Chương 72: Chapter 71: Cut Off

Owen was piling debris into the alleys to create more blind spots, and had even hidden goblins in two of those blind spots, one in each, just to be nasty. Just then, a notification suddenly appeared on the dungeon interface. [Special Watchlist Targets Entered: Old Guildmaster, Ponytailed Guy] Owen shifted his view to the church resting room. Sure enough, besides Greer and Elias, there was now an unfamiliar figure in the room. He was a burly middle-aged man with a full beard.

So this had to be the adventurer who had been forced into a contract. Before Owen could take a closer look at the man's condition, however, the entire dungeon interface flared with blinding red light. [Warning! Warning! Individual bound by a corrupted core's contract detected.] [Forced Lockdown Activated: Suppressing the contract's power within the target.] [The contract's source core is of a lower tier than the Blackstone Core. Lockdown successful.] [Notice: The lockdown is effective only within Blackstone Dungeon.] The red glow flooding the interface slowly dimmed. Owen hovered above the stone pedestal. It took several seconds before he finally let out a breath of relief. That had scared him half to death. For a moment, he had thought the demon core had followed the contract straight to his doorstep. Relieved or not, though, that did not stop Owen from roaring angrily through the Core Chamber.

"You damned demon core! How dare you scare me like that! Fine! Now it's personal!" More importantly, what had he just discovered? That corrupted core was only Tier One, a full tier below him now that he had advanced to Tier Two. Under standard core permissions, the strongest monsters it could reliably create would top out at Gold-level strength. In other words, at least in terms of conventional fighting strength, Blackstone Dungeon now had it completely outmatched.

"Heh heh heh..." Owen could not help letting out a few sinister chuckles. When dealing with humans, he still had to weigh all sorts of considerations. Against demon cores with no scruples whatsoever, however, he had far fewer reservations. Still, figuring out how to deal with that corrupted core could wait. The immediate priority was finding a way to free the bearded man from the contract.

"Come to think of it, why didn't the system prompts say anything about how to remove the contract...?" Owen went over the previous notifications several times, but no matter how carefully he read them, he could not find any method for breaking the contract.

"Fine. Might as well try anything at this point. If I really can't find another way, I'll have to let him die once inside the dungeon and see whether Trial Return can remove the contract as well." ◆ ◆ ◆ After passing through the portal and entering the church resting room, Gern could not help looking around in wonder. It was a room where adventurers could rest without fear, and yet somehow, a place like this existed inside a dungeon. It was unbelievable.

Gern was just about to speak with Greer and Elias when his expression suddenly stiffened. The persistent foreign sensation in his abdomen was gone. Earlier, when the words "Adamantite rank" had been spoken, the thing had merely stopped stirring. Even after it became inactive, Gern could still clearly feel that something not belonging to him had taken up residence inside his abdomen. Now, however, that strange sensation had vanished completely, as if it had never existed at all.

Gern hurriedly raised both hands and repeatedly pressed against his abdomen through his clothes. Yet no matter how he searched, that familiar foreign sensation never returned. Greer noticed what he was doing and frowned slightly.

"What is it? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No... just the opposite." Gern slowly lifted his head, disbelief still lingering across his face.

"That thing... I think it's gone." For a while, Gern had no idea how to react. No matter how Greer and Elias tried to get his attention, he only stood there in a daze, running his hands over his abdomen again and again.

"Haha... it's gone..." Gern burst out laughing and leapt up in a near frenzy.

"I'm finally free!"

"Rockspring Dungeon, you piece of shit!" He threw his head back and shouted the curse at the top of his lungs. Then he squeezed his eyes shut, his entire body tensing as he waited for the familiar agony to strike. One second. Two seconds... Several seconds passed, but the pain he expected never came. Gern slowly opened his eyes. Only then was he finally certain that, for the moment at least, that worthless rock could no longer affect him.

"Hahaha! Fuck you, you worthless rock!" Gern laughed until his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor, pounding it again and again with one fist.

"Can't see me now, can you? Can't hear me either! Go on! Try pushing me around now! Go on!" His laughter echoed through the resting room, but little by little, it grew hoarse and broken. In the end, Gern could no longer laugh at all. He could only clutch his head and hunch over on his knees, his shoulders shaking violently as muffled sobs kept escaping his throat. Greer and Elias exchanged a glance. Neither of them said anything to interrupt him. The man had endured days of torment.

Now, at the very least, he deserved the chance to let it all out. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. It took quite a while for Gern's emotions to finally settle. He wiped his face messily with his sleeve and slowly got back to his feet. The tip of his nose and the rims of his eyes were still bright red, but his expression had regained its composure.

"Sorry. I made a bit of a fool of myself." Greer shook his head.

"You have nothing to apologize for." Elias said nothing. He simply took a handkerchief from inside his coat and held it out to Gern.

"... Thank you." Gern remained seated in the resting room for a little longer. Only after he had fully calmed down did Greer and Elias lead him out. The moment the door opened, the three of them saw a man leaning against the corridor wall. A slightly weary smile rested on his face, and from the look of him, he had been waiting outside for some time.

"You seemed like you didn't want to be disturbed, so I waited out here a little longer." The man straightened and looked at Gern.

"Are you all right now?" Gern nodded. After hesitating for a moment, he held out a hand first.

"Gern." The man took it at once.

"Owen Ashford. A traveling merchant." After letting go, Gern scratched his cheek awkwardly, then turned to Greer and Elias.

"So... where's that solution you mentioned earlier?"

"Haha. That would be me." Owen spread his hands, then stepped aside and gestured down the corridor.

"Please, follow me this way." Gern was still full of doubts, but when Greer followed without the slightest hesitation, he finally gritted his teeth and fell into step behind the other three. After everything he had been through, surely nothing could be worse than before. Besides, would a branch guildmaster and a Vice Guildmaster from headquarters really go to all this trouble just to deceive some nobody adventurer from a remote town?

Gern certainly didn't think he was important enough for that, or worth this much trouble. Owen led them to an iron-barred gate, took a key from his pocket, unlocked it, and guided them down a stone staircase into the underground section of the church. Many small niches had been carved into the brick-and-stone walls on both sides, with an oil lamp placed inside each one. The dim yellow glow stretched down into the depths, barely illuminating the passage ahead.

Walking beside Owen, Greer could not help asking,"Has Bishop Lorian returned?"

"Not yet. But I think it should be soon. We may hear something by tomorrow." They continued onward and eventually arrived at a stone chamber that was clearly intended for religious use. A square stone platform stood at the center of the room, while an enormous mural covered the entire wall directly ahead. The figure in the mural was tall and slender, clad from head to toe in silver-white armor. It held a scepter in its left hand and a ring woven from thorns in its right, sitting cross-legged in midair.

Beneath the helm, its face bore no distinct features. Only where its eyes should have been did searing silver light blaze.

"That is..." Greer stopped without realizing it and looked up at the figure on the wall. His gaze moved slowly over the scepter and the thorn-woven ring before finally settling on the sacred figure's shining silver eyes. Not long ago, he had speculated that this region might be an ancient ruin left behind by a god now beginning to awaken. Now that he was seeing the deity's image with his own eyes, Greer instinctively straightened his posture.

Even knowing it was only a mural, he still found himself breathing more quietly.

"It seems my earlier guess was correct..."

"The sacred image of the Silver Vow." Owen took a match from his pocket, struck it alight, and walked around the stone chamber, lighting the lamps one by one.

"This is the Silver Vow's temple. It is quite small, though, and it is not normally open to outsiders." The Silver Vow? What god was that supposed to be? Truthfully, Gern had never been a believer. If gods really existed, he could not understand how they could stand by and watch dungeons reduce the world to this state. Dungeons brought wealth, and they allowed adventurers to train through battle after battle.

But they were also deadly, because no one ever knew whether an ordinary-looking dungeon might suddenly change one day, just as Rockspring Dungeon had. At the thought, a chill ran down Gern's back. He could only hope Blackstone Dungeon would never become like that.

"Well then, is there anything else you need to discuss?" Owen's gaze lowered to Gern's abdomen, though his tone remained gentle.

"If not, we'll try to remove the foreign object inside you."

"Wait. I think I should tell you the whole story first." Gern hurriedly raised a hand.

"If all you had to go on was that strange way we communicated earlier, you probably couldn't make much sense of it." Elias gave a quiet laugh, plainly agreeing. Greer nodded beside him as well. Owen said nothing. He simply walked to the side of the chamber farthest from the mural and sat down casually on a step. Gern drew a deep breath and began recounting everything that had happened that day from the beginning. First, he explained why he had taken those students into Rockspring Dungeon.

Then he told them about the violent tremors that had erupted without warning, and the enormous dark-red slime with at least Silver-level strength that had completely blocked their retreat. In the end, they had even been dragged all the way into the Core Chamber, where they saw the diamond-shaped core radiating dark-red light.

"Then that thing forced me to swallow an eyeball." Gern raised his thumb and forefinger, showing them its size.

"About this big." The same look of disgust crossed all three faces. At the time, Gern had been focused entirely on keeping the students alive and had no room to think about it. Now, seeing their reactions, the sensation of that eyeball sliding down his throat suddenly returned to him, and his stomach churned along with it. Suppressing the urge to vomit, he continued.

"Anyway, if I wanted to keep those students alive, I had no choice but to agree to work for that core and come to Blackstone Dungeon as its spy." Greer rubbed his chin. After thinking for a moment, he asked,"Come to think of it, did that core ever tell you why it wanted you to come to Blackstone Dungeon?" Gern shook his head.

"No. It only demanded that I come here in person. It didn't tell me anything else." As he spoke, his voice gradually lowered.

"If I refused, it would immediately launch a Demonic Tide and devour all of Rockspring Town..." Gern raised a hand to cover his face. His palm slowly slid downward, eventually revealing a pair of exhausted eyes.

"So... the Guild can't spare anyone to help Rockspring Town right now?" Elias rested his left hand lightly on the hilt of his sword. The back of his hand tensed, several veins standing out.

"We can send people, but not many," Elias said in a low voice.

"Headquarters has ordered me to remain in Blackstone Town on standby. I may be Adamantite rank, but I could be sent to the Kingdom of Alvanda at any time to assist in the Demonic Tide War there. Until formal orders arrive, I cannot leave without authorization, much less enter another dungeon whose situation remains unknown." Gern fell silent. That was not the answer he had wanted to hear. A top-tier fighter capable of changing the entire situation was standing right before him, yet could not act freely.

Just then, Owen, who was sitting to one side, suddenly spoke.

"The Guild may not have people to spare, but we at the Church of the Silver Oath do." Gern's head snapped around, his eyes fixed on Owen.

"Really?" He instinctively stepped forward.

"You're really willing to help Rockspring Town?" But the moment the words left his mouth, he realized something was wrong. Wait. Wasn't this man a traveling merchant? How had he suddenly become a member of the Church of the Silver Oath? And why were they discussing something this important inside a dungeon of all places? Who was Bishop Lorian? The bishop of this church? But this was clearly a church located inside a dungeon.

And the eyeball inside his abdomen had only gone completely still after he passed through the portal and entered the resting room. Gern's mouth slowly fell open as he stared at the three men before him in disbelief. Only now did all those lingering oddities fall into place. Greer and the others... They were working with Blackstone Dungeon?!

"Th-This..."

"That's right. Now that's a normal reaction. If you weren't surprised at all, I'd be the one thinking something was wrong." Greer walked over and lightly patted Gern on the shoulder.

"But don't worry. Blackstone Dungeon is different from other dungeons."

"... Is that so?" Gern cast Owen a suspicious look.

"That's right." Owen rose with a smile, walked to the square stone platform at the center of the chamber, and patted its cold surface.

"So, Mr. Gern. Are you ready to die once?" Gern stared at the stone platform for two seconds, then abruptly took a step back.

"What?!" ◆ ◆ ◆ Deep within Rockspring Dungeon, inside the Core Chamber. The dark-red diamond-shaped core huddled atop a stone pedestal overgrown with grotesque fleshy growths, trembling without pause. The signal had been cut off! It had indeed found the traitor's location, but there was an Adamantite-rank human inside the traitor's territory. How was it supposed to deal with an opponent like that? Should it report this to Forsworn?

"No... absolutely... not..." If Forsworn learned that it had gone to all the trouble of sending a spy inside, only to confirm that the traitor was there without learning anything about the dungeon itself, Forsworn would crush it on the spot. And then there was the Adamantite-rank human. It was only a Tier-One core. What was it supposed to use against a monster like that? The Rockspring core agonized over the problem for a long time before finally deciding to stall for as long as it could.

Every day it could delay was another day gained. If it truly ran out of time, it would just make something up and report that instead. For now, all it could do was hope Forsworn became even busier, preferably so busy that it had no time at all to check on Rockspring's progress.