Episode 146

On Day 4, Breath of Death had long since faded. The raid party had just cleared the thirteenth room.

[B-rank raider Waterloo has been critically injured by a rolling boulder trap.]

[The Earthen Barrier cast by B-rank raider Venard has blocked the mana cannon of a mid-grade mana turret.]

[The duration of B-rank raider Maxon's torch has expired.]

[Hounds ambush the raid party in the corridor.]

The party was in shambles, battered and bruised by an endless gauntlet of traps. The corridors were longer than anticipated, making it impossible to gauge how long their torches would last.

"H-help me! I can't get out!" a raider screamed.

"Damn it! It's a Coffin of Sacrifice! No one can save him unless someone else takes his place!"

"He's from the Sapadin guild, who cares? Just leave him."

A raider was trapped inside a coffin of thorns. His agonized screams echoed through the chamber as the thorns tightened around him, but the hired raiders didn't even glance his way. The Coffin of Sacrifice was a cruel trap; once caught, a victim could only be freed if another took their place. Given the current state of their relations, his fate was sealed.

"Soldiers! Everyone, prepare for battle!"

"Ugh! Spiders are pouring out of that merchant's corpse!"

"I-it's a mana-blocking trap! Mages, fall back!"

The raid party was collapsing. Miraculously, no one else had died, but the number of injuries was piling up. Their only recourse was to camp, manage their health, and rest. Their specialized camping gear was nearly gone, and their food supplies were dwindling. As their stress levels climbed, their only remaining hope was the dungeon's layout.

"S-still, the forked paths should let us reach the final room quickly."

"Considering the number of rooms left, we should have just enough camping supplies."

"We just need to use the radar effectively. That bitch is at least smart enough to use it at the right time."

Even if the dungeon had a maximum of twenty-five rooms, a radar could reveal the layout and status of the chambers leading up to the final boss. And with the forked corridors, once the map was revealed, they could choose the safest path.

[Valona's raid party has entered the fifteenth room.]

The party entered the fifteenth room. Though discord was brewing between her guild members and the hired hands, Valona seemed focused solely on the raid for now.

"Master, she's taking out a radar item," Riel noted.

"Don't worry. There's a radar-sealing trap in that room. Without bounty hunters, they'll never find it."

On the screen, Valona hesitated, but ultimately activated the item.

[Valona's raid party has used Radar (High).]

[The structure and status of rooms fifteen through twenty-three are revealed.]

[Radar operation stopped.]

[The radar-sealing trap in the fifteenth room has been activated.]

[The effect of Radar (High) is sealed.]

The attempt failed. The trap, cleverly disguised as a tree branch, activated and nullified the radar's effect.

[B-rank raider Kayton's stress index increases by 2.]

[B-rank raider Waterloo's stress index increases by 2.]

[B-rank raider Vaders' stress index increases by 3.]

The stress levels of the raiders who had been banking on the radar shot up. Now, they were forced to navigate the dungeon blind. With increasingly deadly traps appearing, their situation was dire. Their bounty hunters were dead, their stress levels were over sixty, and infighting was rampant. Valona had a choice to make.

'So, what will it be?' Taehyun thought. 'Continue the raid, or retreat? Make your choice.'

If she remembered the marker at the entrance, retreat was still an option. But considering her remaining supplies, pushing forward was also technically feasible.

"I-it doesn't matter! I anticipated this! Everyone, prepare to camp! We're fine!" she declared.

Unfortunately for her, Valona chose the latter. Taehyun smirked as he watched them set up camp yet again. She was too proud to back down.

"Well then, if she won't retreat, I'll just have to push them to their absolute limit."

"Master, the soldiers are in position," Riel confirmed.

"Good," Taehyun said, picking up a few items from the table. "Let's start with the buffs, shall we?"

---

On Day 5, upon reaching the nineteenth room, the party finally erupted into open conflict. The trigger was the blatant disparity in treatment between the guild members and the hired raiders, and the final straw was the evening meal.

"Hah! How much longer do I have to eat this slop? It's disgusting," Valona complained.

"L-Lady Valona, the hired raiders prepared this. Our food is running low; we should be grateful for even this soup," Paris pleaded.

"Hmph. I know that. But what am I supposed to do if I can't bring myself to eat it?" She dumped the soup onto the dungeon floor. It was a simple meal, made to conserve their dwindling rations, but she didn't care.

Across the campfire, the hired raiders watched, and the last thread of their patience snapped.

"Damn it! We let it slide, and now you really think we're your servants?" one of them roared.

"You've been ordering us around since we got here, and now you're complaining about the food?"

"We were already boiling over because of the unequal treatment, but this is the last straw!"

The hired raiders surged forward. Panicked, Valona ordered her guild members to restrain them. The two factions faced off, hands on their weapons.

"W-what are you doing, Paris? Stop them! If the raid party falls apart, it's all your fault!"

"B-but I didn't do anything…"

The flat of her bow crashed into Paris's face. He stumbled back, clutching his stinging cheek.

"Go stop them now! If you don't, you're expelled from the guild!"

"…Understood."

"Wait. What's with that look? Are you defying me? A lowly commoner like you?!"

"N-no, my lady! I'll stop them right away!"

Shaken, Paris scrambled to intervene, and the confrontation temporarily subsided.

---

The Anslake Barony was a noble house in the western Aneis Kingdom. Its patriarch, Momont, had been a commoner merchant who bought his title with an enormous sum of Zen. Initially ostracized by the established aristocracy, his fortunes changed when he allied himself with Count Dinen.

''I heard Baron Anslake has produced some A-rank raiders.''

''It's because he's been sucking up to Count Dinen. Tsk. That merchant bastard really hit the jackpot.''

''Shh! Don't say that. The West revolves around raiders now. Are you not afraid of Count Dinen?''

Gradually, the Anslake Barony began to produce promising raiders, establishing and managing dozens of guilds. It was a plan that cost billions of Zen, but for a man of Momont's immense wealth, it was a small price to pay. The Anslake Barony quickly expanded its influence, becoming a major supporter of the Raider Association and a highly respected family in the West.

'Back then, I thought it was my chance,' Paris remembered.

He was one of the raiders who had joined the Sapadin Guild through a chance connection with the Anslake Barony. His only order from Momont was to assist his daughter, Valona. At the time, Paris thought he was just babysitting a noble's daughter. But Valona was a genuine high-tier B-rank raider with an impossible personality. As a noble, she looked down on all other raiders and treated him like a slave.

Believing it was his path to success, Paris endured the harsh treatment. Whenever he was pushed to his breaking point, he thought of the barony and held on.

But that conviction was beginning to crack.

''W-what are you doing, Paris? Stop them! If the raid party falls apart, it's all your fault!''

''Go stop them now! If you don't, you're expelled from the guild!''

''Wait. What's with that look? Are you defying me? A lowly commoner like you?!''

His patience was at its end. The threads of his reason were snapping. He had endured inhuman treatment for so long, but the accumulated stress of the dungeon was about to make him explode. Though he managed to de-escalate the conflict, a flicker of killing intent remained in his eyes.

The party pushed on, entering the twenty-first room.

"Damn it, another flame trap! Dodge!"

"Th-the soldiers are buffed! Everyone, be careful!"

"Damn Sapadin bastards! Hiding in the back until the very end! Sons of bitches!"

The raid grew harder, and the raiders' condition worsened. Valona finally used an effect-reversal card to end the battle, but the damage was already far more severe than she had anticipated.

"Prepare to camp!"

All they could do was camp.

"What are you doing? Prepare to camp!"

Camping.

"I'm getting hungry. Prepare a meal while we camp."

And more camping. They burned through their supplies, recovering health and stamina. Now, even their food was nearly gone. But as they approached the twenty-fifth room, a sense of relief washed over them.

"Finally, the last room. This damn raid is finally over."

"Thank God, we made it just before we ran out of camping items. Our food was gone, too. What a relief!"

"Once we conquer Balak, we'll get a huge reward. I'm cutting ties with the Sapadin Guild and getting out of the West for good!"

As hope began to blossom, Valona trembled with anxiety. Paris sidled up to her.

"What's wrong, Lady Valona?"

"…It's nothing. Get the other parties moving."

"Understood."

The raid party entered the twenty-fifth room. Their stress, morale, and physical state were at an all-time low, but all they had to do was clear this final room.

"W-what the hell? Another forest? Is this really the last room?!"

"Look over there! There are two more passages on the other side! This isn't the end!"

"Then this isn't the final room… What's going on?!"

The fleeting joy on the raiders' faces instantly curdled into disbelief. The twenty-fifth room, which they had believed to be the last, was no different from the others. Two forked paths lay ahead, and Balak's Crystal Sphere was nowhere in sight.

"I-I knew it," Valona stammered. "I thought it was strange that knight wasn't here. This wasn't the last room."

"What are you talking about, Lady Valona?!" Paris demanded.

"The knight! The one who killed the bounty hunters! There's no way a guardian that powerful wouldn't show up to finish off a party approaching the final room!" she shrieked, fumbling for her location transfer item.

[Location Transfer has been used.]

[The location of the Valona Raid Party Alliance will be changed to the previously saved location.]

The glowing item in her hand crumbled to dust.

[The Dungeon Master of Balak has activated 'Item Nullification'.]

[Location Transfer is canceled.]

[The location transfer of the Valona Raid Party Alliance has failed.]

The Dungeon Master's nullification item. Valona ground her teeth and pulled out a return item, but a massive magic circle enveloped the entire chamber, and her attempt failed.

[The A-rank Dungeon Master's unique skill 'Return Impossible' has been cast.]

[All return effects for the raiders currently in Balak have been sealed.]

An A-rank Dungeon Master's unique skill. The raiders stared in horror, chaos erupting among them.

"B-Balak was an A-rank dungeon?! No way!"

"What the hell is a skill like Return Impossible?! We can't escape!"

"It's all that bitch Valona's fault! She's the one who dragged us this far!"

Hostile glares fixed on her from all sides. Valona stumbled backward, shouting, "W-what are you all staring at?! Are you going to blame me for everything now?!"

"L-Lady Valona, calm down!" Paris cried. "If we just go back the way we came, we'll be fine!"

"Th-that's right!" Valona latched onto the idea. "Just like Paris said! We already killed all the soldiers on our way here! There won't be any more traps! We can just walk out!"

She forced a smile and turned around.

[The Dungeon Master of Balak has cast 'Location Shift'.]

[The Basilisks' location will be changed to the previously saved position.]

At that moment, from the very spot in the corridor they had marked for their retreat, five massive Basilisks burst forth. A-rank monsters. For the raid party, it was the beginning of a nightmare.

---

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