S-Class Dungeon’s Mistress - Chapter 179

However, the moment it was about to come out of her mouth, embarrassment washed over her. She herself knew that this method was not very dignified. Should she still say something, or should she just keep her mouth shut for the sake of her dignity as a dungeon master? Adelaide thought hard.

After much rumination, at that moment, she was about to leave it all to fate.

“I…….”

“Kaeaaek!”

Her voice was drowned out by the sudden loud cry of the captain’s wyvern. She arched her head out to see what was going on and through the white fog saw a massive castle in the distance. Unlike Helheim, the castle was pitch black and had a sharp feel. It was the Los Halde dungeon.

“Hic, is that really……?”

“Yes. That is Los Halde.”

Adelaide was so surprised that she gasped again. Although there had been photos in the materials that Lisianthus had researched, seeing it in person was on a whole different level. It was so expansive that it seemed like a few hundred people could live in it. As a matter of fact, there were actually enough people living there, including demons who were employed as servants. Of course, the demons worked as servants, but they were no different from slaves.

She thought Greenville had grown into a big dungeon by now. However, compared to Los Halde, it looked like a studio.

“Why is the dungeon out in the open like that? Wouldn’t it be safer to hide it like ours and move only via portal?”

“That’s how confident they are. Contrary to what it looks like, it is quite safe. The defenses are so well built, that if you get close to it, a mana cannon will fire right away.”

“Y-You said you calculated the distance properly, right?”

“Of course. You also don’t need to worry too much, Master. The mana cannons’ manager embezzled the repair cost so two of the three magic cannons in the east are currently out of order.”

Adelaide nodded her head slightly. Seeing Lisianthus’ smiling face made her feel much better. He was often the one who made fun of her, but in this situation, he was more reliable than anyone else.

How in the world did you get that information? Perhaps it was the help of the information dealer he mentioned earlier.

‘I shouldn’t bring up my earlier idea.’

She thought as she watched the figure of the castle getting closer. It was much safer for them to follow the plan Lisianthus had devised than to blindly execute the method that came to her mind. She might get teased by her demons if she brought it up for no reason.

“Grrrrreung!”

The Wyvern let out another wild cry. This meant they were going to speed up and descend. Adelaide grabbed the handle as hard as she could. Although she wouldn’t die even if she fell like this, she was still scared.

Whoosh!

A strong wind hit her face and ears. As her hair, black as the night sky, fluttered around, Lisianthus tied her hair neatly and with ease.

As Lisianthus had instructed, the Wyverns quickly turned east, hiding in the fog. Gradually, the distance became close enough for them to be seen in Los Halde.

“Wait, over there!”

Lupinus, who was holding the handle with one hand and was looking around, suddenly raised his voice. She slightly opened her eyes and stared in the direction he was pointing. Then she saw it. Large fireballs flying towards their group.

“Avoid it!”

As Adelaide hurriedly shouted, the Wyverns increased their speed even more.

Whoosh! Bang! Boom!

“Aack!”

Masses of magical energy exploded in all directions. The Wyverns managed to avoid all the shelling, but their bodies shook due to the aftermath of the explosions. Pia, the weakest member of the group, couldn’t endure the vibrations and lost her grip on the handle.

“Pia!”

“Are you alright! I got you!”

Fortunately, Raham quickly caught her. But it was still too early to be relieved. Five mana cannons continued to fire at them.

“They must have known about our plans!”

Adelaide shouted as she drew and gripped her sword with one hand. Lisianthus looked down ferociously, silently affirming.

Five mana cannons. Contrary to what they were informed, 2 of the 3 cannons were not broken, everything was working well. Seeing that they had placed them in the east in advance, it seemed that they really did know of their plans.

The information dealer. It was clearly his doing.

‘The price I paid for the information wasn’t enough, is that it?’

Ha. He let out a laugh. He didn’t really feel betrayed. He just felt that his position was not the same as before. Then, suspicion about his information being passed on to Los Halde briefly flashed through his mind, but that soon disappeared.

Lisianthus had paid a hefty price for the concealment of his information in the past. No matter how much Los Halde paid, they couldn’t have given more than that.

Bang! Boom!

The bombardment continued. Before they knew it, the Los Halde demons were everywhere.

“Aaahh……! I’—m scaaaared…… !”

“Stay still.”

Juilliard shouted, his skinny body trembling. And Cereza, who had become quite talkative these days, ordered him in a blunt voice. Cereza was also holding onto Juilliard, who had lost his hold on the handle due to his poor grip.

[T/N: Juilliard is a lich so he’s just bones too.]

Hu. Lisianthus let out a brief sigh and slowly flicked his fingers. He didn’t expect that he would use his powers so early. He mumbled cynically.

He had already decided to reveal everything about him to her anyway, so there was no reason to hesitate. The time had just come a little earlier than he anticipated. Thinking this, he collected mana in his hand. A huge mass of demonic energy gathered and compressed in the palm of his hand.

However, just before launching it, Lupinus took the lead.

“I’ll take it from here.”

“Lupin! What are you doing!”

As if he had no fear, he stood on the back of his wyvern and balanced. The startled Adelaide yelled, but he did not change his stance. Rather, it looked like he was preparing to jump.

“……If you get hurt even a little, I won’t leave you be.”

Lisianthus said in a fearsome voice. Of course, this was not out of concern but a real threat. Adelaide and Lupinus’ lives had been intertwined by the string of fate, and if he died, she might die too.

“Huh. You keep her safe.”

“Or I’ll return your words to you.” Lupin added, then threw himself down from right where he was.

“Lupin!”

It happened so suddenly that she didn’t even have time to stop him. Adelaide looked down in shock. Oh god, jumping from here when it’s still so far from the ground. He doesn’t have wings like us! She worried with a pale face, lest Lupinus be hurt.

But it was really a useless concern.

Before Hela’s help, even when he couldn’t fully demonstrate his skills in the Demon Realm, he didn’t lose much against Lisianthus and Caladium. Now that he had absorbed some of Helheim’s power, not only could he display all of his legendary skills regardless of location, but he had also acquired demonic traits.

There was no way he would get hurt if he fell from only a few floors. If there was someone she should worry about, it was the demons who were down there.

Boom!

“Uaak!”

Sure enough, a magnificent golden aura flashed from below, and at the same time, a great shock spread in all directions. Dozens of demons lost their lives in a single blow, and three nearby mana cannons were obliterated.

“Wow…… He’s really, so cool.”

Adelaide said in admiration. She knew that he was strong, but the scene she just saw left her utterly captivated, like one that would appear in any myth. If there was a god of war, she wondered if it would evoke a similar feeling.

“I was going to do that,” Lisianthus tsked with his tongue and made a dissatisfied face. He resented the fact that his chance to “appeal” to her was being robbed by the mongrel.

Bell seemed to be thinking the same thing. Or, seeing Lupinus’ stunning performance, something welled up in his heart.

“Woof!”

Otherwise, there was no reason for him to suddenly jump out of Adelaide’s arms without hesitation.

“Beee—ll!”

Horrified, Adelaide reached out to catch his tail, but he was already gone.

Crash!

With a roar, the towering Cerberus landed on top of the mana cannon.

“Grrrr…… Woof!”

Bell raised one leg above the mana cannon and let out a resounding roar. Then, as if he would not lose to Lupinus, he started chomping on the demons around him.

Tak! Adelaide pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead. Bell’s actions were completely unplanned. But it wouldn’t be reasonable to bring him back now. She could only hope that the two of them would remain there together and attract attention.

Anyway, thanks to Bell and Lupinus’ efforts, most of the attacks, including the bombing, stopped. The Wyverns regained their balance and quickly crossed the sky. Pia and Juilliard, who were half dangling, safely returned to their seats.

“I see a portal over there!”

Raham shouted in a loud voice. As he said, not too far from their position was a gleaming blue portal. It was the eastern portal they originally intended to enter from.

“Isn’t it a trap? They knew our plans.”

Adelaide narrowed her eyes and looked around them. But other than that, there was no other portal in sight. No, not something far away was what she was looking for. It was something she was ashamed to mention.

“It could be a trap, but there’s no other way now. It would take too long to return to the main gate.”

Bite. Adelaide bit her lip again. Then, as if she had made her resolve, she took a deep breath and said.

“……There is a way we can avoid going all the way to the main gate.”

“Yes?”

Lisianthus blinked his eyes and looked around for other portals nearby. But there was nothing. They could break down the wall, but the magic on the walls was quite strong, so it would consume a lot of their energy. Rather than that, it was more efficient to enter the portal and quickly defeat the demons.

In the end, unable to come up with a useful method, he asked softly.

“What kind of way?”

“……We can.”

Her voice was so low that it was drowned out by the howling wind. Although it would’ve been frustrating, Lisianthus tilted his head and asked in a kind voice.

“I apologize, but could you say that again?”

For some reason, Adelaide’s face turned red. She tightened her grip on the handle and took another deep breath. Then she closed her eyes and shouted.

“We can use the postman’s aisle!”