Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 254

Dungeon Chronicle – Episode 255

89. The Decisive Battle

I desperately hoped it wasn’t true. But after checking several times, the spot where only grotesque remains were left was undeniably Dominique’s.

“Who dares!”

Morrigan was truly enraged, her eyes bloodshot as she glared around, ready to tear any intruder to shreds.

“Hold on. Calm down, Black Omen.”

Heimdall quietly calmed her down.

“The defenses here are by no means weak.”

Although the main force had been pulled away due to the war, the Great Labyrinth’s defenses were still formidable.

The Great Labyrinth itself was a living, breathing entity, fierce enough to swallow whole the petty malice of any intruder with wicked intentions.

Moreover, the Under Elf patrols, who were utterly devoted to their master, were keeping a vigilant watch, their eyes peeled for any sign of trouble.

It was unthinkable that someone could infiltrate the Great Labyrinth, especially this deepest part, without anyone noticing.

“What if someone didn’t break *into* the egg, but she broke *out* of it herself?”

Heimdall’s reasoning was plausible, and it helped Morrigan barely quell her seething anger.

However, questions still remained.

“Ugh. Okay, let’s say you’re right.”

Morrigan looked around and said,

“Then where is she now?”

Only the shattered remains of the egg remained in the owner’s room; Dominique was nowhere to be seen.

***

While Morrigan and the other summons were racking their brains to find the missing Dominique, Kim Jin-woo was about to face the decisive battle.

“So that’s the Ursus Labyrinth.”

Born and raised in the Spider Duke’s Labyrinth, he had never had the opportunity to appreciate the labyrinth’s exterior.

Even on the day he gained his freedom, he had been led out of the labyrinth by Sohee without knowing what was going on. This was the first time he had properly admired the Duke’s Labyrinth from such close range.

The majesty of the Duke-class labyrinth he faced was overwhelming.

Although Daedalus’s touch had given it some shape, the Great Labyrinth, which grew and expanded its borders on its own, was, in fact, rather unsightly.

In comparison, the Ursus Labyrinth was almost a work of art.

The massive entrance, large enough for five or six Ursus Highs [powerful bear-like creatures] to pass through side by side, had no special decorations, but it was magnificent in itself. Beyond it, the frozen, transparent walls of the passage reflected light, shimmering brilliantly.

It looked like it contained a giant crystal, but its energy was so cold and chilling that it put the Great Labyrinth, which had earned the title of Frost, to shame.

It was indeed a majesty befitting the name of Duke.

“That Luyang guy was a pathetic excuse for a Duke.”

The more he realized the power of the Dukes, the more he felt how hollow Luyang had been.

“Uwoooooo!”

Lost in thought, he snapped back to his senses at the sudden roar. He saw the Tarus [minotaur-like creatures] cheering and raising their spirits.

“Surely, even the Tarus wouldn’t start attacking without taking a breather, right?”

Angela asked with a dismayed expression as she watched the Tarus Ogres, who had finished their formation in a short time, stomp their feet.

Although they had been walking at a somewhat leisurely pace, the distance they had traveled without rest was by no means short.

Charging into enemy territory in that state, with who knows what traps waiting, was a terrible move.

But the Duke who ruled the Tarus seemed to think differently.

The battle readiness of the Tarus, which was gradually intensifying, was too sharp to be dismissed as mere bluster.

“Looks like that’s exactly what’s happening.”

Kim Jin-woo shook his head, feeling the battle readiness, which was taking shape as clearly as if it were visible, heading towards the Ursus Labyrinth.

In fact, he had hoped that the Tarus would buy some time. He had hoped that they would start their advance only after fully grasping the movements of the Eastern army.

“Rickshasha, what’s the situation?”

“The Eastern army has stopped less than a day’s journey from here and is no longer moving. Unfortunately, we cannot tell where the enemy’s vanguard is heading at this time.”

However, the sly Tarus allied forces showed no signs of moving, and no one knew where they would go.

“Tell the Tarus to arrange a meeting with the Duke.”

At his words, the Imp girl headed towards the Tarus with a reluctant expression.

***

The Duke did not refuse the meeting. Kim Jin-woo mentioned the movements of the Eastern Labyrinth and suggested delaying the attack, but the Duke did not accept the proposal.

“Tch, I thought something was wrong since they were acting so agitated……”

He thought that the plan had gone awry because the movements of the third Duke were somewhat ambiguous, but it turned out that even that was within expectations.

Otherwise, there would have been no reason for the Tarus to rush the attack with a suspicious army so close by.

“I guess I’ll only know their real intentions at the very end.”

If the Tarus King had prepared the Duke of the East as a card, then he had prepared the Dragon Emperor as a card.

And in his opinion, the Dragon Emperor was clearly a rare and powerful card even in the Underworld.

The fact that the Dragon Emperor had survived until now, despite the Dracon’s [dragon-kin] unique penalty of having to speak only the truth in the Underworld, which was rife with lies, hypocrisy, deception, and betrayal, was proof of that.

“I don’t really trust that half-baked Dracon.”

There was no doubt about the Dragon Emperor’s abilities, but Angela seemed uneasy, perhaps because she didn’t trust Ortea, who was in charge of delivering the message.

However, unlike her concerns, Kim Jin-woo had a rather relaxed expression.

“Don’t worry.”

She tilted her head at his strange confidence, and he grinned.

“Ortea’s tattling is the best in the Underworld.”

He was a half-wit who didn’t think about restoring his own honor and only tried to rely on the authority of his bloodline, but he knew how powerful his father’s power was.

Moreover, he had no hesitation in borrowing that power, so there was no one more suitable to be a messenger than him.

“In some ways, he’s amazing.”

Angela let out a hollow laugh at his absurd words.

As they were talking, a Tarus messenger came to inform them that the decisive battle was imminent, as if they had finished preparing for battle.

Koo-oong.

At the appointed time, the Tarus Ogres stomped their feet in unison and began to advance.

Perhaps because they were facing a decisive battle with their arch-enemy, the Tarus’s spirit was fiercer than ever.

“Geu-woh-ah-ah-ah-ah!”

The Tarus Ogres, who had put on flamboyant war paint, threw the corpses of the Ursus Highs who had been sacrificed in the previous battle at the entrance of the labyrinth and screamed at the top of their lungs.

The stench of blood was already thick, even before the battle had begun.

“They’re insulting the fallen Ursus Highs.”

The Imp girl frowned and translated the Tarus’s shouts from afar.

“Are they provoking them?”

Despite the fact that the proud warriors of their clan were being insulted, the Ursus still hid themselves beyond the labyrinth, not showing their faces.

But that didn’t mean they were indifferent to the Tarus’s atrocities.

The murderous intent that surged from the depths of the silent labyrinth was transmitted to a considerable distance.

He shrugged off his shoulders at the tingling sensation on his skin and clicked his tongue as he looked at the Tarus, who were gloating and chattering.

“They’re using cheap tricks.”

It seemed that the Tarus wanted to make the battlefield outside the labyrinth rather than inside the labyrinth.

Well, considering the enormous advantage of the defending side, it was advantageous to lure the Ursus out by any means possible.

But it wouldn’t work.

The Ursus had lured the Tarus in at the cost of sacrificing as many as 10,000 elite warriors. There was no way they would be swayed by such cheap provocations.

The Tarus knew this well, and they were not disappointed by the lack of response from the labyrinth. The vanguard, which had been fluctuating haphazardly, began to move again, focusing its momentum in one direction.

“Hmm……”

Kim Jin-woo narrowed his eyes at Angela’s voice as he watched the Tarus vanguard disappear beyond the entrance of the labyrinth.

“When will we move?”

“Let’s try to get involved as late as possible. After all, we can assume that all the guys who go in first will die.”

The opportunity they had gained in exchange for 10,000 elite warriors—he couldn’t even imagine what kind of traps the Ursus had set up and were waiting for.

If possible, the way to minimize damage was to enter after the identity of the trap was fully revealed.

He glanced at the Tarus King and saw that he was so focused on the vanguard that he didn’t even care what he and the vampires were doing.

“Still, I’m curious.”

He was curious to know what kind of great trap the Ursus had prepared at the cost of sacrificing 10,000 elite warriors, but he had no intention of experiencing it himself.

***

How much time had passed? Already more than half of the Tarus had entered the labyrinth. But even so, the Ursus remained silent.

The Tarus, who had been roaring and shaking the ground at first, stopped opening their mouths at some point.

The only thing that could be heard was the Tarus’s rough breathing.

“Are they waiting for the leader to enter?”

Kim Jin-woo glanced at the Tarus King, who was still standing his ground.

The Duke, who boasted a greater presence than any other Tarus, was watching the endless procession of warriors with an inscrutable expression, wondering what he was thinking.

“Now, what are you going to do? Unless you move, this battle will not begin.”

He muttered with a face that seemed to expect how the Tarus King, who was quick-witted unlike his simple appearance, would come out.

“Master.”

At that time, Rickshasha approached with a stiff face.

“The Eastern army has begun to move.”

“Which direction?”

Kim Jin-woo asked as if he had been waiting for it.

“South, heading right here.”

The moment he heard those words, he let out a sigh of relief without realizing it. This relieved him of the worry that the Great Labyrinth would be exposed to enemy attack.

From the standpoint of being inwardly concerned about the Great Labyrinth more than the battle that was imminent, he couldn’t help but feel relieved.

But that didn’t mean he could rest completely assured. The Great Labyrinth was out of danger, but he himself was still in the middle of the battlefield, and his opponents were stronger than any he had ever faced.

As many as three Dukes, terrible monsters who had reigned as rulers for a long time, were his opponents.

“Master, the leader has begun to move.”

Kim Jin-woo, who was receiving Rickshasha’s report, turned his head at Angela’s voice.

He saw the giant Tarus leading the red-haired Tarus Ogre bodyguards, beginning to move.

“Move behind the bodyguards.”

The Ursus were undoubtedly aiming for the Tarus’s ruler. Therefore, the most dangerous battlefield would naturally be where the Tarus King was.

But that was why he had no choice but to follow behind that giant Tarus.

Even in the midst of a fierce battlefield, the place where the most terrible danger lurked, that was his banquet hall.

***

At the time when Kim Jin-woo entered the Ursus Labyrinth following the Tarus, there was a shadow moving from afar, tracing his trail.

Shashashak.

Compared to the steady and leisurely shoulders, the speed of movement, which was sliding, was strangely fast. The shadow’s movement was stealthy, swift, and relentless.

“Haa, haa.”

He was breathing roughly from time to time, as if he had traveled quite a distance, but the shadow did not stop for even a moment.

At first glance, it looked like he was chasing something, or vice versa, being chased.

“Just wait a little longer, I’m coming.”

The shadow, which had taken a brief breath, picked up speed again and moved forward.