Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 156 - 147: Can Soul 5 Bring Liberation of Thought?

Chapter 156: Chapter 147: Can Soul 5 Bring Liberation of Thought?

Dal felt like a huge, black pot had been firmly placed on his back.

Even though everyone in the Strategy Group wasn’t the mean type, Dal’s sense of responsibility gnawed at him from the inside, bending him over.

He looked like a Pilgrim.

The two grey wolves sensed his mood was off and ran over to rub against him.

Leon patted him on the shoulder without a word, sometimes all the comfort men need is that simple.

"I have a guess," he said to everyone, "the strength of the monsters here seems to change depending on our power. I’ve felt something was off since yesterday."

Yesterday, when he tried going through the trials separately from Drew, Leon noticed the monster difficulty on his side remained unchanged while it decreased for Drew.

Just two people’s experience wasn’t very persuasive, but coupled with what happened today, it was enough evidence that the monster strength does indeed fluctuate based on the adventurer’s power, and it definitely adjusts according to the strongest among them.

What if they threw a child or an old person in here? Would the monsters become crippled?

He had considered this question but always felt that the Sain Dungeon wouldn’t be so merciful.

Following Leon’s explanation, they all realized why the fight had been so tough—it was all because of the Sword Saint.

"Then we should stick together," Maru suggested, "The monsters will probably strengthen based on either the boss or Dal’s abilities."

"Me?" Dal pointed at himself, wondering how he could be compared to "Lion" Leon in any regard.

"Have some confidence, kid. You’re strong," Leon gave him a thumbs-up, leaving Dal a bit embarrassed.

After some discussion, the group set off again.

Time ticked on, and after about ten minutes, the whole team returned.

Leon’s face was grim as he spoke, "My guess was wrong, the monster strength is enhanced based on the combined power of the entire team."

The five of them going together resulted in the monsters still being very strong.

"Are they forcing us to explore alone?" Drew contemplated this possibility.

Yesterday, when he entered the Dungeon alone, he discovered that, beyond the giant tombstones, in the trial stages, not only was the power of the skeletons reduced, but their numbers had significantly decreased to about a dozen, manageable with a good strategy.

"Maybe a team of two or three could also manage," Leon looked at Dal, "Shall we team up?"

"Just the two of us? Boss, are you crazy? Are you sure the monsters won’t get ridiculously strong?" Maru asked in surprise.

"A reasonable challenge is a good thing," Leon shrugged, but an overly strong challenge was pointless.

"Well... I haven’t had some action in a while," thought it through, Dal accepted Leon’s invitation.

With a clap of their hands and a shared smile, their eyes brimmed with anticipation.

Damn it, you two better not be planning to show off some bromance right in front of me.

Maru eyed their unusual gaze.

In the end, it was decided Leon and Dal would team up, and the rest would form another group; if three people still couldn’t handle the monsters, they would continue to split up.

Entering the Meat Pigeon trial once more, they no longer had Humanity to receive blessings from the tombstones and had to proceed to the next level.

Looking back, the Soul-sucking Ghosts that they had to fight every time seemed more like delivery boys for Humanity—in reality, they were also there to sift through the strength of those entering the Meat Pigeon stage.

Missed you, Soul-sucking Ghosts.

Facing the "clack clack" of skeletons, without the hindrance of the Bone Revival and after Jia Pael’s enhancement, Leon and Dal found it much easier to deal with them and quickly passed the stage.

Then came the exciting moment of choosing blessings; not sure what Leon got, but he seemed quite satisfied with it.

When Dal’s turn came, he was a little nervous, fearing more deceitful blessings.

However, what appeared before him was somewhat different.

[Successor of the Undead Team, accept this blessing from Wolf Blood]

[Blessing received: Abyss Watcher]

[When battling Abyss Creatures, you will be as courageous as your predecessors, and the more you are afflicted by the Abyss, the more potential you can unleash]

Dal automatically received this blessing; no other options appeared.

Coming back to reality from his surprise, he guessed that maybe it was the Wolf Blood in him that triggered the blessing of the Wolf Blood.

The tomb area was connected to Fran Fort by the Fire Transmission Ceremony, and it wasn’t far away. With the Abyss also having erupted here, it wasn’t impossible that the Fran Undead Team had fought here.

So, as a member of the Fran Guard, it made sense for him to receive the blessing of the Wolf Blood!

When Dal shared this with Leon, the latter revealed a look of extreme envy.

To receive a forefather’s blessing in this chaos of space and time corrupted by the Abyss, that felt too much like fate!

Leon wondered, what if someone who took an oath to become a Sun Warrior came here? Could they receive a blessing from Gwyn?

The thought alone made Leon itch with excitement, eager to find out if one could become a Sun Warrior and then return here.

Initially, Dal hadn’t felt much, but after hearing Leon talk of "destiny" and "blessings," he also felt a surge of passion, as if he were meant to come here and settle the Undead Team’s vendetta with the Abyss.

Fueled by high spirits, the two fought with increasing fervor until they encountered their first Elite Enemy.

[Aaron Knight Leader corrupted by the Abyss]

This was a humanoid enemy, and while it was much taller than Leon and the others, it was humanoid nonetheless, and its combat style differed from that of beast-type enemies.

The Aaron Knight Leader held the hilt of his sword at his waist but did not draw it, maintaining what seemed an odd stance as he slowly approached the two.

Knight Leader Aaron, from "Dark Souls 2," commands the Aaron Knight Order, loyalists to the Iron King of old.

This order of knights was named after the Iron King’s dear friend, "Knight Aaron," and the swordsmanship its members practiced was also related to Knight Aaron.

As the story goes, Knight Aaron hailed from a mysterious Eastern land, wielding weapons similar to Eastern swordsmanship and Tachi, which explains why Leon and the others had never seen them before.

"This guy is tough," Dal subconsciously assumed the stance of Fran Street Dance. "You take the left, I’ll take the right, everyone together... what are you doing!?"

He was about to discuss tactics with Leon when he turned around to find him running away!

Dal quickly chased after him and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Fighting, of course," Leon looked at Dal oddly, pulling something out of his backpack...

A Scatter Crossbow!?

"Why are you carrying this around?" Dal was astonished, thinking Leon’s backpack would be filled with potions, not expecting such a large scatter crossbow.

Wait a minute, isn’t he a swordsman? Why is he using crossbow arrows?

"You’ll see," Leon reassured with a smile, "against humanoid enemies, this thing really does the trick."

Leon expertly loaded the hypnotic crossbow arrow as if he had practiced countless times at home, turning to aim with ease.

At that moment, Knight Leader Aaron also abandoned his Sword Drawing Slash stance, sensing something was wrong, and chased after them, sword in hand.

But he had made a fatal mistake, the last thing you want to do is get close to Leon before the scatter crossbow goes off!

"Huff..."

Leon exhaled and pulled the trigger, firing the hypnotic crossbow arrows, along with the last vestiges of his swordsman’s honor, straight out.

Yesterday, when he had his mouth stuffed with the Abyss by Midir during the incident, suffering a brief mental state anomaly, he seemed to have a revelation.

Victory is everything; forget swordsman’s honor!

For an adventurer to achieve victory, all means are acceptable, as recorded in the sayings of Sword Saint Jia Pael.

"Pfft—"

The sound of the arrow piercing flesh was accompanied by his laughter.

Nearly ten Strong Hypnotic Crossbow Arrows struck Knight Leader Aaron together, halting his movements, but the dose wasn’t enough to put him to sleep, prompting Leon to grab Dal and run again, needing to ensure the enemy was asleep before engaging in combat.

It was undeniably a safe mode of combat, minimizing risk, but...

As Dal watched Leon hit Knight Leader Aaron again, successfully sending the enemy to sleep and landing a Swift Slash for damage while the foe was down, then running the "marathon" once the enemy awoke, he wondered.

Where was the spirit of the swordsman? Where was the clash of iron against iron, the mingling of blood with blood?

This was Dal’s first encounter with such a mode of combat, and it shook his worldview.

Then, with a complex expression, he stopped and turned toward Knight Leader Aaron.

"What are you doing?" Leon also stopped.

"Sorry, I still want to fight in my own way."

With a Fran Greatsword in one hand and a dagger bought from the blacksmith shop in the other, Dal mimicked the stance of the Fran Undead Team.

Leon’s manner of fighting... was too bizarre; he couldn’t quite accept it yet!

The world’s thinking was a bit too old-fashioned, every profession had its own "xx spirit" and "xx honor," requiring compliance, and Dal, too, followed the swordsman spirit like a good child.

Yet now, a "bad student" had shown up, flaunting the benefits of shattering professional ethos.

Dal’s worldview was shaken, and he couldn’t think clearly for the moment.

Watching Dal fiercely battling with Knight Leader Aaron, Leon glanced at his scatter crossbow, his lips twitching.

What was this, treating him as if he’d made some grave mistake; he was merely following the teachings of Jia Pael.

He too drew his Straight Sword and joined the battle.

Leon’s earlier mentality was akin to showing a new friend a quirky toy, and since his friend didn’t like it, well, there was no need to use it.

Correction, not in front of his friend.

Even without underhanded tactics, their combined strength was enough to overcome Knight Leader Aaron; his unprecedented swordsmanship initially had them at a disadvantage, but familiarity led them swiftly to victory.

Dal looked forward to the upcoming rewards, because Leon had said that the painting fragments of the Wolf Knight were obtained after defeating Elite Monsters.

Unfortunately, nothing appeared in the end, only a higher-level blessing.

It seemed there was only one blessing of Wolf Blood, and in the subsequent levels, Dal only obtained the Tomb King series, to his disappointment.

It was said that fragments of time - events - could be encountered here, but so far, he had only met with battle.

Although he didn’t say it, Dal was actually very interested in the story of Sain Dungeon.

After a brief rest, the two opened the Teleportation Treasure Box and entered the next level.

Now, the event that Dal had been longing for finally arrived.

[In the tumultuous flow of time, you inadvertently glimpse a fragment of the past:]

[You are a valiant knight capable of wandering the Abyss, arriving at a location with trusted companions to suppress Abyss Creatures, the inhabitants all transformed by the Abyss.]

[Fortunately, you find a few survivors amidst the encircling monsters, but they are in danger of being corrupted by the Abyss.]

[Looking at the trembling survivors, you decide...]

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