The Royal Estate's open field, which was empty just yesterday, was packed to the brim with all the nine Otherworlders.
Well, eight of them—since Adonis went to meet the Royal Council after making the announcement that all of them should all rendezvous at this point in time.
As such, the students all waited for any sign of the Hero and the leaders of the Alliance.
"What's going on now?"
"Why's there another meeting when we just had one yesterday?"
"I'm supposed to be chilling in the town today, you know?"
"Hopefully, this doesn't take too long…"
Thankfully, the latter's statement was answered by the appearance of the Royal Council Members and Adonis from within a swirling portal.
Everyone instantly recognized the portal, so they kept their eyes peeled on its entrance, but the spatial rift just closed as abruptly as it opened.
There was no sign of the Dark Adventurer at all.
"EHHHHHHHH…?!"
The students all responded with surprise, seeing only three—rather than four—to emerge from the warped space.
"We just concluded a meeting with Sir Ralyks, but he had to quickly attend to something so he couldn't stop by." Adonis quickly addressed the voices of the students, but it wasn't enough.
"N-not even to say hi…?" Belle's face was particularly crestfallen.
"W-well… he does send his regards." Adonis quickly added, hoping it would help lighten up the mood.
Thankfully, it did!
"I-I see! I understand now!" Belle's blushing face connoted that she misunderstood Adonis' words, but he had no intention of correcting her.
Instead, he left the girl to her giggles and squeals, focusing on the most pertinent matter.
"Sir Conrad and Miss Vida have important things to say, so I'll leave it to them."
Despite saying this, Adonis did not join the rest of the students—most of which were already seated in the open field. Instead, he took responsibility as one of the people who had to make the decision that was about to be revealed.
His face was solemn, but it oozed of confidence.
"Please listen to them attentively. Participation is optional, but it would be for the best if you hear us out first."
As expected, the hearts of everyone softened, and they hearkened to their leader's voice.
Then, the Councilors took the stage.
"Just yesterday, we received news of something unexpected. It hasn't happened in over a century now…" Conrad began.
He could see the tense, but attentive faces of the students. That gave him the strength to continue.
"A new Dungeon has appeared in the Adventurer's City. Not just any kind of Dungeon, but the Adventurers have labeled it as a Grand Calamity-Class Dungeon… the highest class a Dungeon can have."
Adventurers had a different lingua to explain certain phenomena and concepts. They labeled their ranks, missions, and even places.
This presented as close to accurate a representation as one could get.
If a Dungeon was labeled as a Grand Calamity Class, that meant only one thing—it was impossible to clear.
"The first Grand Calamity Class Dungeon appeared about three hundred years ago, and nearly half of the Adventurers were wiped out in the Dungeon Raid. That was when the infamous name was coined." Vida added, emphasizing the dangers of this Dungeon.
"So how was the Dungeon cleared?" A random, but pertinent question, rose from the audience.
Several positive murmurs and nods of agreement were directed at the one who raised the question—Alicia White.
"It wasn't cleared."
Once Vida said this, shocked expressions filled the faces of the Otherworlders.
"Just as suddenly as it appeared, claiming the lives of half the population of Adventurers within the span of a week, it vanished just like that."
"A… week?"
"Well, more like ten days."
"That's a small amount of time. Strange too…" Alicia murmured while placing her hand on her chin to think.
Vida nodded and smiled wryly.
"Indeed. We have no proper explanation for it, but there have been cases of Dungeons disappearing into thin air. That shouldn't be too surprising, considering how they also appear out of nowhere sometimes."
The Otherworlders didn't know too much about Dungeons—
save for a few who actually studied—but they knew this much thanks to a lot of explanation from Ralyks during their Royal Dungeon Raid.
As a result, they could all relate to what Vida was saying.
"It's likely that, just the same way the Grand Calamity Dungeon of the past disappeared after ten days, this one will also do the same." She added.
"Any specific reason for that?" Alicia asked.
"None whatsoever. However, it's only logical to expect similar results from similar objects of investigation."
It was merely an act of association.
If one encounters a Dragon for the first time—having no prior knowledge of the beast—there tends not to be any kind of expectation towards the thing.
However, after the first encounter, if one observes the violent tendencies of the creature and associates it with danger, then the next time they are to see a Dragon, that bias is bound exist.
Of course, other factors could have contributed to the first Dragon being dangerous, which may not exist in the second instance. For example, the first Dragon could have been a terrible entity who was banished from the rest of the kind Dragons.
However, when associating with the second Dragon, none of those variables will come to mind. The safest assumption to make is to associate Dragons with danger.
"As such, it's safer to bet that the Dungeon will act a certain way, the same way we have determined that it is very dangerous."
"I see. Makes sense." Alicia returned to her seat once she was done with her clarification.
Hence, Vida continued.
"Usually, the Adventurer City has a certain level of autonomy, so they do not report most of the activities that go on there to the Capital. But, the appearance of a Dungeon of this scale is an exception. We received a report of this yesterday night, along with something else…"
Conrad stepped forward to complete the words of his partner.
"The Adventurers want to challenge the Grand Calamity Dungeon this time, and they are requesting our assistance."