Celia and the Goblin Lord were making their way through the dungeon.
Behind them followed Skeleton Knights and goblins.
The place they were passing through was the dungeon managed by Azmo.
Originally, they should have been on the continent of Eldorad, yet they had crossed over into a dungeon on Earth without any restrictions.
It was all thanks to the dimensional gate.
The dimensional gate.
It was an existence that connected the dungeon “Nest of the Evil God” on the continent of Eldorad with the dungeon “Temptation of Illusions” on Earth.
“All of this is a blessing from the Great One.”
Celia praised in an excited voice.
The powers the Great One displayed always left her in awe.
“Now then, we have received generous grace from Master all this time. It is now our turn to repay it.”
At Celia’s words, the Goblin Lord nodded.
She was right.
If that person had not existed, they would not exist here either.
“Before carrying out Master’s command, there was something he specifically instructed us to remember.”
Master had commanded them.
Minimize the damage.
Those words meant that they were to carry out the order without suffering any harm themselves.
In short, it meant they were to go and return safely without getting hurt.
“Oh my! As expected, Master is the only one who thinks of us!”
Celia’s expression overflowed with joy.
For Master’s sake, she would gladly offer up this one body.
“I, Celia, will surely complete it exactly as Master instructed!”
Celia clasped her face with both hands as though enraptured.
“Goblin Lord, you must keep this in mind as well. You must never do anything that would bring shame upon Master’s honor.”
“Understood, keheuk.”
At Celia’s reminder, the Goblin Lord nodded and answered.
He, too, agreed with Celia’s words.
For him to fall would be no different from sullying Master’s honor.
Minimize the damage.
Those words were the same as telling them to put forth their full strength in carrying out the command.
As the Goblin Lord steeled his resolve, Celia looked around.
“Still, to think he emptied the dungeon and left like this….”
Azmo’s dungeon was so deserted that even Celia’s joy-filled expression hardened.
There was one human boy bound from head to toe, but that was not the problem.
They had left without even keeping behind the minimum force needed to defend the dungeon.
“Haa. Just what are Mr. Death Knight and Mr. Arch Lich doing…?”
Celia let out a sigh.
Of course, she could guess that Azmo had done this for Master’s sake.
In truth, that devotion itself was admirable.
However.
“First, I will have to scold Mr. Arch Lich a little.”
Master had bestowed upon Mr. Arch Lich the position of inspector.
Yet the inspector, who was supposed to grasp the situation objectively, had not mediated anything.
He had even evolved from a lich into an Arch Lich after receiving Master’s power.
And yet, because he handled matters like this, Celia could only sigh.
“For the time being, have the Skeleton Knights guard this place.”
Celia gestured toward the Skeleton Knights.
They were originally beings like guards who protected Celia’s workspace.
Of course, saying that a three-star Skeleton Knight was guarding Celia, a six-star combatant, was absurd, but all of this was Master’s will.
It was proof of just how much he thought of Celia.
“The dungeon’s defenses are more or less settled.”
At Celia’s command, the Skeleton Knights took up positions throughout the dungeon.
“Remember. This is a dungeon owned by Master. Show no mercy to intruders.”
At her words, everyone nodded.
Satisfied by the sight, Celia looked at the Goblin Lord.
“I will head straight to where Mr. Death Knight is. Goblin Lord, defend the area around the dungeon.”
The command Master had given was to bring back Death Knight, Arch Lich, Azmo, and Beta safely.
Celia’s plan was simple.
Before the humans became any more troublesome, she intended to extract only them.
To eliminate even the variable of a possible contingency, the Skeleton Knights would guard the dungeon, while the Goblin Lord and his subordinates would defend the surrounding area.
Celia looked over them once, then vanished.
She had now departed to carry out Master’s command.
After Celia left.
The Skeleton Knights stood motionless in the dungeon with their swords drawn.
If intruders appeared, they would begin to move.
And they would make them regret daring to enter Master’s dungeon.
The Goblin Lord also headed outside to carry out his orders.
The armed goblins followed behind the Goblin Lord in disciplined formation.
“Go!”
At the Goblin Lord’s command, the goblins began moving forward.
* * *
“Now then, are you beginning to feel like trying this thing called negotiation?”
Azmo, who stood at the head of the monster horde, shouted loudly.
Unlike the triumphant Azmo, the Hunters of the Emergency Response Team were in despair.
“M-monsters….”
When they had heard that a monster wave had occurred, they thought they would be able to suppress it quickly.
But after actually facing them, they realized to their bones just how arrogant that thought had been.
“Everyone, get a hold of yourselves!”
Team Leader Han Jeongcheol shouted at his subordinates.
‘The atmosphere is bad….’
Every attack so far had been blocked.
His subordinates’ morale had already plummeted so far it had broken through the floor.
On top of that, perhaps because the Emergency Response Team had been unable to exert any strength, even the people who had been watching from the rear until just moments ago had all vanished.
They knew it too.
This monster wave was different from the ones that had occurred before.
The Emergency Response Team’s Hunters had poured out their attacks, but they had failed to inflict any damage on the enemy—had failed to leave even the smallest scratch.
In such a situation, no one would remain here trusting them.
The same went for the reporters.
By now, articles criticizing the Emergency Response Team were probably being posted.
“Haa.”
Han Jeongcheol, who led the team, let out a heavy sigh.
The divine attack Lee Mirae had fired at the beginning had been a trump card prepared with buffs added on top.
It was no different from pouring in most of her power.
He had been certain that attack would resolve the situation, but it had been blocked in vain.
And by a single shield, at that.
Even now, look at that sight.
That massive shield the Death Knight was holding.
And the maid outfit attached to the front of the shield, fluttering there, felt infuriatingly as though it were mocking them.
“…Team Leader, what do we do now?”
Lee Mirae said with difficulty.
Even after that, they had continued pouring out attacks, but the enemy monsters had not suffered so much as a scratch.
Rather, her own strength had been completely exhausted by the forced attacks.
“Mirae, for now, fall back to the rear and recover your strength.”
“I can still fight!”
Lee Mirae answered that she could still fight, but Han Jeongcheol did not allow it.
She had already done more than enough.
They had learned that divine power attacks did not work on the monsters at all.
That said, ranged attacks were meaningless too.
Fundamentally, firing arrows at ghouls did not deal much damage.
Unless they aimed for the head or imbued the arrows with divine power.
And whenever an arrow was wrapped in divine power, the Death Knight always noticed like a ghost.
Then the same situation would repeat itself, with the shield bearing the maid outfit blocking it once more.
Guns were the same, so in effect, ranged attacks were as good as useless.
‘A Death Knight that carries death around, and a maid outfit….’
It was a combination that did not suit each other at all.
Precisely because of that, the sight was terrifying.
Where on earth had they gotten something like that?
He had never even heard of a maid outfit with options like that attached.
“No way.”
Could it be that there was an existence even stronger than them?
For an instant, goosebumps spread over his entire body.
But Han Jeongcheol soon shook his head.
‘That can’t be it.’
Even the Death Knight alone was a threatening existence.
And there was even a lich as well, yet there was another being stronger than them?
If so, that would be a seriously grave problem in its own right.
It would almost certainly become a disaster for humanity.
In the end, it was more comforting to think that they were the enemy’s maximum force.
While he was lost in thought for a moment.
“Captain!”
One of his subordinates called Han Jeongcheol.
It was Hunter Kim Seungsu, the deputy leader of the Emergency Response Team.
“Instead of this, how about we just charge them head-on? Dragging this out here won’t do us any good.”
He was right.
This was not a problem that would be solved by standing still here.
The best method right now was to stall for time while waiting for support to arrive.
‘Support needs to get here quickly….’
But if they stalled too blatantly, the monsters would notice as well.
From that point on, there would be no telling where they might bolt.
In short, they would become uncontrollable.
They had to make the most of the fact that the enemy was currently showing interest in them.
‘An attack….’
But going straight at them was too dangerous.
Rather, it seemed better to keep them tied down by attacking in a guerrilla style.
If things went well, they might even whittle down the enemy’s forces.
However, the lich bothered him too much to agree immediately.
“But there’s a lich.”
A lich was a monster that used the skill Corpse Explosion.
“Come on, would a lich really blow up allied monsters indiscriminately?”
At the deputy leader’s words, Han Jeongcheol nodded slightly.
“True.”
Corpse Explosion.
Corpse Explosion was a lich’s skill that detonated undead of a lower rank than itself.
No matter how troublesome a lich’s explosion skill was, it was only possible when there were enough undead nearby.
If there were no undead around, a lich was no different from nothing.
On top of that, a lich was an intelligent monster.
There was no way an intelligent lich would not know that fact.
That was why it would not explode the ghouls indiscriminately.
‘Right.’
If they aimed only for that opening, they should be able to fight with ease.
They had been overwhelmed by the enemy’s momentum from the start and had acted far too timidly.
After thinking for a moment, Han Jeongcheol soon gave permission.
“Good! Everyone, listen closely!”
Han Jeongcheol shouted.
“There’s a Death Knight and a lich over there. Do not engage those two under any circumstances! The same goes for the ghouls! Scatter and focus on targeting the incubi!”
Incubi were not undead.
Unlike ghouls, which a lich could detonate, incubi could not be exploded that way.
If they found the right opening, taking them down would be nothing.
Han Jeongcheol decided to slowly gnaw away at the enemy’s strength.
Of course, not everyone would go on the attack.
For Hunters specialized in ranged attacks, it was more advantageous to attack from the rear in a supporting role.
“Good! Let’s move forward!”
No sooner had the team leader’s order fallen than Deputy Leader Kim Seungsu shouted, boosting the Hunters’ morale.
Then he charged straight ahead.
Watching the deputy leader, Han Jeongcheol did not stop him.
‘That guy is fast, after all.’
Swift movement was his specialty.
He could imagine him toying with the enemy, but he could not imagine him being taken down.
“Let’s go too!”
“Let’s wipe out those damn bastards!”
Seeing the deputy leader reach the monster horde before long, the others also raised their momentum.
They had merely been suppressed by the monsters’ unexpected aura; every one of them was an elite who fought well.
As Han Jeongcheol watched that scene and was about to join the attack himself.
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
“Huh?”
The ghouls at the front exploded.
Not just one, but three ghouls exploded at the same time.
“Damn it!”
The problem was that the deputy leader, who had charged forward, was nowhere to be seen.
No matter how he looked around, he could not find him.
Perhaps he had noticed the ghouls were about to explode and left the scene.
But that hope soon collapsed.
At the place where the ghouls had burst apart.
The bone fragments scattered nearby began to move.
The bones assembled one by one and began to take shape.
“A skeleton…?”
The bones gathered and became a skeleton.
The skeleton moved, then began putting on the equipment scattered around it.
At that sight, everyone fell silent.
“…….”
Not a single person could make a sound.
Because the fully equipped skeleton resembled someone.
“Deputy Leader….”
“Urgh!”
Everyone was shaken.
It was a skeleton wearing exactly the equipment the deputy leader had used.
Moreover, there had not been a single skeleton among that monster horde.
That meant only one thing.
“…Arch Lich.”
Han Jeongcheol muttered.
The worst situation he had imagined had occurred.
An existence on an entirely different level from a lich that merely used an explosion skill.
An existence that revived corpses as skeletons: an Arch Lich.
“Report to headquarters right now! Tell them there are two A-rank monsters!”
Only now did he realize it.
The enemy had not proposed negotiation at first because they were weak.
It had been negotiation in the literal sense.
In a way, it might even have been mercy.
* * *
At the same time.
Lee Ganghyeon was traveling by taxi with Maru.
Maru was wearing a robe and mask, covering his entire body.
He looked strange, but the taxi driver paid him little mind.
In an era like this, where summoned beasts had become common, it was only natural.
Lee Ganghyeon did not put down his smartphone even while traveling.
Just then, the Skeleton Knights entered the dungeon Azmo had been managing.
Since Celia was nowhere to be seen, it seemed she had already left.
Of course, Lee Ganghyeon had no intention of merely watching quietly either.
‘Everything must be carried out only under my control.’
Otherwise, it was not true power.
In the end, this incident had to be finished by his own hand.