Under the mask of the blaring noon sun, a figure appeared from the ancient entrance of the crypt. It was an emaciated man, covered head to toe with a flickering coat of dirtied rags. His face was malnourished, with sunken cheeks and eyes as dry as the desert. His hair was a disheveled mess of grease.

He looked at the small outpost just before him, the men on lookout were surprised at his appearance. A second later, the emaciated man smiled horrifically, revealings rows of broken teeth. A centipede was moving around inside. His slowly raised his hands and pointed at the camp.

Immediately, one of the guards shriveled up. As if moisture was sucked out from his flesh, the corpse fell down with a loud thud. Horrified, the rest of the guards readied their weapons and sortied out of the camp to apprehend the emaciated man. Only... it wasn’t emaciated.

As if regaining his vigor, the emaciated man was no longer decrepit. Golden locks of hair tied in a pony tail, with silvery pale eyes clear as the moon. His face now fuller than it ever was. The several bandaging on his body burst out, revealing a youthful body. The man spread out his arms and laughed. It was a bone-chilling cackle that made the guard’s bodies freeze.

“Devour them.” The man softly said, and a monster appeared behind him.

A monster with darkened flesh, seeming solid as plates of armor. Its shape was that of a large lion, with webbed wings sprouting from its back. Behind it, where a tail should be, was a large, thin arm holding on to a gigantic axe. Its face was that of a human in a perpetual state of screaming. Blood oozed out from all its humane orifices.

This large creature howled. From there, the opening where they appeared, a hundred shambling corpses started pouring out from the entrance, all equipped with excellent armor and weapons. Not only that, but several more monsters appeared with them, all a mishmash of horrific creations.

The frozen guards could do nothing but watch as the monster inched at them bit by bit. Some fell unconscious on the spot, others trying hard to break free from their restraints. Unfortunately for them, their end was already set in stone.

The man watched, a thin smile on his beautiful features. Beside him was the large human-faced creature snuggling up to him with its mane, a writhing mass of several hundred fingers, brushed up to the man.

“Today, the world shall be engulfed in Malice.” The man looked at the horizon, now slightly red from the mists of blood. His voice tinged with a mysterious emotion.

~ - ~

A hundred or so adventurers that were just loitering around earlier were now gathered into the center of the lodge hall. All of them holding on to their weapons and fully equipped with their own defensive gear. They all looked at the person at the front, and after his announcement, they started murmuring to each other.

The man at the front sighed and stepped down from the step stool. He looked at me and then to my companion who was clutching at my shoulders, barely keeping herself up.

“You must have heard already, but I am Adantel. Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier.”

The golden-aged elf slightly bowed his head. He was the very opposite of what an elf should be, youthful and beautiful. In front of me was a decrepit old man, with rugged and not-so appealing features.

Not that I care of the people’s appearances as an old man myself, but it strikes me odd that an elf would purposefully use an appearance so backwards from what they believe to be palatable. After all, elves have the ability to change their age and gender as they wish.

“It’s fine, you must have been busy, Master Adantel. I am Sed Immer and this is Nis Immer.”

Adantel nodded his head.

“I know you’ve only returned after a long hiatus, but I must ask you to join the lodge for this occasion.” Adantel could only sigh as he held his head.

“Sure. I was planning on heading to the crypt anyway, so it’s not an issue.”

Adantel smiled. “It’s reassuring to have two adamantiums in the city. I did not think the crypt would overflow at this time, and at such a degree. It was a mistake to only send a hundred earlier.” He shook his head, his voice tinged with regret.

I could only wryly smile at his words. Surely, if it were any other time, a dungeon overflow would be easy to deal with by sending a subjugation request. After all, this was the Wanderer Lodge’s main headquarters, where many high-class adventurers lived in.

But, there was an unknown variable. A variable so exceedingly baffling to see. Who would have thought that the sleeping lich, Bastroll, would actually leave his own crypt.

This never happened in the game, did something happen?

Originally, the crypt of Bastroll was never a dungeon meant to be cleared by beginners. It was a tutorial dungeon meant to teach players that combat should be avoided, and it taught the stealth mechanics in place. It was the only way to gain access to the bag of wonders. Should they be detected, they would be killed instantly due to the levels of the monsters.

But, to think it would actually overflow. Coincidence? Probably. I do have an idea though, but it’s an idea that makes me feel a bit responsible.

Well, I can just deal with it. No point mulling it over without a clear answer.

It may be opportunistic of me, but this is a great chance to increase Nis’ rank. I’ll just see what tomorrow brings.

Closing my thoughts, I dragged Nis back to the inn. Adantel was forming a subjugation party right now, but as an Adamantium, I was already included in it and had no other reason to stay. All I need to do is to get ready for it.

~ - ~

The next day, we immediately went to the lodge fully equipped.

The sun still hadn’t risen from the horizon and already, there were fully equipped adventurers loitering around the central plaza in front of the lodge. From eyes alone, I counted around three hundred to four hundred adventurers. Taking equipment to account, the majority were gold-ranked.

This was a very large gathering of skilled adventurers. If we compare it to an army, they would be elites, and nearly four hundred elites was an astonishing number. Even then, that was probably my lowest guess as more and more adventurers were congregating from the streets to the plaza.

Just how much can the lodge field?

As I was watching the congregating adventurers, I saw one particularly eye-catching person among the bunch. He was standing at the foot of the door of the lodge building. His large build and glimmering blue scales that melded deep with encroaching light of the rising sun. His transparent horns refracting the little light peeping from the horizon.

None other than Slavos, and on his waist was the executioner sword. This time, he was wearing proper armor. Just like his blue scales, the armor was painted a blue similar to the ethereal sky.

Immediately, we went over to him.

I asked him something that was on my mind from the start.

“Slavos, level with me. Where you assigned to join the crypt subjugation?”

Slavos, surprised at my appearance and blunt expression, raised his eyebrows.

“Quite. I had thought they were plenty strong enough for its yearly clearing. After all, they were 180 platinum-strong adventurers. It was my mistake to not have gone with them.” Slavos explained. He spoke softly, his regret transmitted clearly from his tone.

I shook my head. That wasn’t his fault, he was injured.

He looked at me and stood straight. “It’s not my fault, I know that. But I still cannot help feeling partly responsible.” He smiled.

At his words, Adantel walked out of the lodge building. His expression neutral, but for some reason, I could feel something off from it. What could it be?

From there, he activated a small spell that created a magical cone out of thin air made from several spell scriptures. He pressed his mouth at the smaller hole and spoke.

It was the start of the hunt.

~ - ~

Our small, elite force comprising of near 500 gold-rank adventurers set up a forward base just at the fringes of the plains. Even from the distance, we could see the mass of black from afar along the area near the crypt. From scout reports, they mentioned it was a congregation of monsters.

As adventurers, most of them didn’t have much military training, if at all. Jobs like these where cooperating with large numbers were best done by mercenaries, but Blaine was the city of adventurers. There were undoubtedly mercenaries within the lodge, but not enough to have complete control of the situation.

Slavos, as a former military leader, was given the rights to oversee the entire operation. Not only was he powerful, he was also insightful in the methods of leadership, but he knew the shortcomings of adventurers.

Immediately, he started to organize the 500-man force into small groups by familiarity. It was useless to use orders and formation requiring military discipline.

We could have asked for the help of the Blaine city guards, but Slavos disagreed with the idea. He mentioned that should we fall, there needed to be a line of defense for the people.

‘It’s useless to put all your eggs in one basket.’ He said in the meeting, which really surprised me. Earth idioms even exist here?

Whatever, by the second hour of setting up our camp and with the simple reorganization, we were ready to assault them.

It was around midday, but the monsters still didn’t move from their original spot, as if they were waiting for something... or guarding something. They just stood at the mouth of the crypt, that gurgling mass of darkness that seemed to sprawl with no end.

At the very helm of our assault force was Slavos. He was the commander, and was the most skilled among the current adventurers. Him bringing the flag and the charge was something he wanted to do.

That choice seemed to be the correct one as many of the adventurers that had worried faces in the morning were now resolved. The promise of gold was a tempting thing, but they also had their pride as an adventurer on the line.

Gripping their weapons enough that their knuckles turned white, Slavos ordered the charge. Bringing his sword above the men, shining from the midday sun, it seemed to rouse the fighting spirit of everyone as they shouted. The pressure alone almost felt solid.

The monsters seemed to sense this and looked our way. Their once dazed appearance, now focused at our location. Their numbers were frightening, at least about double or more of ours. Still, everyone was confident as they pushed forward.

Then and there, the fighting started. Several groups dispatched of monsters easily, their teamwork flawlessly cutting through the tide. Slavos, even in his lonesome, broke through with ease. Each swing of his sword, a monster would lose its life.

The horrific creations with the face of man, but a mangled body of different creatures seemed to cry at every death of their ilk. Chimeras, monsters of scientific origin.

Nis and I formed a group and we were part of the last waves of adventuring combatants.

Nis immediately summoned her group of demonspawns. Four hulking warriors of red skin bearing great swords crawled up from the ground. Immediately, she focused her efforts on ordering each of her summons with surprising competence.

“D1, to the right! D2, break through the front! D3 and 4, the left!”

She shouted, then brought up her pistol, her gunblade, and aimed at an approaching chimera. With a quick flourish, she fanned the hammer and shot all six bullets on to the raging monster’s forehead.

Then with a flick of her wrist, the gun chamber opened and several more mana-shaped bullets took to the empty spaces. She then spun the gun around her finger, closed it shut and shot another volley.

At every few seconds, she would change her orders to suit the situation. Using her minions, not even one chimera managed to break through 25 meters from her.

The practice from yesterday bore fruit, and she could easily handle the foes in front of her.

If there’s one thing I was surprised of from our sparring session is her amazing processing power. It makes me wonder if it was because she was an AI in the past. It’s the reason she managed to so effortlessly look at the battlefield and change tactics suiting the situation.

“Can’t let the idiot show me up.”

Gripping my spear, I jumped into the battle.