Chapter 237: Strange Appearance [3]

Amon stepped toward the newly opened staircase, but a strange sensation made him pause.

He had explored plenty of dangerous dungeons, but this place felt different.

It was as though the entire structure had been waiting for someone to enter it.

"What’s wrong?" Marielle asked, noticing that he had stopped.

"Nothing. I just don’t like the place."

She stared at him for several seconds before narrowing her eyes. "Does that have anything with your ability?"

Amon smiled. "Guess?"

"Urgh, just tell me."

Amon didn’t said anything as he kept on walking.

Despite her complaint, Marielle couldn’t help glancing at his face for another moment before looking away.

Amon took out a small metal marker and attached it to the wall beside the staircase.

He then used another to mark the direction they had come from, ensuring they could retrace their route if necessary.

"Let’s go. If something tries to eat us, you can blame me afterward."

"Why would I let anyone eat me?"

Amon turned and looked at her with half a smirk on his face.

"Don’t say a fucking word!" Marielle snapped with a bashful look.

They descended carefully, keeping their pace slow enough to inspect their surroundings.

After several minutes, the narrow passage opened into a hall that was considerably larger than the chambers above.

Intricate carvings covered the pillars, and faint golden lines ran between them like veins beneath the surface.

Marielle immediately took out her notebook.

"This architecture is completely different from the upper levels," she murmured, approaching one of the pillars. "....The craftsmanship is extraordinary, but I can’t identify the style."

"Perhaps the people who built this place didn’t want their work to be recognized."

"That’s not how architectural styles work, Amon."

Marielle gave him an unimpressed look before turning back to the carvings.

As they continued through the hall, they discovered murals covering the walls.

Although some sections had been damaged.

The figures wore long robes and strange garments that resembled nothing Marielle had seen in the kingdom.

Marielle carefully traced one of the figures in her notebook.

Amon examined the mural beside her.

Several enormous structures stood across a vast landscape, each surrounded by streams of energy that stretched toward distant locations.

He recognized the symbols carved around the structures.

They were identical to the markings found on the dungeon entrances outside the capital.

"Marielle, look at this."

She followed his finger and leaned closer to the mural.

Marielle studied the mural for another moment before slowly nodding.

"If this depiction is accurate, these weren’t independent buildings. They were connected to one another through some kind of magical network."

"An enormous network capable of moving entire structures across the kingdom?"

"Possibly but we shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we find more evidence."

Amon shrugged, although the idea had already begun to interest him.

Before either of them could continue, the floor trembled beneath their feet.

Dust drifted from the ceiling, and several blue crystals flickered before returning to their previous brightness.

Amon immediately turned toward the deeper end of the hall, where he could feel a powerful surge of mana spreading through the stone.

His Mana Furnace responded eagerly, drawing in the surrounding energy.

Something was happening farther below.

"Marielle, stay close."

She closed her notebook and moved beside him without arguing.

They followed the passage until it opened into another enormous hall.

Broken statues lay scattered across the floor, their shattered faces partially buried beneath fallen stone.

Amon examined the nearest pedestal and noticed a clean outline on its upper surface.

"Something was removed from these."

Marielle crouched beside a broken statue and brushed away the dust covering its base.

"Not necessarily removed. Some of these statues appear to have broken from the inside, as though whatever they contained had forced its way out."

A low scraping sound interrupted her.

Amon turned toward the wall just as a section of stone shifted, revealing a dark opening.

Something crawled out, dragging its body across the floor before rising on four uneven limbs.

Its body resembled a mass of cracked stone held together by swirling blue energy.

A featureless head turned toward them, and a bright light appeared in the center of its chest.

"Behind me," Amon said, summoning a burst of fire into his palm.

The creatures attacked without hesitation.

Amon released the fire toward the nearest one, engulfing its body in flames.

The creature staggered, and several cracks appeared across its stone exterior, but the blue energy inside immediately shifted to cover the damaged areas.

He followed with an ice spear, piercing its chest and forcing it backward.

The creature recovered within seconds.

’They can regenerate?’

Amon moved to avoid a sweeping claw while another creature charged toward Marielle.

He used Spatial Steps to cross the distance and struck its head with a concentrated burst of mana, knocking it away before it could reach her.

"Can you find out what these things are?" he shouted.

"I’m working on it! Try not to let them kill us before I finish!"

"That’s an excellent plan. I’ll do my best."

Amon returned his attention to the creatures.

He struck one with fire again, but this time the flames barely affected its body.

The creatures were adapting to his attacks.

Amon clicked his tongue. He could keep pouring mana into increasingly powerful spells, but that would waste time and energy when there was a simpler solution.

He dismissed the magic gathering around his hands and summoned his battleaxe.

The weapon appeared in his grip with a heavy metallic sound.

The creature lunged.

Amon shifted aside, allowing its claws to pass his shoulder, then swung his battleaxe directly into its torso.

The blade tore through the stone exterior and split the glowing core inside.

The creature collapsed immediately, its body breaking apart before the remaining energy scattered into the air.

Amon barely paused before turning toward the next one.

He ducked beneath a sweeping arm and brought the axe upward, splitting the creature from its waist to its chest.

Within moments, the remaining creatures lay scattered across the floor.

Amon rested the battleaxe against his shoulder and glanced around the chamber.

His breathing had quickened slightly, but the fight had hardly exhausted him.

"Well, that was annoying."

Marielle emerged from behind a pillar, checking herself for injuries before giving him a disapproving look.

"Do you always have to make everything look so easy?"

"Would you prefer that I struggle more? I could fall over dramatically if it makes you feel better."

"I would prefer that you take these expeditions seriously."

"How much more serious do you want me to be?"

Marielle opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She turned toward the creatures’ remains and began examining the scattered fragments.

Amon’s expression grew serious. ’...What the hell is this place?’

He remembered the strange sensation he had experienced at the top of the staircase.

If the creatures had awakened because of his presence, then the dungeon might have been reacting to something about him.

Before he could investigate further, Marielle called him over. "Amon, I found something."

She had discovered a recessed panel beneath one of the empty pedestals.

Its surface was covered in unfamiliar writing, but a symbol at its center matched the markings they had found throughout the dungeon.

Marielle carefully examined the inscriptions before pressing her mana lamp against a small indentation.

The panel lit up.

A faint projection appeared above the pedestal, displaying a series of enormous structures arranged across a broad landscape.

Thin lines of light connected each structure, forming a complicated network that converged toward a single point.

Marielle stared at the projection, barely concealing her excitement.

"This is a map. The structures represent the dungeon entrances, and these lines show how they’re connected."

Amon leaned closer. The arrangement resembled the line of entrances they had seen outside the capital, except the projection displayed many more structures than they had encountered.

At the center of the formation stood a symbol surrounded by several concentric circles.

"The dungeons are parts of one enormous system," Marielle continued. "And if this projection is showing their intended arrangement, their simultaneous appearance might not have been an accident."

The projection shifted, highlighting their current dungeon before drawing a bright line toward the central point.

Amon watched the light travel across the map, then felt the mana around him change.

Something was wrong.

The energy flowing through the chamber had begun moving in the same direction as the projection’s glowing lines.

Even his Mana Furnace seemed to react, drawing in power far more quickly than before.

Amon looked toward the dark passage beyond the hall.

’Is this where the main thing is?’