A deep and secret space.
A dark and cold atmosphere hung there.
Candles placed around weakly pushed back the darkness, casting shadows against the walls.
And the shadows moved busily.
“Ah, it’s starting now.”
It was none other than Celia.
“The time has come to truly spread Master’s will.”
Master had recently reorganized the organization within the dungeon.
An environment was created where each person was assigned a mission and could work for Master.
The reorganization of the organization was not solely for efficient operation.
Master must be testing us.
It meant adapting to the current situation and preparing for future goals.
“Master must be looking towards a greater world.”
Even though other dungeons had come into Master’s embrace, their size was too small.
If he is the Great One, he would not be satisfied with this.
He is someone who will rule not only the current dungeon but also towns, cities, and then nations and the entire continent.
Master, being a great existence, must have had such a grand plan in sight from long ago.
“This Celia is still overwhelmed by just following Master’s foresight.”
The current reorganization was merely a part of the future plan.
Ultimately, the current objective is a minimal safeguard in preparation for establishing a nation by building Master’s forces.
“Ah, it’s splendid. Master!”
Everyone would prostrate themselves on the ground and offer their loyalty to Master.
Celia smiled, genuinely happy.
Then, she quickly regained her composure.
“This is also a test. It’s too early to rejoice.”
Master had created the overall framework.
Lich was acting as an inspector, patrolling the dungeon and the surrounding forest, and Death Knight was in charge of dungeon defense with the title of Knight Captain.
In addition, she had many responsibilities.
Chief Administrator, responsible for diplomacy and maintaining discipline.
From this alone, she could tell how important Master considered her.
Celia took this as a sign to produce even more results.
At the same time, she thought.
She would have to fill in the details on the framework Master had laid out.
“Let’s start by securing the mountain range first.”
For that, information was important.
Only a part of the dungeons in the mountain range had been merged so far.
Now, it was necessary to expand the scope to the entire mountain range, not just a part of it, and further into the human world.
“We’ll need a department in charge of information.”
However, they were restricted in their movement because they were bound to Master.
Although this restriction would eventually be lifted, it was impossible for now.
Even so, there was a way.
There was a good alternative.
It was to use those who had recently joined Master.
Unlike themselves, who had been in Master’s embrace from the beginning, they had no restrictions on movement.
Of course, they were beings whose souls were already bound to the dungeon.
However, by using their lack of movement restrictions, they could fill at least some of the information gaps that were needed.
Of course, their capabilities could be an issue, but that was something she would handle.
Celia intended to thoroughly reward those who did well.
“Please watch over me, Master!”
Celia clenched her fist and resolved herself.
From now on, it was her time.
***
“Haa… ha…”
Beren was currently in hell.
‘Shit!’
The Orc’s strength was far greater than he had imagined.
Who was he?
He was someone who, as the leader of the ‘Red Fangs’ mercenary group, had traveled through many battlefields.
He was a mercenary who had survived even the battlefields filled with blood and despair.
Yet, he was being pushed back by a single Orc, unable to defeat it.
‘Is the difference in strength this great?’
The only good thing was that the surrounding skeletons remained still.
Of course, a few members who tried to break through the skeletons were lost.
They all died.
The skeletons they tried to break through exploded, taking their lives.
At first, he was puzzled, but he soon understood why.
It was due to the presence of the Lich.
Even if he was ignorant about monsters, he wasn’t completely uninformed.
Rather, he knew about the particularly infamous monster.
For Beren, that was the Lich.
The Lich was considered a difficult monster to deal with.
The problem was its skill, which caused the surrounding skeletons to explode. And this was true.
With so many skeletons around, there would be no monster more troublesome than the Lich.
Beren had also heard of it at some point, so he remembered it belatedly.
Of course, the Lich did nothing else besides causing the skeletons to explode.
Instead, it was just watching them and making a gesture of writing something.
It was humiliating.
Come to think of it, the Orc he was fighting also didn’t seem to be fighting with all its might.
‘Is it toying with me!’
At the same time, he was enraged.
“Kuk.”
He couldn’t believe he was being pushed back by a mere monster.
In a fit of anger, he continued to swing his weapon, but it was only blocked by the opponent Orc’s weapon.
There was one fact that Beren did not know.
If he had known about dungeons and monsters like an adventurer, he might have realized that the Orc in front of him was no ordinary monster.
However, Beren had only faced humans on the battlefield so far, and this was his first time truly facing monsters, so he didn’t know that fact.
That’s why he was blaming his own skills and pushing himself harder.
In fact, it was the worst possible choice for him.
In the process of pushing himself, his stance began to show openings.
The Orc warrior, Skoll, who was effortlessly blocking all of Beren’s attacks, also knew this.
As soon as Beren’s stance showed even a slight opening, Skoll would swing his sword, inflicting shallow wounds.
He was just toying with him.
“Tsk.”
Skoll clicked his tongue softly.
He thought a warrior who could make his heart pound had finally arrived after a long time, but the human in front of him lacked the capacity.
Moreover, he was practically self-destructing.
In combat, the most important thing is to calmly observe the opponent, but the human in front of him was simply swinging his weapon out of impatience.
Of course, he understood why.
He couldn’t escape because the skeletons had already surrounded them, and his subordinates who tried to break through were already dead.
Skoll casually deflected Beren’s weapon and glanced sideways.
In his sight, he saw the Lich.
The Lich was observing his battle and writing something on paper.
‘How is it? Chwiiik!’
It was surely to inform the ruler of his magnificent battle.
Skoll felt proud and slowly increased the pressure on Beren.
He had shown all that he could show.
Thinking it was time to end this boring fight, he increased his intensity.
*Clack-*
The Lich, watching the scene, nodded its head.
Then, it began to record on paper.
– Distracted during combat, a reason for deduction.
The Lich was a cold-blooded inspector.
At the same time, it looked at the Death Knight who had approached and was watching from the side.
Looking at the Death Knight, the Lich nodded.
– Neglecting guard duty and leaving post without permission, a reason for deduction.
The Lich was truly a cold-blooded inspector.
***
There was someone watching the current scene from afar.
It was Goolon, belonging to the audit team of the Underworld Merchant Guild.
Goolon was watching the unfolding situation through a telescope without missing anything.
And as he saw what he saw, Goolon’s toad-like face trembled.
“Crazy.”
He involuntarily let out an expletive.
What he saw was monsters defeating humans.
But it wasn’t something that could be seen simply.
‘A Lich and a Death Knight too?!’
He wouldn’t doubt even if they were the masters of their respective dungeons.
Yet, they were handling such power with ease.
Goolon knew well because he had been scolded by his supervisor.
The dungeon masters in this vicinity were mostly only 1-star or 2-star.
He knew that the greatest they had was clearly a 3-star Orc.
Therefore, he didn’t bother to consider which dungeon the Death Knight and the Lich belonged to.
‘Did they hide their power?’
When Goolon himself visited the dungeon, he hadn’t felt such power.
At most, it was just Skeleton Knights.
Goolon’s whole body trembled.
The Guild probably didn’t know about such power.
No, the merchant in charge must have known.
If the Guild didn’t know, it could only mean that they intentionally didn’t report it.
‘He was a terrifying guy.’
Did he even manage to bribe the merchant in charge?
Most importantly, the fact that he hadn’t revealed his true strength sent chills down his spine.
‘But what should I do now?’
Goolon pondered for a moment.
The four shadows behind him.
They were monsters assigned to him by the Guild.
Because they were shadows themselves, they had no precise form.
They were beings that could go anywhere as long as there was darkness and shadow, specializing in information gathering and assassination.
So, they had no name or identity, essentially unknown monsters.
The Guild assigned them to him for an obvious reason.
To resolve the current situation.
In other words, to dismantle the forces before they grew any larger.
But look at that scene.
Don’t you see the Death Knight and the Lich?
‘There must be more hidden forces.’
It was reasonable to think so.
How much did the reports based only on the surface get criticized?
As a result, Goolon was in danger of being expelled from the Guild if he couldn’t resolve the issue.
“…”
The problem was that he couldn’t come up with a way to solve this.
Even with the shadows, with their specialization in information gathering and assassination, it would be too much to handle even the Lich, let alone the Death Knight.
If the opponent was moderately strong, it would be like digging their own grave.
“Hoo…”
Goolon sighed deeply.
He felt like running away.
But he was concerned about the existence of the shadows behind him.
If he abandoned his mission, they would target him first.
As Goolon’s thoughts lingered.
‘Come to think of it…’
A good idea suddenly struck him.
As soon as the idea came, Goolon turned towards the shadows behind him.
“Since ancient times, there is a saying that to defeat an enemy, one must enter from within.”
Actually, he didn’t know if such a saying existed.
Goolon was just improvising.
“We will enter the opponent’s dungeon as representatives of the Guild.”
Goolon began to explain his plan to the shadows.
“As long as we get inside the dungeon…”
Of course, contrary to his outward appearance, different thoughts were swirling in his mind.
‘Let’s surrender. This is suicide.’
He no longer cared about the Guild that had abandoned him.
Even if he was insensitive, he understood the general atmosphere and could make a choice.
The problem was that escaping the shadows was the priority.
‘Yes, as long as we can get inside the dungeon…’
Goolon thought of Celia.
In terms of power, he believed she would be more than enough to handle the shadows.
He thought that if he ran to her dungeon and begged and prostrated himself, he might at least be able to save his own life.
‘Please…’
He had learned that to survive in a cruel world, one must sometimes be quick-witted.
***
*Ding-* *Ding-*
The smartphone rang again today, just like yesterday.
He already knew what it was about without looking.
“Celia will handle it well. For now, let’s go quickly.”
There was something they had to do.
It was to officially report the skeleton, Maru, who was next to him, to the Awakened Center.
Reporting wasn’t a grand affair, just informing them that he had summoning-related abilities like a summoner or spirit user.
This was a law set by the government for the prevention of crimes by hunters, and without this report, it was illegal for him to carry the skeleton around like he was doing now.
“Let’s just go register it.”
He would probably be registered as a Necromancer.
It was a shame it wasn’t a powerful skeleton, but it was a 1-star Skeleton Soldier.
By these standards, it was a monster so weak that it could be hunted by an F-Rank Hunter.
“Well, it’s convenient in many ways.”
At least, it did all the housework.
And besides, this one wasn’t the main event.
The real event was something else.
“I can’t wait for the day I receive the Demonic Sword.”
It was the Demonic Sword that Celia had offered as a sacrifice.
