Chapter: 310
At the entrance to the third room, Phoebe was praying to the great being.
A blessing for everyone present.
As the priestess, who had been devoted to the gods since birth, brought her hands together, divinity radiated from her surroundings.
Standing at the heart of the warm light, Phoebe was so holy that no one could deny she was a saintess.
Even Arthur and Joy, not to mention the typically restless Frey, found themselves unable to move in the presence of Phoebe’s prayer.
I wonder how long her invocation lasted.
At some point, the warmth that filled the dark cave embraced the three of them.
A comforting warmth that made one feel at ease.
Vitality surged from deep within.
Their bodies felt lighter than ever before.
Unlike the usual chaos, the magic now held an air of respect.
As Arthur noted the incredible transformation of his body compared to before receiving the blessing, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
It wasn’t the first time receiving the saintess’s blessing, but every time left him in awe.
Back when he first received it, the change was so overwhelming he could barely move.
Even now, even after somehow adapting, he wouldn’t say he could fully handle the changed body.
After all, he was far from a genius like Frey or Lucy, more like an average Joe in every way.
Look to his side! Frey, who usually bounces around, was nodding solemnly.
She must have already figured out how to move.
Haha! Now that’s a true genius right there.
Someone like him, who is just mediocre in everything, deserves to be called an average guy.
Just then, as Arthur wallowed in self-pity over his own talent, Phoebe opened her eyes.
“The blessing is complete.”
“Thank you as always, Saintess.”
Arthur expressed his gratitude toward the beaming Phoebe and then turned to Frey.
“Ready?”
“Yes, perfect.”
“Joy, how about you?”
“I finished my preparations ages ago.”
“Good. Let’s give it a shot.”
With the signal given, the four jumped into the room, and the scenery around them changed.
A barren wasteland with not a blade of grass in sight.
And the demonic forms of golems swarming over it.
Normally, they’d have to identify which of them bore the marks first, but Arthur’s group boldly skipped that part.
Not because they found a surefire way to locate the golems they needed to take down.
They just figured there was no point in searching for those signs.
“I’m going!”
As planned, Joy prepared a large-scale spell targeting the whole wasteland, while Phoebe set up a divine barrier just in case, and Frey charged ahead, leaving only one golem standing.
Perhaps thinking of Frey as prey, several unmarked golems rushed toward her.
A coordinated attack from at least a dozen of them.
Facing this, Frey swung her sword with an expressionless face, seemingly unfazed.
As her sword sliced through the golems’ legs, their bodies toppled forward, severed from their limbs.
Arthur watched the scene with his eyes wide open.
If his predictions were correct, there shouldn’t be a rampage from the golems.
According to what he had confirmed earlier, the condition for a rampage was whether a golem’s core had been damaged or not. So, by cleanly slicing off just their legs, surely…
“It worked.”
Arthur grinned as he confirmed that there was no rampage from the golems.
There was no need to waste time determining which golems they needed to take out.
On top of that, by swiftly neutralizing those incapacitated golems, they could drastically shorten the time taken to conquer the third room.
As Arthur celebrated his successful plan, he reached for his sword to assist Frey.
“Your Highness, the Third Prince, stay back!”
However, Frey halted him.
“They’re trickier than they look. You won’t manage.”
“It’s true that I’m not as skilled as you, but this should be no…”
“Look.”
Before Arthur could finish, Frey interrupted him by swinging her sword at the golems.
Her movement was clearly aimed at their legs.
The moment Arthur observed the trajectory of her sword, he had no doubt she would achieve her goal.
But that was his mistake.
Just before the sword connected, one golem suddenly twisted its body.
Not its legs, but aimed to let its core be sliced instead.
“If you don’t pay attention, this is what happens.”
Anticipating this, Frey stopped her sword mid-swing.
This allowed the twisted golem to create an opening, which her sword struck, severing its arms and legs, rendering it incapacitated.
“So you see, Your Highness, just stay put. I’ve got this covered.”
In her usual nonchalant tone, Frey made Arthur grip his sword hilt tighter before finally releasing it.
Though uneasy, he recognized she was the right person for this task.
“Understood. I’ll just stay ready for emergencies, then.”
“Thanks.”
Not long after Arthur took a step back, Joy completed her spell.
The miracle born from intertwining four magic circles drawn around her.
One of the most powerful spells Joy could manifest at the moment.
“Lady Kent!”
“I got it!”
As soon as she called Frey’s name, Frey dashed to join her party, and Phoebe immediately surrounded them all with her divine barrier.
“Everything’s ready! Joy!”
“Okay! Everyone close your eyes and cover your ears!”
On a rainy day, a calamity approached from afar, echoing dread to life like it was judging the demons in the wasteland.
The overwhelming brilliance felt even beyond closed eyelids.
A sense of awe transmitted beyond the barrier.
A boom that threatened to erase all sound.
Once everything passed over the open space, the wasteland was left with only traces of lightning streaking across it, completely void of anything else.
“Didn’t expect that kind of power.”
Arthur, taking in the scene conjured by Joy’s magic, couldn’t help but chuckle.
He had indeed asked for it to clear the wasteland, but wasn’t this a bit overkill? Even half this power would have sufficed.
As he turned to comment, Arthur noticed Joy’s pale, terrified face and realized the situation.
“Joy. You didn’t foresee this level of power, did you?”
“…It’s a difficult spell.”
“Plus, you even wasted all your magic on it.”
Why on earth did this girl have to slip up at a crucial moment?
At this rate, how could she avoid becoming a burden today!
Seeing Arthur’s lips quiver, Joy pulled out a fan from her pocket and covered half her face before glancing furtively at Phoebe.
Her pleading look was as innocent as a child’s, but Phoebe’s expression was unexpectedly stern.
“This time, we were almost put at risk because of you, Joy.”
“…I can’t believe this.”
“I know your skills have improved, but…”
Joy desperately glanced at Arthur, the one who had just been angry with her.
Was she really looking for rescue from the one who had been scolding her just moments ago?
Sigh. This situation was so ridiculous he didn’t even have the heart to say anything.
“Saintess.”
“…Ah. I’m sorry, Your Highness. I thought I had to scold Joy.”
“No, I was going to tell you that you’re doing well. Please keep scolding her until she comes to her senses.”
“Ah, then I gladly accept your consideration.”
Joy’s eyes trembled at the sight of Phoebe’s smile.
“Phoebe? I’m practically exhausted right now.”
“It’s okay, Joy. Just relax and let my advice sink in.”
After sending Joy off to a pleasant little sermon with Phoebe, Arthur frowned, contemplating what lay ahead.
With their chief damage dealer rendered useless, proceeding through the dungeon today would be arduous.
Time for a backup plan.
Given Lucy Alrn’s nature, the fourth room would require more skill in understanding and analyzing the gimmicks rather than sheer power.
They’d likely need to head back to the start to search for clues and analyze them outside. It might slow them down, but they shouldn’t fall too far behind.
After making that decision, Arthur waited for Phoebe’s long, long sermon to wrap up before turning back to face the next room with a dazed Joy and a seemingly refreshed Phoebe.
“…Isn’t this like the corridor we saw at the start of the dungeon?”
The fourth room resembled the corridor they had first seen when entering the dungeon.
With carpets on the floor.
Gloomy lighting.
And the color of the walls.
The only difference was that the various decorative items in the corridor had vanished.
“Joy. Analysis… I can’t do it. I’m out of magic.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“No worries. Just consider it an opportunity to experience what’s lurking here.”
Arthur’s party decided to push forward, just as they did at the start, but unfortunately, they failed to reach the end of the corridor.
There weren’t any threatening enemies lurking midway, nor were there traps putting their lives at risk.
It wasn’t that the path diverged, leaving them lost.
The corridor just wouldn’t end.
“Let’s stop and search for clues.”
Deciding that proceeding further was pointless, they began rummaging through the corridor, hoping to find something.
Searching under carpets.
Looking for any hidden mechanisms in the walls or floor.
They even attacked the walls, floors, and light fixtures, but Arthur’s party couldn’t uncover a single clue.
In fact, Arthur found himself wishing for some wicked beast like a wolf to appear, as the situation felt utterly hopeless.
Lucy Alrn.
She wouldn’t create a useless maze with no answers like this.
Look at the second room.
She intentionally added parts that were bizarrely confusing.
After all, the wolf needed to detect the illusions. Surely this room must hold some clue.
“I want to go back to the corridor we first saw. If there’s nothing here, there has to be something over there.”
Thinking back, he wondered why he hadn’t caught this earlier.
That meticulous Lucy would never have built that corridor without purpose.
“To do that, we need to escape the dungeon.”
As Arthur pondered whether self-harm would be necessary for an exit, a piece of paper suddenly appeared before him, as if it had heard his thoughts.
[If you wish to escape the dungeon, please follow the procedure and speak aloud below.]
Had she expected this kind of situation and concocted a way out?
Indeed, such was Lucy Alrn!
Arthur thought as he flipped the paper over, hoping there might be some hidden clues left by that mischievous girl in an unexpected place.
[Did you expect something to be here?♡ Were you hoping to praise your shining observation skills?♡ Puhahaha! How ridiculous!♡ Of course, there wouldn’t be anything like that for the final exam!♡ You’ll stay pathetic forever if you continue to rely on shortcuts!♡]
After crumpling up the paper and incinerating it with his fire magic, Arthur vowed to humiliate Lucy once more.
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