Chapter 53

Do-Jin’s brow furrowed at the “dungeonification” message.

Of fucking course,

he cursed inwardly

. Out of all the possible disasters, it had to be the worst one

.

He knew something was coming. He’d anticipated complications, but a full-blown dungeonification was one of the absolute worst-case scenarios.

If it happened this fast, that means the enemy is carrying a Divine Relic... which means we’re dealing with at least a high-ranking priest

.

The Cult of Ruin’s so-called Divine Relics came in all shapes and forms, each with different properties. However, using one required a certain level of ability, meaning the enemy was at least Level 100.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

I know Fate Quests are rigged, but throwing me against a Level 100 cult priest in a Level 60 zone is just straight-up sadistic.

Do-Jin shook his head in annoyance.

There was no point in wasting time looking for fairness where it didn’t exist. The only thing that mattered was not dying.

The dungeonification itself wasn’t the main problem anyway. Since the process had been rushed, the monsters that spawned would likely be at the lowest level possible for the zone. At worst, they’d be in the low sixties. They were stronger than him regardless, but it was something he could handle. The real problem was the cultist. There was no way he could take on a high-ranking priest in a direct fight right now.

But I can’t just run forever either. So what the hell do I do?

If he at least had a proper map of the sewer system, he could set traps, find choke points and control the battlefield. Just as that thought crossed his mind, the useless burden on his back gave him directions.

“This way is a dead end. We need to go right. That’ll take us to a place where multiple water channels converge.”

Wait, what? Why the fuck does she know the layout?

Do-Jin narrowed his eyes. “You know your way around here?”

“Yup!”

“How?”

“By sound! The way water flows, the way it hits the walls, and the way it echoes through the tunnels all tell me everything I need to know! I can even hear the sound of your footsteps bouncing off the walls ahead of us!”

As it turned out, she wasn’t deadweight but a walking

map hack

. For the first time, Do-Jin looked at Elder with something other than mild irritation.

The Elder’s ability was more impressive than Do-Jin initially thought. It wasn’t just about knowing the way through sound. She could map out an entire three-dimensional space in her head just by listening. Not only that, she could hear monsters moving through the sewers.

Thanks to her warnings, Do-Jin managed to avoid combat for over an hour. In the process, he learned that the underground sewer system was way bigger than he initially expected.

“There’s an even larger space below this?” he asked, surprised.

“Yes! I can hear water flowing down into a massive chamber. Multiple streams are converging down there.”

“Shit. Sounds like they’re sweeping this tunnel too.”

“Mm... We need to take a left after this exit, but if we don’t move quickly, that path might be cut off.”

With Elder still on his back, Do-Jin kept moving while sorting through the situation. This wasn’t just some random chase. He was being hunted, pushed straight into a kill box while the monsters on his tail locked down more ground by the second.

His safe zones were vanishing, and if he kept running like a scared rat, he would die like one, trapped and helpless. He had to make a move now because once they backed him into a corner, there’d be no crawling out.

Sitting around and waiting to get my ass kicked is worse than going down swinging.

His options were bad, but at least he had something. If this cult priest was the real deal, throwing a fit wouldn’t make a damn difference. But if they were only strong enough to activate the Divine Relic and nothing more, then there was a chance.

A slight smirk crossed his lips.

Leaving this to luck pisses me off, but I don’t have much choice. I might as well take my shot.

He glanced down at the Elder and said, “I need every single detail you’ve got on this place. Down to the last fucking crack in the wall.”

***

Hexley took a deep breath, sucking in the thick, rancid air of the underground.

The place reeked of stagnant water and moldy filth, a stench so thick it seeped into the skin and refused to fade, no matter how often anyone tried to wash it away. Beneath the rot, something else lingered, something far more intoxicating. It was the taint of Ruin summoned by the Divine Relic. Everything wove together into a scent so thick that it nearly left a taste on his tongue.

“

Hah

. Figures.” He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Look at you, crawling deeper into the cracks, hiding in the filth, thinking you can slip away. Just like a cockroach.”

The Bell of Ruin trembled in his fingers, letting out a soft chime that sent a pulse through the air, prompting the rift-spawned abominations to move. The creatures spilling from the rift fanned out and closed in, cutting off every possible escape.

Hexley tilted his head as his grin widened. “Now, where do you think you’ll run? This way? That way? No, no... There’s nowhere left for you to go. But you don’t know that yet, do you?” His eyes gleamed with delight. “Because that’s what insects do. They flail and crawl, blindly grasping at the idea of survival, right up until the moment something crushes them underfoot.”

His breath hitched with excitement. “Yes, that’s it. Run. Cling to that last shred of hope. Struggle. That’s what makes it so satisfying.” His laughter spilled out in a giddy, broken wheeze, rattling through the tunnels with a sharp edge of madness.

The thrill of the hunt wasn’t in the kill itself. It was in that final moment, the split second when realization hit, when hope died. That divine moment was everything he lived for. However, something felt off. The creatures under his command hesitated, their movements shifting in a way they shouldn’t have.

No... it’s not them that changed. The ones chasing haven’t changed. It’s the prey. The one being hunted is moving differently, and because of that, the hounds are reacting differently.

Up until now, the fool had been running like a cornered insect, scrambling mindlessly into the deepest part of the labyrinth, as if burrowing into the ground would somehow save him. But something had shifted. His movements had lost that blind, panicked edge. He wasn’t just running anymore. He was trying to break out.

Suddenly, a thunderous explosion ripped through the tunnels and the shockwave rolled through the air like a violent crack of thunder.

“Oh...? So, you’ve finally decided to fight back?” Hexley’s smirk was replaced by a flicker of irritation. “What happened? Did the fear finally knock something loose in that little head of yours?”

And here he had thought he was dealing with nothing more than a cockroach. But cockroaches didn’t bite back. This one had a little more backbone. A cornered rat, then.

His fingers curled and his jaw tightened. He had no talent for tracking or detection, but the Divine Relic had granted him a temporary connection to the creatures that the Bell of Ruin had summoned, letting him share a fragment of their senses. What he felt now made his blood boil.

“That bastard... Not only did he dare to strike down Lord Laves’ messengers, but he actually destroyed them?”

His breathing hastened as he clenched his fists again, nails digging into his skin with enough force to draw blood. The sensation of his creatures being wiped out, and of the rift’s fragments vanishing into nothing, sent a sharp, gut-wrenching pang through him. To him, it wasn’t just a minor inconvenience or even a setback. It was blasphemy.

Tears streaked down his cheeks as his trembling hands tightened around the bell and his fingers dug into the metal so hard they ached. His vision blurred from sheer rage. Grinding his teeth, he jerked the bell violently, and the sharp chime cut through the tunnels like a blade.

“Come forth! Gather, all of you! We will hunt this blasphemous wretch down and offer them to Lord Laves, the Star of Ruin!”

Without hesitation, Hexley took off with his feet pounding against the stone as he raced toward the source of the explosion. He didn’t care who this fool was. He didn’t care what tricks they had up their sleeve. They had crossed a line and defied his god. For that, they should die screaming.

***

Do-Jin, who had spent most of his time avoiding direct combat, completely changed his approach. Instead of trying to slip through the tightening net, he started breaking straight through it.

There might’ve been a ridiculous number of monsters, but they were spread out across the vast and labyrinthine sewer system. As long as he had the Elder to pinpoint weak spots with her sound-based “map hack,” punching through the gaps wasn’t going to be a problem.

“You know we need to keep as much distance as possible from the human mixed in with these things, right?”

“Yep, no worries! The creepy laughing guy is waaaaay over there, so if we keep moving forward, we’ll just keep getting farther from him!”

“Good. But we can’t completely lose him. Our goal is the drainage point, and we need to lure him there while circling around.”

“Ooooh, gimme a sec. Hmm... okay! I’ve mapped out the best route!”

Was she an idiot or a genius? As far as navigation was concerned, she might as well have been a GPS with satellite imaging, so Do-Jin trusted the vampire and charged forward.

“Turn right! There should be three nasty little dogs there!”

e could already feel the nasty aura hanging in the air even before she warned him. As he turned the corner, he spotted the sewer-dwelling monstrosities dragging themselves forward, looking like they’d been scraped off the bottom of a drainage pipe. Without breaking stride, he launched a spell straight at them. Lights flashed, followed by a sharp explosion that blasted them to bits.

Shit, this mana drain is ridiculous.

Taking out high-level enemies in a single hit meant ramping up his spell’s output, so his mana consumption was skyrocketing. However, now wasn’t the time to be stingy. Even if he had to drain every last drop, buying time was the priority.

“Ah! The laughing guy just took a completely different route than I expected! That means we need to take this route instead. If we follow it, we won’t cross paths with him!”

“Is that away from the drainage point?”

“Nope! Actually, it’s getting us even closer! I think the guy chasing us has a terrible sense of direction!”

Elder’s cheerful response made the corner of Do-Jin’s lips curl into a cold smirk.

“Is that so?”

Games had a simple, ruthless rule. Fucking up meant getting killed. Taking a wrong turn and wasting time was nothing but a goddamn death sentence.

Then he deserves to die for it.