Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 113

Dungeon Journal – 113

# 113

Dungeon Journal

Chapter 114

Kim Jin-woo, who had been silently watching the dark shadows at the edge of the labyrinth where darkness overflowed, turned around.

“Will it take long?”

Dominique asked him.

“I can’t say. But she will definitely return.”

She nodded at his confident reply.

“Still, I never imagined that the Under Elf was a descendant of the Fairy Lord.”

Dominique seemed quite surprised that Ricksha was a princess of the Under Elves. Kim Jin-woo himself was quite surprised when he heard the secret history of the Under Elf clan.

But that was it. A ruined clan, and an Under Elf princess who would never regain her former glory due to the curse of the underground, was just an empty title with no meaning.

‘We can no longer be the masters of the labyrinth. Because the mysteries of the underground do not allow it.’

Ricksha also seemed uninterested in recreating the glory that the clan had enjoyed. Nevertheless, she left the fortress to unite the clan.

‘Although even the traditions have been cut off and declined, the number of Under Elves is not small. I want to persuade them and become a strength to Master.’

When she returns, she will not be alone. The clan, scattered and living apart, will be with her.

Thus, Ricksha embarked on a long journey. In addition, Dominique also said that she would be away to consume the Summoning Stone, which she had been putting off for some time.

“Please be well until I return, my one and only master.”

“You’ll be back soon, why are you saying such nonsense? As if we’ll never see each other again.”

Kim Jin-woo waved his hand at her dramatic greeting and offered words of caution.

“Never be greedy. Even as you are now, Dominique is the most important person to me.”

“I will keep that in mind, again and again.”

With a bright smile, she went into seclusion.

“Hmm.”

With Ricksha and Dominique leaving his side, Kim Jin-woo felt a sense of emptiness for some reason. Perhaps that’s why he spent more time wandering around the labyrinth.

“Your Majesty!”

Valiacheus, who happened to be passing near the workshop, called him.

“I have finally completed it.”

The army of the dead, which had been in preparation for several months, was finally completed. At Valiacheus’s excitement, Kim Jin-woo hurried to the workshop.

“Hmm. Is this it?”

When he arrived at the workshop with anticipation, there were only two or three corpses lying there. He couldn’t hide his disappointed face.

“How could that be? Grab this staff here.”

Valiacheus shook his head at him and handed him a bizarrely crafted staff with a Down Gem [a type of magical energy source] embedded in it.

“If you shout ‘Summon the Dead’.”

Kwaddeudeuk!

Before Valiacheus could finish speaking, the entire ground vibrated, and the dead appeared. In a grotesque appearance, as if corpses were rising from a graveyard, Valiacheus said with a proud face.

“This is how the army of the dead is summoned.”

Valiacheus continued his explanation with an excited face, as if he was thrilled for once.

“They have regained more than 80% of their power from their lifetime. In addition, they have added the tenacity and toughness unique to the dead, so perhaps their power is even greater than their capabilities in life.”

The morale exuded by the army of the dead, numbering nearly 300, was enormous. Kim Jin-woo belatedly exclaimed at the ominous energy that spread all around.

“More than I imagined?”

“It took a long time and cost a lot, but it will play its part as much as you have waited.”

Valiacheus rarely got excited and rambled on. Kim Jin-woo would have cut him off mercilessly, but this time he let it go.

That’s how great the army of the dead that Valiacheus created was.

“Will it be enough to face the army of the 10th floor?”

“Is there any need to say it? A significant portion of the materials used to create the dead are soldiers from the 10th floor. It cannot be compared to the ragtag army of the 9th floor. Moreover, they are already dead, and these dead, who feel no fear, hunger, or fatigue, are the true invincible army.”

“Even half of what you say would be useful.”

As the words grew longer, it was no longer possible to distinguish whether it was a boast or the truth. So he cut off the words appropriately and called Balzac.

“Oh! These are……!”

Balzac, who saw the army of the dead, instinctively realized that their essence was not much different from his own and welcomed them.

“This is the army you will command from now on.”

“With them, what can’t I do!”

Perhaps overwhelmed by the mistreatment he had received while serving among the Iron-Blooded Knights, the Death Knight sobbed as he replied.

“I look forward to your future performance.”

Kim Jin-woo, who handed over the staff for summoning the dead and turned around, found Valiacheus stuttering with a dumbfounded face.

“Is there a problem?”

“The army of the dead itself is a powerful force that can occupy most labyrinths in a day and a night. But this is from an unclear origin…….”

At the end, the voice became so small that it could hardly be heard, but he immediately understood what Valiacheus was trying to say.

“Balzac is a Death Knight. There is no one more suitable as a commander to lead the army of the dead.”

“But even so…….”

It seemed that Valiacheus didn’t like the fact that too much power was concentrated on Balzac. But Kim Jin-woo did not allow any further objections.

“Stop. If there was no trust in the first place, I wouldn’t have brought him into the labyrinth. Don’t provoke conflict with useless words.”

At those words, Valiacheus shut his mouth tightly. Perhaps he was secretly lamenting his own situation, sealed in a weak body.

“You too will be rewarded. So please close your mouth. Otherwise, that simple-minded Balzac might not leave you alone.”

It was not a joke, Balzac, who had accepted the army of the dead and was overjoyed, was glaring at Valiacheus with blue eyes.

This Death Knight, as simple as he was, had a strong sense of pride and seemed very uncomfortable with the suspicion of his loyalty.

“Eek! H, how dare you!”

Valiacheus was once a strongman in the 9th floor. But now he is just a pitiful being parasitizing on a lowly Naga worker.

Valiacheus, unable to withstand Balzac’s intense momentum, sat down on the floor and avoided his eyes.

“Stop. Treat him as befits the craftsman who created your army. I will not tolerate any further oppression.”

Kim Jin-woo had placed all sorts of shackles on Valiacheus because of his cunning and insidious nature, but it was by no means pleasant to see the necromancer, who had once reigned as the king of the labyrinth, sitting on the floor and trembling with injustice.

“I will find you a new body that suits you.”

Valiacheus, who was trembling with shame, opened his eyes wide at his words and soon smiled brightly.

“Hmm.”

It seems that it is not only the ability that is dominated by the lowly body, and the former majesty and momentum are nowhere to be seen.

***

Ricksha, who left the labyrinth, showed no signs of returning, and even Dominique was still out of contact.

She had shown her vulnerabilities to Kim Jin-woo during the last transformation process, and this time she seemed to be deliberately hiding; even if he searched the entire labyrinth, she could not be found.

“Dominique will return in time, but wouldn’t that Under Elf have run away altogether?”

Angela, who had completely filled his side, which had been empty lately, sneered. But Kim Jin-woo did not feel it was worth answering and ignored her.

“Think about it, Master. Unlike before, if she is an Under Elf who has consumed the Summoning Stone and transformed, she will be treated well wherever she goes in the underground. There is no reason to stay by Master’s side, where there is no quiet day.”

Angela constantly spoke ill of Ricksha, perhaps because the vampire’s chronic obsession and possessiveness had returned.

Kim Jin-woo gave her a job because he was about to get calluses on his ears from listening to her.

“You must be familiar with the geography of the 11th floor. Go to Anatolius’s territory.”

At the sudden order, she opened her eyes wide.

“Why suddenly…….”

“The dark merchant hasn’t come, and there’s no contact from Anatolius, so something is strange.”

Anatolius’s last contact was to wish him good luck, saying that he could not get out of the situation to withdraw his body even with the rise of the Parthenon, and contact with Anatolius was cut off.

Even the dark merchant, who had been going back and forth between the two labyrinths with sweat on his feet, had stopped coming, so there was no way to know the news.

“You have to go and see for yourself.”

“I was trying to monopolize Master’s side for once…….”

She soon became disappointed and drooped her shoulders and pouted her lips.

“Go, see, listen, and explain it to me as it is. Something is not right.”

Not only Anatolius, but the dark merchant had never not visited the fortress to this extent.

As usual, the dark merchant would have shown his face to congratulate him on repelling the Parthenon’s invasion, but it was incomprehensible that there had been no contact for nearly a month.

“Hmm. If I have to go, I will go, but…….”

Kim Jin-woo sighed as he watched her drag out the end of her words. It was because he knew what she wanted.

He sharpened the tips of his fingernails and drew a long line on the palm of his opposite hand. Angela clung to the fresh blood that soon dripped down and drank it in a frenzy.

“That’s it. I’ll give you the rest when you come back.”

“Be sure to keep that promise.”

The first word was heard right next to him, but the last word was heard echoing in the dark far away. And soon even that disappeared.

“She’s really troublesome.”

***

This time, even Angela, who left for the 11th floor, did not return. No matter how far it was to travel through the 10th floor and reach the 11th floor, it took too long.

“Morrigan.”

Morrigan, who was guarding his side instead of Angela and Dominique, who were away, tilted her head at those words.

“Do you know anything about the situation on the 11th floor?”

“It’s been so long since I last stirred it up that I don’t think it will be of much help to the current situation, but what story do you want to hear?”

“I want to know everything about the situation on the 11th floor, the reason why Anatolius can’t move, and the reason why the dark merchant disappeared.”

Morrigan, who was thinking hard at Kim Jin-woo’s words, smiled.

“If that’s the case, isn’t there a good storyteller right next to you?”

“Storyteller?”

When he asked back, she pointed her finger at the air and said.

“Krassto, the Invincible Mercenary, that guy must have left the 11th floor not long ago.”

Only then did Kim Jin-woo, who remembered the Invincible Mercenaries, exclaim. Morrigan, who was watching him, pouted her lips and shook her head.

Her appearance was exactly like mocking the master’s stupidity, and he frowned and ordered nervously.

“Tell Krassto. I want to see him.”

Pudeudeuk!

Instead of answering, Morrigan disappeared with the sound of flapping wings.

Not long after, Krassto visited the labyrinth. He positioned himself appropriately on the border of the labyrinth and looked at Quantus and Balzac with sharp eyes.

He seemed somewhat surprised by their changes, each of whom had evolved into a Death Knight and a Naga bodyguard in a short period of time.

But only for a moment, Krassto, who found Kim Jin-woo, took his eyes off Quantus and Balzac and crossed his arms.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Ah, there’s something I wanted to ask.”

“Ask me.”

At Krassto’s cool answer, he no longer hesitated and asked.

“I want to know the situation on the 11th floor.”

“The request I received was to be your sword, not to be your eyes and ears, wasn’t it?”

Jjeolgeureong.

Before the words were finished, Kim Jin-woo took out a bundle of Down Gems from his arms and threw it. Krassto smiled when he checked the Down Gems that had fallen on the floor.

“I’ll answer everything I know. What do you want to know?”

Krassto’s attitude, which had changed in an instant, was more mercenary than ever.

“What’s going on on the 11th floor right now? I don’t know why my subordinates who were sent on reconnaissance aren’t coming back.”

At his question, Krassto paused for a moment and replied.

“That’s too bad. To send out reconnaissance now of all times.”