Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 69

Dungeon Journal – Episode 70

#29. Naga Undertaker

The hand gripping the reins tightened. Kim Jin-woo, noticing the Death Steed avoiding his gaze, roughly yanked the reins and forced it to kneel.

Kkiiiiiing!

The Death Steed, forced to its knees, slumped to the ground, whimpering.

Balzac, seemingly worried that his Death Steed might be harmed by the sudden action, jumped forward in surprise.

“Stand back.”

Kim Jin-woo firmly pushed Balzac back and once again pulled harshly on the Death Steed’s reins.

This brought the Death Steed’s head close enough for Kim Jin-woo to feel its breath. Seeing the Death Steed trembling noticeably, he spoke in a low voice.

“Are you going to play dumb until the end?”

His voice carried an almost murderous intent. The Death Steed’s eyes flickered wildly.

“That might be for the best. However…”

As he spoke, a blue light began to stream from his eyes.

“A holy death will not be granted to you. You will remain a mere Death Steed until the moment you die.”

Kim Jin-woo’s free hand shot up. It didn’t take long for the hand, paused momentarily, to come crashing down on the Death Steed’s head as if to shatter it.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

Kim Jin-woo barely managed to stop his hand at the sudden sound of Valier’s voice. The fierce blow, meant to crush its skull, halted just an inch away.

“H-He switched bodies!”

Valier, finally finding his voice, began to stammer out excuses.

***

Valier’s escape thus ended in failure.

“I-I was merely testing the completion of the Death Steed.”

His excuse, delivered with constant dry coughs, was pathetic.

“For something like that, it was quite convincing. I almost didn’t recognize you and thought you were just a Death Steed.”

At Kim Jin-woo’s words, accompanied by a twisted smirk, Valier hurriedly replied.

“It seems my condition is not as good as I thought. While connecting my spirit with the Death Steed, I was accidentally drawn in. If not for Your Majesty’s grace, I would have been trapped in the Death Steed’s body. I can only offer my gratitude!”

There was no trace of the dignity of the King of the Dead in his groveling excuses.

Kim Jin-woo couldn’t tell whether Valier had accepted his situation because of this incident or whether his mind had become like that of a mere Death Steed after leaving the king’s body.

“But what to do? It doesn’t seem like you can fulfill your role in that body.”

Kim Jin-woo said, glancing at the hoofed legs, causing Valier to fall silent. He was desperately rolling his eyes, seemingly wanting to prove his usefulness somehow.

“Besides, the Death Steed must assist Balzac and roam the battlefield. It doesn’t suit your role of serving the Labyrinth.”

The sound of his eyes rolling seemed almost audible.

For someone who once ruled over the dead, his appearance was excessively servile and pathetic, but this was exactly the Valier that Kim Jin-woo wanted.

“Dominic, bring what we prepared!”

At his words, Dominic quickly bowed his head and called a few Naga workers, giving them some instructions. Meanwhile, Kim Jin-woo looked at Valier in the form of the Death Steed and said coldly.

“I’ve heard your ridiculous excuses! Truly absurd!”

Valier trembled like an aspen leaf at the stern rebuke.

“But I will give you one last chance, so the choice is yours!”

The moment Kim Jin-woo finished speaking, the Nagas who had gone to fetch something at Dominic’s instruction returned.

“This is…”

In the hands of the Nagas was the corpse of a Naga worker, seemingly not long dead and in relatively good condition.

“This is your new body. It is up to you whether to accept it or not. But you must also bear the responsibility.”

***

‘Among the eighteen thousand two hundred and thirty-nine Naga, none can disobey the king’s words.’

“Even if their mind belongs to another?”

‘That mind is also bound to the body. We Naga cannot disobey our master’s words. Of course, my loyalty to you is not due to such constraints.’

“I see. As long as you have the body of a Naga, you cannot defy my orders.”

‘That’s right. And that applies even to someone who was once the master of the Labyrinth. Serving a rightful king is the destiny of us born as Naga.’

***

Kim Jin-woo, recalling his conversation with Dominic, watched Valier with a joyful heart.

Valier was also severely agitated, knowing what it meant to accept the body of a Naga.

But from the beginning, Valier had no choice.

Considering his relationship with Kim Jin-woo, where he couldn’t expect genuine loyalty, there was no way he would leave Valier’s spirit in a Death Steed that had to wander the lower levels.

It was obvious what would happen if he stubbornly resisted until the end. In the end, Valier answered with a resigned look.

“I can only be grateful for the king’s grace.”

Kim Jin-woo smacked his lips at the answer, feeling both pleased and somewhat regretful.

Seeing that, Valier couldn’t hesitate any longer. He seemed to know what his cold-blooded master had in mind when he presented the corpse of the Naga worker.

Valier, with no regrets left, closed his eyes, resigned to his fate.

Thud!

The massive body of the Death Steed collapsed powerlessly.

“Keugh.”

Balzac, who had been watching the situation unfold from behind, groaned.

“You must be patient. I will not go back on my word.”

Kim Jin-woo, well aware of Balzac’s desire for a mount and his wish to become a proper knight, comforted Balzac.

“Everything will be as Your Majesty wills it.”

Balzac stepped back and turned his head.

And at that moment, the corpse of the Naga worker flashed and opened its eyes. The Naga worker stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, then blinked a few times and regained focus.

“Congratulations on becoming a true member of the Labyrinth, Valier.”

[The King of the Dead, Valier, has taken residence in the body of a Naga worker.]

[Due to the complete royal authority inherited from his predecessors, the authority of the Naga ruler, Valier will never harbor wicked thoughts.]

[The body of the Naga worker, having accepted the mind of one who was once a king, has begun to change.]

No sooner had he finished speaking than an alert window appeared in the air, and soon the body of the Naga worker began to emit light.

[The body of the Naga worker (common) has evolved into a Naga worker (heroic).]

[It is unfortunate. If it had been a superior Naga, not a Naga worker, that had accepted the mind of the King of the Dead, Valier, it would have demonstrated even greater abilities. However, the body of the Naga worker cannot surpass the limits of its species, even at the heroic level.]

[The body of the Naga worker, even at the heroic level, cannot fully provide the spell power required for necromancy. A significant number of necromantic spells can no longer be used.]

[The necromantic category ‘Soul Manipulation’ cannot be used.]

[The necromantic category ‘Summoning’ cannot be used.]

[The necromantic category ‘Death Magic’ cannot be used.]

[Only the secret art of the necromantic category ‘Undead Creation’ can be used.]

Valier despaired, and Kim Jin-woo wore a satisfied expression.

[The Naga worker (heroic) who has completed evolution has become the ‘Naga Undertaker’ due to the influence of Undead Creation.]

***

“Stop.”

“Move.”

The undead, confused by the two contradictory commands, moved erratically before stopping.

“Move.”

The command to move was given again, but the undead remained still, unable to move.

Kim Jin-woo smiled with great satisfaction as he watched the undead. In contrast, Valier, now the Naga Undertaker, looked at the undead and his master with a complex expression.

It was no wonder. It couldn’t have been easy for him, who was once a king who ruled over countless undead and the Graveyard, to see his former subordinates ignoring his commands and obeying those of another.

But there was nothing he could do since things had already turned out this way.

He was now one of the many Naga who followed the Naga King, and the undead had become Kim Jin-woo’s subordinates, not his, with his limited necromantic abilities.

“It will take some time to get used to it.”

Even though Kim Jin-woo had taken everything from him, there was no resentment in Valier’s eyes as he looked at him. He merely showed a somewhat complex feeling due to the remnants of his emotions.

“You will gradually get used to it. I will assist you from the side.”

Kim Jin-woo, hearing the undoubtedly sincere words, granted him freedom on the spur of the moment.

“I grant you freedom within the limits of not leaving the fortress.”

“Thank you for the king’s grace.”

He no longer hesitated to kneel. Kim Jin-woo, watching the scene with satisfaction, gave instructions to Dominic, who was beside him.

“From now on, prioritize obtaining the items that Valier needs for his research.”

‘As Your Majesty wills.’

Dominic no longer antagonized Valier, even though only his body had changed.

“You must do your best to create things that are beneficial to me and the Naga from now on!”

“I will do as you command!”

Valier bowed his head once more and disappeared into his residence.

***

“Ooooooh!”

Balzac, riding the Death Steed and excited even though his head was rolling on the ground, didn’t even care.

Kim Jin-woo shook his head as he watched the scene. He didn’t like the sight of the headless knight riding a grotesque Death Steed that looked like it had been patched up with rags.

But in any case, it was a happy thing that the heroic-grade force, which had been the most lacking in the Labyrinth, had been reinforced.

Moreover, it was obvious that the Naga Dragon Knights, who had finally found a proper commander, would demonstrate even greater power.

Valier, reborn as the Naga Undertaker, busily accomplished many things from that day on.

First, he revived the Death Steed, giving Balzac wings, and he completely reorganized the army of the undead, whose bodies had collapsed due to being neglected.

Needless to say, the defense of the Naga Fortress was further strengthened. The undead were an all-weather army that didn’t need to sleep or recover stamina.

Patrollers, who were somewhat lacking in attention and slow in speed but skilled at detecting signs, and Naga were placed in the middle to compensate for the shortcomings.

After doing that, he couldn’t help but feel reassured.

“It’s going too smoothly.”

In just a few days, the long-awaited upgrade of the Party Hall would be completed, and in a few more days, all the lost facilities of the Graveyard would be restored.

It seemed like only yesterday that he felt impatient after seeing Boreas’s power, but before he knew it, the Naga Fortress had grown to the point where it could rival him.

One direct-controlled Labyrinth and three regency Labyrinths. Whether it was the 9th floor or not, it was a powerful force that could not be ignored anywhere.

“You’ve come.”

Kim Jin-woo, unusually pleased with the visit of the Black Merchant, with whom his relationship had become somewhat smoother since the last schedule, greeted him.

“The developing trend of the Baron’s territory is unbelievably fast.”

Kim Jin-woo told the realistic situation to the Black Merchant’s flattery.

A significant portion of the military funds supported by the Black Merchant was accounted for by Anatolius’s support funds.

He would have to resolve the secret agreement with him, who wanted to change the landscape of the 11th floor, someday, so the word debt was not wrong.

However, it was also true that he had gained some benefits because the secret agreement coincided with his own purpose.

“Ah, now that you mention it, I have a question.”

The Black Merchant said seriously at Kim Jin-woo’s words.

“For your information, this is not what I am saying, but I am conveying the words of Count Anatolius instead.”

“Anatolius?”

“Yes. First, please receive this.”

The Black Merchant took something out of his arms.