"Chapter 50: Purging the Corruption and the Battle Between Monsters"
Putting the sealed crystal in his pocket, Alex began examining the room with the mysterious wall. He wanted to understand why the alarm system had failed. Alex walked slowly along the walls, touching them and trying to locate the cubes that should have been part of the system. The group watched his actions closely, not quite understanding what he was looking for and why he wasn't hurrying to catch up with the girls who were stuck in the dungeon.
Finally, Alex reached one of the corners and found remnants of a cube that had once been part of the alarm system. He picked up the fragments and began studying them, trying to determine the cause of the malfunction. After a thorough examination, Alex seemed to understand what had happened.
"Alex, what are you doing? Don't we need to go after the girls?" asked Hestia, approaching and looking at the damaged cube in his hands.
"I was trying to figure out why the alarm didn't work," Alex replied, showing the broken cube.
"What happened to it?" Hestia asked, and the others came closer to look.
"What is this thing anyway?" asked Hermes, examining the fragments in Alex's hands.
"It's the remains of the alarm system I asked the Loki family to install. But it seems some clumsy idiot installed it incorrectly, and the monsters destroyed it," Alex replied irritably, his eye visibly twitching with anger.
At that moment, on the 18th floor, one of the Loki family members sneezed and felt a chill run down his spine. He began anxiously looking around, sensing that something bad might happen. Not understanding the cause of the chill, he returned to his food.
"Tiona, did you catch a cold?" asked Riveria, noticing Tiona sneeze and start looking around anxiously.
"I don't think it's a cold. I just felt like someone was about to attack me," Tiona replied, shaking her head.
"Are you sure you're not sick?" Finn asked, staring at her intently.
"I'm sure. Captain, have you contacted Alex or Allen?" Tiona asked Finn, who froze for a moment after her question.
"I haven't tried yet. The last time I tried to report to Alex about finishing the installation, the connection was lost. I haven't tried since," Finn replied, shaking his head.
"Maybe we should try again? Let him know that we've encountered members of his family?" Riveria suggested.
"I don't think it's necessary. Alex is very busy these days; I don't want him to worry unnecessarily," Daphne interjected, sitting with the Loki family.
"Maybe he's restless, wishing he could come here. It's better to let him know we're okay," Riveria continued to insist.
"Daphne is right. We're leaving for home soon anyway, so it's better not to bother him unnecessarily," Cassandra agreed, pulling out some sweets from her pocket.
"Where do you always get those candies? You eat them constantly, and they never seem to run out," Lily asked, watching Cassandra reach into her bag for another candy.
"Alex gave me a whole bunch. He said sweets can save the world, you know how he is," Cassandra replied with a shrug.
"Why didn't he give me any candy?" Daphne asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.
"You don't like sweets. Why waste them on someone like you?" Cassandra countered, looking at her friend with a hint of disdain.
"Are you looking for a fight?" Daphne asked irritably, gritting her teeth.
"You can try, but I'm not afraid of you," Cassandra replied calmly. Daphne didn't wait and attacked Cassandra, intending to take all her candies and teach her a lesson.
"How did a discussion about not being able to contact Alex turn into an argument about candies and then into a fight?" Lefiya asked in surprise, watching Cassandra and Daphne grapple with each other.
"They're always like this. You can just ignore it," Lily sighed wearily, used to such situations.
"Um, Lily, maybe we should try contacting the captain after all?" Bella nervously suggested, fearing Alex would scold them for getting ambushed in the dungeon.
"Don't worry, Bella. Alex will just give you a long lecture about the importance of vigilance and then let it go," Lily reassured her.
"Does he really give you lectures about dungeon behavior?" Tiona asked in surprise, wondering how that was even possible.
"Usually, his lectures are brief unless you really messed up," Lily shrugged.
"It seems like that's exactly what happened to you," Bette added with a smirk. Lily froze, realizing how bad the situation was. Cassandra and Daphne, who had just stopped fighting, also heard the comment. The girls began to get very nervous, realizing they were in for a serious discussion when they got home. Their eyes met, and they decided to discuss how best to justify themselves to avoid a lengthy lecture.
While Hestia's group was trying to avoid the dreaded lecture, Alex's group was still in the room where the mysterious black wall had been. Alex was explaining the purpose of the alarm system and why he had asked the Loki family to install it. Those unfamiliar with Alex were amazed by his invention and his plans for its use. Hermes, noticing Alex's ingenuity, began to consider asking him to create a few useful devices for his needs. Asfi, sensing her god's contemplative look, realized he was up to something again but decided not to dissuade him, knowing it would be pointless.
"If the alarm was supposed to activate when mutated monsters appeared, why didn't it work?" Ryu asked, watching as Alex restrained his anger.
"Well, as they say, trust a fool with a job and everything gets ruined," Alex replied with a heavy sigh.
"What do you mean?" asked Hestia.
"The alarm was hastily made. To function properly, it needed many cubes working in synergy. But because one fragment was damaged, the whole system failed," Alex explained, recognizing that he was partly to blame as well.
"Are you saying that because of one broken part, everything collapsed?" Hermes asked for clarification.
"Pretty much. I designed it to cover the entire dungeon, and to work properly, it needed to be assembled as one cohesive device," Alex said, causing even more questions from the group.
"It's like building a house: if you're missing one brick, the whole structure might collapse. It's a similar situation here," Alex used an analogy, seeing that the group still didn't fully understand.
"Is it possible that one damaged element caused the entire system to fail?" Asfi asked.
"I had little time, so I divided the system into parts that were supposed to work together as one large construction. If one part is removed, everything falls apart," Alex explained. Asfi frowned, realizing that despite the simplicity of the words, the mechanism was much more complex than she thought.
"Can't you fix that element so everything works again?" Hestia asked, receiving approving nods from the entire group.
"Even if I fix it, it's not certain that everything will work. I designed the system to be damage-resistant while operating, but due to this broken element, it didn't even start. And I don't know how many other parts the monsters have damaged," Alex admitted, shaking his head. Hestia wanted to comfort him, understanding that his plan had failed.
"Alright, enough about the sad stuff. Yamato, where did you encounter my family?" Alex asked, turning his gaze to Yamato, who flinched at his words.
"F-follow me," Yamato stuttered, afraid Alex might do something.
"Don't scare her," Hestia shouted, tugging at Alex's arm, causing him to raise an eyebrow.
Yamato began recalling the path her group had taken in retreat to lead the others to the place where they encountered Hestia's family. Guiding the group through the corridors, she reached a junction where their paths had diverged. Alex followed Yamato, observing carefully. He noticed that there were no corpses of mutated ants or other monsters along the way, and there were no crystals, indicating either the monsters had not been killed here or something else was going on in this part of the dungeon. While Alex pondered this, Yamato led the group to the meeting place with Hestia's family.
"When we were fleeing, we encountered your family's girls here," Yamato said, pointing to the junction leading in different directions.
"Which way do you think they went?" Hestia asked, tugging at Alex's arm.
"Alex, are you listening?" she asked again when she received no response.
"Hm? What did you say?" Alex asked, snapping out of his thoughts and looking at Hestia.
"I asked which way you think the girls went," Hestia repeated.
"Well, I don't know yet, but they probably headed toward the 8th floor," Alex said after a short pause.
"Why are you so pensive?" Hestia noticed Alex had become lost in thought again.
"As we came here, we didn't encounter any monsters, or even signs of battle or crystals that might have dropped from them," Alex said, drawing the group's attention.
"It is indeed strange that we haven't encountered any monsters," Ryu said, realizing it was an important detail.
"What do you think might have happened?" she asked, looking at Alex.
"I have a few theories, but I'm not sure about their accuracy," Alex replied, continuing to examine the junction.
"Then share them with us. We're all curious about what's on your mind," Hermes interjected, earning disapproving looks from the others and a tired sigh from Asfi.
"The first possibility is that the dungeon has simply stopped spawning new monsters," Alex said after a brief pause.
"That's unlikely since the dungeon continuously spawns monsters," Asfi countered, to which Alex nodded.
"The second, more plausible possibility is that the ants used the monsters to feed the wall," Alex said, making the group consider his theory.
" How did you come to that conclusion? "Hermes asked, looking at Alex.
"Firstly, Yamato said that the darkness on the wall became noticeably larger when she entered the room. Secondly, we didn't encounter any monsters on the way here," Alex explained, laying out his reasoning.
"But there are no monsters here either," Asfi noted, glancing around.
"Alright, let me explain it in a way that you'll understand my perspective, and then you can decide whether I'm right or not," Alex said, and the group nodded, intrigued by his reasoning.
" Ants are insects living in colonies. Their job is to collect prey and bring it back to their nest to feed the "Queen" and support new offspring, " Alex began to explain, with the group urging him to continue.
"Monsters in the dungeon are born from the mana flowing in the walls. This makes them a great source of food for the wall. And before you ask why the wall just doesn't feed on mana from the walls, who says it hasn't? The ants simply brought even more food, that's all," Alex concluded, and the group's eyes widened as they realized how plausible this was.
" What do we do next? It's unknown how many more ants are in the dungeon, " Asfi asked, wanting to know the plan of action.
" For starters, we'll head toward the 18th floor and figure out what happened along the way, " Alex replied, heading toward the passage to the 8th floor. The group was slightly puzzled by this course of action but followed him nonetheless.
Alex led his group to the 18th floor, hoping to find the girls and get to the bottom of what had happened in the dungeon. He kept a careful watch around him, trying to spot any traces of Lily's group, but the path was empty—no monsters, no crystals that would usually drop from defeated creatures. When the group reached the 10th floor, they finally found blood trails leading to one of the rooms.
Approaching the room, Alex peeked inside and saw a large number of mutated orcs dumping live monsters against the wall. Alex did not rush to act, wanting to understand how these monsters were feeding the wall. He instructed his group to stay put and observed. After a while, tendrils emerged from the wall, wrapped around an uninfected monster, absorbed it, and the wall slightly increased in size. This increase was almost imperceptible, but Alex caught it.
Realizing time was of the essence, Alex decided to eliminate all the monsters in the room to cleanse the wall of corruption and move forward. He unleashed a chain lightning attack that struck all the monsters and turned them to ash. Ensuring that all the monsters were destroyed, Alex immediately approached the wall to cleanse it. His group watched the scene, astonished by the new black spot on the wall. Alex took out another crystal intended to cleanse the wall, and, as before, the crystal instantly turned black and began emitting miasma.
"Alex, why is there another wall here? " Hestia asked, approaching him as he put the crystal back into his bag.
" Most likely, they started corrupting not just one floor but those with the highest concentration of monsters, " Alex replied after a moment of thought.
" Are you saying there might be more places like this? " Asfi asked, trying to understand the seriousness of the situation.
" Probably. If you follow the pattern, they only corrupt floors where monsters can transport other monsters," Alex explained, stroking his chin.
"What do you mean by that? " Hermes asked, examining the room.
" Look, the first group of ants we encountered could have been doing this. They have a collective intelligence that helps them work together. Now orcs, which if they lived on the surface, might start building their settlements. So, they are corrupting monsters that can follow orders and work as labor, " Alex clarified.
" That makes sense why we haven't encountered other monsters; these orcs must have captured them and offered them as sacrifices, " Hermes observed, stroking his chin.
" Something like that, " Alex nodded, lighting up a cigarette.
" But why didn't you sense the other walls? " Yamato asked, wanting to know the reason.
" Would you believe me if I said I only searched up to the 7th floor and didn't investigate beyond that?" Alex said with a wry smile.
" Yes," Hestia and Ryu answered in unison, and Alex pointed to them. Yamato could only swallow her words.
" Since we're done here, we need to move on. We might encounter more walls like this on our way, " Alex said, exiting the room. The group followed him.
" I'm tired, carry me, " Hestia said, catching up to Alex.
" Of course, hop on the pillow, " Alex replied, summoning a flying pillow.
" Why a pillow? I wanted you to carry me yourself, " Hestia began to protest.
" Just in case I need to fight," Alex said, lifting Hestia and placing her on the pillow. Hestia touched the pillow, feeling its softness, and decided to relax, understanding why Alex sometimes enjoyed flying on it.
" Can I have a turn? " Hermes asked, watching the pillow with Hestia on it.
" If you want a beating with a stick, go ahead and try, " Alex said, giving Hermes a sidelong glance. Hermes immediately broke into a sweat, realizing he would have to continue walking.
" I was just asking, no need to threaten, " Hermes said, raising his hand in surrender. Asfi watched with a broad smile, pleased that someone had finally managed to put her god in his place.
Alex's group continued through the dungeon and soon came across another corrupted wall on the 15th floor. Finally, Alex realized where the dead mutated monsters had been disappearing: they were also being brought to the wall and fed to it. But the most interesting part was that by absorbing the mutated monsters, the wall immediately gave birth to new ones, effectively replacing the fallen. Observing this process, Alex realized that Ereb's group had made a very clever move. Instead of corrupting a single strong monster, they had corrupted the entire dungeon. However, recalling the Goliath corruption incident, he noted that there were no signs of corruption on that wall. This meant that the crystals they embedded in the walls were completely different. Perhaps Ereb had begun to lose patience and decided to revise his plans, making them more extensive.
After cleansing the corrupted wall on the 15th floor, the group proceeded to the 17th floor, where the room of the monster-rex Goliath was located. As they approached the room, they heard the sounds of a fierce battle and hurried to find out what was happening. For safety, Alex set up a barrier around his group to protect them from possible debris. Peeking into the hall, he saw Goliath being attacked by humanoid tiger monsters.
Alex knew that regular tigers inhabited this floor, not humanoid ones. Surprised, he watched as these mutated monsters fought Goliath in a coordinated manner. Although their attacks seemed chaotic, they still inflicted significant damage on Goliath.
" Alex, what's going on? " Ryu asked, quietly approaching him.
" It seems the mutated monsters have attacked Goliath, trying to obtain the mana crystal inside him, " Alex replied, not taking his eyes off the battle.
" Why did they attack him if he's stronger? " Ryu asked, also starting to watch the fight.
"The mana in his crystal is very powerful. If it's fed to the wall, the corruption might spread much faster, " Alex explained, watching Goliath crush another monster with his foot.
" Maybe the corruption on this floor is more advanced than on the others we've seen? — Ryu continued, waiting for Alex's reaction.
" Not 'maybe,' but most likely. I think the corruption has already covered the entire room, and I hope it hasn't spread further, — Alex replied thoughtfully.
" So what are you waiting for? If it's this bad here, " Hestia asked, having overheard the conversation.
" You don't see a monster battle like this every day. It's better to enjoy the spectacle for now, " Alex replied with a smirk. Hestia made a face but decided to watch as well. The rest of the group joined them, observing the monster fight.
" How about we place bets on who will win? " Hermes suggested, clearly bored with inactivity.
" Alright. I'll bet 10,000 valis on the tigers, " Alex said, pulling out a small pouch of coins.
" I see you're going big. Then I'll bet 10,000 on Goliath, " Hermes replied, pulling out his money.
" We're also betting on Goliath, " Yamato said on behalf of her group, handing over the money.
" I'll bet on a draw, " Hestia said, pulling out her wallet.
" I'm also going for a draw, " Asfi supported her, ignoring Hermes's dissatisfied expression.
" I think the tigers will win, so I'll bet on them, " Ryu declared, taking out her money.
" With the bets placed, let's see who comes out victorious, " Hermes said cheerfully, enjoying the excitement. Alex just shook his head and continued watching the battle.
After Alex's group placed their bets on the winner, they continued watching the battle, which was becoming increasingly fierce. Goliath's wounds were not healing fast enough, with new ones appearing almost immediately. The tigers attacked with remarkable coordination, timing their strikes to quickly wear down the giant. Those who didn't die from Goliath's powerful blows quickly recovered and re-entered the fray.
As the fight dragged on, it became evident that Goliath was losing strength. Despite his immense power, he had already lost more than half of his health. The tigers also suffered losses: only four from the original group remained, while the rest had been turned into a bloody mess smeared across the walls and floor. Realizing the danger, the remaining tigers began to act even more cautiously, choosing their moments of attack with maximum effectiveness.
Alex, observing the battle, noticed that the tigers were changing their tactics, adapting to their opponent. This indicated that the mutated monsters had the ability to quickly adapt, making them even more dangerous. Alex realized that leaving such creatures unchecked posed a massive threat. A monster capable of intelligent actions would always be far more dangerous than a mere beast.
The battle reached its climax when only one tiger remained, which had begun to evolve during the fight. Strange tentacles emerged from its body, capable of both defending and attacking. Exhausted and on the brink of defeat, Goliath decided to make a final push to crush his opponent. The tiger waited patiently for Goliath to open up for a decisive strike. However, it did not expect Goliath to change his attack direction at the last moment and strike it forcefully with his foot, sending it crashing into the wall. The tiger was stuck after the impact, and Goliath, seizing the opportunity, began to viciously pound the wall, turning his foe into a bloody mess.
When the battle ended, Hermes rubbed his hands together with a satisfied smile, anticipating his victory. However, his joy quickly turned to shock. Alex turned to see that Goliath, reduced to ashes, had left behind a massive crystal.
"Ha-ha! Hand over your money, losers!" Hestia exclaimed joyfully, quickly collecting money from the losers. Alex watched in surprise at her strange behavior.
"Hestia-sama, I'm sorry, but some of that money belongs to me," Asfi interjected, causing Hestia to stop and sadly hand over a portion of the money.
"Hestia, don't you have enough of the money I give you?" Alex asked, noticing her sulking.
"It's not the same," Hestia replied with pouty lips.
"And what's the difference?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.
"This money I won fairly, while the money you give me is just handed over," Hestia explained, gesturing with her hands.
"So Alex gives you pocket money?" Hermes asked with a sly grin.
"He's just like a father spoiling his daughter," Hermes added, laughing at his joke.
"You're still laughing?" Hestia asked sharply, reaching into her bag. Hermes, still laughing, had no idea what was coming.
"I see you're still having fun," Hestia continued, pulling out her shocker.
"Now you'll have less to laugh about," she said, shocking Hermes.
"Aaaaa!" Hermes screamed and lost consciousness.
"Hmph. That'll teach you to laugh at me," Hestia declared, putting the shocker back into her bag.
"Hestia-sama, will he be alright?" Asfi asked anxiously, looking at Hermes, from whom smoke was rising.
"Yes, he'll just be out for a while and then wake up. At least we'll have some peace and quiet," Alex replied calmly, lifting Hermes onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Now let's move on and check the remaining wall," Alex added, heading towards the direction where he sensed a mana response.
Asfi watched Alex carry Hermes and thought he was right: Hermes could talk for hours, and sometimes silence was truly a blessing. The group moved towards the black wall. As they got closer, Alex noticed that the corruption had spread not just on the wall but throughout the entire room. The corruption had spread so far that it meant many monsters had been sacrificed, and likely adventurers as well.
Alex first eliminated the remaining monsters to prevent them from interfering or being resurrected if their corpses came into contact with the black corruption. He began to study the corruption that enveloped the room, which looked very different from the walls he had seen earlier. While the previous walls were simply cursed or covered in strange corruption, this room resembled a living organism. Alex asked everyone to keep their distance and dropped Hermes on the floor like a sack. He then approached the room to investigate further.
Peering inside, Alex saw that everything in the room seemed alive: the walls moved with each breath, and the sound from deep within resembled indistinct mumbling. Continuing his observation, Alex saw strange tentacles growing from the walls, seemingly dancing or rejoicing in the events unfolding. Realizing that the corruption might spread further, Alex decided to cleanse the room. He placed the crystal on the floor where the corruption was. The crystal began absorbing the taint, but the mumbling grew louder. The more corruption the crystal absorbed, the clearer the voices became, turning into inhuman screams, as if trying to destroy the one taking away its freedom.
After the room was fully cleansed, Alex heard a final scream in an incomprehensible language that sounded more like bubbling than words. However, the scream clearly conveyed hatred and malice. The crystal he held grew darker, with eyes and teeth appearing on its surface, as if trying to bite a piece off. Alex sealed the crystal and applied several layers of runes for enhanced protection. He understood that, even though only a few days had passed since the dungeon was infected, the corruption had already progressed to frightening levels. Satisfied that no traces of corruption remained in the room, he returned to the group.
"What happened in there? And what was that scream?" Hestia asked, shivering from what she had heard.
"The corruption had spread extensively, and when it reached that level, it started to seem like it was coming alive," Alex replied. Everyone's eyes widened in shock.
"Are you saying it's not just a curse or mutation, but something much more sinister?" Asfi speculated.
"Something like that. If it had been left for another week, the entire floor would have been infected," Alex said, lighting a cigarette.
"Are you sure there aren't more rooms like this?" Ryu asked, looking at Alex intently.
"Most likely not. Everything was done in a hurry, and the floors chosen are those frequently traveled by adventurers," Alex replied after a moment's thought.
"Why do you think that?" Hermes asked, brushing dust off himself.
"Because adventurers are more valuable fuel for these walls than mana monsters," Alex answered, looking at Hermes.
"And why are adventurers more valuable?" Hermes asked, guessing the reason.
"A soul," Alex answered succinctly. The gods' eyes widened in surprise.
"You mean…" Hestia began but couldn't finish.
"Yes," Alex confirmed.
"This is serious," Hermes said, nervously pacing back and forth, trying to process the information.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand," Asfi interrupted, wanting to grasp the situation.
"A soul is a massive source of energy, like a tiny sun. You can figure out the rest yourself," Alex explained, and everyone in the group turned pale with realization.
"What should we do now?" Hestia asked.
"We'll retrieve the girls and prepare for a possible enemy attack in the dungeon," Alex said, extinguishing his cigarette.
"Do you think they'll attack?" Ryu asked.
"Possibly. Most likely, they'll attack from both sides: on the surface and in the dungeon," Alex speculated.
The group headed to the 18th floor to meet the girls and, possibly, Loki's family, who might have set up camp on that floor. Along the way, Alex discussed potential scenarios for the next day and emphasized the need to be prepared for anything. But that's a story for another time.
To be continued…