Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 77

77.

As soon as Gale sensed Arun’s energy, he ran as fast as he could, but suddenly, the ground beneath him gave way.

Gale’s senses returned even as he braced for the impact of falling.

Just before hitting the ground, Gale managed to right himself in mid-air.

Thud-!

Bang-! Kwaaaang-!

The collapsing stones buried Gale.

He spotted something sparkling through the rubble. He must have dropped the sword Karen had given him.

Bang-!

The stones falling on Gale’s head instantly turned to dust.

“Karen!”

Gale called out, but there was no response.

Now, even Karen’s sword was gone. It seemed to have been buried in the cave-in.

Gale had no time to dwell on Karen.

As the dust from the cave-in settled, Gale shuddered, feeling a magical energy prickling his skin.

‘This, this is…….’

He hadn’t felt this uneasy even when facing the Orc King. The magic he felt now, even from a distance, was enough to give him goosebumps and make his heart race.

An overwhelming presence!

The killing intent radiating from it made Gale tremble.

‘What on earth is it?’

Anxiety gripped his heart.

Most of all, the fact that Arun was near this presence terrified Gale.

A Sword Master, someone who had mastered the sword and was called a master—a realm Gale was about to reach—was being shaken this much by a mere presence. What if Arun encountered that being?

Gale bit his lip tightly.

‘I have to find His Highness.’

Karen didn’t answer and was nowhere to be seen. It seemed they had fallen in different directions when the cave collapsed.

He had made a promise to Karen, but having clearly sensed Arun’s energy, it became difficult to keep that promise.

‘I’m sorry. I will repay your kindness someday… without fail.’

Gale engraved Karen’s name and face in his mind.

* * *

Leaving that ominous feeling behind, I hurried along the path.

“Riodeen.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Worried about Riodeen’s condition, I asked again.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. I can still fight. I apologize for causing concern.”

I shook my head and encouraged Riodeen.

“No, it’s amazing you survived an ambush by a Dullahan [a headless horseman from Irish folklore]. It would have been a severe blow if I had lost you.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Riodeen once again took the lead without hesitation.

I tried to stop him, but I saw a strong will in his determined expression.

Perhaps he felt guilty for being injured and unable to fight the Dullahan.

“David.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“That energy from earlier….”

“It disappeared at some point.”

David was also aware of it. The other knights nodded slightly at our words.

A moment ago, an indescribably enormous magical power had been felt, but now it was undetectable.

A dungeon with no information. There were no traps, but strong undead kept appearing.

I instructed the knights.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

Especially Riodeen, who was in the lead, had already been ambushed once, so he nodded and took cautious steps.

The cave seemed endless.

Fortunately, no more skeletons or Dullahans appeared, and there were no traps either.

Also, the path was straightforward.

All we had to do was go straight.

How long had we walked?

Just as we were getting tired of walking through the dark cave, the space suddenly widened.

The slightly relaxed muscles tensed up, and our eyes sharpened.

‘Wind.’

A wind blowing from somewhere brushed against my cheek.

It was a wind filled with a very eerie energy.

I summoned Sylph [a type of air spirit].

‘Please scout ahead.’

The Sylphs scattered.

Riodeen slowed down a bit.

“It’s a plaza.”

At Riodeen’s words, I examined the space. It was large enough to accommodate a hundred knights, and, most importantly, there was no visible path forward.

“Is this the end?”

-There’s a path over here.

At Sylph’s words, I quickly turned my gaze.

It was a small path that I hadn’t noticed because the space was so vast.

I pointed the passage out to the knights.

“There’s an exit over there.”

Riodeen stepped forward again.

“Your Highness, we… cannot walk through here.”

“You can’t walk through?”

I quickly approached Riodeen.

There was definitely a passage, but we couldn’t enter even if we lowered our heads.

‘We have to crawl?’

What if a big explosion occurred in the cave while crawling like before?

It would be a live burial.

I summoned Sylph and Sylphere and sent them into the passage.

The vision of a mid-level spirit is wider than that of a low-level spirit, and, of course, the vision of a high-level spirit is wider.

Sylph could be forcibly unsummoned due to an unknown shock, so I attached Sylphere as insurance.

I had already experienced Sylph being unsummoned by the Dullahan, so I took out Sylphere as a precaution.

-It’s quite long.

I conveyed Sylphere’s words to the knights.

“The passage seems to be very long.”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

I agreed with the question from the knight with the impressive beard and answered.

“It’s dangerous. If there is no exit at the end of the passage, or if the passage is even slightly longer than the path we have passed so far, we will turn back.”

Considering the environment where we had to crawl, even if the passage was shorter than the path we had come so far, I was thinking of turning back if it was longer than a certain length.

Then Sylphere’s voice was heard.

-It’s a room. It looks like a prison… I see armor worn by human knights.

Sylphere’s words made me decide.

“We’re going in.”

* * *

This time, I stopped Riodeen from taking the lead.

“I’ll go first.”

“Your Highness.”

“Since the spirits have already been sent in, it’s easier for me to go in front.”

I put my head into the passage before Riodeen could argue further.

Sylph and Sylphere continued to scout the passage, and I summoned a Gnome [an earth spirit] to protect me.

‘It’s hard.’

The fact that we were crawling was more difficult than expected.

It was much harder than walking, and the passage was narrower than it looked from the outside.

I felt suffocated, but I persistently moved forward.

Fortunately, there were no signs of the cave exploding, which I was most worried about.

‘It’s definitely the prison where Gale was held.’

It was a dungeon connected to the Orc army’s main base.

Why would the Orcs have armor? It was definitely Gale’s, and the trace of Gale that I finally discovered made my heart race.

“Hoo.”

I caught my breath and increased my speed. I felt a stinging sensation as my arms, abdomen, and thighs were rubbed raw, but I didn’t care.

Finally, light began to appear from the exit at the end of the passage.

“Not much left.”

I informed the knights in a low voice that the exit was not far away.

I slowed down a bit and carefully headed towards the exit.

The exit was getting closer and closer.

Soon, when I arrived at the exit, I didn’t go out right away and looked inside.

As the spirits said, it looked like a prison inside.

-Gnome, check if there are any Orcs outside that door.

After asking the Gnome, I went into the prison.

Riodeen and David came down after me, and the knights arrived one after another.

The prison had some space, so our group of nearly a hundred people could all fit inside.

The prison became cramped when all the knights arrived, but I didn’t care and said briefly.

“That armor….”

At my words, David nodded.

“It’s definitely the armor used by the Imperial Knights.”

It was definitely Gale’s armor.

Riodeen rummaged through the prison and carefully examined it.

At that moment, the Gnome said.

-There are many Orcs. But they don’t seem interested in this place. Everyone is busily going outside.

It seemed that the Orcs were still marching out to seize the western region even now.

Or maybe they were going out to support their king, who was fighting the Wyvern, the ruler of the ruins.

Whatever the reason, the fact that the Orcs were not interested in the prison was important.

‘Keep watching. Let me know immediately if any Orcs come here.’

After telling the Gnome, I turned my gaze towards Riodeen.

“The armor was taken off and hung there.”

Everyone’s eyes focused on Riodeen’s finger.

Large trees were embedded next to the passage we came out of.

“These Orc bastards….”

I was filled with anger at the fact that Gale had been treated like a beast.

Riodeen continued.

“It seems that he was tied up there for quite a long time. And…”

Riodeen examined the ground under where Gale had been hanging.

“This… the stone powder is not from this prison.”

There was nothing particularly different in my eyes, but it seemed different in Riodeen’s eyes.

Riodeen stepped on the shoulders of two knights and tapped the trees next to where Gale had been tied with his sword.

At the same time, dust rose, and a hole was punched through.

My eyes widened involuntarily.

“That’s…”

“It seems that he escaped this way.”

Riodeen grabbed the passage with his hand and went up. As he went inside, the dust fell more and more severely.

“It seems that they blocked it to some extent from the inside to erase the traces while escaping.”

I made a decision right away.

“We’re going to follow that way. Let’s hurry before the Orcs find out.”

If Gale had escaped from this place, there was no reason to be caught by the Orcs and get into a fight.

Unlike the passage we came through, the passage Gale escaped through had a high ceiling as soon as we crawled a little way in.

Riodeen, who was waiting inside, said as he watched the knights coming in.

“It seems that only the part where we have to crawl is blocked. Can you summon Salamander [a fire spirit]?”

I immediately summoned Salamander and made it follow Riodeen.

Riodeen used Salamander’s light to advance while searching for Gale’s traces.

In the meantime, all the knights escaped from the prison, and we set out on another cave exploration, not knowing what lay ahead.

This cave definitely had Gale’s traces.

“Your Highness.”

At Riodeen’s voice, I quickly headed to his side.

David did the same.

Riodeen’s expression was serious.

“What’s wrong? Did Gale escape with severe injuries?”

Riodeen shook his head.

“It doesn’t seem so. There are no traces of blood around, and there are no other signs of treatment to heal injuries. Just…”

I urged Riodeen.

“Why?”

“It doesn’t seem like Gale is alone.”

At Riodeen’s words, I shuddered.

“Not alone?”

“I examined the traces in detail, thinking that it might be an Orc chasing him, but it’s not an Orc’s trace. Also, if an Orc was chasing him, there should be traces of several Orcs appearing at the same time, not just one person’s trace.”

David asked a question.

“Is there a high possibility that someone helped Gale escape?”

“Definitely.”

At Riodeen’s answer, I instinctively thought of the hero Karen.

Karen was the only human lurking in the Orc army’s main base at this time.

Riodeen continued.

“Perhaps someone discovered the prison through this cave and then discovered Gale as well. There are traces of going back and forth several times, and he clearly escaped while looking for an opportunity.”

I took a breath and said.

“Are you sure that Gale and that someone headed to the exit or entrance of this cave?”

Riodeen was certain.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Let’s go.”

Then there was no reason to hesitate.

I was curious about what would happen to the quest, but Gale’s life was the most important thing, so now that I knew he was alive, I had to chase after him.

‘I need to figure out exactly where the end of this cave is and consider how to return first.’

Soon, one thought came to my mind.

‘What if Gale is sacrificed in the Orc Shaman ritual if I don’t rescue him? Then…….’

I hurriedly checked the quest.

The quest was still unchanged.

It was true that Gale had escaped, but the quest was not over because he had escaped from someone else, not me.

In other words, Gale had only escaped from the ‘prison,’ but he had not yet escaped from the Orc army’s main base.

“Hurry.”

The fact that I might meet Karen was no longer on my mind.

Gale’s danger was not over yet.