Chapter 241: Give them orders if you don’t want to die!

After going through the other cave and escaping the pit, the group became even more cautious, with Isaac and Ella specifically making sure to check the walls and the ground before taking every step.

And they were even able to pass through a few more traps, like a small hidden tripwire that suddenly went off, sending an arrow directly towards Jake, who barely managed to dodge it, only to receive a scolding from Isaac immediately afterwards.

He had already warned Jake not to become too confident inside the dungeon.

They took Lucian’s help as little as possible—not because they didn’t trust him, but because they simply couldn’t rely on his unnatural senses for their dungeon exploration.

He would eventually join a guild one day or another, and they wouldn’t be able to keep him in their group forever.

They had even tried to talk him into joining their group, but couldn’t convince either Lucian or Selene, as both had already decided to go there.

"I don’t understand why you would want to go to that Guild, especially since I can tell you are extremely talented. That Guild isn’t even one of the higher-ranking ones on the GuildBoard," Jennifer said, and Isaac nodded while walking in front of them, agreeing with her words.

But Lucian simply smiled at her.

"Thanks for the advice, but there’s someone I want to meet in there, so I’ve already decided."

Jennifer’s eyes stilled as they looked into his small yet genuine smile, which, for some reason, made her heart beat slightly faster.

Before them, Isaac narrowed his eyes.

"Why does it feel like he talks differently when it comes to women?" he couldn’t help but mutter.

"A natural playboy," Jake immediately replied, yet rather than jealousy or hate, he seemed even more curious about Lucian.

Even though he could clearly hear their murmuring, Lucian didn’t bother responding to Isaac’s words.

Instead—

"There’s another pit in there."

Isaac’s body instantly moved backwards upon hearing those words, but after carefully observing...

There wasn’t any pitfall in there.

Lucian was simply making fun of him!

"Hahaha..."

And his laughter was all he needed for confirmation.

Shaking his head, Isaac continued forward, while everyone else followed behind him.

They came across a few more groups of monsters after that.

This time, however, they were able to fight much more easily, especially after having a better understanding of Selene and Lucian’s abilities.

Lucian’s flames burned through more than seven Kobolds, while Selene killed three more, and in total...

Twenty Kobolds had died.

Despite the fights becoming noticeably easier, perhaps even surprisingly so, none of them could afford to become careless.

They understood that the deeper they went into the dungeon, the more difficult things would become, mainly because of the accumulating fatigue.

Isaac and Jennifer didn’t participate in the fighting much, mainly staying away from the front lines, guiding the others while occasionally joining the battle when necessary.

Most importantly, they kept alerting the others whenever they noticed a Kobold trap or one of their feints.

The group had been worried about Lucian’s mana as well.

After using his flames so many times, they expected him to at least show some signs of exhaustion, but astonishingly...

The man didn’t even look tired.

Despite restricting himself to the physical abilities of an F-ranker, Lucian was still far stronger than an ordinary person of the same rank.

And with his vampire physique and regeneration, it was difficult for him to experience fatigue in the first place. Even while restricting himself, his body simply didn’t tire as quickly as theirs.

After resting for some time, they continued.

Until more than thirty minutes had passed, and...

They hadn’t met any more monsters.

"Just how far have we walked until now?" Jake cursed aloud, his voice faintly echoing through the cave.

"We haven’t come across any monsters for quite some time," Isaac muttered calmly, though there was a faint tension in his voice.

He couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong.

The dungeon had contained a couple of Kobolds every few metres until now, so why...

Had they suddenly disappeared?

"Should we go back?" Jennifer asked, already looking at the map in her hand.

Yes, she had been creating a map the entire time they were walking through the cave, carefully making sure they wouldn’t lose themselves, because if they did...

They might eventually be gone for good.

Isaac didn’t reply immediately.

They continued walking for a while longer before suddenly coming across another diversion.

A fork—

With three separate openings stretching before them, each disappearing into its own dark passage.

"Which path should we take?" Jennifer asked, glancing at Isaac, who had remained unusually quiet.

His brows furrowed faintly, but ultimately, he decided to take any of the paths, since it didn’t really matter much...

Unless they somehow wandered into the Dungeon Boss’s territory.

"Let’s take the right—"

"We’ll take the left."

Lucian’s voice suddenly cut him off.

"What?"

Isaac narrowed his eyes.

"Let’s take the left path..." Lucian repeated, his blood-red eyes faintly glowing in the darkness as he stared into the left passage.

For a moment, he remained completely silent.

Then, he glanced behind him.

Selene’s eyes narrowed slightly, since she could feel that something was going on in her son’s mind, and instinctively...

She turned her head behind her—only to see nothing but the dark path they had previously come from.

Isaac didn’t answer despite Lucian’s words, frowning as he felt irritated, since Lucian wasn’t even explaining the reason for his judgment.

And seeing him remain quiet... Jennifer spoke.

"Isaac, I think we should listen to him."

Everyone else nodded as well.

Not because they trusted Lucian more than Isaac, but because they had already noticed how Lucian’s senses had saved them more than once since entering the dungeon.

Isaac eventually relented, as he too had developed a certain degree of trust in the man, though he didn’t particularly like admitting that.

Lucian’s steps remained calm and steady as he entered the passage, with the others following close behind.

Selene walked beside him, yet even after entering the new path, her gaze continued to linger on him from time to time.

She was trying to understand what he had sensed, but his calmness only made her more confused, as she didn’t feel any danger from his relaxed behaviour.

’Am I overthinking?’ She couldn’t help but think so.

After walking for only a few minutes, they entered another area.

This one was larger and far more spacious, though strangely... there were no monsters inside the cave.

The only thing that remained was the faint, unpleasant smell of half-eaten, dead rats.

"Were there monsters here?" Ella mumbled as she scanned the area, confusion laced across her expression.

There were a few traces... but no actual monsters—as if they had literally vanished somewhere.

Everyone slowly looked around, their expressions growing even more confused as uneasiness flickered across their faces.

Isaac’s expression turned serious.

By now, he was already considering whether they should leave the dungeon.

’We should leave.’

They had already killed plenty of monsters, and a few members of the team had suffered minor injuries. They had explored deep enough into the dungeon as well.

Now seemed like the perfect time to retreat.

But then...

"They’re here," Lucian whispered, his voice so quiet that it was barely audible.

Yet Selene, who had been standing close beside him, immediately heard it.

Her eyes shifted towards him, staring at his face for a moment before noticing where his gaze was directed.

She followed his eyes...

Only to see the same darkness of the opening they had entered through.

For a few heartbeats, complete silence lingered inside the cave.

But then—

Ella’s expression suddenly changed.

Her head snapped towards the entrance, her eyes narrowing as she listened carefully.

Everyone noticed the sudden change in her expression, but before they could ask her anything—

Ella’s eyes widened.

"The monsters... they’re coming in here!"

Everyone frowned momentarily.

But the moment they heard it...

Multiple faint footsteps gradually grew louder and louder, echoing through the cave as something—or rather, multiple somethings—approached from the darkness.

All of their eyes simultaneously widened.

Horror appeared on their faces.

Meanwhile...

’Heh... finally.’

Lucian’s lips curved into a wide smile.

In the next moment—

The light of the torch began flickering, casting dancing shadows across the cave as something moved through the opening.

And before they could even comprehend what was happening...

A group of Kobolds entered the cave.

Their brownish bodies filled the opening, and the moment every creature noticed the group standing inside, their faces twisted into vicious expressions.

Everyone from the group tensed.

Their fingers tightened around their weapons as their bodies instinctively froze.

Isaac’s lips quivered, his grip tightening around his weapon.

For a moment...

His mind went blank.

There were too many. Too many for their group to handle.

Even if these monsters were only F-rank individually, numbers changed everything.

"Isaac!"

Lucian’s voice suddenly rang through the cave, causing Isaac to snap out of his thoughts.

He looked towards Lucian, only to see—not fear, not nervousness—but a strange... excitement on his face.

Before Isaac could understand it, Lucian spoke.

"You’re their leader. Stop fearing the horde yourself!"

Isaac’s pupils shook slightly.

"Give them orders! That is... if you don’t want to die in this place!"

Isaac’s eyes lingered on the man’s face.

And for a moment, he couldn’t help but wonder...

’Why does it feel like you’re excited about this...?’

He didn’t know why he was even thinking something like that, especially at a time like this.

His eyes then shifted towards his team.

They, too, had faint looks of fear on their faces.

Except for Lucian...

And the masked woman, whose expression he couldn’t even see.

Isaac took a deep breath.

Lucian was right.

He couldn’t afford to hesitate.

He was their leader.

If he lost his head, everyone else would follow.

"Jake! Ella! Take care of the monsters, and make sure to wound them as much as you can!"

Everyone turned towards the horde.

After a second, Ella nodded, followed by Jake’s nervous chuckle.

"O-Of course, Leader."

He wanted to crack a joke, but he didn’t have enough courage to even think about that right now.

"Ava and I will carve out an area for us to escape."

Isaac tightened his grip around his double-sided axe, his fingers grasping the handle firmly yet desperately.

"Jennifer, shoot anyone who gets close to us!"

His gaze then shifted towards Selene.

"And Miss Selene... please go along with Ella and Jake!"

Everyone nodded, their expressions gradually changing into determination.

The fear was still there...

But they gritted their teeth and forced their bodies to calm down.

Selene’s fingers continued gripping her daggers tightly, though her hands trembled ever so slightly.

Lucian gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist, faintly calming her.

It was almost like a calming magic spell cast by her own son.

Seeing her hands steady, he slowly let go.

Isaac finally turned towards Lucian—the only person in the group he still couldn’t completely understand.

Even now...

While everyone was preparing themselves for a desperate battle, Lucian was the only person who didn’t seem even a little afraid of the approaching monster horde.

Finally, Isaac exhaled.

"Mr. Lucian... do what you want."

Hearing those words, Lucian’s smile widened.

His face turned towards the monsters, and his expression almost distorted with excitement as his crimson eyes gleamed in the darkness.

And somehow...

The monsters felt it.

A faint chill ran down their spines.

One by one, their gazes snapped towards Lucian.

And without a word—

"KRAAHK!"

"Rrraakh!"

"Kik-kik-kik!"

"Ghrk!"

"SKRAAH!"

All the monsters charged towards them.