Chapter 86 — Anomaly (Part 3)

  I immediately teleported to the Training Room. I needed to think about what to do next. Yes, time flowed much faster here, but I still had to act quickly.

  The best option was to simply run away from there as fast as possible.

  But there was a second option—to try to take that spear.

  I really liked it. And maybe it hid some kind of secret. It was located right in the center of the clearing, and it was from that spear that the strange light had spread, expanding the clearing. That meant it was definitely connected to these places where huge numbers of monsters gathered.

  But would I be able to take it safely? And more importantly—was it even worth it?

  On the one hand, if it really was the cause of these monsters appearing, then by taking it, I would stop all of this.

  Alright, I think I’ll have time to take that spear. Yes, I just need to do everything very quickly.

  I roughly remembered where it was. Good thing it was only about thirty meters from where I had been standing before.

  Alright… it should be somewhere here.

  I teleported into the clearing and immediately grabbed the spear.

  I grabbed it with one hand. Of course, I thought it would come out of the ground easily, but that didn’t happen.

  Then I quickly grabbed it with both hands and tried to yank it out using all my strength. But I didn’t even feel it move by a single millimeter.

  The wolves were already rushing toward me.

  Damn!

  I quickly teleported to the Training Room when the wolves had less than three meters left before reaching me.

  Damn, what is this spear even attached to? The loose soil in the clearing can’t possibly be that hard. I saw it myself—the ground there was soft.

  Maybe there’s something big and solid underground that it’s attached to?

  Or… maybe it isn’t even a spear at all?

  Looks like I won’t be able to take this thing that easily.

  I still wanted to fight those monsters… those wolves.

  Considering how much experience they give… if I kill even twenty of them, I’ll gain a new level.

  Damn it, I can’t let an opportunity like that slip away.

  On the other hand, fighting that many at once is dangerous to my life.

  No. I need to calm down.

  Right now, the best option is to simply get out of there as fast as possible.

  Yes, that’s the most reasonable decision.

  I pushed off the floor with all my strength. When I almost reached the ceiling of the Training Room, I teleported outside.

  For a moment, I was above the clearing again and saw the wolves throwing themselves at the place where I had been before.

  Before teleporting back to the Training Room, I noticed that several of them had already seen me.

  Repeating this movement again and again at maximum speed, I quickly gained altitude—more than two hundred meters.

  The black wolves simply watched me from below. They no longer tried to jump or attack.

  Though they probably wouldn’t have managed even if they had tried.

  Good thing they don’t have ranged attacks.

  Well… I hope they don’t.

  So far, they hadn’t used anything like that.

  Alright. I need to tell Rem and Sherial about this as quickly as possible.

  —

  When I reached the place where Rem and Sherial were, I descended.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Hey, when did you get that cool skill? Why didn’t you tell us?" Sherial immediately asked as soon as I landed.

  "It’s not a new skill. I just used the skills I already have," I replied.

  "How? Explain!" Sherial asked excitedly. It looked like she was really interested.

  —

  I told them everything I had seen there: about the clearing that was gradually expanding, and about how that spear might be the cause of it. I also explained how dangerous the high-level wolf monsters in that clearing were.

  Rem thought over all this information. So far, she said nothing.

  As for Sherial, she seemed more interested in how exactly I had been moving through the air. I explained everything to her as it was.

  "Well, from your explanation it sounds boring. But from the outside, it looked like you were some kind of teleportation mage who specializes in short-range movement," Sherial said. "Like a talentless spatial mage who can’t teleport over long distances, but is a genius at short-range teleportation."

  I couldn’t tell whether that was praise or an insult.

  Well… let’s count it as praise. That means I looked cool from the outside.

  "I think we should retreat for now and report this to the Adventurers’ Guild," Rem said.

  "Maybe we should still try fighting them? You could send a lot of golems there. Sherial could shoot from a safe distance with her bow. And I could try fighting them," I said.

  That many high-level monsters could give us dozens of levels.

  "No, we can’t do that. I understand that you think this is a great opportunity to raise our levels. But you said it yourself: those are Level-175 wolf monsters. And out of the three of us, you have the highest level—and even that is only 170. And there are around two thousand Level-175 monsters there. One mistake could lead to our deaths," Rem said.

  Yes, she was right, but… I don’t know why, I still felt the desire to take the risk and try fighting them.

  Alright. I think I’ll still get another chance to have a good fight.

  "Then let’s move faster and report this to the Adventurers’ Guild. There’s a good chance we’ll come back here with reinforcements. And then you’ll have a great opportunity to fight those wolves," Sherial said.

  Oh, now that was different. I quickened my pace because Sherial’s words noticeably improved my mood.

  —

  POV: Valen

  Valen let out a heavy sigh, trying to calm himself after the difficult battle with the dungeon boss.

  "Enough resting. There’s only one small task left, and after that we’ll be able to rest as much as we want," Valen said, urging his companions on.

  The other three followed him. They moved toward the dungeon core room.

  They had spent too much time in this Rank-5 dungeon, and now their mission was almost over. Every moment spent here had been disgusting. This place had to disappear. And soon it would be completely destroyed.

  The only unfortunate thing was that they would have to come back later to retrieve the sacred spear.

  That spear was one of the treasures left behind by the great heroes of the past. An artifact created specifically to help destroy dungeons.

  They had used it to create a zone where a huge number of monsters constantly appeared, forcing the dungeon to spend its energy creating them.

  Everything had been going well, but…

  When they reached the Rank-5 zone and tried to use the spear again, Valen couldn’t pull it out of the ground.

  The cursed dungeon must have done that… that damn messenger of the devil.

  Yes. This place was a gate to hell through which the devil spread his power.

  Those who used this place had to be destroyed. And this spear helped bring that day closer.

  When the dungeon core was destroyed, a huge number of monsters would burst outside and destroy the city built near the dungeon.

  And not only that city.

  Considering how many monsters there were here and how many had appeared thanks to the sacred spear, the entire region—and even the neighboring lands—would be destroyed.

  And that was how it should be.

  All the people living on these lands were sinners. They made use of the fruits of these dungeons.

  They all… had to die to cleanse their souls.

  Anyone who uses dungeons for personal gain and allows them to exist is a sinner. Because they allow the gates of hell to exist and thereby help the devil.

  Their brothers—the other squads—had already gone to other dungeons. Most likely, those had already been destroyed. But they had been small, and destroying them had been easy.

  But this dungeon would not only be destroyed—its dark power would be used to cleanse this land of sinful souls.

  "We’re here," said one of Valen’s companions.

  They entered the room where, in the very center, there was a round sphere emitting a soft light.

  The dungeon core.

  Valen drew his sword.

  "Today I, Valen, destroy one of the devil’s gates and rid this land of this evil."

  He raised his sword high and struck the dungeon core with all his strength.

  Under the blow of his sword, the core shattered into large pieces.

  The dungeon trembled.

  Immediately after that, everything around them began to shake, as if space itself were preparing to collapse.

  One of his companions took out an artifact that was supposed to help them escape from here quickly.

  The artifact began to glow, and a magic circle appeared around them.

  A few more seconds—and a flash of light.

  The next moment, they were already standing somewhere in the forest, far from the dungeon.

  At last, Valen had completed the great task entrusted to him by the priests who had trained him since childhood.

  Soon, when he returned to the church, he would receive his reward and go on to carry out even greater tasks—to destroy even more terrible gates of evil and punish even more sinners.

  "Who are you?"

  He suddenly noticed that they had been surrounded by several dozen people in black clothes.

  Where had they come from?

  A moment ago, they hadn’t been here.

  "I’m asking who you are. Are you servants of the devil?" Valen asked loudly.

  His companions also prepared for battle.

  "You broke the law. You will have to explain everything you were doing."

  He heard a calm, almost sweet female voice.

  No…

  That was the devil’s voice.

  "A servant of light will never say anything to the servants of the devil," Valen said.

  And suddenly everything went dark before his eyes.

  He didn’t even understand what had happened.

  —

  "Take them to the base for interrogation. This is already the third squad of these fanatics. And it should be the last. Don’t let them regain consciousness. If necessary—just kill them if there is no other choice. If they wake up, they may become dangerous. These ones look stronger than the other two squads we caught earlier," said a female voice.

  "Yes," the people in black clothes answered in unison as they tied up four people dressed as adventurers.

  "I hope this doesn’t turn into another bloody massacre like before…" the female voice said quietly.

  After that, she disappeared into the forest—as quietly and unnoticed as everyone else who had been here just a moment ago.