As I was quietly looking around the dungeon, touching the screen, an alert popped up.
- Intruders have entered the dungeon.
Some group had entered the dungeon.
“Oh, someone’s intruded?”
I checked at once, and it was a strange combination.
At the very front, I could see a paladin leading a number of people.
I immediately began tapping the people who had entered the dungeon one by one.
It wasn’t as though tapping them caused any special effect.
All that appeared above the person was a brief description.
[Adventurer]
It was an utterly simple description.
Thinking that perhaps a different explanation might appear, I clicked through them all one by one.
But even when I clicked the others, they were all the same.
“They’re just ordinary adventurers?”
Every single one of them simply showed up as an ordinary adventurer.
Since there were more of them than I’d expected, I’d thought they might be some invading force rather than adventurers.
I stared hard at the adventurers on the screen.
“Did they just form a party?”
Dungeons were dangerous places.
That was true not only on Earth, but on the continent of Eldorad as well.
Since most were difficult to clear alone or with only a small number of people, people always formed groups.
The most basic form of such a group was a party.
Adventurers who shared the same goals would gather together, form a party, and clear dungeons as a team.
And it seemed they, too, had entered after forming a party with one another.
I zoomed in on the screen to check their equipment.
“Hmm… it doesn’t look as good as I expected.”
The level of their gear didn’t look particularly high.
Bronze grade at best?
There were one or two among them who seemed decently equipped, but even then, they didn’t look like they could surpass silver grade.
“At this level, they’ll be easy to stop.”
After confirming the intruders’ level, I watched at ease.
Come to think of it, intruders had visited the dungeon several times so far.
Among them had been not only adventurers, but even paladins of the Order.
That was why I’d thought this group of adventurers had come aiming for my dungeon.
But judging from the state of their equipment, they had merely stumbled upon it by chance.
“If they knew what kind of monsters were here, they’d never come in like that.”
On top of that, the paladin leading the adventurers at the front was no ordinary paladin.
[Banshee (★★★)]
- Controlling the mind of the paladin “Eric.”
Its true identity was a banshee.
As a monster guarding Area 1 of the dungeon, it was controlling the paladin’s mind.
“These ones are going to be very useful.”
The banshees were also monsters under my ownership, ones I’d obtained from a draw last time.
They were useless against high-grade beings, but against adventurers who looked as unimpressive as these, they were nothing short of the worst possible opponent.
And sure enough.
The paladin being controlled by the banshee lured the adventurers deep into the dungeon.
Then the banshees lying in wait rushed at the defenseless adventurers.
What unfolded next was sheer chaos.
There were adventurers who stabbed swords into their own necks, and there were also those who swung their blades at others.
The inside of the dungeon became a scene drenched in blood.
If I had been an ordinary person rather than an Awakened, I might have vomited on the spot.
“Should I call this a relief?”
Having experienced all sorts of things while working as a porter, I couldn’t exactly call a scene like that horrific.
I simply felt numb.
Of course, it wasn’t as though I didn’t feel sorry for them, but in the end, it was karma.
If the day came when they reached the very heart of the dungeon without dying, that would soon become my final day.
So all I had to do was do my best with what I could.
“Once the penalty is lifted this time, I’ll have to overhaul things on a large scale.”
I had been managing the dungeon far too frantically all this time.
And with the incident that had happened not long ago as well, there was a need to reorganize the chain of command.
After thinking about something else for a moment, the situation had already come to an end.
There were seven adventurers left, but all of them were drenched head to toe in blood.
And they were being controlled by the banshees.
They gave off a truly terrifying air.
Following the paladin’s orders, they ran out of the dungeon.
“?”
Behind the ones running out, the Death Knight was following along.
“No, what’s with this guy?”
Why did these guys keep trying to go outside the dungeon?
Could they have some kind of wanderlust?
I immediately tapped the Death Knight and gave it an order.
The order was simple.
Just telling it to stay in the dungeon was enough for it to obey properly on its own.
For some reason, the Death Knight returned looking dejected.
No, it had returned, but before I knew it, it came back again.
Then it began moving the corpses of the adventurers who had died just moments ago.
To be precise, the Death Knight had begun moving under Celia’s command.
“As expected, the only one who can manage the Death Knight here is Celia.”
That was only natural.
Celia had the highest grade here, after all.
The Death Knight began moving the adventurers’ corpses to one place.
Their destination was the altar at the center of the dungeon.
The Death Knight piled the corpses it carried on its shoulder onto the altar one by one.
Celia nodded at the sight, appearing satisfied.
- Celia offers an adventurer as a sacrifice to Master.
- Celia offers an adventurer as a sacrifice to Master.
At the same time, alerts rang out saying that sacrifices had been offered.
They were sacrifices being offered for the first time in quite a while.
Of course, it would take time to completely absorb those sacrifices.
- Absorbing the abilities of the adventurer sacrifice. (Time remaining: 6 hours)
A full 6 hours.
“I’m going to pass out again.”
And during that time, I would probably lose consciousness.
Based on my experiences so far, I had realized that I fainted every time I absorbed the abilities of a sacrifice.
If there was one thing different from back then, it was that even if I passed out now, there was someone who could protect me.
Maru.
In truth, this place was my home, so it was safe.
But nothing was absolute.
There was no guarantee that being inside my house would always be safe.
So it seemed good to start preparing for possible situations from now on.
“Maru, come here.”
I turned my head and gave Maru an order.
From now on, whenever a sacrifice was offered, Maru would keep watch around me and protect me.
Fortunately, Maru understood my intent well.
Maru drew the demon sword at its waist and took position near me.
“This should be enough.”
Maru would protect me even at the cost of its life.
Now all that was left was to wait for the moment I passed out.
But then.
- The offered sacrifices have reached a certain number.
- You have obtained a clue to unlocking the next system.
- [Dungeon Monster Enhancement System] (Locked)
Another alert rang out.
“Dungeon monster enhancement?”
It was one of the systems that had appeared after I obtained the “True Dungeon Master” trait last time.
Of course, since all of them were locked, I didn’t know what abilities they had.
I could only speculate.
But now that it said I had obtained a clue to unlocking it, I couldn’t help but look forward to it.
It was still locked, so I couldn’t use it, but I believed that it, too, would be unlocked someday.
“Could it be unlocked according to the number of sacrifices?”
That was my last memory.
“Ah….”
I merely surrendered my body to the drowsiness that suddenly poured over me.
* * *
The adventurers divided their group into two teams.
One team would track the footprints of the unknown being, while the other would investigate the direction those footprints had come from in reverse.
Among them, the ones tracking the footprints of the unknown being continued walking through the mountain range.
At the front was the guide, Nariel, checking the traces and deciding the direction of the path.
Beside her, the warrior Gregto stood guard near Nariel.
Behind them, many adventurers formed a line without lowering their vigilance.
They certainly looked like veterans.
They did not act rashly, and though only little by little, they were steadily advancing.
How much time had passed since they began following the faint traces left on the dirt path?
Before them, the sight of a certain dungeon was revealed.
The problem was that there was not only a dungeon.
In front of the dungeon, orcs had taken up position and were watching the adventurers.
“Wh-what is that!”
Along with the orcs, they could also see goblins around them.
The adventurers were flustered by the situation that had come upon them far too suddenly.
On top of that, every monster in front of them gave off the air of being ready to enter battle at any moment.
“Damn it! Was it a trap after all!”
The owners of the footprints they had followed had clearly mostly been skeletons.
But looking ahead, they couldn’t find even anything similar, let alone skeletons.
Should they just run?
But they couldn’t show their backs here.
The moment they did, those things would attack them.
Yet fighting back was awkward as well.
There were simply too many enemies.
Just as the adventurers hesitated, unsure how to break out of their current predicament of being caught between a rock and a hard place—
“I make a request of you!”
Skol, who was among the orcs, spoke to the adventurers.
“If one of you faces me in a one-on-one duel to the death and wins, I will let all of you leave unharmed.”
From the adventurers’ perspective, the opponent’s proposal was far too sudden.
Why was a monster making a proposal first?
Judging from the current situation, the other side had far more forces than they did.
Perhaps it was a whim.
It might simply be a monster’s amusement.
But none of the adventurers could refuse that proposal.
Instead, they watched one another, hoping someone would step forward.
“……”
There was no way to break through the current situation anyway.
No, even if they did break through, the damage would be terrifying.
Even if they forced their way through all those orcs and goblins, not everyone here would be able to survive.
That was why they had to stake everything on the one-on-one duel to the death that orc had proposed.
If they won, they could at least keep their lives, so it was like a rope lowered from the heavens.
“…I’ll go.”
At that moment, the warrior Gregto rose from his place.
Holding a greatsword and shield, he approached the opposing orc.
A chill wind blew through the forest.
They looked at each other.
“I am Skol, chieftain of the Red-Haired Tribe!”
At the orc’s self-introduction, Gregto opened his mouth.
“If I win, you’ll really let us go?”
Gregto asked once more.
He wanted to confirm it.
Gregto still needed those adventurers.
Not out of simple love for humanity, but to use them as tools to complete the request.
At his question, Skol nodded lightly.
Only after receiving final confirmation did Gregto nod as well.
He did not know why a mere monster had made such a proposal, but it was not bad for him.
As Gregto was thinking that, Skol was thinking the same thing.
After all, Skol was confident because he had no reason to lose.
The provocation from a moment ago had also been nothing more than a lie to raise his opponent’s fighting spirit.
There was nothing as uninteresting as facing enemies gripped by fear.
“……”
A brief silence.
Then a soundless roar began.
As if by agreement, both charged forward at the same time.
Skol’s enormous axe possessed destructive power capable of felling even the dense trees of the forest.
An axe containing such power swung toward Gregto.
But Gregto, who carried a shield, was not easy prey either.
Bang—
The axe and the heavy shield collided, spitting sparks.
It was a truly even situation, with neither side being pushed back.
The two continued swinging their weapons at each other and evading the blows that came their way.
From attacks they failed to block in time, small cuts began increasing on their skin.
As their wounds increased, their blood and sweat scattered through the air.
At the same time, the battle became wrapped in extreme tension, and the atmosphere overheated.
Skol tried to overwhelm his opponent with his massive body, while Gregto faced Skol with practiced technique.
Only the subtle balance hanging by a thread and their heavy breathing filled their battle.
The weight of an endless battle swept over them.
As the battle continued, Skol was slowly moving forward.
It was truly slight, but he was gradually gaining the upper hand.
Even though Gregto was losing in strength, he absolutely did not give up.
Gregto blocked Skol’s attacks, blocked them again, and thought.
Someday, an opening would come.
He simply waited for that opening to appear.
And whenever an opportunity came, he swung his sword at his opponent without hesitation.
But Skol avoided such attacks from his opponent far too easily.
Then, in turn, Skol’s axe came viciously toward Gregto.
Gregto took one step back and raised his shield.
Skol’s axe collided with Gregto’s shield in midair.
Kiiieek—
A chilling sound rang out from the shield.
“Haha! You are truly a warrior!”
Even though his attack had been blocked, Skol laughed heartily as he looked at his opponent.
“May this battle continue on! Chwik! I shall offer this glory to the Ruler!”
Skol was enjoying the current situation immensely.
How long had it been since he had entered battle with such pleasure?
If possible, he wanted to take the man before him under his command and spar with him every day.
But he knew better than anyone that such a thing was impossible.
His opponent was someone who had dared to trespass into the Ruler’s domain.
He could never be allowed to live for the sake of Skol’s own selfish desires.
Skol slowly pressed him with more force.
Whether due to the difference in race or the difference in experience, he could feel his opponent’s strength gradually draining away.
But that did not mean he himself could ease up here.
That would be an act of disregard toward his opponent.
It would be trampling on the honor of a warrior.
That was why Skol drew out even more strength.
“Here I come!”
At that moment, Skol’s axe shone in the sunlight.
Skol’s axe cut through the air as it swung toward Gregto.
“……”
Red blood began flowing from Gregto’s mouth.
The greatsword and shield he had been holding fell to the ground.
Then his posture slowly began to collapse, and soon his head rolled to the ground.
But Skol did not pick up his head.
He merely closed his eyes and observed a silent prayer.
“It was a fine match.”
His opponent had at least been a good warrior.
The honor of a good warrior had to be protected.
After finishing his silent prayer, Skol turned his back and replayed the situation from moments ago in his mind.
And a short while later.
- Skol’s [Dungeon Monster Enhancement System] has been unlocked.