- An intruder has entered Lee Ganghyeon’s domain!
At last, the intruder had entered the nearby forest.
Ever since I received that first declaration of war message, I had made plenty of preparations myself.
‘Still, looks like they’re not exactly weak.’
Arkanea, the master of the dungeon.
I couldn’t know just how strong their forces were, but one thing was certain.
‘To find a goblin lying in ambush in an instant.’
Another lamia had killed one member of the goblin scout unit.
You shouldn’t underestimate them just because they were goblins.
The goblins belonging to my scout unit were on a completely different level from ordinary goblins.
Though goblins formed the core of the unit, they were warriors who had undergone tremendous training under the management of the Goblin Lord.
And that wasn’t all.
How much attention had General Manager Celia put into the scout unit’s equipment?
Yet one of those goblins had been taken down in a single strike.
That meant the opponent’s skill was higher than expected.
‘So they didn’t declare war for nothing.’
Well, if they were at the level where even the goblin scout unit could wipe the floor with them, they wouldn’t have even thought of coming here.
When they first waged war on my dungeon, I was so flustered I could only be dumbfounded, but now it didn’t matter.
No, rather, I welcomed it.
I needed to objectively confirm just how strong my dungeon’s forces were right now.
All sorts of people had entered my dungeon until now.
But there had always been the disappointment that everything ended too easily.
Not that I wanted some existence I couldn’t handle to come, but my focus was strictly on measuring the dungeon’s combat power.
‘In that sense, those guys are perfect for the job.’
First, I wanted to praise them for realizing the goblin scout unit was lying in ambush and launching a preemptive attack.
However.
They were not the main force.
Their unit name was scout unit, after all.
Their purpose was reconnaissance first and foremost, not annihilating enemies.
After defeating the goblin scout unit, the enemy was making their way toward the dungeon at high speed.
‘Shall I sit back and see how this turns out?’
In a sprawled-out position, I touched the screen of my charging smartphone.
Looking at me like this, I might seem like someone doing nothing at all, but I was, in my own way, in a position where I received a salary.
“Tsk.”
Still, I really should visit the Firebird Guild at least once sometime…
I had become an adviser to the team led by Jeong Yerin at the Firebird Guild.
I felt bad just living like this while taking a salary, so I was planning to make time someday.
“Well, this is more important right now.”
It wasn’t as though something terrible would happen just because I didn’t go to the Firebird Guild immediately.
But if my dungeon collapsed, that would be a serious problem for me too, so what I was about to do from now on was very important.
That was why I had already given Celia firm instructions.
Since the zones inside the dungeon could be restored, I told her to fight boldly.
Instead, I ordered her to protect only the dungeon core thoroughly.
In preparation for unforeseen circumstances, I had also dispatched the 5-star gargoyle at home to the Eldorad Continent.
This too was possible because the system had first told me to form a force to stop the intruders.
I also instructed her that once the combat power of each zone had been measured, she should withdraw the forces at her own discretion.
It would be a shame if they dealt with the enemy from the very first zone.
“Or not? If they die in the first zone, is there any point in measuring them in the first place?”
I decided not to think that far.
They would handle it well enough according to my instructions.
Celia, who was on-site, would take care of that part, so all I had to do was trust her and leave it to her.
However, the two guests in Zone 3 had been moved to the rear where Celia was.
Zone 3 was an area where man-eating tentacle plants and bloodsucking butterflies existed.
And according to Celia’s report, there was an elf named Nariel and a little vampire named Aren there.
For some reason, they still didn’t belong to the dungeon. If I had to say, they were closer to guests.
“They might join the dungeon someday, so it’s right to move them to the back.”
Strictly speaking, man-eating tentacle plants and bloodsucking butterflies could be replenished anytime through draws.
Not only that, but monsters also reproduced on their own, so far more bloodsucking butterflies had been born than the number I had originally drawn.
Even so, perhaps because the dungeon regulated their numbers on its own, the number of bloodsucking butterflies seemed to fluctuate around a certain level.
“Come to think of it, those plants might be eating the butterflies.”
Nature was mysterious, after all.
In any case, the man-eating carnivorous plants in Zone 3 had become even stronger.
According to Celia, she had strengthened the plants by borrowing the power of an elf.
As it happened, an elf named Ciel was living in my house too.
“If it’s useful, I should ask her to give me one too.”
Raising one man-eating carnivorous plant seemed doable.
Of course, since the man-eating tentacle plant was 3-star, I couldn’t summon it to Earth.
Instead, I planned to use a loophole and get some seeds.
Just as I was thinking that, the next alarm rang.
- Warning! An intruder has entered Lee Ganghyeon’s dungeon!
- Subjugate Arkanea, the master of the Lamia Dungeon, who has invaded the dungeon.
At last, the opponent had entered the dungeon.
“Good. Shall we watch how things unfold now?”
I called Maru over, had him sit down, and handed him a notebook.
“Here, watch this screen and do a personnel evaluation.”
“Tak?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just record who responds well and fights well. Their promotions are in your hands, Maru.”
Wouldn’t it be more accurate if seen through a monster’s eyes?
I had a duty to oversee the overall flow.
* * *
As they entered the dungeon, cool air greeted them.
The passage was not particularly wide, but it was not narrow enough to interfere with combat.
“Seeing as the humidity is being maintained at an appropriate level, it seems water is flowing inside.”
Stia’s words were correct.
Aside from the cool temperature, this dungeon maintained a humidity level suitable for lamia to live in.
“If we take over this dungeon, I will immediately call in a representative from the trading company and have it remodeled.”
“That would be best.”
Even if the temperature was low, if they commissioned the trading company, they could alter the environment however they wished.
But right now, that was not what mattered.
“……”
Arkanea looked at the dungeon walls.
Perhaps because they were well maintained, the interior was clean.
If there was anything disappointing, it was that it was too plain.
There were no patterns on the walls, only torches hung at regular intervals.
For some reason, Arkanea felt an artificial quality from it.
‘How strange.’
She shuddered at the unpleasant sensation.
But soon, she calmed herself and moved forward.
And a short while later.
They reached the end of the passage.
Before their eyes were three branching paths.
“Hmm.”
Arkanea looked at the three-way fork and drew in a long breath.
From the path on the far left, she sensed a powerful scent of death.
It was a place where fear, screams, and emptiness could be felt all at once.
In a case like this, there was only one possibility.
“It seems that place is where the undead are.”
However, it felt quite different from an Arch Lich.
There was a high probability that no Arch Lich was there.
From the central path came a scent similar to the goblin scout unit they had encountered earlier.
“It appears goblins are gathered and living in the center.”
And the path on the far right.
‘Nature, blood, fear…?’
What was afraid?
There were not just one or two beings feeling fear.
Countless beings were feeling fear.
‘Blood?’
Were they afraid of vampires?
But if that were the case, she could not smell vampires directly.
“Hmm.”
It seemed that place could not be gauged.
Usually, the range would narrow down to a single species, but there were far too many possibilities.
“Lady Arkanea.”
Stia, her adjutant, approached the dungeon master lost in thought.
“Will you divide the troops? Or will you break through one place?”
As Stia said, the time had come to make a decision.
Whichever decision she made, there were pros and cons. If they all advanced toward one place, they might end up isolated from both front and back.
If forces were drawn from the other two paths to strike them from behind, that would be quite troublesome.
If she divided her forces, the risk would be greater, but it would offset that drawback.
“It cannot be helped. Stia, you take the far-left path.”
A powerful scent of death came from the first path.
Even so, she could not sense the Arch Lich who was said to be the master of this dungeon.
That alone meant Stia should be able to win.
And Arkanea herself chose the path on the far right.
It was a place with many possibilities and variables, so she planned to advance with some of her subordinates.
“And the central path will be yours, Picha.”
At her words, a slender lamia appeared.
Among the lamia, Picha possessed outstanding ability in handling magic.
That was why Arkanea thought she would be suited to fighting goblins.
Picha agreed with that point as well.
“Understood, my master. I, Picha, shall subjugate the center.”
Arkanea swiftly divided and deployed her troops.
The far-left path would be handled by twenty lamia led by Stia, while the central path would be handled by thirty-six lamia commanded by Picha.
Arkanea herself chose the right path with twelve lamia.
With this, preparations were fully complete.
After finishing their respective preparations, they set out in their assigned directions.
Stia watched until Arkanea disappeared down the right path.
At last, once Arkanea vanished from Stia’s sight, she slowly raised herself.
“Then we will set out as well.”
Twenty lamia followed behind Stia.
The farther they walked ahead, the more intensely the aura of death seemed to stab through the air.
The stench of decay assaulted their noses, and the steadily dropping temperature tormented the lamia.
“We need to hurry.”
Stia frowned at the continuously falling temperature.
What was fatal to lamia was none other than the cold.
Worrying for Arkanea’s safety, Stia stepped into the first zone.
A short while later, Stia could only stop breathing at the sight spread out before her eyes.
An undead legion filling the space was waiting for her.
“Ugh…!”
A sinister aura struck her head.
One wrong move, and she felt as though she might lose consciousness.
“E-Everyone, get a hold of yourselves!”
Stia, the adjutant, barely clung to reason and shouted at her subordinates.
‘How can there be such a powerful aura…!’
Though she was reassuring her subordinates, Stia herself felt puzzled by the current situation.
And soon, her gaze reached the figure standing behind the undead legion.
“A-A Death Knight!”
An unexpected existence was there.
This dungeon had clearly been said to be an Arch Lich’s dungeon.
But a Death Knight, all of a sudden!
‘Could the trading company’s information have been wrong!’
Only then did she realize the situation was grave and whirled around.
She had to leave this place at once and inform Arkanea.
“Lady Arkanea is in danger! We must leave this place immediately!”
However, the undead legion was not about to let them go peacefully.
From the moment the lamia had come here, they had no choices left.
Skeletons and zombies made of bones and bluish flesh.
And even banshees shrieking on top of that.
An undead legion mixed with all sorts of monsters charged toward Stia.
* * *
While the intruders were busily roaming each zone of the dungeon.
“I-Is this truly right!”
Baalcherit spoke in a sullen voice.
“Of course. Miss Riche. This is the will of our great master. Surely you are not saying you will defy our master’s will?”
Celia smiled brightly as she chased Baalcherit out to Zone 4.
“Uh… Manager. Can I, ‘Left,’ go in too?”
Unlike Baalcherit, who had been driven out to Zone 4, the ogre brothers had been called to the dungeon’s central area.
“I, ‘Right,’ want to go in too!”
“Of course. Everyone except Miss Ri-che may come in.”
Celia put emphasis on that specific name as she spoke.
At the general manager’s order, not only the ogre brothers, but also the water spirit and the nobles captured from the Seil Kingdom were moved to the dungeon’s central area.
‘As expected of our master. It is still too early to trust that mosquito-like bitch.’
The current situation was surely all according to the will of the great one.
Even before the lamia attacked, their master had ordered her to uncover the connection between Baalcherit and them.
The easiest method was to make them fight one another.
Now, all arrangements were complete.
On top of that, since the great one had even provided support in the form of a gargoyle, every possible variable had been cut off at the source.
Celia moved on to the next agenda.
“Mr. Kazel, think about how we should make use of those lamia to satisfy our master.”
Kazel von Rosenberg, who was now acting as the adjutant within the dungeon.
As a human, he was the first to be in charge of important duties in the dungeon.
Not only were his work abilities good, but he also often gave answers to Celia’s questions that pleased her quite a bit.
It was the same now.
“General Manager, there is a liquor that some nobles enjoy drinking.”
“What is it?”
“It is liquor made by steeping snakes. If you think about it, a lamia’s lower body is no different from a snake. Perhaps it may even have effects superior to an ordinary snake.”
Since Kazel had once been a baron of the Seil Kingdom, his words carried credibility.
“I see… snake liquor, is it?”
At Kazel’s words, Celia thought seriously.
Now that she thought about it, had Sir Maru, their master’s guard knight, not said so?
That their master liked the feel of hands.
That was why they had cut off a gnoll’s hands separately and offered them as sacrifices.
“In that case, let us catch one lamia and make snake liquor.”
Their master would surely like snake liquor made from lamia as well.
With a smile, Celia immediately began making snake liquor.