Chapter 57
“...Are they taking them directly there?”
“Probably. They have plenty of useful supplies.”
The main force cared about only one thing.
Where would Belvar and the others be taken?
The answer was somewhere completely outside their expectations.
“That direction should lead to the plaza...”
Dexter’s eyes widened.
He spoke quietly.
“That’s it! The fountain!”
“But we never detected anything there. We watched that place longer than almost anywhere else because it looked suspicious.”
“Exactly... We observed it at least thirteen times. More than five hours total.”
“How does it work?”
“We’ll know once we see it ourselves. Move.”
At Yohan’s signal, more than one hundred seventy members of the main force began jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
They approached the plaza.
An enormous crowd had already gathered there.
Humans and Derhai formed the majority, but almost every race on the thirteenth floor seemed represented.
Most knelt with both arms tied.
Several who had resisted had been melted or beaten down and lay collapsed on the ground.
Around one hundred soldiers pointed weapons toward them.
That was not an enormous number.
But with such a massive difference in weapon technology, nobody in the plaza could oppose them.
Eventually, the soldiers forced several residents to stand.
They brought them to the fountain.
Then they pushed the captives into the flowing water.
The entire fountain suddenly sank downward.
It swallowed the residents.
Danforth and Dexter stared from a distance.
“I’ve never seen the fountain do that before. Right, Dexter?”
“Yes... Not once. We watched it at least thirteen times for over five hours.”
“It could be a temporary passage created specifically for this operation.”
The fountain continued moving up and down.
Ten residents disappeared each time.
Once Belvar’s group approached the front, Yohan glanced at Albern and Kalkerak.
They knew the destination.
Now they needed to suppress the slave soldiers before more residents became involved.
Removing the soldiers’ weapons would make defeating them easy.
They could not die, but their actual combat ability was not especially high.
Yohan prepared to signal.
Then...
SCREEECH!
SCREECH!
Fish suddenly burst from the fountain.
Fish that had not existed there moments earlier.
“What the hell?!”
“Ghk! These things...!”
The creatures had huge eyes and enormous teeth.
They attacked only the soldiers.
Those bitten had chunks of flesh torn away.
They screamed in pain.
Bang! Bang!
Whoosh!
The soldiers opened fire in every direction in an attempt to drive the fish away.
Chaos spread throughout the plaza.
Belvar and his companions immediately seized the opportunity and attacked several soldiers.
Danforth shouted,
“Now!”
“Everyone in! Take their weapons first!”
“Prepare barriers at all times! Don’t lose the people assigned to you!”
“Yes!”
The main expedition force stormed into the plaza.
The counterattack began.
Several brave residents joined them.
The battle became intense almost instantly.
Yohan used Blood Magic to destroy the soldiers’ hands so they could no longer use weapons.
General Kalkerak and the other swordsmen focused on cutting off wrists.
The soldiers had been focused on the fountain and failed to respond in time.
Their formation collapsed rapidly.
Yohan would never miss an opportunity like that.
He jumped directly into their formation.
Bullets struck his body.
He ignored every shot.
Tentacles burst from his shadow.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Dozens of necks snapped.
Thud.
Thump.
Thud...
The soldiers collapsed.
Even then, true to their immortal nature, they twisted their bodies and tried to stand again.
The elves immediately suppressed them with paralysis and binding magic.
Residents realized this might be their only chance.
They fled from the plaza in panic.
Aren arrived several minutes later than most.
He suddenly felt someone staring.
He turned left.
Among the many alleys connected to the plaza, Asenas Waite stood elegantly.
She smiled.
Then she silently gestured toward him.
If he fled in her direction, he would be safe.
“......”
Aren gave no answer.
He showed no reaction at all.
Instead, he immediately turned away.
Yohan and the main force were already moving toward the fountain.
From Asenas’s perspective, that decision was utterly absurd.
She let out a disbelieving laugh and touched her trembling lips.
“H-Haha...”
They planned to fight head-on?
Against a Great Old One?
She already knew Yohan Blake was insane.
But she had not expected this level of insanity.
If they went this far, even her side could no longer help them.
“...Maybe they really might reach our homeland.”
Asenas disappeared.
Which force would reach Innsmouth?
The immortal army inheriting Bulsum’s mission?
Or the foolish expedition dreaming of conquering the Dungeon?
Whichever one arrived, she had absolutely no intention of losing.
Still...
This would be entertaining.
“Please become a magnificent sacrifice for our Father.”
Apparently, news of what had happened in the plaza had not yet reached the soldiers below.
They continued pointing weapons toward the captives and ordering them down the staircase.
Step.
Step.
Only the footsteps of many different races echoed through the silent passage.
As they descended, the expedition members silently reviewed the strategy they had discussed beforehand.
