Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 114

Dungeon Journal – Episode 115

“What are you talking about?” Kim Jin-woo frowned at Krasto’s words. Seeing his reaction, Krasto continued,

“The 11th floor is in the middle of a war right now.”

The word ‘war’ brought a sense of foreboding. He bit his lip without realizing it.

“I’d like a detailed explanation.”

“It’s exactly as I said. The 11th floor is currently not a place for outsiders to enter.”

His words didn’t make sense. Anatolius was reaching out to the 9th floor to change the solidified power structure of the 11th floor. He lacked the strength to shake up the 11th floor on his own. But suddenly, a war broke out on the 11th floor, which was hard to understand.

“Aren’t the Counts of the 11th floor too busy watching each other to do anything?”

Krasto replied to his question with a look of surprise that he knew so much.

“If it were just any war, none of the Counts would have moved so easily. But the war on the 11th floor right now is not like that.”

“Then what kind of war is it that made the Counts, who were wary of each other, start fighting? Stop being frustrating and tell me at once.”

Kim Jin-woo, annoyed by Krasto’s drawn-out explanation as if he was enjoying his reaction, urged him with his eyes.

“My, my, you’re more impatient than I thought. Alright, don’t glare at me like that. I was just about to explain.”

The old man’s face on Krasto’s shoulder was as relaxed as the years etched into his deep wrinkles.

“Are you aware that the 11th floor is connected to another underground world? The Counts of the 11th floor are at war with forces from another underground world. Do you understand? All the Counts on the 11th floor are on the same side. That’s the justification for the Counts to wage war without being wary of each other.”

It was getting worse and worse. His expression stiffened at the sudden appearance of a new underground world.

“That’s why outsiders shouldn’t enter the 11th floor, and that’s why Parthenon retreated so easily.”

Krasto said that and looked straight at Kim Jin-woo.

“And that’s also why I and my mercenary group came up to the 9th floor. The situation on the 11th floor is too harsh to endure with just the name ‘Invincible’.”

After explaining the situation, Krasto said he had earned his keep and returned to his residence. Left alone again, Kim Jin-woo paced around the owner’s room with an anxious look on his face.

He already knew about the existence of other underground worlds. Unless he was stuck in the underground world, stories about the underground worlds of other countries and continents were often reported in the news.

So, when the story of a new underground world came out, he was tense but not surprised.

However, it was a different matter that Angela had gone to the 11th floor on his orders. Although she was obsessive and selfish, she was already a woman in his arms.

He had sent her to the 11th floor, where even Krasto, who had earned the name ‘Invincible,’ had fled, so it was natural that he was anxious.

“Damn it.”

A curse came out involuntarily.

In fact, he knew best that there was nothing he could do for Angela.

He had too much on his shoulders to risk getting involved in the chaos of the 11th floor just to save her.

So, he cursed several times, blaming his own ignorance and complacency.

Just when he had almost given up on Angela, she returned.

“Master.”

Angela, who suddenly appeared from the shadows, was covered in wounds. Her once beautiful hair was cut off in places and tangled with blood, and her pale but lovely skin was covered with scratches and cuts.

“Angela!”

Kim Jin-woo, surprised, supported her as if she was about to collapse. The moment he touched her, his face stiffened at the sticky liquid that soaked his hand.

“I, I really thought I wouldn’t be able to come back. I thought I would die there…”

“I know, so don’t talk, you idiot!”

His vision blurred as blood gushed out every time she opened her mouth.

“But I missed you so much. I was worried about upsetting you, who cherishes his own things…”

“I told you not to talk!”

He tried to stop her from talking in her pale complexion, but she didn’t stop.

Perhaps because she thought it was her last moment, or because she wanted to be praised even in this situation, she was desperate.

“I, I barely made it back.”

“Yes, yes. You did well. You did well, so stop talking now!”

Angela finally stopped talking at the praise, which wasn’t really praise, and smiled palely. Then she lost consciousness.

“A priest! Call a priest!”

At his shout, the quiet labyrinth quickly became busy.

***

The priest’s healing power was of no help to the vampire who was half-hanging on the border of death. He realized this too late.

The wounds exposed to the light of healing bled twice as much as before.

In the end, there was only one way left. Since vampires consider blood as the source of life, there would be no better cure than blood.

Kim Jin-woo, after making a cut on his forearm and confirming that blood was flowing, dripped blood into Angela’s mouth. Fortunately, the vampire’s instincts remained, and Angela licked and wiped away the blood that wet her lips.

And at some point, she clung to his wrist and began to greedily devour the blood.

“Slurp, slurp.”

She was completely out of control, constantly drinking blood like a baby sucking on its mother’s breast.

With only instinct left, she sucked his blood without any consideration or restraint, as if she would kill him.

Normally, he would have stopped her by now. But her wounds were still spewing blood, and her complexion was as pale as a corpse. So, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain as if all the blood in his body was draining away.

How much time had passed? Angela’s condition began to improve noticeably.

New flesh grew over the wounds and cuts, and the bleeding stopped. Her skin, which had turned bluish like a naga [a mythical serpent-like being], returned to normal.

“Hmm?”

But Kim Jin-woo, who was trying to pull his hand away, suddenly froze because Angela was stubbornly clinging to him with her eyes closed. He was fine for now, but if he let her suck more blood, he would be in danger.

“Angela, let go.”

He belatedly tried to push her away by pressing on her forehead, but she clung to him tenaciously; he didn’t know where she got such strength.

He was in a difficult situation, and while he was worried, something suddenly grabbed Angela’s hair.

“Morrigan?”

“Vampires are the kind of people who try to climb to the top of your head if you’re too lenient. Master was too soft this time.”

Morrigan’s touch was so rough that Angela’s neck was bent sharply, and she was full of dissatisfaction. A chilling murderous intent flickered in her eyes as she looked at Angela with displeasure.

“Be moderate. She’s a patient.”

Kim Jin-woo stopped Morrigan, who was about to make Angela, whom he had barely saved, half-dead again.

“If she drank this much of Master’s blood, she’ll be more energetic than usual. Wait, is she pretending to be unconscious?”

Morrigan said that and instantly clenched her hand, making it like a hawk’s claw, and swung it.

It was a swift action that didn’t give him time to do anything, but black mist filled the spot where Angela had been just before, covering her entire body.

“Wicked bitch.”

Morrigan spat out a curse as she glared at the black mist, then turned her gaze to him.

“Let me give you some advice. The most ideal love for a vampire is the love between a slave and a master.

These nasty people want their partner to only look at them and not leave them. Even if it’s their master. So, don’t allow them too close.”

Morrigan’s face as she advised him was full of the expression that she was fed up with him.

After looking at him for a moment, she shook her head, then made a terribly cold face.

“You.”

She growled as she glared at the vampire who was just beginning to take shape.

“If you don’t keep your limits, I’ll see with my own eyes what’s inside that small, insignificant body. This is not a warning. It’s a promise between you and me.”

Morrigan left that warning and disappeared with a flap of her wings. Kim Jin-woo, who was frowning and looking at the spot where she had disappeared, finally looked at Angela.

“I’m back!”

Even after seeing Kim Jin-woo’s distorted face, she smiled shamelessly. Her smile, with a face like a cat full of food, was several times more lively than usual.

Kim Jin-woo’s face hardened coldly because he was so dumbfounded and angry at the sight.

“Oh my, I almost died, really.”

Angela belatedly pretended to stagger, but his eyes were only cold. There was no warmth in them that he had shown just before. Rather, there was a considerable amount of anger.

Only then did Angela realize that he was truly angry, and she rolled her eyes.

“You…”

“The 11th floor is hell right now.”

She made the first move. Even though he knew her shallow trick, he had no choice but to pretend to be fooled.

Although he had heard the story through Krasto, the information about the 11th floor that the giant had given him was too fragmentary.

So, he decided to postpone correcting Angela’s habits for a while.

“Tell me.”

Angela, thinking that her intention had worked, quickly began to rattle off what she had seen and heard.

“Um…”

Kim Jin-woo’s expression as he listened to her story hardened like a stone.

***

The situation on the 11th floor was more serious than he thought.

“The Counts are being pushed back?”

“Yes. I met Anatolius, but he didn’t have time to have a proper conversation. The situation was so bad.”

Angela’s face, devoid of playfulness, even showed a hint of fear.

“He said that the Counts might mobilize their subordinate nobles. And he said that when that happens, he will ask you for help.”

“Hmm…”

Now he began to understand the whole situation. The reason why Parthenon withdrew its troops so hastily was because the war situation on the 11th floor was flowing differently than expected.

And considering the black marketeer’s usual schemes and his actions of interfering in various major and minor events as if he were coordinating the underground world, he must be moving so busily now that he couldn’t care less about the 9th floor.

His thoughts grew longer. He hadn’t even advanced to the 10th floor yet, but the war on the 11th floor made his head complicated.

“If they ask you for help, will you accept it?”

Angela asked with a worried look. She seemed worried that her master would get involved in the war on the 11th floor.

“Well…”

“Please don’t get involved. The war on the 11th floor is so terrible that it can’t be compared to the war waged by the nobles on the 10th floor. If you get involved rashly…”

She trailed off, but he could guess the last words she had to swallow without hearing them.

“Okay, I won’t get involved in the war.”

Kim Jin-woo said firmly as if he had finally sorted out his thoughts. Angela’s face quickly showed relief. But that was only for a moment.

“But I can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

Her pale face turned even whiter.

***

Angela said that the war would spread to the 9th floor right away, but Kim Jin-woo was skeptical of her thoughts.

The 9th floor being swept away by the war would only happen if the Counts of the 11th floor were completely defeated.

So, he expected the war to be prolonged.

“I’ll be away, so if anything happens, find the Mirror Wraith. Espesto will be able to fill my position for a while.”

“Wouldn’t it be a little dangerous to leave your position in this situation?”

Angela, who had become much more fearful since returning from the 11th floor, expressed her concern.

“If something happens, it means that the situation has gotten so bad that the Counts can’t do anything about it. If the situation gets that bad, there’s nothing we can do anyway.”

Angela still looked uneasy at his answer. Seeing her, Kim Jin-woo added briefly.

“So, we have to find a breakthrough by using something they don’t have.”

Something that was not allowed to the powerful Counts of the 11th floor, and the decisive reason why Kim Jin-woo was different from them: he was a surface dweller.