When the teenagers scaled the cliffs beside the valley, the Skeleton Legion stopped pursuing them.
Instead they all returned to the battlefield and once again laid on the ground, as if nothing had happened.
Lux, Einar, and Vall gathered together to have a meeting as to what their next course of action would be.
"There is no information that we can use in exploring this Dungeon," Einar said. "From here on out, we just need to keep a close eye on our surroundings. We don't want to find ourselves surrounded by that massive Undead Army. There's simply no way out of that thing."
Lux and Vall nodded their heads. They were of the same opinion.
"I have a feeling that this Dungeon floor is just one big area with the Undead Army at its core," Vall commented. "It is possible that we need to reach its center in order to clear it. But, that is clearly suicide.
"Unless we really understand how this Dungeon works, it is best that we spend some time scouting the place. It will take a lot of time, but it will be safer to check the outskirts first than fight that Undead Army head-on."
Lux rubbed his chin as he pondered his next move. In truth, after they had run away from the Undead Army, he received a quest notification that explained how the Death Valley came to be.
—---
< The Flower of Death >
Mission Rating: S
– In the distant past, two warring kingdoms fought for supremacy within the Valley of Death. The battle was so fierce, that countless lives were lost during the conflict.
– However, just before the battle was about to reach a conclusion, a third party arrived and decimated the bulk of the two armies, forcing them to make a hasty retreat from the battlefield.
– Since then, no one has dared to enter the valley in fear that the countless people that died inside it would drag all of them to join them in the afterlife. Your Mission is to eliminate the third party that hides within the Valley of Death, and ensure that their tyranny ends once and for all.
< Quest Objective >
– Kill the Monstrous Terror Death Tyrant.
< Quest Rewards >
+10 to Skeleton Summoning Skills
+10 to Skeleton Archer Summoning Skills
+2 to Golem Summoning Skills
+2 to Skeleton Mage Summoning Skills
+5,000 Body Cultivation Points
– 500,000 Gold Coins
– Beholder's Legacy
– The Flower of Death
—--
The quest rewards were pretty straight forward with the exception of the Beholder's Legacy, as well as the Flower of Death.
The Half-Elf didn't know if the Flower of Death and the Sacred White Lotus were one and the same, but he had a feeling that it was no ordinary flower.
His only concern was how to inform his allies about the scary opponent that they would face, and how he managed to stumble upon such important information when this was his first time entering the Sacred Dungeon.
Perhaps, noticing his silence, Cai, who had always done everything at its own pace, poked his back with its hoof.
"What's wrong?" Cai asked. "Don't tell me those Skeletons scared you. You're supposed to be a Necromancer, right? Why don't you just let your Undead units fight them head-on. Also, you have the Obsidian Skeleton King as a lackey. Although it would only survive for ten minutes fighting that Undead Army, it will still be able to hold them off for a period of time."
Lux gave the Boar a side-long glance before shifting his gaze towards Einar, and Vall, who were waiting for his opinion about the problem that they were facing.
"Before I left the Academy, someone sent me an anonymous letter about the monster that we would be facing if we challenged the gate that had the word 'Death' written on it," Lux said with a calm expression on his face. "Included in the letter was the name of the enemy that we would have to face if we chose to enter this route."
The Half-Elf was trying to bullsh*t his way through this problem by using an anonymous letter as a base. Although it sounded suspicious, it was still a good alternative to prevent others from becoming overly suspicious about what he was about to say.
"An anonymous letter?" Cai asked. "What did it say?"
"It said, if you were to challenge the Gate of Death where the Sacred White Lotus can be found, be careful of the Monstrous Terror Death Tyrant that commands the Undead. It will be your greatest foe, and few have survived its deathly gaze and lived to tell the tale.
"W-What did you say?!" Einar couldn't believe what he had just heard and grabbed Lux's robes and lifted him in the air. "Oi. tell me that you're joking. You're telling us that the monster we are about to face is a Monstrous Terror Death Tyrant?! Do you have any idea what that is?!"
Even Vall, who was usually the most composed person in their group paled after hearing that the enemy they would be facing was a Monstrous Terror Death Tyrant.
This monster was often seen in High-Level Undead Dungeons, with a challenge Rating of A and above.
Simply put, the Monstrous Terror Death Tyrant was a Pseudo-Deimos-Ranked World Boss, which was similar to the Adamantite Golem that they saw on the way to the Sacred Dungeon. It was not an easy opponent to face and all recovery, and healing abilities didn't work under its gaze.
The worst part was that anyone that died would be raised up as an Undead, and would become its slave for life. The only way to free them from this unholy servitude was to kill the Monstrous Terror Death Tyrant.
Death Tyrants, in general, were former Beholders. These were giant, sphere-like monsters with tentacle-like protrusions (sometimes called eye-stalks) on their bodies that contained eyes, and one giant central eye at the center of its main body.
They were truly horrifying existences, and no one wanted to face such creatures whenever they explored labyrinths, or any other ancient ruins, because of how nefarious they were.
It was almost impossible to ambush a beholder because its many eyes could see in every angle. Also, all of them contained an ability of their own. A Beholder's eyes could petrify, charm, instill fear, slow, paralyze, blind, and instantly kill their enemies.
There were occasions when all of these abilities were used all at once, in order to finish off their enemies in one fell swoop. They were also very resistant to magic because the central eye emitted an Anti-Magic Field, preventing anyone from harming it with magic.
A Death Tyrant was a Beholder who had dreamt itself to exist beyond death, or something or someone had been turned into one due to outside interference. Either way, it had retained its intelligence, and gained a few other abilities that would put all living creatures under its mercy.
"Now, I fully understand why no one was able to conquer the Hell Dungeon," Xander, one of the Five Overlords and member of the Rowan Tribe, commented.
"If the four gates that represent Conquest, War, Famine, and Death, each have a Pseudo-Deimos Monster as its boss, it could only mean that the Golden Gate at its center—which I believe would open once the four gate had been conquered—would have a Deimos-Ranked Monster, or possibly even a Pseudo-Argonaut Monster inside it."
Those who heard Xander's words shuddered at the nearly impossible mission that they were facing.
For some reason, the Sacred Dungeon could only hold five-hundred people at any given time. This included those who were challenging the dungeon separately from the rest. Because of this, the Six Kingdoms, the Barbatos Academy, and Rowan Tribe, could only send a limited number of individuals each time the Hidden Domain opened.
Because of greed, and their own pursuit for power, they had never considered forming a five-hundred man team to challenge the Dungeon as a group, and instead settled for smaller parties, in the hope that the gains they would get would outweigh the dangers that their limited numbers would be facing.
Lux, who was still being raised high up in the air by Einar, lightly tapped the Barbarian's wrist with his hand.
"Regardless of what we are facing, we have no choice but to face it," Lux replied. "You came here knowing the dangers that we are going to face. You, me, and everyone here, all of us have no choice but to continue moving forward. Or are you saying that you are giving up? If you are then feel free to leave this place in a manner of your choosing."
Einar snorted but he lowered Lux and allowed him to stand on his two feet once again. He didn't have any intention of hurting the Half-Elf. It was just that his body moved on its own and before he knew it, he was already holding the Half-Elf in his hands.
Just like the Half-Elf had said, he came here knowing the dangers he would face. He was just surprised that the opponent they would be facing right off the bat would be something so sinister that he wanted to confirm if the information Lux was sharing with them was true.
"Let's rest here for an hour," the Half-Elf said as he glanced at the distant battlefield in the center of the valley. "After that, we will split into teams and scout the surrounding areas. If we really don't find anything else, prepare yourselves for an uphill battle. We will definitely have a tough time from this moment onwards."
