Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 238

Dungeon Journal-Episode 238 (238/319)

# 238

Dungeon Journal

Episode 239

It didn’t take long for Luyang’s face, which had been animatedly talking and gesturing with a stretched index finger, to harden.

“No way! This isn’t even the Depths!”

He had already confirmed that this place, connected to his labyrinth, was merely a lower level, not even reaching the Depths [the deepest, most dangerous part of the dungeon].

Therefore, while he was embarrassed by the unexpected damage, he wasn’t frightened. But now, he felt his understanding of the underground was completely upended, and he couldn’t quite grasp the situation.

The distinction and limits of each floor are clear, and the difference in power from the lower to the deeper layers is absolute.

A being born in the lower levels can never defeat a being in the Depths, and a being in the Depths cannot resist a being in a deeper layer.

This is the absolute law of the underground as he knows it.

But now, before his eyes, all that common knowledge was collapsing.

Kkyaaaaaaak!

The screams never stopped. Each time, the heads of satyrs [creatures with goat-like features] with tough beaks, and the limbs of hairy centaurs [creatures with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse], soared in all directions.

A rain of blood bloomed, as if part of the passage had been swallowed by a blood mist.

Luyang’s eyes widened as he watched the surreal scene.

All of this was caused by a single being. Therefore, the shock was all the more intense.

“Eek!”

He couldn’t accept it. When he first saw the owner of this strange labyrinth, he was only surprised that this small country possessed a labyrinth located in such a deep place.

An underground with only 12 floors. Naturally, he thought that the opponent would be weaker than himself, who was born on the 13th floor.

But what was happening before his eyes now?

The strong and tough satyrs were being torn apart and scattered like sheep meeting a lion, scattering in all directions.

Even if he jumped into the middle of them, he wouldn’t be able to display such power.

When the blade of the spear faltered, the head is separated from the body, and when the tip of the spear moves, one or more hearts burst without fail.

Kkyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Each time, the spear held by the man screamed and cried out in a chilling voice. It was his subordinates who had died, but the spear was screaming pathetically.

Luyang gritted his teeth, feeling as if it were mocking him.

“Fall back!”

In the end, he couldn’t stand it and roared fiercely. A rough and turbid noise, hard to believe came from a human vocal cord. The satyrs, who were already being driven by the man like sheep, scattered in all directions at this opportunity.

“How dare you!”

Seeing that, Luyang’s eyes flashed again. He felt as if his mighty army, his pride, was being shattered.

“…….!”

He couldn’t understand the man’s words, but Luyang knew from the beginning that the man was aiming at him. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to bisect the satyrs filling the passage like that.

“You! How dare you, a mere pawn of a small country!”

In reality, the opponent was aiming for Ariane, but the Duke of the underground, whose arrogance had permeated his bones, thought that the man was trying to end this battle by defeating him.

So he was offended and angrier than ever before.

“Come forward! I will test your strength myself!”

Luyang roared fiercely and took a step forward.

The man’s figure was visible beyond the passage opened by the satyrs. A man who had dyed his whole body red in a short time. Luyang knew very well that the brutal blood was all from his subordinates.

“I’ll kill you…”

A voice that sounded like it would tear someone into a thousand pieces if it could kill someone with just its voice. The man, who had been looking around at the satyrs clinging to the wall, turned his head.

“Hmm…”

Blue light overflowing in his eyes, beyond that was not a fighting spirit. It was an unknown heat and desire.

The moment he realized that fact, Luyang’s heart cooled down.

Just as he saw the opponent as prey, the opponent was also seeing him as prey. Luyang glared at the man with a face that had completely shed its arrogance.

This fight, he might have to risk his life.

Luyang swallowed hard without realizing it.

“Oh. It seems like you didn’t just win the title of Duke by playing territory grabbing.”

Seeing Luyang’s eyes turn cold the moment he faced him, Kim Jin-woo clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“I was hoping you’d let your guard down a little, but this is a shame.”

“If that was your intention, you should have restrained yourself a little.”

Angela, who had suddenly sprung up from the blood rain, shook her head.

“There was no other way.”

Kim Jin-woo accepted her words lightly, without taking his eyes off Luyang.

“What are you going to do now?”

Angela also knew better than anyone else about the labyrinth’s situation, where the power vacuum was severe, so she didn’t say anything more and asked about the future.

“What else can I do? You’ve laid out the red carpet like this; it’s hard to just stand still.”

Shamelessness that didn’t suit the situation. He was making ridiculous jokes about the path of blood he had created himself.

“Of course, I don’t like acting like the owner in someone else’s house.”

“Be careful. The enemy is different from a petty Baron, and different from a Count who is only insidious. The enemy is a dignified Duke of the Depths.”

The Duke’s endlessly soaring fighting spirit seemed threatening even to Angela, who had not long since obtained True Blood. She repeatedly urged him to be careful with a face devoid of playfulness.

“Whether the enemy is a Duke or whatever.”

Kim Jin-woo was more relaxed than her. Before the battle started, there were one or two things to worry about.

But once the battle broke out, he felt rather at ease.

Fight. And overcome and survive.

The law of the underground, where there was no room for complicated calculations, was newly engraved clearly.

“I have something I left behind, so I can’t not go.”

His gaze was still directed at Ariane, who was hiding in Luyang’s shadow and casting a blatant gaze of exploration.

“And I have to get something in return for trespassing.”

Before he could finish speaking, his body was already shooting out like an arrow.

In the middle of the battlefield, and even with the Duke, who could be said to be the absolute ruler of the underground, standing in front of him. Nevertheless, the man looked more relaxed than ever.

He seemed to be chatting with a woman who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and even smiled at him while glancing at him.

It was a frustrating situation, but instead of getting angry, Luyang calmly calmed his mind and raised his fighting spirit.

He had already assumed that the opponent was at least on par with him. No, that was only until just now. The opponent’s presence had grown to an extent that could not be compared to when he first made eye contact.

The fact that the place where he stood was the opponent’s base pressed down on him terribly at this moment.

He was even resentful of himself for being excited about facing a manageable lower-level labyrinth and entering rashly.

But Luyang was confident in his own strength and position. He was the leader of the Satyr warriors, who were notoriously vicious even in the Depths, and the Duke at the pinnacle of the underground nobles.

He had no intention of cowering and sitting down like a frightened dog.

Luyang glared at the man rushing towards him and screamed.

“Come!”

The joints of his lower body twisted strangely, and his somewhat flat face protruded forward.

The muscles of his upper body writhed and bulged, and long nails protruded from the ends of his outstretched fingers.

It was truly a transformation in which bones were twisted and skin sprouted. Luyang was already in the form of a Satyr.

There was no carelessness. He had no intention of saving his strength until the very end like a third-rate villain and suffering a disgrace. From the beginning, he drew out the maximum power he could exert.

“Kakaak!”

A roar that deviated from that of a human. Luyang roared savagely and shot out towards the man.

***

Living in the underground, especially being in charge of a labyrinth and becoming a true ruler, ultimately meant transcending species and assimilating with them. Kim Jin-woo felt as if he was facing the truth that he had been vaguely feeling.

The sight of Luyang rushing in with a fierce spirit was truly the existence of the underground itself.

So his heart, which had been burning hot before the battle, cooled down.

But unlike his cold heart, his muscles were heating up, and he was steadily preparing to crush the enemy.

Kkyaaaaaaak!

The magic spear screams. Even while he was lost in thought, the magic spear was moving on its own, clamoring for him to shoot it at the enemy.

Kim Jin-woo shook off the complicated thoughts in his head and threw the magic spear as it was.

“Kat!”

Luyang knocked the spear blade away with a sharply curved beak. The magic spear, Gungnir, which had never failed to penetrate anything, was blocked by an enemy for the first time.

Kim Jin-woo was neither disappointed nor embarrassed. In the first place, it was ridiculous to think that a Duke would be knocked down by a single spear thrust.

Kwok.

Luyang, who had deflected the magic spear, thrust his head forward and slammed his beak down. It was a truly crude and ignorant attack for a Duke, one of the few in the underground, but it was also a quick and threatening blow.

If he was caught off guard, his head would be pierced by the sharp beak. Kim Jin-woo pulled the deflected magic spear back and slammed Luyang’s beak down with the shaft.

The tough arm clung to it and pushed away the spear shaft that was pressing down on his beak. With that tremendous strength, he didn’t forcibly resist, but kicked Luyang’s chest with all his might and stepped back.

Even while retreating like that, dozens of spear thrusts flowed out, and Luyang also wildly stirred his limbs, pushing away the spear and scratching the air with his tough claws.

Tak.

Unproductive attacks came and went, and the distance between the two widened. But soon the two superhumans clung together and began to exchange brutally efficient, and therefore even more ignorant, attacks.

***

Angela, who was watching her master and the Duke’s battle from afar, opened her mouth wide. She thought that something special would happen since great beings like the High Lord and the Duke were fighting each other, but there was no dogfight like this in the world.

The battle between the two monsters, who were headbutting, scratching with their claws, and randomly thrusting their spears, was too clumsy for its level.

Kwang!

But the aftermath was by no means simple. The solid walls of the Great Labyrinth collapsed as they were with a single spear thrust that grazed the Duke’s body, and the ground sank several meters in radius with a single casual stomp of the Duke.

“No matter what, that’s too much of a dogfight! What are you going to do with your authority!”

Angela finally spat out a word she had been holding back.

As if he had heard her words, the aspect of the battle suddenly changed. It was Luyang who attempted the change first. The Duke, who had transformed into a giant Satyr, pulled out a dangerous black energy from the end of his palm.

Shhhik!

The black energy that flowed out like that split into one or two strands and instantly became dozens of whips.

“Master!”

Whips occupying all sides and rushing in, Angela involuntarily let out a cry of alarm at the attack that seemed impossible to avoid. Unlike the Duke who had turned into a monster, her master was still in a human body, so she was worried that his skin would be damaged by the fierce attack.

But her worries were just groundless. The master, who had been looking at the black whips flying in from all directions, scattered dozens of strands of black energy as if it were nothing.

“Ah!”

No, the opposite. It was a sight that should be said to have been sucked in rather than scattered. Even the black energy that was cut off strand by strand and flowed down was sucked towards the master’s fingertips.

The master was absurdly eating away at the enemy’s attack itself.