruction? Or is it after everyone left Kurayan? I’m curious.”
“After they left?”
Brielle frowned deeply.
It was a possibility she had never considered before.
Brielle was a High Elf born on Earth.
Everything she knew about Kurayan came from stories told by Latrisha and the village elders. She had never seen it herself.
Because of that, she felt neither nostalgia nor longing toward Kurayan.
Every day was already a struggle just to survive. There was no reason to miss a place she had never been born in.
Naturally, she knew very little about it.
What she knew amounted to fragments of information.
“What happened to Kurayan after the survivors left? No, more importantly, why was it destroyed?”
One question led to another.
Not a single High Elf in World Tree Village had ever told Brielle why Kurayan fell.
Not even her mother, Latrisha.
“When I get back to the village, I’m going to ask. Why exactly did Kurayan fall? No... did it really fall at all?”
“I’m curious too.”
After listening to Zeon and Brielle, Levin found himself wondering the same thing.
At that moment, Giselle spoke.
“We don’t have time to stand around chatting. Let’s move.”
“Yes. Let’s.”
Zeon nodded and started walking.
He had no intention of staying here long either.
Setting his questions aside for the moment, he followed Giselle.
As they moved, Zeon and the others witnessed remnants of a fallen city and civilization.
The city they had entered first was actually one of the better-preserved places.
Other cities had been utterly destroyed, leaving barely any traces behind.
One city was half-submerged in lava, with only fragments remaining.
Elsewhere, they spotted a spire protruding from the middle of a vast lake.
Giselle had said she encountered humans, but Zeon’s group had not seen a single living person.
By now, even Levin and Brielle realized that this dungeon depicted Kurayan after its destruction.
Only Giselle, too focused on rescuing her companions, failed to notice.
Suddenly, she pointed ahead.
“Ah! There!”
“Hm?”
“That’s where our raid party first arrived.”
“You’re sure?”
“See that huge rock sticking out in the middle of the snowfield? The one that looks like an owl? I’m certain.”
Zeon nodded.
The owl-shaped rock was so distinctive that it was impossible to mistake.
Giselle continued.
“From here on, I know the route we took. We should catch up to them quickly.”
“Then let’s hurry.”
“Right!”
With that, Giselle took the lead and ran forward.
But before long, she was forced to stop.
—GROOOAR!
—UUOOOH!
With monstrous cries, snowmen burst out from the snowfield one after another.
A spark flashed in Giselle’s eyes.
“Those things again? I’m sure we killed them all.”
The first magical beasts Jang Yong-Beom’s raid party had encountered upon arriving here were these snowmen.
Their unexpected attack had caused heavy casualties from the start.
Enraged, the raid party had exterminated every last one of them.
“Did they come back to life?”
Giselle bit her lip hard.
Snowmen were a terrible matchup for her.
As a user of ice magic, they were practically her nightmare.
Her spells were barely effective against them.
Zeon immediately grasped the compatibility issue and turned to Levin.
“Levin.”
“Yes, Hyung.”
“You handle this.”
“Leave it to me.”
As soon as he answered, Levin transformed into his ghost form and soared into the air.
Crackle!
Above the snowmen’s heads, Levin unleashed a rain of lightning.
—GROOOAAAR!
—KRAAAH!
The snowmen melted away amidst agonized screams.
It was truly like the descent of the God of Thunder.
“That’s insane.”
Giselle looked at Zeon with a stunned expression.
If even his younger brother was this powerful, she could not begin to imagine the extent of Zeon’s true strength.
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