roccoschili Chapter 361: Hidden Dungeon? The Golden-Armored Knight
Chapter 361: Hidden Dungeon? The Golden-Armored Knight
After a bit of tidying up, Lin Mo prepared to continue searching for the next batch of goblins, hoping to find the right opportunity for a breakthrough.
During the short rest just now, he had already organized a few key skills. As long as those skills reached the attribute-awarding level, they could help him advance to Transcendent.
So next, he only needed to grind the proficiency of those skills up near their upgrade thresholds, then find the right moment to level them up simultaneously in a very short span of time.
To be safer, it would be best to find slightly higher-level monsters, which would make things easier to control.
But gnomes were rare in this vast goblin settlement; gathering enough of them might not be that easy.
The batch they had just wiped out was probably the local elite force, so from now on they would have to go farther out to see if they could find another sizable goblin guard detachment.
They continued moving through the goblin territory and did encounter some patrolling goblin squads along the way, but those squads were small and weak, not worth much as practice targets for Ellie and the others, which matched Lin Mo’s earlier judgment exactly.
After casually dealing with those patrols, the group pushed on farther.
Their direction, naturally, was toward the settlement’s center.
Although the purchased map and materials described the general situation on each level, they didn’t mention specifics, especially deeper intelligence.What would the center of this goblin settlement be like?
What they had seen so far already looked like a proper small town. Could the center actually hold a massive city, or even a gnome royal palace...?
A small gnome kingdom?
Given the settlement’s numbers by the hundreds of millions, it was a distinct possibility.
However, Lin Mo had no intention of going there just yet; he wanted to find a suitable opportunity to advance first, then continue with quests. If that failed, he could consider exploring there later.
Often, when you think like that, you eventually have to do exactly what you postponed.
They wandered through the forest for quite a while; they did meet many goblins and the progress on several skills continued to climb, but they still hadn’t found a perfect opportunity.
All they ran into were low-level goblins, or instances with gnomes but not in sufficient numbers.
In short, after a good while of messing around, they had not found the right target.
By then it was already afternoon, so they decided to stop and rest for a bit, adjusting their moods.
During adventures one must remain calm and cautious, a point Lin Mo had not relaxed on even now.
Their meals were noticeably better than before.
Besides improved ingredients, Lena—the professional Chef—was now handling the cooking.
Lena had no talent for combat professions, but she was gifted in life professions.
She excelled at both Planter and Chef roles and was improving rapidly.
After lunch and a short nap in the Portable Space, the group resumed their journey.
Because things had gone so smoothly, before they realized it they were drawing ever closer to the center of the goblin settlement.
Suddenly, something like a flash of light burst into the sky, remarkably bright even in daylight.
Ellie tilted her head, sensing a strange aura.
She couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was, just that it was a subtle and odd feeling...
“What happened over there?”
Flora also looked toward where the light had flashed. “That light looks a little like magic.”
“Looks a bit like a light-element spell,” Finnie added.
Lin Mo frowned. Light-element magic... that seemed right, but something felt off.
And that direction seemed to be the very center of the goblin settlement, didn’t it?
Goblin priests? He had never heard of such a thing.
Those evil, filthy goblins could never be blessed by the Goddess of Holy Light.
Then it must be adventurers?
Who was reckless enough to storm a goblin lair...?
“Shall we go see?” Ellie suggested, clearly intrigued.
“I... I want to see too,” Finnie raised her hand. The use of light-element magic made her, as a Priest, feel a sense of kinship and worry for those adventurers’ safety.
Lin Mo nodded. He wanted to verify the feeling in his gut.
Also, inside the goblin lair there should be enough gnomes to help him break through, right?
For speed, they used the old plan: the group would rest inside the Portable Space while Lin Mo went alone to investigate.
Lin Mo hurried toward the light and soon saw a huge city in the distance.
Just as he had guessed, the gnomes had directed the goblins to build a true city, one that looked no different from a large human metropolis.
But the city gate was wide open.
Not merely open—smashed wide open!
So much force?
If that’s the kind of power involved, they didn’t need to worry much about random trouble.
Still, since he was there, Lin Mo went to check it out. He strode over corpses of goblins littering the ground as he pushed forward.
The city was large, but navigation was easy; the goblin bodies along the route naturally pointed the way.
After running for over ten kilometers, the bodies grew fresher and fresher, indicating he was getting closer.
Finally Lin Mo stopped before a palace.
Indeed, the gnomes had built themselves a palace, and judging by the scale it matched the palaces of the Doria Kingdom.
These fellows certainly knew how to enjoy themselves...
The palace gate was smashed as well. Lin Mo entered and simultaneously released the others from the Portable Space.
“This is...”
Ellie looked around with curiosity.
“The goblin palace,” Lin Mo answered, peering ahead. At the palace’s center a vortex like a black hole was slowly rising.
It looked familiar—he had seen it before.
Because it was an entrance to a Secret Realm!
A Secret Realm within a Secret Realm?
But where were the goblins and gnomes inside this palace?
As the lair, this place should have been swarming with them.
He had seen plenty of goblins in the city, yet inside the palace there were none.
There were also no bodies on the ground.
Lin Mo quickly realized they had stumbled into a so-called “hidden stage.”
“Who’s there?!”
At that moment a muffled voice suddenly echoed. Lin Mo turned toward the sound and an unexpected figure appeared before them.
A suit of shining golden armor, a golden longsword in hand.
It was the wealthy young man they had met earlier at the Adventurers' Association.
It was him?
Lin Mo sized him up quickly and explained, “We mean no harm. We heard activity here and thought someone might need help, so we came to check...”
The stranger’s status was clearly not ordinary and his power unknown; it was best to avoid misunderstandings and conflict.
He looked at them blankly for a few seconds, then the muffled voice came again through the heavy helmet: “I do not need help. Please leave immediately.”
He spoke politely enough, the muffled tone probably due to the armor, and Lin Mo could tell the person inside was likely young.
A young man wearing quasi-Legendary-grade gear—his bearing rivaled the heir of the Oxivis Family. Could he be a Violet Empire prince?
Maybe even the Crown Prince!
An ordinary prince wouldn’t receive this kind of treatment.
The stranger clearly did not welcome them, which was understandable—this was inside a dungeon, and no one trusted strangers.
Besides... a hidden stage probably held very rich rewards.
If Lin Mo were in his position, he wouldn’t want to share either.
He had no intention of fighting or snatching fortune either, so he waved his hand and gestured to leave.
But at that moment the black vortex suddenly expanded rapidly.
“Get out of here!”
The golden-armored knight’s voice sounded anxious. He turned, gripping his sword, facing the entrance.
Something was wrong.
This entrance looked different from the ones Lin Mo had seen before.
He didn’t have time to think more. In the next instant a huge black hand shot out of the vortex, slamming toward the golden-armored knight.
The knight swung his sword downward, releasing a golden Sword Energy slash with tremendous force. It left a deep mark on the massive hand, but the wound was strange—no blood, only faint black mist seeping out.
Lin Mo finally understood why that familiar feeling had surfaced.
It was Holy Light!
He hadn’t recognized it earlier because his own Holy Light differed due to his special nature. The man before him must be using true Holy Light.
So this man was a Paladin?
Lin Mo was surprised. This was the first time he had encountered another special-profession user besides himself.
The knight’s Slash was powerful, but it still failed to stop the hand. The giant palm slammed down, the knight raised his sword to block, then was struck by a tremendous force and flew past Lin Mo’s group, crashing through the palace courtyard wall.
The hand retracted back into the vortex.
Black mist poured out in waves, filling the whole palace in an instant and surrounding them.
Lin Mo’s brow tightened—this black mist was Dark Tide!
Crash—
Through the rubble the golden-armored knight emerged, movements still agile and apparently unhurt.
After all, he was wearing quasi-Legendary-grade gear.
He briskly approached Lin Mo’s group and naturally positioned himself in front of them. “Sorry, this will drag you into it.”
Lin Mo was momentarily stunned, then smiled. “You can’t say that... we were the curious ones.”
Although it had been a brief encounter, the young man who might be the imperial Crown Prince seemed decent.
But if Lin Mo’s guess was right, why would the heir of an empire come to a dungeon alone?
Moreover, from his behavior it looked like he knew about Dark Tide here and came deliberately.
Lin Mo glanced around. “Seems we can’t leave, huh?”
“Unfortunately, the black mist won’t dissipate until the filth inside is cleared,” the knight replied.
A faint smile tugged at Lin Mo’s mouth—another interesting piece of intelligence.
He had seen Dark Tide before and roughly knew its intensity. Compared to the Dark Tide that had lurked in the Dragon Throne, this was child’s play.
Even that earlier Dark Tide, he had been able to purify with Holy Light and leave.
But the golden-armored knight seemed unable to do that.
Was his Holy Light too weak? Or is true Holy Light substantially different from the kind Lin Mo carried?
Perhaps both factors were at play.
Lin Mo didn’t plan to back off.
For one, Dark Tide could not be left unchecked. If ignored it would grow, eroding more and more and becoming increasingly troublesome. Lin Mo had no grand ideals, but he couldn’t allow something that might doom the world to run rampant—what would happen to his comfortable life then?
For another, he had a good impression of this potential Crown Prince.
This guy seemed like a good person; if possible Lin Mo wanted to help him.
Incidentally, this was also a good opportunity.
He did not believe he couldn’t find a chance to get a universal promotion inside this hidden instance.
“Then let’s go in together.”
Lin Mo patted the knight’s shoulder. “It may sound boastful, but I’m somewhat confident in my abilities.”
The knight glanced at him, then looked at the hand Lin Mo had placed on his shoulder.
“It’s dangerous inside.”
His tone was serious, more advising than admonishing, simply stating a fact.
“Well, whether it’s dangerous or not, we can’t get out now...” Lin Mo shrugged helplessly.
The knight fell silent again, then after a moment nodded. “Fine. But be careful and stay behind me.”
Adventurers capable of operating on Nasadok Dungeon’s 22nd floor wouldn’t be weak. It was probably a Gold-level adventuring team, with more than one Transcendent Level professional among them.
They wouldn’t be of much help, but they shouldn’t be a drag.
Also, Lili—Lin Mo’s companion—felt something odd about this youth.
She couldn’t explain why, but since that hurried moment at the Association this morning, she had felt an inexplicable familiarity from him. Up close now, that feeling grew clearer and stronger.