Hero of Darkness

3 Days Later. 

On the 91st floor of the Immortal Dungeon, a long-drawn battle had come to an end. 

Thud! 

Ervalen Baslaark, the Hero of Life dropped to his knees and gasped. His figure was drenched in blue blood and every inch of his body was running out of strength. 

At this moment, they had killed a ginormous creature that existed only in myths and even made the Elder Hydra look like a weak monster that couldn't even hold a candle to it. 

After 15 hours of constant battle, they finally managed to kill the boss. But just like before… his face was full of helplessness and grimace. 

"No! Uncle! 

Please wake up!" shouted Myrienne, trying her best to heal the body of the fallen comrade with whatever world energy she had left in her body as she cradled a middle-aged high elf swordsman in her arms. 

This was the remaining 5th stage saint of their party who fell in this battle after playing a vital role. 

Myrienne was crying loudly, her expression filled with pain because this swordsman was her blood relative whom she had a strong bond with all her life. 

It was because he tried to save her from the dungeon boss, the saint acted like a meat shield despite his sorry state. 

Step! 

Step! 

"Ervalen! Do something!" she pleaded with teary eyes. 

But Ervalen apologetically shook his head. 

"Myrienne… You should use the pass and leave." he spoke with a disgruntled expression. 

"But…" 

"No buts."

"Your lives were entrusted to me. 

Sadly… I have no way of bringing back the dead to life." he said with an indignant countenance. 

"In the end, a divine ability can work only for the Hero and can't resurrect his allies." he iterated. 

"And now… there are only 10 floors left. 

We don't know how hard they will be since nobody came this far before. 

Even I'm not sure if we'd be able to survive from now on." he spoke and placed his hands on the shoulder of the fallen elf. 

"Although my divine abilities helped us get this far and protected many of you from time to time… this is as far as they can take us. 

Other than me and you, there's nobody left." he said and pulled the corpse into his space ring. 

"You're princess Eleanor's best friend. 

What kind of a man would I be if I let the closest friend of the woman I love to die on my watch?" he spoke with a guilty expression. 

"Listen to me Myrienne. Your uncle and all of our friends have sacrificed their lives for the sake of this mission and our empire." he spoke and pulled out the space ring from his finger. 

This was a ring where they stored the corpses of all their fallen allies till this point. To give them a proper funeral with dignity. 

Next, Ervalen handed this ring to Myrienne and continued… 

"You should tell the outside world about what happened here. 

Their houses and clans should know of their sacrifice and chivalry regardless." he said and got up. 

"And what about you?" she asked while wiping off her tears. 

"I will continue." he responded in an emotionless voice. 

"Ervalen, you'll die! 

This is no longer possible for us to progress furthermore. And there's no one left to fight with you." spoke Myrienne, her voice was still hoarse because of her exhausted state. 

"And there's still the last Dungeon Boss we know nothing about."

To her words, the Hero of Life replied calmly. 

"You don't understand, Myrienne. 

Now… it's my responsibility to complete the mission and make sure that their lives didn't go in vain. 

So going back is no longer an option." he spoke while tightly clenching his fist. 

"It will take me a lot of time and we might lose our last chance. 

But to succeed and use that rumored power in order to become the strongest Hero, to protect the Elven empire and then face the Demon God in the war that's to come… 

It is absolutely necessary." stated the 10th Hero of Life. 

"I'd rather die trying than give up at this point." he said as a chivalrous aura emanated from his body. 

After giving some thought, Myrienne also spoke. 

"I understand. I'll go." she replied. 

Her state was currently the worst one in her entire life so far. And she had just also lost a family member who gave her the confidence to survive till now. 

So she was inherently afraid for her life as well. 

In the following moments, she activated a golden tabloid-like pass and her figure disappeared from the floor in mere seconds. 

"I must succeed." 

Ervalen said after he was left alone as he walked toward the exit door to the next floor. 

Continuing in a voice filled with unyielding resolve. 

"For the sake of my beloved." 

----------------

At this very moment on the 81st floor. 

The entry door flashed white and 10 people appeared. 

It was as expected, the Misthios guild. 

After killing the Elder Hydra, luck had been on their side. 

Because the previous 10 floors didn't pose too much trouble for them. Using the subordinates and their unique abilities which proved helpful in particular terrain and laws of reality, they managed to reach this floor very easily compared to previous floors where they were greatly restricted. 

"What the hell? 

Why isn't the boss here?" asked Rudra as he didn't sense a single living being in 50 kilometers radius. 

"Then it can only mean that the boss was killed and it hasn't even been a week since it didn't respawn." said Ronin in his Scorpion appearance. 

"Who could it be?" asked Edmund. 

The only answer was… 

"The Hero's Party." spoke Legolas. 

Their main goal was to come to this floor made of natural resources spread over around 150 kilometers. 

But miraculously, someone had gotten rid of their biggest headache for them. 

"This is a great opportunity. We're truly blessed by the God Gyvenimas! 

We should get to work and gather these resources. 

Darwin and the rest, take these artifacts and help me. We can't risk the boss reappearing before we're done." said the saint alchemist in an exhilarated voice. 

The rest followed his orders and spread across the floor. But unknown to the human saint, all of them were talking telepathically through their mind link which now had a range of 200 kilometers after Kahn became a 3rd stage saint. 

[Boy… the Hero was 4th stage saint Summoner. 

And his group was also very strong for this dungeon's level of difficulty. 

But if they passed this floor means that his group is the first one to cross this hurdle. 

In a way… they have created a path for you.]. iterated Rathnaar. 

To his words, Legolas aka Kahn responded with a suspicious voice… 

"This place has no restrictions on mana and world energy. And given that they had two 5th stage saints, it is indeed plausible that they were strong enough to clear it. 

But what I'm worried about is…" he said and asked in their group chat. 

"Should we continue or not?" 

[Human, If there's no restriction on mana and world energy, we are capable enough to progress from now on, aren't we?] queried Rudra, more like suggested that they should keep traveling. 

[And if the Hero's Party is ahead… then it means that there's a chance that they have also gone to further floors.

What if we come across their way? 

That's like taking unnecessary risks.] stated Omega aka Raiden from his end while he used the artifact that sucked all the resources such as minerals and plants and objects around him like a wormhole. 

[Boy… Don't you think something is fishy? 

Why would a chosen Hero, the one who should be protected and guarded by the empire's forces after your fight with the Hero of Fire, risk his life coming to a supreme tier dungeon? 

He should be focusing on raising his rank while being surrounded by the strongest people of the empire instead.] said the peak saint. 

[Yeah, you're right. Besides, it's been a year and they still haven't declared my identity or existence as well as what happened in the Vulcan empire to the public of Zivot Empire. 

For some reason, they've done a thorough job hiding those events in this empire despite having no reason to. 

Could it be related to the thing called Divine Key which the System told me about?] wondered Kahn on his own. 

[Wait… I have my own doubts. 

Do you remember that when we came here, we talked about how unnaturally large numbers of dungeons are in this place?] asked Rathnaar. 

[Yeah, even your core which became active only 100 years ago after the seal weakened, formed over a dozen dungeons at best.] replied Kahn quickly. 

[Yes. And then there's this Supreme Dungeon which has existed for a thousand years. 

I bet on my guts that the Source of all this network of dungeons must be inside this Immortal dungeon.] he spoke with a smug tone as he revealed his hunch and made a proposal. 

[Let's find the Dungeon Boss.]