Ven’s warning turned out to be true. The hidden dungeon was filled with guards.

Monsters were killed all across the cavern. Host-bones were left laying around. Vivi walked slowly, listening to her surroundings, feeling ether around her. Footsteps sounded from a cavern below. Vivi turned around, deciding she needed to take a different path.

Just as she turned, footsteps approached from the upper tunnel as well. Vivi heard loud talking. She quickly hid behind a column.

“The Stewards have been complaining about the lack of skill drops for years now,” a deep man’s voice said. He sounded amused. “Now someone’s dead here. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the work of a demon. Maybe even a nimrod.”

The other man sighed. “We’re in a dungeon. Unexpected problems always arise. It’s unlikely that nimrods are down here.”

“Well, not my dungeon, not my problem,” the first guard said. “Let’s walk around and say we searched stuff. Then we’ll return before we die as well.”

The two descended into the next cavern, continuing their banter.

Vivi sneaked past, heading up. “Eem?” she asked. “Do you know where the waterfall is? The one that led us to the main dungeon.”

Eem thought for a bit. Then she nodded.

“Take me there,” Vivi said. “The guards are probably stationed near the fangling lair. Their friends went missing there. Let’s move in the crawl spaces. It looks like they haven’t yet started searching them.”

Eem saluted, and Vivi followed the fiend’s directions. Vivi knew this would be a long ride from crawl space to crawl space. She was far from fast moving in such tight confines. Particles stuck to her skin and clothes from the dirty tunnels. Somehow, she was still getting dirtier.

Every now and then, conversations and footsteps echoed into the crawl spaces when passing larger tunnels. Vivi paused, waiting for the guards to move, before they continued sneaking toward the waterfall.

Still, the crawl was relatively safe. There were no monsters. At most, sharp surfaces to scrape Vivi’s skin. With a slight amount of ether in her eyes, she saw in the dark well enough to crawl carefully.

After twenty minutes or so, Eem hopped out. The current of a waterfall resonated in the cavern. Vivi dropped down from the crawl space, finding herself in the same cavern where she’d escaped the black masks for the first time.

“We have a lot more ether this time,” Vivi said. The raging river didn’t look quite as deadly today. “And we’ll get a bath as well. Eem, you might not want to come with us.”

The fiend pouted at her, adamant as usual.

Vivi sighed. “Well, it would be dangerous to leave you here…” She picked up the fiend and held her tightly. “I’ll protect you during the ride. Hold your breath and let the current eat us.”

“Vivi, I sense something,” Lucius said. “You should hide!”

What? Vivi thought.

Then she heard it. Footsteps. Vivi snapped her head to the left and saw Aang. The Union leader.

“Vivi…” Aang said. “You know, everyone has agreed this place is too dangerous right now.”

Vivi considered her options for a second, wondering if she should stay to talk or if she should just jump into the river. Eem showed her tongue.

“You’re hunting in the main dungeon, right?” Aang asked.

Vivi thought of a lie before deciding that lying was probably useless. She put up a serious face and said, “I’m over sixty thousand ether in debt. I have less than a year to gain that much. If I don’t, I die. I was a hundred thousand in debt before coming to Zand. I’ve earned over thirty thousand in the main dungeon, and I’m far from clearing it all.”

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“You could just sell your swords to Ingfried,” Aang said.

“I’m looking to keep my freedom,” Vivi said. “I’m going to clear the hidden dungeon. Then I’m going to escape Zand. I am strong enough to defeat you if you object.”

That was probably a lie. Aang had reached the second elevation, and the Union now had one of Vivi’s runeswords.

Aang let out a laugh. “Crazy woman. I guess I can’t stop you.”

Vivi nodded. “Keep this a secret, please.”

She jumped into the river, hugged Eem tight, and let the waterfall eat her.

*

Vesper yawned, leaning against the battlements atop Zand’s outer wall. Defense duty was stale again. Monster attacks had grown increasingly rare during the last few months, to the point that not a single monster had attacked the walls for the last week.

For a facility that thrived by killing monsters for ether, the lack of attacks was catastrophic.

Vesper stood beside two wolves, Andorr and Venix. Both were big men, sitting half-asleep on the stone, their bows and quivers lying on the ground next to them. Both were friendly enough, but Vesper couldn’t consider them friends.

A few paces to the right, a guardsman snored on a rocking chair, pipe still in mouth. His name was Braxon. He’d carried the rocking chair up to the battlements a few days ago, after the fourth day in a row of no encounters at the walls.

Vesper sighed, watching his sleeping comrades. He, too, was a wolf, having ranked up from a nimrod around a year ago. The life of a nimrod didn’t suit him in the slightest. Joining gangs… Hunting monsters… Squabbling with other nimrods… Vesper couldn’t keep up. He had always been a calm man who enjoyed the cycles of the daylight gems more than the activities of his day.

Defense duty had enticed him to get out of the mess down below. He’d worked hard to earn the trust of the guards, progressing toward the rank of wolf.

In Zand, the promotion from nimrod to wolf had very little to do with one’s strength. A wolf needed to be competent enough, but if strength alone qualified for a promotion, people like Aang would have ranked up to wolf long ago. Yet, every gang leader was still stuck at nimrod.

In reality, ranking up to a wolf was entirely a game of trust and bribery. For a promotion to happen, three guards had to vouch for a nimrod for one reason or another. With the three vouches gathered, either Uundref or Wheryn had to approve of the promotion.

That was how Vesper got his rank, at least. He’d bribed guards with ether, giving them compliments, while subtly hinting that he was interested in joining defense duty. A few weeks of this, and he’d been offered a spot on the wall.

Defense duty was better than killing nimrods. Life as a wolf was the closest thing to the calm life Vesper desired.

Yet… It was still stale. Depressing. Even on the most action-packed days, when countless monsters used to attack the walls every day, Vesper felt empty. He earned wisps of ether, gave them away to guards, and the cycle continued. Life was calm, but it was also meaningless.

I dreamed of building a life with someone… Vesper thought. To start a family. My own farm…

When was the last time he’d even talked to a woman? He used to have crushes; used to feel emotions toward the people of his village. These days… He barely even felt anything when one of his friends died.

Suddenly, Braxon flinched awake. He appeared surprised for a second, then his eyes grew concerned. He stood in a hurry and glanced into the forest of the fourth level.

“What is it?” Vesper asked.

“I sensed something,” Braxon said. “Something is coming.”

The woods were empty. Vesper couldn’t sense anything, looking off into the distance. He was, however, locked at five hundred ether. Braxon’s perception of ether was far wider. He sometimes sensed small monsters approaching the walls.

“What, finally something?” Venix asked. He stood and grabbed his bow.

Braxon’s eyes grew increasingly concerned as he stared off into the woods. Vesper tried to see what the man was looking at.

A pair of green dots appeared within the dark shadows of the trees, peeking out from the treeline. More appeared, spread all across the woods. Vesper watched, frozen in place, as more green red dots filled the woods. In total, there must have been over a hundred dots, and more kept appearing.

“Are those eyes?” Venix asked.

A brighter green glow shone at the very middle of the treeline, on the path leading out of Zand. Vesper squinted, blinded by its brightness.

The monster appeared. It was tall, reaching at least fifteen feet. Its lower body was made entirely of raging fire, like a skirt of ethereal flames. Its head was an elk’s skull. Green glowing eyes stared up at the wall.

“Dear mother of ether…” Braxon whispered.

The monster lifted its staff, pointing it up at the wall. At Vesper’s position. At its command, the green eyes charged forth. Hundreds of monsters appeared from the woods, attacking Zand’s wall.

Braxon gritted his teeth. “Call for the Stewards! It’s an emergency! That’s a Twilight—”

Suddenly, a discharge of ether shot from the monster’s staff. A hole appeared on the side of the battlement as the discharge burned right through, hitting Braxon and Venix. They burned, disintegrating to ash instantly.

Vesper fell on his back, eyes wide, and screamed. He picked up his bow and ran for the stairs. There was no way he would be defending any walls at all against that.

Zand was being attacked by a calamity level boss!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep