＜ Episode 51 ＞
“It’s a dreary landscape.”
“Certainly without humanity.”
John answered Peirung’s murmur as he entered the aisle on the right.
The dungeon, where there was no sign of life for quite some time, moved according to its own process, and there was no consideration for humans.
The rooms between the passages where humans were expected to wait or live were piled with dust, and in some rooms, golem parts or supplies were piled up.
After exchanging words with each other, the two of them walked through the aisle without saying a word until they reached a large door.
“···Hmm.”
A red light sensor was operating next to the tightly closed door, and it seemed that it could not be opened without a specific method.
“Should I break it?”
Pei-Lung, who was looking around the door and the sensor, clenched his fist and gathered his aura and was about to hit the sensor.
“for a moment.”
“yes?”
“Wait a little. Lucas is up in the control room, so if you have an idea, I’ll unlock the security.”
“…isn’t it trustworthy?”
John’s words made Peirung’s expression look subtle, but John could fully understand Peirung’s reaction.
The appearance Lucas had shown so far was more like a blood-crazed berserker than a wizard.
“…But it’s a wizard. You know what’s important.”
“John said there was no time. Is that you?”
“What. It is, though.”
The moment John let out a light sigh at the sight of Pei-Lung raising his fist.
– I hear everything. these guys!
A sound echoed from the perch in the upper corner of the aisle, and John and Pei-Lung’s eyes turned to it.
whiz.
They didn’t move well because they hadn’t been active for a long time, but the dust-covered surveillance camera lenses were pointed at them, which meant that Lucas was taking control of the control room.
“Sorry about this. I’m sorry for doubting you.”
Seeing Peirung’s face looking at the camera with a shy expression on his face, the color of the red security device changed to blue and the door began to open.
– huh! Showing mercy to lowly warriors is also a skill of a wizard.
“···Damn it.”
Lucas’s condescending voice echoed, but Fei-Lung just frowned and moved toward the open door, and John’s head following him became complicated again.
‘I thought I’d get crazy with data and stop looking around, but I took over the facility pretty quickly. It looks like he’s really trying to do something.’
Looking at Lucas’ words and the attitude of the party before entering the center, I thought that maybe the real fight might be from now on.
As John’s mind was busy reanalyzing the group’s military history he had identified, and thinking about how to respond accordingly, Pei-Lung entered the armory and blew a whistle.
“Whew. Is this great?”
Pak, Pak, Pak.
The interior of the large, hollow armory, lit up and clearly revealed, was so impressive that it caught John’s attention.
“It’s okay.”
“Not quite enough! This is great. I can concentrate on training for a while!”
The interior of the arsenal was substantial enough to fully understand Peirung’s behavior as he looked around with a happy expression.
Various firearms from the Great War were mounted on one side, and there were quite a number of cold weapons that Peirung wanted so much.
John’s eyes twinkled when he saw the protective gear neatly laid out to one side.
John’s always-expanded powers analyzed the material of the equipment, and the very densely structured structure was to the extent that John liked it.
John looked at various equipments behind Fei-Lung, who was looking at each of the strangely glossy cold weapons in his hand, and saw panels the size of a human torso neatly piled up.
“I see.”
Eight panels were stacked neatly, and on top of them lay a small ring that appeared to be made of the same material.
Carefully examining Fei-Lung for his weapon, John lifted the ring and put it on the middle finger of his left hand.
Uh.
The ring, which was a little loose, vibrated slightly and tightened to fit John’s finger, and a lot of saliva gushed out from the inside of the tightened ring, but penetrated into John’s finger.
‘greatness.’
The burning pain that seemed to touch a nerve made his whole body stiffen, but John endured it.
Soon, John felt an unfamiliar sense connect, and a smile came to John’s lips.
John’s action, which swept the eight panels that were about to rattle into his inventory, was swift, and at least Peirung didn’t seem to see it.
‘Am I getting the minimum defense?’
Feeling the tension in his heart ease a little, John’s gaze scanned the armory again.
Although ample supplies were piled up, the purpose of the items in this warehouse seemed clear.
Infantry weapons, armor, and equipment.
‘Then there must be golems over there. It would be nice to have a strengthening agent.’
John’s wrist as he checked the firearms as he cleared away the accumulated dust indicated that the time was up.
***
Uh!
Sufficient power was supplied to the control center, which had been kept in a power-saving state, and the intermittently running center was stretched.
It was clear that Fioren, who had descended into the power room, had touched it, and Peirung and John stood at a crossroads again, feeling the movement of the vibrating center as if a creature was waking up from sleep.
“You’re late. It’s not something I can’t understand.”
Unbelievable words flowed out from the slightly arrogant and nervous Peirung, and John could fully understand such Peirung.
It was clear that the materials piled up in the arsenal would be sold for huge amounts of money, and Peirung’s personal income was also clearly there.
Seeing Pei-Lung caressing a spear with a strange sheen in his arms, it seemed like he would be able to laugh at Lucas even if he cursed at him in the face.
“Sorry about this. There is more to see than I thought.”
Fioren had been smiling since entering the center, but a bright smile hung on his face as he came up covered in dust.
“Looks like it’s working.”
“Khehehe.”
A tingling spirit rose from Fioren’s body, who involuntarily laughed at John’s question.
Pei-Lung, who had been stroking the spear with a relaxed expression in the world, changed his expression and flinched, and the momentum was so strong that John took a step back without even realizing it.
Fioren lifted both arms above his shoulders in an atmosphere that instantly cooled.
“this. Excuse me for not being able to properly capture it yet.”
“…Power that cannot be handled is as good as poison. You’d better be careful not to be misunderstood.”
“Remember.”
John’s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of Fioren smiling leisurely as if he didn’t care at all about Peirung’s snarling attitude.
‘Fioren’s magic is said to be concentrated in the barrier. Creating a barrier isn’t the end. It will continue to consume mana for maintenance. I must have found a way to make up for that.’
It was clear that the mana was raised through the core in the power room or by some other method.
Peirong got a new weapon, and John also found a suitable equipment, but it didn’t look like it was comparable to Fioren.
The atmosphere couldn’t be good because the balance of power, which had been boiling with each other, had shifted to one side.
A wizard and a warrior glaring at each other in a subdued atmosphere.
It was at that time that the momentum that seemed to collide at any moment was overflowing.
Kugoong!
There was a heavy vibration, and there was no one who couldn’t figure out that the source of the vibration was towards the left aisle.
The moment everyone’s complexion changed and their eyes turned to the aisle on the left.
– Come up to the control room! in a hurry!
Lucas’s voice rang through the speakers, and the three powerful men, who looked at each other for a moment, quickly climbed the stairs.
***
On the large screen that occupied one side of the wall, dozens of divided places appeared.
Lucas had a serious expression on his face in front of the large screen that showed the entrance of the dungeon, the city, the passageway to the center, and the interior of the center.
‘There is no screen in the left arsenal.’
There was a screen that illuminated the armory on the right, where Peirung and John had entered, but the screen that illuminated the inside of the armory on the left, where Zhao and Doyle had entered, was not visible.
“What’s going on?”
Lucas, who was manipulating the equipment in front of the screen, turned his head at Fei-Lung’s question as he cherished the spear.
“Come. Take this first.”
Lucas threw something at Peirung and John, and the object he reflexively reached out for was an ampoule emitting a soft light.
“It is a power enhancer and elixir. It was in the inner safe.”
“this?”
“…the elixir of the Great War?”
It was clear that Pei-Lung’s expression of astonishment and John’s expression would not be very different.
I wanted a power enhancer, but I never thought I would be handed over to Lucas so easily.
“Take it because there is no time.
“…What’s the matter, Lucas?”
Instead of the confused two, Fioren opened his mouth, and Lucas and the others met their eyes.
Lucas’ expression, which was raging with madness and coolness, looked serious than before, and the party who saw such a look of Lucas also guessed that a big mess had occurred.
“…Doyle had an accident. Zao seems to be blocking it somehow, but it’s probably not enough. You must be prepared to subdue them.”
“Doyle?”
Fioren and Peirung tilted their heads at the story that the cyborg, who had been silently supporting the group without uttering self-assertion, had an accident, but John nodded.
‘…definitely suspicious.’
Each and every one of them was suspicious, but among them, Doyle was the most suspicious to John, and the reason was simple.
Doyle didn’t feel like an expert.
The appearance was a cyborg wearing a military body, and the way he handled weapons and his behavior was close to that of the military, so the party seemed to think he was a soldier, but it was not at all in John’s eyes, who actually rolled around the battlefield.
‘… It was like an act of contacting the military only with knowledge. How much did you come across through the Internet or video?’
Although he acted thoroughly like a soldier, John, who actually spent a long time in the military, had an eye for discerning the gap between pros and amateurs.
‘It was like playing a soldier. yes. Like a military maniac.’
In fact, from the moment John started to lead the party in earnest, Doyle showed the appearance of stepping back thoroughly.
“…But is it really necessary to subdue Doyle? Even if you have an accident, this is a dungeon. You think it’s enough to just share each other’s share and get out?”
Peirong’s question was valid, and Fioren and John nodded in agreement.
No one in the party was hiding a secret.
In addition, since each of them is a party temporarily gathered for this dungeon exploration, it is enough to break up after leaving the dungeon anyway.
Peirong pointed out that because there was no need to take the risk of overpowering Doyle.
‘Peilong’s opinion is valid.’
Although Lucas had given the word in advance, there was no need to follow Lucas’s opinion even in this situation.
After all, the request John received was to follow Lucas to explore the dungeon.
Although Lucas’s safety was an issue, there was no loyalty to take care of that much.
Lucas’ eyes narrowed as if he felt the atmosphere of such a party, and soon he took something out of his pocket with a solemn expression.
Strange lines crossed the palm-sized metal plate, and Pei-Lung and John had puzzled expressions on their faces, but Fioren hardened their expressions terribly.
“Lucas. you!”
“I’m sorry I lied to you. But it is an emergency.”
With a solemn expression on his face, Lucas blew mana into the metal plate, and the lines across the metal plate glowed and floated in a pattern.
moon.
The image of the moon emitting a soft light while immersed in darkness came to mind, and Peirung’s expression hardened, as if seeing the vision reminded him of something.
“With the authority of the Luna City Inspection Corps, we request local requisition. Fioren, Pei Lung, John.”
John’s expression hardened at the unexpected appearance of the name.
＜ Episode 51 ＞ End