Rise of the Harem King
Chapter 53: Forgotten temple

Chapter 53: Forgotten temple

David walked through the narrow caves where they were until he arrived at the place that some students had commented on. More specifically, the familiar summoned by Laila, a D-rank girl, found that place.

The first thing that stood out was the change in the environment. In general, that level of the rift consisted of a vast network of relatively narrow caves.

Even the largest place they found reached around 10 feet in diameter. It wasn’t exactly tight, but it was far from being spacious. Moreover, most of the time, the passages were much narrower.

However, at that point, everything changed. No matter where Davi looked, he couldn’t see the cave walls. It was a massive chamber, around 40 feet high, and it was a vast open space.

What made it even more surreal was a forest within this immense underground expanse. Towering mushrooms, some as tall as trees, stretched toward the ceiling, their bioluminescent caps casting a soft, eerie glow.

Thick roots snaked across the rocky floor, and clusters of strange, luminescent plants flickered like distant fireflies. A thin mist clung to the ground, swirling around Davi’s feet as he stepped forward.

Naturally, it was also in the middle of that impressive place that almost all the monsters in that region lived, in particular, the biggest and most dangerous ones.

That’s why the boy went alone and that’s why he wished he had avoided using <Love the King> earlier. Still, he had enough energy to escape if necessary.

After carefully walking for some time, he arrived at the location he had heard about. It was a large, circular clearing where, in the midst of the dense forest, not a single tree grew.

Not only that but there were visible cracks in the ground. However, it wasn’t as if the area was about to collapse. Davi even walked and jumped over it, and it was clear that wasn’t enough to make the ground give way.

That didn’t change the fact that this spot could be turned into an excellent trap, or at least, he hoped it could.

To begin, he needed to investigate further. So, he used his power to dig downward. More specifically, he created a cylindrical hole about six inches in diameter using his skill <Excavate>.

That was how he confirmed that there was indeed something beneath the ground, or rather, the absence of something. After all, for some reason, if he dug a few feet down at that spot, he would find a massive void.

Next, he focused and used <mana manipulation> to spread his mana through the hole he had dug. It was a technique he had learned while working in mining, one that allowed him to assess the quality of the soil as well as what lay beneath it.

What he discovered was surprising. It was as if someone had dug a massive pit there and then covered it with a thin layer of rock and dirt.

Not only that, but it truly seemed to be something artificial. After all, the hole had an almost perfectly cylindrical shape, something that shouldn’t naturally occur.

Unfortunately, his powers couldn’t sense what was at the bottom of the pit. But at the very least, he was sure he could use it as a perfect trap to kill a large monster in case of an emergency.

With that in mind, he used once more <excavate>. However, instead of focusing the power on a single point, he spread it across the entire circumference of the area. This way, he weakened the ground even further.

He had worked with this for over two years, so he was able to fine-tune it precisely, ensuring the ground could still support the weight of multiple monsters standing above it, but the whole thing would collapse with an explosion or an attack at the right points.

His plan was to use this to kill the floor’s guardian.

Floor guardians were particularly powerful monsters that roamed the core of each level. They were mysterious beings that would resurrect a few weeks after being slain.

The coreitself was even more enigmatic. It was a sphere, capable of having various colors, located somewhere on each level of the rift. By touching it, one could choose to ascend to the floor above or descend further below.

Of course, to even reach it, they first needed to defeat that floor’s guardian. Only then could they start climbing to less dangerous floors and, eventually, escape from that hell.

Since Davi had no intention of simply waiting for help, he was obviously devising plans to take down that damned guardian.

However, for a moment, all of his thoughts had to be pushed aside.

He could hear it, an immense pack of monsters rushing toward him. They were getting closer.

Did they see me?

Then, the boy immediately climbed the tallest tree he found, so he could view his enemies from a better position.

Are they undead? Davi thought, not understanding what he saw before him.

It was a group of countless monsters similar to the ones they had slain earlier. The problem was that none of these creatures seemed alive. They moved unnaturally, their motions stiff and erratic, resembling walking corpses.

In fact, some of them bore fatal wounds. One of the beasts, for example, had lost half of its head, yet it still advanced as if nothing had happened.

That meant one of two things: either this was the work of some necromantic ability... or it was something even more terrifying.

ⵔⵔⵔ

Meanwhile, Sophia’s group had also just won another arduous battle, but they were clearly doing much better than Davi’s group.

With Alden serving as the perfect decoy and having so many fighters, they managed to descend aaato another level with relative ease. According to Carlos’s observers, they were now exactly one floor above where Davi was.

It had been two days since they set out to rescue their companions, but the blonde girl intended to keep a slow and steady pace, acting as safely as possible. Thanks to that, she had ensured that everyone was still in good condition.

However, understanding Alexia’s desperation to save her beloved, she allowed the girl to go ahead. Alexia was accompanied by Aden, who also wanted to rescue Davi, and Sylvia, who volunteered to help.

Sophia had two reasons for letting them go first. She knew they were strong enough to defeat the floor’s guardian, and it would probably be easier for them to fight without worrying about the safety of the others.

In other words, the best strategy to take down the guardian of that level was to let them go ahead and handle it.

Besides, she also wanted to save Davi as soon as possible, after all, she was quite worried about him.

With that, the trio took the most direct route to the floor’s core, passing through areas infested with monsters. Meanwhile, the larger group took a long detour, following the safest path possible.

And it was precisely during this detour that Sophia found herself in trouble. She would have continued along her path without incident if they hadn’t been suddenly attacked by a monster, a giant, horned mole-like creature.

Defeating it wasn’t particularly difficult, but during the battle, one of the students fell into a hole the beast had dug.

And when the others went to rescue him, they discovered that beneath the very ground they had been walking on, there was something truly astonishing.

As the dust settled from the battle, the group cautiously approached the hole where their fellow student had fallen. The pit was deeper than expected, but as they peered inside, their lanterns illuminated something unusual. Beneath the layers of dirt and rock, they could see the faint outline of carved stone.

Sophia’s breath caught as she took a step closer. What at first seemed like just another pit left by the monstrous creature was actually the entrance to something much older.

The faint glow of their lights revealed a massive stone doorway, partially buried beneath the collapsed earth. The carvings on its surface were intricate, though worn by time, and strange symbols ran along the edges, their meaning lost to the ages.

"This... this looks like a temple," one of the students whispered, their voice barely above a breath.

Sophia exchanged glances with the others, a mix of excitement and hesitation flickering in their eyes. This was an incredible discovery, but it also meant stepping into the unknown.

"Should we go inside?" another student asked, gripping their weapon a little tighter.

Sophia hesitated for a moment, as she looked mesmerized by the inscriptions on the entrance of that thing. And she could not feel extremely interested in that thing.

How was a temple built inside the rift? That question opened so many possibilities—she couldn’t simply ignore it.

But they could always come back another time. Right now, she wasn’t going to take any risks when so many lives depended on her.

"We need to keep going. We don’t know what kind of danger might be inside," the blonde girl announced firmly.

However, as she turned back to look at the other students, she froze for an instant. In the very next second, she activated her barrier.

"Fuck, you always get in my way, you annoying bitch," a shadowy figure emerged behind the students, its voice dripping with venom.

A burst of fire shot toward them, forcing Sophia to reinforce her defense.

"You even undid the work I did burning that useless man," the figure sneered, stepping closer.