Chapter 357: Entering The Macabre Forest Dungeon Second Floor, Daniela And Label’s Resolve

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As Riven, Daniela, and Label walked across the second floor, the changes in the environment became clearer with every stretch of land they crossed. The familiar scenery had been stripped away little by little, replaced by terrain that felt older, harsher, and far less welcoming than the first floor ever was.

Even the path beneath their feet had begun to crack, with pale roots pushing through the soil. None of them spoke much as they continued forward. And quite honestly, there was little worth saying when the landscape explained the situation well enough on its own.

The grasslands were completely dead, creating a vast, dry wasteland that extended toward the distant ruins. The undead were immune to some genetic mutations, but they were still transforming due to the miasma.

Their bodies responded strongly to it, evolving in strange and unpleasant ways. Some grew additional arms or crooked legs, while others fused together into giant bone monsters that wandered across the land like white sentinels.

Their movements were slow, yet each step carried them farther than expected, crushing brittle grass and loose bones beneath their feet. Daniela kept watching them from the corner of her eye, unable to decide whether their silence made them less threatening or far worse.

Of course, it wasn’t as horrifying as it would have been if the miasma had affected living animals. They were only undead, after all, and their twisted shapes looked like creations a wicked Lich might assemble from whatever corpses had been left behind. In this place, that explanation was not far from the truth.

Riven had seen plenty of unnatural creatures before, but even he found the fused skeletons difficult to ignore. Their bodies had no reason to function, yet they continued marching without hesitation, guided by an unseen command that had long outlived the soldiers they once were.

After all, the Boss of this ruinous place was a powerful C+++ Rank Elder Lich, the true Ruler of the Forgotten Battlefield. Its territory had once included destroyed castles, scattered fortifications, and an abandoned city whose capital had been reduced to complete ruins.

Traces of the old battlefield remained everywhere. Rusted weapons protruded from the earth, shattered shields rested beside forgotten roads, and damaged statues stared over fields where entire armies had died. Label glanced toward the ruins ahead, already expecting more undead to emerge from them.

Unfortunately for the Elder Lich, the entire area it once controlled had been taken over by Claymore. A massive Mana Reactor and a Spirit Reactor now stood at the center of the occupied territory, supplying the settlement with enough energy to maintain its defenses and support the people stationed there.

Most of the inner ruins had been cleared away and rebuilt as large settlements, workshops, storage facilities, and barracks where soldiers and workers could remain for days without returning to the first floor. The surviving sections of the ruined city had been pushed to the outskirts, where the old stone buildings formed an uneven border around Claymore’s new foothold.

Undead still wandered too close from time to time, drawn toward the reactors or the presence of the living. They rarely made it far. Automatic machine-gun turrets tracked them the moment they entered range, tearing them apart before they could reach the outer barricades.

Even so, the scattered remains beyond the walls served as a constant reminder that Claymore had occupied the battlefield but had not truly conquered everything within it.

"Two Communication Towers, a Spirit Barrier, and a Mana Barrier..." Riven analyzed every structure surrounding the ruined castle, studying their positions and how much ground they covered. "The Boss is... underground. They must have him sealed inside some dungeon beneath the place where the castle once stood. That is probably where his chamber was." His eyes moved toward the reinforced entrance between the ruins. It looked newer than everything around it, which only made his suspicion stronger.

"It’s sad how they treat the Bosses like they’re nothing..." Daniela sighed. She stared at the sealed entrance for a moment, imagining the Elder Lich trapped below, unable to fulfill his purpose, to protect his ruined kingdom, forever sealed away from what gave him any meaning.

"I agree..." Label nodded, unable to hide the discomfort in her expression. "Why would they do something like this? If they already took control of the floor, couldn’t they just leave him alone?"

"They keep respawning," Riven explained, narrowing his eyes. "Killing them over and over eventually becomes tiring, especially when the soldiers have other work to handle. So, they seal the Boss chamber where they respawn, making sure they can’t leave and bother the rest of the enclosure." He examined the towers once more, tracing the quickest path through their defenses. Destroying one barrier would alert the entire settlement, but attacking both at once could create enough confusion for them to advance. "Alright. We’ll start with a bang."

"A bang?" Daniela asked, tilting her head as she glanced between Riven and the distant towers. "H-How are we doing this? There are soldiers everywhere, and those barriers look strong enough to stop almost anything."

Riven did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned toward both girls, his expression becoming much more serious. "You girls... are you sure you want to do this again? Once we begin, those soldiers won’t simply let us pass. You will have to kill people." He looked directly at Daniela. "Daniela, I insist, you don’t really need to..."

"I’ll fight...!" Daniela said stubbornly, interrupting him before he could finish. Her hands trembled slightly, but she tightened them into fists and forced herself to look like she was determined. "These people are destroying the planet anyway! And this Gate? It should be for everyone else, not privatized and used to power their reactors while they keep everybody outside!" She swallowed, gathering what courage she had left. "I... I know what might happen once we attack. I’ll still fight, and I’ll support you however I can."

"..." Riven studied her face, hoping to find some hesitation he could use to change her mind. Instead, he only saw some hint of fear mixed with her stubborn determination. They had come this far; it was better to just keep going instead of constantly doubting her resolve. He shook his head. "Fine. But don’t go far from me. Always stay by my side, alright?" He gently caressed her cheek, still troubled by the thought of her being caught in the fighting.

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