Chapter 53: Will The History Repeat Itself?

"Is it in the lair of Milka..." Sensing the presence of a great beast somewhere around this jungle, Vael looked at the inquisitors.

"Yes.. it is indeed her den... but we would barely enter her lair, so there is no need to worry about it." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Nodding his head, Vale glanced toward Marty and thought to himself, ’She really has begun to create a nuisance here... why aren’t the churches doing anything about it?’

After evolving to tier Ⅳ, Milka had become a synonym of death among the businessmen.

Because of the beast, they had to add another day to their journey, which was getting added to the item they sell. The price of the item that depended on these imports has begun to rise because of this.

It was getting worse by the day, and still, everyone was silent for some reason.

’Should we do it ourselves... these tier I won’t even make a dent in the level..’ Glancing at his status, he thought to himself.

[Level: 35/40]

Just five levels away from advancing to the next tier, Vael was eager to hunt anything that could tip it off. Killing lower-tier monsters just wasn’t giving him the necessary exp.

’Let’s see how the hunt goes this time... if we get enough nex and afford some good artifacts, I can start the hunt.’ Making up his mind, Vael began polishing up his blade.

After moving through the clouds for an hour and a half, they finally reached the location of the dungeon.

’Is this it...’ Looking at the shimmering sigil, something rang in his mind. It was barely there, like a silent whisper trying to change his way.

Vael recognized it as a distant past, as if something that has been with them forever. It was there to protect him, to shield him from danger.

’Happening again...’

This wasn’t the first time he had felt something like this, so Vael was confused as to why it was happening here.

’It can barely be called a dungeon... not counting a common rank.’ he was about to ponder more about it when Marty’s voice reached him.

"This is the dungeon..." Pointing toward the sigil, he directed the driver to move the wagon on the ground.

While Vael and the hunters were unloading their necessary things from the wagon, Lucas moved toward his man, who was still waiting for anything.

"Nothing?" He asked.

"No, sir... It’s silent like a corpse." Saying the man heaved a sigh of relief. He was scared shitlees for the past two days being alone in the forest. It didn’t help him much when a beast like Milka was somewhere around.

The only unfortunate thing was that she didn’t try to attack him. Forget attacking, she didn’t even move closer to the sigil as if afraid of something.

"Okay, you can rest now..." Before he could even finish the words, the man was running toward the wagon.

’Just how tired was he...’ thinking Lucas moved toward the Valor and heard them talking about their strategy.

It took them ten minutes to get ready for the dive.

"You can enter now..." Pausing, Marty looked at their faces and added, "...if for any reason, even an ounce of doubt came to mind that we can’t clear the dungeon. Get out of there immediately. We don’t want any causality. Always prioritize your safety.

Vael knew it was bullshit, and Marty knew that he knew, but still both of them kept up appearances.

"Now... every three hours, send someone to report the progress. Do you understand?"

Marty asked, while everyone nodded. They were getting bored hearing this for the tenth time.

Seeing their frustration showing up on their faces, Mary said his final words, "Be the blessing of light with you."

Everyone bowed to the east and repeated the words.

"Be the light with you."

Finishing the exchange, Vale gripped his sword and opened his mouth.

"Valor stands where others fall,"

"Steel in our hands, honor above all."

The others repeated.

"Valor stands where others fall,"

"Steel in our hands, honor above all."

With sword above his shoulder and dedication in his heart, Vael moved his legs and stood upon the sigil.

Without an ounce of hesitation, he sliced his hand and let the blood fall upon the sigil. As the rune tasted his blood, a notification appeared in front of him.

[Do you want to enter the dungeon?]

[Yes/No]

Grabbing each other’s hands, they nodded in unison.

In an instant, their bodies disappeared, appearing in the cold depths of the dungeon.

Before the light returned in their eyes, their bodies moved instinctively, forming a formation. Daven cast a protective barrier around, protecting themselves from any unknown danger.

Instead of something unknown, a curse voice whispered in their ears.

[You have entered a unique dungeon: Dungeon Of Greed]

It wasn’t enough to shake them to the core; two new ones were coming.

[The Curse of Final Destination has been applied.]

[The Curse of Offering has been applied.]

’Final destination...’ Vael thought as something flashed past his mind.

After the destruction of his house, he joined a mercenary group to make a name for himself. He was a young blood then and wanted to raise the name of Ashcroft’s from the grave.

It was a hundred-man group; they were eager to conquer the first floor of a rare rank dungeon and cement their names in the history books.

Some hunters were like him, naive, hot-blooded, wanting to get rich and famous overnight. But most of them were veterans already tempered by the flames of dungeons.

Still, as time passed, he realized the horror of the world below the surface. The depth was unforgivable without any discrimination.

Forget about monsters; even the ecosystem was something he couldn’t survive in. Being in the mere presence of some monster would make Vael soil his pants.

So he did the only thing Vael had done until that point. He hid like a coward. Others died in the battle while he trembled in fear.

And when it was all over, only five of them remained. For all the hundred men that had entered, only five were allowed to leave.

Vale just stared at the curse of destination before clicking on the one he didn’t know anything about.

[The Curse of The Offering: Satisfy the greed.

Effect: Every hour, you have to offer something you consider of value to the dungeon. If you don’t do it willingly, the dungeon will decide on its own. After three refusals, the dungeon owns everything.]

Reading it, something rose within his heart, but Vael couldn’t tell whether it was terror... or the cruel shape of hope.