Chapter 55 – Freedom Close.

“Do we really have to wait here all day? Maybe we should just go back and report this to the guild?”

Keyon muttered, shifting his weight from foot to foot. The oppressive silence of the dungeon weighed heavily on the adventurers, but it wasn’t enough to make them drop their guard.

“Yeah, I bet those fuckers at the guild will say that we failed the mission otherwise.”

Livi replied in an annoyed tone. The adventurers stood outside the massive doors leading to the boss chamber. The sounds of battle from within had faded, leaving them tense.

“I still can’t believe that thing ran in there. What is that suit of armor?”

Livi asked while giving the chamber door a kick.

“I don’t know, maybe someone’s tamed monster that lost its master? Or just a monster that wandered into the dungeon?”

Keyon replied as he tried to rationalize the situation, but it didn’t quite make sense to them. They knew that natural-born monsters stayed far away from dungeons. This armor was clearly more intelligent than it was supposed to be.

“Yeah, it was definitely thinking. Dungeon monsters don’t act like that. It’s almost like…”

“Like what?”

Livi asked again, raising an eyebrow. She waited for Keyon’s reply, but before the archer could respond, the large door before them started to open. Dedrick, the heavily armored warrior, shifted his weight and moved in front of the party. The dwarf opened his eyes and smiled, ready to finally complete this mission.

“Get ready.”

“Aye. Let’s get this over with and go have a drink. I’m parched.”

The massive doors to the chamber began to creak open, and the party stepped through. They knew how the dungeon rules worked. If the boss was victorious, it would restore its health and be ready for them. They were aware of its rank, strength, and weaknesses. It was not something they couldn’t handle, but what worried them was the living armor. If it managed to best the dungeon boss, it could potentially pose a threat to their group.

All their weapons were raised as they crossed the threshold of the boss chamber. Inside, they witnessed an area with desolate columns, damaged during the monster battle. Once they saw this, they knew the boss monster had lost its battle with the bronze living armor. The room would instantly restore itself to its original form whenever the boss won.

“I don’t see any of them… did they kill each other?”

“I don’t think so, look there,”

Livi replied to Keyon and pointed toward the large throne at the end of the chamber. It had slid open to reveal a new path leading down.

“Did it go down into the treasure room?”

“Possibly, but don’t you think something is off?”

“Yeah… I don’t see the boss anywhere. Where did its body go?”

The monster that was supposed to be in this chamber should still be here. Its body wouldn’t just disappear into thin air; it would be farmed by adventurers for resources. The thick armor it wore was worth good money. Once defeated, adventurers like them would take it apart for later use. However, the large suit of armor was nowhere to be seen. It was as if it had been devoured by the other suit of armor, which was also missing.

“This is indeed strange but there is only one way it could have gone.”

They all wandered around the area that mimicked a noble’s home, but there was only one way to continue: down. The throne always slid to the side after the boss had been defeated, allowing access to the treasure chamber. There, the victor would receive an additional reward for their victory. Beyond it, there was nothing more, as this tenth floor, the boss room, was the final part of the dungeon.

“Found anything?”

“Nah, I don’t think it’s here, it must have gone down…”

All of them moved towards the massive throne, their steps echoing ominously in the vast chamber. They exchanged wary glances, the air heavy with uncertainty. The adventurers had fought through countless monsters to reach this point, but something about this situation felt different.

“Aye, down it is, then,”

Reistel the dwarf grunted, his grip tightening on his axe. All of them knew that their enemy wasn’t normal and the treasure room was a closed space. It was capable of using black magic, something that affected living beings greatly.

“Don’t worry, the guild gave us this as a precaution, even if it uses that dark fog, we should be fine.”

Their team leader took out a silver cross on which strange symbols were engraved. It looked like some sort of magical artifact and its function would allow them to dispatch this armored enemy. Soon they started going down the long ladder with Dedrick moving first and Livi being the last.

“Hm?”

The group leader was about to move but then she heard something rustling in the corner. There a small rock bounced down from under a large pile of rocks. The boss chamber was well-lit but in one area most of the torches had been destroyed. It was covered in a dark shadow, that seemed a bit strange for some reason. Livi, squinted while wondering what this strange feeling was in her gut but before she took a step forward, someone called up from below.

“Hey Livi, is something wrong?”

“… No, I’m coming.”

She shook her head and ignored the shadows that were playing tricks on her mind. The woman assumed that perhaps her nerves were getting to her and it was better to focus on the bronze monster. Livi turned around and descended down the ladder to join her party, leaving the boss chamber and the secret that it held.

*****

‘That was scary, I thought that adventurer could see me for a moment…’

Rusty remained hidden in the darkened part of this boss chamber. He had been lucky that one of the pillars had collapsed towards the corner and created a pocket with darkness. With enough light missing, he was able to activate his skill and wait it out until they finally headed down the ladder. He was lucky enough to level up which restored his MP fully but now, he needed to get out of here.

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‘They are headed towards the treasure room, if what Alexander said was true, then it’s a dead end. Once they realize that I’m not there, they will probably climb right back up…’

Thanks to his guides he was aware of the theoretical dungeon structure. They informed him that this place probably ended on the tenth floor which was also the boss chamber. There was a possibility that an eleventh floor could exist past the boss chamber but this was not the case here. Once a treasure room was spotted, then it meant that the journey was over.

At first, he was planning to pry the ladder of the wall once they had descended but it was far too sturdy. At most, he could start throwing some rubble down the hole in an attempt to block the exit. There were some chunks of the pillars that would fit but he wasn’t sure if they would do the job. Instead, it was probably better to sneak out now and climb to the higher levels where many more hiding spots existed. What he needed to do now, was to find a safe location and evolve to a superior variant.

‘Should I just sneak out now or try to block them from coming back up?’

Rusty thought to himself as he pressed against the wall, moving slowly to minimize noise. The ladder down was about fifty meters away and would take some time to traverse. He considered using the rest of his poisonous worms. They were safely stored in his inventory, but once removed, they would activate, releasing their toxic fog. It might buy him some time, though the adventurers could have countermeasures against it. Approaching the ladder was risky, but before he could make a decision, something intriguing happened.

‘Hm? What is this light?’

His gauntlet sunk into the wall he was leaning up against and a new option presented itself to him. Instead of running back towards the ninth floor, a path had opened up inside of the boss chamber. One of the bricks in the walls was pushable and revealed a secret passage. However, it also produced a lot of noise that the adventurers clearly heard and reacted to. He could hear their voices echoing from below, growing louder as they approached the ladder.

“What was that noise?”

“Did you hear that too?”

“It must have been that monster! Quickly, climb back up.”

Rusty was left with little choice. He quickly retrieved all of the poisonous items from his inventory and hurled them toward the ladder. The worms exploded on contact and also in mid-air, releasing a cloud of toxic fog. Without wasting a moment, he ducked into the secret passage that was beginning to close. He hoped that by the time the adventurers climbed back up, the passage would be hidden, allowing him to avoid them completely.

The wall slid shut behind him, muffling the adventurers’ shouts from the other side. They had encountered the poison mist at the entrance but continued forward. The narrow passage forced Rusty to switch to a shorter blade, allowing him to swing freely. After a few tense moments, the sounds of their footsteps began to fade. It was clear they assumed he had returned to the ninth floor.

‘They left… but what now…’

He straightened himself out and looked into the corridor he found himself in. There was a lone torch in the distance where he probably needed to head to. Before moving, he glanced at his status screen and the newly gained skill he was unable to examine earlier.