"......! I'm awake! I mean, I wasn't sleeping." - Iron

"Nice try, but you were out cold for an hour." - Garami

"Here. Use this to remove that mustache." - Bloom

While Iron tried to get the scribbled Black Baron cosplay off his metal face, I put away the book I was reading and looked outside again. While the brave knight had taken a nap, I had found the chest containing the stairway and detached the chain cable from the Marauder. That's one down and two more to go.

What is curious is that the golden mist outside seemed to have sunken when I pulled the lever for detaching the chain. The bottom of the dome is still not visible to us, but if my gamer experience is right, it will all be gone when all three cables are off the Marauder. And that the bonus quest content will happen at the dome's deepest.

"While you were counting sheep, we also found this thing here," I told Iron while showing him the old book I had been reading while waiting for him.

"What is-, WOW!?" - Iron

"Ah, right. I figured treasures could be hidden inside at least one of them, so I brute-forced my way with Skeletons." - Garami

Iron reacted to the formerly locked treasure chest that had been all over the room. I found the correct chest almost immediately (it didn't have that jack-in-the-box trap function, probably since it would be pointless without any bones in the chest) but the gambler inside me wanted to test them all out.

Getting enough chests wrong could trigger a more deadly trap, or at least reduce our Quest Score (if that's a thing). Luckily, after earning the right to call myself a Necromancer, the abilities of my created undead have grown noticeably alongside the class. There were no treasures though. *Sniff*.

Speaking of the undead, I reasoned I could send some Ghosts through the walls for the next "chain buildings" and have them detach the next chains. Unfortunately, the material making up all the constructs and buildings in this dome area seems to be ghost-proof. We can scratch the walls' paint the physical way, but destroying them entirely seems like a task impossible. We have to accept that the orthodox way is the only way.

"Anyway, this book here seems to have been a diary for one of this city's previous inhabitants." - Garami

Or so the backstory might have been set up to. We don't know if these ruins used to be something before or if they were just made for the sake of the Extra Quest.

"I understand. Normally, it would be wrong to look into people's diaries, but-" - Iron

"This is a freaking Quest." - Garami

"Exactly. Now, to whom did this tome belong? A scholar? A royalty? Some random citizen?" - Iron

"A bandit." - Garami

"...Bandits these days are quite cultured." - Iron

So they're men of culture, big deal. Mira would surpass them in any way possible on that front, seriously. I'm still putting a copper Sol on that this is just the quest's setting.

"Then what is written there?" - Iron

"Mostly that these ruins were already...ruined back when it was on the surface and the bandits first moved into the place. The writer mentions something about their boss preparing some big money-making scheme, but the book stops before the grunt got a chance to write about it." - Garami

"This scheme is probably the cause for either the ruins to sink into the sands, get rid of the bandits, attract the attention of Dizlakaia, or all of the above simultaneously." - Bloom

There's also the fact that despite the diary mention of the ruins' bad shape, it doesn't get into details about it. The constructs' strange, almost melted appearance should have raised some eyebrows. Not mentioning it in what could only be a clue to the Extra Quest seems just...weird.

Then again, I'm also not mentioning this part to Iron. After all...

"Well, I will leave the complicated thinking to you, Guild Master." - Iron

This guy, his head ain't that bad, but he knows how to prioritize. And between the two of us, the best bodyguard here is him while I'm the best puzzle solver.

"Tch, fine~. Though there's nothing much left here to do, so we're moving to the 2nd building." - Garami

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" - Iron & Bloom

When did those two get so in synch with each other?

---

The second chain anchor's location wasn't that hard compared to the first. It took a while to travel through the deserted ant-nest-like catacombs of dead constructs, but we still have more than 9 hours left on the clock. I even got the chance to take a bite while we were traveling.

Like in the first building, a form of trial awaited before we could detach chain nr.2. This was more of a puzzle-themed challenge. You had to find the right weight using different containers filled with sand to open up a vault door. Bloom aced that test with ease.

"Why would bandits use an intelligence-requiring lock?" - Iron

"It was probably here from before the bandits arrived. It has been tempted with an anti-aging alloy, but the thing is as old as the rest of this place." - Garami

"Hmm, so the bandits may not have taken whatever is inside." - Iron

"And that would be a happy bonus for us~. Now...forget it." - Garami

"Yes. Nobody except for deviants desires a premium such as this." - Iron

Our talk about riches got cut short when Bloom opened the door and we got a good look inside. Several aging skeletons are sitting or lying on the floor of the vault room. Unlike with the chests from before, nobody weird's been done to them. Maybe the bandits tried to flee from something and used the vault as a sort of bunker, but it ended up acting as their coffin.

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"More clues for us." - Garami

"Hmm? Did you find another diary?" - Iron

"Not really. But whoever exterminated these (assumed) bandits have some deranged collector hobbies while also not having the brains to solve the door's puzzle." - Garami

"Master, what are you talking about?" - Bloom

"The bonus scenario. The ones overseeing this Quest wouldn't use only written documents as clues. That would be too boring and too easy for something named an 'Extra Quest'. At least I wouldn't make it so simple." - Garami

"Then these bones used to be from the bandits like the diary owner?" - Iron

"It could also be that the bandits were the ones trapping people inside this vaulted room." - Bloom

"Then why have these guys so many valuables and weapons on them?" - Garami

I showed the two the loot I had snatched from the old skeletons. Old guns, scimitars, silver and gold coins, and much more. The few remains of their articles of clothing were also very bandit-y in nature, further decreasing the probability of Bloom's theory being right.

"In short, the conclusion is that something appeared while the ruins used to be the base for these desert bandits. Some guys were unlucky and got ribbed to their bones, which were stored in the first building, though some guys tried to hide inside this place. And they completely forgot about food and water." - Garami

"And an escape route." - Iron

"Hmmrgh... It could still be the bandits behind everything..." - Bloom

"And why would bandits hide from bandits then? Not to mention the sorry state about the killed chest skeletons AND the remains of the ruins." - Garami

"I don't know! Maybe some Necromancer came along and wanted materials!? And his magic experiment went ka-boom and melted all the buildings outside?!" - Bloom

"Magic malfunctions will cause an explosion, not a meltdown. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience, in case you've forgotten...?" - Garami

My memories of failing to learn that new Darkness Magic spell faded when an idea hit me. Why did they treat the corpses outside the vault in such a way? Storing them in chests..., almost as if they were to be used for a later date...

"Master? What is wrong? You look like you have eaten a stinkbug." - Bloom

"You're closer to the truth than you think." - Garami

I didn't bother to answer Bloom's question properly and went to unlock the chain that was preventing our ship from leaving.

There. Now we're two-thirds done with the Quest. And I might have already solved the first half of its bonus scenario.

---

5 hours into the Quest, and we have finally reached the 3rd building. We might earn a prize for a speedrun clear..., or would that require that we fulfilled it within an hour? Maybe even 10 minutes? Crazy people who try to achieve that kind of stuff exist in any world.

"Guild Master, you might have been correct about the identity of the monsters behind this realm." - Iron

The last building was shaped like a large warehouse. From the entrance, we could see the chain lock mechanism at the other end. No walls to protect it, no traps we had to evade, not even a puzzle to clear! Unless you count the gigantic Skeleton-creature made up of human bones and shaped like a giant, humanoid-looking undead beetle.

"A Giant Skeleton, but modified through necromancy. No doubt about it. It's those monsters that are waiting for us down below." - Garami

And with "down below", I refer to the bottom of the dome. The golden mist barrier(?) had been lowered even more after we detached the 2nd chain. Maybe after we clear the third...

For the moment, we need to focus on the current test. The Giant Skeleton is a D-rank monster, but its modifications should make it tougher than that. Not to mention it is the guardian for a Quest assignment, so it is sure to have some System-related backup on its side too.

Could we try to push it into the abyss? No, that won't work. These types of guardians won't leave their posts even if taunted, so the unorthodox way won't work. Plus I'm not sure if the fall damage will be enough to kill that armored giant of bones. Maybe I could go inside ninja-style and fashion some traps before the main event? But the undead has this nasty talent of detecting living souls even if you go with stealth. Though then again...

*CRASH!!*

What now?! Can't a demon get some time to think nowadays?!

The sound came from inside the warehouse. The Giant Skeleton had launched an attack on...Iron!? That idiot, why did he jump in without telling me? Is he suicidal? And I won't even do any undead jokes this time!

Swallowing my complaints for now, I ran into the warehouse with my scythe at ready. Iron tanked one heavy punch after another from the Giant Skeleton with his shield, looking no worse for wear. Regardless of how nasty a sound that comes from his shield with each impact. I know he's taken the [Guardian Knight] class, but man, he's gotten tough since the time we fought together on Tir na Nog.

I was going to assist Iron with a surprise attack on the Giant Skeleton's spine, but I reconsidered. There was no need for it. Iron is cake walking this.

The Giant's fists hammered at the ghost knight's shield like a meteorite being sucked into a black hole. As a created, faceless undead, it could not show emotions on its face, but I bet it would have been grimacing in frustration. Who wants to hit a heavy shield that only harms the attacker and not the defender?

Iron's choice of armament is called the "Geist Guardian", a specially requested piece of equipment made by Armveil back at Velantas. The shield is constructed from various materials from Tir na Nog, stuff seeped in grudges from the dead. It is so cursed that there's even a type of ghost living inside the shield, though it is still classified as an item instead of being a "living" being, such as a "Living Shield"-type Ghost.

Only an undead can equip this bad boy without being attacked by the grudges in the shield, but in exchange, the item has a ridiculously high amount of Durability, plus it has this ghost-like ability to make physical damage be reduced to zero. Granted, this is a random effect, but Iron seems to have the knack for causing it to occur almost every time. He says it's just a matter of listening to the grudges' mood or something. Must be because they're fellow ghosts.

The second nasty thing about this shield is that it can "cause damnation" to the attacker. In short, it's an Undead attribute counter-effect, one that has a low chance of inflicting Undead-type damage to the attacker and recovering the shield's Durability based on said damage. And Iron is even adding counter-type Combat Arts from his [Guard] repertoire. The more the Giant hits Iron, the more damage it does to himself.

Iron, on the other hand, is safe. He has [Metal Fortressfication], the evolved version of [Metal Defense], on his side, vastly boosting his defensive moves based on his Metal attribute affinity. And do I even need to mention the rock-solid defense his [Guardian Knight] class gives him?

For healing, Iron has [Battle Recovery] which allows [HP Auto-Recovery]-type skills to work even when in combat. A skill that only tank-types can obtain, those lousy walls! I want that type of skill too! Oh, and Iron is increasing his self-recovery abilities even further with [Ghost Drain], a draining-type attack skill that inflicts Undead-type damage when attacking, then recovers based on the amount of damage inflicted. Sort of like that one effect of the Geist Guardian.

In short, the Giant can only wail at Iron, not having the ability to turn his attention away from him due to Iron's [Taunting] effect, achieving nothing while Iron is steadily shaving off the skull-head's HP with his counter-effects. And right now, Iron's shield started to glow burning hot.

That must be [Magma Touch], a super-close-range Magma attribute attack skill. Iron has been exposing himself to that magma-level heat to invest in skill levels for his [Magma Resistance] skill, but what about the Giant Skeleton? The odds of it having any defense against super-hot magma is close to zilch. And the same goes for its odds of surviving the increased onslaught from our Guild's resident ghost.

Seeing that I had even less of a meaning for intruding on Iron's duel, now that the heat from the magma shield prevented me from even using my threads to keep the giant still, I went over to the chain mechanism and started looking into it. Unlocking it shouldn't be any trouble, but just to be safe, I'll wait until Iron's done. If messing with the chain causes the Giant's aggro to be turned toward me, that would cause Iron's delicate balancing of tanking, countering, and recovering to crumble.

We can't have that, now can we? Or else Iron won't survive when I turn my aggro at him for having jumped into the fray like that. He better have a damn good explanation for this shit...