Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 143

Dungeon Journal- Episode 144

# 144

Dungeon Journal

Episode 144

56. The Path of the Lord

The prelude to the war was heralded by the Under Elf assassin squad led by Rikshasha.

“Kkeueuk.”

A groan, sounding like phlegm being cleared or air escaping, echoed from various places.

Soon, a thud followed, and the sentries of the 10th floor nobles, hidden in the darkness, lay sprawled on the floor with their throats slit.

“All clear.”

“Recover the bodies and take everything we can.”

Rikshasha, kicking aside the enemy corpse at her feet, commanded with an emotionless face.

“Move to the next area.”

Leaving behind the sentries, who had even their Down Jams [a type of currency or valuable item in the dungeon] plundered, Rikshasha and the Under Elves melted back into the darkness.

Similar scenes unfolded throughout the 10th floor. The sentries, guarding against the Moais [powerful, monstrous creatures] that had crossed the passage, were helplessly struck down by blades that emerged from behind.

The nobles were blinded and deafened without even realizing it.

The 9th floor army advanced through the emptied passage towards the nobles’ labyrinth. Some unlucky ones encountered Moais and were annihilated, but most of the army, aided by the Under Elves, reached the nobles’ labyrinth without a single major battle.

It was a lightning-fast advance. Stragglers were common, and the army rapidly grew tired.

But despite this, the masters of the 9th floor labyrinth did not look back.

Following the sudden summons and the semi-forced conscription, Kim Jin-woo had not explained any reason that they could understand. He had only motivated them.

‘The one who contributes the most to conquering the nobles’ labyrinth will receive its heart.’

Upon hearing his words, the masters of the 9th floor labyrinth went completely mad. They ignored even the screams of their soldiers, fearing that their contributions would be stolen.

The attacks on the ten labyrinths occurred almost simultaneously. The nobles, who had stubbornly held out even on the 10th floor, which was almost entirely occupied by Moais, were thrown into chaos by this surprise attack.

They were surprised by the sudden attack and even more surprised to learn that their attackers were not Moais but the army of the 9th floor labyrinth.

But their surprise was short-lived, and they soon gathered their forces in anger and launched a fierce counterattack against the invaders.

Although the nobles had fallen and lost their former authority, their potential was still formidable. After all, it was because of this potential that they had managed to endure in such isolated circumstances.

The nobles’ forces, though exhausted from the continuous battles, were sharper than ever.

The damage to the 9th floor army, which had rashly rushed in with their eyes on the spoils, quickly snowballed.

“You impudent fools! How dare you come here!”

The enraged Gezer Baron, Bartholomew the Mighty, roared, shaking the Gezer [his territory or domain], and the panicked 9th floor forces retreated.

“Stupid bastards.”

“It’s like they’re begging to have their necks cut off, rushing in to die when they were told to gain merit.”

Arianne, the Queen of Somnolence, shook her head, and the King of Dwarves, who had led the hundred dwarves, clicked his tongue in response.

“Still, thanks to them, our job will be a little easier, so we should be grateful.”

The defeat of the 9th floor army, which had noisily shaken the labyrinth, drew the enraged noble’s elite forces to the outskirts of the labyrinth. Arianne and the other masters of the labyrinth took advantage of the weakened defenses.

The noble’s soldiers, who had remained in the labyrinth to prepare for any eventuality and were listening for any movements outside, nodded off to sleep due to the sudden drowsiness.

“It seems that allying with you was a good decision. There are more soldiers left than I thought.”

“If you have time to talk, hurry up and clean up. Their dreams won’t last long.”

“I’m going to do that even if you don’t rush me.”

The King of Dwarves, Malak-sus, waved his stubby fingers. The hundred dwarves who followed him scattered in all directions at his gesture, mercilessly slaughtering the sleeping soldiers of the labyrinth.

The giant soldiers of Bartholomew, the veterans who had even withstood the Moais’ fierce attacks, tilted their heads and collapsed with silent screams.

The labyrinth, decorated lavishly as if to show off the pleasures it had enjoyed, was instantly buried in a thick scent of death.

“These guys have skin that’s ridiculously tough. If they hadn’t been asleep, we would have been the ones getting hurt.”

The King of Dwarves, Malak-sus, said, patting the forearm of a giant soldier he had just cut down. As if it wasn’t just talk, he clenched and unclenched the hand holding the axe, indicating that he had struggled quite a bit to cut down even one sleeping enemy.

“Is that so? They’re still the deep floor’s army. Normally, they wouldn’t be defeated by 9th floor trash like us.”

Malak-sus frowned at Arianne’s words, which were hard to tell whether they were sarcastic or admiring.

“You have a pretty way of talking.”

Although they had boarded the same ship for the sake of their goals, Arianne and he were still competitors. He couldn’t have liked her sarcastic tone.

But whether Malak-sus made his wrinkled face even more grim or not, Arianne paid no attention and only watched the movements outside.

“We need to hurry. My magic isn’t deep enough to work on the deep floor’s nobles.”

Before long, the main force of the labyrinth would be returning.

The magic that the Queen of Somnolence had cast was only enough to put the soldiers of the unguarded labyrinth to sleep. If the job wasn’t finished on time, they would be surrounded by enemies from both inside and outside, and they wouldn’t even be able to retreat.

At her words, Malak-sus urged the dwarves with a newly anxious face.

“Lazybones! If you don’t hurry, you’ll be eating dinner in hell tonight!”

At the king’s roar, the dwarves scurried around the labyrinth even more diligently with their short legs. The nightmares [magical creatures or entities] moved among the dwarves, trying to restore the scattered magical power and maintain the magic of slumber.

But it seemed that the plan to clean up the labyrinth while the enemy’s main force was out had completely failed. The sound of loud footsteps began to be heard faintly from beyond the passage that ran through the center of the labyrinth.

“We have to get out now! If we stay here, we’ll be caught in a pincer attack!”

Arianne shouted, barely maintaining the magic that seemed about to break at any moment.

“If we leave like this, we won’t have anything to show for our efforts! We have to loot at least the warehouse for the king to acknowledge us!”

Was this what he had in mind from the beginning when he joined the plan? Arianne looked dismayed as she saw Malak-sus’s eyes gleaming with greed.

They had cut down dozens of giant soldiers and destroyed several of the main facilities with weak durability.

They couldn’t say that they had gained the upper hand, but they had succeeded in weakening the labyrinth’s power. But even so, the dwarves had no intention of leaving the labyrinth.

“Don’t blame me later.”

In the end, Arianne, who no longer felt any reason to take the risk, tried to leave the labyrinth with the nightmares, when she heard a gruff shout from deep within the labyrinth.

“I found the warehouse!”

Arianne, who was about to leave the labyrinth, stopped in her tracks.

“Leave if you want to leave alone. I’ll acknowledge your contribution in casting the magic, but don’t expect anything more than that.”

After looking back and forth between the inside and outside of the labyrinth for a moment at Malak-sus’s chuckling words, she bit her lip.

“I’ll buy you some time, so finish quickly.”

“You’re easy to talk to!”

“But the spoils……”

“We’ll divide them fairly.”

Malak-sus and Arianne, who had quickly reached an agreement, looked at each other and parted ways.

“Get out of the way!”

Seeing Arianne preparing something to tie up the enemy’s feet, Malak-sus ran straight to where he thought the warehouse would be. Reaching the warehouse in an instant, waddling with his short legs, he shouted and raised his axe high.

His unremarkable axe instantly turned bright red, and soon it blazed red as if it had been taken out of a furnace.

“Kuaaaah!”

And Malak-sus slammed the blazing axe down on the warehouse door. The force was so fierce that the dwarves surrounding the warehouse and hacking at it were horrified and stepped back.

Crack.

The solid warehouse door instantly cracked.

“What are you doing! Strike it down!”

But even that powerful blow was not enough to open the noble’s vault. Malak-sus, clenching and unclenching his hands that were dripping with blood, shouted at his subordinates.

Bang, bang.

Dozens of axe strikes were added to the deep groove left by the burning axe. The warehouse door, which had withstood the axe strikes, could not withstand Malak-sus’s final blow and opened.

“Leave the iron lumps alone! Only take the Down Jams!”

Despite the nickname of the Hammer and Anvil Clan, Malak-sus and the dwarves ignored the glittering weapons and armor and searched the warehouse for Down Jams.

“Is this all there is?”

Malak-sus looked dejected as he received a few Down Jams from his subordinate. He had risked his life to open the warehouse, but all he could take was about a dozen Down Jams.

It was a sufficient harvest, but this time there was someone to share the spoils with.

The Down Jams that would return to his hand would be five at most. It was no wonder that he felt empty, having risked his life to get only five of them.

“Kyaaaaaaaa!”

To make matters worse, Arianne’s scream, who had stepped out to tie up the enemy’s feet, burst out.

“How dare you!”

Following that, the roar of Bartholomew the Mighty, whose anger had soared to the sky, was heard. Malak-sus, turning pale, hurriedly gathered his forces and tried to escape the warehouse, when he saw the nightmares rushing towards him from afar.

“You idiots! The exit is over there, what are you doing coming this way!”

The dwarves shouted angrily, but the nightmares were adamant. They quickly passed the dwarves and retreated.

“These guys……”

Malak-sus, glaring at the nightmares with an angry face, turned his head at the terrifying presence that was approaching him.

“We’re doomed.”

There stood a bronze giant, striding towards him with Arianne’s hair in his grasp.

“How dare you things!”

The dwarves trembled at the angry roar of the bronze giant, Bartholomew.

Although he was only a baron, the opponent was one of the nobles who could be said to be the true rulers of the Gezer [a powerful faction or group].

The dwarves and nightmares, overwhelmed by the majesty of the Gezer noble that had been unleashed in an instant, turned pale and backed away.

Malak-sus, too, was suffocated by the immense pressure. He barely managed to endure, but he couldn’t put any strength into the hand holding the axe. So he had to do everything he could to keep from dropping the axe.