Chapter 148: Two Birds With One Stone

Ethan Morvendrell was cursing furiously inside his head.

’Damn it... why has everything changed so much?’ he thought while clashing against an Undead Knight.

The memories of the future he possessed had become increasingly unreliable.

Events that were supposed to happen hadn’t happened yet and things that should have never appeared till now, had begun appearing one after another.

Even this expedition, had already diverged from the future he remembered.

SPLASH!

YAAAHHH!

The Undead Knight let out a shrill scream as a blazing whip wrapped around its neck before violently tearing its head from its body.

However, even after losing its head, the armored corpse continued swinging its sword wildly.

The one who had severed its neck was Soleil.

The fiery whip in her hand slowly dissolved into crimson flames as she looked at the headless knight with a faint, almost hidden smile.

She seemed to enjoy destroying undead far more than she admitted.

In a flash, she appeared beside Ethan.

"Are you alright, Junior?" she asked.

"I’m fine," Ethan replied while catching his breath.

At that moment, Erica and Leopold also arrived after finishing off the remaining lesser undead.

Fortunately for them, Leopold possessed a strong Light Affinity.

Against creatures of darkness, his magic proved exceptionally effective.

"Our luck is terrible," Leopold muttered while shaking his head.

"The moment we reached this floor, an Undead Knight just happened to find us... I just want to finish today’s mission and go home."

The others silently nodded in agreement.

No one had expected such a troublesome opponent to greet them immediately after arriving.

"Alright, let’s keep moving." Ethan said after collecting the knight’s remains and storing them away.

The group cautiously advanced deeper into the dungeon.

As they walked, Ethan suddenly frowned.

’Someone is watching us.’ His instincts quietly warned him.

He subtly observed the surroundings without changing his expression.

The feeling wasn’t particularly strong.

But it was there.

Unfortunately, no matter how carefully he searched, he couldn’t identify who, or what, was observing them.

’The Lich...?’ The thought briefly crossed his mind.

However, there wasn’t enough evidence to confirm it.

Keeping his guard up, Ethan continued leading the group.

After defeating several more undead along the way, they eventually reached a secluded section of the sixth floor.

Compared to the rest of the dungeon, the concentration of dark mana here was noticeably lower.

Very few undead wandered through the area.

"This place feels suspicious," Erica said while scanning the surroundings with her staff raised.

"But I don’t think a Hollow Lich would choose somewhere like this."

"The dark energy here is far weaker than the rest of the dungeon." Leopold added

But before anyone could respond, Ethan suddenly raised one hand as his senses caught onto something and his expression turned serious.

"...Someone is here."

The others immediately stopped moving.

A faint conversation drifted toward them from somewhere ahead.

"N-No... not like that! His face will probably look like... heek... wohohohoff!" Voomie squealed while trying to imitate Caelum’s future expression of disbelief.

But suddenly Jojo’s ears twitched as he immediately became alert.

Just moments ago, the two had been describing how Caelum would react after discovering that they had somehow won the competition.

And before they could continue their discussion, several figures silently emerged from the darkness behind them.

Four people appeared and judging by how quietly they approached them, these weren’t the good guys.

"...Eh?"

Erica blinked in surprise after recognizing the familiar talking panda and dog duo.

"What are you two doing here?"

**

Outside the Dungeon...

The broad-shouldered dwarf, Borund, frowned deeply as he stared at the magical devices spread around the dungeon entrance.

His expression grew increasingly grim.

The others immediately noticed the change.

"What happened, Borund? Did someone detect your interference?" the mission leader, Korrik, asked in a low voice.

Borund didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he continued examining the magical readings before finally speaking.

"I don’t know but someone inside the dungeon attempted to inspect the Dungeon Core."

"What?"

The entire group became alarmed.

The elf operative who had hidden Chad’s unconscious body immediately grabbed Borund by the collar.

"Hey, you short bastard! Can’t you even do one simple job properly?" she snapped.

Borund’s eyes widened in anger.

"Who the hell are you calling short, you long-eared bitch?!"

The two glared at one another, their Aura and Mana beginning to rise.

Just before either of them could attack.

"Enough!"

Korrik’s voice thundered through the area as a wave of pressure descended upon both of them, instantly suppressing their hostility.

"It doesn’t matter whether we’ve been discovered or not. Our mission comes first and it must be completed at any cost."

Neither of them argued further.

Korrik then turned back toward Borund.

"Can you still send us inside?"

The dwarf grumbled under his breath for a few moments before returning to work.

Several magical tools lit up one after another.

With practiced movements, he rewrote a portion of the dungeon’s transportation network, secretly linking the entrance directly to the sixth floor.

"...I’ll remain here and maintain the connection."

Korrik nodded.

"Good."

Without wasting another second, he led the remaining four operatives into the modified entrance.

Borund watched them disappear before letting out an annoyed snort.

"Hmph! I just hope that long-eared bitch dies in there."

The dwarf and the elf had never been on good terms.

In fact, they openly disliked each other.

A sinister smile slowly spread across Borund’s face.

From his position outside the dungeon, he could observe everything through his magical equipment.

Once the target was successfully captured, he intended to immediately sever the teleportation route before the elf used it.

The elf would be trapped inside the dungeon and whether she was killed or captured by the academy’s teachers, none was his concern.

"Hehe... Two birds with one stone."

Not only would he eliminate someone he hated, there would also be one less person competing for the mission reward.

The thought alone greatly improved his mood.

"Hohoho...! A dwarf wandering around in school, now that’s a rare sight."

An unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded from behind him as Borund’s pupils shrank.

He instinctively tried to turn around and attack as a hammer appeared in his hand.

But before he could even see who had spoken, a precise strike landed against the back of his neck, shaking his soul and spirit.

Thud.

His consciousness faded instantly.

The proud dwarven artificer collapsed onto the ground without ever seeing his attacker.