CHAPTER 165: DUNGEON OUTBREAK

Within the 17th Dungeon, something started moving.

It started with a low hum followed by the trembling of the ground... Soon, the heart of the 17th Dungeon pulsed with unnatural rhythm.

The exploration teams had long since retreated, but the dungeon hadn’t gone dormant.

It had been waiting.

The first tremor was subtle... It was barely enough to shift the loose gravel near the entrance. But then came the sound. A low, grinding echo. Stone against stone. Metal against the soil...

And then they began to move.

From the inner chambers, the golems emerged!

The first wave was crude, lumbering shapes molded from wet soil and dungeon clay.

Mud Golems.

They were slow but numerous, their bodies sloshing with each step. They left trails of sludge as they marched forward, eyes glowing faintly with dungeon mana.

Behind them came the Rock Golems.

They were taller, heavier, and their frames were built from sharp stone and fractured ore. Their movements were more precise but they move slower than the Mud ones but some bore remnants of old weapons embedded in their bodies. It seemed that many of them fought against adventurers and survived, those clothes were the dfiniey. proof that they had survived past encounters.

Then came the Iron Golems.

Their armor gleamed in the dim light, forged from dungeon-forged iron and reinforced with mana channels. They were faster than expected, and far more dangerous.

Many adventurers had encountered this Zombie inside the dungeon...Their fists could crush shields, and their bodies resisted most elemental spells.

But the strongest of them all was something else entirely.

The Silver Golem.

It stood taller than the rest, its body polished and reflective, as if sculpted by a master craftsman.

It looked metallic at first but there was smoothness on it that couldn’t be denied...

As a matter of fact, the golem’s head was spherical, making it easily recognizable.

Furthermore, unlike the others, it didn’t charge or run forward. It walked calmly as it headed outside the dungeon...

Thud... Thud... Thud...

This Silver Golem was definitely a terrifying opponent, but it was also an incredibly valuable one for obvious reasons.

Even from a distance, the silver shimmer was unmistakable. Adventurers who saw it would know instantly: defeating it meant wealth. Real wealth!

Enough to fund a guild, a business, or a small army.

After all, the silver golem seemed to be more than 4 tons!

There was no Gold Golem, but that was fine.

The dungeon had already given them enough to worry about.

By the time the scryer orb registered the surge, it was too late.

More than three thousand golems had begun pouring out of the dungeon. They were all kinds of mud, rock, iron, and silver.

It was a slow, relentless march.

Unlike the Glimmermucks, these golems do not roar or create terrifying sounds... Just the sound of footsteps. Thousands of them.

The Dungeon Outbreak had begun.

And the valley was about to become a battlefield.

***

In the meantime, the outpost near the Dungeon had been built for one purpose... containment.

This outpost blocked a narrow passage located between two steep hills.

Now, it was also reinforced with several barricades...

It was the only possible path that the Dungeon Beasts could use if they wanted to leave the valley...

It also means that if the golems crossed this point, they wouldn’t just threaten Hesa City, they’d scatter across the region, reaching towns, trade routes, and farmlands within days.

This was the bottleneck and it had to hold.

The scryer orb of the Mage Guild pulsed red.

The warning came as the Dungeon’s entrance released a massive amount of energy.

More than three thousand golems were marching toward the outpost...

"This..."

The beasts they had seen weren’t those Skitterfang or Razorwing Stalkers.

Instead, they were met with Golems that supposedly rarely appear in the dungeon.

Apparently, only 2 chambers within the Dungeon spawn Golems...

Most of them were either Mud and Stone golems with a few Iron ones...

However, there was certainly no Silver Golem at all!

Carlo of the Arcanum Circle, a Fourth Tier Mage, stood atop the observation platform. His robes fluttered in the wind as he used his staff to balance himself.

"They’re moving in formation," he muttered. "No chaos. It’s coordinated. The Silver Golem must be controlling this."

Behind him, his apprentices scrambled to adjust the defensive formation they had created. The Arcanum Circle had deployed a barrier across the valley mouth, but it wouldn’t hold against sustained pressure... not from iron, and certainly not from silver if they all worked together.

Sir Fred of the Magicblade Order stood at the front barricade, his armor was also gleaming with heat runes. Known as Ironflame, he was already issuing orders to his swordmasters.

"Blades ready! Formation Delta! We hold this line until the mages say otherwise!"

His voice cut through the wind like steel. The Magicblade fighters formed ranks behind him, their enchanted swords humming with latent fire.

Mark, representing the Crown Prince’s private army, watched from the command tent. He wore no armor, just a dark coat with the royal insignia and a mana pistol holstered at his side.

"Relay to the capital..." he said to his aide. "Tell them the outbreak has begun. We may need reinforcements if there’s a Lord Beast here... Though the possibility is low. It’s better to let them know..."

He turned to Carlo. "How long until your barrier fails?"

Carlo didn’t look away from the golems. "Depends on how fast they learn to push."

Mark nodded grimly. "Then it should be fine to use it to our advantage to stop their momentum."

Near the supply tents, Lance and many others from Velmoria’s Alchemist Association were already distributing vials... Some of them were explosive mixtures, elemental coatings, and emergency mana stabilizers.

"Don’t waste the silver flasks on mud golems," he shouted. "Save them for iron or higher. And if you see the silver one, mark it..."

His assistants moved quickly, handing out gear to adventurers and soldiers alike.

And among the defenders stood the Adventurers Guild teams from Hesa City.

Three Gold Rank squads had answered the call, aside from the many other Silver Rank Adventurer Groups.

Arial’s team was one of the Gold Rank Team...

They stood near the central barricade, watching the valley darken with movement.

Torren muttered... "That’s more than I expected."

Jiya’s detection ward pulsed. "They’re not slowing down."

Edward adjusted his bowstring. "I count at least fifty iron types already. And that silver one’s not hiding."

Vanna cracked her knuckles. "We’re not getting paid enough for this."

Arial didn’t speak. He was watching the terrain, calculating angles, fallback points, and spell coverage of his members...

"With special organizations taking the lead, we will be able to hold the passage," he said. "Just don’t make stupid moves like sacrificing yourself or something. Just stay within your line. If it becomes a problem, we will retreat.

The other two Gold Rank teams were already preparing. One specialized in ranged bombardment. While the other was also quite balanced like Arial’s team.

As soon as the Golems got closer, it was noticeable how the outpost got tense.

Nonetheless, no one panicked and started running... They were all expecting this to happen and they were all warriors, mages, knights, and adventurers!

Whom~ Whom~

As the ground began to shake.

The first wave of Mud Golems crested the hill... It was slow, sloshing, but endless.

Behind them, the Rock Golems advanced like siege towers.

And farther back, the Iron Golems marched in perfect rhythm.

At the center, the Silver Golem gleamed like a walking treasure vault!

Thud!

The moment the Silver Golem crossed the halfway mark down the slope, Carlo raised his staff.

"Begin bombardment!" he shouted.

The apprentices of the Arcanum Circle responded instantly.

"O flame that hungers for release...

Ignis Lance!"

"Blades unseen, whisper through the storm...

Wind Cutter!"

"Oh fire that burns without end...

Flame Spear!"

"Oh spirits that grant the echo of force...

Dual Force Lance!"

Thankfully, although the Golems had high elemental resistance, they were still able to deal with the weaker ones...

Mud Golems exploded into sludge, splattering across the terrain!

Their unstable bodies are unable to withstand the concentrated elemental barrage. Limbs were torn off, torsos collapsed into puddles, and the narrow path quickly became a mire of broken clay and steaming ooze of the mud golems...

"Keep the pressure on the front line!" Carlo barked. "Don’t waste spells on the back!"

Another volley followed of new spells followed as the others were still on cooldown.

"Oh ember that hungers for air...

Fireball!"

"Winds that slice unseen...

Razing Gale!"

"Flames that leap and scatter...

Scorching Bloom!"

The mages focused their fire with discipline. They didn’t aim for kills, they aimed to break momentum. Every spell that struck a Mud Golem slowed the advance, forcing the ones behind to stumble over the fallen!

The narrow passage worked in their favor!

The golems couldn’t spread out. They were packed shoulder to shoulder, and when the front ranks fell, the ones behind had to climb over the wreckage.