Chapter 64
A thick fog covered an area stretching for hundreds of meters, and old sites were sparsely visible on its outskirts.
That fog was the erosion station and spatial distortion of the world.
After entering the fog, the Dungeon unfolded.
Unlike the underground maze Dungeon, where the entrance was clearly visible, the Loer Dungeon could be accessed by entering the fog’s outer layer.
Their fatigue had piled up quite a bit, but there was no time to rest.
Seira pushed the party together.
“Let’s go right in.”
With the horses and Golem steeds tied nearby, Han-bin and his party threw themselves into the mist.
Saaaaaa…….
A strange sensation passed by them as a mist-covered ruin was revealed.
The interior was much wider than the fog area, which had a radius of several hundred meters.
It was almost kilometers wide.
Looking at the collapsed stone buildings, Han-bin had a thought.
‘Those look like ancient Roman or Greek ruins.’
But none of them seemed to have originated from Earth.
The atmosphere they gave off was simply similar, but the building’s shape and the engravings were completely different.
‘Where the hell are these Dungeons coming from?’
As Han-bin wallowed in his curiosity, the group quickly moved along the road.
They were able to pass through Loer Dungeon’s entry point without much trouble since most areas had been cleaned.
After passing four crossroads, Raondel addressed the party.
“The places we passed through are all Clean areas. From here on out, monsters will start coming.”
Han-bin and his party were already prepared to fight.
Artis readied his staff, Seira untied her fingers, and Effir had already unsheathed her twin blades.
Ryu Han-bin also pulled out a two-meter black sword.
Raondel was overly chatty.
“You don’t have to be nervous yet. Monsters in this area are level 40 at best.”
He was right.
Han-bin’s group was capable of handling level 50 or higher.
However, Raondel shouldn’t be the one saying that.
‘You’re level 39 at best, aren’t you? We’re fine, but you need to be nervous, right?’
Feeling a bit embarrassed for him, Ryu Han-bin stepped forward.
“I’ll take the lead.”
It was common for a powerful Warrior to take the lead in a Dungeon Raid.
Naturally, Han-bin became the main tank.
‘How much further?’
Suddenly, they heard a shriek from above.
Raising his head, Artis smiled coldly.
“Finally starting to show up, huh?”
Unlike the underground maze-type Dungeon, the Loer Dungeon was completely open, leaving the sky visible.
Of course, it was not Latna’s sky.
It was covered with endless distortive fogs.
Dozens of monsters were flying within it.
They were female monsters with feathered wings attached to their arms and eagle-like talons on both feet.
Effir immediately recognized their identity.
“Harpy!”
Harpies began to burst out a lush cry in unison.
“Argh!”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
* * *
[Race: Ice Harpy lv. 40
A flying monster that performs mana-infused attacks through sound waves and can cast ice magic when it’s in late level 30s. It uses a neutralizing technique at long distances and then finishes the target with its talons.]
As explained by the Guideline, the ice harpies did not approach Han-bin’s party past a certain distance.
They glided over the sky and spun around far away from them, bursting into a roar.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
The air was distorted, and sound waves in the shape of arrows flew in.
Seira quickly conjured defensive Spirit.
The ice harpies’ attacks hit the barrier, causing a violent sound to echo.
Boom!
After blocking the first attack, she addressed the party.
“Harpies never approach until their prey has been incapacitated! We need to result to long-range attacks.”
Of course, Han-bin and his party already knew that.
Effir immediately launched a counterattack.
-Magic Swordsmanship: Light Spear!
Artis also cast a spell.
“Create thunderbolts in the sky! Chain Lightning!”
The Light Spear cut through the air, and the Chain Lightning embroidered the sky.
The harpies fell to the ground with the droplets of their blood.
“Arghhh!”
As if responding to their colleagues’ deaths, the remaining harpies began to run wild even harder.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“Ahhh!”
They continuously flung sound arrows, created blizzards, and fired ice bullets.
The fog-filled sky of the ancient ruins was riddled with light and noise.
Boom!
Han-bin habitually picked up the stones around him.
Then he changed my mind.
‘No, should I do that?’
It wasn’t exactly an emergency.
Han-bin didn’t have to step in yet.
He thought it would be okay to practice archery instead.
“Effir! Give me my bow!”
Unable to use Magic Tools, Ryu Han-bin’s bow and arrow were kept by Effir instead.
She took the bow and arrows out of her waist pocket and threw them to Han-bin.
“Here you go, Mr. Felard!”
Catching the bow and quiver, Han-bin felt awed.
‘That’s seriously amazing.’
It was a normal pocket on the surface, but things that were many times bigger than it could be stored inside it without any problems.
Han-bin quickly wielded the bow properly and nocked an arrow.
When Raondel saw the bow, he clicked his tongue arrogantly.
“Your bow’s too big, ignorant being.”
When Han-bin bought it, he said it was like a toy, but it was just Han-bin’s standard. It was quite a big bow in other people’s eyes.
After carefully aiming at the harpies in the air, Han-bin released arrow after arrow.
Powerful projectiles were fired in quick succession, all followed by sonic booms.
Pod! Pod! Paw!
But none of them hit their target.
“……?”
“……caw?”
The harpies looked puzzled for a moment.
It was rare for an arrow fired at such speeds to deviate so thoroughly.
‘What the hell is that big man doing?’
Han-bin grumbled as he nocked another arrow into the bow.
“Oh, it’s not that easy.”
He had been practicing archery steadily.
Thanks to that, the hit rate had increased quite a bit.
He could hit a fixed target quite accurately.
But it was still too much for him to hit flying objects.
Still, Han-bin kept shooting.
‘This is all part of my training.’
Pods! Pods! Pods!
Raondel frowned at Han-bin, who eagerly let arrows loose into the air.
Just a moment ago, Raondel was quite impressed by the bow’s size, but Han-bin’s aim was below average.
“Well, your archery skill is fucked up. You’re wasting arrows.”
Raondel pulled out an elegant silver bow from a pouch across his waist.
It was a beautiful longbow with a graceful curve. Gold was intricately carved into it.
“I will show you true archery!”
[Seven-of-seven Kill Longbow (Artifact)]
It overlaps the seven Level 35 magic spells, increasing their firepower to level 50 or higher, then loads them into the arrow to increase the arrow’s strength.
Level requirement: lv. 37. Number of Uses: 120 times a day.]
Han-bin admired the weapon silently.
‘That looks extraordinary.’
It was an amazing Artifact that allowed the user to execute attacks far more powerful than their level.
Raondel not being frightened by the Dungeon was odd for Han-bin, considering his level was far lower than the Dungeon’s minimum level, but his weapon provided an explanation.
‘It can be used a lot. 120 times a day. One could run out of arrows before even reaching its daily limit.’
Moreover, the Magic Swordsman Raondel didn’t have to carry arrows.
-Magic Swordsmanship: Empty Arrow!
He created arrows through a Magic Swordsmanship technique instead.
Every time he fired an arrow, harpies shrieked and fell.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“Argh!”
He had perfect accuracy.
Not a single shot was missed.
What a blow!
The forest race Elves, under the auspices of Sorondi, the Goddess of the land, traditionally had excellent archery.
Even such an immature royal family member was equal to expert archers in terms of skill and talent.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Through Raondel’s attacks, the number of harpies began to decline exponentially.
Eventually, the last of them burst out its death throes.
“Ahhhhh…….”
Harpy carcasses littered across the ground, and blood-stained feathers fluttered in the air.
Raondel proudly exclaimed as he held the longbow.
“Hahaha! This is Elven archery! It’s different from your primitive archery!”
Han-bin watched the scene expressionlessly.
‘Well, I can’t disagree with you that you’re good at archery…’
But Raondel was still too condescending.
‘How do I react to this?’
Raondel stepped back due to the silent gaze of the ‘Valtara warrior.’
“Huh? Why are you looking at me that way, little man?”
Artis kindly ‘interpreted.’
“He seems to be wondering if he’s been insulted, Prince.”
Raondel wondered as if he didn’t understand.
“What insult? I didn’t even say he’s not good at archery though he most definitely isn’t.”
After a moment’s consideration, Han-bin made his decision.
‘I can skip this.’
Valtara warriors didn’t get angry when they heard that they were not good at cooking or bad at dressing.
Such a thing was not an insult to the ‘warrior.’
Artis grinned.
“It’s not an insult. He seems to have reached that conclusion. He’s indeed clumsy with a bow.”
Raondel asked back.
“Then why did he do that at the inn? Didn’t I tell him the truth back then? I just called a savage, a savage…”
Thud!
Flap!
“…”
Looking down at the confused Raondel, Effir had a curious look on her face.
It was because the third Prince of the Kingdom of Xrad came to her mind.
‘Are all Princes so clueless?’
* * *
Monsters frequently appeared and attacked the party.
“Argh!”
“Humans!”
“Kill them!”
A giant, human-like monster with a rugged appearance and bulging black skin rushed in with an iron mace.
It was a Great Orc, the upper species of Orc.
Swinging her twin blades, Effir flew forward.
“Taat!”
She lowered her posture, narrowly avoiding a blow that could break boulders.
She threw her body forward like she was leaning on the floor and stood up again with just the elasticity of her waist, piercing her opponent’s neck in the process!
“Ar, argh…….”
With a single blow, the Great Orc died silently.
Three more was charging from the back of the crumbling Great Orc.
Angry at the death of their kindred, they wielded their swords and spears immediately.
“Grrrr!”
“You little human girl!”
‘I’m not a human being, actually.’
Thinking leisurely, Effir fell slightly backward and swung her weapons in retaliation.
“Yap! Taat!”
The left blade blocked the sword of one of the monsters, and the right blade defended against their spear.
Metal sounds resounded violently.
Bam!
Blocking their attacks, she used her defense posture as a part of her Magic Swordsmanship.
-Magic Swordsmanship: Crying Rupture!
Shock waves fanned out and smashed the remaining gray monsters’ heads.
Bam!
Swinging the swords to shake off the blood on their blades, Effir shouted.
“I’ve cleared everything here, Mr. Artis!”