Dark Dragon: The Summoned Hero Is A Villain

"This doesn't feel right." Galahad said.

"What?" Leo frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Spiders don't just leave eggs lying around like this." Galahad explained. "Someone, or something, which is probably an adult Bullet Spider, laid them."

Leo scoffed. "So what? The adults are already dead. Or maybe they never made it through. These things are from the abyss, remember? Entire structures get dragged into the monoliths sometimes."

Galahad didn't look convinced. "Even if that's true, the number of eggs here suggests a Patriarch or Matriarch. Bullet Spiders don't breed without one. We might be standing in the heart of a hive."

Leo spun around, exasperated. "Come on, Galahad. Use your head. This is an E-rank monolith. You know as well as I do that adult Bullet Spiders don't show up in these."

"If this nest came straight from the abyss, the spiders could've hatched here. That doesn't mean their parents made it through."

There was a tense moment of silence. Everyone's gaze flicked from the eggs to the glittering stones. Temptation danced in their eyes.

"We harvest." Leo declared. "Quietly. Don't touch the eggs. We grab what we can, and we leave. No boss fight, no more tunnels, just profit."

Cal nodded. "I'm with him. This is more than enough. Our shields won't last much longer anyway."

Bronn agreed. "One of those big toads again, and I'll be using my shield as a stretcher."

Galahad hesitated. Then slowly, he gave a reluctant nod.

"Fine. But we keep our weapons drawn." He said. "If anything happens, we run."

Leo grinned. "That's the spirit."

They all split up across the chamber, spacing themselves out as they approached the walls and began carefully prying out mana stones.

Some came loose with ease, while others required a bit more force.

Noah crouched near a section free of eggs, using the hilt of his sword to tap loose a glowing shard.

'So this is what a real dungeon raid feels like,' he thought, slipping the warm mana stone into his pouch. 'Packing treasure in a place where death could come at any time.'

And as they worked, above them, somewhere in the darkness of the ceiling's webbed canopy, something shifted.

Waking up.

Below, the group kept working, oblivious.

The chamber echoed with the soft clinks of chisels and the quiet scraping of blades as they worked in relative silence.

Mana stones steadily disappeared into pouches, the tension in the air dulled by the promise of wealth.

Galahad pried a chunk of stone from the wall, slipping it into a leather pouch tied at his hip.

He stole a glance at Leo a few paces away, watching the other boy methodically chip away at a glowing vein of blue crystal, jaw tight with focus.

Eventually, Galahad couldn't hold back anymore.

"So," he began, voice low, "why all this trouble, Leo? Bribing criminals, sneaking us into a monolith, risking expulsion… all for what? Mana stones? You're a noble. You've got money. What's the real reason?"

Leo didn't look at him. "Drop it."

But Galahad didn't. "You drag us out here. Into danger. That Acid Toad could've killed us. And now we're crawling around a spider nest in what might be an unstable monolith. I think I deserve to know why."

There was a beat of silence.

Then Bronn, still working nearby, muttered, "Stupid gambling debt."

Leo froze. His tool slipped, scraping too deep against the wall.

Galahad straightened. "What?"

Bronn blinked, realizing too late what he'd said. "I mean—"

"Bronn." Leo growled, rounding on him. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Bronn raised his hands. "You said it wasn't a big deal—"

"Not a big deal?" Leo's voice echoed across the chamber. "You think dragging my name through the dirt is not a big deal?"

By now, the others had paused, turning toward the confrontation. Noah and Arlo stopped to watch, also curious.

Galahad took a step forward. "Is that true? Is that why you did all this?"

Leo glared at Bronn, chest heaving, then slowly turned to Galahad. The fury faded, replaced with something closer to exhaustion. Shame.

"Yes," he said at last. "It's true."

Galahad stared. "Unbelievable."

Leo clenched his fists. "It's not like I wanted to be in this mess. I… I made some bad calls. A few bets. I thought I could win it back. But it spiraled. I owe people. Bad people. People my father must never find out about."

"You're the son of a Lord!" Galahad snapped. "You have status. Influence. And you dragged us into this hellhole because you couldn't stay away from the cards?"

Leo's face twisted. "If my father finds out, he'll cut me off. Maybe more. You don't know him."

Galahad's lip curled. "I don't care. You blackmailed me. You threatened to ruin my life to cover your own mess. I followed you here thinking there was a real plan, not a desperate attempt to pay off your thugs before Daddy finds out."

Leo stepped forward, face flushed. "Don't you dare—"

"No!" Galahad snarled. "You listen. Threaten me again, and I'll make sure your father hears about this. Every last detail. You got that?"

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Leo didn't respond, jaw clenched and trembling.

Noah, watching it all from where he stood, returned to chipping at the stone. So, that was why Leo had risked punishment to come after him for the B-rank spell token.

He wasn't after the token for himself, but to sell it and pay off his debts.

Arlo whistled softly under his breath, muttering, "Drama in a dungeon. Who'd have thought?"

Galahad huffed, returning to his work with a bitter shake of his head. "Next time you drag me somewhere, Leo, it better be for something that isn't going to get us all killed."

As he moved away, Leo turned to Bronn, eyes narrowed and burning.

"You talk too much." He muttered coldly, voice low enough only Bronn could hear. "Slip up like that again, and I'll make sure you regret it more than I already do."

Bronn didn't respond. He merely looked away, lips pressed into a tight line.

Leo turned, shoving his mana pouch into his satchel with a rough hand. The shadows of the chamber shifted slightly as he moved, and then...

Crack!

Bronn's head exploded.