Jinwoo had warned Go Gun-Hee that the second dungeon wasn't going to hold longer than twenty-four hours before a dungeon break occurs.
There simply wasn't enough time to sit down and think of a plan. They needed to act fast, for the safety of the country.
Wasting no time, Go Gun-Hee started to arrange an emergency raid on the dungeon, gathering all the offensive and defensive support he could get.
And one of his major targets was none other than the retired S-rank healer, Byung Jin.
… …
Night had fallen and Minho was still inside the red gate. Though inside, a day had already passed.
They cleared wave after wave of elven armies and it finally calmed down.
Minho and his court decided to rest in a deep part of the forest. Though the cold was harsh, it wasn't enough to bother a couple of dragons.
Rathalos had started a fire for Minho and the others brought logs to sit on.
Minho watched the fireplace in front of him, the dancing flames casting an orange glow over his face, but his mind was somewhere else.
Deep down, something was quite unsettling for him. He gained all this power, he became a Monarch, he has an army waiting somewhere, he is about to avenge his predecessor, but he still felt something missing.
He expected the Tale of Antares to tell him everything. Maybe it did. It told him all 'he' needed to know, not all there was to know.
He had one lingering question.
Who made the system?
It was a thought he couldn't get off his head and he needed the answers badly.
He decided to shrug it off for today and focus on what was in front of him at the moment. That's when he realized Vasha and Eslin hade prepared a makeshift bed with the clothes from the elves.
"My Liege, why don't you rest here?" Vasha said to him with a smile.
"Mm." Minho nodded. He walked over to the bed and laid down, while the others sat by Kamish.
The morning came in no time and what Minho woke up to was the stench of blood as several elven corpses lay on the ground.
Minho sat up and crossed his legs. Eslin, Rathalos and Kamish were gone, but he could hear the noise from their battle, wherever it was they were.
He saw Vasha molding Bihami into a blade and testing it out.
Vasha turned, noticing Minho was now awake she stood up, letting the slime return to its normal form. "Morning, My Liege," she greeted.
Minho nodded, snapping his neck. After stretching, he started walking towards the path that led to the mountains. "Let's go."
"Eh? My Liege, where are you going?" Vasha asked, quickly falling into step behind him.
"I'm tired of this place already. If they're going to keep on sending mini ambushes, we're going to take the fight to them instead," Minho replied with a deadpan expression.
"Should I call the others?" Vasha asked. "You don't really have to work yourself, My Liege."
Minho didn't say a word, he just summoned Dragon Fang and tossed it to Vasha. "You like using weapons?"
Vasha caught the dagger, her eyes glimmering. "Y-yes, thank you, my Liege."
Minho nodded and said nothing.
Eventually, they arrived at the mountains. The trees gave way to a plain field of snow. There were three cave entrances as well.
"Come out. All of you," Minho said with a leveled tone. "There's no need to hide if I know you're here, is there?" he added.
Nothing happened.
"I know you all can here me," he muttered. "Tch, why do I even care. I'm killing you all anyways." He extended his hand, pointing his palm at one of the cave entrances.
A small flame orb started to form in front of his palm.
[Annihilate Activated!]
The orb warped out of existence. There was nothing for a split second, then a monstrous beam of flames exploded from his palm, entering the cave.
When the beam died down, Minho could feel as if something was taken from within him.
'Ah, so even after becoming a Monarch, it remains a high risk, high reward skill. What even happens when I run out of life force? Death,' Minho thought.
Then the system screen appeared.
[Achievement! Massacred 100+ enemies in a single attack!
• Reward:
- Level 91]
"Hah? So this is what it meant?" Minho muttered.
After a few seconds, the elves from the other caves started to emerge.
Minho scoffed. "What? I thought you were all playing deaf there? Or did I wake you guys from your sleep just now?"
From both sides yetis started to emerge. Then suddenly, there was a mana spike from behind.
"Huh?" Minho glanced over his shoulder to see a small group of elves. "Hey, now we're talking," he said, turning fully.
These elves had a deeper blue skin and were extremely stronger than the others. These were the kind of elves he saw in the wars.
The leading elf had a scar on its forehead, stretching diagonally down to its cheek. And despite the power gap among the group and the normal ones, its mana release was still greater.
There was no arguing it was the dungeon boss.
If there was mistakenly a dungeon break, humanity was going to be doomed. With or without these particular elves.
"Ah, sorry to keep you waiting, young dragon," the elven leader said, its deep voice carrying across.
"Young dragon?" Minho's brows furrowed in annoyance. "Who the hell's been spreading that? The gray-head or the werewolf?"
The elf ignored Minho's question. "I see, you have quite the companion there."
Minho started to hear noise and he turned to see Vasha already dismantling elves from one of the caves.
The dagger made her look more like an invincible assassin than a person who fights with toxins. For a dragon without flames, she sure did have a lot in her arsenal.
Minho smiled a little and turned to the elven leader. "The other elves are too weak. Promise me this will be an interesting fight."