That afternoon, Elize returned to the Imperial Capital.

It seemed her necessary investigation at the Silver Winter Merchant Guild was concluded. She mentioned that the next time she comes, she would bring manpower to construct a guild branch.

"And please, take this."

Elize opened her Sword Coffin and took out a dagger, handing it to me.

"Because you appeared to be somewhat lacking in emergency defenses."

[Spirit Crasher (SR) Lv.1]

- Category: Dagger

- Attack Power: 0

- Durability: 1/1

- Deals a stun effect on the target’s soul. The stun duration lasts up to 5 seconds and may decrease depending on the target’s Magic Power stat.

- This equipment is one-time-use.

A Spirit Crasher!

Though consumable, it was a dagger that could reliably stun enemies. Such a rare item to gift me. I quickly took it and stowed it away.

"Thanks, Elize. I’ll make good use of it."

"Don’t mention it."

Elize smiled meaningfully.

"Then, enjoy your brief freedom, Your Highness."

"Huh?"

Brief freedom? What did she mean by that?

But Elize left my residence without offering further explanation, heading off to Crossroad.

What did she mean?

***

After a full day of rest,

The next day, I summoned my main party members. We were about to embark on a dungeon expedition.

’I need to accelerate leveling.’

Most of my main party members hadn’t yet reached level 50.

I had to get them to level 50 quickly, complete the third job change, and awaken their ultimate skills. The performance gap between characters with and without ultimate skills was like night and day.

I instructed everyone to prepare and gather by noon, and by that time, everyone had assembled.

Lucas and Evangeline were still not fully healed, but their conditions were improved thanks to intensive treatment from the temple. Junior seemed fine too, having had a good rest.

As for Damien...

He was surly.

"..."

Absolutely surly.

He was now emitting a dark aura from his entire body and clutching what seemed to be a precious gun to his chest as if his life depended on it. Oh boy.

I gave strict instructions to the other party members.

"See how bad Damien looks? If you think he’s totally losing it, snatch that gun from him. He should be a bit better after that."

Everyone nodded. Good.

"Then let’s go! Move out!"

***

[Now Loading...]

[Tip - ’Defense Tower’ summon scrolls will definitely drop as you progress through dungeon exploration. ’Boss Monster’ summon scrolls randomly drop upon defeating a boss monster.]

Oh, the tip seems unusually relevant right now.

The only summonable entity in the ’Defense Tower’ category I could call upon was an ’Automated Defense Turret.’

The next tier of Defense Tower could be acquired by clearing one of the dungeons in the 5th zone.

’I need to start tackling the 5th zone dungeons starting today.’

I’ve been delayed quite a bit. Time to step on the gas.

As I was thinking, the light in front of me began to brighten.

***

Flash!

As I passed through the teleport gate, I was greeted by the all-too-familiar sight of the base camp.

Even in the Lake Kingdom, swallowed by darkness, this base camp was unusually bright. Flames roared all around, driving away the gloom.

’Today’s dungeons... Which should we start with?’

Just as I arrived at the base camp and began planning which of the Zone 5 dungeons to tackle first,

Rumble...!

The ground shook violently, causing the entire city to tremble. My party members and I were startled and grabbed onto whatever was near.

"What the hell, an earthquake?!"

Was there an earthquake event in the game?!

"It’s not an earthquake."

Responding to my startled exclamation was Kellibey, the dwarf blacksmith who sat unfazed in the center of the base camp.Kellibey grinned as he gulped down his drink, bottle and all.

"It’s just the ’World Serpent’ moving."

I frowned.

"The World Serpent? You mean..."

"Jormungand."

Wiping some ale from his lips with the back of his hand, Kellibey spat out the monster’s name.

"The monster that’s ’rampaging’ this time is that bastard."

"What?!"

Shocked, I immediately opened the system window.

Even though I hadn’t encountered any monsters and had just entered the dungeon, information on the next stage’s enemy was already popping up.

[Enemy Information - STAGE 9]

- Lv.? ??? : 1 Unit

- Time Until Start: 10 days

"You’ve got to be kidding me, it’s real?!"

The Stage 9 enemy window showed only one monster.

Though there were many monster armies where the combat power was concentrated in a boss, only one army existed with just a single entity.

Jormungand. The world’s largest serpent.

This colossal monster was the enemy, the army, and the boss of this stage, and it was coming for Crossroad all by itself!

’Why is it showing up in the first year? This thing usually appears in the second year at the earliest!’

It was outrageous that Jormungand appeared on Stage 9. What was even more outrageous was... how I was no longer shocked by these difficulty spikes. The game had been insane for a long time. At this point, a little extra craziness was nothing. Damn it...

"...Why are you so cheerful about this?"

"Huh?"

While the enormous serpent slithered across the Lake Kingdom, causing incredible tremors, Kellibey was chugging ale as if he were celebrating something.

"Well, when that snake is crawling around, you see..."

Kellibey pulled a bucket from behind him and showed me its contents.

"I can collect a lot of scales!"

Inside the bucket were silver scales, scattering sharp light like metal shards.

"These precious things are scattered all over, why wouldn’t I be happy!"

"..."

But we have to risk our lives fighting the creature covered in those "precious scales."

Seeing my gloominess, Kellibey’s expression turned sympathetic, and he cautiously spoke.

"Don’t be too down. I’ll make you a suit of armor from these."

"Really...?"

"When have I ever cheated you folks with equipment? I’ll craft you a fine set."

I immediately pointed at Evangeline and added another request.

"So, could you also make a part that can be added to her shield?"

"Jeez, just take everything, why don’t you."

Grumbling, Kellibey gulped down his bottle of liquor. I chuckled. He complains but he still does it—that’s our Kellibey.

"..."

I then felt a subtle gaze upon me. Turning around, it was Evangeline.

She was looking at me with a mysterious smile—somewhat moved but also as if she’d expected this. What’s up with her?

"You’re taking special care of my shield. Teehee..."

Well, you’re the main tanker, so of course, I’d prioritize your armor.

"I understand your thoughtful gesture, senior. Hee hee hee..."

"Huh? Yeah, sure..."

Evangeline seemed a bit off, but I figured she was probably still recovering from our last battle, so I didn’t dwell on it.

Getting equipment made from Jormungand scales was good news, but there was more bad news than good.

’Firstly, my plans to explore the 5th zone dungeon are all ruined.’

Usually, monsters would gather at each dungeon where we could gain experience by hunting them.

But since Jormungand was a singular entity, no monsters gathered in the dungeons.

There were no monsters to hunt, so all the dungeons were forcibly closed.

’This not only halts my item farming plans but also makes experience farming impossible.’

How would you gain experience without any monsters?

This is a significant setback for my leveling plans. At this rate, not only reaching level 50 is out of question, but even maintaining combat readiness for the big monster battles will be tough.

’The only silver lining is that it’s not entirely hopeless.’

I reached into my inventory and pulled out a round key.

[Slime Room Key].

An item I received as a reward after completing Stage 8. It grants entry to an event dungeon.

Similar to when I had hunted the golden goblin in the ’Golden Room’ event dungeon.The Slime Room was the least distinctive among event dungeons, consisting merely of waves of slimes to be killed.

While it’s purely for experience farming and doesn’t offer any items, it’s useful in our current situation.

I went to find ’Coco the Severer,’ the NPC responsible for teleportation at the base camp.

Coco, who was concocting suspicious-looking potions in her witch’s workshop, greeted me warmly.

"Hee hee hee, a fresh face! It’s been a while! Is there a door you’d like me to open?"

Without a word, I handed her the [Slime Room Key].

Coco nodded and immediately opened a portal for us. A magical door spun open in front of us.

"This key can open the door three times in total, so you can come and go twice more."

"Thank you, Grandma Coco."

I expressed my gratitude and looked back at my party members to begin explaining.

We’d be facing an enormously large snake in this defensive battle.

And because it’s just this one snake, no other monsters will appear in this season’s dungeons.

Our last resort was to enter this Slime Room for leveling.

The party members all silently nodded their heads.

By this point, all the main party members had no doubt in following my commands.

"Are you all ready? The Slime Dungeon we’re entering has multiple slime waves we need to defeat."

"Yes, my Lord!"

"Let’s finish quickly and get some rest, Your Highness."

Lucas responded briskly, followed by a relaxed reply from Junior.

"Heh heh... Slimes are nothing; I’ll wipe them out in one go."

Damien spewed arrogance even with his tired and sleepy voice.

Lastly, Evangeline approached and tightly grabbed my hand.

She then whispered softly, her eyes twinkling with emotion.

"I will protect you, senior."

"Huh?"

"No matter what hardships or troubles come our way, I will be the shield that guards you."

"Uh... thanks."

"Heh heh, heh heh, huhuhuhu!"

...What’s gotten into her? Did she eat something wrong?

Confused, I made eye contact with my party members.

’I have no idea either.’

Lucas shrugged his shoulders.

Junior seemed to know something as she thought, ’Ah, is it that thing from the other day?’ but she didn’t speak up. Seriously, what is it?

Anyway, our party members sequentially entered the magical door.

As I was about to follow them in, Coco the Severer, who had been silently observing, suddenly spoke.

"Be careful."

"What?"

Caught off guard, I blinked. Coco covered her mouth and let out a gloomy laugh.

"Do you know what the darkness in the Lake Kingdom Dungeon is made of?"

The dungeon’s darkness?

Is she talking about that unique, thick darkness?

"The Demon King refined the nightmares of the people in the Lake Kingdom into a monster army. What remained—remnants of emotions like regret, lingering attachments, and guilt—came together to form this darkness."magic

Under her wide-brimmed hat, the witch’s eyes flickered like fluorescent lights.

"Your sniper friend has been tainted by that darkness as well. And darkness attracts darkness."

"What are you talking about?"

"Simply put, the darkness pooled in the dungeon will be attracted to your friend’s darkness."

Coco cackled ominously.

"The base camp here is a safe zone from the darkness, but inside the dungeon...it’s a different story."

"..."

"You better brace yourself, huhuhu."

Damn it.

"Why are you telling me this now!"

I clenched my teeth and glared at the magical door. The portal to the event dungeon is one-way, and there’s no way out until we clear it.

’Damien!’

A bad premonition ran through me. Gritting my teeth, I threw myself into the magical door.

Flash!

My vision turned blindingly white.

***

[Now Loading...]

[Tip - The darkness in the dungeon has driven countless heroes mad. Be sure to bring a light source when exploring.]

--TL Notes--

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/MattReading