Dungeon Maker

Bizarro, the Demon King of Rain, didn't come back from the battle, nor did the seven soldiers led by him. It was because his forces were virtually annihilated.

His soldiers, who infiltrated the dungeon of the House of Randolt, could not get out of it. None of the hundred elite lizardmen, who guarded Bizarro outside the dungeon, run away, as if to demonstrate their loyalty and courage, and were literally annihilated.

Since there was none who could convey the bad news to him, Embrio didn't know what happened in the dungeon.

But there was one thing he knew for sure, which was that the Demon King of Rain, Bizarro, died. The evidence that the soul of the dungeon he was in charge of perished confirmed it. Embrio wondered how Bizarro died.

Bizarro was the master of a house in the northern area. He had four horns, but he just advanced to that level. His combat competence was mediocre, and his personality was good enough. He was far from hot-tempered nor was he stupid enough to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. If he had been such a person, Embrio himself would not have spared his life.

Of course, there could be no absolute survival in battle. It was possible that Bizarro was killed by a stray arrow or sword.

But Embrio could not imagine such a scenario easily. When something happened, there was supposed to be some plausible reason for it. It was never common for a rat to kill a cat.

'Did the head of the House of Mammon kill him?' Embrio wondered.

What if the house head himself defended the House of Randolt and took Bizarro's life?

It was this man who defeated Agares.

Although Embrio had never faced him in person, it was highly likely that this man had more than four horns.

But Emrbio still could not understand why nobody out of the 600 soldiers, apart from Bizarro and his loyal 100 lizardmen, didn't return from the dungeon. Were they all annihilated?

If that was the case, perhaps, the House of Mammon was much more powerful than Embrio himself expected.

Embrio pondered over what to do now.

It was ridiculous for him to withdraw his forces now. Moreover, even if the House of Mammon was more powerful than he expected, Embrio thought they were obviously not stronger than his forces.

In his mind, the House of Mammon couldn't have been stronger than the Western Owners' Alliance. It was true that the head of the House of Mammon took the essence of those heads of houses in the southern area after defeating them, but it was only a couple of them whose essence he took. If he had been strong, his absorption of their essence would not have been good enough to result in his dramatic growth. If he had been born weak, he must have had the fourth horn only recently.

Of course, there was a possibility that the master of the House of Mammon was a man with superhuman strength. If that was the case, Embrio couldn't understand his behavior pattern up to now, for the Mammon master slowly took over the hegemony of the southern area after struggling in various battles.

There was only one master in the House of Mammon now, and the most soldiers he could mobilize was around 1,000.

Certainly, it was incomparable to the Western Owners' Alliance with a dozen masters of houses and nearly seven thousand troops.

"We're going to attack the southern region as planned."

Embrio's command was conveyed to his commanders. Except for the one thousand troops that left for the north as supporting units, the remaining three thousand troops resumed their march to the south.

***

Since there was no table in the room, Yong-ho laid out a map of the front lines on the floor and explained the tactic he devised.

It was never complicated. It was a very simple tactic.

It took about 30 minutes for him to brief his dungeon spirits about it.

Cross-legged on the floor, Kaiwan looked sharply at the map with her arms crossed.

And soon, she rolled her eyes and met his eyes.

"I've been thinking about it…"

"So?"

"You must be crazy, seriously."

Having said that bluntly, Kaiwan laughed as if his tactic was absurd.

Since her look was so ferocious, it looked like she was ridiculing him.

But Yong-ho, who always appreciated her selfless smile, understood the true meaning of her laugh.

Of course, Kaiwan had no intention of ridiculing or denouncing him.

She thought his tactic was rather absurd, but at the same time, she admired it a bit.

Yong-ho chuckled at her comment that he was crazy.

As if to avoid her gaze, he rolled his eyes to see other dungeon spirits.

Eligos was looking at the map with a blank expression. Ophelia tried hard to make a smile, and Catalina, puckering her lips, was looking at Kaiwan. It seemed that she was more bothered by Kaiwan ridiculing Yong-ho as a crazy man than by his tactic itself.

Skull chuckled as usual. The purple ghost flames in its hollow eyes gave out a calm impression, but it still felt like a skull.

Yong-ho, who was nervous about the various changes in Skull these days, let out a breath of relief briefly.

Lastly, Tigrius, who joined the House of Mammon as its fifth dungeon spirit, did not betray his expectations. He said calmly, "It's definitely a reckless tactic, but it seems your tactic is the best at this point. You will never be able to beat Embrio by simply holding up in the dungeon."

Ophelia added, "I agree with Tigrius. And…"

"And?"

When Yong-ho asked back, Ophelia narrowed her brows as if she was embarrassed and replied, "It seems like the tactic fits your personality well."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Yong-ho with a smile.

Yong-ho then looked at Kaiwan again. She unfolded his arms and touched the floor with both hands. Leaning back, she said, "Well, since I've been summoned as your dungeon spirit, I've no other choice but to follow your order. Like Ophelia just said, the tactic seems to fit your personality. I can feel something like your cunningness or meticulousness that you have shown in the arena. I think your tactic is better than that. Honestly, I really like it."

When Yong-ho visited the arena last time, he did not challenge the 11th floor. Instead of obsessing with the mana of Mammon or the rewards of the arena, he was seeing the bigger picture.

The dungeon spirits moved under Yong-ho's control. They didn't even think of challenging the floor that required their utmost strength. They challenged those floors only that they could win comfortably enough to satisfy the evolution EXP.

As a result, Catalina, Ophelia, and Skull only challenged up to the third floor, and Eligos only challenged the second floor. Although each of the dungeon spirits was strong enough to challenge higher floors because of their four horns equal to their master, Yong-ho never allowed it.

Despite his status as the King of Greed, Yong-ho exercised moderation in a strange place.

Gusion blamed him for that but liked it at the same time. On the other hand, Kaiwan thought their behavior was really surprising.

However, this tactic was truly befitting Yong-ho. At the same time, it was obviously reckless. She could feel his conviction in victory with this tactic.

'That's why he did it before.'

By using the power of evolution during a battle, Yong-ho evolved himself.

She witnessed it in front of her eyes, but she thought his action was absurd when she thought about it even now.

When she noticed Kaiwan's sharp glance at him turning agreeable, Catalina pricked her ears. Fortunately or unfortunately, no one paid attention to her ears, though.

Tigrius said again, "Even if your tactic is successful, you will incur heavy casualties. I am not sure if this crazy commander Oros can effectively control the freewheeling troops of the Free City… I'm a bit worried."

The situation this time was different from when they fought Agares' army in the Free City.

Ophelia replied on behalf of Yong-ho, "It will be alright. Nobody in the Free City army knows that the western region was devastated. So, they have every motivation to fight. Moreover, Oros will fight well. You don't have to worry."

Although Ophelia spoke calmly, she had a point. It was natural that she showed such a reaction as one of the dungeon spirits of the House of Mammon and one of the heads of the Free City. Instead of colliding with her about it unnecessarily, Tigrius backed off.

Yong-ho was satisfied with the fact that the dungeon spirits were coordinating among themselves well without him bothering to reconcile their opinion.

"Ophelia, convey to Rikum and Oros about my decision. Tigrius, double-check the defense posture of the dungeon. Skull, have your squadron stand by. Given the speed of Embrio marching his army to the south, you have to get them leaving tomorrow morning. I'm sorry for all this, but make sure you get enough rest."

All of them responded to him by politely accepting his order.

"Then, what about me?" Kaiwan asked.

Although they were faced with a life-threatening battle, they could not stay nervous forever.

Standing up, Yong-ho told Kaiwan, "Let's go to the restaurant and eat something. It's like you're here on vacation in decades, right? There is nothing to eat in the arena anyway."

Yong-ho said that, although he never experienced an army life.

Kaiwan smiled brightly at his reply while blinking, curious about what he was going to say.

"Well, I would like to grant two wishes for you, not one. By the way, when are you going to ask for it? Why are you so lazy in letting me know about it? Is it a big wish?"

Yong-ho smiled bitterly at her question. Instead of replying, he said to Kaiwan while gesturing with his chin, "Let's go."

Kaiwan stood up readily. Then Catalina, who also stood up before she knew it, moved her lips.

Was she going to say the same thing as she did in the arena?

Kaiwan stroked her hair as if she was cute. Thanks to that, Catalina curled her lips suddenly while trying to say something. Yong-ho also stroked Catalina's hair.

Kaiwan laughed.

"She is cute too."

"You bet, she is cute and pretty."

Agreeing with her a bit awkwardly, he left the room ahead of Kaiwan.

Unlike Ophelia who looked at him weirdly, Yong-ho appreciated Tigrius very much, who turned his eyes away from him elegantly.