Chapter 562 – Calm Before The Attack.

“Step back, it’s closing!”

A heavy metallic groan echoed through the dim tunnel, followed by a deep vibration that rumbled through the stone beneath their feet. Sparks shot from the walls as runic mechanisms pushed a massive steel frame forward. It was a solid slab of metal, at least a meter thick.

“I wish I were on the other side…”

Armand stood just beyond the threshold, eyes fixed on the towering wall of dwarven-forged steel. He let out a sigh of disappointment as strange clasps on the sides locked into place. A series of bolts began to spin, slowly driving themselves into the tunnel walls—likely added reinforcement to keep the monsters from breaking through.

“If Wayland was right, we’ll get our chance. For now, let’s get back to the portal and make sure everyone gets out.”

Lobelia leaned against the wall, the bow Roland had crafted for her resting across her back.

“Bah, fine!”

Armand kicked a loose rock, sending it tumbling down the now mostly empty corridor. Aside from a handful of remaining adventurers, the place had been cleared out following the evacuation order. He and Lobelia walked alongside a few dwarves who had stayed behind to help operate the closing mechanism. Some of them pushed heavy carts loaded with metallic canisters, each one filled with mana fluid harvested from the area.

“I never could have imagined this.”

Lobelia said, breaking the silence. Her voice carried a hint of admiration.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Armand, lost in thought about the monsters that might appear, turned to her with a curious glance.

“This whole thing,”

She replied while gesturing around.

“Big sis getting married, Albrook becoming… whatever it is now. And look at us. We’re rubbing shoulders with nobility. If we really wanted to, we could probably end up as knight commanders, just like Wayland.”

“Hah! I knew from the start there was something different about that bastard!”

Armand puffed out his chest, boasting as if everything had gone according to his grand plan. But Lobelia cut him off before he could get too carried away. She remembered all too well how his first encounter with Roland had gone.

“You did? Didn’t you attack him and get your ass handed to you?”

“T-that was… different.”

“It’s a good thing Wayland’s so open-minded. Otherwise, you’d probably be dead by now.”

“Haha! I would’ve found a way to escape. You’re underestimating the great Lord Armand!”

“Lord?”

Lobelia raised an eyebrow at the title.

“They say people get wiser with age… but with you, I’m starting to think it’s the opposite. Have you actually gotten dumber?”

Armand clutched his chest in mock pain, his expression theatrical.

“You wound me, dear sister! My intellect ages like fine wine!”

“More like milk.”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a playful shove, nearly knocking him into one of the dwarves. The dwarf grunted and muttered something under his breath that sounded very uncomplimentary. Before they could continue walking, a voice echoed through the corridor, it was the voice of the man responsible for the entire operation.

“Guide the dwarves to the teleportation gate and make sure that everyone makes it out in one piece. Once everyone’s out, return with them.”

“Aye, boss!”

Lobelia responded with her best Bernir impression, speaking into the armband on her wrist. She wasn’t entirely sure how the runic device worked, but it kept her in contact with Roland as long as she was within the city’s range. It was both fascinating and a little unsettling how he could keep tabs on them from afar.

“Are the monsters coming? Will we get a grand battle?”

Armand leaned in close to her wrist, trying to listen in. She immediately kicked him away with an irritated scowl.

“You’ve got your own wrist thing, you big oaf! Don’t spit in my ear!”

Lobelia rolled her eyes again, but a faint smirk tugged at her lips. Despite all his antics, Armand had a way of keeping things light, which was something they all needed now. Even as a tier-3 archer, she felt the tension creeping in. From what she understood, this dungeon break would not be like the others. It was going to be worse. More powerful monsters, more chaos. Behind them, the corridor groaned once more as the last of the dwarves hauled their carts past the second reinforced door.

“Is everyone out? Great, close it!”

“Hey, what about that thing? Are we just leaving it in there?”

Armand pointed toward a strange contraption hidden beneath a heavy cloth. Something dark stuck out from under the covering, its surface marked with a zigzag pattern he did not recognize.

“I guess so? If it wasn’t supposed to stay, he would have said something. Let’s just go.”

The massive door slammed shut with a thunderous clang, followed by the familiar hiss of the locking mechanisms they had seen previously. With the task complete, the group began making their way out. The monsters inside the dungeon had already been eliminated by the automated turret systems, leaving the area temporarily secure. In time, Armand, Lobelia, and the remaining adventurers reached the teleportation gate.

Once activated, the gate shimmered to life, and they stepped through, arriving in Albrook where the others had already gathered and were anxiously waiting. Within a few hours, the monsters would come. And despite everything, Armand and Lobelia could not help feeling both excited and afraid

*****

‘Good, the dungeon is now empty. How is the monster concentration looking?’

Roland glanced at his display as Armand and Lobelia arrived at the main city teleportation facility. With their return, they could finally begin assembling their forces at the walls that had been constructed for such an occasion. For a while, the city had been reinforced from all sides to become a proper fortress to keep the people inside safe, and now was the time to test it.

‘Nothing yet but, the concentration is increasing, the exit is starting to form.’

There were sensors placed within the underground dungeon, but the dense mana concentration made accurate predictions difficult. However, months of siphoning mana had forced the dungeon’s exit tunnel to form much farther away than it was likely intended to. This was the true purpose of the culling, something engineered by the super dungeon itself.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

When Roland first discovered the place, he was confused. But over time, the mystery revealed itself. The dungeon was creating underground tunnels by slowly eroding the rock with mana while simultaneously reinforcing the passages to a staggering degree. This was why it had taken so long to dig their way into the area, but once inside, the nature of the threat became clear.

Somehow, the dungeon was extending its tunnels beneath the entire island, and worse still, it was targeting large settlements like Albrook. If Roland had not uncovered that path, the tunnel might have emerged directly within the city. Fortunately, they had managed to redirect the process. Now, the exit was forced to form half a kilometer outside the main defensive walls.

It had been nothing but pure luck that he managed to discover it. The walls surrounding the area were thick and designed to prevent any mana from leaking out. That was why it had remained hidden from the higher-tier mages and warriors living above ground.

The only reason he had sensed anything unusual was because the tunnel happened to be located near an actively expanding dungeon. The two dungeons had reacted to one another, with the one he had previously cleared resonating in response to the mana-saturated tunnels nearby. This resonance triggered a strange fluctuation in the surrounding mana, catching his attention. That chain reaction was what ultimately led to the tunnel’s discovery.