Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 259

Dungeon Journal-259

# 259

Dungeon Journal

Episode 260

Power surged through my entire body—an overwhelming force unlike anything I had ever experienced. Yet, even more profound than that intense fullness was a terrible thirst that I couldn’t quench.

Dugun. Dugun.

Before Kim Jin-woo was a pulsating heart. Hesitation was a luxury he couldn’t afford. As if possessed, he bit and tore at the heart.

[The Dominator of Fearless Allies, Alitos the Cerebral Duke, is a true ruler of the deep layers. His authority over lightning is a pure force of destruction.]

[The electrifying taste of lightning is an excellent meal for a greedy Evil Dragon.]

[Consuming the heart of Alitos the Cerebral Duke.]

The messages filling his vision were of no importance now. No matter how much warm blood he drank, the thirst would not subside, and he buried his head even more blindly.

[The energy contained within the Dominator of Allies, the Cerebral Duke, was truly a crystallization of pure energy.]

[The Authority of Gluttony, having absorbed that vast energy whole, instantly surpassed 100% satiety and increased in rank.]

[The Authority of Gluttony (Rank 2) has become the Authority of Gluttony (Rank 3).]

[As the Authority of Gluttony reaches Rank 3, the unique Authority ‘Devour’ has become ‘Voracity’.]

[The Authority of a true predator, swallowing everything alive, has now become a monster that knows no satisfaction.]

[The Authority of Voracity has been added.]

[The Authority of Gluttony can now digest larger and more powerful prey. If certain conditions are met, it may even be able to absorb enemies too powerful to face.]

[Those who face endless greed that knows no satisfaction will find their bodies frozen and their souls subdued. Perhaps, overwhelmed by that insatiable greed, they might even take out their own hearts and offer them.]

[Consuming the heart itself was an excellent choice. Although it may seem gruesome to others, it was a very efficient action.]

[The abilities of the consumed have been completely absorbed.]

[You have gained insight into the breath of authority, granted only to the true rulers of the deep layers.]

[The Cerebral Duke’s breath was destructive, containing the energy of lightning. You can now use the Breath of Lightning by consuming a significant amount of energy.]

The Authority of Gluttony rose by one rank, and he gained the Authority of Voracity. In addition, he was able to acquire a unique ability granted only to the Dukes. It was an enormous gain.

But he couldn’t feel even a hint of joy. Despite absorbing such an incredibly powerful energy, he was still tormented by thirst, and he rolled his eyes in search of someone to quench that burning pain.

In his eyes, he saw a giant polar bear with energy no less potent than the cerebral energy he had just absorbed.

***

When his longtime nemesis, the King of the Ursus [a powerful race of polar bears], was defeated by the Commander of the Inheritance, he secretly rejoiced.

He was truly happy, feeling as if an old grudge was being resolved, and he cheered for the spoils that would soon be in his hands.

But it was only for a moment. He soon realized that something was going wrong. He just didn’t know where it had gone wrong.

The seeds he had sown here and there as insurance had sprouted in the most terrible form.

And the sprout that grew in that way was quickly becoming a giant carnivorous plant, threatening him.

Crunch. Crunch.

The sound of bones breaking and flesh being chewed. It was a sound he had always heard in the underground world, where the law of the jungle reigned. But today, that sound couldn’t be more terrifying.

He couldn’t control his trembling. The sight of his nemesis groaning beneath that hideous monster was simply miserable.

The way he desperately flailed his limbs, trying to shake off the monster’s snout, felt like his own movements, and he felt a chill for the first time in his life.

“Kuh.”

But he couldn’t just keep trembling.

Unfortunately, this terrible monster was in his castle and fortress. If he didn’t drive it out, the outcome was certain, whether his core was invaded or he was eaten by the monster.

So, he forced his frozen body to move towards a place where it couldn’t be seen. He was going to find a gap while the monster was focused on its meal.

But that would only become a bad move that tightened his own noose.

In a world completely frozen, where no one moved, his small movement stood out exceptionally.

The monster, which had been crunching and devouring the Cerebral Duke’s flesh, turned its head.

“Ah….”

The moment their eyes met, the monster grinned, tearing its hideous snout wide open.

***

The King of the Ursus did his best. This seasoned polar bear didn’t hesitate to hide behind his subordinates if necessary, and he tried to drive out the Evil Dragon by alternating between traps and authorities [unique abilities].

“This is….”

But as a result, all his efforts only bought him a little time. In the end, he had to face his own heart, throbbing from his gaping chest.

“I woke up a monster I shouldn’t have….”

With blood gurgling in his rattling jaw, he left a short impression of his death.

A war he waged with some chance of winning, but the rope of the gallows he had prepared for his nemesis’s end would become his own. The Duke lamented his own stupidity and slowly died in a terrible sense of powerlessness he had never felt before.

[The wise King of the Polar Bears, Winter Duke Bullaves, is a powerful figure who has fought against Alitos the Cerebral Duke for many years. His aura of ice is comparable to Alitos’s lightning.]

[Bullaves and Alitos have been rivals who have competed for supremacy for a long time. Although it may not have been the direction they wanted, your achievement in severing the chain of hatred created in the long conflict is certainly great.]

[The entire underground world is in awe of your incredible victory against the mighty Dukes.]

[The rulers of the deepest layers, who were unaware of your existence until now, have begun to take an interest in you. Some of them will be wary of you and keep an eye on you.]

Normally, Kim Jin-woo would have been startled by the message that he had attracted the attention of the deep layer Dukes. But Kim Jin-woo was still tormented by thirst and couldn’t come to his senses.

He was dominated only by appetite.

But with the two Dukes falling, all that remained around him were the corpses of the bulls and polar bears who had shared their fate with their masters. There was no one left who could satisfy his hunger.

He naturally began to move in search of someone to satisfy his hunger. Unlike here, where only death had fallen, there was a place full of vitality, where the army of the Eastern Labyrinth was.

***

Even though a long time had passed since the battle ended, Kim Jin-woo still couldn’t shake off the form of the Evil Dragon.

No, as time went on, he was becoming an even more terrible monster.

The appearance that was somewhat similar to the Black Dragon was now completely unrecognizable, and the energy of the two Dukes, which he had just absorbed and not yet digested, swirled around him from time to time, with white and blue energy sticking out.

“Ah….”

After staggering for a while, he suddenly came to his senses.

“Where is this….”

For a moment, he forgot where he was and what he was trying to do.

He realized the situation late, but his mind returned only for a fleeting moment.

His eyes, which had been moving nimbly, soon lost focus, and after standing blankly for a while, he took a deep breath again and began to move.

Despite eating two powerful Dukes, he was still hungry, and that endless greed had completely consumed him.

“Krrr.”

The way he moved forward, roughly vibrating his throat, was not much different from the Moai [cursed stone statues] corrupted by malice.

How long had he been wandering to satisfy his hunger? There was a faint energy that caught his blind steps.

“Kuh.”

He hesitated for a moment. A strong energy felt far away, full of vitality that might satisfy this terrible hunger.

But the strong energy was far away, and the pure life force, however faint, was nearby.

After a moment of hesitation, he soon realized that the faint energy was coming to him on its own, and he decided to enjoy an appetizer before the feast.

“Krrr.”

After a while, a small life force he had been waiting for appeared before him. He vibrated his throat and slowly opened his mouth.

The terrible monster, which had terrified even the fearless allies and polar bears, blatantly revealed its murderous intent.

But the owner of the small life force took a step forward without any sign of fear.

“Master!”

The hideous snout, which had been rattling as if to devour the life force dangling in front of him, froze.

“Master! Come to your senses!”

***

I’m hungry. I’m thirsty.

A small ripple arose in Kim Jin-woo’s world of consciousness, which was dominated by a single emotion.

The feeling of the inside of his hard scales tickling was unfamiliar but not unpleasant.

But the ripple was just a ripple. Soon, he was swallowed up again by the hunger and thirst that raised his head again, and the small disturbance that had occurred quickly disappeared without a trace.

“Keuk.”

If he inhaled even this small life force, would he get better? He stretched out his neck in the burning thirst.

But he couldn’t go any further.

He felt like he was missing something, confused and painful.

He could satisfy his hunger just by closing his mouth right away. Even if a greater hunger came again after that, he would be able to satisfy himself for a while. But he felt that his jaw, which he had tried to close several times with force, had frozen.

“……!”

His ears are ringing. The ripple that he thought had subsided did not subside. Rather, it became an even bigger ripple than before and shook him.

The ripple eventually became a wave, and then a whirlpool.

His consciousness, which had been dominated only by appetite, finally began to think, and he was belatedly able to recognize fragments of emotion so intense that he felt dizzy.

Longing, joy, and regret.

“…in……!”

The sincere emotion without a single speck of evil was permeating his entire body.

“Master… nim!” [A respectful way to address one’s master in Korean]

The noise that had been buzzing around his ears like the sound of the wind finally became a voice. And the moment he heard that voice, he came to his senses.

“Master!”

In front of him was a tearful face, the face of his beloved Naga maid [a mythical creature, half-human and half-serpent].

“Do… Dominique?”

“Master!”

[The most trustworthy being, a voice full of blind affection and loyalty, has reached your consciousness through the Evil Dragon’s condition.]

[The purity of the Nagaraja [king of the Nagas], which had been contaminated by resentment, desire, wickedness, and obsession, has been restored.]