Dungeon Maker

Since Stravadi did not know that the Bone Dragon's broad breath burned the spies, he had no way of knowing the exact situation, which made him very frustrated.

After all, Stravadi was forced to put together all the intelligence and rumors available to make an educated guess.

Since there were many survivors of Embrio's army, it was not difficult for him to gather some information.

However, there was also a problem here. Totally contradictory rumors were spreading among the people.

Which rumor should he believe?

Should he trust the ridiculous rumor, assuming the worst scenario? Or should he trust the more commonsensical and reasonable rumor that lots of people were now believing?

'Rumors about the Bone Dragon just don't make any sense.'

If Embrio had such a card, why didn't he use it in his attack of the western area?

Embrio struggled very hard in his fight against the Western Masters' Alliance.

He had to spend as many as several months to defeat the Western Masters' Alliance.

Besides, he had to use the extreme military method to destroy most of the dungeons and the city in the western area.

What would have happened if Embrio had turned to the Bone Dragon in his fight against the Western Masters' Alliance?

If so, the situation would have been completely different, and the Western Masters' Alliance would have been devastated much earlier.

And there was a decisive problem from the beginning.

Nobody could buy monsters like the Bone Dragon just because they had money. Did Embrio buy the Bone Dragon with all the money he collected from the occupied northern and western areas? From whom? At the Dungeon Market?

To purchase a Bone Dragon there, they had to go through the auction process. Those who could purchase this kind of monster without an auction were extremely limited, and of course, Embrio was not included in that limited number.

Considering other elements of the rumor except for the Bone Dragon, the rumors that a Wyvern appeared in Embrio's fight were more reliable.

Stravadi watched closely the Mammon family's expedition to the western area.

Although he was not sure of the exact situation because he got the intelligence from his moles, the number of skeleton soldiers and warriors exceeded one hundred, getting close to two hundred.

Examining the rumors about the Bone Dragon, the forces of the House of Mammon were utterly shabby. Given that Embrio devastated the western area and that there were so many survivors of Embrio's army that the Mammon family could not acquire lots of loot even after the victory, it was also unlikely that they bought new undead monsters after the battle. There were too many undead monsters for that.

Because of this, Stravadi estimated the strength of the House of Mammon, based on the rumors involving the Wyvern, not the Bone Dragon. As always, he made a rational judgment.

'But the guy beat Embrio.'

No matter which rumor he believed, he had to admit it.

Embrio was a monster that smashed the Western Masters' Alliance by himself. Given that he absorbed all the essences of the defeated masters there, it was reasonable to think that Embrio had five horns.

'Let me assume that even the master of the House of Mammon has also five horns. Since he defeated Embrio, it's certain he absorbed his essence.'

Stravadi closed his eyes. He kept it in mind that the upcoming battle would not be a combat between the masters, but a war involving the mobilization of the army.

After all, even a five-horned master was made of bone and flesh. This meant that he could be ambushed and killed by a sword anytime.

'Let me reduce the variables. If my own forces are not enough, let me get some help outside.'

He had no enemies other than the House of Mammon. Even if he squandered all his financial resources in the eastern area, it would be okay if he won, for he would obtain the whole southern area anyway.

Bought by a sudden optimism, Stravadi looked at the map of the battlefield.

The troops of the House of Mammon were marching toward the east.

***

[Hey, Yong-ho. Do you know something like najibamjo (win in the day but lose in the night)?]

He cleared his throat when Kaiwan's voice transmitted through the communication device on his neck.

What the heck was she talking about now? Apart from its meaning, was there such a word in the demon world?

"Me, me too! I want to do najibamjo, too!" Catalina also said quickly, pricking her ears at Kaiwan's voice.

He cooled the heat on his face with a fan. Obviously, Catalina didn't know what it meant, but she was pretty much conscious of Kaiwan now. He stroked her hair and said over the device, "Stop the nonsense and watch out for your surroundings well."

[Our master is watching me anyway from above. I trust you, so I hope I'm in your great hands!]

Laughing cheerfully, Kaiwan cut off the communication. It was good for him to see him cheerful, but he was embarrassed at the time because she was so different from when she was the former master.

But this might be her real image, Yong-ho thought. If she had not become the master of a crumbling family at an early age, her eyes might have been gentle rather than ferocious like now.

Four days after Yong-ho made the decision to storm into the eastern area, the troops of the House of Mammon led by the Skull unit were advancing smoothly toward the east.

There were not so many troops mobilized. The main forces consisted of 250 members of the Skull unit and 100 members of the Black Orc unit. And the rest were some transport units and about two hundred other troops serving as escorts and reserves for the transportation unit. Since about half of the troops were the undead who did not need meals, the cargo of the transport unit was very light compared to the size of the unit.

As the number of troops mobilized was small, they had to rely on the power of the commanders, so all the dungeon spirits of the House of Mammon were mobilized again this time.

Eligos, who was confused about his identity as the butler or the assault leader these days, took command of the 1st Independent Task Force with Ophelia. Unlike its impressive name, the task force consisted of only two, namely Eligos and Ophelia.

Skull and Rikum commanded the Skull and Black Orc squadrons, respectively, while Tigrius was responsible for the transportation unit in the rear.

Kaiwan, the leader and only member of the 2nd Independent Task Force, ran a horse beside Skull. She had served as the master for many years, but she had rarely commanded large-scale troops, so her fighting alone like Eligos or Ophelia was more efficient.

Salami, carrying Yong-ho and Catalina, fluttered its wings high in the sky. Since Salami wasn't simply evolved but promoted to 'Fire Elemental Dragon', it was quite different from before.

First of all, it got bigger, and its wings and tail also got longer. Its head that looked like a lizard or a salamander in the past was added with a hard shell, which made it look like a dragon a lot.

But Salami was still Salami. Its handle on the back was still the same, and the way it shook its head after listening to the conversation among Yong-ho, Catalina, and Kaiwan was the same.

The reason that Yong-ho was on Salami's back in the sky was not simply to play the role of a vanguard. It wasn't only the eastern army that he was concerned about.

What concerned him was the minions of the King of Gluttony who attempted to manipulate rumors about him in the west and north. It was highly likely that they were hiding somewhere in the east and south to watch the fight. Since he had already shown his strength in the fight against Embrio, he didn't think of being absent from the battle at all, but he had no intention of revealing all his strength fully to the enemies.

Unlike the southern area, there were lots of huge strange rocks, mountains, and canyons in the east. Because of this, he couldn't look far away even though he was overlooking from the sky.

'But if I think the other way...'

It meant that not only the place to fight the enemy but also the place to hide his troops were too obvious.

Using the communication device, Yong-ho ordered the dungeon spirits to be cautious because the shape of the strange rocks and bizarre stones in the surrounding area was unusual.

A huge hill was blocking them in the front, and a forest and strange rocks were located on the left and right respectively. It was a terrain where hundreds or thousands of troops could easily hide if they put their mind to it.

Salami also narrowed its eyes as if it noticed something. Kaiwan, who was riding a horse at the forefront, raised her hand and stopped Skull and the others. But Tigrius urged the transportation unit to quickly catch up with the main forces.

The eastern army, ambushed on the hill in the front, appeared. A group of troops poured out from the forest on the left. Instead of rushing to Yong-ho's troops, they moved slowly as if to form a siege, trying to attack the transportation convoy and rear guards led by Tigrius.

Yong-ho couldn't afford to count the number of the eastern army. Salami suddenly turned to the strange rocky area on the right. An earthshaking rumble overwhelmed everything.

Yong-ho also saw it.

A huge monster that rushed recklessly as if to destroy the strange rocky area burst into an angry cry. Then it charged straight at Yong-ho's forces.

Stravadi, sitting on a hill with his elite soldiers, smiled in satisfaction. Everything was going well, as planned. He could make the most of the battle battlefield in his favor because the master of the Mammon family innocently marched his troops straight into the treacherous enemy terrain.

Stravadi knew well how the master of the Mammon family fought Agares. It was a very clever and wonderful operation that the master deployed a Land Worm into the battlefield and confused Agares's forces.