King-tier

Seeing Loth and Maizer's names on the list,

Lu Cang paused.

He walked into the Adventurer's Guild.

"Xili."

"Little Lu Cang..."

"I need the information on Loth and the others going missing," Lu Cang said calmly.

Xili met Lu Cang's gaze.

But she saw not a trace of grief or confusion in his eyes.

Xili swallowed the words of comfort she'd been about to offer.

She immediately went to fetch the quest records.

"Lu Cang... These are the quest they accepted and the information about their disappearance."

Lu Cang took the report and skimmed it.

The information confirmed that they were missing.

Missing-person report.

They had encountered a King-tier Demonic Beast in a Tier 3 dungeon and decided to flee.

During their escape, Loth and Maizer had become separated from the others and were now missing.

That was all the information available.

It had happened half an hour ago.

Not too long ago.

Lu Cang simply nodded.

He turned and strode toward the exit.

This time,

Lu Cang didn't go looking for a mount.

Instead, ice surged beneath his feet.

Ding—

A giant ice skimmer formed under Lu Cang.

Bang!

In almost an instant, Lu Cang vanished from where he stood, leaving a trail of cold air behind.

The ice skimmer flew at incredible speed.

Even with Lu Cang standing on it, it had already broken the sound barrier.

But in this world, the speed of sound didn't seem all that fast.

In less than five minutes,

Lu Cang had reached the dungeon they'd explored earlier that day.

"Phew..."

This was his first time entering a dungeon alone.

Still, Lu Cang didn't waste any time.

"Heart's Eternal Light (LV: 201)—The Selfish Glow"

After its latest evolution, the Eternal Lantern no longer emitted actual light. Instead, Lu Cang could share its effects with his teammates.

To enemies, the places they looked at were dark, but to Lu Cang and his teammates, those places were illuminated.

The light revealed every corner of the cavern.

This was the [Blood Sacrifice Cave],

a Tier 3 dungeon.

The cavern walls were streaked with blood.

Lu Cang sent the ice skimmer circling around his body. "Life Wind Swarm" had already enveloped him completely.

At the same time, "Protective Barrier (LV:201)" surrounded Lu Cang like a sphere.

"Loth!"

"Maizer!"

"If you can hear me, answer!"

There was a bend ahead.

"Repelling Wind Blast (LV:201)"

As Lu Cang called out, he fired a Repelling Wind Blast!

Only after confirming there were no traps or ambushes did he move past the bend.

Beyond it,

he could see a wide-open space in the distance.

A blood pool lay at the center of the cavern. Four faceless humanoid monsters formed from blood roamed around it.

Bang!

The ice skimmer shot forward in an instant!

In a flash, it pierced all four [Blood Puppets], turning them into sculptures of frozen blood.

The path ahead was wide open.

Lu Cang sent out "Shifting Shadow Swamp." Like a vast shadowy marsh, it moved across the cavern walls like a swarm of Shadow Demons.

As he passed the blood pool, he saw traces of battle everywhere.

Lu Cang glanced into the huge pool.

It was a boiling pool of blood.

Nothing but blood bubbled inside.

He didn't know whether Loth and the others were in there, but if they were, there'd be no point searching for them.

Lu Cang wasn't going to waste time checking.

He pressed on at a brisk pace.

Thud—

Suddenly, a heavy rumble came from the ground.

The surrounding elements began to stir.

There was a King-tier monster in this dungeon...

"Wasn't that what we already knew before coming here?"

Lu Cang sighed softly and continued deeper into the dungeon.

Cavern dungeons were all much the same: winding passages and wide-open chambers.

There wasn't much variation in the terrain.

Aside from the rock walls, there was nothing but blood.

The farther in Lu Cang went, the thicker the blood became.

Fortunately, he wasn't new to exploring dungeons, and he'd grown somewhat accustomed to these eerie scenes.

He encountered plenty of monsters along the way, likely ones the group ahead had missed while exploring the side passages.

Usually, there was no need to clear every monster in a dungeon.

Once the dungeon's guardian was killed, the lesser monsters would disappear on their own before long.

Even so, Lu Cang took care of the ones he came across.

He also encountered three traps along the way and disarmed them all.

"Loth!"

"Maizer!"

"If you can hear me, answer!"

Lu Cang was beginning to understand why rescuing people in movies looked so frustrating.

Why was he trying to save them?

Because they were more or less his friends?

Because... he felt they might still be alive?

Putting himself in danger like this was a pain.

Part of him wanted to give up searching.

Adventurers were supposed to take responsibility for their own actions.

Lu Cang gripped the pendant on his chest.

It was a protective charm he'd bought from a magic-item shop owner for 1,500 gold coins.

It contained a Tier 4 Life Shelter Technique.

If he took damage he couldn't withstand, it would activate immediately, providing protection equivalent to one full-force defense from a Tier 4 defender.

The other ring held a Tier 4 Moment of Healing.

It could restore the injuries he'd sustained over a certain period of time.

All told, he'd spent about 3,000 gold coins on life-saving gear, including various antidotes and potions that cleansed abnormal status effects.

He even had a Tier 4 Random Teleport Scroll.

It could cast a random teleportation spell.

As for where in the world it would send him... that was anyone's guess.

Lu Cang wouldn't use the thing unless he absolutely had to.

"Whatever. It's not like just looking at a King-tier monster will kill me."

If a mere glance were enough to kill him,

the whole team would've been wiped out, instead of having some of them escape.

Thud—

The cavern shook again.

There was another bend ahead, and Lu Cang expertly used magic to check around it.

Boom!

But this time, after the blast shot out, he felt it hit something.

The feedback came from far away, not from right around the corner!

Rumble—

Lu Cang immediately raised a thick wall in front of the bend.

There was a hole in the middle of the wall.

Once the barrier was in place in front of the opening, Lu Cang peered through it to see what lay beyond.

Before him stood a blood-red altar formed from countless streams of blood.

Loth and Maizer hung high above it, suspended by blood-red chains.

Beneath the altar were hundreds of faceless humanoid figures made entirely of blood.

They were bowing before the altar.

At the far end stood a blood-red throne. Seated upon it was a humanoid creature made entirely of blood.

Unlike the countless kneeling [Blood Puppets] below, it was much larger. It wore crimson armor, and a scarlet greatsword rested beside it.

The moment Lu Cang saw it, it opened its hollow, black eyes.

Its gaze met Lu Cang's.

"Looks like we have... a new guest."