Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 245

# 246

Dungeon Journal

Chapter 246

I waited for the imp girl to translate, but instead of her delicate voice, I heard a deep, echoing voice, as if it were emanating from a deep cave.

“Greetings, Commander of the Inheritance.”

Kim Jin-woo wore a blank expression for a moment. Surprisingly, the words coming from the white bear’s mouth were Korean, spoken with a rather pleasant accent.

“I have heard much of your reputation and have always desired to meet you.”

Although the heavy echo made it somewhat difficult to understand, the bear’s vocabulary was quite fluent.

“You can speak Korean?”

He responded, dazed by the unexpected situation. The white bear grinned, revealing its large, white teeth.

“We Ursus are different from the Tarus, who are all brawn and no brains. Those who know us often call us the sages of the underground. It should not be surprising that we know a few languages.”

There was quite a bit of pride in its words.

“I see.”

The sight of the giant white bear lifting its chin as if boasting was… unusual, to say the least.

“So, do not be too surprised that I speak fluently.”

In truth, the fact that a bear was speaking at all was already a difficult sight to get used to, but he didn’t bother to voice such thoughts.

When he thought about it, he had countless experiences more bizarre than a talking bear. There was no time to be surprised by the eloquence of the Ursus who introduced himself.

However, he still couldn’t quite get used to the sight of the giant snout chattering away.

“Hmm.”

Kim Jin-woo, having shaken off his initial surprise, looked at the imp girl, who was fidgeting and pacing anxiously.

She seemed to dislike the bear and him talking.

“It is foolish to try to fathom the small head of an imp. They hold surprisingly wicked and cunning schemes in those tiny minds.”

At the white bear’s words, the imp girl started to step forward in anger, but upon seeing his stern expression, she quickly retreated.

“You’re hiding something from me.”

Kim Jin-woo, who had been observing the imp girl for a while, said with a cold face.

“Explain. If you fail to convince me, neither you nor your master will be safe.”

He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some connection between the imp girl’s unsettling reaction and the white bear’s attitude.

So, he pressured the imp girl with a fierce demeanor that would not tolerate any excuses or lies.

It was the aura of the High Lord that even the powerful rulers of the underground could not withstand. There was no way a mere imp could handle his force.

In the end, the imp girl explained with a pale face, as if she was being strangled.

“The Ursus are one of the forces being considered by our Black Merchant.”

“To be precise, our king has not given a definite answer to the Black Merchant,” the white bear corrected the imp girl.

“But thanks to you defeating that reckless Satyrus, the king has made a decision.”

The white bear grinned, revealing its white teeth.

“Our Ursus clan formally requests an alliance with the Commander of the Inheritance, the King of Naga.”

***

There was nothing to lose in an alliance with the Ursus clan, so Kim Jin-woo naturally accepted the offer.

In the process, they made a secret agreement to take down the Tarus who had come to the Great Labyrinth first, but he said there was no need to raise an army to help them right away.

“For now, it is enough not to reject the foolish Tarus’s proposal and to stall for time. While they are dreaming vain dreams, we can buy time to see reality clearly.”

The white bears returned very satisfied and promised to visit again soon.

“Now, shall we talk about the remaining story?”

Kim Jin-woo, who had been watching the receding backs of the white bears, turned to the imp girl with a different expression.

***

“The usurper’s claws are reaching out, and my lord is not yet ready, so how worried do you think I am in my position?”

Mimir, who appeared as soon as the Ursus left as if he knew, was the first to list at length how much he usually took care of his master.

“In such a situation, it was truly a stroke of luck to have a connection with the Ursus. They are rare in the underground for being moderate and keeping their promises well.”

He was so busy watching his master’s reaction that you could hear his eyeballs rolling. It was a sight that most people would have overlooked, appreciating the effort, but Kim Jin-woo remained indifferent.

“You still haven’t given me any explanation that satisfies me.”

“That’s because when we made the secret agreement with them……”

“Don’t even think about glossing over it by saying you swore on the mysteries of the underground.”

If the subject of the secret agreement was the Black Merchant, it would be understandable, but the Ursus specifically pointed to the Commander of the Inheritance.

“Since you traded on my name, you will have to pay a proper price.”

At those words, Mimir shut his mouth as if he were a mute who had swallowed honey [a Korean idiom for being speechless].

“Tell me the name of the duke who made a secret agreement with you besides the Ursus clan.”

In the face of his unwavering and resolute attitude, Mimir finally wore a face of resignation.

“I will tell you. So please, withdraw your murderous intent. This lowly imp cannot bear it.”

“Whether I withdraw my murderous intent depends on your answer.”

Even with a resigned face, Mimir hesitated for a long time. But unable to find another way out, he finally revealed everything.

“Anulax.”

It was a name he had never heard before. Considering that the true names of duke-class nobles were as difficult to know as the true name of the High Lord, it was not strange that it sounded unfamiliar to his ears.

But even so, the moment he heard the name, his whole body stiffened without him realizing it.

“Another name for the most painful death, the lord of absolute poison, and…”

Mimir continued, looking straight at him.

“The ruler of the forty-four million one hundred and sixteen thousand two hundred and twenty-one hell spiders.”

The name of the monster who had miserably used him flowed from Mimir’s mouth.

“The king of the Hell Spider Nest where my lord was born, Anulax is my lord’s other ally.”

After speaking, Mimir closed his eyes tightly.

Knowing what kind of bad relationship his master and the spider duke had, Mimir didn’t dare to open his eyes and check his master’s expression.

“Anulax……”

After a long silence, Kim Jin-woo spat out the spider duke’s name as if chewing it.

“Anulax……”

Even after repeating it several times, the undiluted hatred and anger clung thickly to his voice.

“So that’s the name he had.”

Mimir flinched and opened his eyes at the unexpected reaction, then froze.

Kim Jin-woo’s expression was no different from usual. Nevertheless, Mimir felt more fear than ever before.

***

Mimir returned to his duties. Left alone, Kim Jin-woo repeated Anulax’s name over and over.

“Spider Duke, Anulax. Lord of Poison, Anulax.”

He could understand why Mimir had tried to hide the story about the alliance until the end.

Mimir, who had been watching him from the side since he first took over the Naga’s Labyrinth, already knew about the relationship between the spider duke and himself.

As such, he probably couldn’t easily say that he had come to stand under the same banner as his enemy.

Perhaps Mimir thought that he might ruin the alliance that had been difficult to achieve. That’s how great his hatred for the spider duke was, and how deep his resentment was.

But now, instead of losing his reason at the name of his enemy, he judged the situation more calmly than ever before. He was surprised at himself.

He felt like he could even face the spider duke with a smiling face now. Of course, that smile would never be warm or kind.

“We’ve already gotten this close.”

The enemy, whose name he didn’t even know and who was located in a distant, high place, had already come close enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

He was more than happy about that fact, and so he laughed.

“This time, we’ve become allies in a strange twist of fate.”

If possible, he would use them as much as possible and then destroy them. What revenge could be better than that? After laughing for a while, he suddenly became serious.

“But I will not forget the price of their blood.”

He glared fiercely, recalling the countless troglodytes who had to die miserably to save him, and his own life that had been vainly abandoned in the darkness.

***

Even the brazen and sociable Mimir couldn’t just let this incident pass. He sent gifts and fawned over him, acting completely unlike his usual self.

Naturally, Kim Jin-woo accepted all of it with a happy heart and used it to fill the void left by the Nagas.

“If there is anything you want, I will get it for you.”

Mimir watched him with a servile face, as if he would even take out his liver for him [another Korean idiom for doing anything for someone].

“It’s a rare thing for you to be so generous.”

It was too brazen a statement for Mimir and the Black Merchant, who had contributed greatly to the growth of the Naga’s Labyrinth, but the little imp couldn’t express any complaints.

“Oh, it was yours from the beginning, wasn’t I just holding onto the items?”

Rather, Mimir laughed slyly and rubbed his hands together, jumping up and down, saying it was a million to one [a Korean expression for being extremely lucky]. Kim Jin-woo, who was looking at such Mimir with satisfaction, casually brought up a topic.

“I don’t want anything else, but there is one thing I want to ask.”

He wouldn’t have looked this scared even if he had asked him to take out his most precious treasure. Mimir’s smiling face stiffened.

After all, he had ended up like this as a price for answering the previous question, so it was no wonder that he was afraid of his words.

“What are you going to ask again……”

Mimir, who barely managed to recover his expression, rolled his eyes.

“It’s nothing big, so you don’t have to be so frozen already.”

With that, Kim Jin-woo took something out of his arms.

“T, that’s……”

Mimir was startled to see the small object he had taken out.

“H, how does my lord have that… Surely that thing was inside the Eternal Warehouse.”

“It’s called the Mask of Hypocrisy, but I can’t figure out what it’s for.”

Kim Jin-woo, cutting off the trembling voice at once, shook the mask in his hand as if to show it off.