Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 183

Dungeon Journal-Episode 184

# 184

Dungeon Journal

Episode 184

Ariane, who thought she could evade the crisis by mixing lies and truth appropriately, soon realized she had been too naive.

“Argh!”

A single punch made stars twinkle before her eyes, and a single kick turned her insides out.

In the pain that felt like her brain was shaking and her organs were about to spill out, she screamed, tears and snot streaming down her face.

“P, please……”

In a situation where she herself didn’t know what she was begging for, her mind froze with terror.

The physical pain was agony, but what was even more terrible was that the Commander of the Inheritance didn’t ask anything.

He acted as if violence itself was the purpose, and there was no mercy in his actions.

Since she didn’t know what the other party wanted, she couldn’t see any way to be freed from the pain.

She desperately racked her brain in fear and pain, but in the end, all that leaked through her teeth was a plea to be saved.

“S, save……”

A hellish time, where she couldn’t even faint from where and how he was hitting her, continued for a long time. And finally, the violence ended.

“Please save me.”

Ariane, who couldn’t find her original alluring appearance, was no longer the ruler who reigned over hundreds of succubi.

Her appearance, desperately begging to be saved without any regard for her dignity, was so terrible that even those who saw it shuddered.

“P, please save me.”

Grasping the man’s clothes, sobbing, she clung to him desperately, as if the terrible beating would start again if she let go.

“I’ll do anything you tell me to, so please stop……”

At that moment, there was no Lord of Nightmares left in her head.

“You’ll do anything I tell you to……”

For the first time since the ruthless beating began, the Commander of the Inheritance opened his mouth.

“Yes! Yes! I’ll do anything you tell me to. So please……”

Just not being punched right away was a relief. She desperately tried to talk to him, thinking that at least he wouldn’t use violence while they were talking.

“Just tell me……”

Ariane, who couldn’t even look him in the eye in the fear of being killed, plucked up her courage and raised her head.

The moment she saw the face of the conqueror she faced, she froze.

Abyss. Ariane saw the abyss in his black eyes. And beyond that deep, deep darkness, there was nothing.

There was no curiosity about the story that would flow from her mouth, nor any relief that she had punished a spy. His black eyes were as indifferent as if he were looking at an inanimate object.

The moment she faced that terribly indifferent gaze, Ariane realized her fate.

“Ah……”

The hand that had been holding onto his clothes fell off.

“You have nothing to give me.”

The conqueror said to her, who was bowing her head.

***

Ariane was cunning. All she could think about was how to get out of this situation. So he chose to use his body instead of arguing with her.

The result was much better than he thought.

As she was being beaten, she pondered what she had done wrong and weighed the information she would give up for her life.

It was a vain delusion and a wish. From the beginning, he had no intention of giving her a chance to bargain.

Even if she didn’t open her mouth, it was as if he had already heard all the facts. The Eye of Truth was completely reading her mind.

So he didn’t ask any questions. Just by waving his hands and feet, he could obtain high-purity information without any lies.

The stronger the violence, the more useful information came to her mind.

Later on, she desperately racked her brain to be recognized for her usefulness, regardless of deals or anything else.

Perhaps she couldn’t even imagine that her own efforts had become a noose tightening around her neck.

“Get rid of her.”

Ariane, who had completely given up everything at the end of despair, was dragged away by the Nagas [a race of serpent-like beings] without any resistance, as if she had never begged to be saved.

Kim Jin-woo, who watched her helpless figure without any expression, soon muttered with a cold face.

“This guy or that guy, they all act like they’ve got honey on them.”

He knew that the High Lord’s power was great just by looking at the Great Labyrinth, but now that even the Counts of the Deep were coveting it, he was getting annoyed.

But now, there was something he had to solve before simply getting annoyed.

“Rickshasha.”

“As you command.”

Even after seeing the brutal violence right in front of her eyes, Rickshasha’s face didn’t change at all.

Well, she didn’t even care about her own race except for her master, so there was no way she would be shaken just because the Queen of the Dream had suffered such a fate.

“Come closer.”

She approached him without showing any questions and knelt down.

“A little closer.”

But at this point, she couldn’t help but be nervous. Even though she had come right in front of him, she rolled her eyes for no reason at her master’s words to come closer.

“You’re being annoying.”

Kim Jin-woo, who had been watching Rickshasha’s actions, clicked his tongue and strode forward. He suddenly reached out his hand, getting right in front of her in an instant.

“Y, Your Majesty!”

Rickshasha stuttered in embarrassment at his sudden action of caressing her ear. He just stroked her earlobe with an indifferent face, whether she did or not.

“T, that’s……”

A smile hung on Kim Jin-woo’s lips as he looked at her, who was blushing and rarely even speaking properly. But that smile was only cold, unlike the visible action.

“Found it.”

“What on earth……”

He didn’t answer Rickshasha’s words. He coldly said, showing his index and thumb pressed tightly together to form pincers, as he scanned the Under Elf’s unique long ears with his eyes narrowed.

“That Dinariom bastard, he’s using such shallow tricks.”

“Ah!”

A sound that was somehow ambiguous to be called a groan escaped her lips. She just stared blankly at what he was doing.

“It’s a parasite.”

“Yes?”

He opened his mouth again at Rickshasha’s dumbfounded voice.

“It’s a spy sent by that Dinariom bastard.”

[A parasite sent by Dinariom has been discovered.]

[Dinariom’s spy is such a small and secretive being that it would not have been found if the Queen of the Dream had not told you. But this parasite is quite a clever spy, unlike its insignificant appearance.]

Keok.

Kim Jin-woo, who scattered the parasite that had died just by twisting the tips of his fingers, belatedly looked at Rickshasha’s expression and opened his eyes wide.

“Why are you making that face?”

Rickshasha, whose face was flushed red, finally grasped the situation and quickly stepped back.

“Ah, no!”

He frowned at the shout that Rickshasha let out in embarrassment. She opened and closed her mouth several times, belatedly realizing her disgrace, and bowed her head deeply.

“Ah, and Rickshasha.”

“As you command.”

The Under Elf, whose face had not yet calmed down from the confusion, replied in a calm voice.

“There is someone who wants you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“A Count of the Deep, Dinariom of Nightmares, wants you.”

She frowned slightly and waited quietly for an explanation without urging.

“He seems to want the power of the Fairy Lord that your race served.”

“Ah……”

As soon as the name Fairy Lord came out, she raised her head sharply.

“I heard that you are the only Under Elf in the underground who has not succumbed to defeatism.”

“Are you going to hand me over to the Lord of Nightmares?”

Rickshasha’s face, unable to hide her trembling heart, was filled with an incomprehensible sense of determination and resignation.

“This humble servant no longer remembers what the past lord was like.”

It seemed that she thought that her master had made some kind of deal with the Count of the Deep and had promised to hand over an Under Elf slave as a price.

“But if the King commands, where can I not go? If you command, I will move my place of residence right now. It is the King’s will to hand over a worthless slave, but please do not take away my loyalty.”

Kim Jin-woo quietly looked at her, who was so upset and resentful that tears welled up in her eyes, and belatedly burst into hearty laughter.

“The joke was too much.”

Rickshasha’s expression, which had been so determined as if she would jump into the enemy’s camp with a dagger in her arms right away, collapsed in an instant. It was because she had finally realized the playfulness in his voice.

“Ah……”

The resentment and disappointment that had filled her eyes disappeared in an instant. The long sigh that was released represented her surprised feelings.

“I have no intention of handing you over.”

After saying that, he looked in the direction Ariane had been dragged away and said.

“But I am interested in the power of the Fairy Lord he mentioned.”

He didn’t explain further what on earth he was thinking.

***

A living being must sleep, and the Lord of Nightmares could approach the other party through dreams. There was no place in the underground that could avoid his eyes.

“For the time being, stay on the surface, even if you are not used to it.”

But Kim Jin-woo was not a being tied to the underground, so he hid Rickshasha in the labyrinths of the surface.

In this place, no matter how hard the Lord of Nightmares tried, there was no way to approach her.

“But it won’t take that long.”

Rickshasha bowed her head at his request and disappeared into the darkness.

“Morrigan.”

Morrigan appeared instead of the disappeared Rickshasha.

“Monitor Yoon-hee. I can’t completely trust her yet.”

Although Yoon-hee had sworn allegiance only after ascending to the surface, Kim Jin-woo could not completely trust her.

He thought that if Dinariom didn’t give up in the end and looked for another way, he would definitely use Yoon-hee.

So, he ordered the Black Shrew, who could subdue even the master of a decent labyrinth in case of emergency, to thoroughly monitor her.

“In that case, it would be better to keep her far away……”

Morrigan tilted her head, wondering if it made sense to keep Yoon-hee and Rickshasha together.

“No, there’s no need to do that.”

“Dinariom is a cunning man. Even the violent Parthenon would rather face the Iron-Blooded Giant than the Lord of Nightmares. If he uses tricks, it may be difficult to stop him.”

Despite repeated concerns, he still didn’t seem to want to separate Yoon-hee.

“Do you have any other thoughts?”

Morrigan, recalling how cunning and treacherous her master was, asked his intentions.

“Dinariom promised to give me Parthenon’s seal. But.”

The corners of his lips went up. His smile, revealing his white teeth, was terribly greedy.

“I think two is better than one.”

Morrigan was then able to realize what she had forgotten.

Her master was more greedy than cunning.