Chapter 45: Ambush
[Congratulations! Host has completed Dungeon Quest and has done the impossible!]
[Rewards: 1,000,000 JP, 100,000 Gacha Tokens, 1000 Recruitment Vouchers, Five Heroes Summons Coupon, Epic Police Cruiser, Epic Void Annihilation BY15.]
Roy’s mouth almost watered as he read through the rewards. The system is really generous, huh?
From the Justice Points to the Recruitment Vouchers and even the Gacha Tokens, the rewards were bountiful. He licked his lips, anticipating the spending spree he would be on once he got home.
And that wasn’t even mentioning the other rewards...
[Five Heroes Summons Coupon: Legendary Tier!
Details: A sacred rune script that allows for the summon of heroes from time past, beings who echo divine embers will be at the summoner’s beck and call...]
Roy’s eyes glistened. This was awesome. Getting top-tier subordinates — what wasn’t there to be excited about?
His eyes trailed to the next...
[Star Chaser Police Cruiser: Epic Rank
Details: Who dares run from the law? Nothing, not even light, can outpace justice!]
He licked his lips after the read. This car... was definitely something.
And finally, for the only weapon reward, he read through its specs expectantly.
[Void Annihilation BY15: Epic Rank
Type: Shotgun
Damage: 480
Fire Rate: 1 per second
Caliber: —]
This... wasn’t this a bit too illegal?
How many creatures in Arcana dared boast that they could endure a damage rate of 480?!
Heck, how many even had stats beyond 200?
Didn’t that mean that with this gun in hand, he was... invincible?
He gulped hard, though. He could surmise that using this gun would come with restrictions. After all, it was a shotgun. Still, he couldn’t help but marvel.
Unfortunately, he dared not test the gun. After all, a gun with such high damage — only God knew how bone-cracking the recoil would be...
Sigh... meaning I have such an overpowered weapon and I can only use it sparingly. And worse, the stronger I get, the higher the damage, meaning the time when I can use such a weapon with ease isn’t anytime soon.
The despair!
If an Epic shotgun was this crazy, how much more a Legendary one?
He needed to get Constitution reinforcement skills, and fast. If not, there would come a time when he would have weapons too powerful for use, restricting his combat options severely.
Sulking, Roy waited patiently for Dio to finish packing things up before bidding farewell to Vera and her crew.
Suddenly, a voice brought him out of his self-pity.
"Are you sure you don’t need us to escort you or anything?" Vera couldn’t help but ask once more. She still had things to deal with here in the dungeon before she could leave.
She had offered for Roy to hold on for her so they could depart together, but he refused. He also declined her attempt to escort him.
"As I said before, there’s no need for that. The moment me and Dio step out, we’ll be driving straight back home, so no worries." Roy assured once more. Remembering something, he added, "But make sure not to forget to send over the special unaffiliated hunter you spoke so much about."
Vera’s lips bloomed into a beautiful smile. "No worries. I’ll be sure to deliver him myself."
And after some further exchanges of words, the two sides bade farewell as Roy and his prisoner Dio made their way to the teleportation circle which led out of the dungeon.
Finally it’s over. Not only did I gain personal benefits and level advances on this expedition, I also hoarded astronomical resources that would come in handy for my territory and recruits.
And with that thought running in his mind, a blinding flash burst from beneath their feet as they both vanished from sight.
...
Outside the dungeon, at the abyssal regions of the forest edges, away from the fluorescent brilliance surrounding the dungeon opening, a couple of men lay in ambush.
"Tsk! I still don’t understand why we aren’t in the dungeon by now," one of the men spat in discontent.
A figure with chilling crimson pupils glanced at the scornful teammate of his. Frowning, he tried to explain once more.
"Rushing mindlessly into the dungeon wouldn’t bring benefits. It could potentially expose our presence and rid us of our only edge over the opponent — the element of surprise. That could lead to failure of the mission... and need I remind you what Lord Lux thinks of failures?"
By the time the crimson-eyed figure’s aloof voice finished speaking, the others were dead silent, their expressions warped in reprehension and fear. They knew what would become of them if they failed this mission...
Despite the explanation, another couldn’t help but voice his concern still. "But what if they ended up dying within? And this delays us... in Lord Lux’s eyes, that’s no less than failure and we would still end up..."
A chill ran down his spine along with the others as he dared not finish his statement. They didn’t need to hear the rest to picture their fate.
The red-eyed individual observed this coldly as he clarified, "Waiting here in ambush can only result in three possible outcomes...
The first, like you just said: Lord Vera and her entourage do not make it out of the dungeon, which is highly likely, as we have not gotten any sight of them for the past three days since we arrived. But no worries. After one more day, we will split forces — one will venture into the dungeon to confirm their deaths, and the other will carry the news to Lord Lux."
Only on hearing this did the others feel reassured. But someone still asked curiously, "What about the remaining two possible outcomes?"
The red-eyed man continued, eyes remaining trained on the dungeon opening.
"Number two: they either exit the dungeon after advancing through a couple of floors before quitting, which would give us the chance to rob and raid them of their gains and information about the nature of the dungeon. This is another very high possible factor...
But number three is highly unlikely, and almost impossible. In this scenario, they exit the dungeon after clearing the level 30 dungeon in less than four days, meaning we’ve severely underestimated the strength of Lord Vera. But that still wouldn’t be an issue. After all, clearing the dungeon so fast would cost them their stamina, meaning we could still raid and capture them easily..."
The red-eyed man had barely finished speaking when his eyes lit up with a sinister glint. "Be on alert! I see two individuals. This is probably scenario two. Everyone get ready to attack!"
The others got into formation, their weapons exiting their inventory as they got ready to surround the two pitiful individuals.
Their eyes filled with cold concentration. And just as he was about to give the signal to attack, the red-eyed man suddenly realized that one of the individuals that had just exited the dungeon suddenly gazed in their direction — regal blue eyes cutting through the shadows and meeting his gaze.
A prickling chill crept through his spine. Was... was that a coincidence?
He could barely understand if his mind was playing tricks on him when suddenly the individual upped and vanished.
His mouth opened in an attempt to alert the others perching eagerly on the trees around when suddenly a cold grip clamped his mouth shut.
His eyes strained to the left, trying to get a glance at the person responsible for this, but it was too dark. Only a pair of scorching blue pupils could be seen.
Suddenly, a dangerously cold voice rang silently in his ears, barely a whisper.
"Who the hell are you? Who sent you? I will advise you to speak, as I’m not in the mood for games..."