Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 111 - 108: Extinguish the Fire, Extinguish the Fire

Chapter 111: Chapter 108: Extinguish the Fire, Extinguish the Fire

"[Extinguish the three flames, and the door to Wolf Blood shall open]"

As the counsel emerged, a white, ethereal Spiritual Body appeared in front of Maru and the others.

It was a person wearing strange Armor, with a triangular-tipped hat and a crow-like mask that thoroughly covered the face, a cloak casually fluttering behind, exuding a sense of mystery.

He held the Great Sword horizontally, resting his other hand wielding a dagger on top of it, slowly bowing his head in a gesture that was obscure yet solemn.

Could this be some kind of ritual?

Whatever the meaning, this introduction had certainly awestruck Maru and the rest.

"Is this not a real person?" the adventurer circled around the Undead Team’s Spiritual Body, wanting to observe more closely, yet never daring to step forward.

Even though it was just a Spiritual Body, it possessed an imposing presence that demanded respect and even awe.

An authority no less commanding than that of the Dragon Hunter Armor.

"He must be a powerful Swordsman," Dal’s eyes shone intensely as he stared at the Great Sword in the hands of the Undead Team, with a clear desire flashing in his eyes.

"I feel there’s more to him than just strength," someone remarked.

The journey from the Fire Transmission Ceremony to Fran Fort crossed a gorge, where they could feel the shift in the sky’s color; though it was sunny with clear blue skies at the ceremony site, it had turned gloomy upon reaching Fran Fort.

There was a feeling of temporal dislocation, as if leaping from a golden age straight into a dystopia.

The scene on Fran Fort’s side did not disappoint the adventurers.

"Such a familiar scene..."

Maru looked at the brown swamp, the withered trees, the beacon smoke rising to the sky, and couldn’t help but complain:

"This hasn’t changed at all!"

"It’s strictly speaking changed," Roger pointed to the conspicuously vibrant fireworks in the sky and said, "From lighting to extinguishing."

"..."

"I don’t want to step in mud again, where is that dragon you caught? Let it out for a ride,"

Roger glanced at her, "Hathaway is sleeping at home."

"Sleeping? You’re keeping such a powerful combat force at home for sleeping?"

"Hathaway is my partner, not a tool for fighting," Roger gave Maru a look, "Do you think I’m a battle maniac who even sends partners into warfare?"

Maru was at a loss for words, sensing that this guy’s thinking was different from the general public.

Reluctantly, everyone stepped back into the swamp since their goal was to extinguish the beacons, walking towards the smoky areas seemed the right choice.

However, they sensed something was off after just a few steps into the swamp.

The swamp had deepened, the deepest parts even submerged their knees, and it became stickier, each step felt like stepping into a pit full of countless Hand Monsters, difficult to pull out.

In such conditions, encountering any enemy would be serious trouble!

Moreover...

What if they needed to dodge?

Rolling over in this terrain would surely be quite an event.

Thinking of this, the spiritual power radiated by everyone present was elevated by one Level.

"Drew, old man," Maru said almost pleadingly, "Give me a Floating Technique, or is there a Magic to freeze the swamp? You see, it’s inconvenient for us to move,"

"Endure,"

Drew said expressionlessly.

The operation principle of the Levitation Skill was to make the spellcaster float about ten centimeters above the ground, sometimes it could also reduce fall damage.

However, this Spell defines the "ground" not "swamp", and using Levitation Skill here might create a bizarre scene where everyone moves horizontally across the swamp together.

As for freezing the swamp...

Drew’s facial muscles twitched, if he could freeze such a large area, why wouldn’t he apply to be the Royal Great Mage.

"Phew—"

Just then, an adventurer suddenly spit out fresh blood, his face turning the color of liver.

"He’s poisoned, Detoxification Potion!"

Seeing this person’s dreadful condition, everyone realized that the swamp’s toxicity had increased, and it was silently poisoning them!

"Too malicious," Maru took out a purple Detoxification Potion and drank half of it, immediately feeling refreshed.

These potions were devised by the Bed Family’s Pharmacist from the purple moss balls harvested in the Sain Dungeon, known for their powerful detoxifying properties; the concentrated version could allegedly neutralize all toxins.

Unfortunately, the concentrated version was still undergoing trials, and the ones available in the market were diluted.

The group continued their difficult trek, risking poison, enduring both mental and physical torment.

"There are many peculiarly shaped wooden frames here," someone noticed, often there were crooked wooden frames along the road, some tied with corpses.

These corpses were highly decomposed, but from their skeletons, they seemed not to be humans.

They appeared more beast-like, or more precisely... like wolves.

Maybe it related to the "Wolf Blood" mentioned at the entrance’s counsel?

"There’s a light point over there," an adventurer spotted the white light under a tree, just as he was about to pick it up, he suddenly hesitated.

"Sain Dungeon is full of dangers, someone once told me that monsters lurk beneath the light points,"

He muttered to himself, pulled out a lance, and stabbed it into the swamp under the light point several times, and surely enough, a large clump of unknown monster blood floated up.

"Good thing I’m cautious,"

He walked over proudly to pick up the light point, but before he could see what it was, a sudden heavy pressure from above pushed him into the swamp!

"Plop plop plop—"

In the blink of an eye, several slugs larger than a human body dropped down from the tree, and the poor adventurer was pressed down, unable to breathe, and bubbles gurgled up from his mouth!

Just as everyone was about to rush over to help, the slugs suddenly spewed out a large blob of viscous venom accompanied by a nauseating stench.

"Wow, that’s disgusting,"

Maru threw her weapon from a distance and killed one of the slugs, and the rest were wiped out by everyone working together.

The attacked adventurer was still alive, but his expression was one of utter misery, his whole body defiled.

"I always feel like these monsters are specifically arranged here to disgust us..."

Drew used a Cleaning Technique to soothe the adventurer’s injured spirit, and after this ordeal, they finally found land!

It was a hill rising out of the swamp; stepping back onto solid ground nearly moved them to tears.

Thick smoke rose from the top of the hill, marking the location of the first Beacon Tower.

"Kreow!"

A strange cry grabbed the adventurers’ attention, several humanoid monsters with skinny bodies, deformed heads, and horn-like tumors burst out.

[Gollum]

[Comprehensive fighting power: E+~E++]

They wielded shoddy shields resembling planks, and similarly rough lances, launching an attack on the adventurers.

The battle was imminent, although the Gollums had mastered some of the mysteries of the Shield Stab, they were no match for the Strategy Group, who had been tempered by the Molten Furnace Knights.

Moreover, the adventurers teamed up with the Strategy Group were also not weak, though slightly inferior by comparison.

The battle quickly came to an end, and an adventurer slowly moved to the edge, seeming to slack off.

"With the Strategy Group here, I can completely relax on this trip,"

He breathed a sigh of relief, but in that moment, he noticed a monster crouching next to him rapidly approaching.

It was a weaponless Gollum, on all fours, looking utterly wild!

"Tch, looks like I have to take action after all," he readied his shield, his thrusting sword poised for action.

Dealing with such irrational monsters simply involved waiting for them to crash into the shield before striking, that was his experienced approach.

This tactic indeed made sense when facing most monsters.

However, the monsters in Sain Dungeon had a move called—Throwing Technique!

"Aaaaaah!"

When everyone finally finished dealing with all the Gollums, suddenly, from not far away, a heart-wrenching scream was heard, they turned around to look.

A Gollum was sitting on the adventurer’s shoulder, wildly clawing at his head.

A scalp massage—of extreme intensity!

This time the adventurer wasn’t so lucky, by the time he was rescued, he had already succumbed, his face scratched beyond recognition.

His body gradually turned to ash and disappeared, a sign of his imminent resurrection at the bonfire.

"Uh, should we wait for him here?" someone asked.

"No need, I know him," Dal said expressionlessly: "He’s not strong enough to cross the swamp here alone unless we go pick him up, and that would be a waste of time,"

He turned and walked towards the top of the hill "Let’s go, he won’t blame us."

At the top of the hill, people found a burning Beacon Tower.

Dal was about to extinguish the flames when Roger suddenly said, "Wait, there’s a sculpture on the Beacon Tower,"

Indeed there was a sculpture, and the person portrayed in the sculpture was familiar to them—a crowned, white-bearded old man.

Sunlight King Gwyn.

The sculpture was an abstract depiction of Gwyn, and below it were burning flames, seemingly mimicking the scene of Gwyn performing the Fire Transmission.

Drew carefully memorized the sculpture, planning to draw it later.

"It doesn’t seem to have any deeper meaning, I’m going to extinguish the fire."

Dal disregarded the temperature of the flames and used his palm to put out the fire directly.

It was a simple gesture, yet in Sain Dungeon, mentioning "extinguishing fire" always felt a bit eerie.

The members of the Strategy Group glanced nervously at the sculpture of Gwyn, feeling inexplicably guilty.

They had a nagging feeling that the old man depicted might leap out and slap them...

Just as everyone was about to follow the smoke to find the next Beacon Tower, the scene before them suddenly changed.

"Ah, this feels right,"

In the vision, a tightly closed fort gate made a slight movement, and among the three fire basins in front of the gate, one underwent a change...