Chapter 24: The Second Sin (3)

Thorough preparation is essential for conquering a dungeon.

Internal maps, party members, potions, necessary equipment, and so on.

It’s common sense to spend at least a week preparing.

For Evan, the safety-first advocate, this was a mandatory process.

It was like that in the game, so how much more in reality?

That’s how it was supposed to be…

“This is the place.”

Evan looked up, feeling uneasy.

The forest grew dim as the sun set.

A steep cliff.

A stone door stood alone.

“This is the entrance to the ancient dungeon.”

The ancient dungeon’s entrance.

The target of this expedition.

To come to a place like this without any preparation.

Han-ol Lee, have you truly become a real man?

No, but aren’t these guys fearless?

Evan glanced at his companions.

Lapis and Super, future Sins, and Arthur, the Knight of the Full Moon.

Quite an unusual combination.

It made sense that they were fearless.

They’d never experienced a lack of talent since birth.

Their skills were top-notch.

Lapis was growing every day, and Arthur had regained his aura.

In his prime, he was likely as strong as the “Innocent,” the knight king ruling the Knight Kingdom.

Even now, he wasn’t lacking.

Just half of his prime strength.

And that was enough to wipe out the heretics.

Ugh! Thinking about it gives me chills.

But now, they were reliable allies.

What a relief.

Evan scanned the area near the door.

It didn’t seem like a lie that heretics frequented this place; the entrance was well-maintained.

There were several traps nearby to ward off beasts.

However.

Why such torches, of all things?

They had no sense of aesthetics.

Purple flames.

They looked ominous to anyone.

Should I not go in?

Evan seriously considered it.

Should he turn back now?

“Wow, that’s so cool!”

Lapis poked at the purple torch.

The purple flame didn’t react.

“Can I roast fruit with it?”  

“No. You’ll get burned.”  

“Think it’ll hurt her?”

Super pointed at Lapis, exasperated.

Lapis was covered in blood.

Not her own.

Evidence of slaughtering magical beasts they encountered on the way.

Even mid-tier magical beasts met the same fate.

She toyed with them, got bored, and discarded them.

A predator.

Despite her young age, Lapis was already nearing completion.

Hmm.

Good thing I got her indebted to me early.

Otherwise, it could’ve been bad.

Honestly, it’s scary.

Thank goodness she’s not an enemy.

Evan didn’t let it show.

“Lapis, be patient.”  

“Okay…”

Evan expertly calmed Lapis.

He turned to Arthur.

“Have you ever been to this dungeon?”

“No.”

Arthur shook his head.

“I usually killed them before they could hide.”

That’s a bit scary.

He wouldn’t kill Evan if things went wrong, right?

No way!

Arthur was a knight with honor.

He wouldn’t harm someone he owed a debt to, no matter what.

Unless Evan tried to kill him or touched his brother.

Would Evan, in his right mind, mess with that?

Of course, he planned to leave it alone.

His life was precious.

“What about you, young lord?”  

“This is my first dungeon too.”  

“Stay close behind me to avoid danger.”

Sling.

Arthur drew his sword.

Whoosh!

A silver aura flared along Arthur’s blade.

An aura gleaming like mercury.

It flashed and struck like lightning.

RUMBLE!

The door was sliced clean through.

Evan couldn’t help but stare at the holy knight at such a brute-force method.

There’s a button right there.

Do modern holy knights open doors like this?

“Follow me.”

Arthur strode in confidently.

Or rather, he tried to.

“Wait a moment.”  

“?”

Evan stopped Arthur.

An ancient dungeon.

At least mid-to-high difficulty.

Definitely not low.

Plus, it was used as a base by heretics.

It was bound to be full of traps, right?

What if he got separated from Arthur by mistake?

Absolutely not.

Not because he was scared, but just in case.

Tap!

Evan tapped his staff on the ground.

Mana spread, and the earth gathered.

A basic elemental golem.

Shaped like a small dog.

A Mini Golem Dog.

A golem for scouting.

“Charge.”

Whine!

The golem dog, barking like a real dog, rushed into the dungeon.

Crush!

A mace fell from the ceiling, smashing the golem dog.

Holy shit, that scared me.

Evan calmed his racing heart.

Why so brutal?

Meanwhile, Arthur stood in silence.

He hadn’t anticipated such a trap.

They say a strong body spares the mind, but wasn’t this too much?

Tap, tap!

Evan clicked his tongue and tapped the ground again with his staff.

The golem dog was quickly restored and re-entered.

This time, the trap didn’t react.

But he didn’t let his guard down.

After a short wait, it entered again.

Crush!

The trap activated again.

How long did it take?

About two minutes?

A five-minute cooldown.

Typical for traps in high-tier dungeons.

High-tier? That’s a bit scary.

Would it hurt to make it easier?

But saying they should turn back now was awkward.

Lapis and Super’s eyes sparkled.

Retreat here?

It’d scratch a man’s confidence.

Right, I’m a real man.

Retreating would crush his confidence.

He needed to come out with at least one or two decent artifacts.

Of course, he’d make Arthur do it.

“We’ve confirmed enough.”  

Evan turned to Arthur.  

“Let’s go in.”  

“You checked for traps in advance?”  

“It’s only natural. There’s no way there aren’t traps.”

Arthur looked puzzled.

He didn’t press further.

“Let’s go.”  

“Yes!”  

“Yes!”  

“Understood.”

Arthur nodded obediently.

***

The dungeon expedition went smoothly.

The key to conquering a dungeon is gathering information.

In that regard, Evan was obsessively thorough.

– Enter.  

– Re-enter.  

– Deploy multiple units.  

– Confirm reactions only above a certain height.

Like an alchemist conducting an experiment, he analyzed everything meticulously.

His eyes showed no emotion.

As if this was nothing.

Impressive.

Arthur was in awe.

There were two types of skilled individuals.

One relied solely on innate talent.

The other built their strength through thorough analysis, efficiency, and accumulated effort.

Thorough analysis and efficiency. The most troublesome type to face as an enemy.

Evan fell into the latter category.

Did that mean he lacked talent?

Hardly.

His talent is overflowing too.

An alchemist’s skill wasn’t strictly categorized.

But rough estimates were possible.

Divided by the speed of transmutation and the grade of potions they could create.

Evan’s transmutation speed.

It was far faster than the alchemist from the Alchemist’s Tower he’d seen before.

Talent and effort combined.

It was clear why he was so skilled at such a young age.

Reaching this level in one year.

A speed even Arthur, a genius among geniuses, had never seen.

Sure.

You could chalk it up to talent.

But.

He’s too adept.

Evan said this was his first ancient dungeon.

Yet he was excessively skilled.

Any awkwardness from being a beginner?

None at all.

It almost made Arthur look like the novice.

“Step back. That’s a trap.”  

“What?”  

“The pattern on the floor. A mark of a trap, distinguishable only to them.”

Evan was a seasoned veteran.

He’d cleared dungeons like this countless times, so it was only natural.

Unaware of this, Arthur sprouted a different misunderstanding.

Has he been gaining experience all along?

To prepare for dungeon expeditions?

That was too far-fetched.

Evan was a noble heir.

The second son, no less.

He’d surely value his own safety.

Even if he didn’t, his family wouldn’t let such talent go to waste.

Then, was it to prepare for something like this?

That was too much speculation.

An alchemist.

More of a support class than a combat one, right?

There’s a limit to thoroughness.

Unless…

He was targeting this dungeon from the start?

Shudder!

Chills ran through Arthur’s body.

That would explain it.

He’d prepared meticulously for this one dungeon.

It made sense.

Was approaching me part of this too?

Arthur was infamous as the nightmare of heretics.

Evan wouldn’t be unaware of that.

He even knew Arthur’s plans.

If this was all for that?

Terrifying.

Arthur glanced at Evan’s back.

Just how far was he planning?

What was he after?

One thing came to mind.

The rumors might be true.

Resurrection of the dead.

The taboo of alchemy.

Reviving the soul and body of the dead, defying the divine order.

If he was gathering research materials for that taboo and wiping out heretics in the process?

What kind of materials are in here…?

That’s when it happened.

Crush!

The small golem leading the way was smashed.

Evan slowly raised his head.

They’d arrived at a wide chamber.

It seemed to be a place for prayer.

A structure surrounding a central statue.

But it wasn’t ordinary.

“…Intruders.”

A statue with an unrecognizable face.

A black creature coiled around it, its tail swaying as it glared at Evan’s group.

A jet-black snake.

Bat-like wings on its back, and two awkwardly attached arms that shouldn’t be there.

“…Chimera.”

Arthur muttered the creature’s name.

Chimera.

An artificial lifeform created by fusing two or more beings.

The chimera, the black snake, flashed its red eyes.

“Unbelievers who deny the god. Why have you come here?”

Arthur’s instincts sounded an alarm.

Dangerous.

Chimeras were infamous by their very existence.

The ones he knew were like that.

A lion’s front, a snake’s rear, and a goat or ram burning with evil knowledge in the middle.

A famous chimera.

The one hunted by the Knight King, Innocent, who led the Knight Kingdom.

It was said he used wisdom to defeat it, as it couldn’t be beaten head-on.

If this chimera was on that level?

Arthur, with only half his prime strength, couldn’t hunt it.

What powers it hid were impossible to predict.

It just finished feeding.

The chamber was filled with corpses.

All wearing black robes, frozen in prayer poses.

Oddly, their heads were missing.

As if the snake had eaten only their heads.

It seemed sated.

It didn’t attack immediately.

End it in one strike.

Swoosh.

As Arthur reached for his sword’s handle.

“That snake. It’s a chimera that parasitizes shadows.”

Super spoke.

“Divine power, mana, none of it works. It can only be killed by a shadow creature. But its durability is so weak, one hit with an aura can kill it.”  

“How do you know that?”  

“I have my ways.”

Super tilted his head arrogantly.

Arthur’s brow furrowed.

What kind of nonsense in a combat situation?

“You’ll know if it works once you strike. Step back.”  

“If it’s a shadow parasite, will anything do?”

Evan spoke.

He looked at Super with his usual emotionless eyes.

“Even an inanimate object like a weapon?”  

“…It should work. But is there such a thing?”  

“Yes. Fortunately.”

There was?

Something like that?

As Super and Arthur puzzled, the black snake, enraged, scattered red light from its eyes and charged.

“How dare you intrude upon the sacred nest where this sublime life was born!!!”

Kiaaaah!

The black snake opened its mouth as if to swallow everything.

Its body and mouth grew large enough to fill the chamber in an instant.

As Arthur prepared to swing his sword.

Evan spoke first.

“No. 2.”

Squirm!

The shadow beneath him writhed.

“Block it.”

Crunch!

At that moment, a liquid-like monster golem erupted from Evan’s shadow.

No. 2 struck the charging black snake from below.

The black snake burst like blood.

Before it could resist further, No. 2 grabbed its face with both hands and tore it apart viciously.

Riiiip!

The black snake, torn like paper, fell to the ground with a thud!

No. 2 vanished back into the shadow as if nothing had happened.

Arthur, sweat dripping from his hand, fidgeted with his sword’s handle.

A golem residing in a shadow…? 

Was that even possible? 

To carry something like that?

Step.

Super moved.

He crouched in front of a corpse.

“Foolish, pitiful thing.”

Super’s small hand stroked the split head, staining his hand black.

“Come back, brother.”

Ssssh.

The black snake was absorbed like ink dropped in water.

In an instant, it vanished.

Arthur turned to Evan.

Evan’s face showed no surprise.

As if he’d expected this.

Carrying a golem that resides in shadows, and keeping such a bizarre kid…

Was it all part of the plan?

Meanwhile, Evan, staring at Super, screamed internally while keeping a straight face.

What’s he doing?!?!

Why is he absorbing the black snake?!

Is he a chimera?!?!