Chapter 231

Two hours of waiting did not calm the dungeon.

It changed it.

The air thickened, growing heavy and suffocating, as if the stone itself had begun to breathe. Crimson veins pulsed through the walls and floor, glowing brighter than before, their rhythm slow and deliberate, like the heartbeat of something vast and ancient buried deep beneath the temple.

And then—

The laughter returned.

A woman’s voice.

High. Soft. Broken.

It echoed through the endless halls, slipping through corridors and pillars, curling through stone like smoke. It wasn’t loud.

Kana stood before the ancient door once more.

Its surface was carved with runes and figures so old their meaning had eroded into abstraction. Thin red mana-lines crawled through the stone like veins beneath translucent skin, glowing faintly with every pulse of the dungeon.

She knelt. Her tools slid into the lock. This time, the mechanism yielded too easily.

Click.

The sound echoed through the hall like a bell struck in a tomb.

The laughter paused.

For half a breath.

Then resumed—closer.

Monde stepped forward instantly.

“[Holy Barrier].”

Golden light surged outward.

Not violently.

Not explosively.

It flowed like liquid sunlight, thick and warm, wrapping around each of them in turn. The air filled with the scent of incense and charged mana. Translucent golden spheres formed around their bodies, humming softly, vibrating through bone and blood before sinking into their skin and fading into faint glowing sigils.

Finally they entered again.

Massive pillars stretched upward into darkness, their tops swallowed by shadow. Ancient murals lined the walls, depicting wars, sacrifices, rituals, gods, monsters—stories eroded into half-forms and broken symbols.

Then they saw the skeletons.

They wore armor—real armor—thick steel plates fused into bone, layered greaves, reinforced pauldrons, rusted insignias of forgotten orders still clinging to their frames.

They carried weapons.

Swords longer than men.

Spears thicker than tree limbs.

They were humanoid.

But the size was definitely not human.

Each one stood twice the height of an adult man. Even Adam looked small beside them. Their bones were thick, dense, reinforced by dark mana veins that pulsed faintly blue through ivory marrow.

Their eye sockets glowed.

Not with rage.

Not with hunger.

But with malice.

Roy froze. Then his eyes shone.

Not fear.

Not dread.

Reverence.

“Elite Skeletons,” Toby whispered. “High-tier dungeon monsters.”

The laughter drifted again through the hall.

Adam and Boris exchanged a look.

Kana focused on her [High Awareness]. There were no signs of the orc like before. Kana made the decision instantly.

“Boris. Adam,” she nodded once.

They understood immediately and moved.

Boris sprinted right, spear striking stone.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

The sound thundered through the hall like a war drum.

Adam moved left, shield tapping the ground, body low, stance tight and grounded. He left his battle axe behind near Kana, the massive weapon resting against the stone like a fallen monument.

The skeletons turned.

One.

Two.

Five.

Dozens.

Heads rotated in perfect unison. The skeletons moved.

Slow. Then faster. Stone cracked beneath their steps. Each footfall was a hammer strike.

THOOM.

THOOM.

THOOM.

Dust fell from the ceiling. The pillars trembled.

The laughter rose again—felt louder now—threaded through the echoes of the moving bone and stone.

Elle’s grip tightened on her staff.

Her voice trembled,“Are you sure they’ll survive this?”

Kana checked their status, still full of their absurd high amount of HP.

“They will.” A pause.  

“Even if they make mistakes…”

Her eyes never left the battlefield.

“…they probably won’t die.”

The skeletons advanced.

The laughter echoed.

They followed the path Kana had drawn before, boots striking against the crimson-lit floor as they moved in formation. The air burned in their lungs. The laughter still echoed through the corridors, drifting in broken fragments, rising and falling like a cruel tide.

The corner came into view.

Adam skidded to a halt, boots grinding against stone.

Behind him, Boris ran hard, armor clanking, the elite skeletons footsteps shaking the corridor behind them.

They felt the whole area trembling.

Adam clenched his jaw, eyes wide, muscles screaming as he forced his body to turn and brace.

“Now!” Kana’s voice cut through the chaos.

Boris launched.

Not forward.

Up.

His body arced through the crimson glow, spear raised high, muscles coiled tight as drawn wire.

[Cleave]

The skill detonated through his body.

Power surged down the shaft of his spear, exploding outward in a violent wave of force.

The elite skeleton raised its swords to block. With his momentum, the impact was catastrophic.

Steel screamed.

Bone cracked.

One of the unfortunate skeleton’s torso split cleanly in two, the force of the strike driving both halves into the stone floor.

The ground shook.

Dust erupted.

Fragments of bone and armor scattered across the corridor like shrapnel.

The elite skeletons' aura seemed to change.

Their glowing eyes locked onto Boris.

It was all hatred.

Rage burned in their empty sockets as they advanced.

Boris landed, boots cracking stone, and immediately retreated toward Adam’s shield line.

And then—

The battlefield ignited.

A bolt of lightning tore through the air.

Suri’s staff flared blue, mana roaring outward as [Lightning Bolt] crashed into the mass of skeletons, blue electricity crawling across bone and armor.

Kana’s arrow followed.

A silver streak.

A clean line of death.

It pierced straight through a skull, mana bursting outward in a spray of blue light.

Roy’s skeletons charged.

Blades flashing.

Bone against bone.

They moved like trained assassins, slipping between massive legs, striking joints, tendons, structural weak points.

Andel surged forward.

His lance glowed with gold lightning flickering around.

Lightning coiled around it like a living serpent. Then he struck. Again. And again.

Each impact detonated with a crack of thunder.

Leo moved with him, shield raised, intercepting blows, redirecting strikes, dragging skeletons away from the frontline, splitting the pressure from Boris and Adam direction.

Adam anchored the line.

Shield braced. Body locked. A wall of muscle and will.

Kana was impressed. Adam seemed to have a natural talent as a tanker though his class should be a damage close combatant dealer like Boris. Maybe there was more to class than she knew from the corner of her mind.

Boris rotated in and out, striking, retreating, striking again.

The corridor became a storm of motion.

Steel.

Mana.

Lightning.

Bone.

Dust.

The woman’s laughter threaded through it all.

The fight dragged on.

Minutes stretched into eternity.

Skeleton after skeleton fell, shattering into blue light, dissolving into drifting mana particles that floated upward like ghostly ash.

But they kept coming.

Kana felt it then.

The truth of it.

This was not a raid she experienced before. She remembered there were so many of them in the fruit dungeon raid but she felt like there was just Boris, Asha, Opel, Suri and her.

This was a war dungeon. This was supposedly how raiding a dungeon looked and felt like.

If there were only three of them—only Boris and Suri along with her.

They would already be running.

Damage probably was far from enough.

Crowd control would be very challenging.

Only a party like this could efficiently clean a dungeon at this level.

Finally—

The last elite skeleton fell.

It shattered under Andel’s lightning-charged strike, collapsing into blue light that spiraled upward and vanished into the dungeon’s crimson glow.

Silence fell.

A heavy, oppressive stillness.

Breathing filled the corridor.

Ragged.

Harsh.

Uneven.

Sweat ran down through their faces.

Armor steamed.

Hands shook.

Even Kana was breathing hard.

Even Suri leaned on her staff.

Adam lowered his shield.

Boris rested his spear on the stone.

Roy’s skeletons stood still, blades dripping blue mana residue.

The laughter did not stop.

It echoed again through the temple.

…….

If it weren’t for Elle York, Kana would have already called the raid off.

She could feel it in her bones.

The aftermath of the clash from the high level dungeon monsters.

The slow grind of exhaustion that no amount of courage could outrun.

But the [Recovery Zone] shimmered at the heart of their safe area.

A small field of emerald light.

A complex hexagram carved itself into the ground, lines of sacred geometry interlocking and rotating faintly, runes pulsing with quiet authority. Green light rose from the ground in slow, breathing waves, wrapping around bruises, sealing cuts, knitting muscle and skin together faster than nature ever should.

The air itself felt warmer inside the field.

Lighter.

Alive.

Pain faded.

Fatigue loosened its grip.

Boris stretched his arms wide, joints popping as strength flowed back into his limbs. His grin was wild.

“We can raid all day with your skill, Elle!” he shouted, pumping his fists like a victorious gladiator.

Elle shook her head.

“I can only use it one more time,” she said calmly. “The field will vanish automatically once everyone’s healed. It’s not as fast and effective as my [Full Heal], but it’s enough for minor wounds and fatigue.”

Rin tilted her head, studying the hexagram. “I heard your skill is condition-based, not mana-based,” she said. “Different from most abilities.”

Elle nodded slowly.

“Yeah. I can feel my mana,” she said softly, “but I didn’t use it. Not even a thread of it. All I know is that my skills only activate twice per day. But my [Full Heal] has a bit of a complex condition. I prefer not to use it unless the situation calls for it. ”

She hesitated.

Then added quietly,

“But after the Text of God appeared earlier… I feel like I can use it three times a day now. I followed the church guidelines exactly.”

It was not surprising, Elle was able to evolve her skill—her level jumped from lvl seven to twelve. Kana was curious about the choice and list of skills that appeared in front of her earlier but she chose to ignore it. Elle might report everything to the church or his father and there might be dire consequences for her. The Church investigating her might be the worst situation she could imagine because even the king wouldn't be able to go against them.

Kana titled her head. Maybe he would, knowing the king’s manipulative personality.

Then a chill crept up Kana’s spine. 

Condition-based skills.

Not fueled by mana.

Not limited by MP.

But by different rules.

By different laws.

By something deeper than mana itself.

Kana had checked Elle’s status herself and her MP hadn’t changed when she used her skill [Recovery Zone]. She suspected that the power didn’t come from her. It came from something else. A divine mechanic she had no idea.

If someone like Elle had an attack skill instead of healing…

Kana swallowed.

Level wouldn’t matter. She would still be defeated by someone as lvl one.

“I got it too,” Toby said lazily, spinning a bone in his fingers. He looked completely refreshed, the only one who hadn’t fought. Thorne sat beside him, gnawing on a skeleton fragment from Roy’s summon.

Roy quickly dismissed his undead before Elle used her skill. He definitely learned from the incident before. However, Kana was a bit curious if Roy’s skeleton would get damaged with Elle’s [Recovery Zone] skill. She shook her head, he might have cried again so she dismissed the thought.

“Me too,” Rin added.

Kana watched her carefully.

Rin had changed.

Her stance was steadier.

Her shoulders were broader.

Earlier, she had blocked multiple skeleton strikes and crushed one with her mace using nothing but a bit of force and timing.

Not skills.

But pure brute strength. Her skills were ineffective after all.

“Same here.”

“I saw it too.”

“Me as well.”

One by one, they all spoke.

Every voice carried the same meaning.

The same sign.

The same divine message.

The rare Text of God notification appeared in front of them earlier.

All of the students.

Except—

Kana.

She forced a smile.

“I wish I did too,” she said quietly.

Post note:
Hang in there Kana!
Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂