The Count’s Youngest Son Is A Player - Chapter 211

Episode 211

“Welcome. “It arrived sooner than expected.”

“It is an honor to meet you, Commander Julius. “I am Raoul de Ashton, third son of the Ashton family.”

When he arrived at the command center, Julius, the commander-in-chief, was waiting for him.

However, his impression was different from what Raoul had in mind.

‘Does he just look like the fat old man next door?’

I expected a person with a charismatic and sturdy physique befitting his childhood name of the Iron Knight…

Moreover, unlike Lord Hansley, who made him nervous as soon as he saw him, Julius did not feel any force.

But it was actually more scary.

‘It would mean that he is perfectly in control of his powers.’

I felt the same way when I first met Great Sage Gray alone.

We briefly exchanged greetings and moved on to the main topic.

“So you came to look for the missing Lawrence?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Right. “If I’m going to talk about your brother, I have to first talk about the current state of Corpse Road.”

“I will listen.”

Although I had heard a rough explanation, there was no more accurate information than the words of the commander-in-chief who was staying at the scene.

“You know the origin of Corpse Road, right?”

A place where many people lost their lives and were buried in the war against the empire.

Afterwards, the undead began to appear constantly, possibly due to the Empire’s intervention…

“No matter how much it is, isn’t it strange that those corpses still remain decades later? “The amount of stuff we cleaned up after it became undead must have been enormous.”

The undead are not created completely from nothing.

At least a corpse must be present to create it, so why does it keep appearing even now?

“Beyond the Grand Canyon of Despair, which borders Corpse Road. There are a huge number of monsters living inside that mountain range called Geumyeok. And they continue to flow into Corpse Road through the underground dungeon.”

It had been quite a while since I noticed that fact.

However, the reason the monsters’ entry route was not blocked was because it was a ‘necessary evil’.

If we get rid of all the undead right now, the border with the empire will be empty.

And there was a problem in raising the cost to maintain the wall…

“But then a problem arose. “I mean the gate.”

So far, the number of monsters flowing in from the mountain range and the resulting undead were maintaining a balance.

However, as the gate appeared and the dungeon progressed, the balance collapsed.

Monsters increased rapidly.

I can’t leave it alone, so after clearing them out, they become a group of undead and come back to attack the wall.

As we eliminate the undead, the number of monsters increases… and this vicious cycle repeats itself, leading to the current situation.

“Now the reality is that waves, whether small or large, occur almost once a week. It’s a difficult situation because of the supply problem and the damage to the troops is increasing like a snowball. So…”

It was decided to block the passage through which monsters previously entered from the mountain range.

But when I tried to run it, a problem arose.

The structure of the underground dungeons, which had been completely mapped so far, has changed.

“The wizards say that as the dungeon transformation of the gate progressed, it interfered with the space-related magic circles of existing dungeons. “Data accumulated over decades became trash in an instant.”

However, if you leave it like this, you may be pushed back to the wall by the monster’s offensive volume.

Eventually, a special expedition was organized, and Raoul’s second older brother, Laurence, became a member of it.

“The approximate structure has already been figured out through nearly a year of exploration work. Now, as we are about to close the passageway, something happens.”

The entire exploration team dispatched to the five dungeons selected as potential candidate sites went missing.

And Lawrence was included in it.

When the return of the exploration team was delayed, an investigation team and troops were dispatched, but only traces of battle and the corpses of monsters were found.

“I wanted to continue the search until the end, but the wave broke out again, so I had no choice but to retreat.”

“So has the search operation now completely stopped?”

“Not really. The dungeons are being searched mainly by volunteers, not regular troops. But no special results are being achieved.”

In that situation, Raoul and the group arrived.

And search parties from other families were scheduled to arrive one after another.

* * *

After a while.

Raoul returned to the camp after a conversation with Prince Julius, the commander-in-chief.

But Raoul’s expression didn’t look very good.

“Is there any bad news?”

When Kane, who was waiting in the conference room, asked, Raoul nodded.

“I think I’ll have less time than I thought.”

According to Julius, regardless of the disappearance of the special exploration team, the work to close the monster entryway seemed to be continuing.

This is because the volunteers are completing the search for missing people and the structure of the dungeon, and the wizards are said to have finished preparing to install a blockade magic circle.

“The time given by Lord Julius is exactly fifteen days. “If we can’t complete the search inside….”

The passage connected to Geumyeok is closed.

In other words, if Lawrence and the special expedition team crossed into the mountains for some reason, they would not be able to return here.

“It’s a pain in the ass. “To go through the dungeon and search inside Geumyeok in just 15 days…”

Kane spoke less, but it was an almost impossible task.

Did you know where they went in that wide mountain range and found them after 15 days?

‘I can only hope that they are staying somewhere in the dungeon that cannot be seen by the existing search party…’ “

Fortunately, if we can find them in time or find a strong clue, we will be able to buy time. I received a transmitter that can send a special signal. And since you said you would provide all necessary support for the search, you don’t have to worry about anything else.”

“That’s a good thing. So how do you plan on forming a search team?”

At Kane’s question, the First Knights’ executives and Baron Carlo in the conference room brightened their eyes.

Everyone seemed to want to join Raoul’s search team.

‘But we can’t take them all.’

There was a high risk of attracting the undead if dozens of people gathered together on Corpse Road.

The undead are people who are thirsty for ‘vitality’.

They may not be moving in small numbers, but having dozens of knights on horseback was enough to attract their attention.

‘When we arrived at the forward base, we rode a well-organized highway, so we didn’t experience much fighting, but things are different from now on.’

With dozens of armor users, there was no way to lose a battle unless the number of undead reached a legion level.

However, if your ankle gets stuck, there is a high possibility that you will not only waste time but also not be able to rest properly.

Moreover, in order to move quickly in a dungeon, it was more advantageous to have a small number of people.

“I will divide the team into three major teams. Me, Kane, Jake Josh and Team A. Team B consists of 5 Bear Knights centered around Baron Carlo. And the remaining 40 knights are Team C.”

Wow.

Raoul spread the map he received from the commander-in-chief on the table.

“The destination is the ‘Formica Dungeon’ where brother Lawrence last headed. Team A and Team B enter the dungeon through different routes and immediately begin searching. And Team C will head to the temporary base set up near Formica Dungeon.”

“So what is the exact role of Team C?”

“In case of emergency, secure an exit route for Team A and Team B and report any unusual circumstances discovered after our entry. And if the battle escalates, I will have to act as a backup.”

After establishing a detailed strategy, it was decided that the leader of Team C would be Rashad, a senior expert of the First Knights.

Rashad was a knight-in-training of the Earl of Ashton and was one of the 50 people who followed Raoul from the beginning.

And he was a talented knight who was the first among his trainees to reach expert level.

“Then let’s leave right away.”

Although dusk was already falling, there was no time to rest comfortably at the base.

It was because of anxiety that an hour or two difference could mean the difference between brother Lawrence’s life and death.

Teams A and B departed from the base first, looking at the red sunset, while Team C secured enough supplies and left the base only after the sun rose the next morning.

* * *

“This way.”

Four days later.

Team A, to which Raoul belongs, had entered their destination, ‘Formica Dungeon’.

Formica means ‘ant’ in ancient language, and as its name suggests, the dungeon resembles an ant cave.

Large and small caves and crossroads continued to appear, and the cave paths that were repeated without any personality were reminiscent of a maze.

If the exploration and search parties had not left marks, it would have taken a tremendous amount of time to find the way.

The group was walking down the dungeon, following a small glowing finger-shaped sign in the dark.

Surprisingly. Charalak!

Kane, who was in charge of leading the group, cut something with his hunting knife through the air.

Shaaa….

A translucent ghost ant the size of an forearm split in half and disappeared in the air.

Eventually, Kane’s knife moves a few more times, drawing a green trail, and the ghost ants’ necks are cut off and they disappear.

“What a troublesome monster it is.”

Swoouk puk!

Perhaps due to the narrow space, Jake extended his fist instead of his great sword and exploded the ghost ant’s head.

“As I heard, after becoming undead, it seems to be more difficult to deal with.”

pop!

Josh swung the round shield he was wearing on his left arm and crushed the ant.

Originally, the monster that often appeared in this dungeon was the ‘Giant Ant.’

It was an insect-type monster characterized by a hard shell and sharp teeth.

However, as the transformation into undead progressed, they appeared in the form of ghost ants, and it was not easy to deal with them because they were completely transparent and could freely move in and out of the cave walls.

Of course, to Raoul and the others, they were just annoying mobs.

‘If you have excellent detection skills, it’s easier to deal with than the original. ‘Because their carapace is weakened and they don’t move around in groups.’

Of course, the trap was that in order to have that level of detection ability, you had to be at least intermediate level expert.

Anyway, the group quickly headed in the direction indicated by the sign, slaughtering the ghost ants that popped out from time to time.

“Im here.”

As soon as Kane finished speaking, a group of people approached and shouted.

“Who are you?”

“If you don’t reveal your identity, we will attack you!”

When we arrived, there were at least 50 troops setting up a temporary camp in a large hollow.

“Put down your weapons. “A newly dispatched search party from Gamma Base.”

Only after confirming the commander’s orders and noble seals did they relax their guard and welcome Raoul and his group into the camp.

After hearing about the search situation and the passageways through which monsters entered from the knight managing the temporary camp, Raoul decided to first look around the inside of the dungeon.

‘Because there’s a chance that it’s just one chance.’

This is because there could have been institutions or hidden magic areas that the search party missed.

But again, there was no result.

I explored the depths of the dungeon for nearly half a day, but I couldn’t find anything special.

“I guess I should just move on.”

“I guess that’s true, right?”

The search party said they had already entered through the monster passage several times, but they only looked around the entrance for a moment and then returned.

Monsters in the forbidden area were also a problem, and the scope to investigate was too wide, so it was an inevitable choice.

“Are you really going to enter? “That place is incomparably more dangerous than here.”

The temporary camp management engineer asked with an uneasy expression.

After the special search team went missing, there were more than one person who entered there, but there were also many who went deep and failed to return.

It seemed like they thought that if things continued like this, the number of victims would increase for no reason.

“Don’t worry, just guide me. And if a follow-up team enters, I would also ask for their guidance.”

Josh patted the driver on the shoulder to tell him not to worry and handed him some supplies from his inventory.

The driver’s mouth twitched with joy, perhaps because the supply had been delayed due to the wave.

“It would be best to return within ten days at the latest. There is talk of blocking the passage.”

It was something we already knew, but the group who said thank you finally arrived in front of the passage.

In the wall beyond the vacant lot where the barricade was installed, a hole the size of a human torso was shimmering silver.

“Currently, a temporary sacred barrier has been installed to prevent monsters from coming over. However, there is a possibility that there may be a concentration of them on the other side, so be careful.”

Putting the manager’s words aside, Raoul finally reached out his hand toward the silver hole.

Slurp.

Raoul’s figure, which had turned into particles like a mirage, was sucked into the hole.

Soon, the rest of the group also disappeared into the passage, and only the management engineer looked at the place where they had disappeared with worried eyes.

(Continued in the next part)