My Husband Was Clearly a Paladin
Chapter 58
“What do you mean? The other raid was wiped out?!”
Not just Irene, but everyone else stood up in shock.
“Sir Michael has ordered everyone to pack up and move together immediately. Everyone, hurry!”
At the knight's words, everyone hurriedly finished their preparations to leave.
The knight led the way.
As they walked a bit further into the path between the winding rock walls, a fishy scent drifted in on the wind.
It was the smell of blood.
And when they rounded the bend, the entire raid group was struck with horror.
“What in the… world….”
In the middle of a plaza slightly narrower than the one they had just stayed in, corpses lay strewn everywhere.
Every single body was in a gruesome state.
Some had their heads missing, some had limbs severed, and others had their abdomens gouged out by something sharp.
To anyone’s eyes, it was clearly the work of a monster.
Just then, Michael, who had been examining the bodies, stood up.
“These are the people who entered through Entrance 2. I recognize a few faces.”
“If it’s Entrance 2….”
Princess Cecilia had taken Entrance 1.
The people who had come this way belonged to a raid led by another 1st-rank purifier who was close to the Princess.
Even if she wasn't quite at the Princess's level, she was still someone with formidable purification power, and her knight was also famous throughout the continent.
It was said that the two of them alone could clear a mid-level dungeon without much trouble.
To think a large-scale raid with such individuals could be wiped out like this.
“Just what kind of monster could do this….”
At someone’s murmur, people huddled toward the center, glancing nervously at their surroundings.
Then, Michael spoke again.
“The numbers don't add up. I understand this raid had about 300 members, divided into three teams. If so, there should be about 100 people here, but there are roughly 50 bodies missing for it to be a total annihilation.”
His calm demeanor only made people’s skin crawl even more.
Then where did those 50 people go?
It would be a relief if they had escaped this massacre. But if they had disappeared for some other purpose….
“They weren’t… eaten, were they?”
As someone voiced the words that others hadn't dared to utter, the air around them grew even colder.
Meanwhile, Reina, facing such brutality for the first time, went to a corner and began to retch.
Others covered their mouths or even burst into tears from the shock.
Even those who had entered dungeons multiple times were seeing such a horrific sight for the first time.
Irene also covered her nose and mouth with her hand. Even so, she couldn't block out the heavy stench of blood.
Any thoughts of reward chests had long since vanished from her mind.
‘This shouldn't be happening.’
The Eye of Exploration had identified this as a mid-to-high rank dungeon. Furthermore, none of the monsters judged to be inside were remarkably strong.
Then, it suddenly occurred to Irene that there was a part that differed from the past. Irene hurriedly pulled out the paper she had tucked into her bag.
One corner of the complex dungeon map was blacked out.
Above it, written in red letters, was [Unexplorable Area].
Irene was certain. The monster that slaughtered these people was definitely in that area.
“Michael.”
Irene immediately grabbed Michael’s sleeve. He then opened his palm and wrapped it around her trembling hand.
“It’s alright. I don’t feel any demonic energy from monsters nearby.”
At his words, Irene’s trembling gradually subsided. After a moment, having finally regained her composure, she spoke.
“We have to go back. Right now.”
This was no time to think about things like reward chests. Getting out alive was the priority.
The other pairs, who would normally have raised their voices to ask what she meant, remained silent this time.
The deceased were pairs far stronger than themselves.
If even such people were slaughtered without being able to put up a proper fight, there was no way they could defeat an unidentified monster.
The only reason everyone hadn't fallen into a full-blown panic was thanks to Michael, who remained calm even in this situation.
He would save them from danger.
They would be safe as long as they were by his side.
That was the absolute belief held by everyone in this raid.
Michael finished examining the wounds on the corpses, wiped his hands, and addressed the group.
“We will maintain formation and return the way we came. We will abandon the recovery of the bodies. It is not a number we can handle.”
It was a rule of the Fortress to protect and recover anyone injured or killed inside a dungeon, even if they weren't part of one's own team.
However, this was an emergency situation where even that basic rule had to be ignored.
At Michael’s command, everyone moved briskly like a well-trained army. They instinctively realized that a small mistake in this situation would lead directly to death.
Unlike when they entered, the path back was filled only with the sound of breathing, stifled sobs, and suppressed retching.
The group moved at a pace that was almost a run compared to before.
Those who had initially grumbled about the raid having only 32 members now sincerely felt lucky that the number was small.
If they had been moving in a larger group, it would have been difficult to move this quickly.
After passing the path they had come through, the wide space where they had rested and eaten snacks appeared.
They immediately headed for the path they had taken earlier. But soon, everyone’s footsteps came to a halt.
“…What?”
Even if it was a place where several paths were intricately connected, they couldn't have confused the path they had come out of.
Yet, no one could find the way they had come.
Amidst the people's confusion, Irene counted the number of paths connected to the plaza with her fingers.
“…Eight.”
The number she counted sent chills running through her entire body.
When they first arrived here, this plaza was definitely connected to nine paths.
It meant one path had disappeared.
* * *
Ultimately, the group had no choice but to stop in the plaza.
The paths had decreased. At the same time, their positions had shifted slightly.
“I’ve never heard of a dungeon where the interior changes.”
Irene swallowed a sigh and racked her brain for all the knowledge she possessed.
It would be one thing if a wall had collapsed while fighting a monster, but a dungeon that changed its form in the middle of a raid?
‘It was an unstable dungeon.’
A dungeon that hadn't yet perfectly fixed itself to this world.
If so, its form might have changed because it was still in the process of crossing over from another world and was thus incomplete.
‘Of course, this is just my hypothesis.’
Moreover, even if the dungeon's appearance changed for that reason, it wasn't particularly helpful information in the current situation.
The purifiers gathered in the center were looking at Irene with eyes full of fear.
There were no fools blaming her, saying they had entered this place because of her.
‘On the contrary, if we had gone the other way, I might have been the one rolling among those corpses.’
Thinking that way, it was a stroke of luck that they had stuck to this side.
Besides, at any rate, Michael was here. Though the other team was annihilated, he might be able to defeat the threat, or at least hold out longer.
But finding comfort in that and choosing what to do right now were separate issues.
“Miss Irene, what do we do now?”
“Which way should we go?”
The purifiers swarmed around her, clinging to her. Irene felt suffocated.
The fact that so many people were leaning on her—someone who hadn't even been able to take care of herself properly—was a heavy burden.
‘The lives of these people depend on my choice.’
Thinking that made it feel as if something heavy was weighing down her shoulders.
‘It’s my mistake.’
She should have just stayed quietly tucked away in a corner of the Fortress. Why did she make such a fuss trying to change things?
She should have grasped the hand Princess Cecilia held out. She should have been shameless and just borrowed money from her to leave.
Or she should have rejected Michael’s pair request….
She couldn't help but think that if she had made just one different choice among those many options, they might not have ended up in this situation.
Just then, Michael knelt on one knee in front of Irene, meeting her eyes as she stared at the ground.
“Do not blame yourself. This is entirely my responsibility.”
“No. You are….”
“Michael.”
Was that really what mattered in this situation?
Irene ended up letting out a hollow laugh at his stubbornness.
“Yes, Michael.”
When she smiled, Michael finally offered a faint smile as if relieved.
“As your pair, it is my responsibility for having made you feel anxious. If I were more capable, a dungeon like this would have been nothing.”
To say he wished he were more capable.
He was already someone who had surpassed human limits. There was no way he could be any stronger than this.
“Still, do not worry too much.”
He stood up and turned his head.
“I will make sure that you, at least, return safely no matter what happens.”
He glared toward the area marked as unexplorable on the map.
As if he were staring at something lurking beyond it.
