At the same time that the two unknown adventures discreetly made their way inside the Howling Caverns Dungeon along with the large number of adventures who had been drawn to make their way back inside the dungeon after learning about the reinforcements from the headquarters of the Adventurers Guild already on their way to help solve the dangerous situation that had caused many of them to leave the dungeon earlier to stay safe in case the worst situation ended up happening, all the way in the capital city of the Great Sky Kingdom, the capital branch of the Adventures Guild was also learning about the fact that the headquarters had been informed and were already on their way.
How they had managed to figure this out so shortly after it had been announced by the dungeon branch guild leader in charge of the Howling Caverns Dungeon didn’t have to do with them having placed people inside the branch and Howling Cave City to keep an eye on the situation, but instead had to do with the fact that the headquarters had directly notified them about the situation through an internal communication network that was only available at important locations of the guild, one such location being the capital branches of the guild spread throughout the world. Ensuring that these branches would be able to reach out to the headquarters the second something beyond their control happened.
Of course, this kind of long-distance communication didn’t come without cost and thus it was normally only reserved for emergencies.
As for the reason why the headquarters had decided to inform the capital branch ahead of time even though the people showing up likely wouldn’t want those in the capital branch to know ahead of time if possible? That could only be summed up to the ones in the capital branch of the Great Sky Kingdom having some connections inside the capital branch that allowed them to get this information ahead of time. Allowing them to prepare for the inevitable arrival of the people from the headquarters.
Luckily for the Howling Caverns Dungeon Guild Branch, those in the capital city were far too busy preparing themselves for the inevitable confrontation with those from the headquarters to even think about retaliating against the branch that had gone behind their backs to directly inform the headquarters about the situation without their go-ahead. Allowing them to escape unscratched without suffering any potential consequences from those in the capital branch.
Then again, this was only in the short term, as one couldn’t say how things were going to play out after those from the headquarters finished cleaning up and left. The hope of the branch guild leader in charge of the Howling Caverns Dungeon was of course that those in the capital branch would end up losing their positions due to the clear neglect and failure to inform the headquarters about the dire situation of the Great Sky Kingdom.
Normally, this kind of situation might not have been enough to completely overturn a local capital branch, but given that the current situation also involved the Holy Flower Sect, it was likely that the guild would do a complete rearrangement of the power structure in the Great Sky Kingdom’s Adventurers Guild to ensure that there wasn’t anyone from the Holy Flower Sect around.
In a way, given that the branch guild leader of the Howling Caverns Dungeon had been the one to report the situation, he could be considered the only high-ranking figure within the Adventurers Guild’s branches in the Great Sky Kingdom who the Adventurers Guild felt more certain was on their side without any influence from the Holy Flower Sect. Meaning that he stood a good chance at potentially increasing his own position inside the guild in the future if everything ended up playing out positively and those at the capital branch were found guilty of neglect and failure in doing their duties.
Although he wouldn’t be able to earn the position of capital branch guild leader due to his lack of strength, there was a high likelihood that he would be able to get his hands on more resources for his dungeon branch. Potentially even allowing him to further expand the infrastructure of the Howling Caverns Dungeon beyond just a single town on the fourth floor of the dungeon.
If he could establish a proper presence on the fourth floor of the dungeon, the Howling Caverns Dungeon would be able to promote to a far higher level of importance in the eyes of the guild and in turn give him some independence in the face of the local capital branch of the guild.
All of this was of course only the best-case scenario, there was still a lot that could go wrong, and everything depended on how the confrontation between the local capital branch and those from the headquarters ended up playing out.
In a worst-case scenario, those from the headquarters only placed the blame of the situation on the capital branch guild leader. In which case, he would have to deal with a future retaliation from those who remained in power inside the capital branch after going behind their backs to inform the headquarters.
After all, even if they wouldn’t outright be dismissed, they would undoubtedly suffer some kind of punishment from the Adventurers Guild... And although unreasonable, the one who had informed the headquarters about the situation and caused them to suffer would be the only one for them to take their anger out on.
As for taking their anger out on those sent by the headquarters? They didn’t have a death wish and would understand that there was no way to do anything to those from the headquarters or they might very well end up dead.
Just the thought of going against the headquarters was more than enough to make the Howling Caverns Dungeon Branch Guild Leader feel a shiver run down the spine, though... Part of that also had to do with the excessively long title attached to his position.
...
Unaware of the situation outside the dungeon, Scaly remained asleep all the way down on the fifth floor of the dungeon where not a single adventurer could be seen. Not just because of the increasingly chaotic situation inside the dungeon, but also because it was simply impossible for those below the A Rank to reach that far into the dungeon and the only A Rank Adventurer found himself busy defending the town on the fourth floor of the dungeon. Working hard to hold back the increasingly large horde of monsters attempting to break through the town’s barriers and charge up the staircase leading up to the third floor of the dungeon.
Rustle~
At this very moment, as she was peacefully sleeping on top of the bed that she had decided to undergo her evolution on top of due to how comfortable it had felt to lay on top of, a barely audible rustling sound echoed out from the passage that led up to the highest floor of the ancient stone watchtower. The bookshelf she had pushed over to block the only way up to the top floor, shaking slightly as if something on the other side collided against it before stopping.
Bang~ Bang~ Bang~
However, this only lasted for a few seconds before the sound of something actively attempting to push the bookshelf out of the way could be heard from below.
Given the location of the ancient stone watchtower, Scaly had considered it impossible for any other monster to reach the ancient stone watchtower while she underwent her fifth evolution.
But...
Bang~ Bang~ Bang~
From the constant banging sound that now echoed through the quiet stone watchtower, it was clear she had been wrong and some kind of monster had managed to make its way inside the ancient stone watchtower while she was still in the process of completing her evolution.
Luckily, the bookshelf that she had used to block the path up to the top floor where she was going through her fifth evolution as a last second safety measure in case another monster did somehow manage to reach the ancient stone watchtower while she was still in the process of evolving proved to be correct, as the monster just below the floor she was sleeping peacefully on as the evolution continued to rapidly change her body, was unable to push the massive bookshelf aside.
Not just that, but after close to half an hour, it was clear that the monster now directly below her was unable to do any damage to the bookshelf. Making it clear that the bookshelf was made from some kind of material that was far more durable than ordinary wood.
If not, the monster that had not just been banging headfirst into the bookshelf but also seemed to have used fire magic at some point to try and burn away the bookshelf blocking the passage up to the top floor of the ancient stone watchtower would have long since broken through.
Unfortunately, without being able to make any progress, the monster could ultimately only give up and leave after spending a little over an hour trying to breakthrough the incredibly tough bookshelf that was blocking the way to the top floor.