Chapter 93: A Decrepit Dungeon

“Based on the records, this was a freshwater lake filled with plenty of marine creatures. And, it was replenished by the numerous underground rivers at the place, acting as the thumping heart of this region’s vitality.” Duchess said as she looked around, noticing the sparse vegetation at the place, a sign of desertification, continuing, “Now, when I fished here, I tasted the water. It contains too many metallic minerals that inhibit plant growth.”

“Is there no information about this marine creature?” Compass Carburettor pointed at the large fishes peeking out of the lake surface, trailing their gazes onto them, causing his hair to rise as goosebumps formed on his skin, “From where did they come? How did the terrain of this place change so much? What…actually happened here?”

“There is no information about that.” Duchess shook her head, “Everything my team is able to find is outdated information from a century ago. It hasn’t been verified after that. As for the monsters we encountered, they are only active in this region and hasn’t ever attacked the borders guarded by Heroica Empire. So, they have no information about the ones we encountered.”

“Tell them to keep looking for any valuable information. Anything would help us at this point.” Compass Carburettor loaded his gun, Hadora, checking to see that all 100 bullets had been loaded into it.

He swapped the iron bullets with wood bullets, unwilling to waste the iron ones that he didn’t have much of. Worn on his hands was a bracelet each. And strung on each bracelet using a thin chain was an Armament.

They were the Armaments with three States. The remaining Armaments were strung on his belt using chains attached to impression locks. This way, he can pull them out without trouble and not damage either the belt or the chain.

Then they began to march towards the Dungeon Gate, cautious in their approach, arriving before it after twenty minutes had passed.

Both of them made eye contact as Compass Carburettor mentioned, “Let’s engage with any enemy using our ranged superiority. We’ll first figure out their attack patterns and then proceed to attack through closed combat.”

“Fine by me,” Duchess nodded as they gently passed through a misty film that acted as the Dungeon Gate. They arrived on the other side, frowning in surprise as they remained rooted to the spot, stunned from shock.

After all, what lay before them was rubble, of human constructs, of skeletons that lay scattered all over the vast plains spanning past.

“Just…what happened here?” Compass Carburettor was unable to make sense of the situation, failing to spot any Dungeon Monsters around. Everywhere he saw, there were only the signs of death and decay.

Even the ground had a faint rotten stench, of a lack of vitality that had pervaded it for long. As the duo made eye contact, they sent out their respective Spydragons, intending to safely scout out the place first.

‘Did a war happen here?’ Compass Carburettor frowned as he saw through the eyes of the Spydragon: massive craters covered by smoke, cracks on the hills, polluted water, and stale air. It was like time had been frozen in the place ever since the incident had happened.

After that, nothing seemed to have taken place in the Dungeon. After looking around for some time, the Spydragons returned as the duo were silent.

“This place is a mess.”

“I can’t fathom what led to such extensive damage everywhere.” Duchess sighed, “Based on the information I am receiving through telepathy, during their prime, the Great Megwest Empire was too strong. They had hundreds of Transcendents, causing their power to be at the peak among all the Great Empires. So, for them to be eradicated to such a clean extent, the disaster should have been beyond what was written in that scroll.”

“Indeed,” Compass Carburettor said, “Based on that scroll, Parlut and Grister were both Transcendents. And, they died horrible deaths after visiting the Great Megwest Empire. So, something should have been the cause.”

As Duchess nodded, the two of them began to walk, hearing the crunching sounds of the bones as they stepped on them. There was a deathly silence in the place, for there wasn’t even any wind.

The thumping of their hearts was audible in their ears as they walked forward, continuing to move as they scouted with their Spydragons in advance. Soon, they arrived before a dilapidated building, one that seemed to have served as a base to rest and hunt the Dungeon Monsters, a hub to transport all the materials harvested from the Dungeon.

The door barely remained in place, sporting enough wear and tear that a single touch was all one needed to shatter it into fragments. Nodding once, Compass Carburettor gently used the Hadora to push the door, slightly parting it to the side as he peeked inside, hurling back in fear upon seeing a gaping skull staring straight at him.

It was because the skull sported a sinistrous vibe, of suffering lightning strikes and being corroded by poison. And, this head, though seeming like it had belonged to a human, was almost as big as him. And, it had been positioned right behind the door.

“Let’s check it out.” Compass Carburettor informed Duchess through telepathy, “Just in case, we’ll converse like this from now on.”

“Yes!” Duchess slowly entered through the entrance and swerved around the massive skull, noticing the skeletal body of the skull positioned farther away, slumped, leaning on the wall. The bones on its chest had crumbled to the floor, powdered. Whether it had become powder from an attack or erosion through time, it was unknown.

“Such a gigantic creature.” Compass Carburettor sighed as they walked through the lobby, looking around to find any message or the likes. But, a long time had already passed. And, since it seemed like the place had witnessed an intense battle, everything in the area had been damaged beyond recognition during the century that spanned past.

Compass Carburettor noticed quite a few places where it seemed like people had left their wills. But, they were simply incomprehensible as too much time had passed. “But, why are there burn marks everywhere? Where the attacks made using fire?”

“Generally, fire is pretty useless since it can be easily guarded against using an energy blade. As for Dungeon Monsters, most of them have tough skins, so they would be able to grab hold of their prey before the fire began to damage them.”

“If the fire is something like an oil fire, then it won’t be possible to survive as you claim.” Compass Carburettor said, inspecting the traces on the ground, “But, I can’t determine whether the damage was from an oil fire or not.”