Dang Gyu-ri currently had five [Shadow Extraction] slots.
Near the end of winter break, she’d received a necromancer’s grimoire from the Elder Council Head.
I was going to register the Black Snake, at least.
It was a little underwhelming compared to her Blood Cult collection, but it was still a B-rank boss and one that could even use poison arts.
But unexpectedly, it had been annihilated while exchanging finishing moves with Dang Gyu-ri.
Naturally, there wasn’t even a shadow left to extract.
When I glanced over at her, Dang Gyu-ri twirled a lock of hair around her finger and started making excuses.
“That guy was so tough, you know~ I thought he’d survive. I even held back a little~”
“Yeah, there’s nothing we can do about what’s already happened.”
“Right, right? We can just fill the slot this time.”
“Yes. It’ll probably be a slightly higher rank, too.”
Strictly speaking, the boss monster of [Descent of the Feathered Serpent] was B+ rank.
It was about as difficult as [Gathering of Villains], which Pang Mi-ryeong’s expedition had cleared last year.
In some respects, it was even trickier.
That actually works in our favor.
It meant we could bring back a higher-level flying shadow for her.
And naturally, greater difficulty meant better rewards.
Dang Gyu-ri asked another question.
“Are we all going together again this time?”
“No. It’ll just be the three of us.”
“What? Is that even okay?”
“Normally, no. Three to four parties are recommended.”
The standard strategy was to have the ranged attackers hammer away at the boss while the rest of the expedition members protected and supported them.
In practice, only about one party’s worth of people actually fought the boss, but the moment even one or two of them went down, the entire strategy would fall apart. So there was no choice but to bring plenty of backup.
That was especially true if you wanted a stable clear, and if you were going to invest that much manpower anyway, it was usually better to send them somewhere else. That was why people tended to avoid this dungeon.
So when I said the three of us were going into a dungeon everyone avoided, Dang Gyu-ri gave me a curious look.
“You must be pretty confident.”
“As you know, I’m not exactly the type to take risks.”
“True. That’s why we trust you enough to follow you.”
Seo Ye-in, who had been quietly listening beside us, added a comment of her own.
“Complete trust.”
Just as she said, I tended to only enter dungeons I knew we could clear for certain.
If I were willing to take on more risk, we could challenge higher difficulties, but if something went wrong, my party members could get hurt.
Besides, we’d managed to earn more than enough rewards this way so far.
Dang Gyu-ri asked again.
“I’m still curious, though. How are the three of us supposed to clear it?”
“The boss’s attack patterns are a good matchup for me.”
I could handle most of them by myself.
If we went in as we were, our chances of clearing it would be around seventy to eighty percent.
And if I used the “trump card” sitting in my inventory, that number would easily shoot past one hundred percent.
It was something sponsored by the former master of the Magic Tower and my third mother-in-law,
[Magic Scroll – Summon Glacier (S)]
After I gave her a rough explanation of the strategy, Dang Gyu-ri dipped her chin as if she could see the logic in it.
Then she gestured toward Sloth and Chattering Sloth with her eyes and asked,
“And these two will handle the ranged damage?”
“Yes, they’ll be more than enough.”
More than half of their marksman skills and traits had broken through the A-rank barrier, while the rest had all reached B-rank.
In terms of firepower alone, they were stronger than your average third-year.
And if some unexpected variable did crop up, they could always use their ultimate move.
So why wasn’t I bringing the others?
To put it coldly, they wouldn’t contribute much to our fighting power.
At least in this dungeon, where “aerial combat” was the name of the game.
Go Hyeon-woo and Han So-mi, for example, were swordsmen. Since they hadn’t learned anything like [Air Walk] yet, all they could do was keep launching sword energy into the air.
And most of it wouldn’t even connect.
Hong Yeon-hwa is a little uncertain too.
As a fire mage, she specialized in controlling space, but most of her spells worked by laying down area effects on the ground.
Her Flaming Chick could at least cover aerial combat, but unfortunately, it was geared more toward area attacks.
Compared to the marksmen, who could concentrate their firepower on a single point, it was bound to fall short.
Bringing them along might actually make things harder.
After all, the more people there were, the more people I’d have to protect.
Besides, those three were already busy these days with sacred relic training and Challenge Hardships, so it would be better to give them some time to themselves.
Dang Gyu-ri dipped her chin in understanding, then asked another question.
“When are we heading down?”
“As soon as we get the equipment support from Hye-seong.”
“Great. I’ll be ready.”
“…….”
“…….”
“When are you getting down?”
That question wasn’t about the dungeon. It was about the shoulder ride she’d still been enjoying this entire time.
Dang Gyu-ri answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Why should I get down? We’re one body now.”
She tightened her legs around me as if to make it clear she had no intention of letting go.
***
As expected, the Hye-seong Group showed off its tremendous capabilities.
The very next day, third-year scholarship students came to find us.
They soon began pulling what looked like large travel suitcases out of their inventories and lining them up in a row.
It was bulky enough that a single car trunk wouldn’t be enough to hold it all.
At first glance, you might wonder why there was so much stuff but,
It’s actually all one thing.
All of these suitcases combined were the “new weapon”.
Apparently, even the scholarship students found it fascinating, because one of them couldn’t resist asking.
“You’re really going to use this?”
“That’s the plan.”
“We’d like to see it in action too. Let us know if you get a replay.”
“Yes, will do.”
Unfortunately, this run was going to be kept private.
Afterward, Seo Ye-in and I headed to the training center, where we familiarized ourselves with the controls by putting the new weapon through its paces.
Then, after one final round of maintenance, we gathered in front of the Dungeon Building late that night.
Dang Gyu-ri was already there waiting for us and looked our way as we approached.
Noticing that Chattering Sloth wasn’t around, she asked Seo Ye-in,
“Looks like you put it away for now?”
“Stealth comes first.”
“True enough. Shall we get going?”
“We’re ready.”
“Great. Follow me.”
Dang Gyu-ri took the lead and started down the spiral staircase.
One small advantage of having our party reduced to three was that it made things easier on our guide.
Managing two people was naturally easier than managing five, and it was easier to stay hidden as well.
Not to mention she wouldn’t have to make multiple trips.
Thanks to that, we quickly made our way through floors F and E and reached the very bottom of floor D.
As we continued along at the same pace, Dang Gyu-ri seemed to spot a familiar face and whispered quietly.
She’s here again today.
Looks like it.
It was, of course, Song Cheon-hye, the resident ghost of floor D and the second year’s resident pushover.
She used to wait near the elevator, but now she was making patrol rounds like the other members of the Disciplinary Committee.
So she finally figured it out.
The flaw in her elevator-marking strategy.
Or perhaps she thought we’d stopped coming down here after finishing our Black Death Dungeon run.
Judging by the looks of things, she’d guessed wrong again.
Just as we were about to stroll right past her,
“!”
Song Cheon-hye suddenly flinched as if she’d sensed something, then activated every movement skill she had and rushed over.
She came to a stop amid a crackle of sparks and carefully scanned the area.
“…….”
But apparently, she couldn’t see through our stealth.
She still looked deeply unsettled, but eventually returned to her original position.
Dang Gyu-ri watched her with newfound interest.
……She’s gotten a lot better, hasn’t she?
Looks like she practiced over winter break.
Byeong-cheol would’ve gotten caught. I might’ve too, if I wasn’t careful.
Of course, despite what she said, there was probably still a considerable gap between their skills.
That wasn’t the only surprise, though. A moment later, I received a message.
[Song Cheon-hye: Excuse me.]
[Song Cheon-hye: (Rolling Chestnut Emoji)]
[Song Cheon-hye: (Chestnut Hedgehog Emoji)]
She hadn’t actually spotted anything just now, much less anything that could be connected to me, but apparently some kind of intuition had kicked in.
She was probably just testing the waters on the off chance it was me.
There was no real reason to reply right now, so I felt a little bad, but I decided to ignore her.
We quickly made our way through floor C as well before entering the deeper reaches, floor B.
As always, Dang Gyu-ri swallowed us up in her shadow pouch.
She carried us all the way to our final destination before spitting us back out.
[No. 93] [Descent of the Feathered Serpent]
Since any delay would only increase our chances of being discovered, we jumped into the portal as soon as we confirmed the dungeon.
The next moment, we found ourselves staring at a tropical rainforest dense with vegetation.
A wide road cut through the greenery, almost blatantly telling us to follow it.
Far off in the distance, an ominous golden glow filled the air.
Not only a massive stone structure but the entire surrounding area seemed to be under its influence.
A moment later, Chattering Sloth appeared with a “Flaaash!” and, upon seeing the same sight as us, gave a brief assessment.
– Something ominous.
“Right? Let’s get moving.”
We were probably already late, but better now than even later.
We hurried down the main road.
The closer we got to our destination, the more intense the ominous golden glow became, while the faint sounds of drums and instruments gradually grew clearer.
Boom, boom, boom,
We pressed onward despite the growing sting in our eyes and the muffled feeling in our ears until at last the road ended and a temple came into view.
As expected, the ritual was already well underway.
Countless tribesmen danced and shouted as though they were one, repeatedly thrusting and swinging their weapons through the air.
Boom, boom, boom,
Golden energy streamed from their chests.
It could more or less be considered a form of life force, and those who had lost too much of it lay scattered among the others as corpses.
But the rest paid them no mind, utterly absorbed in their dancing as though possessed by something.
Boom, boom, boom,
The golden energy streamed through the air, converging on a single point.
The old man presiding over the ritual before the altar.
The Feathered Serpent Priest.
He was the boss of No. 388, [Feathered Serpent Altar], as well as No. 353, [Feathered Serpent Temple].
Despite being defeated several times, he’d stubbornly come back to life, gathered even more living sacrifices, and finally made it this far.
The priest seemed to recognize my face as well and greeted me with a kindly smile.
“Welcome.”
“It’s been a while.”
About a year, I suppose.
Though the passage of time probably worked very differently for this old man.
“I thought we would never meet again, but it seems the gods’ blessings have guided us back to one another.”
“You keep doing bad things, so I have to come stop you.”
And while I was at it, I could pick up the Flying Qyu-Shadow and a B+ Rank Random Box.
At that, the priest’s kindly smile deepened.
Then half triumphant and half ecstatic, he declared,
“I’m afraid you’re too late for that. The ritual is already complete, and He will soon descend upon us!”
He raised one hand and plunged it straight into his chest.
It slipped inside with ease, as though he were reaching into a mound of clay rather than a human body.
What he pulled out was his own heart.
Perhaps because it had absorbed an enormous amount of energy through the ritual, it was radiating a blinding golden light.
“O Great Feathered Serpent! Accept this offering and descend upon us! Bring glory to the tribe and divine punishment upon these ignorant fools—!”
Then the priest’s body began to dissipate as if evaporating, every last trace of it being absorbed into the golden heart.
The heart continued rising into the air until, at some point, it began to swell and elongate at a terrifying rate. The next moment, a gigantic serpent was floating overhead.
Despite being a reptile, its entire body was covered in feathers instead of scales.
The Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcohuātl.
At long last, it was time to face the creature head-on.
A cry that blended a reptilian roar with the chirping of a bird shook the entire area.
Kriiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—!
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