Chapter 521 - 520: Organizing the Information

Chapter 521: Chapter 520: Organizing the Information

Donkexes asked, "Did you find anything?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. How about we go inside to talk?" Colin asked.

Donkexes led the group inside and shut the large door behind them.

The room appeared to be an armory. Twenty sets of Dwarf-sized Plate Armor stood on racks in the corners, and the walls were lined with stone-carved weapon mounts holding warhammers and war picks.

The weapons were all in decent condition, but likely due to the passage of time, they bore no traces of any Enchantment.

In the middle of the room stood a long, steel-forged table and a few broken benches carved from giant mushrooms.

These benches were quite low, built to a Dwarf’s scale. Anyone else would find it difficult to sit on them comfortably.

"Alright, what’s the situation?" Colin asked, standing by the table.

Donkexes got straight to the point. "It’s bizarre. Our men suddenly mutinied. But they’re all in a strange state—it’s as if they’re being controlled by Magic. We were just about to inspect other parts of the ruins, so we managed to escape."

"They captured Durkin!" Dorn cried out.

"He was still in the camp at the time." Donkexes sighed. "It’s not surprising."

"If I find the bastard who orchestrated this, I’ll smash his head in!" Langgrin snarled, slamming his axe down on the table.

"After we left here, we were ambushed by Kuo-toa while crossing a river. During the attack, I felt someone hit me with a Spiritual Attack."

As Colin spoke, Dorn placed the captured Kuo-toa idol on the tabletop.

"Given the idol’s appearance, the Spiritual Energy, and the contamination in the river... I suspect our enemy is an Aboleth," Colin continued.

"An Aboleth?" Donkexes nodded. "That’s certainly a possibility. But I think it could also be a Mind Flayer. If so, it wouldn’t be just one; we’d be talking about a whole squad of them at least."

"The books say that Kuo-toa, possibly due to the influence of Mind Flayer Spiritual Energy, despise Mind Flayers. At the same time, however, they’re known to worship any Aboleth they encounter as one of their Gods.

"Besides, a single squad of Mind Flayers wouldn’t contaminate multiple rivers at once unless they were making a specific effort to do so. That’s why I think an Aboleth is the more likely culprit," said Colin.

"I agree. If the contamination were from a Mind Flayer, there’s no way I wouldn’t have sensed it," Dorn chimed in.

The impatient Langgrin cut in, "So what the hell is going on?"

"It means some unknown individual who can wield Spiritual Energy secretly controlled our men, leading to today’s mutiny," said Donkexes.

"And you didn’t sense anything? Don’t you mess with that damn Spiritual Energy too?" Langgrin demanded, glaring at Dorn.

Dorn lowered his head. "I... I didn’t sense anything."

"A Soul Blade Master isn’t a dedicated Spiritual Energy Caster. What you’re saying is like complaining that an Arcane Knight’s Casting Ability is weaker than a Mage’s. It’s completely illogical," Colin couldn’t help but cut in.

Langgrin took a few deep breaths, visibly forcing himself to calm down.

He asked, "Forget about what kind of monster is behind this. The real question is, how do we find it?"

"If it’s an Aboleth, any body of water within a certain radius of its lair will be contaminated. The area of contamination will be roughly spherical."

Before Colin could finish, Donkexes cut in, "Then we can pinpoint the lair’s center by mapping the edge of the contaminated water. It’s a simple geometry problem. The creature’s lair must be near here. Those Fishman slaves working for the Gray Dwarves have to be connected to this."

With that, the old Dwarf rubbed his forehead.

He took a few deep breaths, his voice catching. "This is serious trouble. Whether it’s an Aboleth or a Mind Flayer, the only way to solve this is to kill the one controlling our people."

"Don’t talk like that. We’re not finished yet," Langgrin comforted him from the side. "No matter what happens, we have to at least get Durkin out."

"But how? That Aboleth probably has an entire tribe of Fishmen under its command, our own men have been turned against us, and now there are only a handful of us left..." The rims of Donkexes’s wrinkled eyes were turning red.

"But the ones who are left are our strongest," Colin said. "And those Kuo-toa must have taken losses fighting the Gray Dwarves. Plus, we just found some new allies, didn’t we? We still have a fighting chance."

"I’d just like to point out that we have a Dragon Slaying hero present." "If Colin says it’s fine, it will be." "I trust Mr. Colin."

The others in the party chimed in, one after another.

Although they had only been together for a little over a year, surviving one crisis after another had forged a bond of almost irrational trust between them.

After a moment, Donkexes rubbed his eyes and managed a small smile. "Old men tend to get sentimental. Forget what I just said."

Colin studied the old Dwarf’s expression.

’It wasn’t that his confidence had returned. It was more like he’d resigned himself to the situation.’

Colin continued, "I can use [Sending] to try and contact the Tritons. I’m sure they don’t want a monster like that living near their home either. Then, we can deduce the creature’s lair from the surrounding contamination. The last step is to kill the Aboleth."

"And we need to act fast," Dorn added. "If our men fall completely under its control, the Aboleth might be able to solidify its hold and then kill Durkin."

"Then let’s cut the crap and get to work," Langgrin said. "Fuck that goddamn fish."

Colin immediately sat down and began Casting [Sending] to Lanser.

Although [Sending] couldn’t be used to contact the outside world from within the Dungeon, it could still reach other creatures who were also inside.

As he recited the Spell, he felt a faint, flickering connection form in his mind.

’I should be able to send the message now,’ Colin thought. ’[The Aboleth is real. We need your help to deal with the monster. Please reply if you agree.]’

"The message is sent. Next, we need to figure out the location of the Aboleth’s lair," Colin said. "Is there any chance the Aboleth could get into this room?"

"This is our ancestors’ armory," Langgrin said. "The walls have powerful magical protections. Spiritual Energy, at least, is nullified within this room. Those things won’t get a chance."

"Are other places in the ruins like this too?"

"At least the wards in the Divine Hall are still active."

"Is that so?"

"In that case, I’ll go out and start checking for traces of the contaminated water," said Dorn.