Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 201

Dungeon Journal – Episode 202

# 202

Dungeon Journal

Episode 202

Night, twilight—words he couldn’t quite grasp. Yet, the whisper left by the Lord of Lament resonated within him, strangely captivating.

She gazed at him with clear, glass-like eyes, her lips slightly parted.

“When that time comes, the walls raised in false pretense will crumble, and the throne built upon stolen authority will be worth less than a handful of dust.”

The almost prophetic certainty echoed around them, a deep, resonant hum.

“But before that, we must prepare for the night.”

He, who had been listening quietly, could no longer hold back his question.

“Does this ‘night’ refer to a specific period?”

He couldn’t even begin to imagine what night could mean in the Underworld, where there was no distinction between day and night. So he asked, and she gently corrected him with a shake of her head.

“No, ‘night’ is literally ‘Night’.”

Her voice was eerily subdued. She lowered it even further.

“It is the name of the darkness that dwells in the deepest parts of the Underworld, and the name of the terrible beast that murdered the mighty old lords.”

His first thought was of the usurper who had driven out the old lords and created the current Underworld.

However, the Lord of Lament shook her head, saying that Night and the usurper were distinctly different entities. At this clear denial, Kim Jin-woo frowned, utterly perplexed. She stared at him intently before rising from her seat.

“That’s all I can tell you for now.”

She, who seemed ready to tell him anything, pressed her lips shut and promised to meet again.

The unresolved questions still churned chaotically in his mind, but there would be many more opportunities to meet her while the auction was underway.

So he didn’t stop her as she left the room.

“Hoo.”

Alone in the room, he let out a long sigh.

He already knew that the fragmented Underworld would be united, but he was ignorant of the dangers that would come before the return to the past. Perhaps if the Lord of Lament hadn’t come this time, he might have suffered a great setback.

‘Night is our nemesis. Now I understand why the First and Second discussed testing you instead of eliminating you.’

She said that the High Lords must unite to fight against the terrible monster called Night.

The thought of how dreadful it must be to require the alliance of the mighty High Lords made his chest tighten.

Knock, knock.

Lost in thought, he was startled by the knock and looked up. Perhaps it was the lingering effect of the Lord of Lament’s ominous prophecy, but he found himself shouting sharply at the mere sound.

“Who is it?”

“I’ve come to escort you,” the imp girl’s high, thin voice, which had become quite familiar in the past few days, replied from outside the door.

“Ah, I’ll be out soon.”

He remembered his appointment with the Black Merchant, which he had completely forgotten, and quickly got up.

“Hmm…”

As he left the lodging, he scanned the darkness lurking in the room and frowned. Perhaps it was his imagination, but the darkness in the room seemed particularly thick.

Leaving the room, Kim Jin-woo walked along the winding passage for quite some time before finally arriving somewhere.

“We’ve arrived.”

The imp girl, who had looked somewhat troubled because he had asked her the destination several times during the walk, announced their arrival in a cheerful voice.

“Is this it?”

Kim Jin-woo looked up at the stone gate before him.

The massive gate, large enough for even the tallest giants to pass through without bending, was made of solid rock, and its sturdiness was evident at a glance.

Creak, creak.

As he examined the massive gate, the imp girl, clinging to the wall, wiggled her fingers, and the gate began to shake with a heavy sound.

The booming noise continued for a while until the gate, which seemed like it would never move, slowly began to lift.

But from beyond the small gap that opened, an overwhelming stench wafted out.

“Ugh.”

Even he, who had developed some resistance to odors from encountering countless grotesque creatures in the Underworld, recoiled, clutching his nose.

A dizzying sensation made him stagger back as a massive golden object came into view through the opening.

But whatever it was, it was so enormous that its entirety could not be seen even through the half-raised stone gate.

The outline slowly emerged.

A massive being covered in golden, brilliantly shining scales…

Only after the massive stone gate was raised about two-thirds of the way could he finally see the monster properly.

“A dragon?”

The sight of the monster, as vivid as if it had just stepped out of a legend, made him utter the word without realizing it.

“That’s a pleasant thing to hear, but I am not a dragon.”

A voice so thunderous that it seemed to shake the world. Come to think of it, the monster’s appearance was somehow familiar.

“You are…”

The intense impact he had felt at their first encounter disappeared, and Kim Jin-woo felt as if he had finally returned to reality.

The massive creature he had mistaken for a dragon resembled a Flood Dragon [a type of dragon-like creature in some mythologies] more than a true dragon.

However, the beauty of its radiant golden scales and its graceful yet powerful physique were so overwhelming that even the Dragon King, the ruler of the Flood Dragons, could not compare.

“It was a Drakon.”

Although its majesty and aura were incomparable to any Drakon he knew, it was definitely a Drakon.

“Greetings, Commander of Inheritance.”

The golden-scaled dragonkin greeted him, gazing at him with eyes full of vitality.

“I am Agripptus, leader of the Drakonus clan.”

The moment he heard the words ‘Drakonus clan,’ the first thing that came to his mind was the half-baked Drakon.

“Ortega!”

His face twisted fiercely as he recalled Ortega, who had disappeared from the labyrinth a year ago when the dawn rooster crowed [a common idiom signifying the end of something or a deadline].

Agripptus was the Dragon Emperor who ruled over the descendants of the earth dragons remaining in the Underworld, and a Duke of the Deep Layer with the alias ‘Lord of Blazing Flames.’ He was also the father of the half-baked Drakon who had abandoned his oath of fealty and fled.

“Well, I’ll be off then!”

The imp girl, as if she had finished her job by introducing the two giants, fled the cavern as if escaping before he could even grab her. No sooner had she disappeared than the massive stone gate slammed down with a thud.

“Do not worry. I merely wished to speak with you alone; I have no other intentions.”

Kim Jin-woo scoffed at Agripptus’s words.

Since the Drakon, who was said to be incapable of lying, had abandoned his oath of fealty and fled, it was only natural that his attitude was cynical.

“Say what you have to say. Although I no longer believe that the Drakon’s words are without falsehood, I will listen.”

Despite facing a Duke of the Deep Layer for the first time, with the exception of the Spider Duke, Kim Jin-woo remained indifferent.

Whether it was because there was no direct animosity between them, or because he trusted in his own power as a High Lord, it was clear that they were on equal footing at this moment.

Otherwise, there was no way that the majestic Dragon Emperor would have remained still in the face of his mockery.

“It is true that our clan cannot speak falsehoods.”

Thinking about how much Down Gem he had invested in the disappeared Ortega, and how much the summoning stone was worth, made his stomach churn.

However, he couldn’t afford to waste time engaging in emotional battles with someone who was a Duke. So he suppressed his urge to interrupt and watched what Agripptus would do.

“Therefore, I ask you a favor.”

But there was a limit to shamelessness. Agripptus quickly spoke to him as his expression turned fierce.

“Save Ortega.”

“What?”

He narrowed his eyes and asked at the unexpected words, and the Dragon Emperor said with a complicated expression.

“Ortega, who has forsaken the pride and trust of the Drakon, is now dying under a terrible curse.”

He could guess the rest without hearing it.

Ortega, who had received a terrible curse for abandoning his oath of fealty, could only break the curse by paying the price of betrayal and continuing his oath with loyalty and devotion.

“Take Ortega back.”

As expected, Agripptus was trying to entrust Ortega to him.

“A guy who ran away from the battlefield once is bound to abandon everything again.”

It was an interesting experience to see the Drakon, who was famous for his pride, making such a pitiful request, but there was no reason for him to accept Ortega now.

The Great Labyrinth now boasted a level of power that was incomparable to the past when the strength of Hero-grade summons was weak.

In such a situation, he didn’t feel the need to forcibly create a place for a deserter.

But,

“If I take Ortega back, what will I get?”

It was worth making a deal.

“Name what you desire.”

From now on, it was just a matter of how much the proud and self-respecting Dragon Emperor was willing to sacrifice for his bloodline.

Kim Jin-woo, with one corner of his mouth raised, looked at the Dragon Emperor and said.

“What I want is…”

***

“How was it? Wasn’t it quite a beneficial meeting for the Lord, just as I said?”

No sooner had the meeting with Agripptus ended than the Fence appeared, acting as a guide and boasting as if he had done a great service.

“The Dragon Emperor, who is full of pride, would never bow his head again. If the Drakon who fled from the Lord’s command wasn’t one of the few remaining golden-scaled dragonkin, the Dragon Emperor probably wouldn’t have conceded this much.”

Kim Jin-woo didn’t deny it. Although it was only a single meeting, the Dragon Emperor was so noble that he couldn’t believe he was the father of the frivolous Ortega.

If it hadn’t been for Ortega’s situation, he wouldn’t have even glanced at the Conqueror of the 9th Floor or the Commander of Inheritance.

“Perhaps he thought that being tied to an Underworlder with a short lifespan would only be temporary.”

The Fence neither affirmed nor denied his words.

“But the Lord didn’t lose anything, did he? He gained a loyal subordinate to use as he pleases, and he also gained the protection of the Dragon Emperor, one of the most powerful Dukes in the Deep Layer. In terms of business, this is the jackpot of all jackpots.”

The Fence, who was usually full of self-praise, was particularly so today.

Kim Jin-woo, looking at the Fence with a slightly frowning face, belatedly realized that the round face was hesitating as if he had something to say.

“What is it? Do you have a favor to ask of me?”

Thinking that he was hesitating because he had a favor to ask, he asked, and the Fence replied as if he had been waiting for it.