The heart of the dungeon.
The corpses of goblins and gnolls were tangled together, filling the air with the stench of blood.
“How dare they enter the dungeon of the Great One. Make it look as natural as possible so the Merchant Association does not catch on.”
At Selia’s command, the monsters inside the dungeon moved about busily.
The goblins hacked at their comrades’ corpses with weapons the gnolls had been carrying.
And that was not all.
To be thorough, they also slashed the gnolls’ corpses with weapons the goblins had been carrying.
At a glance, it looked as though the gnolls and goblins had fought one another and perished.
The mutual damage made it appear that a fierce battle had taken place.
“Now, move the finished ones quickly.”
As Selia clapped her hands, skeletons from Area 1 approached.
They carefully lifted the corpses of the gnolls and goblins.
No matter how worthless the gnolls appeared, they belonged to the Merchant Association.
And harming a monster belonging to the Merchant Association naturally incurred penalties.
In the worst case, it could lead to cutting ties with the Merchant Association and a complete severance of trade.
Of course, Selia went to such lengths not because she feared the Merchant Association.
There was still much to squeeze from the Association; openly antagonizing them now would be a waste.
Even so, the Merchant Association was not foolish—they would undoubtedly investigate.
But without direct evidence, they would not be able to utter a word based on mere suspicion.
That was enough.
Selia intended to use that time to slowly devour the massive Merchant Association.
She had already gained some control over Moru, the manager in charge, and the audit team, but that was insufficient.
She aimed to place the entire Merchant Association firmly in her grasp.
She planned to offer the devoured Merchant Association whole to her Master.
“I do hope the Master will be pleased.”
The mere thought of the Great One brought a smile to her face.
“And set aside three gnolls separately.”
No matter how hectic things were, she had to show sincerity to the Great One.
“Those will be offered to the Master. Please move them to the altar very carefully.”
Including the gnoll chieftain, there were eleven gnolls in total.
Offering three of them as separate sacrifices was enough.
She wished she could offer all the dead gnolls, but there was a risk that the Association’s suspicions would point directly here.
For now, she had to invest boldly where investment was due.
Surely the Master would want the same.
“Ah! And cut off and preserve the hands of the gnolls offered as sacrifices separately.”
At the same time, Selia thought to herself.
Quoting Maru, who closely attended to the Master’s side, the Master truly enjoyed the flavor of hands.
Considering the Master’s tastes was also the duty of a humble servant.
She planned to collect the hands separately and offer them as a direct sacrifice.
At Selia’s order, some of the skeletons headed toward the altar.
Once all the corpses were removed, the dungeon floor was drenched in blood.
“Mister Death Knight, if you please.”
“?”
At her words, the Death Knight began wiping the floor with something made of long sticks bundled with scraps of cloth.
The Death Knight felt as though his workload was increasing, but he decided it was simply his imagination.
Just as the dungeon was settling down, a hobgoblin appeared.
The massive hobgoblin immediately ran before Selia and the Goblin Lord, dropping to one knee.
“Kheh, found the one who ran away!”
He reported in a clumsy voice.
He had found the fugitive.
A fugitive.
Before the gnolls had entered the dungeon.
The goblin reconnaissance squad had intensified their scouting of the nearby forest on Selia’s orders.
Thanks to that, they had discovered a band of gnolls hiding nearby.
The goblins had found the gnoll band on the Chief Administrator’s orders but waited.
They judged that it would not be too late to discern the enemy’s intentions and respond accordingly.
But then a variable occurred.
Someone had broken away from the gnoll band.
Of course, the recon squad immediately gave chase to capture the being.
However, they could not capture it directly; at best, they could only find out where it was headed.
“The Seil Kingdom. It headed toward the kingdom!”
The hobgoblin’s report ended there.
“It went to the kingdom?”
Selia nodded.
The goblin reconnaissance squad could be called elite in their own right.
The fact that such an elite squad could not catch the target meant it was no ordinary being.
“That is a problem, however.”
Princess Irena was currently in the Seil Kingdom.
So if the fugitive entered the Seil Kingdom, it would have been a welcome development for Selia.
However, the White Order had currently descended upon the Seil Kingdom.
After some paladins infiltrated not long ago, a full delegation had now reached the kingdom.
Because of this, the Seil Kingdom was currently in a state of chaos.
But for Selia, the kingdom’s situation was not a matter of concern.
“Inform Princess Irena that an unwelcome guest has entered the kingdom.”
For her, there was only the Great One.
As soon as Selia’s command fell, the shadow behind her bowed its head and vanished.
“Now, prepare to receive our guests. The Merchant Association will visit before long.”
Today as well, the dungeon’s daily life passed busily.
* * *
- Skeleton soldiers offer gnoll corpses as sacrifices to the Master.
- Absorbing the abilities of the sacrificial gnoll. (Time remaining: 6 hours)
- Skeleton soldiers offer a gnoll as a sacrifice to the Master.
- Absorbing the abilities of the sacrificial gnoll. (Time remaining: 6 hours)
- Skeleton soldiers offer a gnoll as a sacrifice to the Master.
- Absorbing the abilities of the sacrificial gnoll. (Time remaining: 6 hours)
In the middle of the night, skeleton soldiers had offered sacrifices.
This time, it was gnolls.
Gnolls were monsters resembling hyenas, characterized by their swiftness.
“But weren't they intruders this time?”
There had been no alarm about intruders invading the dungeon.
“Well, does it really matter?”
They probably hunted them on their own to offer as sacrifices.
And when sacrifices were offered, I would soon faint to absorb their abilities.
But currently, my fainting was not a big problem.
I had already toured the dungeon with Maru during the day, and now I was home, safe.
Besides, Maru would protect me by my side, so there was nothing to worry about.
But.
- Selia offers gnoll hands as a sacrifice to the Master.
- Receiving the sacrifice ‘Gnoll Hands’. (Time remaining: 1 hour)
“?”
Why were the gnoll hands sent separately?
Was there some meaning behind it?
“Hm.”
No matter how much I thought about it, I could not tell.
If anyone else had sent them, I would not have cared, but Selia had sent them.
She definitely would not have sent them without reason, yet I had no idea why.
“Can't be helped?”
It was something I would think about when I woke up anyway.
If the alarms had ended there, that would have been that.
But another new alarm popped up.
- An auction will be held in the Demon Realm Merchant Association’s social circle in 6 hours.
- Rare items will be featured at the Demon Realm Merchant Association’s auction.
- Will you participate in the auction?
An auction.
The timing was just right.
It would take 6 hours to absorb the gnolls offered as sacrifices.
By the time I woke up, I could participate in the auction right away.
But the problem was attendance itself.
‘Can I even participate?’
I was currently on Earth.
But the auction was being held on the continent of Eldorad; even if I wanted to participate, the dimensions were completely different.
Above all, how could I participate in the auction when I had not even attended the social circle?
As I had that doubt, an item appeared on the screen.
- You can purchase an entry ticket for the Demon Realm Merchant Association’s auction.
- Demon Realm Merchant Association Auction Entry Ticket (16,900 won)
- Temporarily removes dimensional restrictions, allowing participation in the Merchant Association’s auction.
“Hah….”
Even after coming all this way, it was still pay-to-win.
But it was true that the mention of many rare items piqued my interest.
‘But it says it temporarily removes dimensional restrictions?’
Did that mean I could go directly to the continent of Eldorad?
I immediately paid for the auction entry ticket.
I figured I would gain something somehow if I participated in the auction.
Before that, I should absorb the sacrifices first.
“Maru, watch my surroundings well.”
Giving Maru the order to protect me before I fainted was essential.
Unlike before, Maru was now a 5-star monster, a Skeleton Paladin.
He definitely felt more reliable than when he was 4-star.
On top of that, if I equipped the current Maru with good skills and traits, a single A-rank Hunter would never be able to face him.
* * *
“How did it go?”
Serinu, a demon belonging to the Merchant Association.
He spoke while pushing up his glasses with one hand.
As he spoke, the lesser demon beside him immediately replied.
“Yes, Lord Serinu. When I mentioned the Arch Lich to Arcanea, she reacted immediately.”
Serinu nodded silently.
It was as expected.
Currently, the most talked-about monster at the banquet was undoubtedly the Arch Lich.
Even now, many dungeon masters and monsters were coming to see him, carrying treasures of gold and silver.
On the other hand, Arcanea was greatly dissatisfied that her presence was overshadowed by the Arch Lich.
“Well, it is a scary thing when a snake harbors jealousy.”
Arcanea was of the Lamia race, with the lower body of a snake.
If he poked at her discontent a little, she would naturally keep the Arch Lich in check.
And that thought hit the mark.
The highlight of the upcoming banquet.
If Arcanea were to win in the confrontation against the dungeon, the atmosphere would shift back to her.
And Serinu intended to throw his support behind Arcanea then.
Of course, it would not be for free.
He planned to slowly devour the dungeons in this manner.
“By the way, have you looked into the Arch Lich and the dungeon?”
Separate from Arcanea keeping the Arch Lich in check, what mattered from now on was important.
It was a dungeon originally known as the Succubus Dungeon.
But the Arch Lich and an Incubus had attended the social circle from that dungeon.
Serinu had little interest in the Incubus.
There was only one being he cared about: the 5-star Arch Lich.
With such a being present, a Succubus could not possibly be the dungeon’s master.
‘The Arch Lich is definitely the master.’
Serinu believed so without a shred of doubt.
Currently, there were no beings exceeding 5-star rank in the human realm.
And if asked whether there were any in the demon realm, Serinu could not readily answer either.
Even though Serinu belonged to the Demon Realm Merchant Association, he did not know everything about the demon realm.
The Merchant Association was an enormous organization.
Within that organization, Serinu was ultimately in a position no different from the lowest rung.
To climb higher, he needed achievements.
If he wanted access to more information, Serinu had to raise his own value.
And the beginning of that was monopolizing all information about the Arch Lich.
‘I need to find out where that being appeared from.’
Along with the Arch Lich’s appearance, what was important was what kind of force he was currently building.
No matter how strong a 5-star was, if his forces were crumbling or weak like the vampire Baalcerith, there was always room for the Merchant Association to dig in.
So he had ordered his subordinates to investigate the Arch Lich and the dungeon.
Of course, since they had initially known it as the Succubus Dungeon, there had been a need to correct that.
But an unexpected answer came from his subordinate’s mouth.
“Well... the thing is.”
Serinu frowned at his subordinate’s hesitating demeanor.
“I wanted to correct the information for those already sent to the dungeon in question, but contact was lost.”
“Contact was lost?”
What did it mean for contact to be lost?
Could they have been done in by humans?
No one had the guts to touch monsters belonging to the Merchant Association.
If anything, humans were the most likely candidates.
But this time too, a completely different answer sprang from the subordinate’s mouth.
“We have dispatched investigators regardless. You will hear news soon, Lord Serinu.”
Serinu nodded.
Investigators had been dispatched, so he would naturally find out in time.
“Then for now, I need only focus on the banquet.”
Nothing was urgent.
He simply needed to focus on the banquet proceedings.
“Then let us move on to the auction.”
The time had come for the Merchant Association to legally suck the dungeons dry of their money.
“For this auction, we will accept only demon essence stones.”
Demon essence stones were the best means by which to evaluate a dungeon’s wealth.