บท 58: Twelve Hours
Outside the dungeon, the area where the dungeon had appeared had been cordoned off.
Soldiers were surrounding the place, and civilians had been forbidden from approaching. Not even the family of the people trapped in the dungeon were allowed to pass.
Only the people of the Awakened Association were allowed inside this area.
Just at that moment, an Awakened arrived.
He approached the soldiers surrounding the place and showed an ID.
[John Agnus, Awakened Tier 7]
As soon as the soldiers saw the credential, their expressions became surprised.
"W-Welcome, sir. Please follow me. The commander is waiting inside." A soldier said.
John nodded and followed the soldier inside. Soon, they arrived at the mall where Jane was when the Dungeon occurred.
However, this place had been turned into a command center now.
"How is the situation?" John asked as soon as he arrived.
"Very bad. It's estimated that around eight thousand people were trapped inside this dungeon. We would be lucky if one hundred of them survive." A middle-aged man replied.
The middle-aged man was the commander of this operation. He was one of the higher-ups of the Awakened Association in Sanctuary City, and someone recognized by his fast response and calm look even in a situation of emergency.
But now, his face seemed very tired, and his eyes were filled with bitterness.
"This dungeon occurred without a warning, and unluckily for us, it appeared in the center of a big city. We had not seen a tragedy like this in years."
John fell silent with a complicated expression.
As an Awakened, he knew how dangerous dungeons were for normal people. If the dungeon was relatively dangerous, then none of the people that fell inside will be able to survive.
The middle-aged man also understood it. He knew that there was nothing that he could do to save them.
Thus, he just sighed and looked at John with a serious expression.
"John, I called you here to ask you to enter the dungeon."
John was startled. "But it has been just a few hours since the dungeon appeared. It goes against the regulations."
"I know. However, the pressure of the higher-ups is very strong now that a disaster like this happened. They hope we can resolve this dungeon as quickly as possible so we can give an answer to the masses… Plus, it looks like the children of several important people were trapped inside."
John frowned.
"Am I going to rescue them? Are they Awakened?"
"They are Awakened, don't worry." The middle-aged man replied. "However, you don't need to go out of your way to help them. Your priority is to scout the situation inside the dungeon, and if possible, to close it as soon as possible.
"The mana inside this dungeon doesn't seem very dense, so a Tier-Seven Awakened like you should not have any trouble inside. Even so, another Tier-Seven Awakened and a Tier-Six Awakened will go with you. Any questions?"
John thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"None."
"Very well. Get ready, you will be sent inside in one hour."
"Understood."
One hour later, John plus another two Awakened, a middle-aged man called Steven and a woman called Serena, were ready to enter the dungeon.
Entering a dungeon was not hard. You just needed to sync up your mana fluctuations to the fluctuations of the dungeon, and you will be sent inside immediately.
To avoid being separated during the process, the Awakened use harnesses that tie them up to each other.
With all the preparations done, the three of them soon entered the dungeon.
"… It looks pretty normal." The woman called Serena was the first to speak up. "The level of mana inside the dungeon is very low, and the terrain doesn't seem dangerous. I would say that this is an easy dungeon."
Steven, the other Awakened, nodded.
"A dungeon of this level doesn't need two Tier 7 and a Tier 6 to clear it. A team of Tier 4 and Tier 5 should be enough."
"It's just that the situation this time is very unique. The higher-ups want to avoid any trouble." Serene replied.
John agreed with them. This dungeon was too low for people of their Tier.
Tier 6 and Tier 7 Awakened were already powerful beings. People like them were important in any city.
Of course, there were Tier 8, Tier 9, and Tier 10 Awakened above them, but these people were monsters comparable to massive destruction weapons. They were true VIPs.
They generally didn't intervene unless the situation was really dangerous.
John looked up at the sky of the dungeon, seeing that it was bright red despite being night in the outside world.
'Dungeons are truly different, huh…'
With that thought in his mind, he spoke to his two companions.
"Let's go to the core of the dungeon. We need to see how strong the monster guarding it is. Hopefully, we are strong enough to kill it."
"There should not be any problem. The boss of a dungeon of this level can't be that powerful." Steven smiled confidently.
John agreed with him, but even so, he remained wary.
That was what allowed him to survive until reaching Tier 7 despite many of his friends dying through the years.
While the group advance to the dungeon core, they noticed that the dungeon seemed empty. They could see traces of blood everywhere, but there were no bodies around.
Moreover, they failed to see any berserk human as well.
John could not help to frown.
'… Something is weird.'
In the current situation, this dungeon should be filled with bloodthirsty and mindless humans.
However, there was none. Not even their bodies could be seen.
'… I have a bad feeling about it.'
The group continued advancing until eventually reaching close to the core of the dungeon.
But suddenly, they stopped.
"What is this…?" Steven asked pale-faced.
The place was filled with countless spiders webs.
The spider webs extended to kilometers of distance, creating a sinister-looking labyrinth that seemed taken out of a horror movie.
Moreover, there were countless spiders in the surroundings. Spiders of all sizes were coming in and out of the forest of spider webs.
However, what they saw next made the three Awakened pale.
The spiders were carrying human bodies inside their nest.
Tens of human bodies were being carried inside to be used as food.
"These are… Swarm Spiders." Serene said with a grave expression.
"Do you know about them?" John asked.
"I met them once. They are carnivorous ant-like spiders. Unlike normal spiders, they live in groups, with a queen governing every colony and tens of spiders serving it.
"Normally, these spiders are not very powerful. I don't think the Queen will be stronger than Tier Five. But…"
"Is anything wrong?"
The woman nodded with a solemn expression.
"I remember that these spiders have a very strong reproductive ability. If they have enough food, they can multiply their numbers in days."
John was startled. But then, his expression changed.
Because he remembered that eight thousand people had been trapped inside this dungeon.
For the spiders, that was abundant and easy food.
When that thought appeared in his mind, he saw something coming out of the spider nest.
Countless spiderlings came out of the nest. They were no bigger than a fist, but they could be counted in the thousands.
Serena's face became ugly.
"… This is bad. I don't think that the three of us can take care of this nest alone."
John nodded. No matter how strong they were, they would be overwhelmed when facing this number of spiders.
But just then, Steven's nervous voice came from behind them.
"… Guys, I have bad news."
When the pair turned around, they saw Steven holding a mechanical artifact with a grave expression.
"… I was measuring the stability of this dungeon to see how much time we had and… I fear this dungeon will collapse in less than twelve hours."
John and Serena's faces became solemn.
"This is bad… Steven, send a message outside about the situation immediately. Ask for reinforcements."
"The reinforcements won't be in time." Steven shook his head, "You know that the technology to communicate from inside a dungeon is still immature. It will be lucky if the message reaches outside five or six hours later. By then, the Association won't have time to summon enough Awakened."
John frowned. But then, his eyes became firm.
"Then we need to take care of this by ourselves. Steven, Serena, we will separate and search for the Awakened that were trapped inside this dungeon. We will meet here four hours later. After that, we will attack the spider nest."
...
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