The remainder of the march to Sunset Spears was rather uneventful. The expedition continued towards their destination without stop and only made camp for their scheduled rests. There was only one incident that forced the expedition to stop, but it was a rather minor inconvenience compared to encountering a guardian monster.

During the march, there was only one thing that occupied most of Rana’s thoughts, and she was glad that it was for once not her own contradictory existence. 

It was unheard of that a guardian monster could escape their dungeon. If she encountered this situation one hundred years ago, she would’ve simply assumed it was a large monster. However, she knew what powered the Sunset Spears core and what it smelled like. There was no doubt the monster that they encountered was its guardian monster. However, that made no sense. It was a reality she knew that happened, but it was one that went against the truths she knew.

The strength and age of a Dungeon determined the number of guardian monsters it had, but only its most powerful held the title. The difference between these monsters and normal monsters was that guardian monsters were specifically created and spawned to protect the core of the Dungeon. They could not leave where they were born and they were bound by the System to perform their duty. Yet here, there was one not in its Dungeon and essentially allowed his enemies to leave unscathed. 

Rana wondered if this was due to Sunset Spears being a man-made Dungeon, therefore certain rules would be inapplicable. She quickly discarded the thought. There was no rush when it came to making a conclusion. This was a mystery that needed to be solved, but it could wait until she reached the Dungeon and had more information.

What she knew of Sunset Spears was very little. The duke of Nye claimed that no one had been there before and this was the first expedition to claim it, and the lack of information she managed to gather more or less corroborated with what the duke claimed. Then again, she never expected to gather much information from the city anyway. Jin was constantly monitoring her and reporting her actions back to the duke, and it gave her little freedom to investigate as she would’ve liked.

However, it was because of the little information that Rana knew of the Dungeon, that she could confidently say that the duke was lying to her, and to the raid expedition. 

Sunset Spears was most likely created by Mara using the Foundation Ring of the Ruby Order. The smell of the guardian monster they encountered was proof of that, but Rana was already sure of it even before then. The name of a Dungeon was not haphazardly given nor was it made by humans. Their names were decided the moment the Dungeon was born. Whenever a marked one entered its premise, they would instinctively know of the name. A Dungeon was alive, after all, and their name was their identity. There was one person that Rana knew of that fit the name.

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When Rana was still a young inquisitor, the last assignment she was given before ascending to Grand Inquisitor was to hunt down a specific individual. She was a woman with fiery hair and even fiercer eyes. It was one of the most difficult targets she had hunted, and it was an ordeal that she still could not believe that she survived. In the end, the protégé of the Ruby Grand Inquisitor was killed by her hands. 

Rana still remembered the moment of her hard-fought victory. It was an open field of charred stones under the light of the setting sun. There was a burning crater surrounded by smoke, and within was a woman impaled by her own spear. Iris took her own life because she rather die by her own hands, and Rana did not know why.

The aftermath of the incident was rather tame, compared to the desperate struggle Rana had to go through. The Ruby Grand Inquisitor retired and a new one was elected. That was supposed to be the end of the incident, but now it returned in the form of a Dungeon. 

Unlike Aodh, Sunset Spears clearly had a history with Rana herself. The name was that of a target she once hunted, and the target also had a connection with a Foundation Ring. There was no proof that the ring was the Ruby one, but somewhere in her mind, she knew that the power source was not of any other color. 

The Ruby Ring was the ring she most wanted after the Sapphire Ring.

The problem was what happened after they entered the Dungeon. The difficulty of raiding an unknown Dungeon was high, no questions about that. What monsters they would encounter, what traps, what environment status effects, and how to reach the core was all something that they would experience for the first time. That was why the expedition force was large. They anticipated a prolonged raid and one that would need consistent resupplies and perimeter control. Some took months, and many took years.

Rana knew that was not the case, however, and it suited her fine. She did not want to wait for years to accomplish what she needed to do. All she had to do was follow the duke’s marked ones and she should be fine until they inevitably turned on her. 

There was dust forming beyond the horizon and the earth began to quake. Hostility blared and it was directed at the entire raid force and it was not the monster from before. It was other humans. 

The enemy force shouted and charged at them. They were no doubt soldiers and marked ones hired by other territorial lords and wanted to claim the Dungeon for their master. 

Interesting. So that was the reason why Fire Shield was hired. Rana expected as much.

“Positions!” yelled Hamilton. The Fire Shield members were quick to react and they were ready for the enemy. The other marked ones did the same and prepared for battle. The soldiers were surprisingly organized as well. It seemed like fighting other humans was the norm nowadays. 

Rana turned to Jin, who seemed to be deep in contemplation, no doubt wondering what to say.

“I guess it is time for our exit?”

“Yes,” Jin said, her eyes wide with a brief moment of surprise before she sighed. “I guess I should’ve known you would’ve caught on. The duke’s men will find a way to meet us at the Dungeon, we will enter it first and let the Fire Shield guild to hold off the other forces.”

There seemed to be more to it, but Rana decided not to push the issue. This situation suited her just fine. Without another word, Rana and Jin departed the impending battle and made their way to Sunset Spears.