Chapter 30

Extrasensory Perception (3)

"Huh? There's not a single leaf on that branch. That's strange."

Rairo pressed his palm to his forehead and gazed at the barren branch.

I furrowed my brow, lost in thought.

'A lifeless branch.'

It seemed to refer to that very branch.

What else could it be? The scene was too unnatural to be a coincidence.

'But how is this possible?'

Was it a genetic trait of the tree, or had the dungeon creator cast a spell on it to leave a clue?

It wasn't particularly important, so I let it go.

More importantly, if this was a lifeless branch, it meant it was the most decisive clue to finding the dungeon.

The code said that a lifeless branch would guide adventurers, after all.

"......"

I stared up at the branch.

How could a branch just sitting there on the tree guide anyone?

Could it be that if I cut it, the branch would fly around and lead the way? That absurd thought flashed through my mind, but even in this fantasy world, it seemed unlikely.

"......Direction? Is it a direction?"

I tried to think more simply.

Could it mean to move in the direction the branch extends?

It was confusing, but I couldn't think of anything else, so I decided to move in that direction. If it didn't work, I could always come back.

I turned to the two of them and said, "We're moving in that direction."

At that moment, she, who had been deep in thought, exclaimed, "Ah!"

"My lord, could the lifeless branch be referring to that one? It makes sense since it has no leaves at all!"

"......"

She figured it out pretty quickly.

She said she had explored dungeons quite a bit, but I didn't think she would be much help.

In any case, we moved in the direction the branch extended.

By now, the sun had completely set, and darkness had descended on the forest.

I held up a luminescent stone and carefully examined the surroundings, unsure where the dungeon might be.

After moving for a few dozen minutes, something noticeable came into view.

A single tree stood among the others, its leaves faintly glowing, exuding a presence.

"......A bioluminescent tree?"

Rairo, having noticed it, muttered in amazement.

"A bioluminescent tree. It's rare to see one, but there's one in this forest."

A bioluminescent tree, as the name suggests, is a tree with leaves that glow at night, like fireflies.

It was positioned exactly on the path we had been following, giving me a vague sense of something.

'Could it be this?'

The reason the time of dusk was mentioned in the code.

Interpreted differently, it meant that there was something visible only at night that would lead to the dungeon.

And the bioluminescent tree only glowed at night.

As something clicked in my mind, I approached the bioluminescent tree.

"Hmm......"

So what now?

We moved in the direction the lifeless branch pointed and found this bioluminescent tree. What should we do now?

I asked Rairo, "Do you have any idea?"

"Huh?"

"The largest tree, when dusk has completely fallen, the lifeless branch will guide the adventurers. We moved in the direction the branch pointed and found this bioluminescent tree. It seems to be a landmark leading to the dungeon. Do you have any ideas?"

Rairo, standing there with a blank expression, asked, "I don't know. Why is this a landmark leading to the dungeon?"

"What else would stand out at night besides this?"

She seemed to be lost in thought, then suddenly realized something.

"Ah, that's it! You should have explained it in more detail."

"......Have you really explored dungeons multiple times?"

"I'm better at physical tasks, and my other teammates were good at thinking things through."

"Where are your teammates now?"

"After a big score from finding an artifact, they all retired. I continued as an adventurer because it's my calling."

That's her story.

In any case, Rairo didn't seem to be much help.

I asked Ashel, not really expecting much.

"Do you have any ideas?"

Ashel seemed to be deep in thought, then cautiously spoke.

"Um...... No."

But she stopped speaking and shook her head.

One of the two most annoying things people do is to stop talking in the middle of a sentence.

"Go on, it's fine."

Encouraged by me, she reluctantly continued.

"I've heard that most ruins are located underground."

"That's true."

Throughout history, from ancient times to the present, more ruins have been excavated on the surface than underground, simply because they are more visible.

"So, I thought there might be a ruin hidden right under this tree."

"......"

It was a very simple idea.

But what if? It seemed somewhat convincing.

"Come on, that's a bit much. Even if so, would they really hide it so crudely?"

Rairo interjected.

My rational mind agreed with her, but my intuition leaned towards Ashel's idea.

After some deliberation, I ordered Ashel, "Dig deep in front of the tree. Until I tell you to stop."

"Yes."

She stepped back a bit.

Rairo, standing there blankly, was gestured to step back by Ashel.

Rairo, standing next to her, looked at me in disbelief.

"Are you really going to do it?"

"There's nothing else that comes to mind."

"Well, I don't know how deep you plan to dig, but how long will it take......"

Kwaang!

The explosion of sound made Rairo jump and turn back to the front.

With each punch from Ashel, the ground cracked and was quickly excavated.

Rairo gaped at the absurd scene.

After some time, Ashel, who had been digging for a while, suddenly leaped out of the hole and said, "There's something like a stone wall, and there's a space inside."

"......A stone wall?"

I approached the hole, held up the luminescent stone, and looked down. It was quite deep.

It was dark, but I could faintly see a stone wall, as Ashel had said.

'Is this real?'

I chuckled in disbelief.

Did the person who created the dungeon really think it could be found?

I was amazed at how Teir found it after I did.

"......?"

I tilted my head.

Wait, something doesn't add up, does it?

The depth of the hole Ashel dug was at least a few meters.

So, did Teir dig this deep alone to find it? Does that make sense?

"......"

I felt a strange sense of dissonance, but I decided to go in and see.

I told Rairo, "I'll be back, wait here."

"......Ah, yes."

She nodded obediently.

Her tone seemed a bit more polite, probably because she had seen Ashel's strength.

I jumped down into the hole.

It was quite high, but it wasn't a problem.

I had already confirmed that using the Stasis Barrier in mid-air would fix my body in place.

In other words, using it during a fall would cancel the force of the fall, making it useful for landing.

Thud.

I used the Stasis Barrier just before landing and landed steadily on the stone wall.

There was a hole in the stone wall where Ashel was standing.

Holding the luminescent stone close, I could see a space inside, as she had said.

"Let's go in."

"Yes."

Ashel jumped down first, then I followed after checking the height of the floor. Then......

"......"

I was a bit stunned by the scene before me.

Inside the stone wall was an incredibly spacious area, much larger than I had expected.

It was also very artificial.

The walls and corridors were neatly cut, like the underground lair of a secret organization, and the luminescent stones were faintly glowing, almost out of power.

'What is this place?'

It didn't look like a normal dungeon.

Was it even a dungeon at all?

The sense of dissonance in my mind grew stronger, and I moved forward along the corridor.

The corridor was very long, winding and branching in several directions.

After moving for a while, we reached a chamber-like space.

"......An altar?"

That was the first thought that came to mind.

A red stone structure was placed in the center of the spacious area.

The walls, ceiling, and floor around it were engraved with magic arrays and strange characters, glowing.

But I couldn't focus on those minor details.

Because something was sitting in the middle of the strange structure, on a magic array.

Something that looked like a human in a tattered robe.

The moment I saw it, an instinctive sense of foreboding surged, and a number appeared in my field of vision.

【Lv. 97】

......What the hell is this, damn it.

I couldn't help but realize that things had gone terribly wrong.

This was not the dungeon where Teir found the mystery.

Just as I was about to tell Ashel, who was standing next to me with a tense expression and a sword in hand, to get out......

Flash!

A purple beam of light flashed.

Before I could react, Ashel was hit by the beam and flew backward.

"......!"

I turned my head quickly.

Ashel was pinned to the wall, motionless. I thought she might be dead, but seeing her level, she seemed to have just lost consciousness.

I slowly turned my gaze forward again. Then I heard a laugh.

"Kuk...... Kuk, kukukuk......!"

The eerie laughter of the robed figure echoed through the space.

"You've finally come! Fate has not abandoned me after all!"

As the figure stood up, the robe crumbled and scattered.

And the body revealed...... was just bizarre.

The skin was as black as ink, the veins standing out in stark white, and the eyes glowed with a blood-red light.

Squish!

He immediately drew a bow from his back, dipped an arrow in blood, aimed, and fired.

But the arrow was deflected by a barrier that had enveloped him, bouncing off uselessly.

I felt a great sense of defeat, lowered my bow, and spoke.

"......What are you?"

The figure, who had been laughing for a while, stopped and said, "Nephrus Deima, the mage who dreams of eternity."

"......I've never heard of that name."

"Oh, I see. If my name has been forgotten, how much time has passed outside?"

His level was 97, a monster only one level below the Archduke Rashatein.

My life was in immediate danger.

Ashel was down, and my instant kill ability couldn't reach him.

I maintained my composure and stared at him with a calm gaze.

"Is the reason you attacked us because we invaded your territory?"

"Invasion? Kukuk! On the contrary! Do you know how long I've been waiting for someone to come here?! Trapped in this small magic array, unable to take a single step outside, barely maintaining my body like a living corpse!"

His words were incomprehensible.

But from what he said, I understood that he was an ancient mage who had been trapped here for a very long time.

And he was extremely pleased with my presence here.

Squish!

"......?!"

The light flashed again, and my stomach burned.

As the intense pain hit me and I felt my strength draining, I fell to my knees.

"Ugh......"

I looked down at my side, where the flesh had been completely torn away, blood flowing freely.

I couldn't react to the attack, so I didn't have time to activate the Stasis Barrier.

Then I heard a puzzled voice from the figure.

"What are you? Your soul is so high, yet why couldn't you block such an attack?"

Gurgle!

The blood flowing from me floated in the air and moved toward him.

Soon, a voice filled with joy echoed through the chamber.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. The blood of a being as high as you will give life back to my body! I can finally leave this accursed place and return to the world! Kuk! Kukukukuk!"

Hearing the buzzing in my ears, I lifted my head.

The figure began to greedily absorb the blood he had taken from me.

As he did, his body seemed to swell and contract, and a massive aura swirled around him.

Despite the pain, I couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

After drinking all the blood, the figure, with a satisfied look on his face, tilted his head.

"What's so funny?"

I managed to open my mouth and force out a voice.

"Thanks for eating it......"

"What?"

"Die."

Thud.

The figure's body fell, and the aura that had filled the chamber disappeared instantly.