Chapter 283

Dungeon Fifth Floor: Defeating the Ancient Castle Bosses
The day after Melanie provided us with information, we set out to defeat the monsters said to have never been conquered.
Our first opponent was the Flame Knight, located in one of the spires.
Despite being called a knight, it stood about three meters tall, with arms and shoulders proportionally broad and massive.
I could see why no one had managed to defeat it before.

"Talat, take care of it!"

(Got it!)

At my command, Talat bound the Flame Knight tightly with threads of ice.
I could hear the ice melting, but it didn’t seem like the knight’s heat was enough to completely melt Talat’s threads.
When we followed up with a torrent of water magic, the Flame Knight was defeated with ease.
Yep, that was surprisingly simple.

"Let’s see what we’ve got… five golden chests and one rainbow-colored chest!"

"Hoh, isn’t this the first rainbow-colored chest we’ve come across?"

"It is! I’m opening it right now!"

I eagerly opened the rainbow chest, which emitted a dazzling array of colors, illuminating its contents.
Wait… is this just a piece of paper?

"… The reward for a rainbow chest is a single torn piece of paper?"

"Hold on, Lily. That paper emanates mana. Don’t throw it away.”

"Huh? Alright, Plum."

A piece of mana paper, huh. I wonder if there are more pieces elsewhere.

Over the next few days, we scoured the entire castle and defeated all the bosses.
Each boss consistently rewarded us with five golden chests and one rainbow chest.
The rainbow chests always contained torn pieces of paper.
When we pieced them together, they formed part of a larger design, but it was incomplete.
We must have missed some areas. I decided to ask Melanie, who had the map.

"Let’s see… the remaining unexplored areas would be the deeper part of the audience chamber and the far end of the prison."

"I see. Come to think of it, we didn’t examine those much.”

"Since we’re near the audience chamber now, shall we head there?"

We made our way toward the audience chamber.
Before its entrance stood knights that hadn’t been there earlier.
They were fending off adventurers who seemed to have deduced something valuable was inside.
Of course, the knights were overwhelming them.

"What should we do, Plum? Should we force our way through?"

"Hmm… wait. Something seems off."

As we approached, the knights subdued the other adventurers and cleared a path for us to the audience chamber.
Were they inviting us in?

"What will you do, Lily?"

"It might be a trap, but we won’t know unless we go in, right?"

"True. Let’s proceed."

Guided by the knights, we entered the audience chamber.
Inside, a throne that wasn’t there earlier now stood, occupied by a semi-transparent man.
Was he a monster?

(Welcome, guests who have freed us.)

"Freed you?"

(You’ve defeated the six knights who held dominion over this castle, haven’t you? Isn’t that correct?)

"Yes, we did. But what does that have to do with anything?"

(As I thought. Then I shall also reward you.)

Before me appeared a rainbow chest and a sword.
The sword lacked a blade.
How are we supposed to fight with this?

(This is the Rune Sword. By channeling your mana, it forms a blade of energy capable of cutting through magic barriers and even ordinary physical defenses.)

Hmm, this all sounded too good to be true.
Was it safe to accept this?

(Ah, it seems too convenient, doesn’t it? Then I have a favor to ask of you.)

"A favor?"

(Deep within the catacombs connected to the castle’s prison, our ancestors' spirits have begun to stir violently. I need you to quell them.)

Ah, so there’s another rainbow chest waiting there.
We have no choice but to accept!

What do you think about this chapter?