Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 215

Dungeon Journal- Episode 216

# 216

Dungeon Journal

Episode 216

At first glance, it seemed like grasping at straws, but the underlying meaning was clear.

There is a traitor among the Dukes of the Deep.

With conviction that went beyond mere premonition, Kim Jin-woo stared intently into Mimir’s eyes, lost in thought.

Though the Underworld was governed by an absolute system of mystery and law, it surprisingly had its flaws.

Even the Counts were vying to obtain the power of the old rulers, obscuring the eyes of the usurper, who was no different from the king of the Underworld.

In such a situation, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone among the Dukes of the Deep sided with Mimir.

However, one thing that needed to be clarified was who was friend and who was foe.

“Even if you are a lord, I cannot tell you that much. I swore on the mysteries of the Underworld.”

Mimir spoke preemptively, as if guessing Kim Jin-woo’s thoughts.

“There must be that level of security so that they and I can trust each other and make deals, wouldn’t you agree?”

Kim Jin-woo had no choice but to sigh at Mimir’s brazen words. Just in case, he activated the Eye of Truth, but as expected, he couldn’t see through this cunning Imp at all.

Now that he had seen the memories of the Mana Spear, he knew that the Eye of Truth wasn’t actually used to distinguish friend from foe, but was specialized only for combat, so it wasn’t even surprising.

“I’ll ask just one thing.”

“Ask away. I will answer anything I can.”

In the end, it was just wordplay to only answer what was convenient for him. But Kim Jin-woo wasn’t disappointed and asked.

“Is the Spider Duke one of them?”

Mimir didn’t answer. The Eye of Truth also failed to reveal his inner thoughts. But reading the brief hesitation and change in expression was possible without relying on abilities.

“So, the Spider Duke isn’t one of them.”

He let out a sigh of relief. He hated the idea of not being able to resolve his grudges in the name of some grand cause.

Although it had been diluted through several awakenings, his resentment towards the Hell Spiders was still deep.

“Good, I’ll put aside my worries about you.”

“Were you worried about me?”

Mimir asked with a surprised expression.

“Who knows?”

Kim Jin-woo vaguely trailed off instead of answering.

Hadn’t he said it himself? That nothing was eternal in the Underworld. He had no intention of giving meaningless trust based on old loyalties.

In fact, he was planning to force him to reveal the location of the Vault of Eternity if things went wrong, but there seemed to be no need to say that out loud.

Mimir still had a little more value to him.

***

Returning to the Great Labyrinth, Kim Jin-woo locked Ortea in the depths of the labyrinth and put him under surveillance.

Although his individual combat power was useful, there were too many things to worry about, so it was impossible to give him an important position right away.

Moreover, with the Dragon Emperor of Scorching Flames backing the half-crippled Drakan, he had to avoid any mishaps. Ortea’s usefulness would have to be observed for a while longer.

Sitting on the throne, Kim Jin-woo was lost in thought.

The Great Labyrinth had grown by two stages, and he himself had made progress that was incomparable to before.

The balance between his body and mind, which had been disrupted and prevented him from exerting his full power, had been somewhat balanced through mental training, making him a true lord.

But even so, the Underworld was still full of dangers, and none of the enemies targeting him and his labyrinth were easy to deal with.

“No, let’s not be impatient.”

He muttered to himself like a sigh. It had only been a little over two years since he had established himself in the Underworld.

The fact that the surrounding enemies were still threatening was because he was getting closer and closer to the deeper levels, not because his own development had stagnated.

The nemesis he had only dreamed of before, the Hell Spider Duke, was now close enough to be caught. That alone was a remarkable development.

“Now, only two floors left.”

The 10th floor was virtually annihilated, and the Dukes of the 11th floor were also slowly withering away, holding the poisoned chalice [a metaphor for a gift or situation that appears beneficial but is actually harmful or detrimental] of the Great Labyrinth’s replicas.

In fact, his real opponents were only the Dukes of the 12th floor, so he tried to calm his increasingly impatient heart.

This was also a mental growth that he had achieved, as he would have been preoccupied with the enemy right in front of him in the past. His reflection was deep and profound.

In his hand, he held the Sea Dragon’s Heart, obtained from the Dragon Emperor. The moment he used the Sea Dragon’s Heart, he and his labyrinth would make another leap forward.

But the Underworld, as always, grabbed his ankle in an unexpected way.

Kugugugugugu.

Suddenly, a tremendous vibration struck the Great Labyrinth. The firmly frozen ice walls of the Great Labyrinth cracked, and the ceiling collapsed.

[The outer part of the Great Labyrinth has been destroyed.]

[The traps and facilities that were painstakingly installed have been damaged.]

[The residences of the Succubi and the residences of the Dwarves have been destroyed.]

[The current damage exceeds 20% of the total durability.]

[If you do not quickly deploy manpower to reinforce it, the damage will increase further.]

Kim Jin-woo frowned at the message that popped up as if to mock him. Who could do restoration work in this tremendous vibration?

“Dominique!”

Kim Jin-woo called out to Dominique, as the vibration showed no sign of stopping no matter how long he waited.

“Master!”

Dominique appeared as if she had managed to hear the sound.

“Dominique! Report the damage situation!”

“Currently, the Naga patrols and the Under Elves are working hard to assess the damage, but it’s not easy because additional damage is occurring!”

Kim Jin-woo cursed at Dominique’s words.

“It never leaves me alone for a moment! Damn Underworld!”

All he could do was hope that this sudden earthquake would end as soon as possible.

The earthquake continued all night. And when the vibration that seemed to collapse the entire Underworld finally ended, the situation of the Great Labyrinth was devastating.

The Great Labyrinth, which had been enhanced by Daedalus’s touch, had instantly become a ruin.

[70% of the outer part of the Great Labyrinth has been destroyed.]

[50% of the central part of the Great Labyrinth has been destroyed.]

[Most of the traps and facilities that were painstakingly installed have been damaged.]

[The residences of the different races have been significantly damaged, and among them, the residences of the Succubi and the residences of the Dwarves have suffered almost complete destruction.]

[The current durability of the Great Labyrinth does not reach 40% of the total durability.]

[Quickly restore the destroyed labyrinth. The Great Labyrinth is currently more vulnerable to external invasion than ever before. Also, if the restoration of the labyrinth is delayed, the Great Labyrinth itself will devour the residents indiscriminately to repair the damage.]

The situation was literally devastating. The Great Labyrinth, which had boasted its majesty just a day before with the touch of a master craftsman, was almost half destroyed.

Fortunately, he had desperately protected the core, so he was able to avoid the destruction of the labyrinth itself.

But that didn’t mean the situation was optimistic at all.

“Damage situation!”

“Fortunately, the damage to the troops is not significant! Only a few patrols were caught in the collapse, but most of the troops are safe!”

There were no casualties among the troops, but the damage was so severe that he wondered if the labyrinth had ever been in such a crisis.

Compared to the current damage, the damage to the labyrinth during the war with the Serpent Dragon King was more like child’s play.

“What about the damage to the other races?”

The Nagas were lucky enough to avoid the disaster, but he was worried about the damage to the other races who were trapped in their residential areas and unable to come out. Moreover, the residences of the Succubi and Dwarves were said to have been completely destroyed.

“We are currently assessing the situation.”

Dominique, who said that with a pale face, was covered in small wounds, probably from being hit by debris.

“Ugh, Dominique, take care of yourself first. I’ll take care of the rest.”

As she was capable of using healing magic, it wouldn’t be difficult for her to take care of herself. But her sense of responsibility would surely make her treat her wounds last unless he stepped in.

So he forcibly ordered her to rest and left the owner’s room.

“It’s a disaster.”

Perhaps because it was the owner’s room where the core was stored, the defenses were exceptional and the damage was less. The sight that greeted him as soon as he left the owner’s room was devastating.

Most of the ice walls, which had been well-polished and gleamed like mirrors, were broken and collapsed, revealing their hideous insides, and the floor was cracked and full of holes.

“Shhh!”

The Nagas were struggling to open the damaged passages somehow, but the passages they barely secured didn’t even reach half of the original passages.

It was hard to tell if this was really the greedy and powerful Great Labyrinth.

“We almost died.”

Even for the resilient creatures of the Underworld, the unprecedented earthquake was a horror. Frightened members of different races were complaining to him everywhere.

“Assess the damage and report.”

Unlike the Nagas, the other races, who had been unable to leave their limited residential areas, seemed overwhelmed just by taking care of their own clans, as the damage had snowballed.

But if he left them alone, they would just spend the whole day holding the wounded and the dead, so he took the initiative to organize the situation.

“I’m going crazy.”

The damage he assessed was enormous. Despite having just increased the number of other races, the number of survivors did not even reach the number when they first arrived at the Great Labyrinth. Most of the resilient creatures of the Underworld had died in the earthquake.

The only consolation was that the damage to the Dwarf residential area, which was said to have been completely destroyed, was less than expected.

“It’s just that I stopped by on the way, but suddenly there was an earthquake, so I was worried about the Dwarves.”

Uther, saying things that no one would believe, was spreading his entire body wide to support the ceiling of the labyrinth.

Malakus and other Dwarves were huddled together under Uther, and it was clear without asking who the Dwarves had avoided the disaster thanks to.

But unlike the Dwarves who had avoided the disaster thanks to Uther’s whim, the Succubi were all annihilated.

However, their deaths were not only due to the earthquake. The Succubi’s residential area was full of pale corpses with all the blood drained.

The Succubi’s residential area, filled with unknown letters and figures, was filled with corpses that hadn’t even rotted thanks to the frost, making it gruesome.

“Crazy.”

Kim Jin-woo was more disgusted by the madness of the Mad Queen than by the horror of the tragedy.

He realized that Ariana herself had killed the Succubi. She must have sacrificed her entire clan to defeat the powerful enemy Dinarihon.

But unlike her ambitious sacrifice of her clan, her fight had not yet reached a conclusion. She was still deeply asleep even in this terrible earthquake.

“Ugh, place a few Nagas here and have them come to me when she wakes up, and restore the Succubi’s residential area last.”

Since it was a residential area with no residents anyway, there seemed to be no need to restore it right away.

Perhaps her fight would end with the extinction of the Succubi of Mimong. In that case, the Succubi’s residential area would become an unnecessary area in the Great Labyrinth.

Kim Jin-woo, who had toured the Great Labyrinth, realized that the situation was even more serious than he had seen in the message window, and ordered to pour in Down Gems to speed up the restoration of the labyrinth.

The eerie moaning of the Great Labyrinth’s wind was suddenly turning savage.

If he left it alone, the survivors would be swallowed into the belly of the Great Labyrinth, so he was busy directing the restoration of the labyrinth.

It seemed that using the Sea Dragon’s Heart would have to be postponed for the time being.

He had to avoid the Great Labyrinth swallowing the Sea Dragon’s Heart, which he had obtained with difficulty, to restore the labyrinth.

While he was having such a busy time, a guest came to visit him.

“The master said that the first restoration will begin soon, so be prepared.”

The messenger sent by Catherine, the Lord of Lament, smiled bitterly as he looked at the tragedy of the labyrinth.

“But it seems that the work is already done, so it’s just embarrassing.”