Dungeon Maker

"Brother Eli's jealousy was far stronger than I thought…"

As if she felt shy, Ophelia covered her face with her hand, blurring her words.

And Eligos, who stood next to her, shook his head, pressing on his temple as if his head was pounding and said, "I can't remember."

However, given that his red skin was getting redder, Eligos seemed to admit it.

As if he understood, Yong-ho patted Eligos on the shoulder and looked down at Bizarro's mangled body. Although he had the fourth recently, he had four horns, but he met his last moment very tragically.

Yong-ho lightly joined his hands together and prayed for his rest in peace then took his essence. The larger the difference between one's mana and the other's, the worse its efficiency, so he couldn't take much from Bizarro. Nonetheless, Yong-ho felt a bit of thrill.

"Whew!"

Yong-ho looked back at the smashed Lizardmen soldiers and admired the great achievement that only four, rather two, made in the fight.

Promoted as Red Demon Tyrant, Eligos acquired a new ability called "Beast," as Yong-ho expected.

His new title exactly reflected his new ability. As soon as he empowered himself, Eligos turned into a beast. At first glance, he looked like a gorilla.

Both arms, tightly fused with muscles, looked like iron pillars, and his fists were reminiscent of the weight of heavy equipment for destroying buildings. White hairs with gray color grew out of not only his head but also chest, arms, thighs, and other areas where hair could grow, making him look like a real beast.

Eligos, in his beastly shape, was truly the monster of the House of Mammon. Aside from his images as a monster, Eligos's endless strength was impressive, as evidenced in the House of Mammon and the House of Randolt.

Yong-ho himself and Catalina got on Salami. Skull rode on Bucephalas. And Ophelia got on the back of Eligos, who turned into a beast.

Although they took a few breaks in the middle, they smashed the Lizardmen, feeling no fatigue after traveling such a long distance.

Skull was promoted from Magic Knight to Eldrich Knight.

In fact, Skull made the most surprising achievement in this battle.

When Yong-ho evolved Skull last time, he was not sure when he could promote Skull.

But this time, he could see it. Moreover, Skull's ability to evolve also increased. Even his level changed.

Obviously, Skull changed before and after fighting Baphomet. Although Skull could not discover what changed as it was getting around casually as usual, Yong-ho doubted one possibility.

'Perhaps…'

Did Skull feel something from death? Perhaps, Skull recovered some of its former self before becoming the undead.

After becoming an Eldrich Knight, Skull became stronger overall. It was now nearly two meters tall, and despite having only bones, it unleashed terrifying power. Its mana was also stronger, so it could use lightning much more powerful than his days as a Magic Knight.

Skull could not wear the armor that Burgrim had made because of the different dimensions. Therefore, the armor protected only part of its arms and legs, chest, and back. Fortunately, the helmet could be used as it was.

What Skull chose as the replacement of the broken battle hammer was a relatively short new battle hammer and a huge claymore. Both were magical weapons that Burgrim had used before.

Ophelia kept smiling at Eligos as if she liked his shyness. Promoted to the Red Demon Breaker, she also gained beast skills like Eligos. However, her beast skills were different from Eligos's. It was true that she became more militant, but there was something elegant about her, reminiscent of a feline beast. Her appearance didn't change that much, either.

Gusion said the reason for this difference was that the two had different temperaments in the first place, but it was mainly because they were affected by Yong-ho's preferences, just like their appearances after evolution was influenced by Yong-ho's thinking.

Finally, Catalina was promoted from Shadow Runner to Shadow Mystress.

As the owner of the shadow, she could create her own alter ego with black mana. One of the four who smashed Bizarro's army was none other than her alter ego.

The only drawback was that her alter ego would disappear naturally if it was too far away from Catalina and that if Catalina did not directly manipulate it, its behavior pattern would be too simplified. But she could deal with it without any problem.

It was when Catalina and her alter ego fought together in the same place when her alter ego could unleash its power fully.

Currently, Catalina had limited ability to control her alter ego, so her alter ego only imitated Catalina, but even that was powerful because there was plenty of room for its application, such as delayed attacking or simultaneous attacks from various angles.

After dissembling her shadow alter ego, she patted her ears lightly. It seemed that she felt quite a sense of accomplishment in this battle.

Yong-ho laughed bitterly again.

'Sorry.'

Originally, Catalina used to move her ears more actively, compared to other elves, but it was thanks to Yong-ho's evolution that she advanced as far as here. In other words, his subconscious wishes that he wanted to see more of her cute ears made him evolve her skills.

But Yong-ho kept mum about it according to Gusion's advice and looked at her tail. It certainly seemed to be moving more briskly than it did before her advancement.

'Well, she had lots of other improvements anyway.'

For example, her figure was one of them. Of course, since it reflected Yong-ho's tastes, it was questionable whether Catalina would like her own figure.

After completely absorbing Bizarro's essence, Yong-ho faced Ophelia again.

While teasing Eligos until now, she got serious again and said, "I read Bizarro's mind and got some information. Bizarro was the chief of the advance party that attacked the House of Randolt. Currently, Embrio himself is leading his main forces to the southern area. It seems that Embrio is planning to attack the east after penetrating through the south at once. And…"

"And?"

"It seems that Embrio thought he would easily take over the House of Randolt with Bizarro as the head of the advance party."

"It looks like the House of Randolt is a piece of cake to him."

Yong-ho laughed bitterly, but he understood. Bizarro led as many as seven hundred soldiers.

If Yong-ho himself had not come to help out Tigrius, or if he had arrived a little late, the House of Randolt would have been captured in the end.

"How many are Embrio's main forces?"

At that question, Ophelia narrowed her brow slightly.

She hesitated for a moment and said, "Around 4,000, I guess. There are about a thousand elite soldiers who have followed Embrio from the north."

Yong-ho closed his eyes tightly. He understood why Embrio underestimated the southern region. Currently, the number of troops the House of Mammon could mobilize was one thousand at most, even if all the troops of the Free City join them.

But the gap between the troops was not big enough for Yong-ho not to overcome.

Although he was ridiculously inferior to Embrio in the number of troops, he had confidence that he would never be outpowered by Embrio in terms of the quality and competence of his men.

The war in the demon world was different from the ones in the human world in many ways, which Yong-ho discovered in history.

It was because there existed the owners of transcendent combat power.

'The number of Embrio's horns is at least five.'

Embrio devoured not only almost all the heads of houses in the west but also those in the north. Having eaten them all, he would have at least five horns, given his enormous absorption of their essence.

Yong-ho stopped thinking about it anymore. He looked back at Tigrius, who couldn't help but admire the dungeon spirits that were so different from what he had seen last time.

"Troops of the Free City and Skull Squad led by Oros are coming from the rear. So, let's get rid of the enemy's bodies piled up in the dungeon and realign our forces."

"Got it, Master." Tigrius nodded.

However, he couldn't completely hide the anguish around his eyes. Although the defense of the House of Randolt was remarkably strengthened with complete fortification, it was trampled by only 700 soldiers led by Bizarro.

Given that Embrio's main troops numbered 4,000, he wondered how Yong-ho and his reinforcements could stop them.

Yong-ho also understood Tigrius' concerns. However, he did not want to give up before fighting. Tigrius felt the same way, too.

"Tigrius, I have one suggestion. I hope you think it over well before replying. I won't mind if you refuse to answer."

Yong-ho spoke, and this time, Tigrius read his mind.

"I want you to be the dungeon spirit of the House of Mammon this time."

His suggestion was what Tigrius expected.

It was largely for two reasons that Yong-ho did not make Tigrius a dungeon spirit until now.

First, in order to effectively proceed with the fortification of the House of Randolt, it was necessary to have someone like him who could order the souls of the dungeon in the field.

Second, Yong-ho himself could not afford to make Tigrius a dungeon spirit back then.

Now, he solved both problems. And now he needed one more powerful dungeon spirit rather than the demon king under his command

Yong-ho's suggestion was that Tigrius should give up the status of the demon king.

Since he played the role of the head of the House of Randolt, he would not lose his power, but the weakening of his power was inevitable.

He had to give up the house now.

Tigrius slowly closed his eyes. It was something he was prepared for when he was defeated in the battle. Moreover, he was interested in becoming a dungeon spirit of the House of Mammon. How strong could he be? Where would the "power of evolution" that he heard from Ophelia lead him?

"Let me accept your command, Master."

To his own surprise, Tigrius responded cheerfully. Yong-ho took his hands with deep gratitude.

And three days later, Yong-ho, who confirmed the movement of Embrio's main forces through the scouts, gathered all the dungeon spirits in his room.

Because the living space of the dungeon was reduced drastically by excessive fortification, the demon king's room was also narrow. The only furniture in the room was just one bed, so when the five dungeon spirits gathered in one place, there was only a little space left.

The reason that he gathered them was to convey his own tactics that he had been pondering over for the past few days.

But there was one thing he had to do first.

Namely, he had to invite Tigrius as the 7th member as a dungeon spirit.

Sitting on the bed, he took out a summons from his pocket. Each of the four who already knew the subject of the summons made different expressions, and Tigrius was looking at the summons alone seriously.

Yong-ho let out a long breath. After deciding firmly, he tore the summons to free his mana.

And the one who appears thus...

The one who descends beyond the constraints of the arena as well as time and space.

Her gray hair fluttered in the strong wind.

There was mischievousness in her ferocious eyes.

The head of the House of Mammon three generations ago.

Kaiwan, the Demon King of Distortion.

"So, have you come up with any wishes for me this time?"

Standing askew, she asked teasingly, licking her lips lightly.

Yong-ho smiled bitterly instead of answering.

He welcomed her with open arms. She would be the joker in his fight against Embrio as well as his sixth sword.