The story of the black silk female knight

Another big shot who appeared with the hunters was an old man with a very long white beard.

Valensa knew this person... Although it was the first time she had seen him in person, almost every branch of the Adventurers' Guild had his portrait.

Morton Vito, the guild master of the Adventurers' Guild, is of noble birth from the Franco family, a Moon-level powerhouse, and a contemporary of the bald man.

When Valensa went to the Misty Mountains to investigate, she happened to stumble upon the quest where the Fairy Dragon Princess Dregran was almost raped by the Black Dragon Prince. It was the bald guy who got it from Morton Vitor.

The bald man's original intention was to let Valensa go into the Misty Mountains to train, but unexpectedly, Valensa experienced her first battle against a Moonlit Warrior. However, Valensa also met a beautiful fairy dragon princess and obtained the pseudo-treasure, Moon Kiss.

This can be seen as a testament to the saying that fortune favors the bold.

Judging from the weapon in his hand, that big shot from the Gourmet Association must be a very powerful warrior-type cultivator.

The Adventurers' Guild Master, Morton Vitor, looks thin, short, and old, and seems to be a spellcaster, but he is actually a warrior, and the most reckless fighter among warriors. He is best at fighting without weapons, using a power called Nen.

According to Valensa's understanding based on the information, the power of Nen is somewhat similar to the so-called righteous energy or yang energy in martial arts novels. It is also a kind of light-attribute bio-energy that has a certain extra damage bonus against undead creatures. Although it is not as good as holy light-type divine magic, it is still much stronger than other skills.

This is also the main reason why Morton Vitor, as the president of the Adventurers' Guild, would personally take action. Currently, among all the Moon-level warriors in Fran, he is the most skilled at dealing with the undead.

Of course, the clergy are the ones who are truly best at fighting the undead, but the Church of the Sun never participates in such operations, because wealth is meaningless to the Church of the Sun. The Church of the Sun never fights to plunder wealth, even if the opponent is a monster.

At most, a few clergy members like Valencia might join in as adventurers, but they would never be the main force in the assault.

After the two big shots made their appearance, they finally announced the specific plans for the dungeon conquest.

All the adventure party leaders, including Valensa, received a map from the Adventurers' Guild administrators.

The map shows the approximate layout of the dungeon, as well as the general environment within a radius of tens of kilometers around the dungeon, which the Adventurers' Guild and the Gourmet Association have collected over the past few months.

According to the leaders' plan, the group will proceed from three directions to conquer the dungeon this time.

The first direction is the core force of the assault team, personally led by two Moon-level experts, who will descend vertically 3000 meters directly from the top of the inner city of the dungeon to directly attack the Lich King and his undead guard.

This group faces the highest risk, but also the greatest reward... If they can quickly kill Huang Jinqing and his personal guards, they can loot Huang Jinqing's treasury immediately.

The second direction is the main force of adventurers, along with several earth-specialized spellcasters who will cast spells about 4000 meters away from the dungeon, creating a slanted passage about 5000 meters long that leads directly to the main entrance of the dungeon.

The main entrance to the dungeon is only a few hundred meters away from the inner city in a straight line. Entering from here allows you to quickly storm into the inner city and loot its wealth, without having to face the strongest enemies like the main force of an assault team. It can be said to be the best choice for most adventurer teams.

The first team will engage the dungeon's top-tier forces immediately, while the second team's frontal assault will prevent the dungeon's second-tier forces from returning to defend. The two teams complement each other.

After they have each dealt with their opponents, they can each plunder the Golden Lord's treasury and the lairs of other monsters in the inner city, making their fortunes based on their own abilities.

The third group, however, had to take a slightly longer route.

About 6 kilometers north of the town, there is a natural underground cave, the deepest part of which can reach a kilometer, where an underground river tributary flows.

The underground river runs down the cave about 22 kilometers from the underground city. It descends continuously over this 22-kilometer distance, gradually reaching a depth of 3000 meters from 1000 meters underground, and finally reaching the west side of the outer city of the underground city.

The third team was to launch an attack from the direction of the underground river, because there were several small docks on the west side of the outer city of the underground city, where ships made by monsters were moored.

That underground river has many tributaries and multiple exits. Once the dungeon is invaded by adventurers, some monsters will definitely choose to escape with their loot through the underground river. Therefore, attacking the outer city docks along the underground river will surely yield results.

The underground river route is a bit long, but by the time the third team reaches the dock, the first and second teams, if things go smoothly, will already be looting the treasure.

Valensa originally intended to lead the group to follow the main force and take the second route to attack the main gate, but many in the group were more interested in the underground river.

After all, the members of Valensa's team all came from wealthy and noble backgrounds. They were not really interested in plundering the wealth of monsters. They wanted to broaden their horizons and train themselves more, so they naturally chose the most interesting route.

So Valensa granted her friends' wish and led them straight to the natural cave north of town, intending to enter the underground city via the underground river.

Indeed, very few adventurers choose this path, and most of them are not very strong; apart from Fran, there isn't a single Radiant-rank adventurer.

Fran didn't flaunt her strength. Instead, she obediently followed Valensa's instructions, pretending to be a naive student on a training trip, and walked at the back of the group like the others.

Aside from the fact that the beautiful girl attracted some attention, the other adventurer teams didn't pay much attention to Valensa and her companions.

The third wave of adventurers, consisting of about 100 people in seven or eight teams, entered the underground cavern north of the town.

For the first few hundred meters, it was very safe, and many people even had the leisure to admire the stalactites of various shapes and colors inside the cave, and even made risqué jokes about some of the unusually shaped stalactites.

Two young male adventurers deliberately talked loudly about dirty jokes not far from Valensa, while glancing at her as if they wanted to see the beautiful girls' shy expressions, and then whistled.

This is actually quite common among adventurers. Unless a noble status is revealed, how could a beautiful female adventurer not be harassed?

However, such teasing is usually mostly in jest and not malicious. If you beat up the teaser for it, it would seem petty and might even escalate the conflict.

Valensa has a lot of experience in dealing with these kinds of situations.

She first grabbed Tia's hand and touched it to soothe the slightly annoyed Tia who wanted to hit her. Then she exchanged a glance with Melody, who also had adventurer experience and was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and then pointed to a stalactite and started talking loudly.

He immediately launched into topics far more provocative than those of the two young male adventurers, and was full of the perverse practices of the upper class.

This left the two young male adventurers, who were probably only theoretically knowledgeable but lacked practical experience, dumbfounded. Their gazes towards Valencia and her companions immediately changed from admiration to fear.

Especially when Valensa casually broke off a stalactite and crushed it into dust with a seemingly skilled and engrossed manner, the two young male adventurers shuddered, hugged each other like frightened little girls, then quickly separated and ran away without looking back.

"Did you see that?"

After scaring away the two young male adventurers, Valensa quietly shared her experience with her companions:

"Experienced old rogues among adventurers would never do such a thing. They prefer to watch you from the shadows and collect things like the chairs you've sat in, the clothes you've worn, and the bathwater you've used."

Someone who deliberately tells dirty jokes to get your attention is usually a novice like the one just now... and might even be a virgin.

The more shy or angry you are in front of those kinds of people, the more accomplished they feel. The best way to deal with them is to give them a little bit of a shock...wait, what?

Valensa, who was feeling smug, suddenly straightened up and raised her sword and shield to block in front of everyone. At the same time, Fran also bent over, ready to fight at any moment.

Although the others didn't know what had happened, they were aware of Valensa and Fran's strength, and they quickly went from being slightly relaxed to tense.

Sure enough, less than 10 seconds later, shouts, the sound of clashing weapons, and the groans of pain from the wounded came from the front of the column.

"Everyone be careful! Monsters are coming, and there are quite a few of them!"

Soon, someone in front shouted a warning to those behind, and almost as soon as he finished speaking, a large group of dark figures rushed out from the depths of the cave and attacked the group.

They were bats, an enormous swarm of bats that stretched as far as the eye could see.

These bats all had red eyes, were extremely hungry and bloodthirsty, and would bite anyone they saw.

Although they only have two sharp teeth, they are quite sharp. They can bite through thin metal armor with one bite, let alone leather and cloth armor.

Only enchanted armor can withstand the bat's fangs, but enchanted armor is not something every adventurer can afford.

Fortunately, these bats are quite fragile and not very fast, so the warriors among the adventurers can easily kill several with a single swing of their weapons.

However, there were simply too many bats, making the warriors' slashing and killing inefficient.

Spellcasters capable of killing bats over a wide area dared not use large-scale spells indiscriminately because the cave was relatively narrow, and some spellcasters with slower reactions were even bitten by bats.

Seeing her adventurers suffer a setback before even reaching the underground river, Valensa frowned with a wry smile. While continuing to slay the charging bats with her sword, she whispered to Fran:

Do you have a way to control these bats?

"……What do you mean?"

Fran immediately glared at Valensa with displeasure:

"How many times have I told you! We vampires didn't evolve from bats... You humans evolved from monkeys, so how can you control those monkey monsters in the wild?"

“I can’t control it, but Melody can.”

Valensa nodded with a mischievous grin:

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes before. Many monkeys were bewitched by Melody’s sword dance and rushed towards her blade in droves… Since Melody’s charm works on monkeys, Fran, you should also have a way to deal with these bats, right?”

"You...! Humph! All you do is bully me!"

Fran stomped her foot in annoyance, but after a moment's thought, she nodded.

"Okay... I think I do have a way to deal with these bats."

Chapter 19 Entering the Dungeon

Fran acted swiftly.

Before she could make any move, the swarm of bats suddenly became chaotic.

The bats, which could originally accurately pounce on their targets, bite through their skin, and suck their blood, now flew around aimlessly in the air like headless flies.

If there were only one or two bats, it wouldn't be a problem for them to fly around randomly. But the problem is that there are a large, densely packed swarm of bats.

Without the adventurers lifting a finger, the disoriented bats collided with each other in mid-air, falling like rain, only to be finished off by the adventurers.

Soon, the swarm of bats that had given the adventurers a small defeat either died or fled, and the cave fell silent once again, with only the adventurers' breathing and the groans of the wounded being heard.

After all, these are adventurers who dared to participate in the dungeon raid. The adventure teams that chose the underground river route are certainly not as strong as the people on the other two sides, but there are no novices among them.

The group quickly regained their composure and mindset. The injured were bandaged and given alchemical potions with antidotes, and they continued on their way.

Once many people started whispering again and no one paid attention to their side, Chiba Grass curiously pulled Fran aside and asked:

"How did you do that? Could it be that you vampires can really control bats?"

"Shouldn't it be called interference?"

Before Fran could speak, Tia chuckled and said:

"Bats actually have very poor eyesight; they rely entirely on sound waves to navigate through complex terrain... Valencia broke your Leaf Concealment Technique using a skill based on the same principle."

This sound wave is very special; ordinary people cannot hear it or produce it. However, vampires should also know this technique. Valensa learned that technique from Fran.

If I'm not mistaken, Fran herself emitted those sound waves to interfere with the bats, causing them to collide with each other as if they were humans suddenly blinded while running at full speed.

"Completely correct."

Fran nodded, acknowledging Tia's analysis and speculation.

"So that's how it is... My elder sister could easily see through my Leaf Concealment Technique; she actually learned it from the vampires..."

Thousand-Leaf Grass suddenly realized something and became very interested in vampires. She circled around Fran, asking her questions incessantly and calling her "Sister Fran" affectionately.

But everyone can see that Chiba actually wants to understand sound wave localization better so that she can improve the Leaf Concealment Technique. She may also be dreaming of one day surpassing Valenza and repaying the bullying she suffered at Valenza's hands.

The group continued onward, and after that, they did not encounter any more large-scale attacks in the cave. The few underground monsters that occasionally appeared either quickly fled or were easily killed by the adventurers.

A pool of clear, deep water appears at the end of the cave.

According to the map provided by the adventurers' guild and the gourmet association, there is a cave about 4 meters in diameter about 600 meters below this deep pool. The cave slopes downwards and is nearly a kilometer long. After passing through the cave, there is an underground river that leads directly to the docks of the outer city of the underground city.

After resting for a couple of minutes at the edge of the deep pool, more than a hundred adventurers got ready and jumped into the pool like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, continuously diving down.

Underwater breathing is considered one of the essential spells for spellcasters among adventurers; Valensa's party alone has three members who know it: Tia, Gina, and Harry.

Although Valensa and Fran do not possess the magic to breathe underwater, they do have more effective divine spells, enough to ensure the entire team can move freely underwater.

Other adventurer teams didn't have Valensa's team's luxurious setup, but each team had at least one spellcaster who could use underwater breathing spells to buff their teammates. Some adventurers even chose to use alchemical potions with the same name and effect as the buff spells.

The pool, hundreds of meters deep, was quite safe. Although there were many special fish that lived underground, there were no monsters. The group easily found the large hole leading to the underground river.

Valensa and the others were not in a hurry. They patiently waited until almost all of the more than 100 people had entered the cave before entering as the last group and continuing to move forward.

We absolutely cannot let our guard down in places like this; everyone is extremely careful.

Nevertheless, the first victim appeared in the large hole at the bottom of the deep pool.

The attacker was a large snake, about the thickness of a washbasin, but its body was almost transparent, blending seamlessly with the color of the pool water, making it seem invisible in the water.

One of the adventurers at the very front of the group was attacked by this giant snake and swallowed whole.

After his teammates fought valiantly to kill the giant snake, a third of his body had already been digested by the snake, and nearly half of his head was gone. There was no hope of saving him.

His teammates could only use spatial storage items to carry his body and continue on their way.

After swimming for about 10 minutes in the rather crowded deep cave, the view suddenly opened up before us.

We've finally arrived at the underground river.

The exit was very close to the water's surface, and the adventurers swam vigorously to break the surface, breathing in the long-missed air.

While underwater breathing magic allows a person to breathe underwater, that kind of breathing is very uncomfortable and far less comfortable than normal breathing.

As they took deep breaths, the adventurers also carefully observed their surroundings, verifying the information shown on the map.

Fortunately, the intelligence was correct. This underground river is very wide. As far as the eye can see, even the narrowest part is more than 30 meters wide, and the river surface is more than 5 meters away from the top of the underground cave.

The adventurers breathed a sigh of relief, and then it was time for them to show off their skills.

Adventurer teams that choose the underground river route are naturally very confident in their team's water transportation capabilities.

Some of them used water magic to create floating ice, allowing the entire team to stand on it, and then manipulated the water flow to propel the ice forward.

Some people used summoning magic to summon a tortoise the size of a truck, and the whole team sat on the tortoise's shell, letting the tortoise carry the team forward.