“How many enemies are left?”
“…We’re missing three.”
“Damn it. They got away.”
Though the battle ended in victory, Weyrn let out a low sigh.
It seemed he was troubled by the fact that some had escaped.
But only for a moment.
The bounty hunters tracking team had discovered the fugitives’ trail.
“They’re over there.”
It was none other than the portal that had formed just as the Heavenly Church appeared.
It was the entrance to the hidden dungeon, triggered by Jun’s activation of the hidden piece.
“Looks like they’ve gone inside the dungeon.”
“Tsk, did I waste my magic?”
“No, not at all. Thanks to you, our lives were saved.”
At first glance, it looked like the enemies had taken advantage of the confusion caused by Jun’s magic to escape, but without his intervention, the bounty hunters cursed by the enemies would not have survived.
Knowing this, the bounty hunters gave Jun a look of gratitude.
“We’ve just checked the bodies of the enemies. It seems we lost their leader, who is our main target.”
“What about the curse mage?”
“…….”
It seemed that one had escaped as well.
It was an empty situation. This left the hunters in a difficult position.
Not only would it not count as a properly completed mission, but they also couldn’t predict what their enemies might do next.
“I know this is a shameless request… but could I ask a favor?”
“Go ahead.”
“I’d like to enter the dungeon with you.”
Was capturing the Heavenly Church that important to him?
Even as hunters, they were well aware of how shameless it was to intrude on a dungeon discovered by someone else.
Jun naturally turned his head toward his team.
Colton nodded as if to say they should accept, and Aiden seemed to be considering it as well.
Maya, for some reason, showed no discernible emotion as she looked at Weyrn.
“Do we really have to capture them?”
“…Yes. There are some personal reasons, but it’s also a matter of our honor.”
Jun thought to himself how convenient it was that these people were clinging to something like honor.
To think they were trying to explain everything away with a single word—honor.
But if he were to question that honor now, it would greatly offend them.
In the end, Jun agreed to the request.
After all, three enemies who even knights would struggle to face had entered the dungeon.
Considering their safety, it was a necessary decision.
“The discussion’s more or less over, so let’s move on to the profit distribution.”
***
As a result, the profits the bounty hunters were set to receive were so poor that if the mercenary industry heard about it, they’d point fingers, saying not even the worst thugs could pull such a scam.
However, just stepping into an undiscovered dungeon like this would yield them significant benefits.
Even the information about the hidden dungeon alone could be sold for a high price, and it would be a huge boost to the honor they so desperately chased.
“We finally got in…”
The Witch’s Forest.
After taking an adequate rest, they entered the hidden dungeon.
But contrary to its name, it wasn’t a complete forest; it was more like a plain with clusters of trees here and there.
“Is the destination over that way?”
Jun nodded his head at Weyrn’s question.
Smoke was rising not far from them.
“So, we’ll proceed in the same formation as before.”
The direction the smoke trailed led to a densely wooded area.
Since it was unclear when members of the Heavenly Church might jump out, the bounty hunters took the front lines.
Just like before, Jun held the center, with Aiden and Maya protecting him, while Colton’s mercenary group guarded the rear.
Not long after, they came across a cabin where the smoke had been coming from.
The only difference now was the bloodstains scattered around the area.
“Thankfully, nothing major happened. But this…”
“These are their traces.”
Just as Weyrn had said, it was clear that the Heavenly Church had taken an interest in this dungeon.
“Mercenary, should we proceed inside?”
“Go ahead.”
At Jun’s words, Weyrn cautiously entered the cabin.
There were traces of blood scattered around. Torn bandages lay around the place as if someone had tried to perform emergency treatment here.
But perhaps even that had its limits.
In the end, one of them didn’t make it.
“The magic was stronger than expected, but unfortunately, it’s just a grunt. Not the leader or the mage.”
“…….”
Jun quietly gazed at the corpse; over half of its body was burned. He then finally spoke.
“So, that leaves just two of them?”
“Most likely. But this dungeon is strange. We didn’t encounter any monsters on the way here.”
At Weyrn’s remark, Jun took another glance around the cabin.
Fortunately, the Heavenly Church seemed too preoccupied with treating their injuries to disturb much of the cabin’s contents.
“This place once belonged to an ancient witch.”
“Just like the dungeon’s name suggests?”
“Yes.”
Jun’s gaze shifted toward the fireplace, where he spotted a portrait resting above it.
Even without much knowledge of art, he could tell that the painting was crafted by a highly skilled hand.
Could this have been the owner of the cabin?
The portrait depicted a woman with purple hair. She was seated gracefully and was wearing a gentle smile.
“According to an old text I found in a gaming community, this was once the hideout of a witch. One day, a religious group came looking for her. Naturally, their goal was to kill her.”
However, the witch had not been an easy target.
Jun pulled the lever he found behind the portrait of the witch.
Clank.
“Her only wish was a simple one. To live a peaceful life in this forest. But the world didn’t even allow her that.”
Rumble, rumble, rumble—!
Suddenly, a loud noise began to echo from all around.
No, it was coming from outside the cabin.
The entire forest was shaking.
“And what the religious group failed to realize was that she wasn’t just an ordinary witch.”
Despite the massive earthquake, the inside of the cabin remained eerily still. It was such a strange contrast.
The scenery of the forest continued to change with each passing moment. As if a disaster had struck, trees were being ripped from the ground, and the lush green earth erupted like a volcano.
“The witch wouldn’t have hidden here without preparing for something like this.”
Finally.
In the distance, beneath the crumbling earth, a huge gray wall began to rise.
A wall that encircled a one-kilometer radius perfectly. Around the cabin, several other buildings also started to appear.
“The true identity of the witch, who had long secluded herself here, was the last descendant of a group that once ruled the world in the mythical era before the ancient era.”
Only then did changes begin inside the cabin.
The ordinary furniture suddenly radiated a faint magical power, and soon, the landscape beyond the cabin’s window reflected the scene outside the walls.
And beyond that view, something even more shocking was unfolding.
“Wh-What is that…?”
From the once-quiet forest outside, the roar of something monstrous echoed.
The view outside the window clearly revealed the source of the roar.
“It’s a giant war golem, the greatest war weapon of the mythical age. This was once controlled by the witch’s ancestors.”
Its size was so immense that it was hard to comprehend.
Compared to that, the golem they’d seen in the Black Forest felt like nothing more than a child’s toy.
“Do we have to fight that thing?”
Colton’s voice wavered; he was clearly unsettled by the sheer size of the creature but Jun shook his head before reassuring him.
“No, of course not. That would be a level 8 dungeon at the very least. If anything, it’s on our side.”
“O-On our side?”
“Yes. This dungeon… it’s a defense type.”
“A defense? You mean, like a defensive raid?”
At that moment, the sound of horns echoed from afar.
“The ancient religious group, the Erbonach Church. They’re the enemies we’ll be facing in this dungeon.”
Surely, the remnants of the Heavenly Church were also somewhere inside these walls.
From now on, Jun and the others had to defend against the advancing Erbonach Church, all while keeping an eye on the Heavenly Church remnants lurking behind them.
***
The dungeon, “The Witch’s Forest”, was a hidden piece with its own unique story.
And the progression of the dungeon was deeply tied to that story.
“I’ll explain the plan from now on, so listen carefully.”
The strategy for clearing “The Witch’s Forest” was complicated in many ways.
First, the advancing Erbonach Church will be blocked by the giant war golems. However, since this in itself wasn’t the perfect defense, they needed manpower to guard the walls.
“Aiden and I will handle that part.”
“Just the two of you?”
Colton asked, and Jun nodded his head.
“There are giant war golems outside, but there are also smaller golems inside the fortress.”
They were given basic golems, including an archer type that shoots arrows and a defender type that blocks the entrance with a huge shield.
“Of course, the golems don’t have infinite power. Just looking at them, you can tell they must consume a huge amount of energy, right?”
“Well, yeah…”
“So, Colton, you and your team need to find the power sources.”
“Power sources?”
“Yeah, find the many magic stones scattered around the village. That’s your job, to collect them and place them on the altar in that temple.”
“Sounds like we’ll be running around like crazy… but are we going to be okay? If those Heavenly bastards or whatever show up…”
“I’ll send Maya with you.”
Maya who had reached the peak of level 4 would be more than enough to handle them.
“Hmph. If it’s just two of them, we should be fine. Got it!”
“What about us? What should we do?”
Weyrn asked with a determined expression on his face.
But in reality, there wasn’t much the hunters needed to do here.
From the start, Jun had planned to clear this dungeon with the forces he already had.
It wasn’t as if they were going to fight in place of the golems, so he pointed to the vast village and said,
“You’re still the pursuit team. Find those Heavenly Church members and eliminate any variables.”
“…Understood.”
They had already realized there wasn’t much for them to do and accepted Jun’s orders without resistance.
“Then, let’s all head to our positions.”
***
Bwoooooooo――!
Rumble――!
“W-Wow…”
Aiden who was standing before the fortress gate couldn’t close his mouth as he watched the battle unfolding outside.
The golems were so tall that he had to crane his neck just to see their faces, and with every step they took, it felt as if the earth itself shook.
Five of these golems surrounded the outer walls and were guarding them.
Facing off against the golems were paladins clad in softly glowing heavy armor.
The sight was so breathtaking that it would have been awe-inspiring even on a movie screen, but now that it was happening right before his eyes, something stirred deeply within Jun’s heart as well.
Why do mecha stuff always make a man’s heart race like this?
For a moment, he watched their battle with similar feelings as Aiden.
Soon, the paladins pierced through parts of the light barrier surrounding the walls and began to enter.
“Senior, they’re coming!”
“We don’t need to exhaust ourselves just yet.”
Just as Jun had said, the paladins who had broken through the light barrier fell after they got struck by arrows.
But the size of the arrows embedded in their chests was far from ordinary.
“There’s no way we can deflect something like that with a sword…”
“They’re arrows fired by the golems.”
The size of the arrows was comparable to a ballista, rendering armor and shields almost meaningless.
However, the cracks in the light barrier grew larger, and the number of enemies charging in continued to multiply. This made it impossible to hold them off.
“Senior, what should we do?!”
There’s nothing we can do. Just grab some popcorn!
…was not something he could actually say, so Jun pointed to one side of the fortress wall.
“See that pipe over there? You just need to move the magic stones there. That will activate the magic cannons.”
“Ah!”
With that, Aiden hurriedly ran toward the section of the wall where the magic cannons were positioned.
Watching Aiden run off, Jun gave him a sympathetic look.
“Imperial blood or not, the battlefield treats everyone equally…”
In Jun’s eyes, Aiden looked just like any other artilleryman carrying ammunition into battle.
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