Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 155

Dungeon Journal – 156

The mere appearance of the Naga King changed the atmosphere. The world, previously buzzing with the excited breaths of the rioters, instantly turned heavy and silent.

It was as if time itself had stopped.

“Why? Aren’t you going to make more noise like you were just doing?”

At his words, the faces of the rioters, already pale, turned ashen.

Since when had he been watching them?

The rioters shifted nervously, subtly trying to back away. But Kim Jin-woo didn’t allow them to retreat.

“Not a single step forward or backward.”

The earlier warning kept the rioters rooted in place.

It wasn’t a fierce growl, nor was it a threat filled with overt power.

Just a low murmur was enough to completely immobilize thousands of rioters.

If this were the old 9th floor, perhaps a few could have slipped away along the narrow, long corridor.

But now, they were in a spacious open area created after the upheaval. There was nowhere for them to hide from the king’s warning.

Gulp.

Someone swallowed hard. The small sound, which would normally have gone unnoticed, drew the attention of everyone around. The person who made the sound was so surprised that they covered their mouth with both hands.

It was a situation where they felt they needed the king’s permission even to breathe; they were completely dominated by a single person.

“This is really…”

The Dwarf King, who had retreated to a safe distance to avoid being caught up in the rioters’ rampage, let out a groan.

He barely swallowed the last words that were stuck in his throat and looked at the king and the rioters.

“Hmm…”

Even the usually talkative Ariane was uncharacteristically quiet.

The sight they were witnessing was that shocking.

The Naga King had been extraordinary from the start.

He had effortlessly accomplished things they had said were impossible. The war with the King of the Dead, Valishus, and the war with the noble allied forces that invaded the 9th floor were prime examples.

And he had achieved a tremendous victory in a war they thought he would surely lose.

Valishus had offered the entire labyrinth and was in a position no different from a slave, and the nobles of the 10th floor had to flee in terror without even taking a single soldier.

That was the Naga King, so everyone on the 9th floor had entered into a vassalage contract [a feudal agreement of loyalty]. Although it was a subjugation forced by power and fear, no one thought he was an inadequate figure to rule the 9th floor. But,

“Even so, this is too much.”

Even if he was the undisputed conqueror of the underground floor, the sight before them was excessive.

The fact that thousands of rioters, who seemed ready to overturn the labyrinth at any moment, were not even moving and were only watching his every move was an incomprehensible sight.

Moreover, the current rioters were in a state where instinct dominated reason, having lost their labyrinth. The fierce warriors of the underground, who would bare their teeth and draw their claws even against monsters several times larger and more massive than themselves, were trembling like insects without even moving.

“Good, very good. Just keep doing as you’re doing. Maybe my anger will subside.”

The king’s smile was as chilling as it could be. And they truly hoped and wished that his anger would subside.

Silence descended. Everyone watched the king’s every move in an oppressive atmosphere that seemed to drain the very life from them.

“Hoo.”

The king’s exclamation, whether it was admiration or something else, was heard. Those who cautiously raised their heads made eye contact with the king.

Abyss.

The king’s gaze they saw was a bottomless pit. The deep, black eyes, so deep that they seemed to suck in their spirits just by looking at them.

The moment they saw those black eyes, they felt as if they had been stripped naked and dragged to the guillotine.

It was a time of less than 1 second, the time they faced the abyss.

But when that fleeting moment passed, there was no one standing properly in their place. They sat down, grabbing their necks and coughing.

Fear grew rapidly. The monster named fear, which had grown so large, swallowed those who had been frozen like statues, one by one.

“Ugh…”

The monster did not distinguish between rioters and non-rioters.

Malaksu and the dwarves, who had retreated far away to observe the situation, knelt down without realizing it. They prostrated themselves, trembling, and regretted it.

They should not have come here in the first place. This was not a place where there was a savior to save them, having lost the labyrinth. This was an execution ground.

The king’s eyes were looking for death row inmates to put on the guillotine, throbbing sacrifices.

By the time they realized that fact, it was already too late. They didn’t have the courage to turn their backs and run away now.

With the premonition that they would be killed the moment they turned their backs, they just hoped that their necks would not be caught on the king’s guillotine. They hoped that the king’s gaze would avoid them.

But unfortunately, their wishes were not fulfilled.

“Malaksu.”

The king began to call out the names of those gathered here one by one.

“Go and stand on the left.”

“As, as the king wills.”

The king’s roll call continued. Sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, they staggered to their places, as if crawling on all fours, each time their name was called by the king.

They examined the faces of those standing next to them and lowered their heads again.

Am I a spectator surrounding the guillotine in this place? Or am I a death row inmate in front of the guillotine?

They desperately racked their brains, but no answer came. They just hoped that those who were favored by the king now, those who had not disobeyed the king, would stand by their side.

Ariane felt the same way.

“Ariane.”

“Your Majesty.”

She bit her lip, realizing that there were not many people left.

Left or right?

On the left is Malaksu. The Dwarf King had a relatively amicable relationship with the Nagas compared to the owners of other labyrinths. He was also one of the first to sign a vassalage contract, and he had never disobeyed the king.

On the other hand, most of the people on the right were rioters. They had been uttering abusive language until the king appeared, and they had been talking as if the Nagas’ labyrinth was in their hands.

She didn’t know since when he had been watching the situation, but the king probably wouldn’t let them live.

The moment she realized that fact, she was convinced. The right was the guillotine, and the left was outside the execution ground. And unless there was a change, she would be able to stand next to Malaksu as well.

But the situation did not go as she had predicted.

“Come to the center.”

For some reason, the king did not place her on the left or the right. Before she could even realize what was going on, the king opened his mouth again.

“Hecarim.”

Hecarim, the half-man, half-horse, the king of a hundred half-men, half-horses, and the one who had made the oath of vassalage to the king along with her.

“You too, stand in the center.”

When he stood by her side, her legs gave way and she collapsed.

***

When Kim Jin-woo faced countless rioters and refugees, he felt his world expanding.

[Dwarf King. Relief. Fear.]

[Red Ants King. Fear.]

[Two-Headed Wolves King. Fear.]

Small messages floated above their heads. It seemed that the One-Eyed Monarch’s ability had been activated.

“Hoo.”

Thanks to this, he could distinguish between friend and foe relatively easily. But there were some who stood out. They were the Queen of Dreamland, Ariane, and the King of the Half-Man, Half-Horses, Hecarim.

[Queen of Dreamland. Fear. Conflict. Concern.]

[King of the Half-Man, Half-Horses. Conflict. Fear.]

The friendly ones were relieved and fearful at his appearance. Those who had harbored hostility towards him were all trembling with fear.

But only Ariane and Hecarim were in particularly fierce conflict. Their conflict was so great that the emotions of others were not even visible.

If it were any other time, he would not have paid attention to this. But now he had awakened the abilities of the One-Eyed Monarch, who was once the wisest in the underground.

So he couldn’t just dismiss their thoughts.

Thoughts led to thoughts.

The invasion of the nobles of the 10th floor, the timely appearance of the incubi and half-men, half-horses, and the vassalage contract. It was a somewhat artificial situation, but even then he did not think they would betray him.

No matter what anyone said, they were the ones who had made the oath of vassalage first and willingly entrusted their lives to him.

But the moment he saw Ariane kneeling and trembling when he called out Hecarim, he became convinced.

Betrayal.

These are definitely people who approached with a purpose. As if to support that thought, the Eye of Truth dragged out the despair they had in mind.

“Who ordered you?”

Kim Jin-woo decided to be brazen while he was at it. He nonchalantly drove them into a corner as if he had known everything from the beginning.

“Yo, Your Majesty…”

Ariane slammed her head on the floor with a confused face. Judging by the question marks on her face, she didn’t even understand that their identities had been revealed.

In contrast, Hecarim was rather calm.

“What are you talking about?”

Hecarim brazenly feigned ignorance.

“I asked who moved you.”

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

Hecarim was quite the actor. Unlike his appearance, which seemed so simple that it felt dull, Hecarim was slick.

But it was a futile act.

Even at this moment, the awakened Eye of Truth was informing him of Hecarim’s emotional state in real time.

“Ariane.”

The Queen of Dreamland couldn’t even answer his words and trembled.

“Can’t you understand what I’m saying either?”

The Queen of Dreamland, who was lying flat on the floor and trembling like an aspen tree, raised her head. She made eye contact with him and froze.

[Queen of Dreamland. Resignation.]

“Good, you can go to the left for a while.”

No answer was needed. He could tell her decision just by looking at her resigned state of mind.

Then the only one left was Hecarim.

“Hecarim, I’ll ask you one last time. Tell me who is behind you.”

“My dull head cannot understand the king’s words.”

Kim Jin-woo gave a cold smile at Hecarim’s words.