The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 75

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#075. Choice

 

The Black Spear clan members who went up to the 69th layer with the letter Ryusei had given them headed toward the upper layers at maximum speed they could manage, following their Clan Master’s instructions.

 

When they arrived at the base camp on the 65th layer, they immediately gathered clan members who would head to the next layer and instructed them to move to the next layer, and the personnel who took over repeated the forced march again, beginning to move toward the upper layers at the fastest possible speed.

 

They judged that the longer it took them to deliver the Clan Master’s letter to the surface, the lower the survival rate of the clan members trapped on the 70th layer could become.

 

Fortunately, the portals on all layers except the 70th layer were operating normally, so the special unit members departing from each camp could move toward the surface at an amazing speed.

 

Until they arrived at the last base camp located before going to the surface, Camp 1 on the 10th layer.

 

What caught the ankles of the special unit that had been rushing to the upper layers while even reducing their sleep time was the sight of Camp 1, which had completely collapsed and become ruins.

 

“Th-this is…!”

 

The building that Sung-jun had installed was nowhere to be seen, and the ruins of the base camp with only the foundation remaining as if it had been torn apart by force were waiting for them.

 

“Could this be damage from a monster attack?”

 

When one clan member spoke while looking at the wreckage, another clan member ran to where the debris was and examined the traces of destruction closely.

 

Then he shook his head and said to his colleague.

 

“No, these traces were left by human adventurers. And not just one, but traces of hundreds, no, thousands of adventurers attacking collectively.”

 

“I heard rumors, but I didn’t think it would really be true…”

 

All the personnel who arrived at the collapsed Camp 1 were members of the guard unit that had been protecting Camp 2.

 

And at Camp 2, even before receiving Ryusei’s contact, they had been periodically dispatching clan members to the upper layers for communication with the surface.

 

To request replenishment of supplies sent down to Camp 3 and reinforcement of additional personnel.

 

However, as not a single person who went up to Camp 1 like that returned, the camp leader guarding Camp 2 had completely suspended dispatch missions to the surface.

 

There were opinions to dispatch large-scale forces to the upper layers to assess the situation, but there was a risk of falling into greater danger if they carelessly emptied Camp 2.

 

And now, the reason why not a single person who went up to the upper layers could return was spread out before their eyes.

 

“What do you think?”

 

When the clan member in leather armor asked, the man who appeared to be the leader fell into thought for a moment.

 

Then he rubbed his chin, which was messy with beard because he couldn’t shave, and said to his colleague.

 

“You read the contents of the letter, right? The report about the situation that occurred on the 70th layer.”

 

“Ah, that report that the portal heading to the upper layer was deactivated and a portal summoned at a random location seems to only send up to 10 people per day to the upper layer?”

 

“Right. The highest possibility we can think of now is that at the same time this phenomenon occurred on the 70th layer, something similar happened on the 1st layer.”

 

“On the 1st layer too…”

 

“Of course it’s not certain, so we can’t ignore the possibility that the portal blockade phenomenon occurred on the 2nd or 3rd layer. But what’s important now isn’t which layer’s portal was blocked, but whether such a thing happened or not.”

 

The man who appeared to be the leader explained the reason he thought so.

 

If a similar situation occurred on the 1st layer around the same time, the damage would be incomparable to that of the 70th layer.

 

The biggest reason for this was the existence of numerous civilian ‘harvesters’ active in the lower layers.

 

“Because of the harvesters?”

 

“Most of the personnel active on the 70th layer are adventurers and strong enough to hunt the monsters that appear on that layer in party units. But the situation in the lower layers where conquest is 100% complete is different. Numerous civilians who easily outnumber the adventurers are scattered throughout the dungeon working to harvest crops at harvest sites. Think about it. Assuming the number of harvesters active on one layer is around 20,000, what would happen if the portal going to the upper layer was blocked on a layer where 20,000 civilians and 500 Awakened are active.”

 

“…A massacre could break out to secure the 10 spots that can go up to the surface.”

 

“Right. No one wants to starve to death inside this gloomy dungeon. Even if they’re civilians rather than adventurers, it’s the same. They came into the dungeon to avoid starving to death outside, so no one would want to starve to death inside the dungeon.”

 

“But if adventurers and civilians fight each other, wouldn’t adventurers be overwhelmingly advantageous?”

 

“Instead, civilians have numbers. The location of the portal going to the upper layer is random. That means civilians who know the entire dungeon are in a much more advantageous position to discover the portal.”

 

“If that’s true, what do we do? If we go up to the 1st layer where the portal is deactivated like this, we’ll end up sticking our heads into that hell too, won’t we?”

 

Hearing the clan member’s words, the leader closed his mouth and fell into thought for a moment.

 

Then, as if he had made a decision, he straightened his knees and said to his colleagues.

 

“We’re going up.”

 

“What!?”

 

“That’s too dangerous!”

 

“No, there won’t be danger. At least not physical threats.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because Camp 1, which was the only water supply source in this area except for Camp 2 on the 20th layer, has been smashed like this.”

 

Even in comfortable climate conditions, humans can only survive about 5 days without water.

 

In the worse conditions inside the dungeon, enduring about 3 days would be the limit.

 

Although he didn’t know how many civilians and Awakened had entered this place, if all the humans scattered across various layers were combined, it would easily exceed 40,000, so the man leading the special unit judged that the number of survivors wouldn’t be very many.

 

‘Instead, there will be a horrifyingly large pile of corpses.’

 

Since the specific situation could only be grasped by going up, the man encouraged the clan members who couldn’t easily take a step and headed toward the portal leading to the 9th layer.

 

***

 

“…Due to this situation, the All-Japan Conqueror Alliance would like to request emergency dispatch to Osaka Dungeon from Mr. Ma Sungjun and his colleagues on behalf of the Japanese government.”

 

While the special unit dispatched by Ryusei was heading to the surface at fierce speed, Sung-jun, who had finished conquering the 75th layer of Yokohama Dungeon, returned to the surface first with his party.

 

The remaining personnel had to return to the surface without the powerful force that was Sung-jun, but not a single person who participated in this raid expressed dissatisfaction to Sung-jun and the raid clan Unbreakable Shield.

 

Because they guaranteed time for proper rest and maintenance at the base camps placed in between, and the rewards obtained from this raid were an enormous amount incomparable to usual.

 

Ma Sungjun’s party, who thanks to acting alone could return to the surface quickly at a speed incomparable to when they went down.

 

What was waiting for Sung-jun there was not rest, but a request for emergency dispatch to another dungeon.

 

“You are Mr. Ma Sungjun, correct? I am Oki Masaya, Vice President of the All-Japan Conqueror Association. I have been waiting here to escort Mr. Sung-jun and his colleagues to the association headquarters under the chairman’s orders.”

 

Seeing the man in a suit waiting for him with even a helicopter, which had hardly been operated since D-day, showing how urgent the matter was, Sung-jun let out a deep sigh.

 

Then he looked back at Seoa and Shirasaki Miyu, who were looking at his back with pitiful expressions, and said.

 

“I understand you came on urgent business, but I’d like to rest a bit now. I’ve returned to the surface without rest since departing from Camp 1 on the 10th layer yesterday.”

 

“Ah, is that so? I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that part. However, the situation is so urgent…”

 

Seeing the man in the suit looking at him with desperate eyes, Sung-jun let out a deep sigh.

 

Then he said to his colleagues standing behind him.

 

“I’ll go alone, so you two rest.”

 

“Huh? Is that really okay?”

 

“No, Teacher! I’m not tired at all!”

 

Seeing the two people showing opposite attitudes, Sung-jun smiled.

 

Then he said to his disciple who was exhausted but shouted that she would follow him.

 

“Recovery magic can restore physical fatigue, but it can’t restore mental fatigue. Since an emergency situation might occur, go and rest.”

 

“But Teacher must be tired too…”

 

“You following along doesn’t make me less tired. It’s better for those who can rest to rest. Even to prepare for any possible situation.”

 

Then the man in the suit who had been listening to the three people’s conversation opened his mouth with a troubled expression.

 

“I’m really sorry, but… the instructions I received were to bring all three of you.”

 

“And I’ve decided to let these two ‘rest.’ Don’t you know that there’s no reason anywhere for me to follow your instructions?”

 

Seeing Sung-jun suddenly change to a sharp tone, cold sweat ran down Oki Masaya’s back.

 

“This isn’t something I can decide. Could you please understand?”

 

“I can’t?”

 

Before the man could open his mouth again, Sung-jun spoke.

 

“Let me say one more thing with a not-very-sorry heart: if one more word comes out of your mouth, I won’t go either. Decide here.”

 

Sung-jun raised his index finger.

 

“Either go report to your superiors with my answer that I won’t go at all, or come with me and report that you had no choice but to bring only me. By the way, if I decide not to go, you’ll have to pay a bigger price to overturn that decision. The reason I decided to follow you alone now is partly because I can somewhat guess why you called me.”

 

“…It’s an unavoidable situation. I’ll gratefully accept your consideration.”

 

Thus, Sung-jun boarded the helicopter that came to pick him up and flew to Tokyo, where the All-Japan Conqueror Alliance headquarters was located.

 

And there, he came face to face with the general manager of the Conqueror Alliance, Chairman Takayoshi Hironubu, who had come out to the helicopter landing pad to greet him.

 

Along with a familiar figure who was waiting for Sung-jun’s arrival beside him, Clan Master Shindo Ayaka of the ‘Divine Guidance’ clan.

 

Besides Shindo Ayaka, Kyoto Dungeon raid clan’s Clan Master Soga Yamato and Nagoya Dungeon raid Clan Master Yaiba Ryo were also waiting for Sung-jun together.

 

‘Only the Osaka Dungeon raid Clan Master is not visible.’

 

Since Amano Jugo, who was currently the raid Clan Master of Yokohama Dungeon, had arrived here by helicopter with Sung-jun, currently at this location, 4 out of 5 major raid Clan Masters active throughout Japan were gathered in one place, excluding Kurosaki Ryusei of Osaka Dungeon.

 

That meant an urgent matter had occurred that required gathering the masters of the 5 major clans active throughout Japan in one place.

 

Sung-jun guessed that a problem had probably occurred at Osaka Dungeon, the only one whose Clan Master was not present.

 

And just as Sung-jun thought, before the helicopter’s propeller sound had even subsided, the chairman who approached Sung-jun shouted toward him.

 

“Mr. Ma Sungjun?”

 

“Yes. I am Ma Sungjun.”

 

“I am Takayoshi Hironubu, Chairman of the All-Japan Conqueror Association. To resolve the anomaly that occurred in Osaka Dungeon, I will invoke emergency commission authority to Mr. Ma Sungjun on behalf of the Japanese government.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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