Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 113
The dungeon entry occurred at the exact same time.
As signal flares from the four entrances shot into the sky, emitting thick dark smoke, everyone entered the dungeon.
Naturally, on Irene’s side, she and Michael led the way.
As expected of an unstable dungeon, the entrance kept shifting in appearance.
Having been inside before, Irene confidently took Michael’s hand and stepped inside without hesitation.
After passing through a wave of multicolored light, she felt a brief dizziness, followed by the sensation of entirely different air greeting her.
One by one, the other pairs followed them inside.
Once Irene confirmed that everyone had entered safely, she repeated what she had said outside.
“You all remember the map drawn by the Eye of Exploration before we came in, right? From now on, we’re moving quickly inward.”
By this point, Irene had naturally taken the lead in directing the group.
Initially, she had considered leaving the leadership role to Michael, another knight, or even Reyna or Cynthia. But everyone, as if dismissing the idea, insisted that it was her position to take.
She had tried to refuse, but her refusal was met with their insistence. Reluctantly, she thought she would only take the role temporarily, but now, whenever something happened, everyone turned to her instinctively.
‘It feels good to have their trust, but it’s also overwhelming.’
The reason she could lead them with such confidence was because of her memories from her previous life.
But, just like with the Invisibility Ring, if anything had changed from what she remembered and she couldn’t deliver the expected results, they would be disappointed in her again…
“Irene.”
At that moment, Michael gave her hand a gentle squeeze and called her name.
“Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.”
It was strange—she had kept her unease entirely to herself, yet he seemed to sense her feelings and say exactly what she needed to hear.
Soon, the knights positioned themselves around the purifiers, forming a protective circle.
The larger, more defensive knights took the front, while those skilled in swift attacks covered the sides and rear.
“This way.”
Following the map created by the Eye of Exploration, Irene led them deeper into the dungeon.
* * *
The dungeon, sprawling across several mountain peaks, turned out to be much larger than anyone had expected.
“Is it just me, or does the inside seem bigger than it looked from the outside?” Reyna remarked, her eyes wide with wonder as she gazed up at the dungeon’s ceiling.
Though Irene had been skeptical at first, the further they ventured, the more she agreed.
It was difficult to gauge the exact boundaries due to the darkness, but it felt as though they had walked much farther than they had estimated from outside.
“Hey! Over there!”
One of the knights in the front pointed ahead, where a wooden chest, the kind commonly found in treasure rooms, lay in plain sight.
“A chest!”
They hadn’t even encountered a single monster yet, but they had already found a treasure chest. The knight, excited by their good fortune, rushed over to the chest.
Just as he bent down to pick it up—
Whoosh!
The sound of something cutting through the air echoed, and a dagger embedded itself in the ground right in front of his feet.
Startled, the knight froze and turned to see where the dagger had come from.
Suddenly, the chest that had been sitting quietly on the ground sprang into the air and opened its lid by itself.
Instead of treasure inside, the chest revealed a terrifying set of razor-sharp teeth.
“A mimic!”
The moment Irene called out its name, Michael rushed forward and kicked the mimic just as it was about to bite the knight.
Crash!
With a single powerful kick, the chest exploded into pieces, spraying splinters and monster blood into the air.
Michael wiped the monster’s blood off his face and turned to the frozen knight.
“There are many chests scattered throughout an unstable dungeon, but you must never pick one up immediately. As you just saw, sometimes monsters hide inside them.”
“Yes, sir! Understood!”
The knight nodded frantically, realizing how close he had come to death.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know about mimics—they were a type of monster that hadn’t been seen in dungeons for decades. He just hadn’t expected one to appear here.
The knight touched his uniform, where the mimic’s teeth had grazed him. His clothes were cleanly sliced, as if by a sharp blade.
If he had moved even a little slower, it would have been his wrist that had been severed.
The once-relaxed atmosphere quickly evaporated, replaced by a tense and focused mood.
