NOVGO.NET Chapter 293: Dungeons!
Chapter 293: Dungeons!
{Third Person Pov}
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The makeshift field infirmary at the outskirts of the Rainwood Forest smelled heavily of copper, burnt leather, and the bitter tang of medicinal salves. Sunlight barely pierced the thick canvas of the medical tents, illuminated instead by the flickering glow of mana lamps and the soft, radiant light of divine magic.
Aria moved swiftly down the narrow row of wooden cots. Her striking pale blonde hair was bound back in a loose silver ribbon, her crystal-blue eyes sharp with intense focus. In her slender right hand, a polished ivory healing wand flared with a continuous, luminescent golden light, weaving soft strands of divine energy into the torn flesh of a fourth-year student.
"Hold still," Aria commanded softly, her voice steady despite the sheer chaos around them.
The student gritted his teeth, groaning as the deep, jagged gouges across his chest began to slowly knit together. But as the flesh closed, a faint, sickly black mist hissed off the wound, resisting the holy magic. The injury was violently corrupted, swirling with an unnatural, toxic dark energy.
"T-Thank you, Lady Valenor..." the student rasped, his face pale from blood loss as he sank back against the blood-stained linen pillow.
Aria offered a short, solemn nod before stepping back, her brow furrowed in deep concern. She wiped a stray strand of pale hair from her forehead, her gaze sweeping across the crowded tent. Dozens of senior students lay groaning on cots, their armor shattered and their weapons broken.
What in the world is happening out there? she thought, her fingers tightening around the cold ivory of her wand.
These were fourth-year elites, seasoned combatants sent on a routine expedition to clear a low-tier dungeon on the forest’s edge. They shouldn’t have suffered casualties like this. The dark mana clinging to their wounds was far too concentrated, far too ancient.
The Archbishop assured us we had years before the day of judgment, Aria recalled, her eyes darkening with unspoken dread. He said we had time... Why are the dungeons reacting now?
Before she could pursue the thought any further, a sound like rending iron shattered the atmospheric quiet.
BOOM!
The ground beneath the infirmary violently bucked. Glass potion vials shattered against the wooden floorboards, and the heavy canvas of the tent whipped frantically as a sudden, freezing gust of wind tore through the camp. Shrieks of raw terror erupted from the forest perimeter.
"Dungeon break! It’s a dungeon break!"
"The gate completely collapsed! They’re coming out—!"
Aria didn’t hesitate. She pulled her cloak tight over her shoulders and pushed through the tent flap into the bright afternoon sun.
The sight outside was absolute carnage.
Less than two hundred yards away, the obsidian archway that served as the dungeon’s entrance had shattered into jagged fragments. From the gaping, dark abyss beneath it, a tide of monstrous abominations was pouring into the encampment.
Four-legged beast-monsters covered in bone armor and dripping black sludge surged past the defensive barricades, tearing through the wooden palisades like paper.
The remaining fourth-year guards were desperately trying to form a shield wall, but the surprise assault had shattered their ranks. Steel clashed against claws. Magic circles flared red and blue in the air, only to be crushed under the sheer volume of the horde.
A young female student was thrown violently to the grass, her sword flying from her grip as a hulking, razor-fanged beast lunged straight for her throat.
Aria’s breath caught. Instinct took over. She raised her wand, channeling holy mana into a offensive light barrier—
GROOAAAL!
A shadow fell over her.
A stray bone-beast, towering nearly eight feet tall with four glowing yellow eyes, had broken past the front line, drawn directly by the pure, concentrated signature of her divine magic.
It unhinged its massive, acid-dripping jaws and leaped straight toward her from above, its shadow completely engulfing her pale frame.
Aria’s eyes widened, her barrier only half-formed.
Too close—!
SHING!
A blinding arc of radiant silver light sliced through the air like a falling star.
Before the monster’s claws could come within three feet of Aria, the beast was cleanly bisected mid-air. Its heavy, black-blooded halves crashed heavily into the dirt on either side of her, sizzling into dark ash.
A tall figure materialized out of the surrounding shadows, dropping into a low, fluid stance right in front of her. He was clad in unadorned, heavy silver plate armor covered by a dark, hooded travel cloak that completely hid his features.
A massive, double-edged broadsword hummed with dense, blinding holy aura in his grip.
It was a Holy Knight, one of the elite shadow guardians secretly assigned by the Holy See to watch over the Aria from afar.
"Stay behind me, Lady Aria," the knight rumbled, his deep, metallic voice echoing from beneath his visor as he raised his blade toward the approaching horde. "Do not draw their focus."
"I have to heal the vanguard," Aria snapped, her shock instantly dissolving into firm resolve. She stepped up right beside the knight’s shoulder, her wand blazing like a miniature sun. "Hold the perimeter, Sir Knight. I won’t let them bleed out."
Without waiting for his reply, Aria unleashed a sweeping wave of golden holy light across the battlefield. The radiant energy washed over the wounded students, instantly cauterizing their open gashes and purging the dark corruption clinging to their flesh, giving the standing fighters a sudden, desperate second wind.
Moments later, the air above the camp compressed violently.
FZZZZT!
Three massive, intricate magic circles erupted in the sky. High-tier magic spells, devastating pillars of elemental fire and razor-sharp blades of compressed wind—rained down onto the monster horde with surgical precision.
The Senior Instructors from the Royal Academy had finally arrived.
Led by a battle-scarred professor wielding a glowing broadsword, the staff swept through the remaining beasts, systematically slaughtering the dungeon escapees until the last abomination crumbled into black dust.
Within twenty minutes, the terrifying chaos ebbed away, replaced by the heavy, solemn quiet of a secured battleground. Smoke rose from the smoldering grass, mixing with the scent of ozone and burnt monster flesh.
Aria lowered her wand, her arms trembling slightly from total mana exhaustion. She leaned her back against a heavy wooden supply crate, letting out a long, ragged sigh as she wiped the sweat and dirt from her brow with her silken sleeve. Her pale blonde hair hung loosely around her shoulders.
"Is everyone accounted for?" a professor yelled down the line, inspecting the shattered dungeon gate. "Get the healers up here immediately! Secure the perimeter!"
Aria closed her eyes for a brief moment, her chest heaving as she let her racing heart slow down. They had survived. The break had been contained before it could spill toward the nearby villages or the Academy grounds.
She took a deep breath, preparing to stand up and return to the infirmary tents.
BUT...
BOOM!
The sky turned an apocalyptic, bruised shade of deep violet.
A terrifying, bone-rattling tremor surged through the earth, throwing every professor, student, and knight directly to their knees. The surrounding mountains echoed with a sound like a thousand shattering mirrors.
Aria gasped, clutching the wooden crate to keep her balance as she looked up.
Around the outer perimeter of the Rainwood Forest, the air tore wide open.
Five massive, tear-shaped rifts of absolute, suffocating darkness ruptured into existence simultaneously, towering hundreds of feet into the sky. Crimson lighting crackled wildly around the edges of the newly formed portals, spewing a wave of suffocating, pressure that completely eclipsed the sun.
Five new dungeons had opened at the exact same time right beside them.