365. A Dangerous Gambit

Inside Meeting Cabin, Search Vessel, The Luminous Sea, Eastern Continent

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User: Ravenna Solarius / Joy Cha Kim

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Ravenna glanced at her point total for a brief second before dismissing the interface to focus back on the strategy meeting. She tapped her fingers firmly against the wooden table.

“Finding their location has just introduced us to a completely different problem altogether now,” Dame Aisha reiterated, turning toward Ryan and the Archmage of the newly constructed Mage Tower, who were seated side by side. “Mister Ryan, head of light and reality magic research, alongside the Archmage, will explain the technicalities.”

Ryan stood up, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves before speaking. “Purple glass dust works by forcefully unspooling unnatural distortions, effectively neutralizing any irregular warping of reality, such as-”

“-Such the thing we call magic, mana for instance,” the Archmage finished for him smoothly.

Ryan nodded, taking a piece of chalk to sketch a diagram of water waves on the chalkboard mounted to the cabin wall. He drew precise measurement markers along the right axis and continued. “The most direct way we could theoretically free the escort ship is by dropping a concentrated ball of purple glass dust straight down onto the underwater dungeon. The vessel containing the dust would shatter under the immense deep sea pressure, dispersing the compound and instantly unravelling the anomaly... precisely like the method we utilized to rescue Her Highness back then.”

“However, that is precisely where our primary dilemma lies,” the Archmage chimed in, quickly writing up a complex spell equation beside the diagram. “When unrelated species of flowers interbreed, the resulting enormous energy folds reality. That is how a dungeon spawns. It means Vice Captain John’s ship was situated directly above the water's surface at the exact moment of the spawn, causing it to be pulled inward as reality warped.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Knight Samuel asked, his brow furrowed as he struggled to follow the two experts' theoretical breakdown.

Ravenna tapped the table hard, the sharp sound instantly drawing everyone's attention to the head of the board. “It means the ship itself was never subjected to deep sea drag, crushing oceanic pressure, or sudden flooding,” she articulated clearly. “The only physical impact they experienced was falling a few feet onto the cavern floor after being displaced into the dungeon's interior. Am I correct?”

“That is correct, Your Highness. We strongly believe the ship’s hull remains completely intact and unharmed... barring any damage inflicted by whatever magical beasts reside inside,” Ryan replied with a heavy sigh.

Sarah stepped in to steer the conversation back to the crucial point. “Then let us return to the main obstacle you warned us about.”

A source aside: NovelPhoenix has the author's chapter, while this page contains a copy made without approval.

The Archmage gestured to the chalk diagram. “What we are attempting to make clear is that dropping a purple glass dust payload directly onto an underwater dungeon will force the spatial bubble to violently collapse. The moment the dungeon dispels, the grounded ship will instantly be exposed to the crushing environmental pressure of being hundreds of meters beneath the ocean's surface.”

“The sudden pressure differential will instantly crush the iron hull like a clap,” Ryan added grimly. “They will be squeezed to death before the ocean water even has a chance to flood the decks and drown them...”

A suffocating silence spread over the meeting cabin, punctuated only by the low rumble of the steam engines and the muffled sloshing of seawater against the ship's outer hull.

Inside the Dungeon, Deep Underwater. Route to Kim Dukedom, The Luminous Sea. Eastern Continent.

BOOM! BOOM!

The deafening thunder of cannon fire resounded straight through the sandstone cavern. The huddled crowd of Otto immigrants flinched together in terror with every violent shockwave that rocked the steamship as the deck-mounted artillery repeatedly blasted the writhing mass of Krakens breaking through the glowing green ice.

Thud...

Another limp body fell onto the cavern floor in the distance, joining a bloody pile of severed tentacles and shattered scales.

“Ugh... Do we still have enough ammunition left for the main cannons?” Vice-Captain John asked the chief weapons officer, his eyes scanning the wounded knights being patched up in makeshift triage stations following their brutal first contact.

“At the rate we are consuming rounds, it should last us roughly one more day...” the officer replied solemnly. “Of course, if the Krakens or any other beasts give us a brief respite, we can stretch those hours out a bit longer.”

John let out a weary sigh, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. “What are the final casualties for Unit 3? We didn’t get a chance to do a proper headcount after retreating back to the vessel.”

One of the surviving knights stepped forward and saluted, his right arm bound tightly in bloody bandages. “A-About three deceased, sir... and eleven severely injured!”

“That’s far too high a toll... for just a single scouting mission,” John muttered bitterly.

Knight Kalahad, standing shoulder-to-shoulder beside him, agreed grimly. “With that kind of attrition rate, we won't be able to forcefully clear this dungeon even if we pooled every single able bodied man on board.”

“Here... this is a camera. Apparently, one of your fallen men had it on him, Vice Captain,” Kalahad said softly, handing over the cracked device. He let out a long, heavy sigh, looking out over the railing as another cannon blast echoed across the cavern, sending the terrified immigrants cowering once more.

“Do you honestly think we are going to die down here, sir?” Knight Kalahad asked quietly, staring at the distant sandstone walls as explosive shells tore through the approaching horde.

John clenched his fists tightly against the iron railing, his knuckles turning white. “There is a terrifyingly high chance that we might...”

“You know... a dark thought entered my mind earlier,” Knight Kalahad added, his tone hollow. “Even if we somehow manage to cut our way to the Core floor and destroy the dungeon core... breaking the dungeon will only immediately flood this entire dry area with crushing ocean water, drowning us all anyway, won't it?”

A heavy, suffocating silence stretched between them. John remained quiet, his fingers absently fidgeting with the cracked camera body as he watched the brilliant flashes of cannon fire in the dark expanse. The deafening, chaotic noise filled their ears, making their impending doom feel unnervingly close.

Suddenly, John turned to Kalahad, a sharp, resolute glint entering his eyes as he patted the younger knight firmly on the shoulder.

“That would be true if we tried to escape through normal means,” John said, turning over a photo negative he had pulled from the camera's broken film casing. He held it up to the luminescent light, pointing directly at a distinct, fleshy, flower-patterned door standing up right in the high vaulted ceiling of the cavern far above them.

“Which is precisely why… What do you say? we take a dangerous gambit.?”