Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society - Chapter 270

Chapter 270

Chapter 270 . Kahar (4)

It seemed Cravis Empire’s Crown Prince, Paul, couldn’t go with us on our search .

“I want to go too . The Hero is the empire’s hope… but I can’t leave . My father collapsed recently, so I’ve been in his shoes . ”

“I can’t imagine that at all . ”

“Kuku, I know . To be honest, I want to go to the dungeon and go wild like always . ”

Paul going wild? I only remembered monsters going wild on him… Of course, I didn’t say anything . After all, this was Paul’s home ground .

The Paul I knew from the dungeon was slightly different than the Paul I met in the audience chamber and the grand hall . Perhaps because I was more familiar with his dungeon self, it felt like a carefree, clumpy kid was forced to wear the clothes of a crown prince . He seemed too unfit for the position, but perhaps that’s exactly what made him so passionate and foolish in the dungeon . He could be using the dungeon as a way of relieving his stress .

Of course, that was just my opinion . It could just be that he had no sense for battle .

I stared fixedly at the Peruta Mountain Range on the map .

“Peruta, huh . ”

“Ah, right, didn’t you say you summoned Peruta? I remember you telling me that a few years ago . ”

“Yeah, I met him a while ago too . I’m learning spearmanship from him once a month . ”

Paul and Ellos both expressed surprise at my words .

“Really? You’re learning spearmanship from that Peruta? That’s amazing!”

“No, it’s probably not the same Peruta as the one from our continent’s myth . Peruta is the top-ranking god from the empire’s creation myth . As a principle deity, he’s on a completely different league than the other gods . ”

‘If they knew I had true names of other principle deities, they might flip out . Well, Deific Manifestation is different from gods’ true names . ’

In truth, using Deific Manifestation no longer gave me any advantage in battle . Although Peruta’s spearmanship and Peruta Circuit were more powerful than mine, I had other techniques that he couldn’t use – Overlord .

Peruta was unable to bring out the true depth of his martial arts with my body, while I could strengthen my entire self with Overlord . Simply put, I was superior . Even so, Peruta was a good master and an adviser .

While I was regretting never having asked Peruta about Edias continent, Ellos was coming to his own conclusions .

“It can’t be the same Peruta . Spear-using heroes from our continent all called themselves Peruta, so the one Kang Shin summoned must be one of them . ”

“Um, yeah . ”

I didn’t argue with Ellos . Still, I knew that the Peruta I knew was the one from the myth . It seemed this myth carried great weight in this continent . The mythical existence they worshipped so much was teaching me, who wasn’t even from their continent? I could understand what they felt . That’s why I stayed silent .

“Anyways, why is this place called Peruta Mountain Range?”

“It’s simple . In the myths, that’s where Peruta vanished . ”

It really was simple as Ellos said . I felt my heart thump . Something was there . Something that would let me take a step forward . I was certain . If I knew that Edias continent had a vestige of Peruta, I would had come earlier!

No, I wasn’t late . Ellos said it was the most dangerous place on the continent . If I came before, I might have had to turn back without gaining anything . Now was the best time .

“Shin, we have to talk about who’s coming . ”

“Oh, right . I guess it can’t just be me and you . Since Paul can’t go, besides you and me, I guess your fian…”

I looked at Ellos’ left ring finger . Ellos quickly hid his hand, but I had already seen it .

“…”

He had two silver rings on his ring finger . One was big and thick, while the other was small . It felt like he squeezed his finger through .

I stopped breathing . I couldn’t continue what I was saying, but I also knew I couldn’t stay silent . Still, I couldn’t think of any words to say . In the end, I only said one word .

“Sorry . ”

“No, it’s fine . ”

Ellos responded promptly as if he knew what I was going to say . I didn’t have the confidence to look at his face . I remembered him saying that he was always prepared for the death of his comrade . But if it was his fiancée?

Impossible .

“Shin, I’m okay . As a tribute to her, help me find the Hero . ”

“Yeah, I promise . I’ll save the Hero . ”

“Yeah… Thanks . ”

He smiled bitterly . I felt like I finally understood why he sounded so down when I last talked to him .

In the end, the party members were narrowed down to just me and Ellos . Rather than rescuing the Hero, fighting to protect the empire’s citizens was the priority of the empire’s knights . The ones that could participate in the rescue mission had already left with the other Dimensional Mercenaries .

“You might feel uneasy, but trust me . I’m level 60 now, so I won’t pull you down . ”

“I trust you . ”

Ellos most likely spent more time in the battlefield than he did in the dungeon . Considering this, his progress was outstanding . Even with the Hero’s personal training, it wouldn’t have been possible without his tenacity . I was genuinely surprised .

Of course, it was wrong to think I was the only one with talent . I was happy with his potential . The reason the Hero chose him as his disciple was likely also because he saw Ellos’ potential .

“Come back safe and sound . Other knights will ready the things you need . ”

Paul wished us luck . I still couldn’t get used to him being a crown prince . There was something bothering me, but I forced myself to smile and left the audience chamber with Ellos . In the hallway, refreshing wind blew through the opened windows .

“Be thankful it’s autumn, Shin . Fire elementals like to play around too much during summer, and fires randomly erupt from thin air . ”

“I should’ve come during summer to scold those guys . ”

It didn’t really matter how the weather was as my body was no longer affected by it .

“Of course, monsters are threatening no matter what season it is . Before we enter the mountain range, we’ll also encounter more invaders than you’re thinking . ”

We were entering the enemy’s territory, and they were also madly searching for the Hero . Objectively speaking, this mission was ridiculously dangerous . We knew out destination, but that didn’t mean we could just march there .

For that reason, we left through the first floor’s entrance . Soldiers and maids were busily running about . The entirety of the palace, the empire, or even the continent could be running around like this, preparing for the decisive battle . Their determination and tension showed the gravity of the situation .

That is, until they saw me .

“… There’s a woman like that in this world?”

“Whose woman is she?”

“Damn, her brilliance is making me blind!”

“If she gives me a glance, I can die without regrets while fighting the invaders . ”

“…”

“Shin, wait a moment . Hey, you, come over here . ”

Ellos called a few of them here and gave them an order I couldn’t hear . Seeing the male knights and soldiers scurrying away, I could tell he threatened them with punishment if they kept ogling Lotte and Licorice . As a man, I empathized . Even if the world was about to fall, guys couldn’t help but look at pretty women in front of them .

Once the curious gazes disappeared, Ellos opened the map he was carrying . He then explained the route we’d take in detail .

“It’ll be dangerous no matter which path we take, but this is the safest . We’ll only have to go around a bit . ”

“Aren’t we in their territory anyways?”

“With this path, we’ll avoid two of their castles . You know what that means, right?”

I did . Unless the invaders were like monsters who liked to live in the wild, most would be living in castles . Ellos most likely planned a route that would have the least amount of fights . I again realized how absurd this mission was .

I reviewed my options . The straight path was shorter, but contained two castles on the way . Ellos’ path was longer, but allowed us to avoid the castles . Since we didn’t know what we would lose if we fought at the two castles, Ellos’ path wasn’t a bad choice at all .

“Ellos . ”

Still, I disagreed . It didn’t matter whether I fought two battles or two thousand battles as long as the world’s enemy wasn’t there .

“What’s wrong?”

Ellos tilted his head . I looked back at Lotte . She shook her head with teary eyes .

“No, I don’t want to . Please, Hero is the only one allowed! Why can’t you understand how I feel?”

“S-Sorry . ”

She must have had a lot of stress built up without me knowing… I felt guilty all of a sudden . No, it wasn’t just a feeling . I was guilty . Did she get smaller when she became a Blaze Queen just to prevent other people from riding her? In any case, it was hard for me to ask her to sacrifice herself . If I didn’t have any other choice, I would have to ask her again, but for now…

I faced Ellos, who looked just as surprised as Lotte .

“Do you know any wyverns live nearby? It doesn’t to have wyverns . I’m looking for ridable monsters that can fly quickly . ”

“If you’re okay with wild untamed wyverns, there are some in a canyon about six hours from here on horseback . But Shin, are you suggesting we tame wyverns to fly? First, taming wyverns is impossible . Second, we would be imposing ourselves completely by flying so openly in the sky . Plus, we don’t have any time to waste to go tame wyverns . That canyon is in the opposite direction of where we’re going . ”

“Ellos, here’s my thought . ”

I spoke resolutely .

“We’ll fight less if we just kill the enemies that can follow our speed in the air . Our pace will shoot up, too . ”

“It’s too bold . We’ll just be shot down!”

“It’s a small risk compared to the benefits . Didn’t you say Peruta Mountain Range was dangerous? We’ll have to fight monsters there, so we can’t waste time walking there when we can fly . ”

“Flying will be quicker, but the risk is… Shin, just what level are you?”

“Levels aren’t important to me anymore, friend . ”

With that, I grinned . The two bracelets on my wrist, Pure Black Desire and Lin’s bracelet, each glowed with a hazy, bright light . Since I’d yet to name Lin’s bracelet, I decided to call it Radiance from now .

Ellos looked at me with a dumbfounded look and surrendered .

“Fine . Since I’m risking my life already, I might as well jump into the dragon’s mouth . I just hope we can kill it before it breaths fire and kills us . ”

“Good, it’s decided . So, where’s the canyon?”

“Northwest . It’s…”

Ellos raised his finger and pointed to a direction . Immediately, Lotte transformed into her Blaze Queen form and flapped her wings . Surprised, Ellos jumped back .

“She really is a wyvern!”

“She’s different from normal wyverns . ”

[I’ll go alone . Forcing wyverns to submit is nothing for a Blaze Queen like myself . ”

“How long will it take?”

Six hours on trained horses . Disregarding the time it takes to subdue wild wyverns, it was 12 hours . Lotte smiled confidently .

[Twenty minutes is enough . ]

Lotte then shot up in an instant and disappeared at the speed of light . Ellos speechlessly followed the trace of light Lotte left behind .

“Just who is that wyvern…?”

“Like I said, she’s not a normal wyvern . Alright then, Ellos, while we wait…”

“Yeah?”

I put the map away and glared at him lightly . It was time to request what I’ve been waiting for .

“Treat me to some food, you bastard . It might be normal in your world to send people off without feeding your guests, but that’s unheard of in mine . ”

You’re sending me off to a place where I can’t even open my inventory, and you’re not even treat me to a meal! Paul, you bastard, I won’t forget this!