Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 255

Dungeon Chronicle – Episode 256

# 256

Dungeon Chronicle

Screams mingled with savage roars echoed incessantly. Everywhere one looked, there were only faces contorted with malice, and the crimson blood that filled the surroundings stung the eyes.

“Ggrrrroooooaaaaar!”

“Kkyaaaak!”

“S, save me!”

Amidst the unintelligible curses and bellows, the screams of the vampires were now sporadic.

“Master! The number of our thralls is dwindling!”

“Damn it, where are those dukes!”

Kim Jin-woo spat out a curse.

It had only been three hours since they had confidently entered the Ursus Labyrinth, escorted by the Tarus honor guard, yet already more than half of their forces had been sacrificed.

Despite this, he had not even caught a glimpse of the trap prepared by the Ursus.

They had lost half their forces in what was essentially just a preliminary skirmish. Even though these forces were merely hastily created mock vampires, the loss was still painful.

Naturally, he was not in a good mood.

“Hoo, how many more are you planning to draw in?”

The King of the Tarus, surrounded by his honor guard, remained unhurried, seemingly out of place in the chaotic battlefield.

Despite the Ursus’ concentrated attacks, the Duke’s honor guard stood like an iron wall, allowing no approach, and in the end, only the surrounding forces were dying.

And, regrettably, Kim Jin-woo and the vampires suffered the greatest losses in the process.

Now, the number of enemies outnumbered their allies. The main event hadn’t even started, but he was already starting to feel exhausted.

It wasn’t that his own power was lacking. He was confident that he could clear out the surrounding enemies simply by unleashing the Authority of Greed that clamored to be released from within him.

However, if he wasted his power from the start, he might run out of strength when the dukes intervened, leaving him with eternal regret.

For now, the best option was to suppress his power and wield his magic spear.

“Hoo. Hoo.”

How many times had he thrust and retracted his spear? Perhaps it was because he was only using his physical strength, but he was already starting to run out of breath.

The Ursus Highs, amplified by the buff, were that much tougher and stronger.

“Master, you need to take a break. At this rate, neither you nor I will be able to endure when the real battle begins.”

Angela, who had lost most of her thralls, quietly suggested retreating.

“Once we’re pushed back, we’ll be far from the center. We have to endure, even if it’s tough.”

He shook his head.

The Ursus Labyrinth was as complex as it was vast.

The frozen walls of the labyrinth stole the invader’s sense of direction like a trap of distortion created by Daedalus [a mythical Greek architect and craftsman], making it impossible to trust any sense.

The only thing to trust was sight, and no one could guarantee what would happen if they lost sight of the Duke.

Kim Jin-woo silently retrieved his spear, watching the honor guard and the Duke who were still not moving. An Ursus High, who had been rampaging right in front of him, charged with bloodshot eyes.

He’s regarding me as an enemy.

He smiled bitterly. It was an alliance that had started without trust from the beginning, but seeing the Ursus High’s face full of hostility, it seemed unlikely that they would coexist even after the war ended.

“Well, living together in harmony isn’t for us anyway.”

The head of the Ursus High, its jaws wide open as if to swallow him whole, filled his vision.

“Ggeuk?”

The white bear, unable to chase the target that had disappeared before its eyes, made a momentarily dumbfounded sound as he brutally seized its head.

“Krrrroooarr.”

The white bear rampaged. Sharp claws swung wildly, as if to tear its own head apart. He skillfully avoided the angry gestures and forcibly grabbed the thick neck that he couldn’t even wrap his arms around.

Hoo, along with a breath, a small amount of the suppressed Authority of Greed was released.

Crack.

The white bear opened its mouth. But it didn’t look as ferocious as before. The Ursus High, sticking out its tongue and gasping for air, looked pathetically out of character with its ferocity.

“Kkeueueu.”

The fur caught in his grip quickly broke off strand by strand and fell away in clumps.

The massive body, filled with solid muscle, shriveled like a deflated balloon and eventually disappeared without a trace, turning into a handful of dust.

“Hoo.”

It was far from enough life force for a meal for the greedy monarch, but it was enough to restore his tired body. He felt the vitality returning to his body and took a breath.

Thud.

Angela, who had been watching him from right beside him, was also sucking blood from an Ursus High she had grabbed.

Seeing the color returning to her pale complexion, it seemed that she had also put out the immediate fire.

Several vampires followed them, clinging to the bodies of the wounded bears and greedily sucking their blood.

However, not all allies had such skills. The Ursus’ hides were too tough and leathery for the mock vampires’ fangs to penetrate.

Except for a few vampires who managed to sink their teeth into wounds, the allies were torn apart without a chance to recover.

“Ggrrrroooooaaaaar.”

“Krrrroooarr.”

The giant bulls and white bears clawed and bit each other as if to kill each other. Even as allies died right beside them, they blindly attacked only the enemy in front of them, without even looking back.

Kim Jin-woo was also completely immersed in the flow.

The sense of time disappeared. Only the sensation of flesh tearing at the end of the spear he mechanically wielded felt real. All other senses gradually dulled in the continuous battle.

Complete selflessness, when his energy ran out, he plundered life force, and when he saw an enemy, he cut them down. That was all.

Superfluous movements disappeared, and what filled their place was only efficient movement to the point of being ruthless. Before he knew it, his surroundings were filled with piles of white bear corpses.

The King of the Tarus, who had been watching the scene from afar, let out a small exclamation.

A rare fighting method in the underground. It was clear that he was hiding a significant portion of his own power, but even with just his efficient movements, he had a strength that ordinary counts could not match.

“If the white bear bastards don’t step up, it’s going to be quite troublesome.”

His heart, which always raced recklessly when he met a strong opponent, was clamoring for the first time in a while. But he suppressed his fighting spirit by putting strength in his nostrils and breathing out roughly.

He was a formidable opponent, but that was all.

He had a record of defeating the satyrs, but he didn’t care about a half-baked duke who couldn’t even use his Authority properly.

Even if he had defeated such a half-baked opponent, he didn’t think he would be a match for him.

His only rival was the Ursus, his archenemy.

He shook his head, watching the Ursus Highs that were densely packed only around the commander of the Victorious Faction, as if they had planned it.

The other side doesn’t seem to be showing much sincerity either. It seems their purpose is to weaken the commander of the Victorious Faction rather than taking him down right away.

No, perhaps the cunning white bears want us and that guy to fight each other.

The Duke, recalling the face of his cunning archenemy, turned his gaze to survey the battlefield. His head, located high enough to reach the ceiling, turned this way and that, checking the state of the war.

The battle, which was filling the passage, was chaos itself.

They were fighting in a fairly large open space, but the number of troops that could clash at once was woefully small compared to the total number of troops.

Nevertheless, fierce battles were taking place everywhere because of the Ursus that continued to pour out of the dozens of passages connected to the open space.

“Tsk.”

The Ursus Highs were quite noticeable, but their numbers were not large. Most of them were white bear warriors who were hardly elite.

It seemed that the sly king of the white bears thought that the time was not yet ripe to make a decision.

“But you are not the one who decides that time.”

The one who decided the time of the decisive battle was neither the commander of the Victorious Faction, who hid his true intentions, nor the Ursus, who had lured his archenemy into his own home, confident in his surefire trap.

Bang!

With a powerful roar, the giant labyrinth shook.

“Keueup!”

The time was ripe. The Duke, watching the faces of the white bears who were flustered by the sudden roar and vibration, took a deep breath.

“All troops!”

A roar no less monstrous than the roar just now, the mighty Duke’s roar swallowed the screams and commotion that had been rampant on the battlefield.

“Advance!”

With the sudden shock and vibration, Kim Jin-woo regained his senses.

He was inwardly delighted, thinking that the trap prepared by the Ursus had finally been activated, but he soon realized that he was wrong.

The white bears were panicking. Perhaps they had not been informed in advance by their cold-blooded ruler, but the possibility was not high.

Now that they had already lured the enemy to the place they wanted, there was no reason to deceive the loyal warriors who would sacrifice their lives at their master’s command.

“Ggrrrroooooaaaaar!”

At that moment, the Duke roared, and the Tarus began to advance. It was a sight that showed which side was leading the change.

The Tarus, who had been exchanging attacks in place, charged out all at once and crushed the Ursus.

The balance of the tense battlefield collapsed, and hundreds of Ursus who had entered along the passage were torn apart in an instant.

“Ah……”

Kim Jin-woo groaned, keeping a close eye on the movements of the Tarus.

Was it because he was too immersed in the battle? Or was it because his senses were limited by hiding the Authority of the High Lord? He belatedly realized that a third force was approaching and his expression hardened.

A military discipline no less than the Tarus and Ursus, he knew whose it was without even looking. The third duke, who had been slowly approaching from the east, had finally arrived on the battlefield.

“Too fast.”

The Under Elves were too weak to be put on the battlefield, so he had sent back Rikshasha and the patrols long ago. As a result, he was unable to know the situation outside the labyrinth.

From now on, he really had no choice but to crash and break through with his body.

“Hoo.”

Kim Jin-woo, who had been panting for a moment, called Angela. She was trying to prevent the few remaining thralls from being caught up in the Tarus’ charge.

“We’re following behind them.”

As the Tarus’ advance accelerated, the honor guard’s movements became even more agile. He followed the honor guard with his eyes and began to move forward, gathering his subordinates, including Angela.

One of the prepared cards had been turned over.

The Ursus still had a trap prepared, but now that the Tarus had made the first move, they wouldn’t be able to just keep waiting for the timing.

The real battle starts now. Already, the Authority of Greed was clamoring to be released.

Since the Tarus had advanced, the noise coming from the opposite side was gradually getting closer.

Judging from the fiercely fluctuating momentum, it seemed that the third duke had not entered through the entrance, but had broken through the wall from the outside and entered the labyrinth.

He didn’t know how they had broken through the frozen rock, but it was true that they had caught them off guard.

The panicked Ursus had no choice but to fight passively, worrying about their rear. Naturally, the already retreating front line was pushed back to the inner depths in an instant.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Tarus and the third duke’s plan succeeded.

However, no one gathered here thought that the Ursus would easily give up the heart of their labyrinth.

As if to confirm their expectations, the trap prepared by the Ursus was activated.