"How did you know about this?" the Kobold Mage, who entered the hole first, asked the Half-Elf, who refused to let them enter the comfortable small space that Eiko made, hogging it to lie down on the ground properly.
"Half-Elf secrets," Lux replied as he casually fed Eiko a sandwich as a reward for her hard work in digging the hole. "Also, don't talk to me. All of you refused to believe me earlier, so why are you now all here in my hole? Why don't you play with the monsters outside instead? I'm sure they would be more than happy to play Whack-a-Kobold with you guys."
The Kobold Mage's face reddened as he glared at the irritating Half-Elf who caused his cheeks to burn in anger and embarrassment.
Lux sneered at the Kobold as he continued to feed his baby slime. He wasn't afraid even if the monsters were able to enter the hole. Anyway, even if the other Kobolds died, he would be teleported outside of the dungeon before the monsters could even get to him.
The vibrations coming through the ground were getting stronger, and the Half-Elf knew that the Monster Army was near their location.
Cadmus, who was vigilantly facing at the entrance of the hole, narrowed his gaze and gripped his weapon firmly in his hand.
He was a Rank 5 Alpha Monster, and only a handful of existences in the Beginner's Zone were capable of matching his strength. However, the Dungeon was different.
It was a completely unknown territory and even he didn't know how strong the Monsters inside it were. Even so, he was confident that none of them would get past him.
The reason?
Because he was strong.
Cadmus sincerely believed in his strength, for he was a Draconic Kobold. He was someone meant to reach greater heights once he stepped into the Deimos Rank and had to leave the Territory of Norria behind to see the world.
Suddenly, a Crimson Centipede gazed into the hole with its red-beady eyes which glowed faintly in the darkness.
Cadmus arrogantly activated his Dragon's Fear, which made the centipede back away in fright, crashing into the Monsters behind it. Soon, more Monsters tried to enter the hole, but Cadmus Dragon's Fear made them unable to approach more than a meter inside the hole.
Loud hisses, screeches, as well as roars of frustration spread in the surroundings, making the Kobolds, with the exception of Cadmus, tremble.
After a few minutes of repeated attempts, the Monsters finally reached the limit of their patience and immediately raided the hole. Although they were too scared to do it, the compelling influence of the Dungeon to attack all intruders overrode their senses, making them rabid killing machines whose single purpose was to kill.
Cadmus opened his mouth and unleashed a concentrated beam of Dragon's Breath, which instantly incinerated the monsters that entered the hole.
The smell of burning flesh permeated the air, reaching Lux who was in the very back, causing his nose to twitch.
Cadmus' angry roar reverberated within the hole as he stabbed, hacked, and smashed the monsters that were foolish enough to force themselves inside the hole he was guarding.
Bodies upon bodies of monsters piled up in front of him, blocking the view. But, Cadmus didn't allow those bodies to block the entrance and incinerated them using a Dragon's Breath, effectively killing those who had tried to use this opportunity to get inside the hole that Lux created.
'Looks like my plan worked,' Lux thought.
When he ordered Eiko to dig, he had already imagined how things might go and expected this scenario to happen. Since the entrance was narrow, the monsters didn't have any choice but to enter the hole one by one, completely disregarding their advantage in numbers.
This allowed Cadmus to freely kill his opponents without too much trouble. As long as he was blocking the way, none of the monsters could dream of getting past him.
After nearly twenty minutes of repeated failures, the monsters all gave a resounding cry of anger before they started killing each other.
The Dungeon Outbreak happened because the Dungeon was unable to contain the big surplus of Monsters. Since they were unable to get past Cadmus who was a Rank 5 Alpha Monster, they resorted to killing each other in order to cull the number of the Monsters inside the Dungeon.
By doing so, they would have a better chance at survival instead of committing suicide by entering the hole were a ferocious Draconic Kobold was waiting to kill them.
As the battle raged on, Lux and the other Kobolds were finally able to sigh in relief because the worst case scenario was over.
All they needed to do was wait until the number of Monsters decreased before they came out of the hole to kill the remaining survivors.
The two Rank 4 Basilisks that had tried to eat Lux earlier were among the Rank 4 Monsters that had entered the chaotic battlefield, killing everything in their surroundings.
Naturally, there were other Rank 4 Monsters, like the Earth Golem, Earth Trolls, as well as Earth Mawler, who were among the strongest Rank 4 Monsters in the Dungeon.
All the Rank 4 Monsters were so big that their bodies couldn't possibly enter the hole that Eiko had created. Because of this, they had no choice but to face each other, while the weaker monsters massacred those around them.
It was complete and total pandemonium, and Lux was quite thankful that he was safe and snug under the ground with his baby Slime in his arms.
Minutes passed, and dirt started to fall inside the hole as the tremors intensified.
Eiko had dug a hundred-meters into the ground, so Lux was confident that they were down far enough not to be implicated in the battle that was going on above ground. However, the constant rumblings in the surroundings made him anxious that a cave-in might happen if the battle didn't end soon.
'I'm really glad I have Eiko with me,' Lux thought. 'If not, we would be forced to repel so many monsters at once.'
The Half-Elf was sure that their chances of surviving such an onslaught if they were aboveground was non-existent. He didn't know how many monsters were currently killing each other on the surface, but one thing was clear. He would rather stay underground than mingle with them on the surface.
The minutes moved ever so slowly and painfully, for those in the hole who were feeling anxious. Each minute was feeling more and more like the passing of a year.
Suddenly, the monstrous head of a Giant Black Basilisk appeared in the hole. It opened its jaw and was about to unleash some kind of acid attack, but Cadmus was faster than it.
Before the Basilisk could even unleash its attack, a Dragon Breath passed through its opened mouth, making it shriek in pain.
Since it had forced itself inside the hole, it was unable to get out quickly, so Cadmus Dragon's Breath continued to raze its head, burning it to a crisp.
Soon, the Giant Basilisk stopped moving after its head and body erupted in flames from the Draconic Kobold's powerful attack.
A minute later, its body was pulled out of the hole, followed by a deafening roar that Lux believed came from a troll. A moment later, the sound of chewing reached their ears.
It seemed that whatever had pulled the Basilisk's body from the hole was enjoying the toasted, and headless black serpent that had tried to attack the Kobolds that were hiding in the hole.
Several minutes had passed. Lux patted his chest in relief when he saw the series of text that appeared in front of him.
—-
Survive the Dungeon Outbreak for one hour. (Cleared!)
Rewards:
100 Rank 2 Beast Cores
20 Rank 3 Beast Cores
2 Rank 4 Beast Core
Title: Outbreak Survivor
Bonus Reward: Key of the Inner Grotto.
< Outbreak Survivor >
"Remember the time you thought you could never survive? You did it, and you can do it again."
+10,000 Health Points
—-
Lux looked at the Outbreak Survivor title and chuckled after reading its information. However, what he was most curious about was the Bonus Reward that he received, which was the Key of the Inner Grotto.
The Half-Elf didn't know where the Inner Grotto was, but now that the key was in his hands, he believed that it was only a matter of time before they found it and put the reward he got to good use.
