After a moment’s hesitation, Hulim Heyerar decided to try replacing the orb anyway. Even though the seal was in such a sorry state, there might still be a chance it could function.

The moment the cracked crystal orb was pulled free from the wall, the structure that had been held together by the wall’s magical pressure shattered instantly. It crumbled into shards in Hulim’s hands, scattering across the floor.

“Truly broken beyond all repair.”

Paying no mind to the crystal shards at her feet, Hulim slid the intact orb from her bag into the wall’s socket.

Hum!

The moment the undamaged crystal settled into place, it began to glow with a faint, steady light.

“Oh? So it can still work after all.”

Hulim looked somewhat surprised.

But her astonishment lasted less than two seconds. The orb’s glow flickered erratically, like a poorly connected lamp, sputtering on and off.

“Uh-oh. This can’t be good……”

Before Hulim could finish her sentence,

the orb’s light vanished completely.

And then—

Crack.

A thin, spiderweb-like fissure snaked across the surface of the once-pristine crystal.

What’s more, it wasn’t just her imagination—the cracks lining the wall itself seemed to have widened ever so slightly.

“……Completely useless.”

Hulim pulled the now-damaged orb back out of the wall.

Staring at the fresh crack running through it, she frowned in consternation.

The damage was minimal, but it was clear this Seal Orb was no longer fit for use.

And more importantly—if this one had failed, it meant the other two orbs in her possession would likely suffer the same fate.

“So what do I do now……”

Hulim stowed the broken orb away and stood rooted to the spot, deep in thought.

One thing was certain: this situation was almost certainly not a deliberate challenge set by the examiners. Because compared to a mere certification test, the entity sealed within this dungeon was far more important!

No one in their right mind would tamper with a critical seal just for the sake of an insignificant exam.

Which meant the state of affairs here was most likely an accident caused by the dungeon itself—or rather……

a problem with the seal itself.

Combined with the changes she’d observed throughout the dungeon, it wasn’t hard to deduce that something unknown—and deeply troubling—was unfolding within the Karimal Sealed Dungeon.

“A dungeon sealing an Rank S Demon…… This is far from ideal.”

“Whatever the case, I need to investigate further. I’ll check the other seal chambers and see if they’ve suffered the same fate.”

Hulim turned and headed for the door, resolved to press on to the remaining seal locations.

If only this one chamber was compromised, there might still be a way to fix it. But if all the others were in the same state…… then they were in serious trouble.

The author’s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I was supposed to be here for an exam. How did I end up tangled in something like this? Come to think of it, I wonder how the other two are faring. This dungeon has suddenly become far more dangerous than it should be……”

……

“Fire Dragon’s Breath!”

BOOM——!

A searing pillar of flame engulfed the narrow corridor in an instant.

The magical beasts, which had previously thrived in the cramped, pitch-black terrain, now found themselves trapped with nowhere to run from the onslaught of fire.

Dozens of beasts were swallowed whole by the flames, their forms quickly reduced to ashes.

But just as the fire was about to reach the far end of the corridor, an Ethereal Barrier rose up from the stone floor,

forcing the surging flames to a halt.

And that wasn’t all.

Whoosh! Whoosh……

Wave after wave of Dark Magic streaked forth from behind the barrier. The sheer power of the spells sent the flames that had filled the corridor retreating in defeat.

“Dammit!”

Farna Kegris clicked her tongue in frustration.

“What is with this number of them?! There are way too many!”

When she’d encountered the hordes of magical beasts on the upper floors, she’d dismissed it as a fluke. After all, undead dungeons were known for their overwhelming numbers, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to swarm in large groups from time to time.

But it wasn’t until she’d pushed deeper into the dungeon’s mid-levels, and now its depths, that she finally realized the gravity of the situation.

Something was very wrong with this dungeon.

“What in the world is going on? This shouldn’t be happening! Even if the recent anomalies are affecting the dungeon’s layout, they shouldn’t be influencing the magical beasts inside it!”

After all, the core difference between a sealed dungeon and a regular monster dungeon lay in their very foundations.

The latter relied on a Dungeon Core, which absorbed Miasma Particles from the outside world to sustain the dungeon and its inhabitants. But the core of a sealed dungeon was the entity being imprisoned within it—the entire dungeon’s energy was siphoned directly from the sealed target.

If the recent anomalies were interfering with dungeons and causing their cores to malfunction, then a sealed dungeon should only suffer minor disruptions—like the changes in terrain she’d encountered. There was no logical reason for the sealed entity itself to be affected.

It was common knowledge that due to the resistance of the sealed being, there was a strict limit to how much power the dungeon could draw from it. This limit directly translated to the number and strength of the magical beasts within the dungeon. For the beasts to be multiplying and growing stronger like this meant the sealed entity itself was behaving abnormally.

“How is this possible…… Could it be that the sealed creature is voluntarily allowing the dungeon to siphon more power from it?”

Farna arrived at a tentative conclusion—but the very idea struck her as absurd. Such an action would be tantamount to speeding up its own demise.

BOOM!

But her momentary distraction proved costly. A spell exploded right beside her,

sending Farna flying backward with the force of the blast.

“Ugh—that hurts!”

A searing pain shot up her arm, drawing a sharp gasp from her lips.

She glanced down to see Dark Energy clinging to her skin, its corrosive touch eating away at her flesh. The sleeve of her robe had already been reduced to tattered shreds.

Whoosh!

A ball of scorching fire erupted in her right hand. The Dark Energy that had latched onto her arm was quickly incinerated by the flames.

While her fire magic prevented the corruption from spreading further, it had no healing properties. The damage that had already been done would not reverse itself.

She stared at her injured arm, then summoned a smaller flame in her left hand, using it to burn away the tattered remains of her sleeve until only the shoulder portion remained, leaving her arm bare.

Then, gritting her teeth against the pain, she raised her wand high.

CLANG!

She slammed the butt of the wand against the stone floor.

BOOM!

A sea of fire erupted along the length of the corridor,

holding the magical beasts back—if only temporarily. She needed to find a way to retreat.

“I remember one of the seal chambers is nearby……” Farna glanced in a specific direction. “That room should be a safe haven. I can take shelter there and recover.”

With that thought, she sprang into action, sprinting toward the nearest seal chamber as fast as her legs would carry her.

After she fled, with no one left to maintain the flames, the magical beasts quickly broke through the fire barrier and gave chase.

After some time,

Farna finally reached the seal chamber she’d been searching for.

“Thank goodness—this is it!”

Spotting the room up ahead, a look of relief washed over Farna’s face. She redoubled her speed, desperate to reach safety.

But the moment she skidded to a halt in front of the chamber door, her expression froze in horror.

“No…… How is this possible……”

Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the scene before her.

The room that should have been a safe haven had been transformed into a death trap.

High-Rank Magical Beasts prowled the chamber, their forms looming in the dim light.

Worse still, the creatures inside had already noticed her arrival.

“ROAR!”

The beast’s deafening cry sent a shiver down Farna’s spine, jolting her back to her senses.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she raised her wand and summoned a wall of fire to block the entrance, cutting off the path of the beasts inside the chamber. Then she spun on her heel and fled.

But she hadn’t gotten more than a few steps when she was forced to a stop.

Because behind her, the horde of magical beasts she’d escaped from earlier had caught up……

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep