Chapter 79: The Unhunted

Max was the last to enter as the stone door closed behind him. According to Marlak, something was living inside this Hidden Dungeon. That was expected, since monsters existed in Dungeons, but what Marlak meant was that something was living in the first hall they were currently entering. The steps sloped downward, and surprisingly, the Dungeon was illuminated by torches mounted on the walls.

The party finally entered a large hall, with enormous pillars standing along the sides. However, Max could not see any monsters. He quickly searched for something waiting for them to enter, but no matter how thoroughly he searched, there was nothing in the hall.

"Where is the living thing you sense?" Max whispered as he walked a few steps behind the party.

"It is standing directly at the end of the hall, but it is invisible. I can't see it with my bare eyes," Marlak said.

"Invisible?" Max muttered. "Is this the thing you sensed?"

"Yes," Marlak said.

"Senior Paula," Max called out quickly when they reached the center of the hall. He had brought them here, so he needed to make sure no catastrophe occurred. Since the party was moving forward, he guessed that Paula had not detected the hidden enemy in the hall either. He quickly moved towards the front of the party. Isabelle became annoyed when she saw Max's behavior.

"What is it, Max?" Paula asked.

"Tell me what you know about this Hidden Dungeon. Didn't you say a Hidden Dungeon may have multiple Boss Monsters?" Max asked.

"Yes, there could be multiple Bosses. Why do you ask?" Paula asked as the others also looked at Max in confusion.

"Do you think this hall could have a Boss Monster?" Max asked.

"Max, what are you blabbering about? Can't you see for yourself?" Isabelle asked, anger bubbling up in her voice.

"I didn't see anything, that's why I am asking. Didn't we hear something from outside? Now it's very silent here, and I don't think the sound is coming from the inner chamber. That sound must have come from this hall, so we must be vigilant," Max explained.

Though the hum he mentioned outside was a ruse, they did hear something when they put their ears to the sand, so Max used it as a reason to warn them so they could plan to attack this hidden monster.

"As far as I can guess, there should be a monster hidden in this hall. We should find it. Otherwise, we will be ambushed and killed," Max advised.

"Yes, it is possible that a monster is in this hall. Elaine!" Paula called out to Elaine, the Assassin of the party.

Elaine was a relatively short girl. She had short black hair and silver eyes, and she wore tight black attire. She nodded and took out four small balls, quickly throwing them in different directions. The balls landed in the four corners and activated with a chim. When the balls opened, they projected lines that scanned every corner to find anything hiding there. The scanning artifacts moved from one place to another, scanning the walls and pillars.

Max watched this with great interest. The artifact seemed very useful for finding a hidden enemy. He also had his own artifact for detecting hidden enemies, the [Field Energy Analyzer]. However, he was a little disappointed with it since it had failed to detect the invisible opponent in his second Duel. Hence, he might need to find another artifact that could locate hidden enemies. Relying on the Analyzer would eventually put him in a tough spot.

The party waited for a few minutes as the four artifacts scanned the whole hall, but nothing was found. Max even saw the projections from the balls scan the spot where Marlak had said the monster was standing.

"Nothing is hiding in this hall!" Elaine said as the four Artifact Balls stopped rolling in front of her.

Hearing this, Max shook his head inwardly. Elaine's artifact was also trash. It had literally scanned the area where the monster was hiding, but it had shown no sign of the monster.

"There is nothing in this hall. Max, don't waste time. We should move forward and find the Boss," Isabelle said in an urgent tone.

Max did not argue with Isabelle and quickly took out the [Field Energy Analyzer]. At least he could try to detect something with it and show them that something was there. If the Analyzer did not work, he would have no choice but to tell them directly that something was hiding and reveal Marlak. If he refused to do that, everyone was going to die here.

[Field Energy Analyzer Activated.]

[Environmental Energy Analysis in Progress...]

[Environmental Energy Detected.]

Max took out the artifact and activated it. Everyone saw a small artifact in Max's palm, and suddenly, a screen lit up, displaying details.

[Primary Energy: Mana]

[Mana Density: 6]

[Energy Stability: Unstable]

[Abnormal Energy: Found]

-Abnormal Energy Density: 5

Max looked at the details with a bewildered expression. The artifact had indeed worked. It had detected some Abnormal Energy, and some additional details had also appeared.

"What kind of artifact is this?" Isabelle asked after seeing the strange screen and details.

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"There is something hiding in this hall," Max said, ignoring Isabelle again. As he stared at the details, he took a few steps forward to check whether the number would increase as he moved towards the hidden thing. As Max had guessed, the number changed from 5 to 6 after he took four steps from the center of the hall. Max held the artifact directly in front of the spot where the thing was hiding and said:

"I guarantee that something is hiding directly in front of us."

Max had finally pointed out the monster's location without revealing Marlak or raising suspicion about how he knew of it. Max was the one who had found the Hidden Dungeon, so if he casually found a hidden monster as well, people would grow suspicious and report him to the teachers. He was not going to trust Isabelle with this either, since she had refused to vote for him even after he had helped her. Now that his job was finished, it was up to the Seniors to kill this monster.

"Are you sure?" Paula asked.

"Here, you can check." Max handed over the Analyzer. "If you walk straight ahead, the Abnormal Energy Density will increase the closer you get to that spot," Max said.

Paula took the artifact and walked forward while the others stayed behind. When she had covered half the distance to the spot, she stopped and returned to the party.

"I think Max was right. Something is hiding here. First, we should determine whether the thing is sleeping or waiting to ambush us," Paula said.

'Sleeping?' Max was taken aback. 'What does sleeping mean? Do monsters in the Dungeon sleep?' Max had not heard this term anywhere, not even in the books he had read.

"Do Dungeon monsters sleep?" Max asked.

"Yes, Dungeon Monsters go to sleep if they are not disturbed for a very long time. I guess this one is in that state, since it is very obvious. This place was hidden, and no one would have found it if we hadn't, so it must have never been cleared since the origin of this Dungeon," Paula said, looking at Max.

Hearing this, Max suddenly felt a strange discomfort in his heart. He quickly took a few steps away, pretending to check the Analyzer, and whispered to Marlak about the sleeping scenario.

"Marlak, what do you think? I have a feeling this is going to end very badly," Max said.

"The hibernation of Dungeon Monsters is natural! Don't worry," Marlak said casually.

"But do you think an unhunted monster from the origin of the Dungeon would be the same as every other?" Max asked.

"I am not sure about that. I lack knowledge on that topic," Marlak said.

Max cursed inwardly, since the frog had very little knowledge, having lived in a single Dungeon for his whole life. He quickly put away the Analyzer and joined the discussion.

"We need to walk up to the Monster before we fight it. There is probably some kind of protection around it, so simply attacking the spot won't kill the monster," Paula said. "We may need the strongest single attack, one that will shake the monster out of its sleep..."

Max was listening carefully. He noticed that Paula's voice was faltering as he heard her mention a single, powerful attack capable of awakening the monster. Unfortunately, he did not have that kind of attack yet. He could only do so by using an otherworldly Artifact, but Max was not going to do that.

"I don't think my strongest attack would be strong enough to wake the monster," Paula revealed reluctantly.

"Let's just try. What if your attack is strong enough to wake up the monster?" Max quickly suggested after noticing the lack of confidence in Paula's tone. However, his words were ignored as they continued discussing the matter. Max was dumbfounded. What had he done to deserve no answer from the party? Had he said something wrong?

After being ignored, Max stood silently and waited for them to finish the discussion. Eventually, they decided to abandon their plan to hunt the monster. Max could not understand why they had made that decision.

"Senior Paula, why this sudden decision to abandon this Dungeon Hunt? Do you think the sleeping monster would be more powerful than Level 50?" Max asked.

Currently, they had not given a valid reason for abandoning the hunt. The only reason he had heard was that they were not strong enough to wake up the monster. But why they were even afraid to try was unclear to Max.

Hearing Max's question, Paula sighed and explained. "No, Max. The Monster is probably at the same level and has the same strength as the Boss Monster outside this Hidden Dungeon. But the issue is the barrier protecting the Sleeping Monster. If we don't have an attack strong enough to break it, the barrier will backlash against the person who made the attack. Though the possibility of that happening is fifty-fifty, I still decided to avoid attacking blindly."

Max nodded after hearing the reason. With no concrete evidence of what would happen, trying something new would be scary, and Max could understand that. But what should they do now? Would they have to wait until people came to rescue them? Max was dejected as he walked back towards the entrance and sat on the steps.

"What do you think, Marlak? Do you think the barrier is capable of doing that?" Max asked.

"I don't know anything about barriers, but I suggest we follow the young Lady Adventurer's advice," Marlak said.

"Oh, shut up, you chowhound," Max reprimanded the frog. He stood up and walked towards the party, who were still discussing something.

"Senior Paula, let me try to attack the barrier," Max suggested. The Analyzer had detected abnormal energy around the sleeping monster. Max believed the Reversal Technique could consume that energy and tear through the barrier.

"Maximus, don't be hasty. These kinds of things happen all the time. You will experience this when you enter different kinds of Dungeons, so don't worry. We entered the Dungeon with ambition, but staying alive is more important than the ambition one could achieve in the future," Paula advised as Max's senior.

"Don't worry. I will try, and I will retreat immediately if it doesn't work. I want you all to be ready to rescue me if I get attacked and to fight the awakened monster. If my attack succeeds, I will be incapacitated," Max explained as he laid out the plan. He took out a Stamina Potion, drank it, and activated the [Guardian Aura] in case his attack failed or the awakened monster suddenly attacked him.

"Max, are you crazy? Even Senior Paula was reluctant to try. Do you hear yourself? You will get killed here," Isabelle reprimanded Max after seeing his brave attempt to break the barrier, even though the Seniors had decided to retreat.

"Don't worry, Isabelle. I am capable of doing this!" Max winked at Isabelle, took out the Analyzer, and walked straight towards the spot where the thing was sleeping.

"Senior Paula, shouldn't we stop him? He will die if the attack fails," Isabelle said worriedly.

"I did warn him Isabelle. Helene, get ready to heal the kid." Paula had advised Max, but she did not stop him, since she had a feeling that Max knew what he was doing, though she could not explain it. "Everyone else, let's prepare for battle."

After hearing the party leader's instructions, everyone spread out, positioned themselves at a distance, and readied their attacks.

Meanwhile, Max stood directly in front of the spot where a small, elevated platform was barely visible.

"In front of me?" Max whispered as the Analyzer hit the range limit of 10.

"Yes," Marlak whispered.

Max quickly put away the Analyzer, took a deep breath, brought his palm close to the barrier, and activated the Reversal Technique. Dark green energy gathered around his palm, accompanied by light green sparkles, and his life force began to drain as well. Max already had plenty of experience activating and using the Reversal Technique, so he decided to draw out the last bit of extractable life force. The Reversal attack grew bigger than ever, even bigger than the last attack he had used against the Snake.

When his tongue went dry and he felt that he needed water, Max knew that he had reached his limit. He pushed the attack forward, and it slammed into the invisible barrier protecting the sleeping monster. The attack clung to the empty space as it rotated violently and ate up the barrier's energy. Seeing this, Max quickly ran away with the last bit of his energy. When he was halfway to the center of the hall, a big explosion occurred behind him. The force threw him away, and his weathered body flew towards the entrance of the Hidden Dungeon and landed on the ground. Max quickly canceled the [Guardian Aura] and activated the [Salvation].