Surviving as the Second Main Lead: Second Lead's POV

Leaving Howard out into a dangerous place had been a tough decision for Horas to make but he knew he had to do it. It would not be right for an adult like him to involve a kid.

Still, Howard had to say that he was impressed with the interior of this dungeon. The cave looked like it had no source of light inside it.

As such, Horas should not have been able to see anything. But his vision seemed not to be impaired in any way. He could see even the smallest of the details here.

“Ugh, if only I had a map of this place. But this is uncharted territory so I am not surprised.”

Generally, the system was designed to automatically scan its database for the dungeon type and all related information as soon as you stepped in one. But uncharted territory like this did not have any data.

‘Tsk, it most is a fresh domain for it to not even have a name. What am I supposed to do now?’

Horas’s initial plan had been to come in here, look for Emma and Eureka, and then somehow manage to take Emma back out.

But it seemed easier to plan than to execute. Even navigating this place was a pain for Horas to deal with.

‘Think Horas think. You wrote this world so there must be something you can utilize to find your way around.’

But despite Horas wrecking his brain for an answer, he could not find one. He had never written for the protagonist to get lost in an uncharted dungeon (even if they had come up in the story) so he was going in blind.

Horas was about to give up on a plan and start roaming around when he noticed a shadow heading in from behind him. It did not take long for a person to appear.

The walker seemed like a young adult, barely out of his teens. He had a neat appearance and a sophisticated way of walking. It was easy to tell that this adult had lived a lavish life.

Looking at him, Horas could notice how ‘out of place’ this young man looked as he entered this cave. He was not suited for such dark and shabby places at all. But still, he was down here and it was a matter of concern.

Horas quickly hid behind a big boulder to be out of sight for the time behind. Once the young adult made his way ahead, Horas decided to follow behind him.

‘Well, it could not be any worse than being lost in here.’

Horas followed behind that unknown young adult with swift steps. He wanted to not lose sight of his only guide in this foreign place.

And the more he followed this young adult, the more he realized that he had hit the jackpot. This man knew exactly where he was headed.

Soon the cave finally ended and opened up into a central open space. It was huge with a lot of rocky pillars aligned to form a weird formation. The weirder part was - there had been no monster in this dungeon.

All it contained was its endless corridors and a huge central altar.

……………………..

Howard resisted the urge to go into the dungeon with all his might. He had promised to wait for the police after all.

‘Would Emma be alright? She will not be hurt, right? She has to be alive or I-’

Howard Spencer was afraid of what would happen to Emma inside the dungeon. He had heard that these dungeons were dangerous and often got people killed. Even his parents had died as a result of one.

Howard did not want to lose anyone else but he had made a promise to Horas to stay out here.

‘Horas said that everything would be alright. I need to believe in him.’

Howard stayed put until the police came. Leading the police was a vaguely familiar face Howard was sure he had seen before.

‘Ah, the man who often talks with miss Julie and makes her mad. I don’t like this man.’

Howard could not explain it, but he got bad vibes whenever he looked at this man. Miss Julie had called him Jack Hollow and even called him a ‘friend of his parents.’

But Howard was not sure if he wanted to trust this adult or not. He just felt ‘off’ to his senses.

“Howard, thank god you are alright. I cannot believe Horas took *you* of all people to a dungeon. At least he had enough sense to call me before something happened.”

Jack sounded more annoyed than worried. The police force around them started to get to work and investigate the dungeon. But they did not enter since they did not have enough clearance to enter the dungeon.

“Are you going to save Horas and Emma? Emma got taken in by Eureka and Horas went after her.”

Howard tried to explain how it was not Horas’s fault that this situation occurred. But he was not able to get his thoughts across clearly.

Either that or Jack Hollow seemed not to care for what he said and had already formed opinions about what happened here.

“Alright kid, I got it. We will investigate what happened here properly so you should relax now.”

“B-But Emma and Horas-”

“Will be alright. See, we are sending some *actual* adults in there to help out. Everything will be alright.”

Jack Hollow’s strong frame stood in front of Howard. He looked reliable and gentle right now and it should have reassured Howard. But all it did was make him feel a sense of dread.

Something was going to happen which would cause a lot of trouble. For some reason, Howard could not shake away this feeling of things being ‘wrong’ no matter how much he tried to.

And through his experience, Howard learned one important lesson - when he had such a feeling, something bad ended up happening to the people around him.

‘Everything is wrong here. I don’t feel so good right now. Am I sick?’

Of course, a child such as Howard did not know anything about instincts and gut feeling so he was not able to tell what he was feeling.

All he could do was clutch his chest and look at the dungeon in front of him. It was scary to look at, but tempting as well. It was calling out to him and-

“Don’t look at this dungeon, kid. Now that I see it, I have to admit that Horas was right. There is something weird about this F-Class dungeon. I hope my suppressor comes soon so that I can head in myself to check the situation.”

Jack Hollow was not one to often go in himself but he could not help it this time.

……………………..

“You are finally here, Boris. You don’t know how worried I was that you would not make it. Here, I have our sacrifice ready for today.”

Horas was hiding behind the nearest boulder which made it convenient for him to look at Eureka and Boris’s reunion. They were both lost in each other’s eyes to notice Horas and his presence.

“Of course, I am here, Eureka. I was going to do anything to have my wish fulfilled. And after how long it took to find the right sacrifice, how could I miss it for the world?”

Boris sounded delighted as he talked. His voice had a hint of crazy in it which broke apart his pretty-boy exterior.

“Of course. It’s a shame that the other kid managed to get away since he was the ‘superior’ sacrifice, but I think this girl should do it nicely as well.”

Eureka turned toward Emma’s unconscious body and Horas watched it all happen from his position. He did want to go out and help but he did not want to blow his cover as well.

More than anything, he just wanted to know what was going on in there and why there were no monsters in there.

“Boris, you know that I trust you. But are you sure it’s safe for us to conduct the sacrificial ceremony here? After all, it’s the demon king we are trying to summon. Shouldn't the sacrifice be something grander?”

Horas’s stopped breathing for a second due to shock.

‘I…just what did I hear right now. A ceremony to call the demon king? Are these people out of their minds?’

Demon king, the ultimate enemy of the human race and the end boss of these dungeons. These people wanted to summon him into this dungeon?

That would end up evolving and breaking this dungeon apart. It could also potentially tear the space around this dungeon apart. It was beyond foolish to even try.

“Of course Eureka. Just trust me and allow me to hold this ceremony. Soon, our wishes will come true and this world will be below our feet.”

Horas was beginning to draw a horrible realization that this ‘Boris’ person was the real mastermind behind this kidnapping and he used Eureka to achieve his goal.

Or it could also be that Horas was reading too much into things and they both were equally responsible for this situation.

‘I need to stop this madness. What should I do now?’

Horas debated silently, but then he felt a presence watching him. And as he looked up, he noticed the giant eyeball looking directly at him.