Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!

—Two Days Later, 3rd Person POV—

Having received an alarm when Leon broke through the Dutchman's barrier, Nicholas immediately put a gag order in place to prevent widespread panic. Assuming that the guild's representative at the outpost had abandoned their post, as their predecessor had, he did not feel the need to review the issue further. Pushing the matter to the back of his mind, Nicholas had almost forgotten about it when a messenger arrived from the palace four days later for him.

"Good Morning, Guildmaster Nicholas Hendrickson.", the messenger said, producing a summons from his messenger bag, "The palace has requested an audience with you."

"They want to see me immediately about something?", Nicholas inquired, reviewing the letter for details, "Is something the matter? They are a bit vague about the reasoning behind this summons. If I need to bring documents or materials, I must know here and now to avoid wasting their time."

Understanding the Guildmaster's concern, the messenger took a moment to confirm no one from the general public was around before answering.

"The palace has been made aware that the barrier that seals off the Flying Dutchman's Dungeon has been broken. The Cabinet Ministers and several prominent noblemen are currently discussing the matter at the palace.", the messenger explained, "The King and Queen are concerned that the Adventurer's Guild have not made a formal notice to them or made an effort to investigate the matter further. While the King and Queen believe there is a reasonable explanation…some noblemen are calling for your removal and instating someone loyal to the country."

'Marquess Frampton is the one instigating this, I just know! He has been trying to remove me since I took this position.', Nicholas thought, "Very well, let me grab my coat and I will go with you to the palace. Marcey, please look after things while I am out…"

Having listened to the conversation, the Lead Receptionist understood what she needed to do. Nodding her head in acknowledgment, she promptly closed her station and went to the backroom. Leaving the matter to her, Nicholas retrieved his coat and left with the messenger. Stepping onto the main road, the messenger flagged down a carriage and told the coachman where they needed to go. Boarding the carriage in a hurry, the driver quickly got underway.

"Based on your explanation, I assume the palace is in chaos then?", Nicholas inquired, focusing on the messenger.

"Very much so, everyone is scrambling to form a plan to deal with a potential Monster Stampede. Half of the nobles present want to evacuate the citizens and make a defensive line here in the capital. The other half are convinced that a full frontal assault is our best course of action.", the messenger answered, "All that said, you seem oddly calm given the potential massacre coming our way. Is there something going on that you have not shared with the Crown?"

"As I have often reported to the Crown, we have trouble keeping staff at our remote outposts. The younger staff members tend to run off after a while as it can be quite boring just sitting there day in and day out.", Nicholas explained, "About four days ago a young adventurer set out to conquer the dungeon. Based on his ship's speed, he would have been walking into the dungeon roughly when it went off."

"You are saying it was likely the adventurer who triggered the alarm?", the messenger clarified.

"Yes.", Nicholas acknowledged.

Understanding the situation better now, the messenger was curious about who the young adventurer was. The last group to challenge the dungeon did so eighty years ago, and that party of twelve came back as a party of four. Thinking about that group, a realization hit the messenger like a sack of potatoes.

"Wait a moment, did you say a young adventurer…as in a single person?!", the messenger gasped, "A Rank 5 dungeon is far too dangerous for a person to challenge alone!! You are insane for allowing them to do something that dangerous, or you truly hated the person for some reason."

"He had his reasons for acting alone, namely because his love was sold into slavery and he needed money to save her.", Nicholas remarked, "There was no time to form a party, and it was not like anyone would have joined him anyway. I tested him before allowing him to go, I can say with absolute certainty that if anyone can clear the dungeon it is him."

Feeling the certainty in his tone, the messenger was even more curious about the identity of the man in question. Leaving the matter there, as they were drawing near the palace, the messenger handed payment to the coachman through the window and disembarked as soon as they arrived. Rushing past the guards at the gate, the men promptly made their way to the throne room where the talks were being held. Hearing the nobles bickering with one another as they approached, Nicholas regretted not staying in bed today.

"Your plans are far too risky, Malcolm. A full frontal assault on the dungeon would cost us thousands of men and potentially add more fuel to the Monster Stampede.", Duke Redgrave stated, "We should focus on hardening our defenses here, and evacuating civilians far from the front lines. Your plan leaves the capital defenseless if the front lines are breached."

"So you say, but your plans are equally dangerous.", Marquess Frampton countered, "There is a chance that the monsters will simply go around us and target neighboring noble territories. If we surround the dungeon and contain the monsters, our forces may be able to prevent widespread damage. I agree that we will lose many men, but it is a necessary sacrifice."

Entering the room amidst the heated debates, Roland and Mylene perked up when they saw Nicholas. Commanding those present to silence themselves, the Royals looked to Nicholas hoping he could settle this discussion. Kneeling before the throne, the Guildmaster greeted the King and Queen with a respectful bow. Feeling Defense Minister Marquess Frampton's gaze fall on him, Malcolm's disgust for him was clear as day.

"Good Morning, King Roland and Queen Mylene. I have come at your request to speak on the happenings at the Flying Dutchman's Dungeon.", Nicholas stated.

"It is good to see you, Hendrickson, do you have any-", Queen Mylene began to say before Malcolm interjected.

"You traitorous pig, why has the Adventurer's Guild not done anything to prepare for the Monster Stampede?!", Marquess Frampton criticized him.

"Malcolm, do not interrupt me when I am speaking.", Queen Mylene commanded, hiding her disdain for the Marquess, "As I was saying, do you have any information on what is happening at the dungeon? The Adventurer's Guild has an outpost on the island, hopefully, the representative there has relayed what is happening back to you."

"Unfortunately, Your Grace, I have not received any information from the man we had posted there. I have my suspicions that he abandoned his post like the last few representatives have.", Nicholas informed everyone, "Working in isolated, remote locations takes a toll on the young, inexperienced representatives we position at our outposts. We have attempted to use older, seasoned representatives, but none of them would dare take their families to such dangerous locations."

Having heard Nicholas report this many times, no one was surprised by the information. The Flying Dutchman's Dungeon was known for wreaking havoc on the minds of those who passed by on ships. Being forced to live there full-time would subject those poor souls to untold mental trauma which was why they never pursued them for abandoning their posts.

"If that is the case, why has the guild not sent a team to investigate the barrier being destroyed?", Duke Redgrave asked, "The dungeon's proximity to our nation's capital and vital trade routes should have made it an emergency priority for the guild to look into."

"I am well aware and under normal circumstances, I would have led the team personally to investigate the situation. That said, there is a reason I did not send anyone to look into it or report the incident to the palace. The same day the barrier was taken down, a young man went to the dungeon to conquer it.", Nicholas explained, "Based on the speed of his ship and when he left, he would have been trying to enter the dungeon at the same time the barrier was destroyed."

"You mean a team of adventurers, right?", Earl Arclight corrected him.

"No, the young man entered the dungeon alone for the sake of someone near and dear to him.", Nicholas acknowledged.

Hearing his words, everyone in the room went silent. Unable to comprehend why someone would do something so suicidal, no one could come up with anything to say about it. After a few minutes of silence, Mylene spoke up wanting to know who this brave soul was and what sort of problem their loved one faced. As stupid as it may be, the thought that someone would risk their life in such a dangerous place made her heart skip a beat.

"Guildmaster Nicholas, who is the young man in question, and what would make them face certain death alone?", Mylene asked.

"Leon Fou Bartfort is the one who went to challenge the dungeon alone.", Nicholas said, unable to avoid telling them now, "He decided to challenge the dungeon to earn money to save the woman he wanted to marry. Due to the actions of his stepmother, Zola Fou Bartfort, his love was forcibly sold into slavery as retribution for Leon's actions several years ago. He soundly defeated his eldest brother, Rutart Fou Bartfort, in a duel and she has held a grudge since then."

"You let the Holfort Prodigy go into that dungeon alone for such a stupid reason!?", Malcolm roared, almost jumping out of his seat, "The boy is too young to understand what love is, this wench is a passing interest at best. As a representative of our nation, you should have made him comprehend this and leave things as they were. Assuming he met her in his father's territory, she was already far below his station. Once he is older, the best she could have been is a concubine for the boy."

"Marquess Frampton, Leon was insistent on going whether I approved it or not. Before letting him go, I challenged him to duel to try and dissuade him from going. That boy is not only an intellectual genius, he is also an immeasurable powerful fighter and magician. He is capable of using Grandmaster Level Magic and his martial arts talent is second to none.", Nicholas stated, "As much as it pains me to say it, even going all out against him, I could not land a single blow on him. He defeated me in less than a minute…"

Perking up at this revelation, several nobles began talking amongst themselves. As the strongest active adventurer in the nation, the fact Leon defeated him so quickly and easily meant there was more to him than they initially assumed.

"Then you expect him to be able to clear the dungeon alone?", Duke Redgrave questioned.

"Not only that, I could sense that he is nowhere close to reaching the peak of his potential. If I may be so bold, he may be our answer to the Principalities' Black Knight once he matures a few more years.", Nicholas added.

Having fought on the frontlines against the Principality several decades ago, Nicholas understood how dangerous the Black Knight was. The only way the Kingdom could stop him on the battlefield was by overwhelming numbers, and even then countless brave men died pushing him back. Even though he was nearing retirement now, no one doubted that he still posed a threat.

"Given this new information, we can put our defense plans on hold for now. In the meantime, we need to get eyes on the dungeon and monitor for any changes.", Mylene stated, looking at her husband, "Do you agree, dear?"

"Absolutely, at the very least, we need to maintain the appearance that everything is under control in the event the public becomes aware of the barrier's disappearance.", Roland agreed, "Mylene, please also look into Zola Fou Bartfort as well. Retribution for the results of duels is strictly forbidden after all."

Agreeing with Roland, Mylene excused herself to prepare a meeting with her.

"I consider this matter closed, for now. Duke Redgrave and Marquess Frampton, I leave monitoring the island to the two of you. Guildmaster Nicholas, please keep several of your strongest adventurer parties on standby in case we need them.", King Roland said, rising from his throne, "No one is to utter a word spoken here today, is that clear? We will reconvene once Leon has returned from the dungeon."

Acknowledging the King's orders, the nobles quickly left the room and vacated the palace. Following right behind him, Nicholas wanted to get to the bottom of where the information leak had come from.

'I will not tolerate insubordination in my ranks. Adventurers rely on us to keep quiet about any information they give us in the strictest of confidence. The fact this got out means other details may have also been leaked.', Nicholas thought, hailing another carriage, 'I need to get this under control before Leon comes back. If our enemies realize a twelve year old boy cleared a Rank 5 dungeon, they will attempt to seduce him or assassinate him.'

—Leon POV—

Flying down the stairs from the ninety-ninth floor, the Dungeon Boss' Door greeted me as I stepped onto the one-hundredth floor. Looking up at the monolithic-sized orichalcum door, an image of the legendary Kraken was carved into it.

"Well, it is safe to assume what the Dungeon Boss is.", I said, looking at the time on my HUD, "Since we did not use the missile launcher, we have plenty of firepower to obliterate it. So long as it does not fly…it should be over with fairly quickly."

<Agreed, your armaments are sufficient to deal with the creature.>

Deciding to skip eating, as I was not hungry, I retrieved a bottle of water from my Item Box and quickly drank it. Hoping to enjoy a warm meal and bath tonight, I stepped forward putting my hands on the door to push it open. Applying a bit of pressure to it, the world around me suddenly shifted unnaturally. Before I knew what had happened, I found myself on a large, old ship in the middle of a raging hurricane. Feeling the wind and rain rip around me, Jarvis kicked on the exterior lights to illuminate my surroundings.

"Son of a bitch, this is a new one for me!", I said, "Jarvis, can you do something about the noise? I can barely hear myself think!"

<On it>

Almost completely muting out the noise from the storm, I turned my attention toward where I was. Using lightning strikes to view past where my lights could reach, there did not appear to be any land anywhere in sight. As I looked around, two gargantuan tentacles rose out of the water and quickly slammed onto the boat. Feeling the ship creak under my feet, I had Jarvis activate my thrusters to get me airborne. Climbing to around a hundred feet or so, a lightning strike nearby revealed the Kraken under the boat.

"Now that is big squid! It has to be almost two hundred feet in size!", I gasped, stunned by the size of the beast, "Jarvis, will the missiles work underwater?"

<Yes, give me a moment to adjust them for depth charging>

"Thank you.", I said.

Once he gave me the all-clear, I launched two anti-tank missiles into the water. A few moments after they entered the water, a massive explosion shot a fountain of water into the sky forcing the monster into the open air. Locking its two huge eyes on me, the beast whipped its smaller tentacles out of the water and attempted to swat me out of the sky. Quickly evading its strikes, I flew higher to get more altitude.

"Alright Jarvis, charge the Unibeam!", I told him, "I am going to blast that overgrown seafood dish into oblivion!"

<Charging Unibeam, please standby sir>

Stopping my ascent around five hundred feet and waited for the charging to complete. While I hovered there, a lightning bolt struck my back causing my suit to flicker as the power system absorbed the electricity.

<Power Reserves at six hundred percent. Unibeam is ready to fire.>

"Haha, alright then. Thank you Thor!", I chuckled, putting the suit into a nosedive.

Dropping to three hundred feet, I went spread eagle and took aim at the Kraken. Using the next lightning flash to confirm its current location beside the ship, I fired the Unibeam at full power. Bathing the area in a blinding flash of light, the Unibeam effortlessly cut straight through the monster's head killing it instantly. Swooping in and collecting the corpse, I flew back onto the ship expecting a treasure chest to appear so I could leave.

"Ugh…it has been real fun to do this solo, but I enjoy teaming up with Lucoa and Roxanne more. No offense Jarvis, I prefer the company of women over men.", I chuckled.

<Sir, I hate to spoil your mood but I am detecting several anomalies at the bow of the vessel>

"At the bow?", I repeated, turning to look in that direction, "I do not see…"

As I was about to finish that sentence, several lanterns suddenly illuminated the deck revealing it in more detail. Noticing coral and sea life attached all over the place, all the ropes and sails were covered in a slimy, green substance that looked like algae. Slowly walking up the stairs from the lower deck, a large group of people stared at me with lifeless eyes. Noticing that they were all wearing typical adventurer's gear, a few people in particular drew my attention. Recognizing the disintegrating emblem affixed to their chest, they all belonged to the First King's Adventurer Party.

'Oh, this is not good…', I thought, sizing the group up, 'Are they the Bonus Boss?'

"Move aside!", a voice commanded, making the group part like the Red Sea for Moses, "So yer the one to awaken me from my slumber."

Stepping into the light, the feared Davy Jones looked me dead in the eyes as his tentacle face wriggled around suspiciously. Uncomfortable with this turn of events, it disgusted me that he was using the corpses of those who had fallen here to make up his crew. 

"Yeah, I am the one who inadvertently did so…my apologies.", I said, "I suspect that you are the Bonus Boss, Davy?"

"Aye, yer in my dungeon after all.", he laughed, mildly amused with me, "Yer the first to reach this floor, congratulations. Enjoy it while you can, boy, soon you will be joining these men here on my boat."

"Like I was about to tell my friend, Jarvis, I prefer the company of women to men. I have two beautiful women waiting back in the Holfort capital for me.", I chuckled, raising my missile launchers at them, "As much as I would love to ask how you became sentient, or discuss why you look like the Davy Jones from my world…I have an appointment to keep."

"Alright men, kill him!", Davy commanded, as the group drew their weapons and charged forward.

Firing two missiles at the group, I quickly switched to the Repulsor Miniguns and began laying down suppressive fire. Assuming that this Davy was like the one in my old world, finding his heart was the highest priority here as I could not kill him otherwise. Since there was no land around us, it had to be on the ship which would not be easy with a crew of powerful undead pursuing me.