Chapter 3 : Chapter 3

Chapter 3

This was the first time in my life that I had set foot inside a dungeon.

However, even if people called me a scoundrel, I was still the eldest young lord of a count’s house in name.

Since my family had steadily carried out Dungeon Conquests, I had picked up a fair amount by listening from the sidelines.

In other words, I had at least the basic information about dungeons in my head.

For example, once the first entrant appeared in a dungeon, the entrance would be sealed after a set amount of time.

Each dungeon was also assigned a mission, and unless that mission was achieved or one possessed a rare artifact called a Dungeon Escape Stone, the dungeon would never open again until all entrants were wiped out.

Things like that.

So it was an extremely natural and utterly despairing sequence of events for me to wake up after being unconscious for who knew how long and see the dungeon entrance tightly shut before my eyes.

[Mission ― Enemy Annihilation]

Was it fortunate, at least, that I could see the mission before my eyes?

At the very least, I knew what I had to do.

Originally, I had heard that when someone entered a dungeon, the mission would be conveyed as if someone were whispering inside their head, but it seemed I was a little different from others.

“For now, this place seems to be a safe zone, so Seirei, you take the lead and find the way.”

I spoke while bracing a hand against the damp cave wall and looking around.

“Understood, my lord. I shall take the lead. Please trust only in me.”

“Yes. Ah, and do not call me my lord anymore. Call me Cain.”

For some reason, that title grated on me terribly.

It made it sound as though I had become some grand existence.

“I am sorry, but I cannot call my lord’s honored name so carelessly. My lord, I shall stand at the front, so please, my lord, follow comfortably from behind as though taking a stroll…….”

As expected, Seirei’s mouth burst open again.

At that point, was she not creating tension, but rather advertising to every monster in the dungeon, ‘I am right here!’?

But well, perhaps that was this summoned creature’s combat style.

Yes, for now, I would watch. She was a High-Grade summoned creature, after all.

“This is the first gate, my lord.”

Seirei said, pointing to the heavy, rusted iron door before us.

A strange tension lay in her voice.

The first door we had encountered since entering the dungeon.

There was no doubt that beyond that door, the first sentinel of this dungeon was waiting with its sinister maw open.

“If there is only one enemy, that would be fortunate, but if there are many, it may be dangerous. Therefore, my lord, please remain close behind my back…….”

“I understand, so stop and just open the door.”

I cut her off, feeling that I might grow sick of it if I listened any longer.

Seirei gave an awkward smile and carefully pushed the door.

CREEEAK―

The old hinges rang out ominously with a sound like something tearing.

Fortunately, only a single monster was standing beyond the door.

A monster with a massive body, at least a head taller than an adult man.

The moment I confirmed its hideous and twisted appearance, rage boiled inside me like a volcano.

‘…A Death Wolf!’

A wolf monster with pitch-black fur and gleaming red eyes.

It was the same species as the enemy that had once brutally taken away my mother, the person most precious to me, the one who had been my everything.

A Death Wolf that escaped through a Dungeon Break had raided the mansion, and my mother had lost her life before my eyes.

And now, a Death Wolf had appeared before me.

Was it said that a Summoner and a summoned creature shared emotions?

Perhaps because she felt my killing intent exactly as it was, killing intent as sharp as a blade began pouring from Seirei’s body as well.

“Pitiful monster, judging by that hideous appearance of yours, you have been thoroughly possessed by an evil aura. A lowly creature such as you would never have dared to meet my eyes in the first place. However, consider it heavenly fortune that you have met the merciful me, and quickly kneel and repent for your filthy sins.”

There was no way that monster could understand those words.

Could elves, by any chance, communicate with monsters?

With the slightest expectation, I watched the Death Wolf’s reaction.

“Grrrrr…!”

The way it bristled its fur and bared its teeth made it seem thoroughly offended.

It did not look as though it had understood her words.

Was it simply because Seirei’s lengthy speech was unbearably irritating?

At this moment, I understood that monster’s feelings to some degree.

I would have reacted the same way.

“Enough. Why not just finish it?”

I said, clutching my throbbing head.

“…Yees.”

Seirei answered with a slightly disappointed expression.

Once she stopped speaking, Seirei finally drew the sword at her waist.

A Heresy Inquisitor who worshiped justice.

From what I had heard, she had held a fairly high position even within the religious order of some nameless god, so just how remarkable would the weapon she carried be?

Could that perhaps be the ‘Holy Sword’ I had only ever heard of in legends?

“Filthy monster! Receive the judgment of my sacred Holy Sword!"”

Seirei shouted in a dignified voice.

It seemed it really was a Holy Sword.

It was undoubtedly the very sword she had held in her hand until her final moment in that vision from earlier.

The moment the sword was drawn with a clear ring,

My swollen expectations were shattered without mercy.

Excuse me? Does that sword even cut properly?

It looked less like a sword and more like a lump of scrap metal.

Not only was it completely covered in crimson rust, it was even a longsword with chips broken out all along the blade.

Even the golden handle, which at least appeared intact, did not match that grotesque blade.

‘Wait, that handle looks like the plating has peeled off too. Is that just painted?’

Looking closely, I could see patches where the gold paint had flaked away from the handle, revealing blackened insides—no, a chunk of red-rusted metal underneath.

You called it a Holy Sword, did you not?

Could it be that the name of that rusty sword was simply ‘Holy Sword’?

Not a Holy Sword in the sense we commonly imagined, something that emitted dazzling light and punished evil?

Without noticing my dumbfounded expression, Seirei adjusted her grip on the problematic Holy Sword(?) with both hands and shouted thunderously.

“Ooh… Light!”

Then dazzling streams of light poured from her body like a waterfall and began being drawn into the rusted sword.

The crimson rust vanished in an instant, and the entire blade was covered in a pure white radiance bright enough to blind.

At last, when Seirei swung the shining sword, the Death Wolf sensed instinctive danger and tried to dodge quickly.

However, it could not completely avoid the sword that was swung with overwhelming speed.

The blade barely grazed the Death Wolf’s flank.

“Yelp!”

Although it had only been grazed, the Death Wolf let out an agonized scream and instantly transformed into a handful of black ash, scattering away.

I had no choice but to stare blankly with my mouth hanging open at the sight of the monster, which had undeniably existed just moments ago, turning into dust and vanishing in the blink of an eye.

“Is this for real?”

I muttered without realizing it.

A Death Wolf was by no means an easy monster.

According to the records, to face even one of those monsters, at least five mid-level Sword Expert knights had to attack together just to have a chance of victory.

And even then, turning it into ash in a single blow like this was impossible.

It was the sort of opponent they could barely suppress after at least an hour of fierce offense and defense.

But Seirei?

In reality, the amount of time she had spent swinging her sword had not even reached one second.

She had dealt with it in the blink of an eye.

“My lord! Are you all right? Were your eyes perhaps dazzled by my holy light?…….”

Seirei’s mouth opened yet again.

It seemed she talked for three minutes without stopping.

“Ah! Enough already!”

I shouted in frustration.

That excessively talkative mouth of hers truly did not rest for even a single moment.

If I left her alone like this, she seemed ready to give an academic lecture on the degree of brilliance produced by holy light.

I quickly cut her off.

“Be quiet, just shut your mouth and follow me. Did you not say every moment was urgent?”

“Y…yes, sir.”

Ignoring Seirei, who looked slightly crestfallen, I moved toward the next door without hesitation.

For some reason, I felt as though I had to get out of this dungeon as quickly as possible.

* * *

[The F-Grade Dungeon (Annihilation) has been conquered.]

A system message appeared before my eyes like an unreal dream.

Seirei and I had passed through only five rooms and crossed the final threshold of the dungeon.

It had been a far more anticlimactic and absurdly simple conquest than I expected.

‘Is it really all right for a Dungeon Conquest to end this emptily?’

I even felt bewildered.

It was as if I had merely watched someone else conquer a dungeon as a spectator.

I truly had not lifted a finger.

I had only followed behind Seirei, like some noble young master taking a leisurely stroll.

And yet, before even ten minutes had passed since the conquest began, a single F-Grade dungeon had been conquered.

Of course, among dungeon grades, it was the absolute lowest, an F Grade, and the mission had at least been something simple like ‘Enemy Annihilation’….

Still, this overwhelming conquest speed was clearly not normal.

It would not be an exaggeration to call it astonishing.

No, this was beyond astonishing. It was almost grotesque.

‘So this is the power of a High-Grade summoned creature. It makes no sense.’

I clicked my tongue in renewed awe at Seirei’s strength.

Ordinarily, the accepted theory among scholars was that to conquer an F-Grade dungeon, one had to deploy at least five mid-level Sword Expert knights, or one High-Level Knight, who stood a rank above them.

That was what my family had taught as well.

Even then, if the variables inside the dungeon were taken into account, one had to allow at least three hours for the conquest.

Unless the combatant was rather skilled, even that much could not be guaranteed.

After all, a dungeon was the sort of place where, with bad luck, an entire party could be wiped out.

But what about Seirei?

She had finished everything in less than ten minutes after the Dungeon Conquest began.

‘It means she is on an entirely different level. A different dimension altogether.’