Chapter 478: The Unexpected Trap 3
‘Chaos Gate, huh? What the h.e.l.l is that?’
The anxiety Ian was feeling from the moment he stepped into the dungeon was still there.
“What is the Chaos Gate?”
“The message wasn’t just for me, right?”
“Yeah, I think it was sent to all the members of the expedition. What could that be?”
“Let’s calm down for a bit. Be careful and cautious while moving.”
The party of the expedition that was going through the dungeon in an aggressive manner started to slow down their pace.
None of them were able to figure out what a Chaos Gate was, and something that was unknown to them was triggered. They had all the more reason to be cautious.
Ian asked the ranker ‘Taipan’ who was at the front of the party.
As he was one of the first ones to discover the dungeon, Ian wanted to get any information he could.
“Hey, Taipan.”
“Uh, yes, Ian?”
“Do you know anything about the Chaos Gate?”
“We… well. This is the first time I’m hearing this as well…”
The first discovery party of the dungeon didn’t try the ‘secret pa.s.sage’ of Falcacio till then.
It was too burdensome for them as they knew that the pa.s.sage led to the castle of Falcacio.
Which was why Ian too didn’t expect much from them, yet he felt a tinge of disappointment in Taipan’s answer.
‘I guess you don’t know anything either. Even now, I want to get some clues…’
Ian still had things he wanted to ask.
“Then by any chance, was there anything unusual now compared to the last time you guys were here?”
“What do you mean?”
“Was there anything different now compared to the last time you cleared this dungeon? Any information you can give me would be helpful.”
In Kailan, there was a special ‘reward’ that one would get for the first discovery and clearing a dungeon.
In most cases, there were rewards like special connected quests or hidden stories appeared in Kailan.
What Ian asked was the same, if he had gotten something of that sort.
“Hm… now that I think about it, there was one thing.”
“Oh, what was it?”
Suddenly all the heads of the expedition users turned in the direction of Ian and Taipan, everyone was looking intently for his next words.
Taipan’s words continued,
“I got a hidden episode after I caught the dragon. It didn’t have any special rewards, and the content itself was so little, so I skipped it.”
After hearing that, Ian’s eyes began to gain a little hope.
“What do you remember about it?”
“Uh, well… it was a story about the underground prison, and how many soldiers of the Devildom were locked up here a long time ago.”
“Is it possible for you to be any more specific?”
“Uhm, well…”
The story that Taipan was saying wasn’t special.
To summarize his story, the underground prison of the Falcacio Castle was first designed to trap the Asmodians of the Devildom during the invasion that happened thousands of years ago.
However, as the northern part of the central continent got sealed by the G.o.ds, the Falcacio Castle became uninhabitable ruins, and the Asmodians inside the prison were forgotten.
It was a natural scenario as they were cut off from the outside world by the power of G.o.d.
Hundreds of years later, the underground prison was rediscovered by the humans who came to explore the northern regions.
However, the prisoners were no longer there.
Somehow, the Asmodians—who were trapped—left the premises without leaving a single trace.
Instead, there was a huge explosion that was left in the prison.
That was the full story.
Ian was puzzled after hearing the story.
“That is it?”
“Yes. And in the last part, the secret pa.s.sage opened. Maybe the next content would have come if I entered.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Ian’s head began to work again.
The information that Ian just heard was in fact something Ian knew about.
‘So this prison was a place where the Asmodians were locked in… What was so special about the Amsodians that they just went up and disappeared? Or the sign of explosion?’
Ian’s eyebrows started to get close.
‘Taipan thinks the next part of the story might come at the end of the dungeon…’
It wasn’t like there was no room a.n.a.logy, but the scope was too vast, which made it tough for Ian to guess or predict.
‘The Asmodian soldiers have disappeared to somewhere only leaving the explosion as a trace. What could the next part of the story be?’
And it wasn’t just Ian who was concerned.
All the rankers were well aware of the fact that Kailan’s content often left clues in each of its little stories.
And while the users of the expedition were trying to use their heads, the party was taking one step after the other.
The progress of the ‘secret pa.s.sage’ of Falcacio had already exceeded 50 percent.
However, after a while, a low voice rang through the whole dungeon.
[How dare you all challenge my authority…?]
[Trivial humans, you will pay the price for your actions!]
The voice was rough and low but heavy and creepy.
Ian heard the whole dungeon resonate, and the voice seemed somewhat familiar.
‘What the? I’m sure I heard this somewhere before…?’
Ian quickly started to recollect, and with his good memory, he remembered who the voice belonged to.
“Ah, Chalian…!”
The King of Undead whom he encountered in the Devildom.
This was the voice of the Lich King Chalian.
After hearing the mumbling of Ian, Shakran asked,
“Chalian? How do you know it is his voice?”
“I met him the other day.”
“What is that supposed to…?”
The answer from Ian wasn’t welcomed by Shakran, but Shakran couldn’t ask questions anymore.
The situation inside the dungeon began to change drastically.
Kung- Kung- Kung!
From behind the expedition, a huge roar started to come.
“What is that? Our retreat is blocked!”
“What? This was a trap?”
“Dammit!”
The secret pa.s.sage that the party went through got blocked by huge piles of stones.
“…!”
Even Shakran who normally doesn’t get shaken in such conditions was completely shaken at the turn of events.
Only Ian who had foreseen this situation to some extent was the only one maintaining a minimum level of calmness.
‘Even if we overcome this trap, will we be able to continue?’
He was keen to deal with the situation that was to come.
Successive system messages started to appear in front of Ian’s eyes.
[Chaos Gate has been opened.]
[The charging of Chaos Gate has started now.]
Woong-!
With a huge resonance emerging from the center of the dungeon, a blood-red colored smoke started to bloom.
It gradually started to take some form.
The system messages continued.
[Certain conditions have been met.]
[‘Sudden quest’ has been created.]
[‘Destroy the Chaos Gate’ quest will be initiated.]
An unexpected quest window came up in front of the eyes of Ian, who was trying to find a solution.
– – –
Destroy the Chaos Gate (Hidden) (Sudden)
You have succeeded in conquering the underground prison and in discovering the ‘secret pa.s.sage’ that was hidden inside of it.
The hidden underground pa.s.sage was built hundreds of years ago leading to the castle grounds of the Falcacio.
But in the process of going through the underground, a huge problem arose.
The Chaos Gate, which was asleep in the secret pa.s.sage, began to work somehow.
The Chaos Gate is a dimensional portal created by the Asmodian soldiers of the Devildom who had been trapped in the underground as a means to return to their Devildom dimension.
It is still unknown why the dimensional portal has begun to work again, but if the gates are left open, the Asmodians and monsters of the Devildom will pa.s.s through.
Hurry up and destroy the Chaos Gate to avoid the worst outcome.
If the Chaos Gate is successfully destroyed before getting fully charged, the magical beasts, monsters, and Asmodians won’t be able to get out.
Quest difficulty: SSSS
Quest Condition:
Creation of a quest of ‘Chaos Gate’ while attacking the ‘secret pa.s.sage’ of Falcacio.
Remaining time until the Choas Gate activates: 19 minutes, 59 seconds
Destroy the Chaos Gate to complete the quest.
Reward:
Unknown
Rewards may vary according to the user.
* Those who read the quest couldn’t help but feel much more fl.u.s.tered.
* * *
“Kukuku, you’ll surely be fl.u.s.tered. Even though you are Ian, there is no way you wouldn’t get fl.u.s.tered.”
While looking at the wide TV screen, Na Ji-chan couldn’t help laugh out loud.
Na Ji-chan was never this happy when watching the recent broadcasts of Kailan.
He wanted to monitor the pain that Ian would experience from it.
His heart fluttered whenever Ian displayed anomalous behavior. He always felt like his heart was being pierced.
“Yeah, shouldn’t Ian G.o.d experience failure at least once?”
For Na Ji-chan, Ian was a lovable being.
As a fan, he had infinite respect and affection for him, but as a planner, he was a terrible content destroyer.
Which was why, in the mind of Na Ji-chan, his support for Ian as well as his desire for Ian to fail coexisted.
‘Huhu, this wouldn’t have happened if you’d not have done the public announcement…’
Na Ji-chan was looking at the movements of the rankers of the Devildom along with that of the human world.
Because of that, he understood the situation perfectly than anyone else.
‘Thanks to that stupid Emily and Carwin, you fell into the trap.’
The Chaos Gate must remain active for the trap to work, and as also mentioned in the quest conditions of the quest window.
Maybe the party of Ian could be thinking that the Chaos Gate was working as they broke through the dungeon.
However, the reality was different.
The Chaos Gate’s operation was connected to the quest done my the Asmodians, and not due to the humans.
In other words, the rankers who were in the process of doing the quests in the Devildom were able to grasp the whole situation in real-time because of the videos given by YTBC’s broadcast. The Chaos Gate would then be activated then trap the users.
Then how would the siege have gone if the announcement wasn’t made public?
‘Maybe the expedition would’ve never entered the secret pa.s.sage.’
Normally, the rankers of the Devildom were supposed to operate the Chaos Gate a few days earlier, and the secret pa.s.sage should have already been closed by the time the expedition reached Falcacio Castle.
However, as the expedition’s actions were exposed on the TV broadcast, the Devildom users could use the trap.
“Kay then, how long will the expedition last? should I try guessing it?”
Maybe if Ian, no, Ian, and all the best rankers had to prevent the many legions of the undead before the Chaos Gate got activated.
But in the end, the gate would be forced to work, and the rankers of the Devildom were all as powerful as the elites of Lotus and t.i.tan.
“Even if they all overcome it… it will be pointless.”
Na Ji-chan had a menacing smile on his face while watching the broadcast once again.
The broadcast was now getting much more interesting for him.