Chapter 155: Chapter 155 - Perish
When Lucien confirmed the area was safe, he summoned Elias once more to chart the route ahead.
Together, they pressed deeper into the Black Mass. Lucien walked at his side with his blade still warm from slaughter. He ensured no beast dared draw near to the Pathfinder.
As they advanced, his gaze fell on the towering silhouettes in the distance.
He finnaly realized what those crooked constructs truly were after a series of contemplation.
The Obsidian Tower that pierced through the storm-dark clouds. And the other twisted spires that bent at impossible angles.
They were once ordinary dungeons. The same dungeons that scarred the Northwest Territories.
"Damn," Lucien muttered. "What are dungeons, anyway? There are no dungeons in the Big World."
The mystery gnawed at him. Still, the recognition told him much. Now he knew what kind of monsters lurked inside these structures.
His eyes lingered on the Obsidian Tower. It might be the Golddust Dungeon.
The monsters inside?
"Must be goblins..."
He didn’t even need to guess. The strange items Malrik and Magnus carried were proof enough.
’Golddust, huh... Truly fitting for the image of goblins. The first monsters to betray humanity. And in the end, the Golddusts did exactly the same.’
The thought unsettled him. Goblins were the most cunning of creatures. Hesitation had no place here. Only a flawless strike would suffice.
Just then...
His senses sharpened.
Monsters.
"Return first, Elias. Conserve your strength," Lucien commanded.
Elias bowed once more and Lucien stored him within his core.
The killing began.
•••
Not long after...
Lucien neared one of the crooked structures. He climbed to a nearby cliff and concealed his presence. He gazed down below.
What he saw was grotesque.
The tower twisted unnaturally. Its body bent like a spine broken in too many places. Its windows blinked like eyes and the colossal gate yawned like a mouth eager to swallow men whole.
But what froze him wasn’t the tower... It was what waited outside it.
A sprawling barracks.
An army of more than ten thousand monsters stood gathered.
Gnolls.
Lucien’s throat tightened. "Damn... this Black Mass really makes every monster look buffed out."
One Gnoll in particular caught his attention. It was a giant towering over the rest with muscles thick as stone pillars.
The commander.
Lucien’s lips twitched.
"Ooh, look at those muscles. Uncle Ed would lose out here..."
The gnolls were grotesque parodies of men. They were hyena-headed and clad in crude armor. Yet here in the Black Mass, they resembled hulking bodybuilders. Their muscles flexed beneath the dim light like they were sculpted from nightmares.
Lucien exhaled slowly. There were only about ten thousand here. He didn’t need his whole army.
Lucien resolved to summon two of his strongest people. It’s not merely to crush the enemy but to remind the army of the might that stood among them.
His voice rang within the Divine Energy Core.
"Grandpa Ciel. Ronan. I need you here. Please swallow your Repellant Pills first. Clara, give them buffs."
Inside the core, the order stirred the troops.
Ever since Lucien acquired the Origin Core Fragment, he no longer needed to sink his full consciousness to oversee them. His will alone carried across and he could see what’s happening inside.
Clara immediately set to work. She layered buffs upon the two.
Meanwhile, the Gargoyle Drones fed everyone a vision of the gnoll army.
The soldiers inside gasped. The sight of muscle-bound gnolls shocked even seasoned veterans.
Edric, in one corner, flexed his biceps in protest. He couldn’t stand being outclassed in raw muscle. His veins bulged as if declaring war on the gnolls themselves.
He burned with the urge to fight yet he held himself back. Greater battles awaited and his strength could not be squandered.
Lucien had promised him and Maxim. Vengeance against the Golddusts. All they needed now was patience.
Cielius and Ronan, however, understood Lucien’s intent instantly.
"Grandpa Ciel, please cast your strongest spell. But do it inside. The monsters may notice if you cast outside. Ronan, the leader is yours to slay. Prepare your skill. When I give the signal, strike."
Both of them nodded.
Cielius closed his eyes. He summoned the ancient magic spell he had recently mastered through Cienna’s guidance beyond the Door.
Khthonic Cataclysm.
Ronan mirrored him. The Twinheart Crystal Lucien had given him had awakened his locked skill. His blades hummed with destructive energy. The skill was his greatest triumph.
Heaven-Sundering Blade.
The place trembled under the weight of their combined aura. Even seasoned warriors inside stared in awe. Now they understood. Lucien’s army was not merely strong. It was overwhelming.
"Are you ready?" Lucien asked.
"Always, grandson." Cielius replied.
"I’m ready, Young Lord." Ronan said.
Lucien released them.
And the world itself seemed to shatter.
Cielius unleashed Khthonic Cataclysm.
The ground below cracked open. Lava gushed upward as water collided against it, birthing boiling steam. Winds tore through the barracks, lifting gnolls into the air as if the world sought to consume them whole.
The gnolls shrieked in chaos.
But their commander roared, rallying them. The beasts found safe paths, dodging through destruction with uncanny instinct.
That was when Ronan moved.
His twin blades crossed.
Target locked.
Heaven-Sundering Blade.
The swords merged into one devastating strike. A colossal X of light carved across the battlefield.
No shield, no formation, not even powerful artifacts could withstand it.
The massive gnoll commander froze as the cross-shaped scar tore through him. His body split and it fell to the earth with a final guttural cry.
Lucien shifted Morphis into a bow. He rained divine arrows that split mid-flight, slaughtering the survivors.
The world fell silent once more.
In mere seconds, ten thousand monsters had been annihilated.
Lucien surveyed the field with pride.
The gnolls were no weaklings. The commander was Tier 9 and the rest ranged from Tier 5 to Tier 8. Yet, they had perished in seconds.
Of course, Lucien could have handled it himself. But doing so would waste precious time. And in war, time was as fatal a resource as blood.
More than that... If he fought every battle alone, what was the point of leading an army? His strength was not only his blade but the might of those who followed him.
He dispatched a Gargoyle Drone into his core, replaying the battle for all to see.
The soldiers roared and their morale blazed brighter than ever. Pride surged within them. If two of their number could erase ten thousand foes, what could two hundred thousand accomplish?
This was precisely Lucien’s intent.
Strength alone could win battles... but only unshakable morale could win wars. And he meant to kindle it into an unquenchable flame.
"Good work, Grandpa Ciel and Ronan."
"Hohoho," Cielius laughed as his chest swelled with pride. "This much is natural, grandson. After all, this is the spell your mother taught me."
"Young Lord," Ronan bowed his head. "I unlocked this skill because of you. I’m grateful I can finally protect what I must."
Lucien smiled but they wasted no time. Together, the three descended toward the crooked tower.
They marched past the mangled remains of the fallen Gnolls.
With a flick of his hand, Cielius set the corpses ablaze, reducing them to ash until only their mana cores remained.
Lucien auto-collected the cores and gathered the scattered drops with effortless ease. Their path pressed on until the crooked tower loomed before them...
Up close, it was worse. The structure pulsed faintly as though alive.
They passed through gates shaped like a gaping maw as though the tower itself intended to swallow them whole.
Inside, the walls throbbed like the chambers of a grotesque heart. The air was heavy with rot. The stench of flesh and decay seeped into their very skin. Every step felt like trespassing through the bowels of something alive.
Lucien sensed no danger yet something within the tower beckoned him forward.
The structure itself was strange. Its architecture twisted and crooked yet with a precision that felt deliberate. It was as though the tower had been designed this way, not by accident but to mislead and deter trespassers.
To navigate its warped halls, Lucien summoned Elias. The pathfinder moved with uncanny ease, guiding them unerringly through the distorted passages.
At last, they emerged at the summit.
There at the tower’s heart, Lucien found it.
The Dungeon Core?
Instead of radiating the pure mana, it pulsed with miasma. Each beat was a throb of corruption like the heartbeat of something vile that refused to die.
And then... Lucien’s blood ran cold.
The walls of the upper floor were not stone at all... but rifts. Vast tears in space stretched open like city gates. Their edges warped reality, threatening at any moment to disgorge something immense and unspeakable.
"Elk," Lucien called her out.
She stepped forward without hesitation. This was what they had prepared for. Lucien and Sebas had briefed her beforehand.
They both suspected that there would be more of the dungeons that conceal more than one of these cursed breaches. And now, their foresight was proven true.
Elk, the best tailor, was the perfect counter to such a threat. With Void Thread clasped in her hands, she conjured needles of mana. Her fingers moved with impossible precision.
Thread after thread laced across the air as though she were mending the fabric of reality itself. One by one, the rifts were stitched shut. The portals collapsed into silence under the steady rhythm of her craft.
"Young Lord, it is done." Elk bowed lightly.
It hadn’t even taken her a full minute. The rifts that once threatened to swallow the chamber were gone. They were all stitched out of existence.
The group could only stare. Elk was not a warrior nor did she wield brute force like the others. Yet in her own way, she was formidable beyond measure.
"Good work," Lucien said with a wide smile.
Lucien turned back to the core.
Suddenly...
A thought struck him.
"What if..."
He extended his divine energy, enveloping the core.
And in an instant—
It vanished into his Divine Energy Core.
’It worked!’
His eyes widened. Everyone’s eyes widened.
Another dungeon... might be born inside him.
’Of course, I have to purify it later...’
But still... the though excites him.
Justs then... the ground shook violently.
"Everyone. Please return first. I’ll call you again later."
He enveloped them with his divine energy and with a flick of will, he stored them away and dashed out of the structure.
The crooked tower shuddered.
Lucien’s blade swept across the grotesque eye-like windows, shattering them without resistance. The structure gave way as though it had been waiting for his strike. He leapt into the open air, descending in controlled steps. He skywalked toward the ground.
Then he saw it—
The crooked tower groaned. Its twisted frame collapsed in upon itself. With a thunderous crash, it crumbled into dust.
The sound echoed for miles like a war drum.
"Damn it," Lucien hissed, darting into the cover of shadows. The noise would surely draw attention.
Yet amidst the ruin, his mind was sharp. Now he understood what must be done first.
If each crooked dungeon harbored an army such as this, he could not afford hesitation. He would have to strike first. Tear them down before the monsters could ever gather in strength.
And if each one contained a core... then so much the better.