33 Dungeon Delve

[Warning: You are entering a Dungeon]

- Please be cautious of your surroundings.

- The Dungeon shifts on every turn and hostile monsters may attack.

- Proceed at your own risk.

The bright luminescent screen of the system blared red, bathing Liam's face with it.

After it disappeared from his view, he turned to his squad and slowly gestured with his head towards the opening of the Dungeon.

It resembled that of a mouth of an enormous beast with it being wide open.

Sharp elongated fangs protrude from the top.

Beyond the opening was total darkness and Liam could only assume the worst for what they may encounter.

It was past twilight, the moon shone brightly above them but Liam did not care about any of that.

If he had been a soft-hearted leader, that one confession would have been enough to save everyone else from this punishment.

However, he was not like that.

And to add, he needed to find out who had spied on him as soon as possible, and letting his squad have their way won't accomplish the task.

Groans among his squad were heard as the Paragon Knights formed a straight line and one by one went past Liam to enter the Dungeon.

At this time, each of them should have been back at their resting quarters and not outside of the palace.

Sounds of their armors clanging echoed through the night.

Strange sounds of different otherworldly creatures and beasts resonated from the nearby forest.

Liam took a deep breath.

The last member of his squad entered the Dungeon and he slowly followed from behind.

Aaron Williams' heart was thundering inside his chest.

At any given moment he could imagine it leaping out from his body, his guilt and fear were eating him alive.

He knew that Liam was trying to find someone.

'You're a bloody idiot, Aaron,'

Aaron Williams was mentally cursing and scolding himself.

'Of course, he would notice that someone followed him. Are you crazy? He was the greatest detective ever born in Los Angeles. Do you think you could've outsmarted him?'

The faint light provided by the system was enough to allow Aaron not to trip on the spiky rocks that were rampant inside the enormous Dungeon.

There had only been a few times when Aaron had stepped inside a Dungeon.

From his memory, it was never fun to enter into one.

A right turn or a left one could spell danger as the dungeon shifts and becomes like a maze.

There was no way out unless one beats whatever monster was hiding in that certain place.

The foul smell made Aaron Williams hold onto his stomach.

He almost forgot that the stench inside the dungeon was repulsive.

It was like dead bodies had been constantly dumped inside and were never taken out. The pile continued to grow that the smell accumulated.

The thought made the young boy wonder if what he was smelling was the same as with the rest of the Paragon Knights since they are all different creatures coming from different planets.

Liam tried to cover his nose but it was too late.

He helped himself not to gag at the smell upon following his squad inside the Dungeon.

'Am I punishing myself too?' thought Liam, shaking his head in disbelief for the things that he was willing to do and undergo.

And then he scoffed.

'Life has never been fair, my friend. And it never will,'

Clang… Clang... Clang...

The sound from outside was gone and was replaced by the dripping of water from the dungeon's ceiling and the sound of the armors worn by the Paragon Knights.

Somewhere in the middle of the line, Aaron was in a debate whether to admit or to keep his silence.

If he was going to admit his fault, they can still turn around and get out of the Dungeon.

Aaron was bracing himself to fall back in line until he reaches Liam. He was scared but he knew that in order to save his squad mates from suffering further, he needed to make this confession.

However, before he managed to do what he intended to do, the ground beneath his feet began to shake.

The entire dungeon was shaking, and before anyone could bat an eye, the dungeon has shifted.

Even if Aaron was to confess now, it was already too late.

Squinting his eyes, Liam was amazed to find that instead of the stinky dungeon, white snow-covered their entire surrounding.

Pine trees were covered in thick snow and even the cold was beginning to sip through his armor.

In truth, Liam missed this season on Earth.

It was the perfect weather that reminded him of Selene Fay once again.

If they had been back on earth, at this time, they would be sharing a hot cup of chocolate and even something more than that.

Liam rid his thoughts of the memories that began to play inside his head.

Thinking about his past life was not a good idea right now. He needed to keep his focus.

Although it seemed that they were in the middle of a mountain, no visible residences were to be seen within a close range.

The resemblance of a picturesque snow-covered mountain found on Earth was almost one hundred percent accurate.

'Tsk. If not for the otherworldly plants that stood beside the pine trees, it would have been picture perfect,' Liam thought.

"I guess that's just how things are," he murmured.

Liam was waiting for his squad to make a move without him giving them any command when a rumble from the top of the mountain caught everyone's attention.

'Avalanche,' was Liam's first thought.

But oddly enough, no rapid movements were coming from anywhere which made Liam dismiss the thought of an approaching Avalanche.

'If not an Avalanche, then, what was it?'

Not long after Liam had pondered on that question, the pine trees that surrounded them started to shake.

Liam expected the trees to begin moving and attacking him and his squad.

When that did not happen, Liam knew that he had to break his silence.

"Prepare to defend, we do not know what we will be facing."

At that moment, a small white bunny-looking creature leaped out from the nearest pine tree. Its beady eyes studied the Paragon Knights at random.

When it landed on Liam, the creature tilted its head to one side.

"Uuurk..?"

Liam blinked.

It seemed completely harmless but of course, given that he was in the <Mighty Tower>, nothing was as it seems.

'Brawler Mode—'

Liam was unable to finish the thought command as he had to dive out of the way when at the speed of light, the creature attacked him using the laser coming out from its eyes.

"Oh, you want to play. Let's play."