Lord Nacht, the black dragon, was the only one unconcerned about missing multiple months of time. After all, he was a venerable dragon of the Death God. He had taken naps longer than two months.
“How are things going politically? I should have been more careful.” The Archbishop asked.
“Everything is stable for the moment. The White Dragons sent a Totem to keep things running smoothly within the church, while the Army has been learning to play well with the civilian government and the Elites.
Overall, it has been as smooth as possible, and your subordinates have proven themselves quite capable.
However, the same is not true of the situation on the continent in general.
The Orb Incident, as it has been named, was only the start. We have nine more stable dungeons on the continent now, all appearing and stabilizing within the last two months.
Eight of them are Ascended Rank or lower, one is Commander Rank.
However, that is not the problem. The new Commander Rank dungeon is also randomly awakening party members who finish the challenge with a group that has never entered before.
We know of eighteen cases so far from four different nations.”
The Archbishop took a deep breath. “And where might this new Commander Rank dungeon be?”
Colonel Valerie hesitated before responding. “The Newbon Capital. Newbon City. It appeared over an ancient monument in the middle of the city. That’s two stable Commander Rank dungeons in the same nation now, and we have no way of verifying how many Monsters have gained access to the System.
However, with the restriction, and the fact that it doesn’t appear to be a guaranteed awakening for a single member, as we have observed at the one in our Nation, it shouldn’t be too far from our estimate.
It has been open six days now.”
Of course, they couldn’t verify the numbers. If they didn’t have someone there to inspect them with the interface on the way in and out, the Monsters would look the same on the way in and out. It wasn’t like they immediately gained a Rank when the system activated.
However, having a Commander Rank dungeon right in your capital city would be a huge advantage once the chaos of other nations trying to gain access ended.
Nacht rumbled in annoyance. “How many of the other confirmed stable dungeons are in Newbon?”
Valerie shook her head. “None. There is an Ascended Rank Dungeon in Baria, near the Divine Beast Nation border, but all of the other new dungeons appeared along the coast or on islands, so they’re all nominally under human control except that one and the one in Newbon City.”
Nacht frowned. “Baria is a human nation. Or do you just mean that it is the only one that didn’t appear near the coast?”
“It is twenty metres from the river that marks the official border. However, there is a Phoenix nest in the ruins where the portal opened, and the Matriarch won’t let anyone near her clutch.”
Karl perked up, and Colonel Valerie laughed.
“That includes you. In fact, it explicitly includes you. I don’t know where you met, but she called you out by name as someone to be kept away until her eggs hatched.
Lord Nacht, you are on that list as well, as are Orthos, Librarian Gareth, Doug Mackenzie, The King of Creliston, a Succubus named Marie, and Overlord Leafa of Newbon.
The rest of the continent was just warned away in general.”
Karl and Nacht shared a confused look. They didn’t know what they had done to the Phoenix, but it could have just been a premonition. Basic visions of the future could be unclear, and the Phoenix might have just blanket banned everyone she saw in the visions.
The Archbishop shrugged. “That’s not our problem, though it is odd that all the dungeons are appearing at the edge of the continent. I will have to find out what is happening in the rest of the world. Lord Nacht, if I might prevail upon you to ask some of your overseas contacts as well. This might be a worldwide awakening.”
The Archbishop opened a portal, and the two stepped through, but before anyone else moved, the portal closed, and Karl was left staring at a very dismayed Overlord Joram.
“Did they just?” He asked.
“Yeah, they’re like that. I think they’re actually old friends, they are so in tune sometimes that it’s scary. Now, do we have a way to get picked up, or are we going to have to run away and leave you here with the Colonel while we go looking for fluffy beastkin?”
Lotus laughed and gave a fist pump of appreciation for that idea, while Colonel Valerie sighed and gestured at the ground near the base of the temple.
“There is a helicopter right there. If we follow the river north to the lake, we can fly over the water and be back in the capital by morning.” She explained.
Karl looked down, and a vaguely familiar pilot waved up at him.
He waved back, then smirked at the Colonel. “I hope your legs are feeling good. It’s a long way to the bottom.”
“Like hell. I’ll call the helicopter to come to us instead. How do you think we got up here? You really were out of it, weren’t you?”
“New skill. I was absorbed in the details. Still, I’m surprised that nobody warned me about the helicopter.”
Rae thought about it. [You know, one moment they weren’t here, then they were rappelling down to the platform. Time might still be strange here. I don’t remember the helicopter coming at all.]
Karl motioned for the Colonel to call the helicopter. “I think that time is still strange here, not just inside the trial, but also right here on the top of the temple. If we wait much longer, we could end up missing for weeks or months again.”
That got things in motion, but even as they were stepping into the helicopter and leaving the temple, Karl could see that the formerly midday sun was fading to the horizon.
“Well, it looks like we will be flying all night, but we can still make it to the Capital in time for breakfast. How are your rations holding out? You’ve been in the field for quite a while.” Colonel Valerie asked, noting their lack of packs.
Ophelia chuckled. “We’re more than good. With the two clerics and Karl’s meat hoarding tendencies, we’ve not had a bad meal yet.”