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“The map is loading abnormally because of [Maze].” Seo Dawon led us down the path in front of us.
We followed silently behind him. Ever since Seo Dawon joined us, the monsters haven’t approached–wary of the mage perhaps. Just like how the monsters with green names earlier in the dungeon didn’t dare approach me.
After killing the normal mode boss monster, [De Xin], the sound of the Immortal Fairies’ music was cut off. Therefore, the foggy road felt somewhat gloomy, but the path was devoid of tension. I became leisurely, perhaps because I was among the reliable rankers of the [Red Lotus] heydays and was within Jung Garam’s body.
Another way to read this situation, though, was that there were dangerous enemies lurking everywhere who didn’t care about making such competent rankers their opponent, so it was too early to be relieved.
As if he had read my mind, Seo Dawon broke off the long silence, “This skill isn’t controlled by one person; there are at least two people that are moving around and consistently overlapping their skills. Maybe they had even used an item… We probably won’t be able to meet with Kyung-sik-ie by normal methods.
The mage said that he came to this conclusion when, after he broke a hardcore route trap room in half, he exited into a place that he had already destroyed. With that thought in mind, he wanted to convene with the rest of the guild members. Since he was currently out of contact with Eunji or Kyung-sik, there was a high probability that the two had encountered an enemy.
“So… You’re saying that Bang Eunji or Choi Kyung-sik were defeated?” Woo Ragi responded, with a frown on his face. He looked like he found this whole ordeal troublesome without the slightest hint of concern on his face. I couldn’t find the smallest hint of camaraderie in his question, but Seo Dawon didn’t criticize him at all.
The mage touched the ring on his left index finger and slowly answered, “That’s not it. I think they’re hiding well.”
Now, Woo Ragi walked up to Seo Dawon at the front of the party, presumably to vent his earnest annoyance. “Why do we have to go and rescue them when they’re completely fine, then?”
“It’s difficult for them to exit while Eunji’s protecting Kyung-sik-ie.”
“Is Bang Eunji at a level where she can’t even kill an assassination team that only knows this sort of trickery?”
“Eunji’s skills are enough to kill them and more. However, Eunji’s a sword and not a shield, right?”
“……”
“She’s severely restricted in what she can do since she has to protect Kyung-sik-ie; if this leads to injury, we have no way of knowing how that’ll impact the [Second Company] raid, which isn’t too far off.”
“……”
“The [Second Company] is a gateway we absolutely can’t fail.” Seo Dawon’s tone was mild; he answered Woo Ragi without looking at him. Woo Ragi seemed to be convinced in the end; he no longer continued to argue and just flourished his Echo Blades.
Perhaps he was annoyed with the situation that made him come to work on his day off; Woo Ragi brandished his swords with more violence than necessary. The blood flung off the blades landed here and there; but, since we were now moving forth peacefully, I didn’t want to point that out.
After about 30 minutes of walking, the lake we had destroyed appeared before us again.
“Haah…”
“The same thing again…”
“No… It’s different.” This time, it was Jo Chanyoung, staring calmly at the ground, who spoke. He covered his nose with his sleeves and looked around at the surroundings cautiously.  Then, his face paled, “…We’re in a different place. There’s a nauseating scent I couldn’t smell before. There are different types of monsters here.”
Following Jo Chanyoung’s words, we snapped back to attention after being so lax. I fixed my grip on my dagger; Woo Ragi went to the front of the party with Echo Blades raised high, as if to protect Seo Dawon.
Seo Dawon briefly recited his [Memorized] spells, and began to activate them one at a time. The golden magic circle beneath his feet began to ripple like waves; simultaneously, Jo Chanyoung shook one of his arms lightly and changed it into a wing.
The orange wings exuded blazing warmth and were clearly not the wings of a bird that existed in reality. In the blink of an eye, Jo Chanyoung’s whole body transformed into a phoenix as big as he was; he began to fly over our heads. Bae Jaemin stood still with no particular extra movements, but, seeing as both his hands shone softly, he must have finished his own preparations.
As soon as we finished preparing, the lake peacefully split into two sides as if it were waiting for us. I thought we’d see the corpses tied to the pole, submerged underneath the lake, but…the tragedy waiting underneath the water was even more gruesome than that.
Beneath the lake, there was a nicely built pavilion in the center. Though it was ominous to see a pavilion sunken deep within and nestled in the lake, the beauty sitting on that small pavilion–eyes closed and still–was truly terrifying.
Furthermore, she was hugging the corpse of the normal mode boss monster [De Xin], whom Seo Dawon had killed earlier. It reminded me of common horror movie scenes. It felt as if she’d suddenly rush at us when she opened her eyes; I felt anxious and out of sorts.
Above all… her name, above her head, was colored a deep blood-red.
[‘Hardcore route’ boss monster, ‘Daji’ has appeared.] 1
[The hidden side of the Immortal Realm – ‘Sweet Banquet’ scenario has begun.]
[Daji]’s eyes, which opened alongside the alert we received, were colored a beautifully dangerous red. 2 When I laid my eyes on her, my heart began to beat nervously. Maybe it was the color…it was as if…I was looking into my servants’ eyes.
However, Daji didn’t move. She slowly stroked [De Xin]’s corpse and began to slowly sing–her voice peerlessly beautiful and chilling compared to the earlier immortal fairies.
[My pitiful king is dead; his body was hung on the castle walls.]
[The victors spoke solemnly.]
[‘This man made a pond out of alcohol to please his lewd slut.’]
[‘He killed innocent children and made meat from their bodies.’]
[‘It’s even said that he held this banquet every day.’]
[They said that he’s curried Heaven’s wrath]
[And that everyone should throw stones at him.]
After each line, the corpses hanging from their wooden poles screamed.
[‘Daji’s’ ‘The most important rule for a lonely soul in purgatory and the Jiangshi’s has been activated.]
Following that, another warning appeared; as soon as that warning manifested, Bae Jaemin called forth a huge shield that covered all of us. Just as the shield spread above our heads, rain slowly fell from the sky. The droplets were as red as blood.
“Soon, the poles will break, and the hanging zombies will group up. Try not to engage them if possible and scatter–after all, they’ll explode as soon as you touch them. Also, organic matter soaked by rain will decay right away; so move according to the shield’s range or keep the rain from directly touching your skin.”
“…Understood.”
“Also, Jaemin-ah. Don’t use consecration(祝聖). That woman isn’t an evil spirit with lingering grudges; holy attacks won’t impact her much.”
“Yes.”
It was my first time coming to this dungeon, but Seo Dawon must have raided this place before. He quickly briefed us on its strategy and stabbed the end of his staff in the floor. “[Chronicle].”
Immediately, strong and cold winds swirled from the staff. The ground foze quickly; his blue ice attack stretched straight towards the pavilion where [Daji] was sitting.
However, though the attack seemed likely to connect with its target, a black Imugi (a mythological serpent) appeared at the pavilion’s entrance and blocked the attack with its torso.
The Imugi was a huge snake–about ten meters in length–and was covered with black scales. It seemed like Seo Dawon knew that would happen; he backed away neatly, but his expression wasn’t too happy.
Woo Ragi clicked his tongue and said, frustrated, “Tch. How is it that the enemy with the highest magic resistance is playing guardian.”
“Mmm… True. It’d be much easier if the Martial Arts Jiangshis 3 would just come out of the lake.”
“Yeah. It does have a poison mist, but it’s not too hard to dodge since it foreshadows that attack with large movements.”
“Can’t be helped. We have to attack at a distance–at least as much as possible.”
Then, after discussing viable tactics, the battle began in earnest.
Footnotes
In history, Daji was De Xin’s favored concubine. She was said to be a ‘fox spirit,’ unrivaled in beauty and cruelty. Using the emperor’s affection for her, she indulged in her curiosity through all manners of torture. The original just says 요요한, which could honestly mean like 11 different things. However, that’s probably what the novel is going for. Quick-witted, beautiful, sharp, important, dangerous… Daji is all those things. Mythological ancient zombies in Chinese and Korean culture.