Black powder.

  A mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal that, when ignited, would create an extremely powerful explosion. Discovered many centuries ago by an unnamed alchemist—a poor bastard who didn’t survive his own blast of innovation—the substance’s potential was quickly realized, and many people had been seeking ways to harness its power.

  It found its most common application in demolition, where people used it to make explosives to destroy natural obstacles like mountains and other rock formations to build roads and tunnels. Viktor was fairly certain the construction of the Dragon’s Gate and the subsequent foundation of Beryn might have never happened if black powder hadn’t existed.

  Then, of course, some genius had to ask the very important question: “Can we throw this at people?”

  Everyone wanted a cheap, powerful, and easily accessible weapon. A poor man’s fireball, something anyone could wield, yet whose destructive power rivaled that of the mages. However, despite the promise, the black powder’s use in warfare was severely limited by many drawbacks.

  The user needed to hold the explosive in their hand, ignite the fuse, then throw it away quick—before it blew their own face off—and pray it wouldn’t fizzle out or bounce off a shield and roll back to their feet. There were too many things that could go wrong in the process; the list might even be longer than the damn fuse.

  Ironically, it was the mages, the very people this was meant to replace, who made the best use of it. Some mad pyromancers had discovered that they could greatly increase their damage output by tossing a bomb at their enemies, followed by a fireball to ignite it.

  Still, keeping this volatile mixture in one’s body was never a good idea, as it could easily be set off accidentally by the user’s own fire or by an enemy mage’s attack. Also, the powder was useless in wet conditions; the weapon simply did not function in the rain. Thus, due to its many limitations, the firebomb remained little more than a curiosity.

  Like the mages, Viktor held the same dismissive view of these exploding balls, seeing them as little more than parlor tricks. Today, however, he got to see what they could really do, what happened when someone figured out how to use them right.

  The bodies of his minions floated listlessly on the water’s surface. The froglings’ corpses were grotesque, swollen and distorted. Their bellies had been ripped open, spilling their twisted and tangled intestines into the water. The merfolk, on the other hand, appeared outwardly normal, but their behavior betrayed that something had gone horribly wrong. Two lay motionless, while the rest jerked and trembled, their chests heaving with ragged, desperate breaths. As Celeste had told him earlier, the merfolk’s lungs had been ravaged, forcing them to gasp for air, their mouths opening wide as their faces contorted in agony.

  As Redhead scanned the carnage below, she noticed that some of the merfolk were still alive. Her lips curled into a cruel smile as she gripped her battle axe tightly. She swung the weapon, activating the power of her Reliquary. One by one, the surviving merfolk were bisected by the invisible slashes. Before long, the five mermen and the lone mermaid who weren’t instantly killed by the explosion had also met a swift and brutal end.

  “Damn it!” Viktor muttered. If only he had managed to get them to retreat, his minions might still have had a chance. Though they still had to suffer the excruciating pain, the power of the dungeon could have gradually healed them over time. Unfortunately, the merfolk were too injured to move, making them easy prey for the enemy. This encounter had taken a toll far greater than he had expected.

  The devastating effect of Blondie’s firebomb was not the only thing that caught his attention. He also realized that she didn’t even need to ignite the bomb. She simply threw it into the water, and it exploded after a few seconds. The environment of the third floor should have rendered such a weapon useless, yet it was still set off, and caused massive casualties. If possible, he wanted to retrieve one of those explosives and study it carefully.

  The adventurers had moved to the next island, another patch of sand in the midst of the watery realm. Blondie used her birds to start a fire, and the others huddled around it to dry their soaked clothes. It looked like they would take a rest here before continuing.

  At this point, it was clear to Viktor what Blondie’s role in this party was.

  A rogue.

  That was a very loosely defined role in the adventuring community. Basically, anyone who wasn’t swinging a sword or throwing a spell but still useful to the party somehow. In short, they brought “utility.” They made up for their lack of martial or magical prowess with the ability to solve many different problems with their specialized knowledge.

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  Some rogues excelled at detecting and disarming traps, which was an invaluable skill to any party that was exploring a dungeon. Others might be stealthy scouts, moving undetected through hostile environments to gather intel without being noticed. Then there were the alchemists, who aided their companions with their various concoctions. And finally, rogues could be inventors and engineers, who created and wielded strange mechanical gadgets and contraptions.

  Blondie, it seemed, was the last kind. Which meant the metallic birds might not be of magical origin, but rather mechanical constructs. Nevertheless, Viktor still suspected that some arcane influence was involved in their creation. Much like the firebombs, he wanted to retrieve these birds for further study.

  After a brief rest on the sandy shore, Manfred’s party continued their expedition. Brunette, of course, started whining. Blah blah blah, something about going back, hot baths, and clean clothes. But the man gave her a hard stare, and she quickly shut her mouth like someone had nailed it closed.

  Celeste kept up the pressure, though it was clear the Dungeon Core had grown more cautious. No more full-scale assaults, just small hit-and-run attacks. Sometimes the minions threw projectiles at the adventurers, then immediately retreated. Other times, they slithered up just long enough to grab at someone’s legs, trying to pull them off balance and drag them into the water. Manfred and the women were quick to respond, fending off the attacks without much difficulty.

  Another mermaid had attempted to summon a column of water and hurl it toward the party. But she kept her distance due to her fear of a counterattack, and the result was predictably underwhelming. All it achieved was to make Brunette whine about her hair for the next ten minutes.

  Blondie didn’t use her firebombs at all, but Viktor wasn’t sure whether she had run out of them or simply judged using them unnecessary. Nevertheless, he was not going to launch another major assault. He would need every available body in the arena, so he couldn’t afford to lose any minions now.

  The merfolk and froglings’ attacks continued relentlessly, but their efforts only served to slow the adventurers down. Island by island, the party pressed forward, picking up the loot as they went. Each stop brought another chest, another pile of gold. Their pouches grew heavier and heavier with the coins they collected during the expedition. And finally, they stood before the bridge leading to the arena, gazing at the Guardian waiting for them on the other side of the water.

  “What the hell is that?” Brunette blurted, eyes wide as they locked on the towering Crocodilian standing at the center of the fighting ground.

  “A crocodile-man, huh? Must be the boss they have been talking about,” Blondie said, narrowing her eyes as she studied the Guardian. “According to the rumors, the slave and his cohorts have encountered him on the second floor, and they fled without a fight.”

  Redhead’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Cowards!”

  “Let’s skin the lizard and bring its hide back to town,” Manfred said with a smirk. “That’ll show them who’s superior.”

  No one protested. Not even Brunette, who had been whining nonstop until now. She muttered the incantations, recasting the spells on the entire party, bolstering their strength and resilience once again.

  The four adventurers crossed the short bridge that led to the arena of sand. Sebekton waited, axe resting on his broad pauldron, slit-pupiled eyes fixed on the approaching challengers.

  Blondie flicked her wrist. At her command, the two metallic birds shot forward. They circled the Crocodilian as they unleashed a torrent of flame toward their opponent. Sebekton observed the constructs closely, his sharp eyes carefully tracking their movement as he swiftly evaded their fiery onslaught. At times, the fire grazed his thick hide, but it didn’t appear to cause any damage.

  Redhead moved next. While Sebekton’s attention was diverted by the two birds, the female warrior seized her chance to catch him off guard. She hefted her axe and swung it downward. The air rippled as an invisible crescent was hurled directly at the Guardian.

  However, since Viktor had warned him beforehand about the Reliquary, the Crocodilian quickly turned toward his opponent, lifting his own massive axe just in time to intercept the incoming strike. A resounding clang echoed through the air, as if metal had just met metal.

  Redhead blinked in surprise as her sneak attack was effortlessly blocked, but she quickly regained her composure. With a battle cry, she charged forward, brandishing her battle axe. Manfred, too, readied his rapier, darting across the battlefield with lightning speed, eager to join the woman in the fight against the Guardian.

  “Die, lizard!” the Arstenian bellowed as he rushed in. A feint to the left, a thrust to the right, but his mithril blade merely skittered off Sebekton’s breastplate. The Crocodilian snorted, lashing his heavy tail at the fencer’s legs. Manfred soared upward and dodged, the spiked club smashing into the sand where he had stood.

  As Viktor watched the battle unfold between his Guardian and the four adventurers, suddenly, Celeste’s voice echoed in his mind.

  [Master!]

  “What’s the problem?” he asked with a frown. The Core wouldn’t have called him like this unless something unexpected had happened.

  [Cedric’s party has just entered the dungeon.]

  What?

  “So, they finally got Mommy’s permission, huh?” Viktor said with a wry smile. He had expected it to happen sooner or later, but why now? The timing couldn’t have been worse. Manfred’s party had just cleared his dungeon, and the remaining minions were now gathering around the arena for the final confrontation, which meant there was no one left to stop the other group.

  They’re going to get here very quickly.

  The two parties were hostile to each other, though, so he was a bit interested in seeing how they would react if they crossed paths inside the dungeon. Still, he didn’t want to leave things to chance. There was a non-zero possibility that they would decide that defeating the boss was more important than fighting each other. They could temporarily join forces with their enemies against Sebekton, and he couldn’t afford to let that happen.

  We need to wrap up this fight quickly, then.