Chapter 417: Entering the Catacomb, Abyss Difficulty Dungeon
After leaving the Requiem Stronghold and passing through the exit tunnel, Leon managed to find Violet, Celeste and Emilia fighting a group of level 100 monsters in a clearing not far from the stronghold’s walls.
They managed to make quick work of them, as each of them had grown insanely strong over the past few days, their skills honed and their confidence bolstered.
A single slash from her [Frost Rapier] was enough for Violet to freeze or slash many enemies at once, the ice spreading across the battlefield and immobilizing anything that came near her.
Celeste’s embers made quick work of anything that got close, the dark flames consuming the monsters before they could even react, and Pyra assisted her as well, scorching everything with her own fiery attacks.
As for Emilia, she unleashed her devastating spells on the monsters, each one striking with precision and power, killing them all before they could mount any real resistance.
Leon felt proud as he saw them, like a master watching his students succeed after everything they had done, a warm feeling spreading through his chest.
Of course, most of that was due to their own strength and determination, but Leon couldn’t deny himself the fact that without his presence, all of them would likely be dead in some way.
Well, except Violet maybe, but she’d instead be stuck in the Forsaken City to this day, so that wasn’t a much better fate than death.
Instead of immediately killing monsters himself, Leon simply summoned Alphox out of his Pet Space, the small dragon appearing in a flash of light, then ordered the dragon to kill as many monsters as it could to level up and grow stronger.
At the same time, Violet approached Leon with a concerned expression on her face, her eyes searching his for answers.
"So what was all that about?" she asked, "By the look on your face, doesn’t seem like they were nice people."
"You can say that," Leon grinned, though there was no humor in his eyes.
He explained everything that happened to Violet, from the weird building with its confusing hallways, to the 25 requiem guild members sitting around the table, to the quest and threats they had made against him and his companions.
At the end, Violet was left with only shock written on her face, "I told you we should have just left, now look at the situation we’re in!"
"As said before, this place is perfect for getting stronger and..." Leon’s expression grew colder, "Now that they did this, it just means we have to take revenge on them, right?"
"Haha... but how? They’re so much stronger than us..." Violet said, her voice filled with doubt.
"Well, all I need to do is bring them the stronghold crystals for now, then we’ll see what happens next," Leon turned around, "Lets head to the Catacombs, it’ll be useful experience as well."
For someone like Leon, something like the "low drop rate" was a non-issue, so he didn’t care about the difficulty of finding the crystals.
"Alright!" the others said in unison, their spirits lifted.
Just like that, the group kept moving forward, defeating any monster that came their way, until after thirty minutes they realized they didn’t actually know which direction the Catacombs were in, having wandered aimlessly.
"It should be visible... right?" Celeste mumbled as she looked around, "Or maybe its underground?"
"Just climb on top of me," Violet sighed as she transformed into her dragon form, her scales shimmering in the light, "That’ll make it easier to spot from above."
Celeste, Emilia and Leon climbed on top of Violet and she took off into the sky, allowing them to gaze below and survey the landscape.
She kept moving all over the place for an hour or two, allowing Leon’s [World Map] to keep registering the spots they passed, building a mental picture of the area.
And eventually, after a long search, Leon spotted something on his map.
"Found it!"
He didn’t actually see it with his eyes, but on his [World Map], the icon of a rising skull hand appeared with the text Catacomb written on it in bold letters.
Seems like Leon didn’t actually need to register information for his map to do it on its own, it automatically updated as he explored.
Violet slowly dropped to the ground, landing gracefully, and Leon led them to the spot, and right before the group stood a small graveyard with weathered tombstones and overgrown grass.
"Creepy," Emilia noted, but didn’t see anything that strange about it at first glance.
Still, Leon followed his map, and at the end of the graveyard, in front of the largest tomb, was a staircase that went down into the darkness.
"Here it is," Leon grinned as he looked at the girls, and without waiting he took a step inside of the staircase, descending into the unknown.
Ding!
[You are about to enter the "Catacombs"]
[Please select the difficulty:]
[Hard] [Hell] [Nightmare] [Abyss]
"Oh?" Leon’s eyes glinted with interest, ’First time I encountered an Abyss difficulty dungeon since my second life.’
The max he had seen yet was [Nightmare] in his current journey, but indeed, the places around here were some of the most difficult dungeons across all higher domains, so it made sense that there was a higher tier.
Without hesitation, Leon clicked on [Abyss], knowing that they would only get one shot at this.
They could only defeat each difficulty once, so they might as well start from the strongest one and work their way down if needed.
Fwoosh!
Immediately, the atmosphere around the graveyard changed, the air growing colder, and the staircase did as well, looking more broken and abandoned than before, as if centuries had passed in an instant.
"The dungeon changed to fit the [Abyss] difficulty," Leon spoke, "Lets go."
The group went down the staircase, their footsteps echoing in the silence, and after a few minutes of descending, they emerged into a massive chamber that stretched out before them.
The Catacombs’ initial chamber was vast and cavernous, with towering stone pillars that rose toward a ceiling lost in shadow.
Their surfaces were covered in ancient carvings and faded murals depicting battles and rituals long forgotten.
Faint torches flickered along the walls, casting dancing shadows that seemed to move with a life of their own, and the air was thick with the smell of dust and decay.
In the distance, the chamber opened into multiple tunnels that disappeared into darkness.
But as they took a step forward, the ground began to shake violently, the tremors echoing through the chamber.
And from the earth beneath their feet, dozens of skeletal hands burst through the surface, clawing their way out of the ground.
The sound of cracking bones and grinding stone filled the air as the undead rose around them, their hollow eye sockets glowing with a malevolent light, their forms pulling themselves free from their ancient graves.
And then, with a deafening screech, they lunged forward, surrounding the group from all sides, ready to drag them down into the darkness.