Dungeon Maker

The Queen of Fury stiffened her face. Although she was naive and innocent in some respects, she wasn't foolish. While she was listening to what he was trying to explain to her, she instinctively found out something that she could not ignore.

Yong-ho did not stop talking. As if holding onto the Queen of Fury eagerly, he said something important, "Power is the power of the soul. Sin is no different."

Young-ho's words were no different from his announcement to her. It seemed as if some violet light peculiar to the queen's eyes was twinkling.

The Queen of Fury was suppressing herself. She held back the urge to get up right away and shout at him but listened to him respectively. He was not done talking yet, and the Queen of Fury clearly promised him that she would hear him out.

"I don't want to fight you. I'm not threatening or blackmailing you now. I'm serious. Even after I defeat the King of Pride, I would like to maintain a strong alliance with you."

Of course, he didn't think so from the beginning. He didn't think of being lenient toward her because she was a beauty. He fought several masters in the process of unifying the southern areas. Of course, there were also female masters among his opponents.

It was by necessity that Yong-ho made an alliance with the Queen of Fury. Therefore, he hid from her the fact that he possessed the Sin of Greed, and that he killed the King of Gluttony. He was not sure what would happen to his alliance with her after he defeated the northern troops.

However, after fighting the King of Lust, he changed his mind when he revealed to her that he was the King of Greed.

The Queen of Fury still regarded Yong-ho as a strong ally. Instead of blaming him and doubting himself for hiding the facts, she reached out to him again.

Of course, she might have done so because she also needed his help. But he didn't think so. He could feel she was sincere toward him, so he wanted to respond sincerely.

He didn't want to fight the Queen of Fury. He wanted to take her as his strong ally.

He didn't even think of killing her and taking away her Sin and essence.

"Please be my subordinate spirit."

The Queen of Fury clenched her teeth at that moment. He looked straight at the queen.

"After I defeat the King of Pride and stop the advance of the celestial world, I will release you from the status of my subordinate spirit as soon as you wish for it. Let me promise it under the swear of a dragon."

It was the suggestion offered by Yuno who counted the stars.

The subordinate spirit was fundamentally created by mutual contracts. Even if one became a subordinate spirit and devoted one's body and soul to one's master, it was impossible for the master to completely control one's heart.

Yong-ho's pledge was a particularly powerful one among various contract magics that existed in the demon world.

Even if Yong-ho and the Queen of Fury were in a relationship between master and the subordinate spirit, his pledge remained strong. If he broke his pledge, it would punish him because of the strictness of the contract. And there was only one punishment, which was death. In that respect, Yong-ho's request to her to be his subordinate spirit was risking his life.

That was why he also offered his life as collateral.

If Yong-ho rejected her request to break out of the contract of being his subordinate spirit when she wanted it, he would have to lose his life.

Since the dragon's pledge was activated only when the contract was broken, the Queen of Fury could not kill Yong-ho.

This would be an ideal situation when Yong-ho and the Queen of Fury focused on the contract alone, aside from the scrutiny of those around them as well as their status.

Armed with Greed, he could obtain the power of Fury. By making the queen his subordinate spirit, he would obtain more power, and so would the queen. The contract of the master and subordinate spirit relationship brought about the growth of both.

However, this was only possible when they completely trusted each other.

The Queen of Fury was not alone. She was the leader of the eight clans.

"Will you give me some time to think for a moment?"

The Queen of Fury said, straining her voice.

He said, with a nod, "I am sorry for making such a tough request to you."

The queen replied, "I think today is probably the hardest day since I became the queen."

Having said that, the queen smiled with an effort then stood up from her seat.

She felt the night air was unusually cold.

"Take a break. I think you are also exhausted," she said.

Then the queen left the Air Garden of her dungeon. He noticed Gardimundi and Kirtimuka silently following her. Fortunately, the two women quietly listened to his request to the queen without balking at all.

[You conveyed your sincere message to her. Now is the time for you to wait until you hear from her.]

Aamon whispered to Yong-ho. He closed his eyes.

***

[Master, wake up.]

Yong-ho blinked his eyes. It seemed that he fell asleep after closing his eyes briefly.

He was still in the Air Garde of the queen's dungeon. No one came to pick him up as if Aamon already informed his subordinate spirits about his location.

Not long after opening his eyes, Yong-ho understood the situation. The Queen of Fury was standing at a distance from him. Dressed a little more loosely than last night, she walked toward him and stood in front of him. She had bloodshot eyes at the moment.

"Probably, I've never been in greater agony than today since I was born.

The smell of her fragrant flesh peculiar to the Gandarva clan tickled the tip of his nose.

The Queen of Fury boldly took a seat next to him and said, "I've been thinking about it all night."

The queen breathed in the cold night air. Then she covered her face with both hands and raised her head after a while.

"I've a couple of conditions."

Yong-ho was silent. She turned to him with her jewel-like eyes shining in the dark.

"First, you have to keep it to yourself that I'm going to be your subordinate spirit. Of course, I understand you can't hide it to the Queen of Sloth and your 12 subordinate spirits, but you should not reveal it to anybody else. What I mean is the ordinary tribesmen of the eight clans as well as the general dungeon spirits of the Mammon family should be kept in the dark about it.

This is the condition Gardimundi wants you to agree to."

Of course, she set out the condition, keeping in mind the situation where she would be freed from the status of his subordinate spirit.

Yong-ho thought the condition was reasonable. He could understand that her people would not easily accept the fact that she became another master's subordinate spirit, no matter how strongly she felt the necessity. Anyway, she thought it would be better to deal with the contract secretly if it was needed for Yong-ho's short-term battle with the King of Pride.

"And the next condition is..." She slurred.

Only after she moved her lips hesitantly did she face him again and said sharply, "Okay, this is my second condition. Take responsibility for me and my people."

"Dritarashutra?" Yong-ho immediately asked before he knew it.

There was no more shame or shyness in her face.

She said in her capacity as the queen of the eight clans, "King of Greed, you are the one who has got here alone from the alien world, without relatives or friends. So, you don't have your own people or family here."

As she said, Yong-ho was from the human world. Based on Gardimundi's background investigation of Yong-ho, only Kaiwan had a kinship with Yong-ho and the House of Mammon.

The Queen of Fury admitted calmly that the King of Greed was strong and that the balance of power between them was broken a long time ago.

When it was revealed that Yong-ho was the King of Greed, Kirtimuka thought that the queen should give up the political marriage of the Mammon family and the eight clans, but Gardimundi and the heads of the eight clans didn't agree. They believed that Yong-ho was the perfect candidate for the queen. In a situation where the balance of power among the kings collapsed, it was best for the queen to cultivate stronger power or acquiesce to the stronger power in order to survive.

"Treat the eight clans as your race. By defeating the King of Pride and the celestial world, please let the eight clans live in a peaceful demon world. Please cherish and love them."

That was her most important condition. She did not ask him for anything more.

"If so, I, Dritarashutra, will live with you for the rest of my life. Of course, I'm going to make the dragon's contract with you, just in case."

At the end of her words, she suddenly got shy.

Yong-ho was happy and embarrassed at that moment.

He said, "Oh, wait a moment. So, what you mean is..."

"Oh, not yet. I am willing to be your subordinate spirit temporarily to help you defeat the King of Pride, but I need time to be on more intimate terms with you, so I can confirm whether you can really care about my people."

After babbling quickly like that, the queen stood up suddenly, then reached out to him, looking at him gently.

"I will trust you, King of Greed."

She really offered her real trust in him. He took her hands and said, "Thank you, Queen of Fury. I'll surely pay back your trust."

This time, his promise to her was different from what Mammon made to the King of Pride and the King of Lust. In some respects, it was like the promise between Mammon and Sitri who would never betray each other.

"By the way.."

The queen, who was fidgeting with her fingers on his big hand, turned her gaze from him.

Then she said shyly, "Now, how about talking to each other informally? We have become closer than before, and we're going to be much more closer..."

He chuckled at her suggestion and nodded cheerfully.

"Sure, Dritarashutra."

The queen smiled brightly. Instead of replying, she grasped his hand once again.