【Golden Yang Wood Tavern】
As one of only two taverns in Mute Wind Town—the closest settlement to the Amethyst Dungeon—the Golden Yang Wood Tavern was quite different from its competitor that served inferior liquor to a daily crowd of riffraff. Here, the glasses always held richly aromatic wine with a mellow, full-bodied taste.
Correspondingly, the higher prices meant that only adventurers with some real capability would frequent this establishment.
However, today the adventurers who would normally sit scattered throughout the tavern had strangely clustered together on the right side, making the four people sitting alone on the left appear as if they'd reserved half the establishment.
After all, they were the Diamond-rank adventuring party Silver Thorn—all members above Level 50.
It wasn't that the Silver Thorn party was particularly domineering, but any perceptive person could tell their atmosphere was off, and no one wanted to invite bad luck by approaching them now.
Everyone harbored a mix of cowardice and curiosity as they quietly drank on the other side, hoping to catch fragments of gossip to serve as conversation fodder for the next few days.
The most conspicuous member of Silver Thorn was undoubtedly the half-dragonborn Gal. At 2.3 meters tall, he towered over ordinary people even while seated, and combined with his enhanced heavy armor, he looked like a walking city wall.
In fact, he truly was the wall that protected his teammates. In countless battles, he had stood at the front, blocking surging enemies and creating safe output space for his companions.
The only regrettable thing was that Gal hadn't inherited breath weapon abilities from his dragonborn mother. Otherwise, when blocking enemies, he could unexpectedly unleash a breath attack that would fell even barbaric orc warlords on the spot.
However, at this moment, the words coming from this half-dragonborn's mouth carried not a trace of valor:
"We're finished, finished! We probably can't stay in the United Kingdom anymore.
Boss, if you ask me, this mission is impossible to complete anyway. Why don't we slip away to the archipelago while they're off guard? Once we make this dungeon run, there won't be any chance to escape!"
*Clang—*
A sharp blade struck Gal's breastplate before bouncing onto the table. The shadowstepper Night Owl casually toyed with two other blade fragments at her fingertips.
This elf who had used throwing knives to slit the throats of countless magical beasts was now staring at her own front-liner with the same expression one might reserve for goblin excrement.
"Did you forget that last time you nearly vomited out your stomach just from sitting on a boat for two days on the river? And you want to flee to the archipelago? You'd probably die on the ship halfway there.
Besides, the mission hasn't even started yet. If we complete it, we could get an entire city!"
Night Owl's eyes sparkled when she mentioned the city. Heaven knows why a thoroughbred elf would be so interested in obtaining a human settlement.
"But you'd have to be able to complete it first! They said we must bring the person back completely unharmed, but it's already been half a month! Don't tell me you don't know what happens to adventurers who get trapped in the Amethyst Dungeon but don't die.
It's nothing more than the parasitic trees on the fifth floor or the tentacle nests on the ninth floor. Even if we rescue them, their brains will be rotted through. Do you think the Duke will acknowledge that as 'completely unharmed'?
The best-case scenario is that she was captured by wandering barbaric orcs as reserve food stock. By now, her limbs have probably been mostly dismembered. And that's assuming she hasn't suffered a mental breakdown from despair.
This mission is practically impossible to complete! When the Duke personally comes to hold us accountable, Night Owl, you can just shadow-step away, but the three of us will all get hammered to death!"
Gal's fear of Duke Alama wasn't unfounded. Ten years ago, when the present company were still Gold and Silver rank, Alama had already been a Level 70 powerhouse standing at the peak of humanity.
Don't be fooled by the fact that all four of them were in their fifties, only about ten levels below Duke Alama. In reality, even if they were all tied together, they'd barely provide a warm-up for a max-level boss like the Duke.
The gap between levels becomes increasingly pronounced at higher tiers, not to mention that someone like the Duke, who had been max level for so long, undoubtedly possessed numerous high-level skills. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the capability to hold back the Empire's pressure at the border for so many years.
"Stop, stop, stop. Gal, enough," Team leader Nova had to interrupt before Gal could continue promoting defeatism.
"There's still a chance we can rescue her. If her brain's damaged, there's nothing we can do, but if she's just missing a few arms and legs, we can pour a limb regeneration potion down her throat.
The risk is certainly high, but the rewards are substantial too. We can't give up before we've even seen her. Think of it as a gamble. If we really do rescue someone who's been turned into an idiot, I'll go face the Duke alone for an explanation while you all take the opportunity to escape."
In truth, Nova knew his warrior was stating facts. If this had been ten years ago, he too would have chosen to flee immediately—heading west to the archipelago or into elf or dwarf territory where Duke Alama, no matter how strong, couldn't reach them.
But that wasn't possible now. With the United Kingdom and the Hidden Empire in constant disputes and formal war looming, neither elves nor dwarves would casually permit foreign high-end combat forces to enter their territories.
The only viable destination was the western archipelago. After all, as a human, he could hardly voluntarily run to the Hidden Empire to become a blood servant to those vampires.
But the archipelago wasn't exactly a paradise either. The mysterious fog from further west continued expanding, swallowing islands, and the slave masters there were desperate with anxiety. If a diamond-rank adventurer with nowhere else to go showed up at such a time, they would definitely use that desperation as leverage to force him into resisting the fog.
That job had a much higher mortality rate than dungeon exploration.
Weighing the options, it was better to take this gamble—betting they could rescue the Duke's daughter completely intact, or betting that even if they only rescued a mindless fool, the Duke wouldn't directly hammer him to death.
However, the team wasn't a dictatorship. The final decision still required consensus among team members.
"The usual procedure then. Vote. I'm for entering the dungeon."
"I want to be a city lord!" Night Owl also voted in support.
"I still think we should run now." The half-dragonborn clearly didn't want to gamble.
"Ivan?"
The three looked together at the party's fourth member—Ivan Nietz—who hadn't spoken from beginning to end and had been fiddling with something under the table.
The halfling's diminutive form was nearly swallowed by the wooden table's edge. When silent, he truly had no presence, but as the team's main DPS mage, his opinion was naturally equally important.
"Finally got it out!"
A damaged and deformed waste magic crystal was tossed in front of the group. Ivan eagerly pulled out a brand-new B-grade magic crystal and *click*—inserted it into the socket that had opened up in his abdomen.
Magical power surged from all directions, flowing through the crystal into Ivan's limbs and bones. The violent magical current scoured every neural synapse, throwing him into delirious euphoria.
"Ahhh—"
The entire tavern heard the halfling mage's satisfied moan, and the other patrons' gazes inevitably became strange.
Night Owl gripped the blade in her hand tightly, barely restraining herself from sending it flying into her disgraceful teammate's throat.
"This magic-addicted idiot..."
Watching the great mage across from him with rolled-back eyes who had even begun drooling, Nova felt that leading this team was exhausting and his heart was tired.
"We can't delay the mission. We'll count it as 2-to-1. Gal, you carry Ivan. With Night Owl and me, the first few floors should be manageable."
Gal sighed but didn't continue objecting, merely extending his hand toward Nova.
"?"
"Magic resistance potion! Did you forget about last time when he gave me a point-blank magic explosion while on my back and nearly sent us both to our deaths together?"
"..."
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