Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 12: E-Rank Dungeon – Hwa An Ant Nest (4)
Bang, bang, bang!
Marlin swung the pickaxe against the wall.
Her technique was clumsy and inefficient, but the raw strength of a tiger beastkin flowed through her strikes, making the work progress at impressive speed.
Still, tasking a fourteen-year-old with such grueling labor left me feeling like an unscrupulous boss exploiting child workers—a sensation I couldn’t quite shake.
“Kar, do thieves really have to do pickaxe work…?”
“Take pride in it. You’re becoming one of the rare thieves skilled enough to handle physical labor with grace.”
“That’s really something to be proud of!”
Crack!
A particularly forceful swing sent stone shards scattering in all directions as the pickaxe embedded itself deep in the wall.
Marlin paused to catch her breath, then crept closer to the wall and perked her ears forward attentively.
“There’s… an empty space on this side. So there really is a passage beyond here.”
“So you didn’t believe it until now?”
I answered with a casual shrug and began laying spider web needles in dense patterns across the passage we’d entered from, then repeated the same work on the opposite side.
By the time I finished, my head throbbed and my temples ached.
《Your remaining Mental Power limit: 25/100》
Exactly as calculated—just the right amount of Mental Power left.
If I wasted any more Mystery now, I’d be accepting a complete psychiatrist’s gift basket.
‘I should be able to hold out three more times, at least.’
My Mental Power wasn’t critically low, but I closed my eyes anyway and meditated briefly to recover even a small amount, just in case.
In a dungeon, only explorers thoroughly prepared for unexpected crises could survive.
“We’re almost through!”
At Marlin’s cry, I opened my eyes to find a massive crack spreading across the wall.
“Keep going. Hand me the bag.”
“I’m exhausted!”
“Just a little more.”
I slung the leather bag over my shoulder just as the sound of a swarm of Hwa An ants thundered toward us.
They were nearly upon us.
Marlin, crouched on the ground, flinched at the noise, then gripped the end of the pickaxe shaft and swung with all her might.
A full-force blow from a young tiger beastkin.
Crash!
The stubborn stone wall finally crumbled, revealing the passage beyond.
Unlike the ant nest formed by carving through natural cavern rock, this space was covered entirely in earth.
《A passage leading to another region, not the Hwa An ants’ territory. High humidity and damp soil. Narrow passages and low ceiling make navigation difficult.》
《But seriously, could you tell me how you figured this out…?》
“We did it!”
“Well done.”
I rubbed Marlin’s exhausted shoulders and gave the next order immediately.
“Get inside. Unless you want to be eaten.”
My young assistant’s eyes went wide as she turned in the direction my finger pointed.
—Skrrrzzzzk!
—Chirrrrr!
The swarm of Hwa An ants had closed to striking distance.
Some of them had already learned the weak points of my trap—the moment their heads got severed, their eyes blazed with fire, melting the spider webs as they advanced.
“Abandon the pickaxe. It’s too heavy—you won’t be able to move fast enough.”
“Understood!”
Marlin hurled the pickaxe, striking one Hwa An ant down, then darted into the narrow passage.
Her small frame meant she could move through with barely a slight crouch.
I followed, moving forward in an awkward, hunched posture.
“Kar! Grab my tail!”
Marlin, who had surged ahead, suddenly stopped and extended her long tail backward.
I seized it with my left hand; the tail coiled around my arm and began pulling me forward.
“How’s that?”
“Grateful.”
I could navigate a dungeon alone if need be, but with an ally’s help, everything became considerably easier.
This was why even veteran explorers typically formed expedition teams.
Unless one had serious interpersonal defects, there was little sense in shouldering every danger alone.
“It’s so cramped!”
The secret passage grew narrower as we progressed.
Now even Marlin had to flatten herself and crawl forward on her belly—the only way to advance through such a suffocating space.
— Grrrrowwwl….
To make matters worse, a swarm of Hwa An Ants that had chased us into the earthen passage clung to our heels.
The tunnel was too cramped for them to charge all at once, but they came at me in single file, each determined to sink its mandibles into my decidedly appetizing backside.
“Kar! There’s a way to lose them, right?”
“No.”
“Then we’re dead!”
Marlin’s tail cinched tight around my left arm, as if urging me forward.
“That’s a bit harsh. Just wait a moment.”
Glancing back, I saw the vanguard Hwa An Ant had closed to within striking distance.
As it snapped at my ankle with its great, split mandibles, I activated the new Mystery Lidni had granted me.
Whoooosh.
A sensation like being wrapped in a thin membrane spread across my entire body.
An instant later, the Hwa An Ant sank its teeth into my leg.
It didn’t stop at biting—it unleashed fire from its eyes as well, searing with vicious malice.
“…Mm.”
“Are you alright?”
“No problem at all. Just keep moving and don’t look back.”
Gritting my teeth, I fished out the Spider Web Needles I’d prepared in bulk for Marlin and drove them straight into the ant’s brow.
One needle proved insufficient, so I administered a second and third application before the creature finally went limp.
The moment the tension drained from its jaws, I wrenched my leg free.
Bitten and burned though I was, my ankle remained unmarred.
‘The performance is solid, indeed.’
《[Wound Deferral Barrier]: A First-Order Mystery. So long as your Mental Power holds, no attack shall ravage your body in an instant.》
A Mystery that consumes Mental Power to prevent injury.
Reading the description alone, it sounds like an invincible defense skill, but in truth it merely slows the rate at which Health depletes.
The pain itself doesn’t vanish, leaving me vulnerable to all manner of status ailments triggered by suffering, and since wounds progress slowly despite superficial appearances, I could easily meet a gruesome end if I let my guard down.
That’s why I’d come prepared with Health Recovery Potions beforehand.
‘First one.’
I drank a Health Recovery Potion purchased from the Explorer shop and crawled forward with renewed effort.
Before long, another Hwa An Ant bit my thigh, but I dealt with it the same way and took another potion.
《Truly, is this method acceptable? It must be agonizing beyond measure.》
The pain was indeed enough to bring tears.
I came perilously close to wailing and rolling across the ground.
But what is a little pain?
As long as I live, that’s all that matters.
Pain I can endure—death I cannot abide. Dead, I’d never get to explore this fascinating Dungeon again.
Crack.
A fresh Hwa An Ant advanced and began tearing at my thigh.
I planted my foot on its head, pushed it back, and cured the disease called survival with acupuncture therapy.
Then I chugged another refreshing Health Recovery Potion.
My head spun and my lower body throbbed with the pain of bites and burns, yet I remained very much alive.
《I sincerely hope you attempt a safer, more conservative strategy hereafter….》
I dismissed the message and continued crawling forward when my companion ahead suddenly hauled himself upright.
“Kar, there’s an open space ahead!”
Marlin climbed up first, then pulled me after him.
Above, a wide passage stretched out before us, completely unobstructed.
“We’re nearly there.”
I fished a Shell Tool from my Leather Bag—purchased from the Explorer shop—and slapped it onto Marlin’s lower jaw.
After affixing one to my own face, I scooped up my exhausted companion and burst forward.
— Grrrrowwwl!
The relentless Hwa An Ant swarm pursued, but we’d come far enough; the chase was over.
“Hold tight.”
Recalling the nimble footwork that the rogue Ghoul had displayed, I shot forward at breakneck speed.
“Whoa!”
In a heartbeat, the snapping creatures gave chase fell away behind us.
A speed I could never muster in ordinary circumstances.
The Ghoul’s Mobility was in full effect.
“Kar, easy does it!”
Even I was struggling to control my own velocity, nearly stumbling several times.
Agility alone had increased while Strength remained unchanged, making it difficult to manage Marlin’s weight, but I said nothing and simply ran on in silence.
“We’ve completely shaken off the Hwa An ants! We’re safe now!”
Marlin glanced back over her shoulder and cheered, pumping her fist into the air.
A hasty judgment, befitting a novice explorer.
“Marlin, do you know how to swim?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“You’ll see.”
The end of the passage came into view.
I made one final leap with all my strength before the Ghoul’s Mobility wore off.
Beneath my feet as I soared—impressively high for a heretic—a vast cavity sprawled below, brimming with water.
Splash!
“Aaaagh!”
The moment we plunged into the cold water, Marlin thrashed and shuddered.
Then she opened her eyes wide.
“Why can I breathe? And I can speak too?”
“This Shell Tool is the reason. It lets you breathe underwater and converse. Thank the wise mages of the Enchantment School at the Tam Dok Magic Tower for developing such remarkable technology.”
Without this foresight, one would either drown or have to turn back.
It was a design that showcased the creator’s peculiar talent for carefully frustrating the player.
I stretched my body and began descending, speaking as I did.
“Don’t cling to this weak heretic. Swim on your own.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then stay here. I’m going on.”
“Just start swimming already.”
“How dare you be so insolent?”
I descended slowly with my assistant clinging to my back like a living pack.
The water was dim, but I knew the path well enough.
As we went deeper, a tunnel opening appeared along one wall near the bottom.
‘Almost there.’
Flailing through the hole and rising again, my vision finally began to clear.
Marlin watched with delight as schools of brilliantly colored fish swam gracefully past us, and she giggled with childlike wonder.
“I’ve never seen fish before in my life.”
“Next time, I’ll take you to an aquarium.”
“With Abel too!”
“Of course. Though it’s in District 1, so the Harmony Sect probably won’t grant us permission to leave….”
We surfaced, making idle conversation as we rose.
Beyond the water lay a lakeshore.
“Why does the ant nest dungeon connect to a lake?”
“The Hwa An colony’s nest happened to intersect with a tunnel that leads to the lake.”
A Hidden Location where the terrain shifts entirely from the dungeon’s natural environment.
It was an uncommon type.
“There’s the exit.”
Along the sparsely tree-lined shore of the lake, a crimson gate shimmered.
《The hidden exit of the Hwa An Ant Nest. Your strange knowledge has proven correct once more!》
I waded out of the lake and stood on solid ground.
Near the gate, a single red ring lay discarded.
《Rank 1 Artifact – Seed of Glorious Flame》
《It can emit a faint flame. A decent reward, I must say.》
A worthwhile artifact by any measure.
As I bent to pick up the ring, mental exhaustion triggered a sudden dizzy spell that nearly sent me sprawling.
Completely drained, Marlin collapsed beside me and lay staring up at the sky before speaking.
“The sky is… covered in dark clouds.”
She was right—the weather outside the Hwa An Ant Nest was anything but clear.
Completely overcast.
More than that, even—the heavens above had turned pitch black.
“The dungeon is a false world that mirrors reality, remember? This is the Western Continent of the distant past.”
It was an age when the evil god wielded power equal to the divine god.
And this dungeon was a recreation of that time—an era when one particular evil god’s cult was at the height of its influence.
I withdrew an ancient relic I’d salvaged from a refuse heap and pulled it from my pack.
A heavy black cubic metal pedestal.
This was no ordinary ingot.
‘It was a pedestal.’
“Don’t do it. I can see what you’re about to attempt. Absolutely not!”
“I’m doing it anyway.”
I swept away the message written too boldly before my eyes and approached the tallest tree rising from the lake’s edge.
A small hole gaped at the base of the ancient trunk.
Peering inside, I found exactly what I expected—a finely carved statue.
A majestic eagle depicted in flight, wings spread wide in soaring grace.
This was the Hidden Piece—the most decisive reason we’d come to the Hwa An Ant Nest.
“An ancient idol embodying the majesty of the Heretic of the Filthy Sky, Sue’je. Expressing that vile demon god in the form of an eagle is an insult to the creature itself!”
A god of violent storms and filthy dominion.
Sue’je.
This idol was an essential prerequisite for becoming a follower of the Heretic of the Filthy Sky.
It was also a preparation step for modifying the curse that a nature god had imposed.
“Cast away that relic of such filthy worship at once!”
“Don’t worry—I’m not wavering in my faith. You can rest easy too, Lidni.”
As I connected the statue to its pedestal, the eagle’s eyes began to gleam with black light.
Spectacular.
With the completed idol in hand, I extended my hand to Marlin, who still lay sprawled on the ground, and smiled.
“Time to leave.”
E-Rank Dungeon.
Hwa An Ant Nest.
Completely conquered.

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