A minute after the clocktower bell rang at six in the evening—
"What the heck is happening in this town?"
—Kurea stood terrified, unable to believe what had just happened right in front of her eyes.
Her group, including Rust, Raven, and Blaze, was right at the front of the town's northern gate when the soothing chime of the clocktower bell rang and resonated even outside the town.
They were supposed to visit the Adventurers Guild in Mirare Town and meet the guild master as the guild representative from the capital's guild.
But the moment the sound of the bell ended after a minute, a magical barrier—rather, a Dungeon Boundary—was formed, surrounding the entire town and sealing the gate, preventing anyone outside from entering and anyone inside from leaving.
It was fortunate for them yet unfortunate for those trapped inside, as Kurea's group—consisting of the strongest silver-rank adventurers of the Annual Caravan—was left outside together with other adventurers and the cavalry waiting in line at the gate.
Imbuing mana into her armored gauntlet, Kurea activated her combat skill and landed multiple strikes against the magical barrier sealing the gate.
Rust and Raven did the same, activating his combat skill Gale with the slash of his buster-sword, and her combat skill Ballista as she fired an arrow from her bow.
But no matter how many times they repeated their attacks with all their strength, the three of them—including the other adventurers, knights, valkyries, and soldiers—weren't able to break through the magical barrier. After all, a Dungeon Boundary was unbreakable, even against the attack of a gold-rank adventurer or a high-level monster.
"What are we going to do now, Ms. Kurea?" Rust said, strapping his weapon to his back to signal everyone to stop their attempts to break through the Dungeon Boundary.
Though they couldn't see what was happening inside the town with the gates closed after the Dungeon Boundary was formed, they could still hear the ongoing battle along with the screams—likely from their companions.
They didn't know what was happening, but Kurea was sure of one thing: if they didn't do anything, they would most likely never see those trapped inside the town again.
"Alert the entire Annual Caravan!" Kurea shouted, getting the attention of every adventurer, the cavalry, and all other members of the caravan standing in front of the gate.
Taking command as the guild master of the Adventurers Guild, Kurea gave her instructions to everyone.
"To all independent groups, identify who among your members is trapped inside the town! To the remaining adventurers, survey the perimeter of the Dungeon Boundary and find its Entrance! And to the cavalry, tell me where the commander is!"
A few minutes after the clocktower bell rang at six in the evening—
"Take them down! Don't hesitate to kill your opponents!"
—Brandon Von Guttur, the commander of the cavalry, together with his escort of a knight, a valkyrie, and a dozen soldiers—along with Liz, Hannah, Ellric, and Sylvie—were in battle against the local soldiers at the Marquess's manor in the east district of the town.
Since Brandon was a noble duke himself, and Liz the daughter of the ducal house of Von Envier, it was their duty to pay the town's Marquess a visit to show respect.
However, upon arriving at the gate of the Marquess's manor, right before six in the evening, both of their groups received the same response from the guards:
"The Marquess can't meet anyone today. Please enjoy sightseeing in Mirare Town."
Refusing to leave, as they felt insulted by the Marquess's refusal, Brandon and Liz's groups questioned the guards as to why the Marquess couldn't meet them.
But then, the soothing chime of the clocktower bell rang and resonated throughout the town. And after a minute, when the sound of the bell ended, the guards along with the soldiers stationed at the manor's gate suddenly began attacking.
A dozen guards and twice as many soldiers were no match against the hero Brandon, whose strength was equal to that of a gold-rank adventurer. But the same couldn't be said for the soldiers accompanying him.
Because of their hesitation to deal lethal blows to their opponents, half of the soldiers escorting Brandon were killed in their first encounter with the local soldiers.
"Take them down! Don't hesitate to kill your opponents!"
Brandon's command may have sounded cruel and merciless, but it was only reasonable, as their opponents had been the first to raise their swords and attack, killing six of his soldiers.
Even Brandon drew his sword and cut down an attacking soldier to show his men that he was serious about his command. But what caught the soldiers' eyes wasn't their commander cutting down an enemy—it was what happened to the fallen soldier.
What was supposed to motivate them instead brought fear to everyone, even Liz, Hannah, Ellric, and Sylvie, including Brandon himself. They watched as the enemy soldier, cut down by Brandon's sword, cracked and shattered like a mirror breaking into hundreds of pieces.
Though confused and unable to understand what he had just witnessed, Brandon was sure of one thing.
"They're not human—so kill them all!"
"Ms. Sylvie, if you please."
Until now, Liz's group had decided not to interfere in the fight, only defending themselves so as not to damage the Von Envier family's relationship with the Marquess. But after what they had witnessed, Liz, as the leader of her party, finally decided it was time to join the fight.
Following Liz's request, Sylvie cast her basic-level mystic spell, releasing a wave of lightning that paralyzed and immobilized all the local guards and soldiers.
With their opponents unable to move, Brandon and his soldiers easily cut them down. All shattered like broken mirrors, leaving only a few alive for questioning.
But no matter how much they injured them—causing cracks to form across their bodies—the local soldiers said nothing. They didn't even scream in pain.
"Do you have any idea what's happening, Ms. Sylvie?" Brandon asked, knowing she was the only mage in their group.
With her natural ability as an elf to perceive the flow of mana, Sylvie had only one conclusion.
"The strange mana around us closely resembles that of a dungeon."
Without doubt, Brandon accepted Sylvie's assumption: the town had become a dungeon. And with it came another grim thought—not only to him but to everyone else.
That every local in Mirare Town had become like the guards and soldiers they had just fought.
"Can you confirm it, Hannah?" Liz said, refusing to believe that all the townsfolk had been affected by a curse, like what happened to their friend Alex.
Hannah approached the unharmed captured soldiers, trying to sense any curse upon them. But even with her skill as a saintess candidate, she failed to detect any corruption.
That gave everyone hope that the townsfolk could still be saved. However, what Hannah said next shattered that hope.
"I can't feel any curse from the unharmed ones. But from those with injuries—like the cracks of a broken mirror on their bodies—I sense a strong presence of a curse resembling the Curse of Envy from the undead."
Injuring the unharmed captured soldiers revealed the curse within them. And with the realization that they had become undead, Brandon ordered them killed.
With everything they had learned about their situation, Brandon gave his next commands, instructing his knight and valkyrie to take his remaining soldiers back to the caravan camp to get reinforcements from the cavalry stationed outside the town.
As for Liz, Hannah, Ellric, and Sylvie—
"Please come with me. We're going to check what's happening at the Crystal Mirror Dungeon."