Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

58 – Revised) Hell’s Gate (1)

Celia and the goblin lord were traversing the interior of the dungeon.

Following them were the skeleton knights and goblins.

The place they were passing through was a dungeon managed by Azmo.

Originally, they should have been on the Eldorad continent, but they freely crossed over to an Earth dungeon without any constraints.

That was all thanks to the dimensional portal.

Dimensional portal.

It was an existence that connected the dungeon ‘Nest of Spirits’ in the Eldorad Continent and the dungeon ‘Temptation of Illusions’ on Earth.

“All of this is the blessing of the great one.”

Celia praised with an excited voice.

The abilities shown by the great one always amazed her.

“Now, we have received the generous grace of the master all this time. It is now our turn to repay.”

Goblin Lord nodded in agreement to Celia’s words.

It was the right thing to do.

If the great one had not been present, they would not exist in this place either.

“Before carrying out the master’s orders, there were words of advice.”

The master had commanded.

Minimize the damage.

That meant performing the orders without any harm to us.

In other words, it was a story of going and coming back safely without getting hurt.

“Oh! The only one who cares for us is the master!”

Joy overflowed from Celia’s expression.

If it was for the master, she would gladly sacrifice herself.

“This Celia will definitely accomplish as the master has requested!”

Celia covered her face with her hands as if in ecstasy.

“Goblin Lord, remember. You must never behave in a way that tarnishes the honor of the master.”

“Understood, Kezut.”

Goblin Lord nodded in response to Celia’s plea.

He, too, empathized with Celia’s words.

Being defeated meant tarnishing the honor of the master.

Minimize the damage.

This statement was similar to an order to perform with all one’s might.

As Goblin Lord steeled his resolve, Celia looked around.

“By the way, leaving the dungeon empty like this….”

Celia’s expression, which had been full of joy, hardened to the point where Azmo’s dungeon seemed desolate.

There was a human boy whose entire body was trapped, but that wasn’t the issue.

They left the dungeon, leaving behind the bare minimum forces to defend it.

“Sigh. What on earth are Death Knight and Arch Lich doing…”

Celia sighed.

Of course, Azmo could guess that all this was done for the sake of the master.

In reality, her mindset was just as convoluted as that.

But.

“For now, we need to reprimand Arch Lich.”

The master had assigned the position of inspector to Arch Lich.

The inspector, who should objectively assess the situation, did not intervene at all.

He had even evolved into Arch Lich under the master’s power.

However, handling things this way only brought a sigh from Celia.

“In haste, have the skeleton knights guard this place.”

Celia gestured towards the skeleton knights.

Originally, they were like security guards protecting Celia’s workspace.

Of course, the idea that 3rd-grade skeleton knights guarded Celia, a 6th-grade force, was absurd, but it was all in accordance with the master’s will.

It was a reflection of how highly Celia valued herself.

“The dungeon defense is roughly finished.”

As per Celia’s command, the skeleton knights took positions throughout the dungeon.

“Remember, this dungeon belongs to the master. Show no mercy to intruders.”

Everyone nodded in response to her words.

Satisfied with their reaction, Celia looked towards the Goblin Lord.

“I will go straight to where Death Knight is. Goblin Lord, guard the surroundings of the dungeon.”

The master’s command was to safely bring back Death Knight, Arch Lich, Azmo, and Beta.

Celia’s plan was simple.

To take them all out before the humans became more troublesome.

To block even the variables, the skeleton knights would guard the dungeon, and the Goblin Lord and his subordinates would watch over the nearby area.

Celia looked at them once and then concealed her presence.

Now, she had left to carry out the master’s orders.

After Celia left.

The skeleton knights came to a halt in the dungeon, drawing their swords.

If intruders appear, they will begin to move.

And they will make them regret ever entering the master’s dungeon.

The goblin lord, too, headed outside to carry out his orders.

Armed goblins followed the goblin lord with a stealthy demeanor.

“Go!”

With the goblin lord’s command, the goblins started moving forward.

* * *

“Now, have you considered negotiating a bit?”

Azmo, who led the monster horde, shouted loudly.

Contrary to the upbeat Azmo, the emergency response team hunters were in despair.

“Monsters… monsters.”

When they heard about the monster wave, they thought they could easily handle it.

But facing them, they realized how arrogant their thoughts had been.

“Everyone, snap out of it!”

Team leader Han Jeong-cheol shouted at his subordinates.

‘The atmosphere isn’t good…’

All their attacks so far had been blocked.

The morale of the subordinates plummeted to the ground.

Perhaps it was because the emergency response team couldn’t exert their strength.

Even those who had been watching from the rear just a while ago were gone.

They know too.

This monster wave is different from what happened before.

Despite the efforts of the emergency response team hunters, they couldn’t inflict any damage on the enemy.

In this situation, no one was willing to trust them and stay in this place.

The reporters felt the same way.

By now, there might be articles criticizing the emergency response team.

“Hah.”

Han Jeong-cheol, leading the team, let out a deep sigh.

The sacred attack already launched by Imi-rae was a prepared and powerful blow with buffs attached.

Most of his strength had been poured out, or so it seemed.

He had thought that he would be able to sort things out with that attack, but he had been frustratingly blocked.

And it was just with one shield.

Even now, look at that figure.

It’s the massive shield that Deathknight is holding.

And the maids’ dresses fluttering in front of the shield felt bitterly mocking, as if they were taunting themselves.

“Team Leader, what do we do now?”

Lee Mirae said with great effort.

Even after continuing to attack, the enemy monsters didn’t even gasp for breath.

Instead, her own strength had been completely depleted by her reckless attacks.

“Mirae, for now, fall back and replenish your strength.”

“I can still fight!”

Although Lee Mirae replied that she could still fight, Han Jeongcheol did not allow it.

She had already fulfilled her role well enough.

She knew that the monsters were completely immune to divine attacks.

But long-range attacks were also meaningless.

Shooting arrows at them in the first place did little damage to the ghouls.

Unless you aimed for the head or imbued the arrows with divine power.

Whenever they tried to imbue arrows with divine power, Deathknight always seemed to sense it like a ghost.

And once again, the situation was repeated with the maids’ dresses serving as shields.

Guns were no different, so long-range attacks were practically useless.

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“A Deathknight and maids’ dresses blocking death…”

It was a combination that didn’t match at all.

As such, their appearance was incredibly terrifying.

Where on earth did they find something like that?

He had never heard of maids’ dresses with such options.

“No way.”

Could there be a more powerful presence than them?

For a moment, a shiver ran through his entire body.

But Han Jeongcheol soon shook his head.

“That can’t be.”

Even just looking at the Death Knights now, they are formidable entities.

In a situation where Liches are present as well, is there a separate existence more powerful than them?

If so, it was a serious problem in itself.

It would undoubtedly be a disaster for humanity.

In the end, it was comforting that they considered these as their maximum capabilities.

When he momentarily pondered.

“Captain!”

One of his subordinates called Han Jung-chul.

It was Kim Seung-soo, the deputy leader of the emergency response team, a Hunter.

“Instead of hesitating, how about charging straight ahead? It’s not good to just buy time here.”

He was right.

The problem wouldn’t be solved by just standing still here.

The best way now was to wait for support while buying time.

‘The support should come quickly…’

But if he too blatantly delayed time, the monsters would notice.

From then on, it’s unpredictable where they would turn.

In other words, they would become uncontrollable.

He had to make the most of the advantages they currently had, the points that the monsters were interested in.

‘An attack…’

But going head-on was too risky.

It seemed better to attack guerrilla-style while continuously tying down the opponent.

If done well, they might even deplete the opponent’s forces.

But immediately agreeing to it bothered Han Jung-chul because of the Lich.

“But there’s a Lich.”

Lich is a monster that uses the skill of corpse explosion.

“Hey, do you think the Lich will randomly explode monsters on our side?”

In response to the deputy team leader’s words, Han Jung-chul nodded slightly.

“Yeah.”

Corpse explosion.

The corpse explosion is a skill of the lich that causes undead of lower ranks to explode.

No matter how intricate the lich’s explosion skill was, it was a story that required a following of undead in the vicinity.

If there were no undead around, the lich was nothing more than a nonentity.

Moreover, the lich is an intelligent monster.

An intelligent lich was well aware of that fact.

That’s why it wouldn’t randomly explode ghouls.

‘Right.’

If you just wait for that opening, you could easily engage in combat.

Feeling overwhelmed by the opponent’s momentum from the beginning, Han Jung-chul acted too cautiously.

After a brief hesitation, Han Jung-chul gave his approval.

“All right! Listen up, everyone!”

Han Jung-chul shouted.

“On that side, there’s a death knight and a lich. Absolutely do not engage with those bastards! Ghouls are the same! Scatter and focus on the incubi!”

Incubi were not undead.

Unlike ghouls that the lich could explode, incubi couldn’t be dealt with in the same way.

It was a piece of cake if you aimed for the right opening.

Han Jung-chul decided to slowly consume the opponent’s forces.

Of course, not everyone would join the attack.

It was more advantageous for hunters specialized in long-range attacks to attack from the rear and defend.

“All right! Let’s move forward!”

As the leader’s command fell, Sub-leader Kim Seung-soo shouted, boosting the morale of the hunters.

Then he rushed forward directly.

Seeing the sub-leader’s figure, Han Jung-chul didn’t stop him.

‘He’s fast.’

He was someone with quick movements as his specialty.

He hoped he could outsmart the opponent, but he couldn’t imagine the sub-leader being on the receiving end.

“Let’s go too!”

“Let’s get rid of those damn bastards!”

Unconsciously, the rest of the team raised their spirits as they saw the sub-leader reaching the monster crowd.

It wasn’t because they were pressed by the unexpected momentum of the monsters; they were all elite fighters who fought well.

At that moment, Han Jeong-cheol considered joining the attack, observing such a scene.

Bang –

Bang –

Bang –

“Huh?”

Ghouls exploded in front of him.

Not just one, but three ghouls simultaneously burst.

“Damn it!”

The problem was that the figure of the deputy team leader, who had leaped forward, was nowhere to be seen.

No matter how much he looked around, he couldn’t find him.

Perhaps the deputy team leader had noticed that the ghouls were about to explode and had left the scene.

But that hope was soon shattered.

The spot where the ghoul had exploded.

The scattered pieces of bones nearby began to move.

Bones assembled one by one, taking shape.

“Skeleton…?”

The bones gathered to form a skeleton.

The skeleton moved and began to wear the scattered equipment around it.

Everyone fell silent at the sight.

“….”

Not a single person could make a sound.

Because the fully equipped skeleton resembled someone.

“Deputy team leader….”

“Groan!”

Everyone was shaken.

It was a skeleton wearing the exact equipment the deputy team leader had used.

Moreover, among the monster horde, there had been no existence of a skeleton.

That meant one thing.

“…Arch Lich.”

Han Jeong-cheol muttered.

The worst-case scenario he had feared had unfolded.

A being entirely distinct from Richt, who merely utilized explosive skills.

It was the existence that resurrected corpses into skeletons, the Arch Lich.

“Report to the higher-ups immediately! There are only two A-rank monsters!”

Only now did he realize.

Their initial proposal for negotiation wasn’t a sign of their weakness.

It was literally the meaning of negotiation.

In a way, it might have been mercy.

* * *

At the same time.

Lee Kanghyun was riding in a taxi with Maru.

Maru was wearing a robe and a mask, covering his entire body.

Despite his peculiar appearance, the taxi driver paid no attention.

In an era where summoning creatures had become common, it was a natural atmosphere.

Lee Kanghyun didn’t put down his smartphone even while on the move.

Coincidentally, Skeleton Knights had entered the dungeon managed by Azmo.

Since Celia wasn’t visible, it seemed like she had already left.

Of course, Lee Kanghyun wasn’t just going to stand by and watch.

“Things should only unfold under my control.”

Otherwise, it wasn’t true power.

In the end, he had to conclude this matter himself.