"This is a dungeon?" one of the soldiers muttered in awe.

"I don't see any monsters," another added.

"I never thought a cave like this was hidden inside the Valley of Silence."

The scene was utterly alien to them. They were soldiers, not raiders, and most had never set foot inside a dungeon. The very sight of the cavern's interior was a spectacle.

Crowley calmed his men and took the lead with his knights. 'If we follow this path, we should reach the first room,' he reasoned. He wasn't a raider, but he knew the basics.

As they advanced down the corridor, the entrance to the first room came into view. Crowley swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on the thick vines snaking around the opening. It was unnatural for plants to grow so lushly inside a cave. But here, the impossible seemed commonplace.

'A dungeon is a dungeon, I see.' It was a place where logic failed and the slightest mistake could lead to a screaming death.

Just then, a knight who had moved a few steps ahead cried out in alarm.

"My-my Lord Viscount! It's a forest! There's a forest in here!"

"What?!" Crowley exclaimed, disbelieving.

"It's true! Come and see for yourself!"

The notion was absurd, but Crowley rushed forward with his knights to see with his own eyes.

"Th-this can't be."

Before them, a dense, sprawling forest unfolded, as lush and wild as the one they had just left. It was then that Crowley truly grasped the danger they were in. They had stepped into a realm that defied reality itself.

"...Do not be flustered!" he roared, shaking off his shock. "We will continue to advance in formation!"

He knew it was a disadvantageous battlefield, but retreat was not an option. He belatedly regretted not preparing for an arson attack, but it was too late. Marching in with no information had been a grievous error.

'The room is larger than I expected. An ambush is certainly possible in an environment like this.'

The advantage of a tight formation was the ability to react quickly. No matter how clever this Dungeon Master was, Crowley had no intention of suffering easy losses.

They were about halfway through the woods when a scream erupted from the rear.

"What is it!" Crowley yelled.

"A trap! There's some strange liquid on the ground!"

"Don't panic! The rest of you, fall back!"

Fortunately, the damage was minimal. Only five soldiers were caught, their boots stuck fast in a highly adhesive green ooze. Other than being immobilized, they were unharmed.

"What is this?" Crowley demanded.

"I've heard of it, my lord," a soldier named Makun spoke up. "It's called a Sticky Trap, one of the common dungeon traps." He relayed what little information he had gleaned from listening to raiders.

Crowley grunted, staring down at the viscous liquid.

"It's not poisonous, is it?"

"As far as I know, it is not."

"Use your weapons to cut yourselves free. Then we move."

Without specialized items, they had to make do. The soldiers grimaced, hacking at the sticky substance that clung to their boots. It refused to be cut in a single stroke, only prolonging their struggle.

Suddenly, arrows rained down from the trees above.

"Gah!"

"Ugh!"

"Guh!"

The soldiers trying to free themselves from the trap collapsed, riddled with arrows. The others stared in shock before rushing toward the source of the attack, but the enemy had already vanished into the canopy.

Crowley ground his teeth, his eyes burning with fury as he looked at the men who had died without a chance to fight back. It was only five soldiers, but their helplessness enraged him. The Dungeon Master had been waiting for that exact moment.

'You son of a bitch!'

He was watching, somewhere. The timing was too perfect. He was toying with them. Crowley ordered a frantic search of the surrounding trees, but the dungeon's monsters were gone, their movements as swift and silent as the forest itself.

With no other choice, the army left their dead behind and pressed onward.

---

The irregular ambushes continued.

"My Lord Viscount! The soldiers who took the right path have not returned!"

"Agh! My lord, arrows are pouring down!"

"O-orcs killed Charles and Beriz and fled!"

From a forked path that led to a dead end, to a rain of arrows from the trees, to orcs that struck and vanished in a flash—the casualties mounted.

'So you intend to bleed us dry, bit by bit.'

He hadn't expected a fair fight, but this was a massacre. The dense forest hindered his knights, preventing them from using their full strength. The hit-and-run tactics made it impossible to mount a swift response.

'I can't just maintain the formation.'

Crowley repositioned his shield bearers to the flanks, creating a mobile wall to guard against arrow attacks. He split his knights, stationing them at the front and rear to counter any ambushes.

"My Lord Viscount, we've dealt with the orcs this time!"

"It seems the arrow attacks have stopped causing casualties."

"We also discovered and disarmed a trap up ahead!"

The change in tactics had an immediate effect. Crowley's sound judgment had stemmed the bleeding.

Finally, the troops entered the fourth room. Unlike the others, this one was a vast, murky swamp.

"It doesn't seem very deep," a soldier noted.

"Hmm. But our movements will be restricted," Crowley observed grimly.

"It seems so, my lord," replied the knight Milen. "But I see no other path. We'll have to cross the swamp as it is."

Milen was right. No bridges or alternate routes were visible. They would have to wade through the bog, sacrificing their mobility. Crowley nodded and gave the order to advance. The knights and soldiers trudged forward, their movements awkward and slow.

That's when they appeared: Lizardmen and Fenrirs, emerging from the murky water.

"Archers, fire!" Crowley commanded.

Arrows flew, but the monsters used the swamp to their advantage, their nimble movements making them difficult targets. The archers, flustered, scrambled to reload. In that brief window, the Lizardmen and Fenrirs charged. The knights drew their swords, but the monsters weren't aiming for them. They bypassed the heavily armored knights completely, crashing into the vulnerable soldiers at the rear.

"Damn it! Provide support!" a knight roared.

The knights rushed to help, but the swamp's mire fought them every step of the way. The soldiers were left to fend for themselves against two dozen monsters. Fenrirs tore into the archers while Lizardmen toyed with the spearmen and shield bearers.

As the knights struggled fruitlessly to reach their men, the soldiers began to fall.

"What are you doing? Help them, now!" Crowley bellowed in frustration.

"It's not that simple, my lord! We can't move properly in this swamp!"

"Look out! Imps over there!"

To make matters worse, a swarm of Imps appeared in the distance. They began hurling fireballs, not at the common soldiers, but at the knights. The full plate armor absorbed most of the damage, but the constant barrage pinned them down. Trapped in the mud and pelted by fire, they were going mad with frustration.

"Archers, fire at the Imps!" Crowley ordered, shifting priorities. They had to eliminate the ranged threat so the knights could support the infantry.

A volley of arrows finally flew true, making the Imps flinch.

"Keep firing!" Crowley commanded, seeing the opening.

Under the sustained barrage, the Imps broke and retreated. With the harassment gone, the knights finally slogged their way to their beleaguered comrades.

"Wipe them out!" a knight bellowed. "Kill every last one of them!"

Overcoming the terrain's disadvantage, the knights began to cut down the monsters. The soldiers, bolstered by their arrival, rallied and counterattacked. Sensing the tide had turned, the remaining Lizardmen and Fenrirs fled into the corridor behind them.

"WHOO-HOO!!!"

A ragged cheer went up from the surviving soldiers and knights. But Crowley, standing at the front, felt no joy.

They had started with nearly five hundred men. Now, more than a hundred were dead. And they still had no idea how many rooms were left in this accursed dungeon.

'If this continues, we might be annihilated.'

A cold sweat trickled down his neck as he watched his men celebrate, a knot of anxiety tightening in his stomach.

---

[Viscount Crowley's forces have entered the fifth room.]

At last, they had passed the dungeon's halfway point. They had reached the fifth room, with five more to go. The situation was growing dire, but Taehyun remained perfectly calm.

"So, the fifth room," he said aloud.

"Yes," Riel confirmed. "There's a Mana Nullification Trap, but since they have no mages, it will be useless."

"Then what's left is the Deep Pit, Orcs, Goblins, and three Minotaurs."

"The Imps, Lizardmen, and Fenrirs that fled have also regrouped with them," she added.

He could throw all his forces at them now and inflict more damage, but he risked losing some of his own valuable soldiers. Instead, Taehyun positioned only the three Minotaurs, the Orcs, and the Goblins. The rest he sent to the rooms further back.

"What are you planning?" Riel asked.

"The traps won't work on their main force anyway. I'm just going to use the Deep Pit to eliminate their archers."

"But won't the knights make that impossible?"

"With their knights split between the front and rear, if the vanguard falls into the pit, it's entirely possible," Taehyun explained. "I'll lose some soldiers, but with you here, the losses won't be severe."

He had been conserving Riel's mana until now, but that was about to change. If he were targeting the archers, the knights' counterattack would be fierce. Her buffs and healing were now absolutely necessary.

"Riel, just use your skills when I give the word."

"Yes, I understand."

"And... don't you think you could move a little further away?"

While he had been focused on the screen, Riel had sat down right beside him. It was something she wouldn't normally do, but her actions had grown bolder as her favorability score climbed.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, Master?" she asked, her voice soft.

"N-no, it's not that."

"Hehe. Then it should be fine, shouldn't it?" Riel's hand gently covered his.

A blush crept up Taehyun's neck, and he flinched. 'Her favorability is almost at seventy. No wonder she's being so assertive.' He was suddenly reminded of his fantasies from his first day here. Her outfit was different, but her doll-like beauty was the same. He stole a sideways glance at her before shaking his head.

'This isn't the time for this.'

They would soon reach the Deep Pit. Taehyun shifted away from Riel, his gaze locked on the screen. He could feel her disappointment, but he had already entered his focus mode.

---

Meanwhile, Crowley grew suspicious. No enemies had appeared.

'Are they preparing an ambush? Or is it another trap? What are they planning?'

All he could see were trees and bushes. Not a single monster was in sight, and no traps had been discovered. He led his troops with even greater caution. His men looked utterly exhausted from the journey.

'I'll clear this room, then we'll make camp.' They might even have to spend the night inside the dungeon.

As he was contemplating the state of his troops, three goblins suddenly burst from the foliage ahead.

"There are only three of them! Kill them!" a knight shouted, charging forward without orders.

"Wait! Stop!" Crowley yelled, but it was too late. The knights were already swinging their swords.

The moment their blades were about to strike the goblins, the ground beneath them gave way. The knights plunged into the darkness of a deep pit with no time to react.

"Damn it! A trap, as I thought," Crowley cursed. "Everyone, be on your guard! The moment you spot a—"

"M-my Lord Viscount!" a soldier screamed from the rear. "A large number of monsters have appeared behind us!"

Just as he'd feared, they had used the confusion to launch their main assault. Crowley's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the Minotaurs emerging from the trees.

'Three of them?!'

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