The Runesmith

Chapter 664: Unexplored Draconic Ruins.

The first sound was faint. A dry scraping echoed through the corridor ahead, like bones dragging across stone. Roland immediately raised his hand.

“Hold.”

The spider golems froze mid step. Their rune cannons rotated toward the tunnel entrance as golden divine circuits shone brighter along their bodies and the targeting arrays came online. Agni’s ears flattened as he prepared himself.

“Grrr…”

The growl rumbled from deep in his chest. Blue flames along his fur intensified, casting restless light across the cracked walls of the chamber. Roland focused his sensors on the only entrance and did not have to wait long for the first creature to appear.

“There.”

A shape emerged at the far end of the passage, crawling rather than walking. As expected, the monster that revealed itself set the tone for this hidden dungeon. Its long spine dragged across the floor while clawed forelimbs pulled the rest of its body forward. When it moved fully into the light, its true form became clear.

Bones were fused together by blackened veins of necrotic mana. Fragments of dried scales clung to the skeleton like rotting armor, and tattered membranes stretched between the forelimbs, suggesting that the creature had once been capable of flight. Two empty eye sockets suddenly ignited with pale green fire and the creature turned toward him.

“A skeletal lesser dragon…”

Amphipteres were another type of lesser dragon that sometimes appeared in the third ring. They were similar to lindwurms, but instead of large forelimbs, they had webbed ones positioned farther along their elongated bodies. They were capable of flight like wyverns, though they were not nearly as skilled in the air.

‘The level is quite high… this place might actually be more useful than I originally anticipated.’

For a moment, Roland considered another possibility. Quick training. He had been stuck farming underwater creatures for some time. The progress had not been bad, but he disliked the need for large numbers of torpedoes and the constant trips into the freezing water at night. This palace, on the other hand, resembled one of his old grinding spots, caverns filled with undead that were vulnerable to holy spells.

“Now, Agni!”

He lowered his hand, and his golems’ cannons roared in perfect synchronization. Lances of condensed divine mana tore through the dim corridor with a sound like thunder. The beams struck the skeletal amphiptere directly in the chest and spine, blasting apart ribs that had been fused with necrotic energy for centuries.

*BOOOM*

Fragments of bone exploded across the stone floor, but it was not enough to bring the high level monster down. Even though his golems had been upgraded and the divine mana weakened the creature before them, it was not quite dead.

“Awooo!”

Agni did not wait and finally joined the attack. The moment the first impact staggered the creature, the divine wolf lunged forward. Azure flames erupted from his mouth as he released a torrent of energy. The skeletal dragon tried to rise, its webbed forelegs extending as if it were trying to take flight. However, the necrotic energies that animated its body were disrupted by the holy mana, and it could do nothing but succumb to the wolf’s sacred flames.

Finally, Agni lunged again, crashing down onto the creature like a meteor. The wolf’s jaws closed around the vertebrae in its neck with a surge of power. With a loud crack, the spine shattered instantly, and the lesser dragon’s head flew through the air.

“Woof!”

Agni dragged the corpse several meters while shaking his head from side to side in a ripping motion. He then released it and glanced at his master as if waiting to be praised for securing the kill. 𝘙𝒶Ŋ𝘖ВÈs

“Good job, Agni, but there are more coming. Get ready and conserve your strength.”

The first undead amphiptere was dead, but more were coming through the tunnel. Roland’s visor flickered as the map displayed multiple dots. Some gave the same readings as the monster they had just killed, but others were different.

“Multiple signatures… not just one type.”

The scraping sound grew louder, and something else joined it. It was no longer just the dragging of bones but the uneven rhythm of footsteps. Several shapes moved in the darkness beyond the broken corpse.

Then the next wave appeared. Two more skeletal lesser dragons slithered forward, their elongated bodies scraping against the corridor walls as their hollow wings unfolded. Behind them marched figures that were far more unsettling, humanoid in shape and wearing some sort of armor.

“Undead draconians, huh…”

Their bodies resembled lizardmen, but whatever flesh they once possessed had long since rotted away. Scales hung in strips from skeletal limbs, and their elongated skulls resembled twisted dragon heads. Black iron armor plates were fused directly into their ribcages, as if someone had grafted the equipment onto them centuries ago.

Any of these monsters, if released into the wild, would easily be able to destroy a village or even a city, even if tier three defenders were present. To make matters worse, the tunnel they were coming from held even more of them heading this way. Now that he was here, it made sense that no one had discovered this place or lived long enough to report it. This number of creatures as a first defensive measure was excessive, but luckily, Roland was not the average adventurer.

“Agni, let’s do like we practiced. Aim for the magical circles and give it everything you have.”

“Woof!”

Roland gave the order to his wolf companion and instantly took a knee. His golems continued assaulting the monsters to keep their attention focused on the sides, but the real danger would come from the front.

The ground began to glow as runes appeared across the stone floor. They shone brightly before their effect took shape. A circular magic circle rose before Agni, who was focusing on charging his horn with holy energy. Even though it was less pronounced in this form, it was still there. More circles formed, layering over one another like a series of magnifying lenses. As soon as Agni released a ray of holy light forward, their purpose became clear.

When the radiant beam struck the first circle, its power surged. It continued to intensify with every circle it passed through. The beam began as something barely twenty centimeters across, but after leaving the final enhancement ring, it had grown to the size of a carriage wheel.

The beam roared down the corridor in a torrent of divine light. Holy energy screamed through the air as the amplified radiance turned the narrow stone passage into a tunnel of blinding white brilliance. Dust, cobwebs, and fragments of bone vaporized instantly as the attack surged forward.

“Good. Hold it steady!”

Agni dug his claws into the ground as the pressure pushed back against him. The divine wolf’s body trembled while the flames along his fur burned brighter and brighter. His horn glowed like a miniature sun as he continued channeling energy into the beam.

Just as Roland expected, most of the monsters were still trapped in the corridor, pressing forward one after another at a slow pace. Even when the two at the front tried to spread out, Roland activated his gravity magic to pin them down and keep them in place.

They never stood a chance. The beam struck their bodies and almost instantly erased them from existence. With Roland’s amplifying runes supporting the attack, along with his own mana and Agni’s holy power, the necrotic energy within the monsters’ bones was purged. They crumbled and drifted away as nothing more than ash.

The divine beam continued forward for several seconds, carving a glowing tunnel through the undead horde. Skeletal amphipteres disintegrated almost the moment the light touched them. The draconic undead behind them fared little better. Their ancient armor glowed red before collapsing inward as the undead magic that bound their bodies together shattered.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the beam faded. Agni lowered his head and panted lightly as the last traces of holy light flickered around his horn.

“Woof…”

Roland slowly rose from his kneeling position while the glowing runic circles on the floor dimmed one by one.

“Well done.”

The corridor ahead had been completely cleared. Where tens of monsters had once advanced, there was now only a long trail of scorched stone and bone dust scattered across the ground. Something remained behind. Corrupt clumps of mana had been left in the aftermath, purified by the flames and now condensed into mana crystals and monster cores.

“This spot isn’t bad, but…”

The first wave of enemies had been destroyed, yet more were likely waiting deeper inside. They had been fortunate that the monsters approached in a straight line this time. Yet, he could not rely on that happening again. On top of that, the adventurers outside were another concern. Roland had no way of knowing where this place led or whether they would be able to leave before the adventurers arrived.

“Worf?”

“No, you can’t eat those, Agni. Not before I analyze them back at the workshop.”

“...”

Agni whined and began drooling at the colorful stones left behind by the lesser undead dragons. They resembled the cores of higher-tier undead such as liches, yet they were not quite the same. Their structure was less defined, as if the creatures they came from were closer to mindless automatons than true undead beings with intelligence.

‘Even if this place doesn’t lead to a proper exit, I can always leave through other means.’

Roland always kept several backup plans. After examining the area, he could see its potential. There was enough space for everything he needed, and the location of this ruin was promising. It sat close to the Drake Plains on a side where few people ventured.

‘There isn’t much on this side of the dungeon. I could use it as a jump point.’

He looked up at the overhead tunnel through which he and Agni had fallen. To his knowledge, the entrance mechanism might restore itself since they were still inside the dungeon. Even if it did not, climbing out through it would probably still be possible. He could float upward or create his own stairs. If no adventurers were nearby, drilling or blasting open the exit would also be feasible. Afterward, he could seal the tunnel the monsters used so they would not react immediately once he set up a teleportation gate using the components stored within his spatial runes.

“I’ll leave that as an option, but for now…”

While he could set up camp here, time was of the essence. There was still a one-time reward potentially waiting for him in this dungeon. He had no idea what would happen once the proper entrance opened and the other adventurers arrived. Setting up a secondary teleportation gate would take time, time he did not have at the moment.

“Let’s go, Agni. Rest for a moment. I’ll take care of the next monsters.”

“Woof!”

“It’s fine. Just rest.”

Agni seemed to protest, but Roland could see that more than half of the wolf’s mana had been drained during that attack. Even though their levels had increased after defeating those monsters, it was better for Agni, whose holy energy was pure, to hold back until a truly powerful foe appeared.

“Now then… this armor might not be the best solution for this area, but the other one isn’t finished either.”

His current armor was not ideal for this palace since it had not been designed to handle large amounts of holy energy. That was the main reason he had amplified Agni’s holy ray ability and flames to deal with the first group of undead monsters, but he could not rely on his wolf forever.

“Not quite finished, but it will have to do.”

Luckily, he had some spare parts in his storage. One was a staff capable of channeling divine energy, and another was a gauntlet that could replace the one on his right hand.

Soon, his right-hand gauntlet and vambrace floated forward and were replaced by a white set made from Dawnsteel, a rare alloy that could not be obtained through normal means and was typically used by Solarian paladins for their armor. The only way to acquire it was through illicit channels, as the church hoarded most of it for itself. It was difficult to obtain and rarely used outside of religious orders, since it enhanced holy energy that only a few organizations and classes could even wield.

Once his forearm and hand were encased in the new gauntlet, the runes began to shine as he linked their patterns with the darker armor. The suit now looked mismatched, but he was not particularly concerned about his appearance. What he needed was something capable of channeling higher-tier holy spells and energy. Without that, progressing through this ruin would be impossible.

“Okay then. Let’s go.”

“Woof.”

They moved on, but first he made sure to gather all the purified bone dust scattered across the ground, along with scraps of an unusual metal. The humanoid monsters had been wearing it, and most of it had crumbled, but enough remained to make collecting it worthwhile. The metal was surprisingly light and difficult to bend, even with his current level of strength.

His golems moved soon after and used their sensors to map the entire area for later while also scanning for any remaining threats. They advanced in a new formation with three of them at the front and another three in the back to watch for possible ambushes from behind.

‘This place looks like a maze, and it probably has traps everywhere.’

Normal people would require a full team of both mages to detect mana currents and trap experts to find hidden mechanisms, but he was different. Thanks to his runic operating system and the scanning capabilities of his golems, floating drones, and even Agni’s nose, he could easily detect threats before walking into them.

Thus, his journey continued inside. Resistance from the monstrosities was immediate but still manageable. The narrow choke point that had allowed Agni’s beam to erase the first wave was gone, replaced by branching stone hallways that resembled human arteries.

His helmet filled with signals from the undead, even those hidden in compartments within the walls or inside fake gravesites. The next area they entered resembled a mausoleum, with humanoid draconic monsters lying in open stone sarcophagi carved directly into the walls. Many were cracked open, their lids broken and pushed aside from the inside. Dust coated everything, but the moment Roland stepped into the chamber, they awoke.

Red dots appeared instantly, giving him enough time to react and order his golems to fire a first salvo forward. Agni ignited his flames while Roland used the staff and his replacement gauntlet to bathe the entire chamber in golden light.

The monsters stood no chance. Even before they could stand up, their forms began to crumble. It took only a few minutes for them to be defeated, but before the last Corrupted Undead Draconic Lord fell, Roland stopped.

‘I wonder…’

The staff he was using held a spinning icosahedron with twenty faces. Each face bore a rune that glowed and released holy energy. The undead monster had lost its limbs and could barely move, which made it a perfect guinea pig.

From within his spatial storage, he retrieved an identical shape, but the aura it emitted was far from holy. Instead, it looked necrotic in nature. After placing it in the staff, the device activated, and the mana around it glowed with a sickly green hue.

Agni took a step back, as this energy did not agree with his holy disposition. Roland ignored the reaction and pointed his staff at the fallen monster. Even now, it was slowly moving forward. Though its arms were shattered, it used the broken bones for leverage.

“Their cores are more powerful than the other undead, but they are not that different…”

This was not the first time he had tried to control the undead. He had plenty of practice back in Albrook. In theory, these lesser dragons were the same, little more than automatons controlled by necrotic mana and not much different from golems. If he could access their operating system through his staff, he could rewrite a few parameters, causing them to recognize him as an ally and turn against some of the other undead. There would be a limit to how many he could control, but adding them to his forces here would conserve his materials and keep the spider golems from taking damage as well.

“There… It’s getting through. Now, to give it a different directive.”

It took him a moment to shield the creature from the dungeon’s influence, but once that was done, the monster stopped and even waited for new orders.