Part One Hundred and Two

Things happened quickly after the Dungeon Scenario Update was issued. The remaining monsters were either killed, or they straight up fled. The NPCs’ estimates said that there were only about six to seven thousand left, maybe a bit more.

Furthermore, nearly all of the Golem artillery were wiped out by a retaliatory wave of magic from the mages. They’d attacked almost the second after the Void Wolf’s spell had ended. As for the wolf itself, well, we wouldn’t have to wait long to find out who killed it. After all, he was practically parading the helmet he got from killing it around the fort.

Cleanup of the fort began shortly after everything settled down. The bombardment from the Golems had done a serious number to many of the fort's buildings and infrastructure. Repairing all the damage would take the majority of the next day, but would hopefully be done before the Dungeon Boss appeared.

Casualties were about what you’d expect for this battle, though there was actually very few injuries that warranted hospitalization. That was due to the fact that most of those injured by monsters died from the initial attack. The sheer ferocity of this battle had meant that there were more people killed outright by monsters.

With everything else wrapped up, it was now time to decide whether or not we’d raid the Sub-Boss. Myself, Alicia, Cameron, Braddock, and several others were now gathered in the conference room to debate the pros and cons of doing so. I’d wanted to keep the whole thing on the down low, but Braddock convinced me that it was better to bring more people in for something like this. The only person of note not present was Sampson, as we’d decided he could end up being more of a disruptive element than we wanted.

Since I was the one who knew the most about it, I took the lead in the discussion of what to do next. I filled everyone present in on the details they’d need to decide.

“…So that’s about the long and short of it. I’ll use this medallion to open the Gate up, and anyone who wants to can join us in raiding the Boss within.”

“How many enemies are in there? If this is like any other Dungeon Boss, then it’ll have guards, won’t it?”

“I don’t think so. Not this one at least. Both the Commander and Archmage have said that it’s a single monster waiting for us, though they’ve both expressed concern about actually fighting it. Whatever’s waiting for us is doing so alone.”

Everyone went silent as they contemplated whether or not to participate in this completely optional fight. The possibility of dangled rewards battled against the threat of incredible danger. Several people felt that the danger was too much, and so excused themselves. That left eight people at the table: myself, Alicia, Cameron, Braddock, Grant, Kalia, Tavin, and Brad.

“So I guess it’s just us then? Well, I guess less is more in the case. We don’t even know how big the room we’ll be fighting in is.”

“Hmph, I care not for such things! I only wish to battle alongside those who seek the thrill of battle!.”

“Haaah, why me? Eherm. So after considering recent events, I think a break for rest and recovery is warranted. We’re all low on stamina and mana, and I’d imagine that most of our focuses are shot to hell. And since we’ve graciously been given a twenty-four hour respite from battle, I say we reconvene here in twelve hours. That gives us enough time to rest now and later.”

“Oh good, that gives me time to check in on the infirmary.”

“I could certainly use a rest after that fight. Being around that constant artillery fire was nerve-wracking.”

“Hm, twelve hours? That shall be plenty of time to rest after I exert myself a little more. My limits will not push themselves!”

“Alright, alright! This meeting that was somehow pushed onto me is now adjourned!”

Kalia was the first to leave, doing exactly as she’d said she would. Cameron then got up, saying he’d be by to talk to us later, before he left with Braddock and Grant. That left me Tavin, Alicia, and Brad in the room.

I’m honestly not sure what to do now. I’d go take a nap, but I’d prefer to wait until later so I can sleep through the night. Or morning, I guess. This is gonna ruin my sleep cycle, isn’t it?

“Well, I for one cannot wait for this battle. My intuition is telling me that it will be a fight to remember!”

The way he rubbed his hands together before cracking his knuckles was both sinister and oddly endearing at the same time. He was basically like a big kid, one who just enjoyed violence more than others. Okay, that sounds like the textbook definition for a psychopath. I’ll just ignore this train of thought.

“Hey kid, are you sure you don’t know what’s waiting for us in there?”

“Haaah, for the last time, no I don’t. I can make conjecture based on what monsters we’ve already seen, but I have no way of knowing until we actually enter the Lair or ourselves. And even if I did, I doubt we could really prepare for it. This is a monster an army of highly trained NPCs don’t want to tackle. It has to be a serious threat.”

“And you still think it’s a good idea to fight it? This is starting to sound more and more like a suicide mission."

“Then you can sit this one out. I’m not forcing anyone to participate in this fight, it’s fully optional. However, I suspect there’ll be rewards well worth the danger if we succeed. The System seems to distribute rewards based on a risk-versus-reward policy. Thus the harder this is, the better the prize.”

“Huh. Well, alright then. But I think I’ll tell the others to stay out of it. Try to reduce our risks as much as we can.”

Brad got up and left after that, only stopping to say goodbye to Alicia real quick. And Tavin had left while we were talking at some point, leaving me and Alicia alone. And since we were finally alone, I could release all the pent up frustration that had been raging inside of me at last.

“GAAAAAAH! HOW THE HELL IS THAT FAIR!? WE HAD THE DAMN THING CORNERED, AND HE JUST SWOOPS IN AND TAKES THE DAMN PRIZE FOR HIMSELF! RAAAAAH!”

“Wow, that took longer than I thought it would. Some would call this the howling of the loser.”

“Grrr, I know! But, but, gaaah! It just doesn’t make sense! How the hell did Sampson even know to be there!? He shouldn’t have known about the Gate!”

“He could’ve just followed the monsters as they went further into the fort. He seems like the kind of guy that would do something like that on a whim. Actually, isn’t he rather similar to Tavin in that regard?”

“Yeah actually. It’s a bit disturbing since their demeanors are so different. Though Tavin doesn’t strike me as the kind of cheating scum who’d steal another’s kill.”

“Aaaand you brought it back around. Haaah, you’re not letting it go, are you?”

“Of course not! This is twice now that I’ve had a Mid-boss on the ropes, only for someone else to get the kill. I wouldn’t mind it so much if it had been someone actually involved in the fight, not some opportunistic bastard stealing my kill.”

“Mn-hm. Sure, whatever you say.”

“Don’t look at me like that! Haaah, fine, I’ll drop it. For now.”

“Good enough. So, now what? We’ve got twelve unbooked hours until we have to act, so how to fill them?”

“Hm, good point. Training any of my Skills would probably be a bad idea since I won’t know if my mana will fully recover. Staying awake just sounds like it’ll be a massive pain, so maybe a nap is the way to go after all? Actually, wouldn’t my mana have fully recovered after I sleep for a few hours? Oh, I could train for an hour or two, then go to sleep afterwards! Alright! I’ll see you later Alicia.”

***

[Alicia’s POV]

Huh? Did, did he just leave me? Wha, what the heck Michael!?

She’d actually brought up those unbooked hours because she wanted to spend some more time with Michael. It was starting to seem like all he ever did was train or fight, two things which didn’t really lead to enjoyable conversations.

It wasn’t like she didn’t enjoy training with him. She felt like they had fun together, but there was a difference between that and just hanging out. One that Michael didn’t seem to care about.

Grrrr! I’ll make sure to give him a piece of my mind later, but now I need to figure out what I’ll do. Just following after him seems too pathetic, so that’s not an option. I don’t want to bother Kalia either. Huh. I’ve just realized that I only really talk to three people in the Dungeon. That’s probably not a good sign.

With nothing else to do, Alicia soon found herself at the training grounds. Despite her complaints about it, she understood Michael’s constant desire to train. Seeing one’s own improvement was cathartic. A few hours at the archery range, and then she’d turn in for the night. That was probably the best way to go about this.

***

Deep into Kyushu Island…..

A single motorbike ripped along desolate streets, weaving in between abandoned vehicles and the occasional debris on the road. Its driver was veering around the obstacles with unerring focus, appearing more and more like a professional stunt driver by the minute.

This is bad. There’s nothing here. No animals, plants, or even monsters. And those craters, it looks like something ripped the trees out of the ground. I was right to come here.

Aside from ruined buildings, everything she’d seen for the past day or two had been utterly devastated. All the flora and fauna had simply disappeared, as if they’d all been carted away for some nefarious purpose. And in all likelihood, that’s exactly what had happened here.

Regular monsters don’t leave this kind of desolation behind. The lack of animals is one thing, but they simply don’t seem to eat vegetation. Monsters all seem to be carnivores, for all the good it does us to know that.

Which means that this almost has to be the work of the Gluttonists. If there’s now enough of them that need to resort to eating everything they find, then sneaking away to scout them out was the correct call. I need to find the source of this.