Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the inside of the dungeon was warmer than the outside. Kang Sihyun, having eased the tension with a jest about not dying from hypothermia, gently pulled Uiheon's arm towards him.
"Everyone, hold onto the person next to you tightly so we don't get separated."
Sticking together means survival; scattering means death. This had been the behavior code to follow in this dungeon. Thanks to the repeated warnings over an hour, the party members immediately grabbed onto each other's forearms or hands. As a result, nine people ended up lined up side by side in a comically elongated formation, but until the battle started, this was inevitable. Sihyun ignored Igor's complaint about it being hard to walk and headed towards the center of the hall.
It was then.
Crackle!
Suddenly, there was a strange sound from the floor, and in an instant, an ice tombstone shot up from the ground. Lucia, who almost tripped over the tombstone, staggered as she hastily withdrew her foot. Uiheon caught and supported him, examining the tombstone. Thinking it was an ambush, the group's attention was immediately drawn to the ice tombstone that appeared uninvited.
Chang-sik was the first to step back and check the tombstone.
"What's this?"
"It's a tombstone."
"Do you think I wouldn't know that? I'm asking why this suddenly appeared."
"How would I know? Ah, there's some writing engraved here."
Uiheon, with his keen eyesight, pointed to the lower part of the tombstone. Hearing the word "writing," Sihyun, who had some hunch, moved in front of the tombstone.
As expected.
It was the language of the Irregulars.
Although he couldn't understand its meaning at first glance, having seen it so often, he could now recognize it as the language of the Irregulars just by its form. Soon, the characters scattered and transformed into Korean. Sihyun, now accustomed to this phenomenon, read the translated script.
"'Welcome to the room of sacrifice, …huh?'"
Welcome? It sounded suspicious, even a bit ominous, and as he read aloud the inscription with added skepticism in his voice, the Russian Awakeners and Chang-sik looked at Sihyun in surprise. Chang-sik, who had seen all sorts of bizarre sights, alternated his gaze between the tombstone and Sihyun.
"Can you read it?"
"Well, a little."
"What language is that?"
"Who knows? The language of the Irregulars?"
"……"
"……"
"…Really?"
It was a look as if they were seeing someone insane. With a skeptical eye as if he had been deceived all his life, he asked Uiheon again. Having already seen Sihyun converse with an Irregular, Uiheon was relatively calm as he confirmed it to be true. His face bore the marks of experience.
"Wow."
The end times have come.
Chang-sik muttered nonsense. Leaving him behind, treating him like a bizarre fellow, Sihyun examined the tombstone closely. Aside from the writing presumed to be by Nonus, there seemed to be nothing suspicious about it. Then, a new line of text appeared below the tombstone.
"Look…!"
The unexpected ability displayed by Sihyun had relaxed the group, but this made them refocus. Lucia pointed at the newly appeared script with the tip of her finger, showing it to everyone, and their gaze turned to Sihyun. The boy with blue eyes eagerly met their expectant looks.
"'I will be waiting at the top floor.' It seems Nonus is at the highest place in this castle. It looks like we need to go up."
Sihyun lifted his head. The gaze of the party members unanimously moved to the ceiling of the ice castle.
Looking a bit ahead of the ceiling decorated with patterns, a staircase presumed to lead upwards could be seen. The railings of the stairs were decorated with delicate and beautiful patterns as if crafted by an artisan.
Considering the interior of the dungeon and the inscription on the tombstone, this dungeon seemed more gentlemanly than the one in Egypt. It not only shows the way but also lays out the stairs.
However, one cannot be too careless. If this Irregular was so meticulous, there was a high possibility that he was more thorough and ruthless than Decumanus. Frowning at the thought that facing him wouldn't be easy, Sihyun stepped out of the hall and onto the staircase.
Then,
"Above!"
Misha, a few steps behind, exclaimed in surprise. Heeding the warning and tilting his head back, dozens of sharply honed ice spikes appeared in front of him. No, they were not spikes.
They were teeth.
"……!"
Barely managing to grasp the situation, Sihyun leaped backward. Moving back a few steps in an instant, the Ir
regular that had descended from the ceiling clacked! its mouth shut. The cold teeth clicked against each other. The sudden appearance of the Irregular momentarily caused a stir, but soon, multiple attacks were launched at it.
Boom!
"Kiieek!"
The Irregular, hit by the attacks of several Awakeners, including sword energy, let out its death throes. The ice shattered, spreading fragments of the creature everywhere. The problem arose afterward.
New Irregulars began to emerge from the scattered fragments.
Though significantly smaller than before, their number was threatening. Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, the party members' eyes widened. When their minds went blank for a moment, dozens of Irregulars fell from the ceiling. It was the same creature that had attempted to ambush Sihyun earlier.
"Kiiek!"
"Kiik!"
"Kek!"
The Irregulars, each emitting their distinct cries, quickly surrounded Sihyun and the group, filling the surroundings with their presence in the blink of an eye. There was no escape.
"Damn, what's this now?"
Chang-sik kicked at an approaching Irregular in frustration.
The Irregulars that appeared in the ice castle were of a kind never seen before. The fact that they were unfamiliar was not only to him, so Sihyun bit his lip. It was uncertain whether these Irregulars created by Gula's offspring were to be considered as checks or dangers.
However, one thing was certain.
"Don't cut them!"
If they continued to cut them, the first floor of the castle would be completely covered with these creatures. Hearing the shout, the swordsman class Awakeners hesitated. Sihyun didn't waste a moment and rapidly issued commands.
"Swordsmen, step back and only those with fire attributes attack! Misha and Lucia will handle the Irregulars born from the fragments! The rest, please push the Irregulars to the corners!"
Without pausing for breath, he issued orders, and everyone immediately responded. They truly were Awakeners experienced in combat.
Seeing his companions follow the orders, Sihyun swung a glowing rod, creating a massive amount of water.
"Don't get swept away!"
With a loud warning, Sihyun caused a tidal wave with the water he created. The blue wave swept the strangely shaped Irregulars to one side, pushing them together. Caught in the fierce currents, the creatures struggled. Sihyun clenched his fist tightly.
Crack!
The water engulfing dozens of Irregulars instantly froze.
However, with so many Irregulars caught at once, the ice quickly cracked as the creatures thrashed about. Just as they were about to break free, Sihyun called out to Igor.
"Igor! This way!"
Whoosh!
At his shout, a torrent of red flames surged wildly.
"……."
Forgetting the battle situation, Sihyun opened his mouth in awe. No, it was more accurate to say he was overwhelmed by the majesty.
He had adapted to various flame skills seen from Chang-sik and Jihae, but this was the first time he had seen anything like it. It was literally a sea of fire, one that seemed to have its own will, engulfing everything in its path.
The lava-hot flames, following Igor's will, enveloped the Irregulars Sihyun had frozen.
"Keek!"
Several Irregulars screamed in unison. The overlapping screams seemed to tear the space apart. Covering his ears and grimacing at the increasingly fierce engulfment of ice, the flames Igor controlled gradually subsided.
When all the flames had died down, the area that had been filled with Irregulars was now clean, leaving not even small fragments of the creatures behind.
So this is a fire attribute S-class Awakener.
With just one skill, the situation was quickly resolved. The skill seemed very powerful, but Igor did not appear to be particularly strained. Sihyun's eyes filled with a clearer light as he watched Igor, who wielded fire of a different dimension than any flame he had seen before. His evaluation of Igor inside him slightly shifted from someone hasty to someone capable.
Momentarily lost in admiration, Sihyun was startled by the voices of other Irregulars and began to move again. Sihyun and the Awakeners cooperated to corner the Irregulars and freeze them, allowing Igor to finish them off. The copies born from the fragments were handled by Lucia and Chang-sik.
After repeating the same method several times, the castle's hall, which had been teeming with at least eighty Irregulars, was now clean. With the sudden battle over, the people exhaled in relief and checked for injuries. Igor rolled his foot on the ground with a bang and frowned.
"We burned it so much, yet the castle is unscathed."
His words were accurate. Despite Chang-sik and Igor unleashing flames without mercy, the ice castle remained intact, not even
a single decoration melted.
"This castle is maintained by Nonus's power. It won't collapse or melt until he dies."
Sihyun, who added an explanation to the dumbfounded Igor, confirmed that everyone was safe and then led the group towards the stairs again. Before stepping on the first stair, he cautiously inspected the ceiling, wary of another Irregular dropping down. However, the ceiling behaved as if it had never expelled Irregulars, feigning innocence.
"Phew…"
Sihyun exhaled deeply and grasped the railing to climb the stairs again.
When only the last step to the upper floor remained, crackle, another tombstone sprung up in front.
'1st floor. 19 floors to the top.'
"……."
Reading the inscription on the tombstone, Sihyun groaned.
It seemed the previous battle was merely a welcoming ceremony, and the real challenge was about to begin.
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