Reborn As The Villain

Chapter 212 - 185: Dead City(1)

Chapter 212: Chapter 185: Dead City(1)"—So, the reason you can't leave yet is because you want to find the Holy Sword?"

"Yes, Miss Daraia. I may never have another chance to get the sword."

Arthur already explained to Daraia how he got his powers and where they can find the Holy Sword.

Daraia looked at everyone.

"All of you don't look surprised at all what he just told me. Telling someone you're Promethius' successor isn't the kind of news you reveal over some light chatter. I'm guessing all of you already know."

"That's right. We want to help Arthur get to the 99th floor so that he can get the Holy Sword," said Shirley as she linked arms with Arthur, "He can't do this alone."

"Shirley's right. I won't do everything on my own anymore. I'll rely on my comrades. If there's a hurdle that I must overcome to reach the holy sword then they'll fight with me."

"Goddess Melis... To think a hero would be born in our empire again..." Daraia muttered in disbelief.

"Big brother was already so cool! Now he's even cooler!" Anais hugged Arthur from the other side.

Daraia cleared her throat.

"I see now why all of you have survived for so long in this dungeon. You had a hero looking out for you. To be honest, we expected that more than half of you would be dead by now," Daraia looked back at Arthur, "You mentioned that you have a plan for getting out of the dungeon. What did you mean by that?"

"My cousin, Arnold, told us that there's a device capable of transporting us all home."

"Hmm, Duke Berkley's first born son... Where is he now?"

"We parted ways on the second floor so I'm not sure. He had his own reasons for being here as well."

"Hmm..."

"He said that the device is on the 50th world. We're currently on the 49th floor so we're close by. But..."

"But?"

"We can't stop once we arrive on that floor. The Holy Sword is on the 99th floor."

"Ah, right. You did say that... Hmm..."

"I think that we should build a base on the 50th floor. Half of us will stay on that world while the other half will follow me. We'll backtrack once we have the holy sword and then leave the dungeon."

"But we'll have to be smart on who we choose to accompany you."

"Wait, does that mean you'll help us?" Arthur asked expectantly.

"I would become everyone's enemy if I let the next Hero die by the hands of some monsters in this dungeon. My primary goal is to look after you but I will fight alongside you if the situation calls for it."

"Thank you! I was really worried that you won't help us even after I showed you who I am."

"While it's important to keep you safe, it's equally as important to get the holy sword. Who knows if we'll have enough time to gather a second party of explorers to find the holy sword. The empire might drop the bomb on the dungeon as soon as we leave."

Arthur frowned.

"We can't let that happen."

"Yeah. You guys still want to go into the relic tomb near here, right?"

"Yes."

"Let's wait for everyone in the

"I appreciate your seriousness. Can you please come back to your assigned spot in the formation? I'll need you by my side when a fight breaks out so please join me in the front."

"I can fight on my own. I don't need to follow your rules." Flora harrumphed.

Arthur merely sighed and shrugged. He probably knew she'd give an answer like that.

Well, she's definitely strong enough to defend herself. As of now she's considered Arthur's equal when it comes to raw strength alone.

Madilith hasn't seen Flora in combat yet, though.

'She and Arnold seemed to be well acquainted.'

The two of them even chased Castacia out of the king's reception room to be alone. What were they talking about? Why did they need to be alone?

Madilith wanted to know. Is Flora another one of Arnold's lovers?

She couldn't imagine someone like Flora allowing a man to pin her down on a bed.

Maybe she is the dominant one in the relationship(assuming there is one)?

No. Madilith can't imagine Arnold allowing his woman to be the dominant one.

"What are you looking at, Glasses?" Flora asked roughly while still facing forward.

Madilith was the only one who wore glasses so Flora was talking to her.

"N-Nothing."

"Then quit staring at me. You're distracting me with that glare of yours."

Madilith laughed awkwardly.

'Was I really staring that hard...?'

"—We're here." Madilith could hear Daraia's voice.

"Is this some kind of ancient civilization...?" one of the adventurers asked.

"This has to be Elven architecture," another muttered.

Madilith got curious so she moved past everyone to get to the front of the party.

"Wow..."

She was expecting a ruin with collapsed buildings but what she saw was nothing like she had imagined. While it was certainly dark due to the lack of sunlight, gigantic crystals that grew out of the ceiling of the massive cave shone its light on the dead city.

Can this even be called a dead city?

"It seems this place has been abandoned for quite a while." Daraia said, "This place was probably built underground thousands of years ago. It's definitely an elven capital."

"H-How could those idiots who lived here abandon a place like this...? Living behind these walls would be the ultimate defense against invaders. Not to mention the location, making it inaccessible for large armies to infiltrate."

The adventurer who just spoke looked dumbfounded.

In front of their eyes was a beautiful gargantuan metropolis. It stretched far into the depths of the massive cave, even where the light of the crystals couldn't touch.

There was a bridge and several towers that were connected to the city and the cliff they were walking alongside of. It seems the previous inhabitants used to leave this tomb often and didn't just live and die down here.

Why else would there be a path across the darkness below?

It truly is stupid to just abandon your city like this. What could possibly have scared or motivated the inhabitants to leave?

'The Kaather Kingdom is nothing compared to this...'

The Kaather Kingdom—or better known as the Dwarven Kingdom—is one of the most technologically advanced nations on Diacree continent, at least according to current historic records.

They introduced innovations like battleships to the rest of the world, changing modern day combat forever.

Before its invention, people would go to war over the simplest things: greed, famine, fear and so on.

The main decider in who wins a war was who had the strongest army. This made it easy for military powers to overwhelm other nations with their numbers and special individuals like the Great Nobles and the Testaments.

The Empire and the Theocracy has remained the strongest nations for this very reason. Due to this, other nations fell victim to these giants.

A certain Emperor even declared a certain religion a threat to the empire's people. It was a small religion that gained a lot of followers in another nation.

The emperor considered religion, other than theirs, a threat to humanity. The religion he wanted to erase completely had different ideals than he considered normal.

He destroyed the nation overnight. Anyone suspected of practicing the religion was eradicated.

The emperor was eventually executed by his people for his lies and evil deeds.

The damage was already done, though.

The emperor caused people—even the Empire's vassal nations—to fear the military powers, rather than motivate them to create alliances to create unity.

The Dwarven People were aware of this fear and wanted to do something to make all nations equal in war.

Thus, battleships were born. What was once merely a supply air ship to transport goods from the Kaather Kingdom to other nations became a weapon of mass destruction that ironically created peace amongst the nations.

No dwarven kingdom could replicate the masterpiece of a city in front of their eyes. Imagine the innovations that they were capable of when their city was still brimming with life?

The group were just about to cross the bridge before a voice called out to them.

"—Travelers... Doest thou have a death wish?" a croaking voice asked from beneath the shadows where the crystal light couldn't reach.

"A being capable of speech," Flora unsheathed her sword, "That's never a good sign."

"Hold on, girl." Daraia stepped forward after telling Flora to lower her weapon, "I don't like it when someone talks to me while hiding themselves."

"Ah, but I do not wish to scare you. This one is also awfully ashamed of his appearance."

Daraia looked at Shirley, "You can see him clearly, right? What is he?"

"He looks human but..." Shirley squinted her eyes, "...He has like six arms and four legs. He also has wings."

"An insectiman, hm?" Daraia looked back at the person.

An insectiman is simply a humanoid that has the features of an insect. Typically because of an experiment gone wrong or illegal breeding practices.

Magic or curses can also cause this bizarre transformation.

"Show yourself."

"Very well. As thou is so interested in this one's form, this one shall comply."

A human-like thing showed itself when it was touched by crystal light. It had a long face with big fly-like eyes and a big insect-like stomach sack behind it. Its wings resembled bee wings.

"What brought thine here to this grave?" The insectiman asked. The fangs in his mouth moved with every word he spoke.

By the way, the only reason Madilith could tell it was male was due to its deep voice.

"Grave? What do you mean by that?"

"All those who lived here perished under the might of the Blight King. The very nation he felled became his resting place."