They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 40: Where Did That Dragon Come From?
Hushwind, Adventurers’ Guild Branch.
Mirabelle crashed into the Guildmaster’s Office.
Oberon cast a displeased glance at his Director of the Intelligence Office and scolded her.
“Charging in without even knocking? Get hold of yourself.”
“It’s ... bad.” Mirabelle gasped for breath, forcing out the words between gulps of air. “The Detection Crystals ... registered ... powerful mana...”
“They registered a powerful mana disturbance?”
Seeing that Mirabelle could barely speak, Oberon finished the sentence for her.
“The Monster Tide began two days early. There’s no reason to panic.”
Oberon now looked entirely in control, without a trace of the anxiety he had shown upon first learning of the Monster Tide.
The two cities nearest Hushwind, Sailfin Port and Northweald, had both agreed to send troops to suppress it.
Their forces would arrive in only two or three days.
A Monster Tide traditionally began with weaker monsters and grew stronger over time. Even if it had started now, the pressure during the first few days should remain manageable.
Oberon had recruited a large number of adventurers in advance. They should be more than sufficient to handle the first monsters emerging from the dungeon.
By the time the Monster Tide grew too powerful for the adventurers, the armies would already be here.
There was no need to panic at all.
Mirabelle still lacked experience if this was enough to unsettle her.
Oberon shook his head, looking faintly disappointed in her.
With elegant composure, he raised the small cup on his desk and sampled the moonwine produced in the islands.
Mirabelle had not finished. Still struggling for breath, she continued.
“It’s ... not only the mana disturbance. There’s resonance!”
“Cough! Cough!”
Oberon spat out the wine he had just swallowed and objected instinctively.
“Impossible! Headquarters would have notified me if another dungeon was experiencing a Monster Tide!”
“It isn’t a dungeon within the Kingdom of Concord,” Mirabelle said, finally recovering her breath. “It’s Dragoncliff Dungeon in the Veiled Empire!”
What!?
Dragoncliff Dungeon was one of the six dungeons in the world. It lay at the northernmost edge of the Veiled Empire, near the wastelands.
Most of its monsters were Lesser Dragons, making it vastly more dangerous than Amethyst Deep.
Resonance occurred when two dungeons experienced Monster Tides during the same period, causing their internal spaces to connect.
Under those circumstances, the rule that a Monster Tide remained weak for the first few days no longer applied.
The First Stratum of one dungeon could connect directly to the Deep Strata of the other.
Other dangers varied depending on the dungeon involved.
Resonating with Dragoncliff Dungeon, whose monsters were far stronger than those of Amethyst Deep, was plainly among the worst possibilities.
“But ... how is that possible? The two dungeons are separated by more than half the continent!” Oberon still refused to believe it.
“Branch Guildmaster!
“Distance has nothing to do with dungeon resonance. What matters now is finding a solution!
“Adventurers without the proper preparations will collapse the moment they encounter Lesser Dragons!”
Mirabelle spoke at a frantic pace and appeared close to madness herself.
If the Monster Tide destroyed Hushwind, neither she nor Oberon would escape the consequences.
“You ... deploy every Guild combatant to the entrance.
“Tell Logistics to take out every anti-dragon item we possess and send them all to the gate!
“I’ll contact the armies and order them to move faster.”
Mirabelle nodded and turned to leave, but Oberon suddenly grabbed her.
“One more thing. Do not announce the resonance. Equip our own people with the items and say nothing else.”
“...”
Mirabelle looked at Oberon with a flicker of fear.
She understood. Concealing the truth would prevent the adventurers from retreating in the face of overwhelming danger.
For now, it might even be the correct choice.
But it was ruthless.
The adventurers knew nothing about the sudden change in the Monster Tide. They would unquestionably suffer enormous casualties.
Oberon intended to use their lives to hold back the tide.
“Escape the dungeon ... destroy...”
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