I Drifted North

~

The Northern Undead Asylum is a place where the Living Dead are not only much stronger than those in other places, but even the gates are much thicker.

It took Hervey and a few other members of the Sparkfire Church to barely push him away.

Incidentally, the people led by Hervey call themselves "Starfire Knight," a title seemingly created to rival the Holy Light Knight of the Holy Light Church. Almost all of them are Sun Warrior.

To everyone's surprise, after pushing open the door, there was a much larger courtyard behind it.

It was a square courtyard that felt perfect for playing a free-for-all invading game, with entrances to adjacent buildings on both sides.

Directly opposite them was a doorway that was wide open without any doors blocking its view.

My gaze traveled through the narrow doorway toward the blue sky and white clouds, only to be abruptly cut off.

Because at the very end, there is a cliff.

A cliff piled high with huge bird nests?

Would the Living Dead guards here allow bird-like monsters to nest here? Aren't they afraid of threatening their safety?

"Isn't there simply no way to go?" Todd couldn't help but say.

"No, no, no, the real show is just beginning!"

Hervey suddenly revealed a knowing look in his eyes, and casually snapped his fingers as if giving some kind of signal.

The Starfire Knight received the signal and began to speak, each pointing to the courtyard and saying a sentence.

One of them pointed to the side doors on both sides and said, "See those iron bars on those two doors? They'll come down when we get there. That's what the iron bars are for!"

One of them pointed to the doorway that had no access control at all and said, "Don't be fooled by the fact that there's nothing there. When we go over there in a while, Fog Gate will definitely rise up. I just don't know if it will be white or yellow."

Another person pointed to the slightly sunken courtyard ground and said, "Look, it's made of bricks and it's sunken. What does that mean? It means that as soon as we walk over it, the whole ground will collapse!"

Finally, Hervey concluded the conversation, confidently tossing his cloak and saying:

"When we fall, we'll encounter the most troublesome enemy here, at least an Elite Monsters!"

Todd blinked blankly.

These people were silent while walking just now, so why did they suddenly become so excited when they started talking about the dungeon?

He could only force a smile and say, "You guys know quite a lot, huh?"

"That's right, we've all been playing in the Zane Dungeon for a very, very long time. I started playing right when Lake Liurnia was released. How about that, pretty experienced, huh?"

"Tch~ I entered Sein around the time the Farron Keep appeared. I participated in the campaign against the demons who invaded Val City, and I even teamed up with the current leader of the Farron Guard!"

"If we're talking about age, none of you are as old as me. I went in during the first mutation of Sain. Who's older than me?"

"Smack!"

Hervey snapped his fingers again, and the people who had been arguing fell silent, returning to their usual quiet state.

This amazing move left Todd speechless.

"They get so excited about the dungeons that they can't stop talking about it, so to avoid getting in the way, they use my snap as a signal. They stop as soon as I snap my fingers," Hervey shrugged.

"When we've achieved success and no longer need to do this kind of serious work, we'll definitely get together and have a good chat for a whole year."

Your words sound like you're planting a flag; it's a bit ominous.

As Hervey turned around and beckoned everyone to walk toward the courtyard, Todd couldn't help but follow. The thought of the ground collapsing next made him a little scared, and he regretted not learning to Flight Spell.

When they walked into the courtyard.

"Boom--"

The ground rumbled, but this was not because the brick and stone floor was about to collapse.

It was because a huge figure descended from the sky!

Because everyone predicted that the ground would collapse, they tried to avoid the center. Fortunately, they were not hit by the giant fat figure that fell from the sky. However, the figure suddenly swung a big club in its hand and swept a group of people away!

Only then did people realize that what appeared before them was a monster that looked somewhat familiar.

The Asylum Demon

With its green skin, bulging body, and an ugly head that's almost unbearable to look at, this thing perfectly fits people's stereotypes of demons.

In the Roguelike stages of the Zane Dungeon, this guy sometimes appears as Elite Monsters, so it's not surprising that Starfire Knight have seen him before.

"Damn it, didn't any of us even look up?"

Hervey was swept away by the Asylum Demon's club, looked up at the sky. He guessed that the Asylum Demon was standing on the high city wall opposite, waiting for them to walk into his trap. He stood where everyone had just pushed open the gate, so his figure could be hidden.

But if they just looked up even slightly after they came out, they would have seen it!

Have adventurers never looked up since ancient times?

"Thump! Thump!"

The sound of heavy objects hitting the ground came from both sides of the courtyard. The gates on both sides were being closed, and the iron bars fell heavily as they had expected.

The gate and entrance they had come through were now blocked by rising white smoke, turning into a white Fog Gate that hadn't been seen in a long time. A feeling of nostalgia welled up in Hervey's heart; he hadn't been to the Zane Dungeon in a long time, nor had he seen a white Fog Gate.

However, the next second, this feeling of nostalgia was smashed apart by a large club that was swung over.

"Boom!"

The massive club slammed into the ground, shaking the entire courtyard. He managed to dodge it before it hit him. A speed-enhancing spell landed on him just as he had dodged it. He was about to see which of his men was so slow when he realized it was Todd.

"Thanks." He nodded to the other party in thanks, then raised his fist, covered in iron armor, and smashed it into the stomach of the Asylum Demon.

"Duang~"

The moment the fist collided with the stomach, it seemed to produce a very strange sound.

Suddenly, a burst of elastic force propelled Hervey into the air, where he crashed directly into the iron fence of the side gate.

He was stunned for a moment.

"What's going on?"

The Asylum Demon he had fought before didn't have such a Big Stomach Clan; in fact, their stomachs were their weak points.

Todd had already run far away by this time, while the Starfire Knight surrounded the Asylum Demon, preparing for an attack. Their stances were quite impressive, indicating that they had been trained.

The Asylum Demon are clearly the type that are incredibly strong and can fly like bricks. When facing organized adventurers, this type of monster often exhibits a common characteristic—recklessness!

With great difficulty, it leaped up using its thick legs, turning its own weight into a weapon to smash into the Starfire Knight opposite it.

This move was very slow and of course could not hit its target, but it caused a huge earthquake when it landed, and people who were close by swayed and lost their balance.

In that instant, it swung its massive club with speed far exceeding what its size should allow, and it looked as if it was about to smash the nearest person into a bloody pulp.

But the person's figure vanished in an instant, turning into smoke. In the blink of an eye, Hervey pulled him aside.

The technique he just used was the Weapon Skill [Hound Step]!

"Fortunately, I took the time to learn the Hound Step; this Weapon Skill is still so powerful."

He turned to look at the Asylum Demon, waved his hand, and shouted:

"Superior!"

At Hervey's command, the scattered Starfire Knight charged forward in an orderly fashion to fight, relying solely on their own bodies as weapons.

This is the first time an adventurer has had their weapon confiscated in the Zane Dungeon; most people would be at a loss in such a situation.

As Starfire Knight had already participated in the war, they found some things that could be used as weapons, such as bricks pried off the walls and pieces of excrement picked up after killing the Living Dead Soldier.

They specifically threw it into the mouth of the Asylum Demon!

As expected, the Asylum Demon was enraged by the group of humanoid "Peach Hair Beast." He swung his club wildly, causing the entire courtyard to tremble violently. Todd, far away, was trembling so badly that he could barely stand.

The Starfire Knight displayed surprisingly high combat skills at this time.

Surprisingly, they were all agile Warrior. Hervey's Hound Step was already quite impressive, and although the others were not as skilled as him, they had mastered the lower-level Shattered Step. In addition, with the speed-up magic that Todd had cast on everyone before the battle, dealing with the Undead Asylum Demon, whose moves were mostly slow and clumsy, was a piece of cake.

Unfortunately, with their weapons confiscated, the Sun Warrior were unable to use their standard thunder spears; otherwise, the battle should have ended much sooner.

The only downside to using weapons and equipment from the Zane Dungeon to unleash Weapon Skill and magic is that if you don't learn and master them, losing your weapon is equivalent to losing your character.

Even a mage of Todd's caliber could still throw out some weakened spells as an emergency measure after losing his wand.

As the battle dragged on, the situation on the battlefield changed.

People get tired. After relying on their high mobility to hold off the Asylum Demon for a while, the Starfire Knight finally felt powerless because...

"After fighting for so long, have we really caused any harm to the other side?"

Starfire Knight looked at the Asylum Demon's still "smooth and intact" skin and couldn't help but utter a sound of existential doubt.

This monster is ridiculously fleshy!

That's right, not hard, but fleshy! So much fat it forms a perfect protective layer, greatly reducing the effectiveness of blunt force like a punch!

"We need stronger weapons. Even if it's just a broken sword, I can still take him down." Hervey gritted his teeth.

The fatigue of the group intensified every second, while the Asylum Demon seemed to have inexhaustible energy. Its attacks, which had previously seemed harmless, now appeared increasingly dangerous and were gradually becoming unmanageable.

"We're doomed, we're doomed again!"

Todd had been using some offensive magic to help him from the beginning, but without his staff, the power was too weak. It was a little stronger than his fist, but only slightly stronger. His mana was almost exhausted!

At this extremely dangerous moment, he suddenly heard an unusual noise from the side. He turned around to look, puzzled.

"It's you!" he couldn't help but exclaim.

He saw the High Knight of Astora had previously given him the key in the cell.

It was inside a side door that was closed with iron bars!

The knight waved to him, which somehow triggered a mechanism that opened the iron gate!

"Everyone, we can run through the side door now!" Todd shouted immediately and was the first to run towards the side door.

Seeing that the Asylum Demon was still entangled with the group, the knight rushed out of the side door and threw a Flame Pot at the demon. The explosive heat immediately caused the Asylum Demon to roar in pain.

"Great, very intense!" Hervey couldn't help but praise.

The unnamed High Knight of Astora nodded to them, then turned and ran into the side door.

Taking advantage of the moment when the Asylum Demon was burned, the people seized the opportunity to run towards the side door, and in the end, they all rushed in safely.

The Asylum Demon slammed its giant club against the side door, but the building seemed incredibly sturdy; even it couldn't break through the walls.

Rushing through the side gate and running a little further, Hervey saw something that brought back fond memories.

That was the long-awaited campfire!

He rushed over and lit it. The familiar warmth emanated from the flames, and the clamor brought by the Asylum Demon was instantly replaced by the crackling sound of the campfire, bringing a sense of immense peace.

People immediately sat down around the campfire to rest. The space was a bit cramped, and those who sat down squeezed each other's shoulders, otherwise they wouldn't be able to see the flames.

"The person who opened the door for us just now, was he the one who gave you the key?" Hervey asked Todd.

"Yes, I didn't expect that I still couldn't catch up with him this time," Todd said regretfully.

"I have a feeling he'll become our helper on this adventure, at least we'll get some good stuff." The Starfire Knight to Hervey's left had an "I understand" look on his face.

"You know everything now? Who was it that just said the ground would collapse? Did you even look up at the sky?" said the person to Hervey's right.

"You didn't see it either, and you're still criticizing me? If you hadn't almost thrown that piece of shit in my face just now, I would have smashed a brick into the monster's head."

"Ha, I threw it wrong because you didn't follow instructions?"

The two leaned back awkwardly, forcefully bumping their shoulders together, just like children having a tiff.

"Can we stop arguing? We're all adults who've experienced war," Hervey said helplessly, acting as a mediator.

So the two of them started to shove his shoulder together, united in their hatred.

Finally, as they squeezed together, all the Starfire Knight who had formed a circle began to huddle together, chatting and laughing, as if it were some kind of mysterious ritual.

"I don't understand how you guys can still laugh at a time like this," the frail magician Todd could only complain, having been forced to squeeze in the middle.

It's clear that these people from the Sparkfire Church have a very good relationship with each other.

But being in such an atmosphere, Todd would only feel very uncomfortable.

Once they had rested, the people got up and set off. The Asylum Demon were still guarding outside, so the only place they could go was inside the building, which was accessible through the side door.

At this moment, a piece of advice left by an unknown person appeared on the ground in front of the road that everyone had to pass.

With the warehouse ahead, it's time to reclaim the weapons.

"It must have been left by that knight!" Todd actually seemed a little happy, without even realizing it himself.

"That person must be a Sun Warrior," the Starfire Knight said.

"It's a bit like the first time I saw Solaire. Does the Zane Dungeon have a penchant for preserving the remnants of noble ancient figures?" Hervey muttered to himself, stroking his chin. Suddenly, he clapped his hands and said:

"If I actively help others here, will Sain leave behind my afterimage in the future?"

"It's impossible no matter how you look at it."

Todd muttered something under his breath, thinking the idea was a bit far-fetched, and turned to walk towards the area marked as a warehouse at the corner ahead.

Less than a second later, he ran back from around the corner, his face deathly pale.

"What's wrong?" Hervey looked at him, puzzled.

"Black, black"

Todd was so frightened that his teeth chattered.

"The Black Knight!"