Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 23
Chapter 23: Episode 6. 2000vs800 (3)
The awakened heroes looked tired with bloodshot eyes.
Their skin was peeling off, and they had a burning taste in their mouths.
The past few days, they weren’t able to sleep at all.
They had to be on guard 24/7 because Kobolds and Goblins were screaming and attacking them without any warning, and there were Orcs wandering around them all the time. They were all nervous.
There were a few awakened heroes who couldn’t handle their anger and went out to fight, then never came back. There were a few dozen of them who died like that.
When they started, there were over 800 awakened heroes, but now there were only 700 of them.
Some were talking about escaping the dungeon, but the Chinese Dark Society didn’t even listen to them. They didn’t want to walk out of the dungeon only with a cane.
There were no awakened heroes who would dare to try to walk out without the help of the Dark Society, the biggest group of heroes. They were struggling because monsters avoided face-to-face fights, but if they did fight, heroes were strong enough to fight against them.
They still had their hope.
“The situation is not very good for us.”
But Daniel thought differently.
“Kobolds, Goblins, and Orcs are united. This is not a regular situation. I suppose there is someone or something behind this union…who is it? It is surely someone who can heavily influence the monsters. Is it a high-level monster? Or…the dungeon master?”
The situation was bad, and they all were on edge. Daniel had amazing intuition, especially when it came to danger.
This was the worst situation.
It was his first time feeling this anxious since he became an awakened hero.
It was even worse than when he participated in the war in the Middle East as a mercenary.
“They are feeling us out. They are taking their time. They’re confident that they can kill us all whenever they decide to…but they aren’t doing that yet. Shit. Are they playing with us? Or we are not even their real target?”
Daniel had a habit of talking to himself when he became extremely nervous.
“Daniel?”
The guy with red hair noticed that Daniel was being different and called out his name. But Daniel simply stood up and told them, “This is our last chance to escape this dungeon. Let’s go.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We are standing in front of quicksand. If we walk in, there’s no coming back. The monsters are just checking out abilities and playing with us. That means there’s someone who is controlling them. Kobolds, Goblins, and Orcs are famous for their impatience, but they are now slowly playing us to push us to a slow death. It might look like they are working separately, but their movements are all connected.”
“But Daniel, Richard didn’t come back yet.”
Richard. The fast hero in Daniel’s team who was sent to scout.
They thought it would be almost impossible for Richard to come back.
Out of 100 heroes who walked into the deep dungeon, nobody came back. They all died somewhere inside.
The dead heroes’ bodies were decapitated or severely harmed, so it was impossible to identify Richard. They all knew that he was no longer alive, but the guy with the red hair didn’t want to accept the fact that Richard was dead.
He had to at least check the dead bodies to be sure. The guy with the red hair was a good person like that. He thought that was the least that he could do for his teammate.
Daniel was becoming impatient. “We need to move when we still have a bit of force to move and fight. If Dark Society keeps their passive attitude, we have no chance. It will be the end of our team. Our bodies will be decapitated!”
“But Daniel, Richard didn’t come back yet.” The guy with the red hair kept repeating his words.
“Richard is dead. I understand what you are trying to do, but the dead man can never come back. If he does, we should be worried.”
“Richard…”
“Shut up! Even Richard would want us to escape this dungeon in one piece. Richard is a very careful guy, but he didn’t come back. That means a scary monster is waiting right in front of us! Do you still want to wait? I would rather kill you right now, right here, rather than let you be eaten alive by Orcs!”
“You can go; I will wait for him.”
“You… you…f**king idiot!” Daniel was almost shaking with anger, but he sat down again.
Daniel decided to wait with the team.
The other members of his team were agreeing with the guy with the red hair in silence.
They were looking at Daniel, begging him to wait a little longer.
It was the leader’s duty to follow the team’s opinion.
“Thanks, Daniel. That’s why I like you. You know that, right?”
The guy with the red hair smiled.
They’d been together for more than 10 years.
Most of those 10 years were on battlefields, so they trusted each other better than anybody else.
But Daniel frowned. “Say one more word, and I will stop your mouth with my sword.”
“Hmm, If you want to, I will let you use your sword on me once. Be gentle though.”
“Motherf**ker.” Daniel touched his forehead as if he had a headache.
“Haha!”
“Hahahaha!”
Other team members started to laugh out loud.
That lifted the dark and depressing mood a little bit.
Moreover, there were 700 awakened heroes with them. It was not the worst situation ever.
The Dark Society started to move again.
That meant that all the other awakened heroes were starting to move with them.
Out of the remaining 700 awakened heroes, 400 of the heroes were from the Dark Society.
In a dangerous situation like this, it was natural to follow the majority.
The Dark Society had been working hard for the past few days. They sent a few scouts to check the passages around them and to find the place where the monsters were gathering.
That was exactly where the Dark Society was heading to.
They were planning to raid the place where all the monsters from the third floor were gathered and sweep them up.
“F**king monsters. Today is your last day!”
“Let’s kill them all. We need to annihilate them.”
Since they’d all lost their teammates in the past few days, all the awakened heroes were enraged.
Those heroes who’d lost their lost teammates were especially furious.
They were ready to hit back even if it seemed to be a bit late.
There were many heroes who argued that they should have attacked the monsters all together. They thought it was too bad that they couldn’t turn back time.
Daniel thought it was better this way.
If they moved without any plan, they would have been killed one by one until everyone was dead. Now, they understood their position and had a built-up rage to kill all the monsters with full power.
‘But somehow I still feel something is wrong….’
But why?
Every step he made, he felt more anxious and worried.
He felt like he was walking into quicksand.
Objective numbers and the force of the awakened heroes were enough to fight against the monsters. He calculated the total number of monsters that he saw in the dungeon and thought it would be possible.
Unless there was an unexpected mastermind behind the monsters just like he suspected, they had a chance.
‘Richard. Please don’t hate us.’
There had been a chance to escape the dungeon for sure, but they’d blown it up because Richard was dead.
If Richard’s soul cursed them, they wouldn’t able to survive this. Richard wouldn’t necessarily bless Daniel, who’d sent him to his death.
Toot!
Someone in the Dark Society who was on the front line blew a whistle. That was the sign to stop.
There was a huge swamp in front of them.
It was quite wide but not very deep, so they could just walk through it.
They had to be organized to keep their formation.
They moved into a few groups and stepped into the swamp.
“Keep your position! Slowly, move with the sign…ugh!”
When half of the heroes were crossing the swamp, Goblins appeared in it.
They grabbed heroes’ legs and dragged them in. The heroes who were dragged by the Goblins screamed out their horrendous pain.
They’d verified that it was safe enough to cross the swamp, so how were they doing this?
Soon they found out how.
Goblins were riding something to move inside of the swamp.
Swamp Worms! The lowest level monster that lived in swamps.
They inhabited the dirty swamp and usually ate small insects.
Eighty centimeters in length and quite peaceful, it almost difficult to call them monsters. Even so, they were very strong.
They weren’t a threat to the awakened heroes, but they could also work as a ride for lightweight monsters like Goblins or Kobolds.
With one attack, the heroes lost their formation.
The attack aimed exactly for the middle of the formation.
“Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!”
Heroes with long-range attack skills started to prepare their attack for the monsters in the swamp.
Shhhhhh.
Krrrrr!
They had to be shocked by the sound coming out from another side.
Seven hundred heroes were separated into groups of 300 and 400, and there was a swamp between two groups, so they were separated. The first group of 300 that crossed the swap had to face the Orcs.
Krrr.
Kughhhh.
The group of 400 was hardly in a pleasant situation because suddenly a group of around 1000 Kobolds and Goblins appeared out of nowhere behind them.
They were separated and trapped.
They had to fight separately.
“Guarders, come to the front!”
“To the front!”
“Protect the dealers!”
“Find your formation! Don’t panic!”
They were using different languages, but they were able to understand each other.
They knew that if they hesitated for a moment, the monsters would kill them all, so they united with the speed of light.
“F**k!”
Daniel was swearing and used his sword to fight.
He decapitated a Kobold with his sword.
“Be careful!”
The guy with the red hair kicked off the Kobold that was trying to attack Daniel from the back. He cut the Kobold in two with his halberd.
“I’ve got your back, Daniel.”
“Run toward the swamp!” Daniel shouted out in a hurry.
“Huh? Swamp? There are Goblins!”
“It’s a deception! There aren’t many of them in the swamp. The monsters behind us want us to stay here. They can’t cross the swamp, so it’s better to join the group on the other side!”
“Just us?”
“All of us!”
“Okay!”
The guy with the red hair started to swing his halberd as if he was swinging a toy and made the path. He was a huge man, so his movement caught the attention of all the heroes.
“Follow me!”
Swing-!
His halberd kept cutting off the Kobolds’ heads.
When Daniel looked at him with a look that was asking him what he was doing, the guy with red hair winked Daniel.
“I always wanted to try this, Daniel.”
“Bigger swing!”
The redhaired man smiled and roared, “Follow me!!”
A guy roaring while running toward the swamp.
While everyone was looking at him, Daniel and his team arrived at the swamp.
They quickly cleaned up Kobolds and other monsters in front of them. Other heroes hesitated for a bit, but soon they started to follow Daniel’s team.
One hero joined, then soon it became two, then ten, and soon they became a group of 100 heroes.
Kobolds and Goblins couldn’t cross the swamp without Swamp Worms because they were too short.
Everyone crossed the swamp and joined the group.
There were only 200 Orcs, but there were 700 awakened heroes to fight them.
If they killed the Orcs, the Goblins and Kobolds crossing the swamp weren’t even a problem for them.
The tables had turned!
The heroes started to feel like there was hope.
‘Huh. There’s someone with a brain!’
It was too bad for me.
I’d thought it would be really easy, but there was a guy who read my tactic.
The key was to block them and make them unable to cross the swamp. I didn’t expect to have someone who would recognize my tactic and cross the swamp.
‘War is not an easy thing.’
There was no free lunch, as people say.
I’d been in numerous wars, but it was my first time using a tactic.
It was my first time, so I knew it wouldn’t be perfect, but I’d thought I could have done slightly better.
I’d spent a few days to make them weary and angry at the same time, and I’d helped scouts find the place where monsters were gathering, only to lure them all to this place.
It was a half success because they weren’t very good in action.
‘It’s okay.’
Anyways, it was satisfactory.
It was a great feeling to start a war commanding monsters.
In Korea, the awakened heroes still had to improve a lot, so I couldn’t start a war, but these heroes in my dungeon now were different. If I let them live and go, they would go to other dungeons and die there to give them the points. I didn’t have to save them.
If that was the only scenario, I rather take all the points.
I wore my mask made of a skull. It only covered half of my face and didn’t really have much use, but people would fear you when you were wearing it.
When you had higher Mana, that would bring more fear to your opponent. Because of that reason, this was a Rare item.
Neigh!
When I wore my half-skeleton mask, a horse started to blow through its mouth next to me. It was the black horse ‘Inferno’ with a fire mane and tail.
It was something like a unicorn, so it also had a horn on its forehead with concentrated Mana.
It was much bigger than regular horses. It was a great horse that had an overwhelming presence.
It was a mid-level monster that was the perfect ride. I’d bought it earlier because it would be useful during the upcoming auction of Devildom.
I hopped onto Inferno and reached out my hand to the empty space.
The space deformed, and a sword came out from the distorted space.
‘I should step out.’
I held my sword and clicked my tongue.
