Chapter 631 – Torpedo Fishing.

“Rrrr…”

“It’s okay, Agni. It can’t hear or see you, just ignore it.”

Roland spoke while patting his wolf on the back. Not far from them, a large lesser dragon slid across the forest floor. It resembled an enormous anaconda with small horns jutting from its head. It was a drachinid, a creature that would eventually evolve into a true flying dragon with small limbs if given enough time.

The monster’s massive body moved with a faint hiss. Its scales resembled metal plates and carved a shallow groove in the earth as it pushed across the dead leaves. Suddenly, the drachinid paused. Its head lifted, and a forked tongue flicked into the air.

Roland froze and raised a hand to stop Agni from pouncing. Even with the spell hiding them, there was always a chance of their cover failing. Ever since entering this place, the danger had become clear. The area was filled with monsters on their level, and even the smallest mistake could mean death.

The runes still held. They bent the surrounding mana and hid the two of them as if they stood inside a pocket of still air. After a long moment, the creature lowered its head again and continued on its way.

“Was that instinct or did it sense something strange?”

When the monster’s shape finally vanished into the darkness, Roland let out a slow breath. Countless small things could expose him. A snapped twig, a shift in the airflow around his concealed body, or anything else that might feel unnatural to a monster born to hunt. There were many improvements he wanted to make to the spell, but for now, it was enough to move through this area, which was slowly turning into a swamp.

“Come on, Agni. Stay out of the shallow water. They even have dragon frogs here.”

Lesser dragons came in every shape and size. They were not only giant lizards but also creatures mixed with birds, fish, and amphibians. Some carried the power of water, ice, earth, fire, or wind. Each tried to claim its own element, and this dungeon section held all of them. It gave Roland many weaknesses to exploit, but for the moment, he was still at the early stage of his grind. He focused on areas far from the other adventurers and their fortified camp.

‘Once I am finished with this area, I wonder where I should go. It would be great if they had any undead drachinids here.’

His progress had been steady since arriving in this part of the dungeon, yet his mind was already drifting toward future plans. One problem continued to slow him down, as information gathering was never simple. His golems roamed far and wide, but there were places they could not infiltrate.

The first was the adventurer stronghold. He had to treat that area with caution. A few of his smallest spider drones had slipped inside, but he eventually forced them into dormancy because several mages had almost discovered them.

The second was the deeper region of the dungeon, where monsters exceeded level two hundred fifty. The mana density there was overwhelming. It prevented his smallest spiders from entering, disrupted his runes, and made mapping the area impossible. He would need to go in person, create stronger golems capable of surviving that environment, or obtain information that someone else had already gathered.

‘An infiltration mission…’

Roland never thought of himself as a skilled infiltrator or actor. He had managed to fool people at the magical academy and even during Robert’s trial, yet none of it had ever felt natural. Still, the quickest way to learn what he needed was to visit the stronghold where the adventurers lived. There, he could gather the information he wanted and leave right after. There was some danger involved, but his analysis suggested the risk was low.

“Woof!”

“Yeah, I see it, Agni. We are here.”

Lost in thought, Roland finally arrived at the area he had been searching for. On the map he had drawn, the lake did not look very spacious, but now that he was here, it stretched out far wider than he had expected. In the dim, false starlight of the cavern sky, its surface shone like polished obsidian. Mist drifted above the water, and thin threads of mana drifted through the air as if beckoning them toward the dark expanse.

“It looks peaceful, but…”

He moved closer to the shore and picked up a rock from the ground. Agni watched him and wiggled his tail as if he expected a game of fetch.

“No, Agni. Do not go into the water. Just watch for now.”

“Worf?”

Agni seemed disappointed, but he sat down and observed as his master tossed a hand-sized rock into the lake. It flew in a clean arc and was about to land more than one hundred meters away. However, before it touched the surface, a monster burst from the water and snapped at it.

“Woof!”

“See? I told you. This lake might have lesser dragons in it, but they are not the only creatures living here.”

The fish was about the size of a dolphin and had a wide jaw filled with sharp teeth. The rock fell lightly between its jaws and was crushed into dust in a single bite. The creature splashed back into the lake, and the water quickly settled.

This was one of the reasons no adventurers tried to hunt the deep lake drachinids. Anyone hoping to reach them first needed to get past swarms of flesh-eating monster fish that ranked at the lower end of tier three.

“This better work.”

Roland mumbled to himself as he deactivated his concealment spell and released several of his golems into the area. First, he needed to seal the place with a sound barrier because anything too loud would only cause trouble. The next step was dealing with the shark-sized piranhas. If he failed to lure them away, they would become a serious problem for his torpedoes. The toothy fish would swarm them at once and trigger them before he could draw in the drachinids he intended to hunt.

“Now then, strap in, Agni. This might take a while to set up.”

Night had just fallen, and the area around the lake was nearly empty, which made it the perfect moment to act. His golems fanned out in every direction, even rising above the lake itself. Before long, he had a complete map of the entire region along with a view from above. Even better, he could make out countless small dots within the lake, each representing a monster.

“Now then, time to get the sensors into the lake.”

With the outer perimeter prepared, he needed to determine what was happening underwater. The lake was enormous, far too large to fill with poison or to cook the monsters inside with magic, at least not within a reasonable amount of time. Instead, he intended to use more precise weapons after gathering most or possibly all of the creatures and eliminating them in a single strike.

From within his spatial storage, he took out another floating golem. It had the form of a dodecahedron similar to the one the adventurers had destroyed, although this version was slightly larger. It also carried what appeared to be an antenna on both its upper and lower sides. Once released, it drifted toward the section of the lake where he had seen the monster fish leap out. It hovered at a safe height, and then he activated the first phase of his plan.

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‘Now then, let’s get the frequency right.’

When the floating golem activated, its two small antennas began to vibrate and produced a sound that resembled buzzing. Agni’s ears twitched as he whimpered and shifted uneasily from paw to paw.

“Just bear with it for now. You will get used to it.”

Roland whispered the reassurance while he adjusted the golem’s sound output. The buzzing deepened and changed into a low ripple that spread across the lake. At first, nothing happened. The surface remained still, lit only by the shimmering imitation starlight of the dungeon sky. Then a single ripple appeared, followed by another. Soon, the entire lake began to quiver as the monsters gathered.

“Good, they are reacting to the sound.”

Once the frequency stabilized, he watched the monster fish gather in one place. The flat surface of the lake shifted as several waves converged on the center. Moments later, directly beneath the floating golem, several monster fish leapt upward in an attempt to devour it.

“Good, it is working. Only the fish are reacting.”