Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 290

Dungeon Chronicle – 290

# 290

Dungeon Chronicle

Episode 291

The Ceiling Giant Lord’s gaze was as filthy as if he were looking at garbage.

“You’re not a High Lord.”

Perhaps he thought he had somewhat avenged his defeat. A vile pleasure flashed across his disbelieving face for a moment. Kim Jin-woo, seeing the Ceiling Giant Lord’s expression,

“Tsk.”

laughed.

“Can’t you believe what I’m saying? Or are you just too shocked to think straight?”

The Ceiling Giant Lord retorted fiercely at his unexpected reaction.

“What’s so great about being a High Lord, anyway? It’s not some noble existence.”

Looking at his distorted face, Kim Jin-woo spoke with an indifferent expression.

“Cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests. The chicks hatch quickly, pushing the original inhabitants out and sending them to their doom.

And the mother bird tirelessly brings food to the terrible creature that killed her own chicks.”

He paused, letting the analogy sink in.

“The High Lord’s actions are no different from the cuckoo’s brood parasitism [a parasitic reproductive strategy where one species relies on another to raise its young].”

“Just as we hatched by taking the authority left by the High Lord, there’s no reason why another being can’t do the same.”

He already knew about the darkness lurking within him, and he was well aware that it was the seed of something ominous. Now that he knew something else had taken root in his body, there was no particular reason to be surprised.

“You! If you knew the identity of the ‘monster’ lurking inside you, you wouldn’t be talking so nonchalantly!”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, you foolish king of giants.”

The Ceiling Giant Lord couldn’t hide his embarrassment at Kim Jin-woo’s blatant mockery.

“I know the identity of the monster crouching inside me very well. That’s why you’re still alive and able to spout nonsense.”

Just before absorbing the High Lord’s power, he had felt the greedy monster crouching inside him laugh.

Because he had taken on the form of the Evil Dragon, his consciousness was hazy, as if wandering in a fog, but the ominousness of something silently grinning was so eerie that he had to spit out the prey he had almost caught.

“No! You don’t know! You don’t know how terrible a monster is sleeping inside you…”

Of course, he hadn’t known its identity from the beginning. But through Catherine’s warning and the Ceiling Giant Lord’s revelation, he finally learned the monster’s identity.

“Night.”

Kim Jin-woo cut off the Ceiling Giant Lord’s words, who was desperately denying reality.

“The ‘Night’ that you and the High Lords fear the most must be inside me.”

Looking at the giant who shuddered just from hearing it, he continued to speak.

“But nothing changes. Whether it’s a fragment of the High Lord inside me, or the seed of a terrible monster, I don’t care.”

The Ceiling Giant Lord, looking disgusted at his nonchalant attitude, said,

“You’re not normal. You’re completely insane.”

Kim Jin-woo laughed once again.

“This is a world where you can’t survive without being crazy.”

Perhaps overwhelmed by the ominous presence within Kim Jin-woo, the Ceiling Giant Lord willingly told him what he knew. But in contrast, what he gained was not much.

From the beginning, the One-Eyed Lord and the Ceiling Giant Lord were not on good terms, but rather close to being enemies. The two lords were not in a relationship where they would share secrets.

Nevertheless, he could discern one fact from that ignorance.

“The One-Eyed Lord is different from the other lords who were just waiting for the time of resurrection to come. He had a mission, like the Lord of Depravity.”

That’s why the guardians, even though their master had disappeared not long ago, were able to move with a single purpose until now.

“The problem is that I can’t know what that is.”

In the end, he went around in circles and returned to the starting point, unable to resolve the question.

“But is it okay?”

Although it was Dominic’s question without any context, Kim Jin-woo immediately knew what she was worried about.

She was worried about the ‘Night’ residing in her master’s body.

“It’s just a fragmented body anyway; there’s no need to be surprised that one more parasite has moved in.”

But he didn’t seem to pay much attention to her worries.

That’s because, as someone with an excellent talent for ruining other people’s plans as much as his own twisted life, he was confident that he could mess up the plans of those shameless people who arbitrarily interfered in other people’s lives.

“They will never get what they want.”

If the Wanderer wants the complete unity of the surface and the underground, then he just needs to find the Wish Stone and stop the final restoration process.

And if the Night wants the completed power of the High Lord, he vowed that he would devour all the nobles of the underground rather than covet any more power.

Even without absorbing the power of other High Lords, he was already the most powerful lord in the underground.

Kim Jin-woo had two choices left. And now was the time to make a choice in order to no longer be manipulated by those who deceive him by mixing lies and truth.

“Both are too dangerous.”

Dominic and the other summons told him to find another way, but he shook his head.

“There’s no time. If we move after the underground is completely united, we won’t be able to make it in time.”

The more perfect the underground becomes, the fewer options he would have. Knowing that fact well, he had to make a choice, even if it was unreasonable.

“The Throne of Truth is too dangerous. There’s no guarantee that it will only take one eye as the price this time, just like with the One-Eyed Lord. And even if things go well by some stroke of luck, there’s no guarantee that the Throne of Truth will show the truth that Master wants. In that case, it would be better to trust Baek-oh’s information.”

Dominic advised him to choose a path where he could move on his own and approach the truth, rather than passively accepting the truth thrown at him by the Throne of Truth.

“I think the same way.”

Kim Jin-woo decided to accept her advice.

“But before that, we need to get the Wish Stone first.”

The Queen of Depravity, who sought her own way through the Wish Stone, was still out of contact, and Mimir, who was supposed to be the bridge, had also been out of contact for several days.

“Angela, it seems that Mimir’s progress is delayed because of those ominous beings. You’ll have to go and meet him.”

“Although he’s a hateful guy, I’ll gladly do it if Master wishes.”

“If the situation is urgent, you can abandon the others. After all, all we need is Mimir.”

Angela opened the Gate of Boundary without delay and disappeared beyond it.

“Dominic, find a way to keep the others in check while I’m away.”

“Yes, Master. I will definitely find a way.”

“Rickshasha will have to work a little harder. Send the Under Elves to continue exploring. We need to know how far the underground has expanded.”

“As you command.”

Following his instructions, the summons left their places, and not long after, Rickshasha, who had set out for exploration, made an early return.

She didn’t return alone, but with summons from the underground of different races.

“The nobles of the underground have sent envoys to entrust themselves to the King!”

It seemed that the rampage of the ominous beings was more severe than expected. After all, monsters that devoured even a powerful duke-class labyrinth in a single day were rampaging in droves, so the nobles must have been anxious.

They all demanded that he protect them in exchange for their loyalty. Naturally, Kim Jin-woo granted all their requests.

“The cunning nobles will somehow make excuses again after this crisis passes and try to find their own way.”

“But they will regret their quick-witted actions this time. Because Master will not let them go easily.”

Kim Jin-woo didn’t answer. But judging from the twisted smile on his lips, it was clear that the nobles’ end would not be good at all.

While he was receiving guests, Angela, who had gone to meet Mimir, returned. She threw the pale-faced imp in front of him as if discarding it and reported the situation.

“As Master guessed, it seems he couldn’t leave easily because of the ominous beings rampaging around.”

She said that when she arrived, most of the Black Merchant’s members had already been harmed by the ominous beings, and that she had brought Mimir first as a matter of urgency.

“L, Lord! If you only bring me like this, what about my subordinates?”

Where had his past power gone? Mimir, who was a mess as if he had been rolling in the mud, clung to his feet and begged.

“The mercenaries are one thing, but at least my clan!”

He was about to lose his warehouse and even the forces he had painstakingly built up over a long period of time, so Mimir’s attitude was rather desperate.

“The situation is not good enough to sort out the personnel separately. Be satisfied that you have saved your own life.”

But Kim Jin-woo didn’t even twitch an eyebrow at Mimir’s pleas. That’s because he thought that all of this was the price that someone who had lived by using others countless times should pay.

“Please! Show the generosity to take in at least my clan! I’ll do anything you ask.”

Did the insidious imp also have a sense of kinship? Seeing him clinging to him with an unusually humble attitude, he had a small change of heart.

“Okay. I will grant your request. But I won’t be able to save everyone.”

“W, what do you mean?”

“You choose who to save. About ten people would be enough to plan for the future.”

“L, Lord! No, Master! A little more leeway!”

Mimir screamed, but he remained unmoved.

The ominous beings who had turned the entire underground into a mess were monsters that were difficult to deal with unless they were High Lords, and he had no intention of putting his subordinates in danger for the sake of the insidious imp’s clan.

It was quite a pleasant sight to see the ill-tempered imp, who had been forcing others to make choices and watching the results, being forced to make choices and suffering.

“That must be difficult, having to distinguish between who to kill and who to save on your own.”

Looking at Mimir, who collapsed with a blank face, he laughed to his heart’s content.

While the little imp was agonizing over the lives of his clan and their weight for the first time in his life, Kim Jin-woo secretly instructed his subordinates.

“The ominous beings won’t be very interested in the Black Merchant’s wealth. After the work is done, quietly collect the wealth that the imps have spilled.”

“But the Under Elves alone won’t be able to bring all that. Right now, it’s literally hell outside.”

At Angela’s words, Rickshasha bowed her head with a dark face. She was frustrated that she was not sure if she could completely fulfill the order even if she was prepared to die.

“Before you go, find the Beast King first. And tell him about the existence of the numerous beastmen slaves that the Black Merchant used to employ. Then he will move.”

The Beast King would be desperate for the existence of beastmen who could be subject to his authority. If so, he would willingly endure the trouble of rescuing the beastmen from the ominous beings.

“Follow the procession of the Beast King and the beastmen, and then turn around at the right time.”

“As you command.”

Perhaps because he had been sent as a tunneler, he had been quite lenient towards the slaves of the underground, and he did not want the innocent beastmen to die in vain, caught up in the crime of the cunning imp.

“Move immediately. There won’t be much time.”

With their respective missions, the summons scattered throughout the underground. The Great Labyrinth, which had been firmly holding its place even in the rapidly changing flow, finally began to move in earnest.