Nox saw the blue window appear.
[You have entered a trap dungeon]. Another ssage followed, [Teleporting in 10 seconds].
’A trap? Now?’ He was in the middle of a fight. This was a very bad ti.
He tried to warn the others, but the words did not co out fast enough.
"It’s a tra–"
Their surroundings dissolved. The graveyard, the skeletons, the sky, they all vanished in an instant. They were standing on cracked pavent. Broken buildings with glassless windows surrounded them on all sides, reaching toward a sky that was the color of smoke. A car, rusted and overturned, lay in the middle of the street.
"Where are we? What just happened?" la was on her feet, a swarm of silver needles already floating around her as she scanned the area. Her expression was tense.
Serian looked at the tall, broken structures. "This is a human city. Like the one I was in before."
’She is correct. This is one of the cities that was near my own.’ he recognized the style of the architecture. It was a place that must have been destroyed when the dungeons appeared. It felt familiar, and he did not like it.
A new window appeared in his vision, this one with a golden border.
[Dungeon Mission Issued!]
[Objective: Clear the Lich’s Spire.]
[Sub-Objective 1: Defeat the Lich King.]
[Sub-Objective 2: Destroy the Phylactery.]
[Reward: 75,000 EXP, 50 Stat Points, 1x Unique Skill Box, Title: Lich Bane.]
[Failure: Your souls will be consud and added to the Lich King’s undead army.]
’Failure ans we beco skeletons. Great.’ He did not like the sound of that.
"We have been pulled into a dungeon," he explained, looking at the two girls. "It is a mission."
la looked at the ruined buildings, her hand on her weapon pouch. "A dungeon? seriously?"
Serian also looked around. "How do you know this, Nox?"
’This is annoying, but I have to tell them sothing.’ He decided lying was too much trouble, so he would just give a simple answer. "I have a skill that tells these things. We need to clear this place to get out."
"A skill that tells you we are in a ’dungeon’?" la’s expression was full of distrust. "How convenient. Every ti sothing strange happens, you have a new ’skill’."
Serian put a hand on la’s arm. "His sponsor. It must be a gift from them. We should trust him."
’She trusts too easily. It is weird.’ He dismissed their conversation. "The mission is to clear the Lich’s Spire. That is probably that tall, ugly building over there."
He pointed toward a skyscraper in the distance. It was taller than the others, and a faint, sickly green light pulsed from its top floors. Dark, skeletal birds circled its peak.
"So we just walk over there and kill the boss?" la asked, her tone still suspicious.
"Basically. But the whole city is probably full of undead. We need to be careful."
"Then let us proceed with caution," Serian said, drawing her sword. "We do not know what awaits us."
They started walking down the cracked street, la in the lead this ti, her needles floating around her as she scanned the alleys and broken storefronts. Nox and Serian followed a few steps behind.
"I do not like this place. It feels... wrong."
"It’s a city of the dead, what did you expect, a welcoming party?"
"Be quiet, human. Your constant noise is distracting."
"You’re the one who started talking."
Serian sighed quietly behind them. ’They are like two children.’
As they walked, a new window appeared in front of him.
[Dungeon Event Activated!]
[Wave 1: The Horde]
[Objective: Survive.]
[Enemies: 100,000 Risen Zombies.]
[Ti Limit: 1 hour.]
’One hundred thousand? Are you kidding ? This is bullshit.’
He stopped walking so suddenly that Serian bumped into his back.
"Nox? What is it?"
He pointed down the long, wide street ahead of them. "Incoming."
la and Serian looked. At the far end of the street, a dark mass was moving. It was not a group, it was a river of bodies, a shambling tide of undead that stretched from one side of the street to the other, flowing out of the cross-streets and alleys. The sheer number was impossible.
"By the spirits..." la’s voice was a whisper. "There must be thousands of them."
"Try one hundred thousand," he corrected. He turned and looked at the buildings around them. "We need to get off the street. Now."
They did not need to be told twice. He saw a sturdy-looking building on their right. It was a five-story office building with a crumbling facade, but the structure looked solid.
"There. That one."
They ran for the entrance, the glass doors long since shattered. They scrambled inside, the sound of a million groaning, shuffling undead starting to echo down the street. The lobby was a ss of overturned desks and scattered papers.
"We block the entrance," he commanded, pointing at a large, heavy-looking reception desk made of solid marble. "Help move this."
Serian and la did not argue. The three of them put their shoulders to the heavy desk and shoved. It scraped across the floor, and with a final, grunting push, they wedged it against the doorway, creating a solid barricade.
"That will not hold them for long," la stated, looking at the makeshift wall.
"It doesn’t need to hold them forever. Just for an hour." He looked up at the ceiling. "We go up. High ground is better."
They ran for the ergency stairwell, taking the stairs two at a ti. They did not stop until they reached the roof. The roof was a wide, flat expanse of gravel and tar, surrounded by a low concrete ledge. From here, they could see the entirety of the street below.
The river of zombies had arrived. It was a sea of bodies, packed so tightly together they could have walked across their heads. They slamd into the barricaded entrance of the building, the sound of their collective weight hitting the marble desk a dull, continuous thud.
"So many..." Serian’s face was pale.
"How are we supposed to fight that?" la asked, her usual confidence gone, replaced by sothing that looked a lot like fear.
Nox walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. The zombies were piling up against the front of the building, a writhing mass of decaying flesh. He looked at the other buildings across the street.
’Okay, an hour. We can’t kill all of them, so we just have to outlast them.’ He looked at his companions. ’But, I don’t think either of us have the stamina for long fights.’
"You two, stay back," he said, walking to the edge of the roof.
"What are you planning, Nox?"
He did not answer. He just held out his hands.
’Void Forging.’
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