Chapter 105. The Black Dungeon

‘Can I even pretend I didn't see him?’

Armandy had flatly ignored Radel's proposal.

This was the result.

- Kiik!

"Fire!"

Armandy shot a fire element spell at the charging goblin.

Beside him, Pirenzo was swinging his twin swords.

And Radel… was squatting in a corner, comfortably digging for herbs.

‘I can't believe I fell for the 8th Prince's words and ended up in a dungeon!’

Is this what it feels like to be taken advantage of even when you know it?

But he couldn't just listen to Radel's words to pretend they didn't see each other in front of the dungeon.

Seeing as that Pirenzo guy had also obediently followed, it seemed he had thought Radel shouldn't be left alone.

Armandy ground his teeth inwardly.

While blood was splattering over here, the place where Radel was was peaceful as could be.

It was actually nonsensical to peacefully dig for herbs in a dungeon where monsters were running rampant.

‘Armandy, when we go into the dungeon, can you cast illusion magic on the monsters? I’m trying to avoid the monsters as much as possible.’

‘Why should I do such an inefficient thing?’

If the goal was to escape the monsters' sight by casting illusion magic, he could just cast it on the people instead of the monsters.

That would save magic power and simplify the complex spell.

However, Radel's thoughts seemed to be different.

‘What, I thought you knew everything. Heal doesn't work on me, and illusion magic doesn't work on me either. It might be a bit troublesome, but a real magician like Armandy could do it, right?’

‘What did you say?’

‘Never mind if you can't.’

How could he be so arrogant?

That shamelessness of thinking that he would naturally know about him!

But it was also true that there was nothing wrong with what he said…….

In the end, Armandy had no choice but to cast illusion magic on all the monsters coming out of the dungeon.

The monsters that went beyond the range of the illusion magic were dealt with by Pirenzo and Armandy, buying time for Radel to dig for herbs.

“What would I have done if I had come alone.”

Radel whistled as he leisurely dug for herbs.

Professor Lilian was right.

The most important item in a dungeon?

All that was unnecessary, a comrade who was good at magic was the best.

Thanks to Armandy, they were able to pass through the entrance of the dungeon safely.

It was also because no difficult monsters had appeared.

According to the academy dungeon map Radel had, this was a dungeon marked in black. The academy's back hill dungeon that he went to with Edward was red.

However, so far, there was no significant difference from the back hill dungeon.

‘I don't see the difference. Will it become clear only when we get to the boss room?’

Since he was already here, he wanted to find out the meaning of the colors marked on the map.

He had no intention of defeating the boss monster, but with those two, it didn't seem like it would be that difficult.

Having made his decision, Radel gathered the herbs and stood up.

Just then, Armandy and Pirenzo had finished their battle.

“Let's go in a little further. The herbs are in good condition.”

Armandy couldn't hide his bewilderment at seeing Radel slinging on his backpack and heading inside.

“You’re going in further from here?”

It felt like they had come about halfway through the dungeon.

Haven't we dug enough by now?

However, Radel just answered nonchalantly.

“We don't know when we'll be able to come in again. We have to dig diligently.”

No, but if you came to dig for ingredients, why do you keep going into dangerous places?

Armandy shouted inwardly.

‘At this rate, are you going to go all the way to the boss room and defeat the boss monster too?’

And so, about ten minutes later.

A boss monster really did appear in front of Armandy.

- Keke-kek! Ignorant humans!

A chillingly evil energy filled the room.

A skeleton clad in ragged magician's clothes laughed, clattering its teeth.

- Welcome to this place! All that is left for you now is death! Keke-kek!

Armandy felt a strong headache as he looked at the lich, which was the very definition of a boss monster.

To think we really came this far.

To think I would be clearing a dungeon in the middle of the night!

Following Radel, they had reached the boss room in the blink of an eye.

There was no place to retreat.

Now, they had to defeat that boss monster to get out of the dungeon.

“What’s wrong, Armandy. Are you out of magic power?”

Radel, next to Armandy, rummaged through his backpack with an indifferent expression and took something out.

It was the magic power recovery potion that Armandy had drunk countless times during the last Spring Festival.

Seeing that, Armandy's face turned pale.

The trauma of having to make cotton candy until he threw up came back.

Besides, what is that?

Those potions, prepared as if he had planned to clear the dungeon from the beginning?

“Don't worry and fight. I have health recovery potions too.”

“Why in the world are you carrying such potions? Are you sure you really just came to dig for herbs?”

Anyone could see that these were the preparations of someone aiming to clear a dungeon.

Armandy, while grumbling, downed the potion Radel handed him in one gulp. Pirenzo also drank the health recovery potion he had received from Radel.

Both of them knew that the situation was already irreversible.

- Come forth! Wandering spirits of the netherworld!

In the meantime, the lich swung its giant staff and summoned its minions.

Rumble!

The floor of the boss room cracked, and bony hands crawled up from the ground.

They were skeletons made of reddish-black bones.

It was the beginning of an unplanned battle.

* * *

The lich let out a sneer at the challengers who had wandered in unknowingly.

- Keke-kek, foolish fools…….

He could have wiped them out with his powerful magic right away, but it was a shame to end it like that.

He wanted to slowly drive the humans to despair and enjoy the pleasure of finally shattering them to pieces.

- Yes, struggle like that!

The lich smiled vilely as he watched Armandy and Pirenzo fighting the skeletons.

He couldn't smile as he had no skin and muscles, but that's how he felt.

When he was alive, he was a magician with strong magic power.

But no matter how strong he was, he could not avoid death.

In the end, not wanting to die, he dabbled in forbidden magic.

Although he had become a corrupt and hideous being as a result, he could be proud of having achieved a greater state than when he was human.

Look at those guys struggling while fighting the skeletons!

Humans had to risk their lives to fight even with such a low-level summoning magic.

They were insignificant beings, on a different level from him who could not die.

- You utterly insignificant beings! Soon, you two will also cross the river of death, keke-kek!

Wait, two?

The lich felt something was strange.

There were definitely three of them who came in earlier.

One of them was nowhere to be seen.

- That guy…… what is he doing?

The lich found the remaining guy doing something in a corner of the boss room.

He came all this way to dig the ground?

- Is he crazy to want to die?

The lich, dumbfounded, appeared in front of Radel.

Radel, who was doing something with a hoe in his hand, stood up.

- Are you a herb gatherer? You must have lost your mind!

A bluish flame flickered in the lich’s skeletal eyes.

Just seeing him enter the boss room with a hoe, he must be crazy to want to die.

“I’m not a herb gatherer.”

Radel put down the hoe and took out a staff from his bosom.

The lich was even more dumbfounded at that sight.

- A magician? You’re a magician?

At that, Radel nodded.

“Yes, I think I’m closer to that.”

It was an answer that felt no tension at all.

No matter how you looked at it, he must be someone who had lost his mind.

- Foolish fool! To try and face a lich with magic. I will make you regret ever coming here!

Only a powerful magician can become a lich.

It was a fact Radel was well aware of.

Radel scratched his head and this time, he took out a sword.

“Ah, right. I didn't have a chance to fight on the way here, so I forgot. This would hurt more, right?”

And then he nonchalantly took out holy water and applied it to his sword.

The lich was flustered, feeling the strong divine power from the holy water Radel had taken out.

With that level of divine power, it was an item consecrated by at least a bishop-level cleric.

It meant it was a very bad item for the lich, an undead.

Something was going wrong.

* * *

Crash!

- Kraaaak! You vile bastard!

The sound of something breaking.

With the lich’s death throes, a powerful magic power raged, and all the summoned skeletons melted away.

Armandy and Pirenzo, who were dealing with the skeletons, simultaneously turned to where Radel was.

‘The phylactery is broken!’

That phylactery was the most important thing when dealing with a lich.

A lich, an immortal being, seals its soul in a phylactery and hides it somewhere. If you don't find and destroy it, it will endlessly revive.

It seemed Radel had found it and broken it.

“Your Highness!”

Radel waved to the two people who were running towards him, calling his name.

If Armandy and Pirenzo hadn't blocked the skeletons, he wouldn't have been able to finish so quickly.

‘I was lucky.’

Because the two of them drew the lich’s attention, he was able to find the phylactery quickly.

‘I never thought it would be buried in a herb garden.’

It was a good thing the herb garden in a corner of the boss room caught his eye, otherwise, he might not have found it until the end.

“Are you alright, Your Highness?”

When Pirenzo asked Radel, Radel answered shyly.

“Wow, I was just trying to dig for ingredients and ended up here. You guys saved me.”

Armandy, who heard that, had a dumbfounded expression.

What do you mean, just digging for ingredients?

He had a suspicion, but no proof, so it was frustrating.

“Shall we go back now?”

Radel said, slinging on his backpack, which was full of herbs.

Seeing him dig that much, he wondered if he had really come for the ingredients.

Right. There's no way he would have come to clear a dungeon by himself.

Armandy gave up on thinking further as he watched Radel go to check the rewards.

Radel opened the chest that had appeared where the lich had disappeared.

It contained a considerable amount of gold coins, high-quality potions, and scrolls.

However, the real reward was not something like this.

Radel put what he was holding in his hand into his pocket. It was the real reward he had gotten from breaking the phylactery.

He recalled the conversation he had with the lich before breaking the phylactery.

* * *

- Wh-where did you find that? Put it down immediately!

When he took out the phylactery, the lich was flustered and shouted at Radel.

“I’ll think about it if you answer my question.”

Radel had something he wanted to ask a boss monster that he could talk to in a dungeon.

It was something he had been curious about since the hidden boss room he had cleared with Edward by chance.

The words the queen spider had left behind as she was dying.

What did they mean by ‘master’?

- What question!

“Well…… I was just wondering if you have a master too.”

It was a question thrown out with little expectation.

But the response that came back was different from what he expected.

- How, how do you know that?

So there is something.

Radel was quick-witted in this regard.

“You have a master too. Right?”

- Y-you won't be able to find out anything with a question like that!

Then there is information that can be found out if he asks the question differently.

Radel, who got the hang of it, asked the lich again.

“Who is your master?”

- Grrrk! Kraaaak!

Then the lich, which had been screaming as if having a seizure, suddenly flew at Radel, swinging its staff.

He could feel the intention to kill him before he could hear the answer.

Radel threw the phylactery without hesitation.

Crash!

- Kraaaak! You vile bastard!

The moment the lich disappeared, something was placed in Radel’s hand.

It was a black key.