The item that emerged from the chest was a magic gun, resembling an assault rifle from Earth.
[Venom Fang (SSR)]
The magic gun, Venom Fang.
Translated, it would be roughly equivalent to 'Poison Fang'. Literally, it means a fang imbued with poison.
It's a rare magic gun that basically enchants bullets with poison properties. But what's more unique is its magazine capacity.
A staggering 60-round magic gun.
Considering most of the magic guns Damien used had around ten rounds, this was an insane magazine capacity.
'Of course, its damage is on the lower side.'
Poison enchantment with 60 rounds. As you can guess, it's not primarily a damage-dealing weapon.
Its purpose is to rapidly fire a large number of rounds, inflicting poison status on enemies with its overwhelming magazine capacity and rate of fire.
Magic guns are a unique weapon category, but this one is exceptionally bizarre.
But, it's still fundamentally a magic gun. Despite its lower damage, it has sufficient lethality.
Given that most of Damien's magic guns were either for long-range sniping or close-range suppression, this medium-range control magic gun would be an excellent choice.
"Wow..."
Damien's mouth dropped open as he took the magic gun.
"I was hoping for a magic gun like this... Thank you, Your Highness! I'll use it well!"
"Hehe. Good, good. Make the most of it."
...Though I handed over the equipment as if I knew all along, I was the most surprised.
'No way, an SSR-grade item right off the bat...?'
This Mage Tower is a very generous dungeon with eleven guaranteed reward chests.
Even so, it's random what item each chest will yield.
Although the rewards are generally quite substantial compared to other dungeons, I didn't expect an SSR-grade, fully-formed magic gun right from the start.
After handing the magic gun to Damien and looking at the other heroes, I saw greed flickering in their eyes... Oh dear.
Evangeline jumped up, exclaiming.
"Senior! Is the item distributed to the person who contributes the most in breaking the trial?!"
"Eh?! Oh, not necessarily, we first consider who needs the equipment..."
"But you do consider contribution, right?!"
"Yes, yes. We somewhat take it into account..."
"Awesome!"
Evangeline rolled up her sleeves and shouted.
"The new armor is mine!"
Ah, she still had her hopes set on the armor...
The other heroes also seemed to overflow with desire for the new equipment.
They all shouted enthusiastically and rushed out of the first dungeon room... Well, they have to come with me anyway.
Exiting the first dungeon room and returning to the lobby, I noticed that the color of the magic lights in the first corridor had changed from red to green.
It seems the color changes upon clearing.
"Alright, let's break them all like this!"
"Woahhh!"
Perhaps motivated by witnessing Damien get a good piece of equipment, everyone's enthusiasm visibly increased.
Knowing what each trial (puzzle) entailed, I repeatedly reorganized members and entered the dungeon rooms.
The second trial, a maze puzzle.
A puzzle of escaping a complexly intertwined labyrinth, where subtle flows of magic provided hints. The catch, however, was that among these magic flows, there were traps as well.
The key was to discern the true magic flow leading to the exit.
Naturally, this trial involved the magicians. Junior and the young magicians huddled together, groaning and discussing as they navigated the maze.
Junior seemed to figure out most of the answers right away, but for the sake of the younger magicians' development, she allowed a bit of wandering.
"Sorry, Your Highness. I could have cleared it myself, but..."
"No need to apologize. It's important to foster growth in the juniors."
So, although it took a bit of time, we cleared it safely.
The third trial. Connecting beams of light.
A puzzle where light shot from the entrance had to be guided to the finish line by manipulating mirrors placed around the room.
While everyone was busy adjusting the direction of the light beams, suddenly a rumbling sound occurred, and the trial was cleared.
Wondering what happened, I saw Lucas standing at the finish line, wielding his [Bestowed Sword].
"...I thought shooting the light at the finish line might work, so I used my sword to create light..."
"It worked? Just like that?!"
It was unbelievable, but 'any means' to pass the trial meant it was cleared.
From here, the approach to solving puzzles started to get a bit weird.
Most puzzles involved delicate manipulation of magic or required keen senses, observation, or intuition.
"Waaaah!"
...My heroes began to brute force their way through.
The fourth trial. A complex magical mechanism puzzle where a giant clock had to be set to a specific time.
Evangeline ignored the mechanism and forcibly turned the hour, minute, and second hands of the clock using her strength.
Koogooong!
Clear.
I gaped in shock.
"Shouldn't it be impossible to clear it like this?!"
"Ehehehe! This trial is quite flexible!"
Eventually, other martial heroes rushed in and started solving the puzzles in their own unique ways.
Even though the puzzles seemed to be intended to be more delicate and complex, they were being solved in a straightforward, forceful manner.
The fifth trial, a puzzle involving freezing falling stone walls at the right time with ice magic to advance.
"Dragon Punch!"
"Bandit King Kick-!"
Dusk Bringar and Kuilan destroyed the falling stone walls with their fists and feet...
Stone fragments scattered in all directions, some hitting and falling off my head. What is this?
Watching this, Evangeline nodded happily.
"If you're physically incapable, you have to work harder with your brain! If you have absolute strength, there's no need for brains!"
"Why... why is the Mage Tower succumbing to physical force...?"
The sixth trial. Avoiding various traps on the floor using levitation magic.
When Verdandi threw her Blinking Dagger and teleported, the trial was cleared instantly...
The cerebral gimmicks were crumbling before our heroes, who had maxed out their strength and agility stats.
I was worried that the tower's defense systems might activate due to the unconventional approach, but as long as the clearing conditions were met, the tower didn't intervene. What a game with absolute freedom!
Thus, all the heroes eagerly plunged into breaking the trials, and we swiftly completed all 10 trials.
[Zone 8: Mage Tower]
- Clear Progress: Normal Rooms 10/10, Boss Room 0/1
- Treasure Chests Acquired: 10/11
We cleared everything except the boss room.
It was going smoothly, but I couldn't help wondering if this was really okay... Hmm...
Anyway, we looted a whopping 10 treasure chests, and a variety of high-grade items poured out.
Lucas grabbed a new helmet, Junior obtained a package of magic scrolls.
Kuilan chose a headband tied around the forehead, Verdandi got new boots, and Dusk Bringar took a crimson dress.
In fact, Dusk Bringar, being of the dragon kind and not really needing equipment, immediately took the dress as soon as it appeared, heavily laden with magical options. The reason...
"Because it I like it!"
...After all the hard work, I happily decided to just give it to her.
Cradling the dress, Dusk Bringar revealed her sharp teeth in a wide smile.
The dress might not quite fit the Grand Duke's small stature... Perhaps a tailor is needed.
Anyway, as everyone was picking out their equipment,
"Why!"
...the armor Evangeline had been eagerly waiting for did not appear.
"Why! My armor! Where did it go?!"
Everyone else had picked something, but Evangeline was still empty-handed. No equipment suitable for her had appeared.
I smiled wryly at the distraught Evangeline.
"It will come from the boss room chest."
"...What?"
"Your armor. It will be in the last chest."
Yes.
I hadn't mentioned it until now... but the equipment guaranteed from the Mage Tower boss room chest is armor meant for Evangeline.
Evangeline's eyes widened in surprise as she looked around fiercely.
"The boss room! How do we get to the boss room?!"
Currently, all ten magic lights connected to the lobby had turned green.
There was no apparent path to the boss room, leaving everyone puzzled.
We needed to clear the boss in the boss room to complete the dungeon.
But this Mage Tower was a bit different.
"Here it comes."
As I looked up and spoke, everyone followed my gaze upward.
A round-shaped magical elevator was slowly descending, floating in mid-air.
Click!
Sssss...
The elevator landed softly, and magical light flashed from it.
I stepped onto the elevator first, turned around, and gestured.
"There won't be any combat, so those who want to follow, come. The rest can rest!"
After a brief discussion among the heroes, only the party leaders decided to follow me, while the rest stayed in the lobby.
Once everyone who was coming had boarded the elevator, I pressed the switch.
Then the magical elevator began to rise into the air again.
"If we hadn't cleared the previous trials and had to fight the defense systems... there would have been combat in the boss room too."
As we ascended to the boss room, I explained briefly.
"But we... in a strange way, have cleared the trials. So, there won't be any combat in the boss room."
Instead, a special event will occur, and the boss monster will become an interactable NPC. What I was aiming for was this special reward... an interactable NPC.
This way, the Mage Tower is quite a unique dungeon.
"...The Holy Grail."
Verdandi cautiously asked.
"Is it up there?"
I nodded silently.
Verdandi swallowed hard and clenched her fists.
Koogooong...!
The elevator stopped.
We, who had risen from the first floor to the top floor in one go, cautiously stepped onto the top floor.
The structure of the top floor was simple. The area where the elevator operated, a short corridor, and a glass door at the end of the corridor.
And as if sensing our arrival,
Click-
The glass door automatically opened.
A dense magical aura, almost suffocating, wafted through the opened gap. The heroes, who had been chatting in a relaxed atmosphere, instantly stiffened their faces.
"Shall we go? For Evangeline's new armor, Verdandi's Holy Grail, and..."
I led the way towards the opened door.
"...to meet the owner of this Mage Tower."
Even though I knew there would be no battle, an overwhelming and pure magical power flowed from inside, causing a tingling sensation in my stomach.
Step. Step.
As we entered, what unfolded inside the glass door was... an unexpected sight.
Trees.
The top floor of the Mage Tower was covered with stems from various trees. The complexly intertwined vegetation all differed in type.
The heroes looked around, bewildered.
"This place... is it a greenhouse?"
"All kinds of plants can be grown here with the equipment provided."
"Why would a Mage Tower be growing trees...?"
That's when it happened.
"Welcome. You who have passed my trials."
A mechanical, yet feminine voice resounded.
"It's been hundreds of years. Since someone visited this place."
Everyone was startled and raised their weapons towards the direction of the voice, except for me, who had been waiting for her arrival.
From the densely overgrown bushes... she slowly emerged.
"Let me introduce myself. I am the guardian of this Mage Tower and its last survivor."
Surprise flickered across everyone's faces.
And for good reason. The entity before us... was not a living being.
Creak. Creak.
What appeared, dragging its wheels, was a machine crafted through magical engineering.
Regular operational sounds, like those of a working computer, emanated from the heavy machinery.
At the top of this heap of machinery, her face was displayed as a magical image on a rectangular magic panel, similar to a computer monitor.
A skull.
A skull face with flames flickering in its eye sockets.
In the screen, she introduced herself calmly.
"A magician from the Lake Kingdom, who, in pursuit of the ultimate in magic, ended up like this."
A Cyber-Lich, who had digitized her own brain.
"Call me... White Night."
She was the third-ranked commander of the Nightmare Legion. White Night herself.