Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 145

Dungeon Chronicle – Episode 146

Kim Jin-woo felt increasingly uneasy, unnerved by the man’s know-it-all attitude.

Usthuthu, the cyclops king, was a fragment of an ancient monarch. And now, he had a pressing reason to gather the remnants of his former power.

There was no way he would leave Usthuthu, a fragment of himself, untouched; the power he represented was far greater than any noble’s seal.

He had been quite cooperative until now, but it was only natural for him to want to take that power for his own survival.

But at this moment, he hesitated, a flicker of doubt in his eyes. And he knew the reason well.

“It’s as if you’ve been waiting for this.”

Usthuthu seemed to have known from the beginning that things would turn out this way. That’s why Kim Jin-woo couldn’t shake off his unease.

“You have inherited the will of the great monarch, but your vessel is too small to fully contain its power. And even that small power will eventually attract the attention of the usurper and be taken away.”

As expected, it was a smooth, pre-prepared answer.

“Wouldn’t it be more reasonable to entrust everything to you rather than risk that?”

“Even if the price is your death?”

With a noble’s seal, it’s simply a matter of transferring ownership. But in the case of Usthuthu, who was himself a fragment of the monarch, things were not so simple.

Even knowing this, Usthuthu did not hesitate.

“Why me of all people? Do I have some hidden grudge against the Duke of the Underworld?”

Usthuthu shook his head.

“Your actions will change after your revenge is complete. I know that very well, too.”

“But why?”

Still an incomprehensible answer. Usthuthu’s voice continued.

“Because it has to be you.”

“What nonsense…”

Kim Jin-woo stopped, a sudden memory flashing in his mind. The fragment of the old monarch mixed in with the Special Task Force had said the same thing.

“It has to be you.”

He hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time. But hearing the same words for the second time, he couldn’t help but be bothered by it.

“There’s something more to it. A reason why it has to be me. There is such a thing, isn’t there?”

Perhaps because he thought it might be the last time, Usthuthu revealed everything, holding nothing back.

“The masters of the lower floors are not qualified. They are no better than I am. But the nobles of the deep layers are also not allowed. They cannot defy the usurper.”

The usurper, who divided the once-united Underworld into layers and continents, was the creator and administrator of the current system. And the nobles, who benefited the most from the Underworld’s system, could not go against the usurper’s will.

“But you are different.”

What made Kim Jin-woo different from other Underworld nobles was the fact that he was from the Surface [the human world].

“Because you will not be forced into the Underworld’s system.”

Kim Jin-woo was speechless at Usthuthu’s confident answer.

“Hmm…”

But only for a moment. His face hardened as he saw the battle report messages constantly popping up, reporting that several armies on the 9th floor had been annihilated and their masters had disappeared.

“Are you really not going to regret this?”

It was a meaningless question, but he ended up blurting it out, overwhelmed by Usthuthu’s solemn atmosphere.

The fragment of the old monarch, looking at him, did not answer. Although his whole body was made of grotesque eyeballs, Usthuthu somehow seemed to be smiling.

“May the merciful monarch be blessed!”

With that cry, Usthuthu began to emit light from his whole body. The guardian dragons gestured roughly and stepped back at the intense wave of power that echoed throughout the Underworld. The Naga dragon knights were busy trying to calm the guardian dragons.

“Step back.”

At Kim Jin-woo’s words, the dragon knights quickly retreated. But the guardian dragons were still panting roughly, as if they were still affected by the energy wave.

It couldn’t be helped. The wave of power shaking the entire labyrinth was so intense that it reached even the farthest corners.

And that vibration was the biggest reason why Kim Jin-woo had come to Usthuthu in the midst of the urgent war. If it were a peaceful time, the counts of the deep layers would have noticed the anomaly on the 10th floor.

But in the current chaos of the 10th floor, where countless lives and deaths were flashing, they would not easily notice the anomaly.

Looking around for a moment, he stepped into the intense flash that seemed to blind him. He had only taken one step, but before he knew it, his whole body was buried in the flash, as if he was being sucked in.

He had to grit his teeth against the dizzying sense of floating and the terrible pain, as if the blood vessels in his whole body were bursting.

There is no power in the world without a price, so if he thought of it as the price for inheriting even a fragment of the old monarch’s power, it was not unbearable.

And the pain that seemed like it would never end finally began to gradually fade away.

“Hoo.”

The moment his breath was unblocked, he took a deep breath and exhaled the remnants of pain remaining in his body.

“It’s already the second time, but I can’t get used to it.”

He had already absorbed the power of an old monarch once, but the pain of the blood vessels throbbing was something he could never get used to.

He was sniffing his sweat-soaked body and loosening his stiff muscles and joints when he was finally able to relax after seeing the message that appeared in front of him.

[You have obtained a fragment of the one-eyed monarch who was the most powerful of the ten monarchs who ruled the ancient Underworld.]

[You can now use some of the power of the one-eyed monarch.]

[It will take 599:59:54 to fully digest the power.]

This one was so large that it would take a whopping 25 days to digest the power. A tedious wait remained as a task, but he was not disappointed. Sooner or later, the power that Usthuthu had enjoyed would become his own.

[The labyrinth ruled by Usthuthu, the king of the one-eyed, has been subjugated.]

[One hundred one-eyed have joined.]

He was intoxicated by the afterglow of power, and he quickly checked the messages that appeared in succession.

[The noble’s seals possessed by Usthuthu are combined into one.]

[You need to gather more fragments of the old power. If you’re lucky, you may be able to gather all the fragments scattered in the Underworld and completely revive the power of the once mighty High Lord.]

[Fragments collected so far (3/?)]

Obtaining the noble’s seal possessed by Usthuthu was a bonus.

Although his mind was somewhat complicated, he had obtained what he wanted, so it was time to rejoin the battlefield.

Kim Jin-woo, who ordered the surroundings to be cleaned up and sent a messenger to the main force to request troops to guard the labyrinth of the one-eyed, climbed onto the guardian dragon.

“Go…”

His face hardened just as he was about to give the departure signal.

‘I left you a gift for the last time.’

It was Usthuthu’s voice, who had given all his power and disappeared, echoing in his head.

“Usthuthu?”

‘The usurper’s gaze will not be able to follow you for the time being, so I hope you will conserve as much power as possible.’

A one-sided message, as if it were recorded.

‘May good fortune be with you.’

There were many things he wanted to know, such as how long he could hide from the usurper’s gaze and what the method was, but he didn’t ask. He could feel with his whole body that even the last remaining fragment of thought had completely disappeared.

“Let’s go!”

Kim Jin-woo, who had been looking at the labyrinth of the one-eyed, which had changed owners in a short time, led the guardian dragon and started running.

***

The battle was fierce. Screams and shouts echoed everywhere, and the struggle between those who were trying to protect and those who were trying to take away continued.

But the victory was already as good as decided.

The army of the 9th floor labyrinth dispatched for this war numbered over 10,000, and the number of labyrinth masters and hero-level summons included in it was 100 and 1,000 respectively.

No matter how much the amplification effect was maximized in his own territory, there was no way he could withstand that enormous number.

Thus, the nobles were continuing a difficult battle, surrounded by the army of the 9th floor labyrinth that was constantly pushing in.

“What’s the situation?”

Kim Jin-woo asked, looking at the soldiers swarming in the passage that had been widened by force to take advantage of the numerical superiority.

“Seventeen of the 100 labyrinth masters who participated have been killed, and the damage to the general forces is also over 2,500.”

More than 2,000 lives had disappeared in a single day, but neither Dominique, who was reporting, nor he, who was receiving the report, cared at all.

“It’s slower than I thought. I thought I could conquer seven out of ten.”

It seemed that the Moai [powerful, autonomous monsters] had revived the fighting spirit of the fallen nobles. The nobles, who had been terrible when he last saw them, were fighting quite well.

“The nobles’ power was stronger than I thought.”

He also knew that very well. It was clear that Morrighan and Heimdall were powerful warriors, but it was difficult to defeat the nobles who were focusing on defense while receiving the amplification effect.

Boreas was also a strongman on the 10th floor, but he did not have the power to take the head of the leader in someone else’s labyrinth, which was not his own territory.

“The crows and Heimdall each destroyed two, and Boreas and the Stormwind Warriors destroyed one, but the problem is the future battles. The crows and the Dawn Chicken are both tired from the continuous battles, and Boreas has been excluded from the battle due to injuries.”

Dominique’s report was not over yet.

“Besides, the biggest problem is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to lure the Moai. About half of the armies that went on the attack are fighting the Moai. If this continues, we may not be able to achieve our goal.”

In the meantime, Ricksha and the Under Elves had been trying to lure the Moai out and remove them from the battlefield, but it seemed that they had reached their limit. A considerable number of armies had already started fighting the Moai.

“It’s not going as planned.”

Victory was a foregone conclusion, but the key was how to win with as little damage as possible. It was good to filter out the dregs, but the labyrinths that could be called the core were also being damaged in the process, so it was time to come up with a plan.

“What are you going to do? The number of soldiers whose combat power has decreased due to the inter-floor penalty is close to half. If we overdo it, even if we conquer the remaining noble’s labyrinth, the damage will be considerable.”

Dominique was implicitly asking if it was okay to be satisfied with this level of achievement and retreat.

They had destroyed five labyrinths, so it could not be said that there were no results at all, but it was a meager achievement considering that they had led the entire 9th floor.

“We also have to think about the retreat route. Considering the movements of the Moai, the way back will not be easy either.”

It was impossible to avoid the battle with the Moai who had already started to flock from all directions. That’s why Dominique had left a considerable number of troops as reserves for the main force.

“It’s terrible. To be unable to do anything about a few nobles on the 10th floor who have been declining.”

He never thought it would be easy to win. The enemies were the core members who had stubbornly endured even on the 10th floor, which had been almost completely destroyed by the Moai. It was natural that it would not be easy to wage a war against such people.

Perhaps through this war, the 9th floor labyrinth would lose more than expected and a power vacuum would be created. But even so, from his point of view, this war was a necessary war.

He had a goal to achieve, no matter how much sacrifice was made.

“What are you going to do? If you’re going to retreat, it’s only now.”

At Dominique’s urging, Kim Jin-woo smiled bitterly and replied.

“I understand Krasto’s feelings.”

Krasto, who had to fight reckless battles to protect the name of invincibility, eventually failed to protect even his own power, let alone his name, and completely fell.

And at this moment, Kim Jin-woo also had to face the same choice as Krasto.

Withdrawing the troops as they were was not a defeat. They had conquered five of the ten labyrinths they had aimed for, and they had also been able to obtain Usthuthu’s labyrinth, which was the biggest goal, intact. But such achievements did not mean victory.

And he only wanted victory. He was the one and only floor conqueror and commander of all battles in the Underworld.

“There is no retreat.”

At Kim Jin-woo’s words, Dominique sighed with a face that said he knew it.