Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 282

Dungeon Chronicle – Episode 283

# 283

Dungeon Chronicle

Episode 283

Kim Jin-woo sank back down, abandoning his attempt to rise.

“Others…”

He didn’t need to hear more to guess their identities. They were undoubtedly the first and second High Lords to awaken.

“Who are they?”

Instead of rushing to greet his guests, he chose to gather information through Quantus, even if it was just a little.

“There are two men who came together. One is powerfully built with a heavy presence, seemingly born to be a warrior. The other is not as sturdy but has a lithe feel, with a bird-like aura that is quite extraordinary.”

Unfortunately, Quantus, being merely a summoned creature, had limited information, and his description was only of the guests’ appearances.

However, it wasn’t entirely without merit, as it allowed him to discern what they had inherited.

“The large one must have inherited the name of the Giant Lord, and the other is either a Beastman or an Earth Dragon.”

So far, the only successors to the old lords that he hadn’t directly seen were those who inherited the names of the Giant, Beastman, and Earth Dragon.

“What was their demeanor? Did they seem hostile?”

“They didn’t show any signs of hostility, but the powerfully built man seemed uncomfortable throughout, as if something displeased him.”

Kim Jin-woo nodded at Quantus’s response.

“Then he must be the one who inherited the name of the Giant Lord.”

The nickname of Mjolnir, installed in the spire of Valhalla, is Giant Slayer. If the man had inherited the power of the Giant Lord, he would surely be displeased by the aura of the warhammer felt nearby.

“The remaining one is the problem. If that man inherited the name of the Beastman Lord, it would be better, but if he inherited the power of the Earth Dragon, it might become a bit troublesome.”

Like the Under Elves of the past, the king of the Beastmen, who had fallen into slavery, would have a meager foundation.

But if he inherited the name of the Earth Dragon, there was a possibility that the Dragon Emperor and his Dragon Knights would be incorporated into his command in the worst-case scenario.

And they were by no means easy opponents, so Kim Jin-woo hoped that the man had inherited the power of the Beastman Lord.

“In the end, I’ll have to meet them to know for sure.”

He dismissed his summoned creatures and immediately instructed Quantus.

“Move the guests to another location. I will be there soon.”

***

The man frowned as he looked at the towering spire.

“That’s not very polite. Just when I thought an escort had arrived, they prepare such a place.”

A man with common brown hair, neither too tall nor too short, of average build, was someone you might forget after seeing him once if not for his dangerously gleaming eyes. But the madness and impetuosity flickering in those eyes made him look exceedingly fierce.

“Isn’t inviting strangers into your home without prior notice more foolish than impolite?”

Catherine rebuked the man with an ambiguous attitude, unsure whether she was admonishing him or provoking him further.

“But even so, isn’t this too blatant?”

It wasn’t the lithe man who responded to her words, but the powerfully built man.

“This seems like they’re openly trying to suppress us.”

The man glared at the spire with a murderous gaze.

“Worst possible compatibility.”

Catherine sighed, her face already filled with fatigue. She couldn’t unilaterally criticize his pickiness, knowing the relationship between the man before her and the towering spire.

“Anyway, considering he awakened last among us, let’s try to understand this level of wariness with a generous heart.”

It was her attempt to smooth over the tense atmosphere, but it wasn’t very effective. At this point, she could only hope that Kim Jin-woo would come out as soon as possible.

“He’s here.”

Her wish was granted after an ambiguous amount of time had passed, neither too early nor too late.

“Hmm.”

Kim Jin-woo approached with a leisurely expression, surveying their faces.

Thud, thud.

A scene where only the sound of footsteps seemed to exist in the world, silent provocations came and went, and then cold silence filled the space again.

Kim Jin-woo and the men exchanged probing glances without uttering a single word until they were within striking distance of each other.

“You’re here?”

It was Catherine who broke the tense atmosphere first. Kim Jin-woo chuckled at her casual greeting, which didn’t suit the situation. His gaze remained fixed on the two men who were looking at him provocatively.

“You came back sooner than I thought.”

“Well, the situation is what it is.”

The men’s expressions turned strange at the conversation between the two High Lords, which seemed to subtly flaunt their friendship. They seemed a bit surprised that they were less formal than expected, even though they knew there was interaction between them.

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourselves? Just because I acted as a messenger doesn’t mean I’m going to bow down to you guys.”

Catherine snapped at the men in a blunt tone.

“Let’s start by saying it’s nice to meet you. I inherited the name of the Beast King, the ruler of the fiercest beasts.”

The lithe man, the Beast King, twisted one corner of his mouth and greeted him first.

“So, you were a Beastman. Nice to meet you. I inherited the power of the One-Eyed Lord. Since there’s no need to exchange our real names, call me whatever you like.”

Kim Jin-woo’s face seemed more relaxed as he realized that the power his opponent had inherited was that of the Beastman Lord, not the Earth Dragon.

“I don’t know what it is, but I don’t like that face. You look like you’re plotting something.”

“Not at all. I just know a few Beastmen, so I’m glad to see you.”

He casually brushed off the Beast King’s words, who looked displeased for no reason, and then turned his gaze to the large man.

“Hmph, I am the lord of the Sky-Shielding Giants.”

Kim Jin-woo chuckled as he looked at the Sky-Shielding Giant Lord, who introduced himself with a reluctant air, and then asked as if he had just remembered something.

“But you all speak our language. I thought I would need an interpreter.”

The subtle atmosphere immediately subsided at those words.

“I learned the language from her…”

“Me too.”

Kim Jin-woo spoke in a subdued voice in response to their replies, which clearly revealed complex emotions.

“Indeed, you too were with… her.”

He had already confirmed it with Catherine, but his mood became even more complicated when he confirmed it directly like this.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I feel the same way. Since the surface treats us like beasts anyway, it’s better to be incorporated into this side. They’ll think differently once they experience it themselves.”

The sense of camaraderie from being played by the Lord of Depravity was only temporary, and the Beast King and the Sky-Shielding Giant Lord changed their attitudes when the topic of integrating the underground and the surface came up.

“I don’t care about the circumstances of the surface dwellers anyway. From the start, they didn’t treat us as the same humans, did they?”

“My comrades were deceived by the hollow name of hunters and spent most of their hard-earned freedom in dark tunnels. And that’s still the case now. In that case, it’s better to keep them under our protection and put the surface dwellers who treated us as expendable below us.”

Kim Jin-woo frowned at the Sky-Shielding Giant Lord’s even radical words.

This was an unexpected development. He had naturally assumed that their anger would be directed at the old lords who had treated them as pawns, but unexpectedly, their hatred was directed solely at the surface.

“I grew up like a beast in a cave. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t even be able to imitate a human being now.”

The Sky-Shielding Giant Lord nodded at the Beast King’s words. The two men said that now that they had taken revenge on the dukes who had tormented them, there was no reason to antagonize the underground any longer.

“Ugh.”

The longer the conversation went on, the more Kim Jin-woo realized the differences between them and himself.

He first learned about humans in a dark cave. The adults were desperate to hide young him from the eyes of the fierce overseers, and in the end, they even gave up their lives.

It wasn’t enough to feel pity for the surface dwellers who had no ties now, but it was enough memory for him not to think of humans as merely ugly.

But the men before him were different. The humans they remembered were terrifying ghouls who would claw and scramble to devour their flesh when they fell asleep, and beasts who would not hesitate to sacrifice others for their own sake.

And what was it like when they went to the surface? People wore masks of pity and drooled to exploit the Down Gems [gems mined from the dungeons] in any way they could.

It wasn’t that there weren’t people who approached them with warm words, but even they were only interested in the abilities and wealth of the dungeon babies from the depths.

That was the difference, and it became an insurmountable wall.

They didn’t think of themselves as human. Rather, they wanted to be High Lords, powerful rulers of the underground.

Kim Jin-woo’s heart grew heavy at their resentment, whether it was a lack or a loss.

It wasn’t some pathetic pity or sympathy. Just because he remembered the warmth of humans didn’t mean he was a warm human himself. He himself was just as cold-blooded as them and could be as cruel as necessary.

It was just that his plans had been disrupted, so his heart had grown heavy.

“Of course, I refuse to have my body taken over by the fragments of an old lord who can’t even become a ghost. That’s why I came to you.”

They had no complaints about the absurd ambitions of the old lords, and it seemed that their only concern was to eliminate the fragments that would take over their bodies.

“Don’t waste your energy on useless things, and just think about taking care of your own body. Honestly, wasn’t it a bit difficult for you and us to get to where we are now?”

The Beast King’s words were more of a temptation than an invitation,

“If we get rid of the fragments, there will be no more beings threatening us, and the dukes won’t be our match. So, I hope you’ll join us too. With four High Lords, it won’t be too difficult to rule the underground.”

The Sky-Shielding Giant Lord’s words were not a persuasion but a coercion. It was the kind of tone that would not hesitate to start a war if he refused.

“Do you feel the same way?”

Kim Jin-woo asked, looking at Catherine.

“I agree that we need to get rid of the fragments, but I haven’t made any other decisions yet.”

It was fortunate that she had at least declared neutrality. But her words were of no help in the current situation.

“Anyway, it seems like you agree that we need to get rid of all the fragments.”

The Sky-Shielding Giant Lord grinned.

“I don’t know what the method is, but a High Lord wouldn’t lie, would he?”

While he was lost in thought, the Sky-Shielding Giant Lord and the Beast King, who had made their own decisions, began to devise a plan to find the fragments.

“You seem to be mistaken.”

Kim Jin-woo said to them.

“I have no intention of doing unpaid work. I plan to receive compensation in exchange for removing the fragments.”

“That’s a natural thing to say. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in the world, especially in the underground.”

The two lords asked him what he wanted, saying that such things were not a problem at all.

“What I want is.”

Kim Jin-woo answered their question immediately.

“To prevent the integration of the surface and the underground, and for you to help me.”