Duke seemed calmer now that Regine was not on his team anymore. It seemed like his personality changed when the mentioned female was not around him.
"This is where we will get down. Make sure you report to me if you find anything missing or weird in your surroundings."
Horas quickly instructed the two people on what he wanted them to do and then began to look around himself. Life had opened up into a small room that did not have much to look around in.
Honestly, Horas was willing to believe that this room was a decoy and the real room was somewhere else. So there might be a hidden mechanism in here somewhere.
"Man, this is tough for sure. I can feel weird energy from the top of this room but there is no way for us to get there from this room. I looked around for the traps but there is nothing worth triggering."
The villain who had been forced to accompany Horas and Duke explained. It did not look like he was lying right now but Horas was not convinced that there was no way up.
Especially since there was a room on top of this one. There had to be a way to get there.
"Hmm, I have an idea. Listen, I want you to call life up as soon as I ask you to. If I find something, I can inform you both so you can come up as well."
Horas quickly made plans but Duke looked unsure. The villain was all in for it and gestured for Horas to hurry up.
Horas waited for the lift to come closer before he jumped down right on top of it. He waited in anticipation until the lift landed on his previous floor.
As he had expected, there was a room on top of this one that looked different and was much denser in energy articulation. It was the real hidden room in this place and it was what this room above the previous one.
"Alright, there is a room up here. Let me walk off the lift and then you both can come up as well."
Horas instructed and pretty soon all three of them were up in the volcano's hidden room.
This room was much cooler than any other Horas had been in before. It was also laced with technology all around the room. It reminded Horas of the last dungeon he had been in.
"Wow, look at this small nano-converter. I heard that these cost thousands of dollars to make, never mind being sold to the general public. Was the dungeon association trying to conduct experiments on this island?"
Horas very much doubted that it was the dungeon association who was behind this situation.
First of all, this island was part of the communal grounds and no one was allowed her except the chosen ones. And it was also under the academy's protection so the dungeon association was not allowed to use it.
This much technology did not sit well with Horas and he felt the need to report it to the academy.
As soon as he opened his communication device, he heard Howard's message.
"Ugh, did you people find anything? There is nothing down here but the bones of monsters and discarded plant bodies. I don't think Regine is feeling well right now because of all the unpleasant scenery. So can we come up now?"
Howard seemed to be unwell as well but he seemed to hold on better than Regine in the background.
Horas felt sorry for sending the kids down and he quickly instructed them to come up to this room.
Soon, all six of them were in a single room but they were at a stand-still again. What should they do from here on? It was not like they had a plan to follow.
"Hmm, we should start looking around for another door. I am sure this room is connected to a bigger place since I can feel the vibrations. But I cannot feel where the opening to the bigger room is."
Villain #1 informed Horas and the gang. His partner sent him questionable looks for help out but villain #1 ignored his partner.
"Are you trying to help us out? I don't see why you would want to tell us all this. What is your goal?"
Howard questioned as he smacked his hand on the wall. Suddenly, the portion he had smacked got pressed down and a hidden door opened.
'Talk about the protagonist's plot armor. I did make Howard unnecessarily lucky and that was a blessing.'
Horas was thankful that Howard was here. They could finally start moving now.
Just like the previous dungeon, this one had bodies of unique monsters displayed in test tubes as well but there was a lack of human touch to this place. It seemed to have been abandoned and in a hurry at that.
"Hey, look at this. Aren't these research notes?"
Regine held up a small file that had a coded language written on it. A quick scan decoded the message in those files and Horas quickly hide them.
[Day 103: The experiment is a success. We were finally able to start producing artificial energy. Soon, the day of the end would come.]
[Day 165: The island is behaving weirdly. It has begun to show signs of mutation and we will need to flee soon]
[Day 207: I cannot take it anymore. This experiment was a failure. Chōngdòng lied to us all when he said that he would help. He caused this mess.]
[Day 300: It's all over. The high demons have been summoned and the god had forsaken us. We were lied to all this time by the people we trusted. This world - it will come to an end soon since he is awake and has been for some time.]
All these notes were important and classified information. Horas needed to take them back to the academy.
"Hey, why did you hide those notes? I wanted to read them."
Regine complained, now realizing that ignorance was bliss. It would be merciful for her to only be concerned about her adventurers.
"This is classified information. If it is deemed safe, it would be released to the masses. Besides, you need to focus on getting out of this dungeon alive first."
Horas reminded Regine and she fell quiet. She realized that Horas was right and that they were in real danger.
They all kept on walking and reached another door soon. It was heavy and metallic which made Horas hesitate to open it. Something dangerous was lurking behind this door for sure.
"I-I don't think we should open this door. It feels like the boss of this dungeon is behind it so let's ignore it, alright?"
Villain #1 requested with a scared and small voice. Villain #2 seemed to agree but Howard was determined to go in.
"We should take this chance and attack. The volcano will not stay quiet for long and who knows where the entrance door is? The only way for us to get out of here is to defeat the boss."
Howard spoke up with a confident voice. But Horas was the one who stopped everyone from this argument.
"Howard Spencer, we will not be fighting this boss since it is too dangerous. You might not have realized something because we did not meet high-leveled monsters but this dungeon is no ordinary dungeon."
"I am an A-ranked adventurer and I am not wearing inhibitors. That means that this dungeon is at least A-ranked or higher. Do you think we can take on such a tough monster all on our own?"
Howard fell quiet after Horas smacked the reality bomb on top of his head.
But that did not last long before Howard's frustration broke through the surface and his determined eyes looked at Horas.
"Then, what do you want me to do? Sit back and wait for our deaths? Surely that was not your plan since the start?"
Howard questioned Horas and everyone waited around for his answer.
"As if. We are here to find the highest ground possible. We need to be visible to the rescue team for them to find us faster, remember?"
Horas's biggest objective while walking into the volcano was to climb on top and have the rescue team find them before the volcano could erupt.
His distress signal had been picked up already so someone was here to take them out. Horas had expected Jack Hollow to take swift action for Howard's sake.
"O-Oh right. That is the guideline in the survival tactics book. I completely forgot about it."
Howard calmed down once Horas explained things to him. And then the climb began again for their party.
The rescue helicopter managed to pick them up before the volcano erupted and Horas was sure that all the evidence of that lab and its data was gone.
At least he had managed to retrieve a lot of it.
"Horas, go and report to Principal Marble about what happened. She is calling for you."
Horas was not surprised this happened and he was excited to report back as well. It was troublesome news to know that someone had managed to infiltrate this island.
That meant that there was a traitor among the staff in this academy.
