Dungeon Hunter

"First, we need to be sure of the purpose for the meeting.”

Julliom said.

I replied without hesitation.

"On the surface, it is to exchange information about the angels. However...since Okullos, all the grand dukes have had an agenda. It is certain for Upa and Pandemonium. I don’t know anything about Ariel but it is likely. Put a phrase to imply that.”

Pandemonium had taken Okullos’ demons. Upa had made Gustarte his doll. Ariel might be orchestrating things that weren’t obvious. No matter how pure she was, she was still a demon.

“It will be somewhat provocative.”

"How about using a poem?”

Chrisley commented.

I started laughing.

"I don’t know if the grand dukes have such a elegant hobby.”

Demons reading poetry. I had never heard or seen it. If it was Ariel, she might have a basic degree of literacy.

“My Dungeon Master. Even so, it would be good to decorate it with poetry. Is the invitation not sent in good faith?”

"That’s right.”

Rather than good, it is full of evil.

Besides...it was to subtly threaten them.

I knew the dungeon locations of the grand dukes. I could only give them the invitation if I knew the locations. That itself was a provocation.

Julliom then spoke.

"If you want them to participate then it is good to mention something like their weaknesses.”

“Weaknesses.”

“Emphasize that if they don’t participate, the information might leak to others. It doesn’t have to be big.”

I didn’t know every detail about the grand dukes. I only knew a few facts from my previous life.

‘I can throw in a few of those facts.’

I didn’t need big facts.

I nodded.

“I will allow it.”

“Chrisley and I have discussed the contents. I will write it right in front of you so please give advice.”

"Understood.”

I was new to poems. I had never read them. There were few demons with such an elegant hobby.

Before long, Julliom and Chrisley wrote down the contents of the invitation.

Upa.

One of the four major grand dukes who had the title ‘Destroyer.’

He had decorated his dungeon as a castle and was reigning over it. He didn’t spare any effort to recreate the huge castle ‘Bullenon’ from the Demon World.

Thanks to this, his dungeon always had a dreary atmosphere. The long displays of black armour, paintings and swords that decorate the wall contributed to the atmosphere.

The bloated body and hair that soared into the sky. On the contrary, the pair of eyes looking forward had no sense of companionship.

"The home of a grand duke. What do you think Chrisley?”

Two people were standing in front of Upa.

Chrisley and Oswen!

Both of them came to Upa’s dungeon.

Chrisley nodded slightly. She wasn’t familiar with places like this. On the other hand, Oswen’s body relaxed like he had calmed down.

“Hrmm, I...”

“I am Oswen! We have come here as Grand Duke Randalph Brigsiel’s messengers.”

“How funny. Grand Duke Randalph Brigsiel.”

Upa’s expression of dissatisfaction was strong. He was sitting on a huge chair made of bones and looking down at them.

Grrr!

Kiii!

A long red carpet extended down the stairs and there were creatures slobbering all around them. Depending on Upa’s mood, the creatures would bare their teeth.

There were at least over 1,000 and they seemed to be at the advanced level.

In addition, the ambient temperature around Oswen and Chrisley rose sharply. It was so hot that Chrisley’s face became red. Upa’s fingers moved subtly as he controlled the space.

Then Oswen came forward.

"We are messengers. It is our task to hand over Grand Duke Randalph Brigsiel’s invitation. Is Grand Duke Upa afraid of some messengers?”

"What are your justifications? I don’t remember inviting you. Furthermore, Randalph Brigsiel and I have a strictly adversarial relationship.”

Duk. Duk.

Upa’s hand movements started becoming faster. It was proof that he wasn’t in a good mood. If they made one wrong move here then they could lose their heads.

Oswen couldn’t help but tense up.

"Thank you for meeting us. If there wasn’t a reason then we wouldn’t be standing here now. But I am confident that the invitation we brought is enough to receive us. At the very least, you won’t receive any damage!”

This was a dungeon. They would need to deal with the creatures. No matter how strong Chrisley and Oswen were, there was a limit. Furthermore, in order to reduce the damage as messengers, they needed to contact Upa convincingly.

Upa had questions for them. Randalph Brigsiel has sent some messengers? It wouldn’t hurt to meet them once. His thoughts were up to here.

By the way...he wouldn’t let them live after the meeting. Oswen and Chrisley both sensed Upa’s intent.

They could only hope that the invitation saved them. But Oswen was consistent in his attitude.

"Hmm...another person receiving an invitation at the same time. I know that you are at war with Ariel...”

Upa tapped his chin a few times.

"I knew he was just quietly waiting for the results but...tsk, I’ll see you once. Bring them.”

Upa had anticipated that there would be a rush to feed on the winner after the war between him and Ariel finished. But he hadn’t imagined that an invitation would be sent the moment the war was paused.

Oswen climbed the stairs with the invitation. He reached midway when a lich popped out and blocked his path.

“What?”

"Invitation. Inspect.”

It was to check if anything had been done to the invitation. Oswen frowned and handed over the invitation.

The lich used a special mirror and chanted a few spells before nodding and handing the invitation to Upa.

Chwack!

Upa opened the sealed invitation. He quickly started reading the contents.

“......”

A brief moment of silence.

Oswen and Chrisley watched with casual expressions, but they actually felt like they were walking on eggshells. No matter how confident they were, it was impossible to stop Upa if he wanted their heads. They had very little chances of surviving.

Kwack!

Upa’s face become harder the more he read. Power entered his hands and the invitation was destroyed.

“Randalph Brigsiel...!”

Kwaduduk!

Upa gritted my teeth. Like an active volcano was erupting, his red eyes glared at Oswen as he burst out.

"Tell him that I will participate. And...I won’t fall for this cheap taunt. Tell Randalph Brigsiel that I will take his head along with Ariel’s!”

Upa turned his head away. It was a declaration that this had ended.

However, the words ‘tell him’ implied that they would leave here alive.

Oswen and Chrisley looked at each other.

Oswen instantly drew a V in the air with his fingers.

The griffin flew over to them.

Chrisley and Oswen climbed on top of it.

"Upa’s personality is just like Dungeon Master said.”

"It was a fierce confrontation.”

Chrisley spoke.

The two of them had been roaming the world to extend invitations to the grand dukes. But it wasn’t that easy to meet them. The grand dukes had the strongest dungeons among all the demons. Bringing an invitation didn’t mean they could meet the grand duke.

They had only met Upa so far out of all the grand dukes, but their expressions weren’t that good. They had come to the dungeon as ‘messengers’ and there were many twists and turns before they could meet Upa. There were many opportunities to die.

"He was scary. If it wasn’t for the contents of the invitation, he would have tried to get rid of us. Actually...there is someone behind us right now.”

Upa wasn’t a demon who could pretend to be magnanimous.

He didn’t hide his desire to kill them. If they had done something wrong then Upa would have cut off their heads.

"He wants to figure out the location of the dungeons from us.”

"It is difficult. We need to hand over the invitation.”

Wyvern king!

The creature was following behind the griffin.

It was keeping a distance but couldn’t avoid Oswen and Chrisley’s senses.

Upa knew that they were meeting Ariel and had sent the king wyvern after them. Upa and Ariel were at war so it was natural that they wanted to figure out the location of the dungeons.

“Speed up.”

The griffin flapped its wings harder.

The king wyvern soon disappeared and Oswen muttered.

"I hope that Ariel Diablo is a nicer demon. Hu! My heart is pounding.”

"I will do the next one.”

Chrisley had been quiet when they met Upa. It was because she didn’t have a lot of experience with situations like that. She didn’t want to make any mistakes so she decided to learn from Oswen.

Ariel Diablo and most of her demons were located in North America. Ariel’s dungeon was in the United States, but recently she had been running two dungeons.

Greenland. The largest island in the world. More than 80% of the land was covered in ice!

Originally it belonged to a marquis in Upa’s faction but Ariel got her hands on it. It seemed like she quite liked the ice covered land.

Thanks to that, Chrisley and Oswen had to travel to Greenland. It was more tightly guarded than North America so they had to use considerable effort to fly over it.

“There are almost no gaps.”

Oswen couldn’t help feeling admiration. Ariel’s demons were all following a strategy. They were called the ‘Grand Duke’s Knights.’

Watchtowers were installed on paths where the enemy could move. There were also large creatures surrounding the watchtowers.

"How do we arrive?”

Chrisley asked while sweating.

There were magic items and stealth scrolls packed. The griffin couldn’t be caught in the air, but it was hard to get rid of enemies that covered the land.

"It seems like I am destined not to live...”

Oswen shook his head.

His body was already dead but he sighed at the thought of dealing with all these creatures.

They were piled up like a mountain.

’Kuoong. The equipment to repel the curse was almost reaching a breakthrough as well. It will be fortunate if I can come back alive.’