READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 67
The Dispatch Headquarters. The Colorful Tower. The Sun Church.
It was unprecedented for the empire’s leadership to gather in one place.
Around a spacious round table sat dozens of individuals.
It was as if they had arranged a gathering of mute people—no sounds were heard.
Only the continuous sighs and murmurs broke the silence, faintly revealing their gloomy sentiments.
The Emperor’s funeral could hardly be more dismal.
In the stillness, the Cardinal turned to the Purple Tower Master and spoke.
“Has there been no word from the Grand Sage yet?”
“…No.”
“Absolutely certain, then.”
The last known moments of the Grand Sage were with the Duke of Astoria.
That Duke of Astoria had become an Undead and now served at the Graves of Faith.
It was a foregone conclusion that the Grand Sage had also turned into a Lich.
Even the Colorful Tower Master, who had been dismissive until now, could no longer deny the truth.
All circumstances pointed to the reality of the Grand Sage’s death.
“Say something.”
The Cardinal’s gaze was fixed on Commander McDmil.
While it wasn’t the time to sort out right from wrong, the responsibility distinctly lay with McDmil.
The root cause was the death of Balmunk. To avenge Balmunk, Wilhelm and the Paladin Order were deployed.
McDmil deeply regretted that decision.
With a heavy sigh that seemed to sink into the ground, the Cardinal wiped his dry face.
It wasn’t just an illusion; he had aged noticeably in the past few days.
“The Four Heroes and the Grand Sage have been entirely slaughtered by that Lucas. The star they boasted about has now slipped away to him. Doesn’t everyone realize? It would be strange not to interpret this as a foreboding of the empire’s destruction.”
“Cardinal, please calm down.”
“Do I look calm to you? We’ve lost both the Solar Sword and the Moonlight Sword. We’ve lost all the grace of Solari! No, it’s not even that—we’ve handed everything over to the Seven Lairs!”
“….”
“Am I wrong to say this? If we continue to suffer like this, humanity will surely face its extinction.”
Agreeing with him would trigger a drop in morale.
Yet, deep down, everyone present quietly concurred with the Cardinal’s words.
The heroes responsible for the empire’s salvation were all dead.
Even the next generation’s hope had turned its back on the empire and sided with the Lairs.
To make matters worse, not only the sacred sword but also the holy relics had fallen into the hands of the Lairs.
The Graves of Faith, ranked seventh among the Lairs.
It was unequivocally clear that the empire was facing imminent collapse against just one dungeon.
“We have no choice but to acknowledge this. Lucas’s curse is coming to fruition.”
That monster from the Seven Lairs was Lucas, the former hero of the empire.
In the minds of those present, Lucas’s curse echoed.
You are not human. You are the offspring of the Lairs. The gods will punish you, humanity.
It was an era where witches had officially been declared humanity’s enemies.
The execution of Lucas, who had sheltered the witches, was the natural order of things.
However, it shouldn’t have happened. Lucas’s death was leading humanity to its doom.
The execution from ten years ago was the root of all misfortune, but regretting it now wouldn’t change anything.
The reason the leaders had gathered was not to identify the cause but to devise countermeasures.
McDmil closed his weary eyes tightly.
“We can no longer cover up our defeat with this extermination.”
Doing so would merely hasten their demise.
In the first place, the elite forces meant to attack the Seven Lairs had been virtually depleted.
“We must prioritize calming the citizens’ unrest.”
“How do you propose we do that?”
“First, you must understand one thing. The citizens are fixated on the fact that we were defeated continuously by the seventh-ranked Lair. If that’s the case, then the rankings above them…”
With the mere presence of the seventh-ranked Lair, humanity was facing extinction.
This meant that even if the graves of faith were resolved, the current crisis of destruction would persist.
As long as the higher-ranked Lairs remained, the citizens would tremble in fear.
Moreover, should they conquer the Graves of Faith, a newborn Lair would emerge.
The empire had been developing continuously, striving to counter that cycle by utilizing the remnants of dungeons.
Through such development, humanity gradually gained strength capable of rivaling the Lairs.
The polarization with the Lairs was slowly narrowing, and they had even attempted to conquer the Hidden Realm.
However, that was merely a delusion.
“There’s talk among the citizens. They say the Lairs treat humanity as mere entertainment. They say that once they grow tired, they’ll wipe out humanity. And that moment is now.”
It might just be true.
If the Seven Lairs wanted to annihilate humanity, it could disappear from history at a moment’s notice.
But they couldn’t simply sit back and take it.
“It’s time for us to do what we can. We must make it known to the world. The Graves of Faith is not actually ranked seventh.”
The Graves of Faith is a unique dungeon.
The rankings of the 72 dungeons are divided across all their powers, but a singular entity belongs solely to the boss’s ranking.
The dungeon they faced was not just Lucas but also encompassed the offspring of the Lairs.
It’s not accurate to say they simply faced the seventh-ranked Lair.
There were clear reasons for that—far from being an easy justification.
“Of course, we cannot suppress the citizens’ anxieties, but things should improve a little.”
Their unrest was focused on the reality that the seventh-ranked Lair was sowing chaos.
If they publicized the rankings by leveraging the singular dungeon, that issue could be somewhat resolved.
“So you’re saying… we should justify our failure?”
The Lair we faced is not ranked seventh.
It was clearly ranked much higher, and thus, our failure was a natural outcome.
Depending on who heard it, it could be interpreted that way.
“Cardinal, it’s not a difficult task. We must start with this small change and devise a strategy going forward.”
“….”
“We need to publicly reannounce the rankings. By assessing the total powers of the dungeon.”
Humanity had merely named the 72 dungeons.
This would be the first time they had arbitrarily reversed and publicized the rankings.
So much so that the Graves of Faith was an outlier Lair—a dungeon with different rules.
The gathered group showed a nod of agreement at McDmil’s proposal.
Naturally, everyone discussed the rankings of the Lairs with a unified resolve.
Before long, a revised ranking was determined by a majority opinion.
It would justify their failure, yet it also represented a rational conclusion due to their acute awareness of the formidable threat.
“Well then, it’s settled. The Graves of Faith, ranked second among the Lairs.”
***
The arbitrary reassignment of the rankings of the 72 dungeons by humanity.
That news reached Roxanne, one of the Lords of the Abyss.
Bang!
The boss room of the Abyss’s Ten Lords erupted with tremendous noise.
A small fist was devastatingly powerful.
With just the sound, one might mistake it for an explosion.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With each punch, treasures were crushed and scattered in the air.
“Insignificant!”
Bang!
“Insects!”
Bang!
“How dare you!”
Bang!
“Are you blind!”
Bang!
Roxanne, having stopped her punches, was panting heavily.
The fact that humans decided on the rankings didn’t alter those numbers.
But it served as evidence that humanity feared the Graves of Faith more than the Ten Lords of the Abyss.
Whoosh!
Roxanne exhaled fire, scattering it everywhere.
As soon as it touched the dark flames, the treasures melted away like ice.
Among them was her cherished amethyst tiara.
“Ah!”
Late to realize, Roxanne dashed over, but the tiara was already entirely melted.
Roxanne stood frozen in shock.
Her expression soon crumpled in dismay.
Bang!
With a single kick, the piled treasures crumbled like a mountain.
Roxanne gaped before the cascading treasures.
Whoosh─!
The dark breath poured out and melted the treasures in an instant.
Roxanne crumbled to the ground in frustration.
“Insignificant beings! Foolish beings! They don’t even know who I am…!”
The rankings of the 72 dungeons are beyond what mere humans can set.
They clearly did not grasp how sensitive the issue of rankings was for the 72 Lords.
Let alone how immense it was for the Lairs.
Even more so, how great a source of pride it was for Roxanne.
…Not just any other Lord, but I have the Death Knight above me.
Bang!
“These fools…!”
Images of the 72 Lords gathering flickered in Roxanne’s mind.
How could a mere seventh-ranked Lord claim they could kill me? Roxanne.
And it hadn’t even been long before these humans started that absurdity.
It was an arbitrary ranking determined by insignificant humans.
There was no reason to be swayed by it, nor room for the emotions of a Lord to be wasted on trifles.
If I had it my way, I would want to kill every human—
“Kill them all!?”
An empire like that was hardly worth my time. The Abyss’s Ten Lords needn’t bother.
Roxanne alone could easily wipe out humanity.
Or perhaps, she wanted to showcase what it truly meant to be the second-ranked.
Boiling with rage, Roxanne suddenly shot up from her seat.
“….”
Before long, she sank back down again.
To approach this on such impulsive emotions.
All the other Lair Lords remained composed, but she was the only one acting rashly.
It gave the appearance of a sole brat being swept up by her emotions.
Dragons are the pinnacle of creation, possessing wise and profound intelligence.
Being swayed by mere emotions was a disgrace to Roxanne as a Dragon.
Realizing this, Roxanne squeezed her eyes shut and quelled her feelings.
The fiery heart inside gradually began to cool.
“For the sake of the pride of the dragon race…”
I am the wise and prudent Dragon Lord.
Among dragons, intelligence is fundamentally a unique possession, Roxanne reminded herself.
“….”
Bang!
The more she thought of it, the more enraged she became.
Could a Dragon really be killed by a mere Death Knight?
That a Dragon Lord visibly existed and yet a Death Knight claimed the second rank.
The pinnacle of creation is a throne only a Dragon can claim.
Just to covet it is utterly outrageous, let alone pass the ranks!
Bang!
The boss of the Abyss’s Ten Lords. The Dragon Lord. The Eternal Dragon.
How could such a pathetic Death Knight dare to breach my dignity in an instant?
“Barugore, you scoundrel…!”
Like an illusion, Barugore’s face appeared before her.
That was where Roxanne punched out.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
For the time being, the Abyss’s Ten Lords were filled only with tremendous sounds.