Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 128

Dungeon Chronicle – Episode 129

# 129

Dungeon Chronicle

Dinariyon, who had been asked to keep it brief, was now rambling on endlessly. Kim Jin-woo frowned and gestured for him to get to the point.

“To be precise, we need your name, the title of Commander of Conquest.”

At Dinariyon’s words, Kim Jin-woo involuntarily exclaimed.

“You need the amplification effect?”

“Precisely. I, or rather, we, need the amplification effect that the Commander of Conquest title provides.”

Only then did everything click into place. The power of the Commander of Conquest title was its ability to amplify the power of allies. It seemed Dinariyon was planning to turn the tide of the war using that ability.

“But the amplification effect of the Commander of Conquest only applies to my subordinates. It doesn’t apply to you.”

The effects of the Commander of Conquest title could only be used by those belonging to the Fortress. No matter how great the effect, it was useless to the Counts.

“Do you think we don’t know that? We, too, once bore the name of Conquest.”

“What?”

Kim Jin-woo’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

“It’s not that surprising. The Commander of Conquest isn’t a particularly special title. Until you know defeat, everyone is a victor, and we Counts were once among those victors. It’s just that the war has been too long, and there have been a few defeats along the way.”

“Ah…”

It was an unexpected story. He had unconsciously assumed that the title of Commander of Conquest was only given to him. In fact, looking back, he had obtained the title of Commander of Conquest after a few minor victories, and the requirements weren’t that difficult.

Of course, it wouldn’t be strange if there were others who had obtained the name of Conquest besides him.

The fact that he was only realizing this now was almost absurd. Even Krasto, the leader of the mercenary group, had the name ‘Invincible.’ He shuddered at his own complacency.

As if amused by his changing expression, Dinariyon quietly watched him. After a moment, Dinariyon, who had been silent, spoke again.

“We will prepare the method. You just decide whether to accept or reject.”

“What if I refuse?”

“If you refuse, we’ll have to find another way.”

Kim Jin-woo narrowed his eyes at the indifferent tone, as if he were talking about someone else’s affairs. Unlike what he said about the difficult war situation, Dinariyon’s attitude was strangely relaxed. When he pointed that out, Dinariyon replied nonchalantly.

“The outcome of war is not determined by strength alone.”

Having said that, Dinariyon stared intently at him.

“If only the strong survived, would you be here right now?”

With just those words, Kim Jin-woo had no choice but to acknowledge Dinariyon’s point. He, too, had always fought from a position of weakness, winning unfavorable wars and finally earning the names of Conquest and Conqueror.

“And the Counts of the Depths have not always been in a position of strength either.”

At Dinariyon’s words, he asked.

“It seems this isn’t the first war of this kind.”

At his question, Dinariyon grinned and replied.

“We were the ones who drove out the ancient Ten Monarchs, the old masters of the Underworld.”

***

Waking up from his dream, Kim Jin-woo shook his head vigorously, feeling dazed as if he were walking in a dream. The lingering effects of the nightmare, even in fragments, completely disappeared, replaced by a stark sense of reality.

“Commander…”

Dinariyon was apparently thinking of entrusting him with a special task force. And he said that the special task force would be composed of elites drawn from each Count’s camp.

‘Can you trust me?’

At the sarcastic question, Dinariyon chuckled.

‘You’re saying funny things. Is there any fool in the Underworld who trusts others?’

Despite what Dinariyon had said, the conditions for taking on the command of the special task force were exceptional. The troops included in the special task force would be permanently under his control. In addition, a base, even if it was a hastily constructed maze, would be prepared for him to operate on the 11th floor. Of course, he said that the base would become his territory if the war ended in victory.

Kim Jin-woo wondered why they would go so far, and he finally understood the reason.

The checks and balances between them, the conflicts between the Counts, were what led them to make such a proposal to him. Despite the worsening war situation, the Counts were not easily revealing their forces, and they were all looking ahead to what would happen after the war.

The resulting conflicts and loopholes became the gaps for him to exploit.

At least, in their eyes, Kim Jin-woo had nothing to offer except for paltry titles like Conqueror and Commander of Conquest.

Perhaps the Counts thought that even after the war, they could get rid of him whenever they wanted.

Even though the forces of the 10th floor raised by Parthenon had been defeated and driven away, and even the elites of the Parthenon army had been routed, they still looked down on him so much.

“Interesting.”

A cold sneer escaped through his teeth.

He didn’t know whether the Counts had underestimated him, or whether he had underestimated their power because he hadn’t yet seen their hidden potential.

However, one thing was certain.

He had no intention of being easily discarded like a hunting dog after the hunt was over.

Having made that decision, Kim Jin-woo got up from the bed and headed to the owner’s room. Then, he gathered the leaders of the Maze.

“It’s war.”

The atmosphere around him completely changed with his words.

***

Kim Jin-woo had declared war after gathering the leaders, but he had no intention of moving immediately as Dinariyon and the Counts intended. He wasn’t foolish enough to easily empty the Maze in a situation where the war could spread to the 9th floor at any time. Moreover, the problem was that he had not yet grasped the other hidden intentions behind Dinariyon’s proposal.

On the surface, the reason was the sense of crisis that they would be left behind in the changes in the landscape after the war if they revealed and consumed their hidden power, but there must be another reason.

“Anatolius might tell me.”

Anatolius had suffered the most severe damage in the unfavorable war situation in the Depths. The Iron-Blooded Monarch’s proud Knights Templar had failed in their surprise attack and were almost annihilated, and even his cherished aides were said to have died in battle.

His hidden power might be intact, but the damage to his revealed power was so great that Anatolius would desperately feel the need to restore the balance.

“I will send an envoy to the Depths. Tell Anatolius my words.”

“But even Angela failed. Sending someone now will only increase meaningless casualties.”

Meaningless sacrifice, there was no one in this Naga’s Fortress who should be sacrificed meaninglessly.

No, wasn’t there anyone at all?

Kim Jin-woo inadvertently looked at Rickshasha. As if she had been waiting for this situation, she met his gaze without wavering.

“Grant them a place to prove their worth.”

At Rickshasha’s words, he finally made a decision.

“Make the Under Elves messengers!”

***

It was Rickshasha’s role to coax and appease the Under Elves and send them out as messengers. And she performed that role admirably.

Twenty adult Under Elves became messengers and set off for the Depths. They would pass through Ustus’s Maze and head to the Iron Knight’s Fortress ruled by the Iron-Blooded Monarch on the 11th floor.

It was unknown how many of them would be sacrificed and how many would return alive. In the worst case, perhaps none of them would be able to complete their mission.

But even so, Kim Jin-woo didn’t care.

He felt a sense of alienation from himself for sending dozens of lives to their deaths, but he didn’t take it seriously. He also felt that something was lacking in him as a human being, but again, it didn’t matter.

‘From now on, don’t trust anyone. Don’t trust anyone but me. No, don’t even trust me. You only trust yourself. Do you understand?’

Sohee’s frail voice, which he had heard in his nightmare, remained vividly in his ears. The moment he recalled that voice, he realized.

The kind and benevolent Dungeon Baby Kim Jin-woo he had shown so far was not the real him.

If he had really been benevolent, he would not have survived in the Underworld.

‘Please survive. You must survive in this hellish place.’

‘Even if you have to tear apart and eat the disgusting flesh of creatures and drink their foul-smelling blood, you must survive.’

‘You must never die until you leave this damned hell and learn about the outside world.’

The last words of the former Tunnelers who had willingly died for him were engraved on his heart like a brand. He had lived his life upholding those words like a creed.

Naturally, ‘survival’ was an absolute value to him that could not be compared to anything else.

And Kim Jin-woo did not hesitate to do anything to protect that value. As a result, he was able to survive the attacks of creatures, hunger, and loneliness.

He had finally survived and become a ‘monster’ who had risen from the Depths to the surface.

After rising to the surface, for 10 years, the shell of the ‘fake Kim Jin-woo’ that had been accumulating like calluses was cracked, torn, and eventually shattered.

“Will they really succeed?”

Kim Jin-woo replied coldly to Dominique’s concern.

“If they fail, we can just send another messenger.”

Perhaps sensing something strange in her master’s strangely cold voice, Dominique turned her head to look at him, then spoke again.

“And then we will have to send even more messengers than now.”

At her words, Kim Jin-woo gave a satisfied smile.

***

While Kim Jin-woo was waiting for the return of the departed messengers and reorganizing the Maze, he suddenly realized that the surrounding air had changed and raised his head.

“Master?”

Dominique, who was checking the defense plan while spreading out the map of the 9th floor, tilted her head at his expression.

“Something… something has changed.”

The humid and sticky air of the Underworld had become even denser. His heart was pounding uncontrollably, and the blood vessels all over his body were throbbing as if they would burst.

With a flushed face, he involuntarily glared at the darkness outside the Maze.

KiyoOOOOOOOO!

The high-pitched and bizarre roar that was heard at that moment, Dominique turned pale and shouted.

“It’s Heimdall!”

The roar of the ill-fated Dawn Chicken, who had never cried before, was a signal announcing the start of the war. The endless cries of the War Guardian shook the entire Underworld.