Whoaaa... that's a lot of gizmos.
I was able to climb up the spiral staircase-like road up to the control room, and this place is making me doubt I'm in a fantasy world. The place is covered with wall-to-wall machinery. Control boards and security monitors, strange hologram-like displays, seriously something better for a sci-fi world than one of sword and magic.
Another point worth mentioning is that this place is big enough to make me feel like Jack with the beanstalk. The owner was the boss snake, so I guess it's so big for a reason...
The reason why I'm pointing out the size of these things is that this also means they're gonna be a whole lot worse to destroy.
In that case, let's use the hacking devices that came along with the Quest. Just attach...
*Boing* *Smack*
OUCH! What the-? The device was repelled? Is there something wrong with the machine? Let's try to identify.....
AAARGH!! STOP!
*Wheeze, wheeze*, what was that? The moment I tried to use [Identification] on the machine, my head felt like it was being split into confetti. An information overload? I got the idea that there was something new added to the machine...
Did the brass of the Dungeon place some security on the important pieces of the Dungeon? I did use those devices on the first two floors, so there's no wonder that they would catch on eventually.
No other ways then. Time to take out my secret weapon. It's a waste, but I lack the destructive power to take care of this job. How does this thing work again...
---
Floor 10, The Underground Lake
In the darkness of the cave, a single source of light, too weak to be seen from a distance, existed.
It was a blue sphere, placed on top of a pillar made of stone. Attached to the sphere and the pillar was pipes that were connected to many different types of machine-looking objects. Some of them had the initials "B.B." on them.
The lake was empty except for a certain something swimming around the lake. It kept itself hidden in the water, except for its head sticking up from the waterline.
Suddenly, a voice resonated in the empty cave:
[...INTRUDERS OF HIGH THREAT LEVELS DETECTED. NUMBERS: 2.
SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION ABOUT INTRUDERS...
INTRUDER NR.1, IDENTITY CONFIRMED: LORD OF THE WILD HUNT.
REASON FOR INTRUSION BY NR.1...
REASON FOR INTRUSION IS PRESUMED TO BE THE ARTIFACT LOCATED ON FLOOR 6.
RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: ALLOW INTRUDER NR.1 TO RETRIEVE THE ARTIFACT.
THE ARTIFACT LACKS VALUE FOR THE DUNGEON, SO NO DAMAGE WILL BEFALL TO THE DUNGEON BY STAYING CLEAR OF INTRUDER NR.1.
INTRUDER NR.2... IDENTITY UNKNOWN.
THROUGH ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION, THE IDENTITY OF INTRUDER NR.2 IS BELIEVED TO BE A DEITY FROM A DIFFERENT WORLD.
INTRUDER NR.2 IS HEREBY CONSIDERED AN OUTER DEITY.
REASON FOR INTRUSION BY NR.2... UNKNOWN.
POSSIBILITY OF NR.2 BEING A THREAT... UNKNOWN. MORE INFORMATION IS REQUIRED.]
After that, the cave returned to its silent self again. The only sounds that remained were the waves that were created when the certain "something" was made when it swam around the island with its dead, empty eyes...
---
Garami's PoV:
I came out of the secret entrance after finishing my work there. This thing's gonna blow in less than 7 minutes from now. Better take cover... and those guys are still at it?
The macho-roaches are almost annihilated due to the boss snake's water magic, but they're holding out better than I first thought. Did they learn a few tricks under my command, despite losing the boost from the Leadership Skills?
The Queen's still alive as well, but not for long. It was already as good as dead at the beginning, and it looks even worse now.
I considered stealing the kill of the Queen, but I'd rather not. The boss snake looks like he would call upon a flood in revenge if I tried that. He's already crying one while crushing the roaches. He's even delivering some serious curses that can't be published on an official novel site.
Just how stressed is that guy...?
There's no place for me in that brawl, so I'll focus on getting away from-*Shiver*-!?
Where did that bad feeling come from? The boss snake and the roaches have stopped too. Did they also feel that?
*OOOOOOOHHH!!*
And now has the ghostly "I-don't-wanna-know-what-that-is" in the abyss started howling. Stop that! It's scary!
Just when I was at my wit's end, I saw the boss snake abandoning the fight and crossed the pathways leading to the next floor as if the devil himself was after him. The roaches are simply standing there like idiots...
I'm for following the smart guy. The Demon-Express is heading for Floor 7!
I ran over the pathways while making sure to stay clear of the area where the wailing comes from. I looked over there to confirm the situation and saw... the Dread Spirits.
They are rising from the abyss, making something that looks like a magic circle with the blue lights that emit from their "bodies".
I continued my escape after seeing that. I've seen enough cartoons and animes to know that magic circles created by something that evil-looking are no good for anyone else.
Just as I had reached the halfway point to the next floor, a strong blast of wind struck me from behind. I was almost blown away there!
I held myself to the ground through the use of some threads and tried to figure out what was happening. Or, it's better to say that I couldn't do anything but that. The wind's too strong! And the source of it came from the place I feared the most.
The Dread Spirits' magic circle was complete, and the strong winds came from it. Some of the Dread Spirits closest to it are ripped to shreds from the force alone. Then, something else came out of the magic circle and landed on the shore that I had been before.
From its appearance, I would say it was some knight king? It had full-plate armor and the helmet was fashioned like a crown. But the armor was made of a rusty dark material, and the "king" was using some dull-grey robe as a mantle. Resting on his left hip was a broadsword made of burnt orange metal with a black, serrated edge. On his right side was something covered with a grey rug. Maybe his lunch?
That guy's no good. With that in mind, I removed the threads that hold me stuck and tried to move towards the entrance-
*KA-BOOOOOM!!*
Now of all times!? Those bombs have the worst timing in the history of bombs!
Chain Quest:Bug the Knot (V)
Quest giver:Ultimate Goddess of Water, Lusalki
Quest Description:
Floor 5 of the Water-Knot of Glavras is the location of the Upper Layers Control Center. Steal control over it from the Floor Boss.
P.S. It seems one cannot enter the Control Center from Floor 5. Look after the entrance on either Floor 4 or Floor 6.
Quest Content:Either use the included Hacking Device to take control over the Upper Layers Control Center, or destroy it. Complete
Rewards:Potion of Skill Growth *1
If having cleared the previous Quests:
Skill Scroll [Golden Ratio]
Unlocks: Bug the Knot (VI)
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
Quest Clearance EXP acquired.
Chain Quest unlocked: [Bug the Knot (V)]
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
Level has increased. Reached Lv.11
You have earned 0.2 Skill Points
Due to "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 0.2 Skill Points were earned.
"They did a good job though" was my thoughts as I stuffed my Storage with the Skill Scroll and potion that appeared before me.
Good thing I figured out how to manually activate those bombs I snatched from the ball-bots before the explosion.
*Rumble!* *Crash!* *Bang*
Let's make use of that new level and run away! The cave was weakened by that Dread King's entrance winds, and the explosion just now is causing parts of the roof to fall! Only on the area around the Dread King and the roaches, but I don't think that's enough to stop the former guy. Don't care about the latter ones.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
Level has increased. Reached Lv.15
You have earned 0.8 Skill Points
Due to "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 0.8 Skill Points were earned.
Forget that last part. I care about them dying because of the rock that crushes them.
And here comes another one. Right on top of the Dread King-!
*SLASH!*
Eh? Wait, I would get it if the rock was cut in half from that slash, but pulverized!? Where's the logic in that!? And the force of the slash is coming over here!?
Ah, and there went his lunch. The covered whatever-it-is got knocked off from the sudden movement and was sent flying into the abyss. Since I don't wanna end up the same way, I returned to my "clinging for my life" stance and waited till it had-*Crash!*-passed? Wait, the pathway's collapsiiiiIIIII-!!
*****
AAAIIEEEEE!!
Falling-, I'm falling! I knew that the abyss was deep and all, as the distance between Floor 6 and 7 is around triple the distance of the other floors, but this is too deep!
It doesn't help that the Dread Spirits try to charge at me all the while, but luckily, [Heresy Modification] works just as well now as on Floor 1. They're bursting just by touching the barrier made from the skill.
On the other hand, this black mist-like thing down here's messing up my sight! And I'm feeling a little sick... is this some kinda smog?
The bigger issue is the ground! It's too far down and too close for comfort! And it's getting closer by the second!
I threw a thread to the rocks that made up the remaining rock paths above the abyss. That stopped my decent-*Snap!*-?!
Those damn Spirits! They cut the thread! I'm falling agaaaiiiiin!!
A new thread.., will only be snapped. Then, the Kigal-Note!
I threw the Kigal-Note below me and landed on top of it. Right there, I used the Jump Pad ability obtained from the Pond Frogs. I sprung up after landing on the note, killing some of the momenta from falling. When I started to fall again, I used the Kigal-Note to jump up again.
I continued these mid-air jumps and finally... she sticks the landing!
*Imaginary applause*
I survived! Yahoo! Even so, no matter how scary that experience was, I need to focus on these Spirits fir-!
*Stab!*
!? What? Was I... just now... must have been my imagination? Now I wanna leave this place even sooner. Not only because of hallucinations but also due to the Spirits being too scary to be in the same room, or country even!
They keep on ganging up on me so much I'm fearing the barrier will break! I know that [Heresy Modification] doesn't need MP or anything, but it's still scary to have these guys charge at me like this!!
Is there somewhere safe... of course, there isn't!! This is their home grounds! Why should there be any safe rooms... there is! Over there! The hole in the ground! The Spirits are staying away from there.
...A little suspicious that there's an escape path just lying there, right?
-A cold blade pierced my-
*Shiver!?*
What the-!? Another hallucination? All of a sudden?
Okay, staying with these Spirits is messing my brain in more ways than just one, I get it now...
Alright, trap or not, I'm taking the hole-option!
I rushed through the swarms of Dread Spirits, placing my trust in that [Heresy Modification] would hold till then, and jumped into the mystery-hole. Geronimooooo!!
*Bonk*
Ouch... the hole was smaller than I thought... but I was right. The Spirits aren't entering here. Is there something up with this place that they don't-?
I took a look around and saw that the "hole" was an entrance to a cave system below the bottom of the abyss. Another point of interest was the grass that sprouted here and there.
Name:Rose-Maria
Item Type: Plant (Herb)Rarity: EpQuality: C-HP: 250/250
Effects:Repel Living Dead (Weak)
Creatures that should have died (such as Undeads) cannot cross areas where this herb is scattered.
Miasma Cleansing
Purify any form of miasma.
Description:
A type of perennial herb that only grows in glum places that attract the living dead.
The flowers thrive from the miasma that is generated when large amounts of living deads gather in one area. It is a natural measurement to prevent an area infested with the living dead to die completely due to the excessive amounts of miasma that is generated.
Ooh! An epic material suddenly showed up! And plants have HP instead of Durability? You know what, that makes sense. Even if the thought that I could have been reincarnated as a plant scares me.
So, this is some fantasy-world upgraded rosemary? It works, and that's the main point, so I'm not gonna comment on anything. It looks just like its non-fantasy version, just that the flowers are red-purple, and I mean it when I say RED.
Still, is the abyss filled with "miasma"? I didn't feel... the hallucinations? Speaking of which, that
Wait, was is that "miasma", when we're on the subject? Some kinda negative lifeforce? That doesn't sound like it would make people hallucinate...?
I don't know. I'm no miasma expert. The sick feeling before's gone, so it's probably safe to say that the plants can have helped with that.
Let's throw some into the Storage for later use. Of course, not the ones that are by the entrance hole.
****
*Crash*
Hmm? What was that?
I stopped my gathering work and looked around. Nothing to the east, west, south, or north. Except for plants and walls.
Then, it came from "aboveground"? I don't wanna, but staying ignorant won't help me here.
I peeked out of the hole with a hat made of Rose-Maria as cover and saw...
The Dread King!? He jumped down here!? Why!?
I ducked into the hole again. Why's he here!? Is he after me?! Wait, why should some ghostly king come after me? There's nothing that links me to the bomb, as far as he knows, and I'm sure he didn't notice me when he blasted the whole cave himself.
And yes, he destroyed the path I was on without even noticing me. I'm that trivial existence, you got a problem with that?!
From the looks of it, the King's of the same genus as the Dread Spirits, but you can never be too careful...
I'll run.
RUN AWAAAAYYYY!!