The Demon Lord’s dungeon opened before them beyond the last line of trees.
Mark studied it in silence for several seconds.
He definitely hadn’t expected this.
When Mark thought about the Demon Lord’s dungeon, his mind automatically built a clichéd image.
Sothing dark and ominous.
The kind of entrance that, in any video ga, made you save before even getting close because you knew what was coming wouldn’t be friendly.
But what stood before him was completely different.
The structure was imposing, yes.
Massive white marble columns rose on either side of the entrance, tall and monuntal, with an architecture that looked more like an ancient temple than a demonic lair.
The only detail that betrayed the passage of ti was that the entire structure was partially sunken into the ground.
’It’s like Roman ruins. I’m not sure if that’s reassuring... or more worrying.’
There was sothing unsettling about that discrepancy. A dark, threatening entrance would have been predictable.
This, on the other hand, didn’t match the image he had of the place.
’Why would the Demon Lord build sothing like this? Or... did he even build it?’
"Sothing wrong?"
Mark blinked and glanced sideways.
Rose was watching him with her usual mildly curious expression, her staff resting casually on her shoulder.
"It’s not what I pictured," Mark admitted, turning his gaze back to the entrance.
Rose followed his gaze and nodded slowly.
"Most people don’t," she said calmly. "They expect sothing more... dramatic."
"Exactly..."
Rose let out a small laugh.
"According to what people say," she continued, studying the columns with interest, "the original structure was enormous. Much larger than what you see now. They say it could once be seen from miles away, dominating the landscape like an artificial mountain."
She paused, closing her eyes briefly as if recalling details.
"But over ti it started to sink. Little by little. Year after year. Decade after decade. Until it beca what it is today."
"Sink? Why?"
Rose shrugged with her typical indifference.
"Nobody knows for certain. So say it’s the weight of the accumulated magic inside — that it grew so dense over ti it literally started compressing the ground beneath it."
Her red eyes swept the structure from top to bottom.
"Others say the terrain simply gave way, that the original construction wasn’t designed to last this long without maintenance." She paused. "And the more dramatic ones say the dungeon is burying itself. As if sothing inside is pulling it downward."
Mark looked at her.
"What do you think?"
"That it’s probably a mix of the first two, and the third is too dramatic to be real." Her lips curved slightly. "Though I’ll admit the third one is the most entertaining."
’A dungeon that stays active with no apparent controller, and demons who sealed themselves inside decades ago and never ca back out...’
Every new detail about this place raised more questions than it answered.
Mark looked at the entrance again in silence, letting his mind work.
There was sothing about the architecture that kept nagging at him. A feeling he couldn’t quite put into words.
Like in a video ga, when you find a design elent that doesn’t fit the rest of the world, and your gar instinct tells you it ans sothing.
He turned to Yuki, who stood beside him in her usual posture, completely still, her dark eyes fixed on the entrance with a blank expression.
"Yuki," said Mark. "Go check the entrance. I want to know if it’s clear — not just of monsters. If there’s anyone else nearby besides us, I need to know."
Yuki nodded once.
And vanished.
Rose watched her disappear with a raised eyebrow.
"Impressive," she murmured, in a tone that suggested she wasn’t easily impressed. Her red eyes lingered a second longer on the empty space before returning to the entrance. "How long has she been with you?"
"A while."
Rose glanced at him sideways with that faint amused smile, clearly aware he was dodging the question, but she didn’t push it.
Mark put his hands in his pockets while they waited.
The forest around them was just as quiet as it had been on the walk over.
It was an absurd contrast with the legendary dungeon entrance before them, as if nature had simply decided to ignore its existence.
"Hey," said Rose casually, still looking at the dungeon rather than at Mark. "What exactly are you looking for in there?"
Mark looked at her.
"What do you an?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Rose replied, turning her head slightly toward him. "You didn’t co all the way out here without a purpose. You don’t seem like the type who does things without a reason... so, what are you looking for in the Demon Lord’s dungeon?"
Mark considered how much to tell her.
Then decided there was no reason not to be straightforward. Rose was already part of the team. She’d see him in action sooner or later anyway.
"I hit a wall," he said simply.
Rose frowned slightly.
"A wall?"
"With leveling," Mark explained, turning his gaze back to the entrance. "At first it was fast. Every dungeon I cleared gave enough experience to keep moving without trouble... but it takes longer each ti."
"And you figured the Demon Lord’s dungeon was the logical solution," Rose said in a neutral tone, though there was sothing in her voice that suggested she was still processing what she’d just heard.
"I figured it was worth checking if you can grind here, at least on the first few floors," Mark confird. "If the monsters on the lower levels give enough experience, I can level up here instead of in regular dungeons."
The silence that followed was slightly uncomfortable.
Then Rose burst out laughing.
Not a restrained laugh. Not a polite smile.
A laugh that rang out across the clearing and sent a few birds flying.
Mark looked at her with a completely neutral expression.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing," said Rose, pulling herself together, though a wide smile remained on her face.
Her red eyes looked at him with a mix of disbelief and amusent she hadn’t shown before.
"In two hundred and fifty years of existence, traveling this world, eting every kind of person..." She shook her head slightly. "Adventurers, mages, kings, criminals, heroes, villains. Every imaginable ambition."
She paused to catch her breath.
"And never, in all those years, have I t anyone crazy enough to even consider a plan like that."
"It’s a reasonable risk-benefit assessnt," Mark replied with complete seriousness.
Rose stared at him for a second.
"Risk-benefit?" she repeated slowly. "You’re calling a practically suicidal plan a risk-benefit assessnt?"
"The first floors should be manageable with Yuki and you alongside ," Mark said in the sa practical tone. "And if they’re not, we leave and find another option."
Rose studied him again, her expression shifting from amusent to sothing closer to curiosity, as if she were observing sothing that didn’t fit into any known category.
"You’re quite peculiar," she said finally. It didn’t sound like an insult.
"I’ve been told."
Rose opened her mouth to continue, but didn’t get the chance.
A figure appeared before them without a sound.
Yuki materialized exactly where she had vanished, in the sa posture as before, dark eyes fixed on Mark, expression unreadable, as if she had never left.
"Master," she said in her calm, even voice. "The entrance is clear. No monsters in the imdiate periter. No human presence or other nearby entities." She paused briefly. "It’s safe to go in."
Mark nodded slowly, looking one last ti at the dark, silent entrance of the Demon Lord’s dungeon.
’Alright. Let’s see what’s inside.’
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