- All intruders who entered the satellite dungeon “Nest of Corruption” have been repelled.
- You have defended the satellite dungeon perfectly.
- A special reward will be granted.
- As a special reward, the Concealment attribute will be added to the satellite dungeon “Nest of Corruption.” Whether it is concealed can be set by the master of the satellite dungeon.
“It hasn’t even been that long since I made it, and there are already intruders?”
Not long after I established the satellite dungeon, intruders appeared.
Fortunately, Necros and Kaleido seemed to have held them off well, as an alert appeared saying they had been repelled.
“The Concealment attribute isn’t bad, is it?”
The satellite dungeon was practically a newly born dungeon, so I had to pay even more attention to managing it.
The problem was that a satellite dungeon was not a dungeon I could manage directly like the main dungeon.
That was why the satellite dungeon was marked with the independent-sounding title of “dungeon master” rather than “administrator.”
Even if I drew monsters or miscellaneous goods, they were ultimately summoned based on the main dungeon where Celia was.
In other words, aside from Kaleido, who had been drawn as belonging to the satellite dungeon from the start, the other monsters had to be dispatched from the main dungeon.
In that sense, Concealment was an extremely efficient function.
On top of that, Kaleido’s ability enhancement was a jackpot.
- As a special reward, Kaleido’s (★★★★) magic will be strengthened.
- Kaleido’s skill “Eye of Fantasy (A)” will be strengthened into “Prison of Fantasy (S).”
- Eye of Fantasy (A): Draws the opponent into a world of illusion. -> Prison of Fantasy (S): Imprisons the opponent within an illusion, making them unable to distinguish reality from fantasy.
- Kaleido’s skill “Illusion Projection (B)” will be strengthened into “Illusion Distortion (A).”
- Illusion Projection (B): Projects an illusion desired by the caster as if it were real, throwing the opponent into confusion. -> Illusion Distortion (A): Disrupts not only the opponent’s visual perception but even their senses.
‘First, I’ll have to ask Celia to pay attention to support.’
Since Necros was the master of the satellite dungeon, he would surely handle it well, but since it was as good as having one more life, it needed special management.
I immediately gave Necros a separate order.
Even though it was independent in form, I could still give Necros commands.
- Stabilize the dungeon and the area around it.
It wasn’t enough for only the dungeon to be safe.
The current location where the satellite dungeon had appeared was near the monster arena in the underworld.
No matter how much Necros was guarding it, the very fact that it was in the underworld gave it an uncertain feeling.
The dungeon’s defenses were important, but the most important thing was to make it so intruders couldn’t come in the first place.
That was why I ordered Necros to stabilize the area around the dungeon as well.
I didn’t know how Necros would lead the dungeon with Kaleido, but watching it would be one kind of fun.
* * *
A dark and gloomy space ruled by silence.
All around, various assassination weapons were displayed with precision, and countless slashing marks remained on the walls.
Though there was not a single window and darkness covered every direction, Ferris was sunk deep in thought.
Ferris was one of the representatives of “the Black Hand,” the organization that ruled the underworld of the Kingdom of Seil.
Even within the organization, the fields he was in charge of were assassination and intelligence gathering.
He might have been busy having to care about two different lines of work, but in truth, assassination and intelligence were inseparable.
Since information was essential in order to know an assassination target, it was only natural for him to also serve as an information broker.
Moreover, Ferris was not satisfied with his current position.
He had the ambition to someday take all of the Black Hand into his own grasp.
To do so, meticulous preparation was necessary.
“……”
Ferris remained silent and closed his eyes.
Then he felt the stillness around him with his entire body.
This place was the very center where all the information of the darkness flowed in.
For that reason, it was a space thoroughly secured and completely cut off from the outside by barrier magic.
It had cost an enormous sum, but it was merely an essential investment for his plans.
Thanks to that, this place, like his own small kingdom, was an impregnable fortress that no one could enter or leave as they pleased without permission.
Unless someone dragged him out, Ferris was not the kind of man to be fooled by such a flimsy trap.
A moment later, Ferris opened his eyes.
“Come in.”
Ferris’s voice rang out, cutting through the space.
At his command, one of his subordinates cautiously revealed himself.
The subordinate knelt before Ferris with a face pale from terror and lowered his head.
Ferris’s cold gaze pierced through him.
“So, have you found out anything about Malcolm?”
The first question was about Malcolm.
After the last meeting of the Black Hand, Malcolm had disappeared.
Ferris had thought he would be lazing around somewhere looking for zombies again, but contact had been completely cut off.
No, there had been rumors that Malcolm was dead, but he needed to confirm it directly.
As an information broker, he did not believe claims that Malcolm was dead until he had confirmed the concrete truth.
Information was, by nature, a noisy thing.
“Yes, Lord Ferris. Lord Malcolm is still missing. However…”
The subordinate answered in a trembling voice.
“A new figure has appeared in the district Lord Malcolm managed.”
Ferris’s brow narrowed.
A new person appearing in Malcolm’s district.
For the Black Hand, it had to be an ill omen.
Inside his head, various possibilities became tangled together in a complicated knot.
‘Surely not?’
Was it really true that Malcolm was dead?
But something did not sit right.
The Black Hand was structured like a coalition of several organizations.
Malcolm, too, had been the head of one organization and one of the six representatives.
And yet some unidentified person had suddenly appeared and was replacing Malcolm?
‘Impossible.’
If Malcolm was playing some prank, that would be one thing, but their system was not so flimsy that an outsider could carelessly set foot inside the organization.
“You’ve found out who this person is, I assume?”
Sharpness seeped into Ferris’s voice.
If Malcolm truly had disappeared, the key issue was who had taken his place.
“I looked into it. The one who took over Lord Malcolm’s district is known by the name Necros. He is currently operating a monster arena, but since he has never shown his face publicly, there is a high possibility that it is an alias.”
“A monster arena…”
Recently, the monster arena had been at the center of attention, so Ferris knew about it well.
An arena where actual monsters and people fought duels with their lives on the line. The spectators watched the desperate battles and cheered.
At first, he had simply thought Malcolm had used zombies to set up the arena.
After all, the man was always obsessed with zombies, and above all, it was a facility that had appeared in Malcolm’s jurisdiction.
The subordinate’s report continued.
Information about the monster arena. And details regarding the arena’s owner, Necros.
However, the person called Necros was hidden behind a veil, and his true identity was unknown.
The fact that there was no information was the entirety of the information.
And Ferris’s mood worsened at the cautious report that followed from his subordinate.
“Um… Lord Ferris. It seems Lord Malcolm’s death is indeed true.”
“……”
It meant the rumors were true.
“I asked at random among those who frequently visit the arena. They said that one day, Lord Malcolm personally participated in the arena.”
The absurd anecdote that Malcolm had entered the arena, saying he would personally fight a monster.
If only one person had said it, that would be one thing, but many witnesses were already testifying to Malcolm’s end.
‘That damned idiot.’
Ferris let out a deep sigh, having never imagined there would be such a hidden story.
At the same time, the current situation made sense.
Indeed, if not for something like this, how could a new figure have seized Malcolm’s position?
It must have happened because he did something this reckless.
‘This will be an agenda item for the emergency meeting later.’
As it happened, an emergency meeting called by the Master was scheduled for today.
It was likely not unrelated to Malcolm’s case.
Ferris set aside his thoughts about Malcolm and moved on to the next topic.
“So then, what is the situation with the other representatives?”
For him, who sought supremacy, keeping track of his comrades’ movements was essential.
“Yes. Lady Lyla has been having difficulties with human trafficking lately. As the kingdom’s crackdowns intensify, it seems trade is not going smoothly. The queen appears to be putting effort into strengthening public security.”
“Hmm.”
Lyla was one of the six representatives and primarily earned profits through the human trafficking business.
“It is the same for Lady Annabel. Major drug cultivation sites were discovered by the royal family, and she suffered a heavy blow. It seems a large-scale investigation is being conducted under Queen Irena’s protection.”
And Annabel, who was in charge of drug cultivation and distribution, was also struggling.
From Ferris’s perspective, his comrades’ struggles were actually refreshing.
It meant his competitors were decreasing.
However, his expression after hearing the report was not good.
Lyla and Annabel—the source of the blows inflicted upon them was Queen Irena in both cases.
‘The queen, is it…’
After the disaster, the Kingdom of Seil had been swept into a whirlwind of upheaval.
With the abdication of the previous king, Princess Irena had ascended the throne as queen.
That was the problem.
Queen Irena’s actions were having a negative effect on the Black Hand.
The Black Hand’s businesses were being smashed one after another.
‘This isn’t good.’
The fall of his competitors was welcome, but it would be troublesome if the organization that would someday become his own collapsed in this manner.
That said, it was not as though he had no countermeasures at all.
“What did the informants planted in the royal family say?”
Long ago, Ferris had infiltrated key informants to monitor the royal family.
All of them were also skilled assassins of a high level.
It had been a choice made with the assassination of royalty in mind, just in case.
However, the news that returned was like a bolt from the blue.
“Um, about that… I apologize. Contact with all of the informants has been lost.”
“What?”
What was this now?
This time, even Ferris could not help but be flustered.
Why were matters that had proceeded smoothly until now suddenly going awry?
“After Queen Irena’s coronation, contact was gradually lost, and not long ago, it was cut off completely.”
“Is there a possibility it is merely a communication issue?”
Even amid despair, he clung to a single thread of hope.
Given how chaotic the royal family currently was, he thought there could have been difficulties with communication.
But all that returned were grim words.
“It seems almost impossible. In my opinion… there may be a secret unit directly under the queen’s command. Otherwise, there is no way contact with all the informants would be severed at once.”
“Mm.”
Ferris nodded heavily.
If, as he said, the queen secretly had a unit directly under her?
If a shadow-like unit that obeyed only the queen’s orders and acted in secret truly existed, then it would explain the current situation.
‘The worst-case scenario.’
Queen Irena’s forceful moves. At the same time, the blows being inflicted upon the Black Hand.
All of these bad factors came together into a single conclusion.
For now, there was no clear solution.
“We’ll put this matter on hold for now. Do not send any informants into the royal family for the time being, and if necessary, withdraw all those operating nearby as well.”
Rash action was the shortcut to self-destruction.
As long as the queen held an unexpected card, he could not recklessly force his way through head-on.
‘I’ll have to bring this up at the meeting.’
The meeting would gather the six representatives, including Ferris.
With Malcolm’s disappearance this time, they had been reduced to five, but that was not the issue.
‘Master…’
The Master, who effectively oversaw the Black Hand.
No one knew his real name, let alone his face.
He always commanded the Black Hand while wearing a black mask.
‘Come to think of it, Necros resembles the Master.’
The being his subordinate had reported on earlier, who operated the arena—Necros.
‘The way he also wears a mask and acts… Hm?’
As Ferris thought, he briefly tilted his head.
Thinking about it, his subordinate had said that Necros had never shown himself.
That meant Ferris himself could not know whether Necros wore a mask or not.
‘I must have been mistaken for a moment.’
Since such a vast amount of information came to him, it seemed there had been some confusion.
He erased the thoughts from his mind and moved on to another matter.
“How has the Master been recently?”
From this point onward was the most important part.
A representative of the Black Hand and its de facto leader.
Ferris asked about the Master.
He was the one they needed to be most wary of.
“We have yet to obtain any precise information. He is moving in secret, so even approaching him is not easy.”
The expected answer reached his ears.
An icy smile spread across Ferris’s lips.
‘As expected, it won’t be easy.’
All the other representatives were nothing but incompetent fools.
Laila and Annabel could be controlled at any time, so they did not matter, and the black mage Darkmore had never been interested in anything but experiments to begin with, so he was no threat.
But the Master was different.
‘A being we could not bring down even when we all attacked him together.’
Even when every representative with a reputation for skill had charged at him, they had not been able to so much as touch the hem of the Master’s clothes.
If Ferris was ever to rise above him, he had to learn more about the Master.
But there was no need to rush.
Doing so would only serve to make the other party wary.
“Let us stop that here as well. A long tail is bound to be stepped on.”
Ferris was cautious.
The moment his plan surfaced, his faction would collapse, so he always had to be careful.
“That will be all for the report. I must attend a meeting soon, so withdraw.”
“Understood, Lord Ferris.”
His subordinate was about to retreat in terror, then stopped.
“My apologies. Lord Ferris, there was one more thing I had to deliver.”
“What is it?”
“A letter arrived for you earlier. There was no sender written on it, so I found it suspicious, but I thought it might contain something important.”
Ferris narrowed his brow and accepted the letter.
Judging by the feel of it, the paper was of fine quality.
“Very well. Go.”
After dismissing his subordinate, Ferris examined the letter carefully.
There were no clues on the outer envelope.
He cautiously opened it.
【To the dear human】
I am Necros, chosen by the Great One, and currently operating the Monster Arena.
Humans, I pay respect to your strength. This is grounds for praise.
In hopes of forming friendly relations with you, I wish to hold a small banquet.
I sincerely hope you will attend with gold coins and jewels, and grace the occasion with your presence.
May we always serve the Great One and envision a brighter tomorrow together. Otherwise, it will be grounds for demerits.
What is this?
Ferris frowned after reading the contents of the letter.
It felt as though the letter had been written as a joke.
However, Ferris saw a name familiar to his eyes.
‘Necros.’
The one who had taken over Malcolm’s territory.
Now the bastard was toying with people through letters.
‘Still, this is truly strange.’
How did he think to send a letter?
Ferris’s question did not last long.
Because he heard someone calling him.
“…s.”
S?
“…ake up, Ferris.”
Someone was calling him.
“Wake up, Ferris!”
Smack—
Feeling a strange pain on his back, Ferris opened his eyes.
“Hm? What is this?”
Ferris swept his gaze over his surroundings.
A room where darkness clung thickly. And an uncanny silence.
Only candlelight illuminated the darkness, and even that light gave off a strange impression, as though it had lost its vitality.
In the suffocating stillness, three shadows sat around a round table.
They were none other than Ferris himself, along with Laila and Annabel.
This was a bizarre space where ordinary mortals were strictly barred from entering, the meeting room of the representatives of the Black Hand.
‘A meeting?’
Until just moments ago, Ferris had been in his own space.
Then why was he here?
“Why am I here?”
At Ferris’s question, Laila and Annabel snorted.
“What? Did you doze off already? The meeting is about to start, so get a hold of yourself!”
A meeting.
Had he been tired lately?
Feeling an inexplicable sense of déjà vu, Ferris looked around.
The Black Hand’s meeting table had a total of six seats.
But three of them were empty.
‘Malcolm is dead, but why are the Master and Darkmore nowhere to be seen?’
It was impossible.
Meetings were absolute.
Even the Master could not be absent.
“There are many empty seats.”
Ferris muttered as if nothing was wrong.
The first to react to his words was Laila.
“Well, I guess the Master and Darkmore are late. Malcolm is dead anyway, so he doesn’t matter.”
Annabel answered her.
“Tch, that’s why Malcolm was so strange too. Why would he participate in the Monster Arena? Ferris, you must know from the report your subordinate gave you—”
Annabel’s words did not continue to the end.
Because Ferris immediately launched himself forward and seized Annabel by the throat.
“How did you know?”
He had heard the report from his subordinate that Malcolm had actually died after participating in the arena.
And yet Annabel knew that fact?
“Tell me the truth.”
Ferris tightened his grip around Annabel’s neck.
Within his grasp, the pulse of life in her throat gradually weakened.
But there was no sign of fear or despair in Annabel’s face before death.
Instead, the corners of her mouth began to rise in a chilling way.
As though her face were being torn apart to either side, her mouth opened wider and wider.
“Ah, I made a mistake, didn’t I?”
The voice that echoed from deep within her throat was clearly not Annabel’s.
It was closer to the voice of a demon that had walked out of hell.
Annabel’s face began to distort grotesquely.
As though her skull were being crushed by an invisible hand, her face bent and twisted away somewhere.