Early the next morning, the team and Sword Saint Gapar arrived before the teleportation gate leading to the Sein Dungeon.
After his treasured longsword had been destroyed by the Rust Monster, Gapar casually grabbed a random sword from a blacksmith's shop. For someone like him, any weapon could become a divine blade in his hands.
Barely a few minutes after he left, the blacksmith hung up a huge banner: "Even the Sword Saint Says It's Good!"
He even hired a mage to amplify the advertisement with broadcast magic.
The business instincts of Bedford City's residents were truly terrifying.
Rumor had it that Count Charon had been searching everywhere for Gapar, hoping to pay him a visit—but unfortunately, he kept missing him. Looks like he wouldn't be getting his hands on that golden thigh after all.
At first, Leon and the others assumed that Gapar would insist on heading to Farron Keep to avenge the one-sword humiliation he'd suffered. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to care at all—he was fine with going anywhere.
After all, the Rust Monster that damaged his sword was already dead. How was he supposed to get revenge? Tear down the entire Sein Dungeon? That was obviously impossible.
So they decided to head to the Catacombs.
"Boss, what happened after you went home?" Maru asked curiously as they walked.
Leon smiled and shook his head. "Just a bunch of boring nonsense. Nothing worth telling."
But under Maru's relentless pestering, he finally relented and gave a summary.
"When I got home, my sister's birthday banquet had just reached its climax. Fireworks were lighting up the night sky, and my father was giving a speech to the guests."
"And then? And then!?"
"And then I kicked him off the stage. We fought. I won. End of story," Leon shrugged.
Maru protested, "What about the details!? I want details!"
"What details?" Leon sighed. "My father's a well-known swordmaster. He loves using technique to slowly dismantle his opponent's confidence—like a cat playing with its prey."
"So when facing him, I used Cancel." Leon grinned.
"He couldn't fight back at all. Completely stunned by the greatness of Cancel! The mighty swordmaster couldn't even land a counterattack. Hehe. I kept hitting him until his sword snapped, and he just knelt there like an idiot."
"Boss… the way you're smiling right now is kinda scary…"
"My sister apparently joined a famous ranger group and learned some fancy footwork—blink-and-you-miss-it kind of movement."
"So I used this." He patted the reverse-blade sword at his hip. "Swift Slash. My best buddy."
Maru could already picture Leon's sister gracefully darting around the battlefield, only for Leon to suddenly Swift Slash straight into her face.
"Okay boss, stop!" She waved her hands frantically. It wasn't that she didn't want to hear more—
It was that Leon's smile was getting more and more unhinged.
His expression, tone, and posture all felt eerily familiar…
Where had she seen this before?
Cancel—Knight!
It possessed Leon!
Maru silently resolved to find a therapist for her boss someday.
Without further provocation, Leon gradually returned to normal, looking once again like a proper knight.
"Master, you haven't entered a dungeon in a long time, right?" Leon asked.
After training under Gapar for a week, Leon had started calling him Master. Gapar didn't mind, so the title stuck.
"Yes," Gapar nodded. He'd lived in the mountains for so long he couldn't even remember how many years had passed. Naturally, he hadn't entered any dungeon recently.
Meaning—his knowledge of dungeons was still stuck in the old, traditional era.
And the stronger one was, the longer they lived. Gapar had lived for over a hundred years and still looked vigorous.
Hopefully, the Sein Dungeon wouldn't wear that vigor down.
Passing through the teleportation gate into the Firelink Shrine, Leon couldn't help but let out a "wow."
Compared to the swamp region—which hit you with a cesspit the moment you entered—Firelink Shrine was practically a paradise of birdsong and flowers. He was genuinely moved.
"Where's the place you mentioned?" Gapar asked Maru. She pointed the direction, and he immediately started walking.
Everyone blinked.
"Master, wait! You haven't touched the bonfire!" Leon shouted.
Gapar turned back, puzzled. "Why do I have to touch the bonfire?"
Everyone froze.
A moment later, Leon's mouth twitched. "Forgive me for asking, but… how much do you actually know about the Sein Dungeon?"
"Clearing it lets me change my class to Mage."
"…And?"
"That's it."
Leon's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"But I definitely told you how things work here."
"That was before. Now it's undergone a mutation," Gapar said matter-of-factly. "Usually, when a dungeon mutates, it becomes entirely different."
That much was true—past explorers had confirmed it.
But—
The Sein Dungeon wasn't like normal dungeons!
Other dungeons mutated when a new Dungeon Lord replaced the old one…
But Wade hadn't changed—he was just renovating. There was no reason to scrap the entire design!
Maru suddenly caught the key point.
"Wait, yesterday when you came in… did you also not touch the bonfire?"
Gapar shook his head.
Case closed.
No wonder he was teleported out after dying once—he never saved at the bonfire!
Only those who touched it could resurrect there after death.
As Gapar reached out to touch the bonfire, Leon suddenly had a very bad feeling.
This adventure might turn out to be a real headache.
When Gapar made contact, an image appeared before his eyes—the same vision Leon's group had seen before.
These images were stored within the Firelink Shrine bonfire and shown to anyone touching it for the first time.
A new feature Wade had added recently… which he'd conveniently forgotten to mention.
After a while, Gapar came out of the vision, his face twitching slightly as he suppressed his reaction.
Finally, he said, "That vision was really cool."
Leon's eyes lit up.
Yes! Yes! He also thought Gwyn, Nito, and all the others in the vision were incredibly cool!
The rest of the party exchanged glances.
Why were these two focused on something so… irrelevant?
Shouldn't most people care about the lore or history after seeing that?
When they reached the edge of Firelink Shrine—where jumping down led into the Catacombs—Maru froze, her old trauma kicking in.
Only after the others swiftly cleared out the skeleton warriors did she dare descend.
"Wait! Don't move!"
Standing at the entrance, Maru suddenly remembered the trigger-based traps here and hurriedly stopped everyone.
Drew marked them with Light Magic, and the group carefully navigated around them.
Those simple traps only worked on newbies now.
Past a long tunnel lay the Graveyard Area. At Maru's insistence, Drew kept Strong Illumination active the whole way—nearly blinding everyone.
But it worked. Under strong light, hidden traps and monsters had nowhere to hide.
Maru was on 200% alert. Even slightly odd-looking rocks were inspected to make sure they weren't traps.
Gapar held his sword and said to Leon, "This isn't any different from how we explored dungeons in my youth."
Leon thought to himself, This is just the children's section. You'll see the real dungeon soon enough…
The traps in the tunnel were absurdly dense. Covering a short distance took half an hour.
And the team that leaked info about the Catacombs?
They didn't mention a single trap!
When they finally emerged from the tunnel, the space opened up—
Not exactly bright, but vast.
A plains area made entirely of tombstones.
The ceiling was still solid rock overhead, and the eerie plains were lit by ghostly flames flickering atop the tombstones.
Tall weeds—up to a person's waist—swayed as if welcoming them.
Step inside, and someone could easily get separated.
"I can use Levitation," Drew offered.
That would keep their heads above the weeds so they wouldn't lose sight of each other…
But from the outside, they'd look like a line of floating heads drifting along.
A rather cursed sight.
Leon nodded. "Sounds good."
But then Gapar unsheathed his sword, stepped before the grassland, and smiled.
"No need for that trouble. I'll clear the path."
He hadn't entered a dungeon in ages. Seeing this young team stirred something long dormant within him—an excitement buried by time.
He had to show these kids what true mastery looked like!
He remembered why he first picked up a sword—
Because wielding one looked cool.
Later, he thought magic was even cooler, so he wanted to become a mage.
Men chase coolness. That's just how it is.
"You're not… planning to…" Drew backed away.
Given Gapar's stance, it was obvious he intended to mow down the entire field of weeds.
And if anyone could, it was him.
But there were plenty of sturdy tombstones hidden among them—he'd inevitably slice those too.
Gapar let out a shout. Wind roared across the plains, his beard and robes whipping in the gale. His presence was overwhelming.
He swung his sword—
The sky filled with sword light.
But just as the Sword Saint began his unparalleled mowing technique, Leon's instincts screamed.
"No—don't damage the tombstones!"
Too late.
Weeds and shattered stone flew in all directions.
Why couldn't they destroy the tombstones?
No one said that.
It was just instinct.
Too many bizarre things had appeared in the Sein Dungeon—
He had to think carefully.
When the Holy Knight kicked the bonfire, three infant Invaders spawned. The bonfire clearly had special meaning.
So what about tombstones?
Each one represented a dead soul. If they destroyed them…
But after hundreds of meters of weeds and tombstones were cleared—
Nothing happened.
Gapar sheathed his sword, proud of his masterpiece.
In his era, dungeon exploration meant clearing all obstacles—monsters loved attacking from blind spots, after all.
The monster bones on the ground proved him right; there had been enemies hiding inside.
The tombstones were arranged tightly together, almost like makeshift cover—perfect for crouching behind and using as protection.
Gapar patted Leon's shoulder.
"Young people shouldn't make such a fuss. Dungeons aren't as complicated as you think."
…Really?
Leon still felt uneasy, but since nothing happened, he followed anyway.
When they reached the center of the graveyard plains, a heavy roar echoed in the distance.
Through a telescope, Drew spotted a broken stretch of wall—
A giant was sitting on top of it.
The giant raised both arms and shouted something.
Suddenly, red ghostly archers materialized—one after another—
All drawing bows aimed at the party.
At a glance, there were over a hundred of them!
"Gods above…" Maru froze.
Over a hundred archers—enough to siege a city!
"[Mid-Tier Barrier]!!"
Drew reacted instantly, throwing up a magic barrier—
But the torrential rain of arrows shattered it instantly!
"Good!"
Amid the glittering storm of arrows, Gapar displayed flawless technique—
One man repelling the arrows of an army!
"Hahaha! This dungeon is great! They actually made so many archery monsters!"
The Sword Saint's battle spirit flared.
He understood now—
This trial was for them to charge through the arrowstorm and slay the giant.
Only top-tier adventurers could manage that.
No wonder the outside world said Sein Dungeon was incredibly difficult.
The harder the challenge, the stronger Gapar's urge to conquer it.
"Listen up!" he shouted. "I can keep you safe here! We charge through the arrows and take down the summoner!"
It was a workable plan.
But the summoner was hundreds of meters away.
The arrows were endless.
Something didn't feel right.
Why would Sein Dungeon design such a hellish mechanic?
Without someone like the Sword Saint, this would be impossible.
That didn't fit the usual difficulty curve of Sein Dungeon.
Did he miss something?
Leon looked around—and noticed broken tombstones scattered everywhere.
Then he looked closer.
They were everywhere.
Wait—
Could it be!?
His breath caught.
Were the tombstones and weeds actually meant as cover for the players!?
The tombstones to block arrows—
The tall weeds to break the giant's line of sight!
And what did they do?
They destroyed their only safe zone.
In that moment, Leon once again felt the crushing dominance of the Dungeon.
But thinking carefully…
No sane person would clear all the weeds and tombstones, right?
It was all because Gapar's stats were too high.