******* Arthur's POV ********

I'm staring at the obsidian room Lord Carolus built in the basement.

Lord Carolus probably already went to the nether dimension.

I don't know what is this nether dimension he is speaking off. This is my first time hearing about it.

I also didn't know that obsidian can be mined. It is said to be the hardest block in this world but it seems it is no match for Lord Carolus.

I started walking to get back to my duties.

He entrusted me with looking after his territory so I have to make sure that I won't fail him.

He gave me his very own spear and an iron armor to protect my people and this place.

I stopped walking for a moment then took out the spear in my inventory and held it in my hand.

I don't know what it is made of since he didn't explain anything and just hand it to me but I can feel so much power coming from the spear. It seems like this weapon will able to penetrate any living being.

The iron armor he also gave me is enchanted with so many enchantments.

It is a lot better than the iron armor I used to wear when I was still a knight of the kingdom.

I put away the spear and started walking again.

I went past the door of the prison room and can hear two zombies groaning.

I still can't believe I did those things.

After feeding Merek to a zombie, I immediately went to lord Carolus to let him know what I did and beg him to punish me but he just asked me to explain what happened and what information I managed to know from Merek.

After hearing my explanations for a while, he just asked me to leave the room so he can rest.

I don't know what his plan is with Merek after getting information from him but I can't believe he just let the matter go so easily like what I did is natural.

I reached the outside of the keep and was planning to go to the farm to know how my people are doing when suddenly I can hear someone screaming from the south wall.

I ordered some of my people to patrol the walls to make sure no one can sneak up on us.

I quickly equipped my armor and spear and run towards the south.

I was about to climb the stairs to get on top of the wall when suddenly I saw something jumps then lands on the ground inside.

It is a giant spider. Much bigger than the regular ones.

'How could I let this happened?' I said to myself since I can't believe I just let a giant monster inside lord Carolus' castle.

I should attack it while I can still see it's back.

I ready my spear and preparing to charge.

"Careful there, little soldier. I don't want unnecessary blood spilled on the ground."

What? It can talk? With a voice of woman too.

I was so surprised to see a talking monster but I still held my spear tightly in my hand.

"I'm just here to have a conversation with the lonely king. Can tell him about my arrival." She said after a moment since there is nothing but silence and turned around to face me.

"Lonely king? You mean Lord Carolus?" I managed to utter words since I'm still shocked by what I'm seeing.

What would this monster want with Lord Carolus? She is also speaking about him like they knew each other for a long time and just came to visit.

"Oh. So that is his name. Interesting."

She looked at me with her multiple scary eyes but I stood my ground and didn't let my guard down.

I don't know what this creature is a connection with Lord Carolus but I noticed she called him king.

I didn't know that he was a king.

I keep calling him my lord. I wonder why he didn't correct me? He probably has a reason for it.

"He is not here and has gone to the nether dimension to gather some things," I told her after thinking for a while.

I'm not going to just tell anybody about King Carolus location but I don't know if I can beat this monster even with my new weapon so I just have to play along for now till I get chance to slay this being.

"Oh. Did he leave to the nether? To the hell? I never thought I can find someone who knows about that place. I thought that place has already forgotten by mankind."

She is saying a lot of things I don't understand but she said something that bothered me.

"Hell? What do you mean hell?" I asked her with a worrying tone.

"He didn't tell you about what the nether dimension is? It is a place full of lava and fire. That dimension is filled with monsters much more terrifying than what you see in this world that's why you can also call it hell. Only people who want to die will go to that place."

What?

Based on what I heard, the nether dimension is a really dangerous place.

Why would King Carolus go there?

If I have known about this, I should have stopped him from going.

Maybe I should chase after him though I don't know if I can break the obsidian surrounding the portal.

What should I do?

"Hahaha. Based on your reaction, you are really worried about him." I suddenly heard the giant spider's laughter and voice and managed to snap me out in my deep thought.

I curse myself for letting my guard down for a moment.

"You don't have to worry about him. He is a monster just like me. I almost feel sorry for all the beings who will stand in his way."

'He is nothing like you' I managed to stop myself from saying this out loud.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I just came here to tell him about the army coming in this forest."

"What army?"

"My children said to me that there more than 3 thousands of them heading straight in this castle. About 500 of them are riding horses and already quite ahead of the rest."

"Why are you telling this information?" I asked since I don't know about her motive.

She didn't answer and just stare at me for a while.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know. I just feel like I have to tell the lonely king about this out of respect." She answered after a moment.

I'm speechless.

I don't really know what to say or ask since the information she just said is outrageous. I'm having trouble processing all the things I just learned.

"Guess it is time for me to go." The giant spider said and started climbing on the wall.

"Wait!" I tried to stop her since I still have a lot of questions but she just ignored me and keep on climbing until he reaches the top and jumps off the wall.

What is going on?

Why there is an army heading in this direction?

They can't be after me and my people. We are nobody. Why the hell would they send thousands of them after us?

She said that there are 500 of them hastily coming here. They are probably the vanguard of the army.

'My goddess, how I am supposed to tell King Carolus about this?'

I just prayed to the goddess of all creation since I don't really know what to do.

******* Carolus' POV ********

This place is much more terrifying than I thought.

I'm so scared of even trying to take one step forward.

It is also a lot different than in the game.

For starters, the nether doesn't have a ceiling.

I don't know the reason for this but I can a red sky above me but there is no sun or moon.

How I am supposed to tell time here?

I tried looking at the clock in my inventory but the clock doesn't appear to be working. The compass is also just kept spinning around.

I tried taking out a magic map to see if I can use this here.

I tried looking at it and surprised to know that it is working.

Thank heavens.

I was worried about getting lost in a scary place and not able to find my way home though I have spare obsidians in my inventory in case something happens to the portal.

Before starting my journey, I have to do something first.

I turned around and start staring at the portal.

I should build something to hide this portal.

I started mining netherrack in the surrounding to build a man-made mountain to cover the portal.

It was easy to mine the netherrack since it not as hard as stone. It only took one swing and it immediately breaks.

I completely covered the portal with netherrack and placed an iron door on the side. I make sure the entrance is well hidden so that it will not be noticed from afar.

My original plan was to build a temporary fortress or something but I don't want to waste my time on that and I don't have the necessary materials anyway with me build one.

I climbed on top of the mountain I just built and started to look around.

I can see fire and lava everywhere.

Though I can't feel the heat since I'm wearing my enchanted armor.

I wonder what will happen if I take my armor off?

I removed my armor and quickly regretted my decision.

The heat is bearable but it is still excruciating.

I tried looking at my status to see if my health is diminishing but luckily it is still 10 hearts.

I feel like I'm inside a heated oven and I'm about to get baked.

Well, I guess I just have to keep wearing my armor for the entire time here.

I put my armor back on and started looking around the area.

I saw a lot of quarts ores here on the ground and some glowstone.

But what really surprised me is there is also gold ores here. I even saw a gold block near a lava lake. Gold blocks are made out of 9 gold ingots so there is quite a lot of gold here than in the overworld.

I wonder why there is abundant gold in this dimension? I just mined them and store them in my inventory. I don't know what I'm going to do with this amount since gold in this world doesn't have a lot of uses. The hoarder side of me is starting to come back.

I started collecting resources I can find while filling up the maps.

I managed to gather a lot of resources that I have to build a temporary storage room in the portal mountain to store all of them. I just hope no one finds this place to steal my loot.

I started to get bored and tired on mining resources so I just started traveling on a straight line to find a nether fortress or a blaze.

I don't really know how many hours have already passed since I lost track of the time.

I decided to go back to the portal mountain and built a bedroom inside.

I was reluctant on sleeping on the bed but I tried getting on the bed with armor on to see if it will explode. I don't know really know why in the game, beds explode if you use it in the nether.

Nothing happened.

I exhaled quite a lot of air after knowing the bed won't explode.

I tried on removing my armor before sleeping but decided to keep it on since it is really hot in here.

This is my first time sleeping with armor on.

I could just get back inside the castle since I'm near the portal but I'm really tired of walking and gathering resources. I also don't have any strength left to mine obsidian to get out of the basement.

I just closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

'I hope nothing happens with Arthur and his people'