Dungeon Maker

<Dungeon Offense #3>

The conversation was moving at a fast pace.

Catalina kept on licking her lips and in the end, looked at Yong-Ho while biting her lips.

Catalina was able to understand the context of the conversation. If everything that the Orc said was true, then Yong-Ho had to make a move. The information was that valuable.

But if what they said wasn’t true.

If this was a well thought out trap.

Catalina didn’t know the successor of the House of Foras. Were they that stupid that they would let a tiger come into their house just so they can bring their enemy down? Was Jungceros really that sneaky and evil that they would kill someone that surrendered without any hesitation?

Catalina couldn’t find the answer. Despite of that, Catalina remained quiet because she trusted Yong-Ho.

Yong-Ho probably thought about the same things.

In that case, how was he going to determine whether what they said was true?

Catalina’s expectations weren’t wrong. Yong-Ho soon found a solution.

"Ophelia."

"Yes, sir."

Ophelia immediately answered when Yong-Ho called her. Even though Yong-Ho gives his orders, Ophelia looked like she knew what she had to do.

Ophelia waited for Yong-Ho’s order. Just like Catalina, Yong-Ho didn’t disappoint Ophelia.

"Can you reenact the event that happened at the bar?"

"I do need some time to prepare, but it’s possible. I’ll check to see if it’s true or not."

The Orcs were confused by their conversation since no one explained to them about what was going on. Rikum was surprised, so he asked Ophelia.

"Are you saying that you’re going to look into their minds?"

"Because we can’t trust them. Don’t you think it’s unreasonable to trust them just because they worked under you before?"

Ophelia was straightforward and Rikum gritted his teeth because he felt that she was doubting him, but it only lasted for a moment. Rikum was the type of quickly make a decision, so he nodded his head.

"Well...you’re right. Please forgive my behavior, sir."

After Rikum finished talking, he nodded towards Yong-Ho and took a step back. The Orc that was talking while kneeling in front of Yong-Ho looked at Rikum with a confused expression.

"Cap-captain?"

"It’s nothing. We’re just testing to see whether the information provided is true. Nothing bad will happen to you, so trust me and stay still."

When the Orc heard Rikum’s calm voice, they gulped and then nodded their head. They looked nervous because of the sweat on their face, but it didn’t look like they were worried about getting caught lying.

Yong-Ho didn’t judge right away. Since he decided to leave it to Ophelia, he was going to wait until she had the results.

Ophelia took out a white chalk from the inner pocket of her vest and started drawing a magic circle on the ground. The circle was drawn with the Orc in the center, but a similar circle was at the bar as well. However, Yong-Ho didn’t notice.

Ophelia needed to really prepare when looking into the mind of a demon like Yong-Ho, but this time, she was looking into the mind of a naive Orc.

After spending five minutes drawing the circle, she straightened her back and stood up.

"I’ll begin."

Yong-Ho lightly nodded his head and agreed. The Orcs had a worried look since they didn’t know what was happening, so they kept on looking at Ophelia and the Orc. Rikum prepared himself in case something happened.

Catalina recalled what happened at the bar, so she stared at Ophelia’s lips.

Ophelia lowered herself so that her eyes were on the same level as the Orc’s. She looked straight into their eyes and spoke.

"Consider yourself lucky."

The Orc tried to blink because they were confused, but they couldn’t. Their eyelids were fixed. The Orc looked at Ophelia with a blank expression and Ophelia looked into the Orc’s eyes again. She slowly closed the distance between her and the Orc.

And right when their nose were touching.

Eligor widened his eyes due to the surprise and Catalina ended up looking back at Yong-Ho. While looking downward, Yong-Ho waited for Ophelia to talk.

The contact only lasted for a moment. After standing up, Ophelia took out a handkerchief and after wiping her lips, she looked back at Yong-Ho. The Orc still had a blank expression and was spacing out.

"It’s true. That Orc...Gokan witnessed the butler of the House of Foras being killed by Jungceros."

Rikum released a sigh of relief and Yong-Ho closed his eyes.

What Yong-Ho needed to do was quickly make a decision.

’It’s impossible to attack the House of Abigail.’

First, it was far.

On top of that, Abigail didn’t take all of their guards. Yong-Ho was afraid of attacking the House of Foras, so it didn’t make sense for him to attack the House of Abigail just because the owner was missing.

’Should I attack the House of Foras or not?’

There were definitely geometrically benefits. If Yong-Ho considered the possibility of Jungceros’s group suffering from the traps, then he wouldn’t have an issue in terms of numbers.

But it was definitely dangerous.

The House of Foras was the enemy’s territory and it was hard to tell what Jungceros and their soldiers were capable of. If they make a mistake, they could actually lose to Jungceros and lose their lives.

’But.’

Even though it was dangerous, they could gain a lot from it.

With one fight, Yong-Ho will be able to absorb not only Jungceros and the successor’s spirit, but also obtain the House of Foras’s Heart of the Dungeon. The remaining inheritance was just a bonus.

What he needed was information.

And when it came to obtaining information, Yong-Ho was ahead of the owners that were near the free city.

"Ophelia, how strong is Jungceros? Do you know anything about the guards and the spirits that they have?"

Ophelia, a spirit of the House of Mammon and the owner of the bar, quickly replied as if she had already prepared for it.

"Jungceros isn’t a melee fighter like Foras. But since they’re pretty big and strong, there’s a possibility that they’ll win at hand-to-hand combat. Even though there isn’t a lot of information about them...there’s a high chance that play a non-combat role."

Yong-Ho’s Power of Evolution was also a non-combat power.

There wasn’t a rule that said that all demons had offensive powers like Foras.

In the empty southern regions, the owners rarely started dungeon fights. Information about the owner’s powers were limited.

But information about their soldiers and spirits weren’t very limited.

"Jungceros’s guard is an Ogre and they’re just like my owner. Even though their naive, their strength and stamina are outstanding. They even fought against a group of Orcs at once and won."

"What about when compared to you?"

"I’m stronger."

Even though it was sort of a childish reply, Ophelia’s eyes didn’t show a hint of arrogance. Her calm eyes were filled with nothing but the truth.

Ophelia continued explaining.

"The spirits that they mainly purchase from the dungeon shop are the Living Armors. Gokan witnessed Jungceros being accompanied by a group of Living Armors. Right?"

Ophelia looked back at Gokan and Gokan was suddenly surprised, causing them to quickly nod their head.

"That’s right. I saw them with my own two eyes."

A Living Armor was a spirit that Yong-Ho has never encountered before. He’s never seen it in the dungeon shop catalogue either.

Rikum helped Yong-Ho.

"Since Living Armors aren’t living things, they don’t feel any pain and on top of that, they’re immune to sword attacks. However, if we were to use a blunt weapon, we’ll have a chance when fighting them. If their armor breaks, they’ll be unable to fight even if they’re a Living Armor."

Skull swung their weapon when they heard blunt weapon.

Yong-Ho started thinking again. He compared the number of soldiers he could take with him and the number of soldiers that Jungceros possessed.

Nothing was set when it came to battles.

If it did exist, then Yong-Ho wouldn’t have been able to defeat Foras.

’High risk, high return.’

Greed reminded him. It guided Yong-Ho.

"Let’s prepare for battle. We’ll form a group and attack the House of Foras."

Yong-Ho quickly spoke. He turned to Eligor.

"Eligor, defend the dungeon with Treant. I’m going to attack the dungeon with Catalina, Skull, Salami, Ophelia, Rikum and the Orcs."

Eligor hesitated for a moment. He had many different thoughts during the short time.

But it was already decided. Eligor fixed his posture and showed his respect towards Yong-Ho.

"The butler, Eligor, will wait for you to return, sir."

Catalina and Skull were already prepared. Rikum spoke after quickly showing respect towards Yong-Ho.

"I’ll round them up within 10 minutes."

Yong-Ho didn’t rush into registering the Orcs as spirits. Yong-Ho waved his finger and asked Lucia to summon Salami.

After selling the war carriages to the dungeon shop, Yong-Ho had two left. It was enough to carry the soldiers.

The important thing was time.

Before the data fell into the hands of another, he had to quickly resolve this situation.

Ophelia spoke as if she read Yong-Ho’s mind.

"Jungceros is impatient and hot-headed. It’s safe to say that they probably won’t wait patiently until the mana in the dungeon runs out. I’m sure they’re moving to find the Heart of the Dungeon. And the damage they receive from the traps will only increase."

If Jungceros left after finding the Heart of the Dungeon, then Yong-Ho would be placed in a difficult situation.

Yong-Ho calmed himself again. Greed also asked him to calm down instead of pushing him.

In order to gain something big, one needs to be patient at times.

Yong-Ho tightened his grip around Aamon. Yong-Ho looked towards the north. That’s where the House of Foras was located.

&

The carriage moved as fast as it could. It used the mana that was stored within the carriage and it didn’t care that the horses were tired.

It wasn’t a proper operation. If the carriage operated this way, then its functions will stop right when they reach their destination.

But they still had to use it that way. Yong-Ho looked out the carriage window and saw Salami flying ahead with Catalina on their back. He focused on the conversation they were having inside the carriage.

On a large piece of paper, Rikum drew a map of the House of Foras’s dungeon. Even though he was relying on his memories, he served under Foras for many years, so he barely made any mistakes.

Gokan and the other Orcs pointed out the things that changed after the dungeon got a new owner. But since the owner didn’t last a long time, there weren’t any big changes.

The House of Foras had a lot of secret passageways. The reason why Foras used Wall Break to attack Yong-Ho’s weak point was because Foras had contemplated a lot about Wall Break.

From the outside, it looked like large passageways were connected to each other, but there were many hidden passageways. The deeper part of the dungeon had more narrow passageways.

"This is where Jungceros was at last. And...we don’t really know where the real Heart of the Dungeon is located."

Gokan spoke while scratching his head. Rikum asked Gokan.

"Did all the spirits escape the dungeon? There aren’t any spirits that were captured by Jungceros and is guiding them through the dungeon?"

"Um...I can’t say for sure, but most of them did escape. Jungceros and the owner...the spirits couldn’t get close to their rendezvous point."

Gokan didn’t know where the real Heart of the Dungeon was located. But Rikum pointed to one area on the map and spoke. It was a room that was far from the room where Jungceros was trapped in.

"I can’t guarantee it, but there’s a high chance that the Heart of the Dungeon is located in this area. The saying the beacon does not shine on its own base exists for a reason...when considering the butler’s personality, they most likely placed it far from Jungceros."

After nodding his head, Yong-Ho looked closely at the dungeon map. Even though he had the Orcs to guide him, he couldn’t completely rely on them. Memorizing the map was the best thing to do.

The carriage increased its speed.

After memorizing the dungeon map, Yong-Ho closed his eyes and thought about the infiltration.

The first thing he had to do after entering the House of Foras’s dungeon.

Time flew by.

The two war carriages arrived at the House of Foras’s dungeon.

<Dungeon Offense #3> End.