Born in apocalypse

"Don’t be annoyed, I have good news for you... So, Vexar, are you ready to conquer the spider dungeon?" Alaric announced as he observed the expressions of the duo.

As Alaric had expected, it didn’t take him long to notice that the annoyance on Vexar’s face had already faded into the deepest level of hell. Instead of annoyance, the brightest smile had taken its place.

Even though Vexar was sure they were going to ultimately challenge the dungeon, the problem was that he didn’t when. Due to the recent event, he began to fear the worst.

He was even afraid that after witnessing the attack on the island, Alaric might decide to abandon attacking the dungeon and instead focus all their energy on protecting the island.

But thankfully, the worst hadn’t happened.

’Quite expected...’ Satisfied with the reaction, Alaric turned his senses toward Grec.

’Huh! Why is he grinning ear to ear?’ Although somewhat expected, Alaric was still uncomfortable looking at the devious smile of his youngest brother.

No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t understand what type of plan this goblin was cooking to satisfy his greed. He just wished that whatever it was, it wouldn’t cause any trouble for him.

Not even bothering to think there might be some sort of plan, Vexar directly got to the point and asked, "When are we leaving then? I think we can leave within an hour. What do you thin—"

Cutting him off in the middle, Alaric sighed, "Not we. I’m not going. I will remain on the island in case any monsters attack again."

Alaric wasn’t stupid enough to think that he could defeat all the monsters himself. No, but he was confident that he, along with Azarex’s undead, would be more than enough to keep the Asteries safe.

Alaric even wanted to keep Vexar with him to be fully sure, but he understood that that was too much.

He knew keeping the Asteries safe was important, but so was conquering the dungeon. So he had no choice but to compromise and divide their strength into two parts.

One part would be left on the island, and the other would enter the dungeon.

Listening to Alaric’s words, Grec nodded, expressing that he had no problem with the arrangements.

With a somewhat confused look, Vexar nodded as well. "Huh!... Okay."

Feeling that Vexar had some problem understanding the situation, Alaric quickly explained everything, "...So, this is the case. You don’t have to worry about us and focus on clearing the dungeon as safely as possible..."

Hearing the last part, the duo just nodded.

Looking at their unbothered expressions, Alaric couldn’t help but have a bad premonition. He knew that the demon and the goblin were even more manic in battle than he was. Along with the rest of the warriors, it should be more than enough to handle the dungeon, but... 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

But even then, Alaric couldn’t help but worry for them as he knew that they couldn’t be bothered to worry about themselves.

Keeping everything in mind, Alaric opened his mouth, "From our previous expedition, we know that the boss of the dungeon will be a unique monster of tier IV. We can’t be fully certain, but if everything is normal, this should be the case."

Pausing for a moment, he added, "I’m sure both of you are more than enough to handle the boss..."

This statement wasn’t without any backing. After all, Grec was already tier IV, making him almost at the same level as the boss. And on top of that, there was Vexar, the battle maniac whose battle strength should be equal to tier IV as well.

Looking at the situation from this perspective, it almost seemed like overkill... but was this really the case?

"...But you should also know that there is nothing straightforward when unique monsters are in the mix."

A unique monster, just like their title suggests, is unique, truly one of a kind in the cosmos, and thus common logic shouldn’t be applied to them.

"Although we haven’t fought any other tier IV monsters, from what Master had informed us, unique monsters are far stronger in terms of magic or physical prowess compared to their same-tier counterparts," Alaric gave them the piece of detail he had obtained through Lyra.

Seeing them nod, he continued,

"On top of that, the boss could have some peculiar or stronger magic affinity. Them having some strange ability couldn’t be ruled out as well." Finishing most of the important details Alaric looked at their expression.

A small frown appeared on his face when he noticed that the smile on their faces was the same as ever. They weren’t bothered one bit by all this new information... like telling him.

’What are you mumbling on and on... don’t worry, this is just a stronger prey, but prey nonetheless.’

Sigh!

Accepting defeat, Alaric sighed!

"Why am I even bothering... just understand what I am saying is that if you encounter anything that you can’t defeat, you should try to retreat as soon as possible. Although it is important to kill the boss, it isn’t worth risking your life over. And remember, these are not my words but Master’s."

At the mention of the master, Alaric could finally see some change in their expression. Seeing this change, the Shadow Lord was happy. After all, no matter how small, a win is still a win.

"So, that was all. You can go and prepare the group... Ahh! Huh! And yes, remember to stock all the potions as well." Saying these words, Alaric finally bid goodbye to the duo and focused his senses on something else.

While the others were going to be busy in the dungeon, he wasn’t planning to sit still on the island. No, he had something else on his mind.

’Huh! So, let’s see! Where did you guys come from...’ Turning incorporeal, he began to move toward the part of the island from where the monsters had come.

In just a matter of seconds, he reached the shore of the island. As he looked at the massive body of water in front of him, his expression turned serious.

Determined to find the location of this fourth dungeon, he jumped into the ocean.