Celia and the Goblin Lord were passing through the dungeon.
Behind them, Skeleton Knights and Goblins followed.
The place where they passed was a dungeon managed by Azmo.
Although they should have been on the El Dorado Continent, they had crossed over to a dungeon on Earth without any restrictions.
This was all thanks to a dimensional portal.
A dimensional portal.
It was the connection between the dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’ on the El Dorado Continent and the dungeon ‘Illusionary Temptation’ on Earth.
“All of this is a blessing from the Great One.”
Celia praised them in an excited voice.
The powers shown by the Great One always amazed her.
“Well, we have received generous grace from Master. Now it is our turn to repay.”
The Goblin Lord nodded at Celia’s words.
It was true.
If not for Him, they wouldn’t have existed here either.
“Before carrying out Master’s orders, there was something He asked us to keep in mind.”
Master had commanded.
Minimize damage.
That meant carrying out the orders without any harm to us.
In short, it meant to return safely without getting hurt.
“Oh my! Indeed, Master is the only one who cares about us!”
Celia’s face overflowed with joy.
For Master, she would even offer her own body.
“I, Celia, will surely accomplish this as Master has requested!”
Celia covered her face with her hands as if in ecstasy.
“Mr. Goblin Lord, please keep this in mind as well. You must never do anything that harms Master’s honor.”
“I understand, Keh-heut.”
The Goblin Lord nodded in response to Celia’s request.
He also agreed with Celia’s words.
His own defeat would be no different than tarnishing Master’s honor.
Minimize damage.
These words were equivalent to carrying out the orders with full power.
As the Goblin Lord strengthened his resolve, Celia looked around.
“By the way, to leave the dungeon like this…”
Celia’s expression of joy hardened as Azmo’s dungeon was desolate.
There was a human boy who was completely bound, but that was not the problem.
They had left without leaving even the minimum number of troops to guard the dungeon.
“Sigh. What on earth are Death Knight and Arch Lich doing…”
Celia sighed.
Of course, she guessed that Azmo had done this for Master.
Indeed, his intentions were commendable.
However.
“First, I need to scold Arch Lich a bit.”
Master had appointed Arch Lich as the Inspector.
The Inspector, who was supposed to objectively assess the situation, had not intervened at all.
He had even evolved from a Lich to an Arch Lich by receiving Master’s power.
Since he handled things like this, Celia could only sigh.
“For now, have the Skeleton Knights guard this place.”
Celia beckoned the Skeleton Knights.
They were originally like bodyguards who guarded Celia’s work area.
Of course, it was absurd for a 3-star Skeleton Knight to guard a 6-star Celia, but this was all Master’s will.
It showed how much He cared about her.
“Dungeon defense is roughly complete.”
As Celia commanded, the Skeleton Knights took their positions throughout the dungeon.
“Remember, this is a dungeon owned by Master. Show no mercy to intruders.”
Everyone nodded at her words.
Seeing them, Celia was satisfied and looked at the Goblin Lord.
“I will go to where Death Knight is shortly. Mr. Goblin Lord, you guard the area around the dungeon.”
Master’s order was to safely bring back Death Knight, Arch Lich, Azmo, and Beta.
Celia’s plan was simple.
She intended to bring them out before the humans caused more trouble.
To block any unforeseen circumstances, the Skeleton Knights would guard the dungeon, and the Goblin Lord and his subordinates would secure the surrounding area.
Celia glanced at them and disappeared.
She had left to fulfill Master’s orders.
After Celia left.
The Skeleton Knights drew their swords and remained still in the dungeon.
If intruders appeared, they would start moving.
And they would make those who dared to enter Master’s dungeon regret it.
The Goblin Lord also headed outside to carry out his orders.
Armored Goblins followed the Goblin Lord in an orderly manner.
“Go!”
At the Goblin Lord’s command, the Goblins started moving forward.
* * *
“Well, are you finally considering negotiating?”
Azmo, at the forefront of the monster horde, shouted loudly.
Unlike the triumphant Azmo, the Hunters of the Emergency Response Team despaired.
“It’s… a monster…”
When they heard about the Monster Wave, they thought they would suppress it quickly.
But facing them, they realized how arrogant that thought was.
“Everyone, pull yourselves together!”
Team Leader Han Jeongcheol shouted at his subordinates.
‘The atmosphere isn’t good…’
All previous attacks had been blocked.
The morale of his subordinates had already plummeted to the lowest point.
Moreover, was it because the Emergency Response Team could not exert their strength?
Even those who had been watching from the rear until a moment ago had all disappeared.
They knew it too.
This Monster Wave was different from any that had occurred before.
Furthermore, although the Emergency Response Team Hunters unleashed their attacks, they couldn’t even inflict a scratch on the opponent, let alone any damage.
In such a situation, no one could be trusted to remain here.
This was the same for the reporters.
Perhaps, by now, articles criticizing the Emergency Response Team were being posted.
“Sigh.”
Han Jeongcheol, leading the team, sighed deeply.
The holy attack that Mirae Lee fired first was their trump card, prepared with a buff.
It was as if they had poured almost all their strength into it.
They were sure that attack would clear the situation, but it was futilely blocked.
And it was blocked with just a shield.
Look at that sight now.
The large shield held by Death Knight.
And the maid outfit attached to the front of the shield fluttered, feeling annoyingly taunting.
“…Team Leader, what do we do now?”
Mirae Lee spoke with difficulty.
Even after continuing to attack, the opposing monsters did not even have a scratch.
Instead, her strength was completely depleted by the reckless attacks.
“Mirae, for now, retreat to the rear and regain your strength.”
“I can still fight!”
Mirae replied that she could still fight, but Han Jeongcheol did not allow it.
She had already fulfilled her role sufficiently.
They had confirmed that monsters were completely immune to holy power attacks.
Long-range attacks were also meaningless.
Basically, even shooting arrows dealt little damage to Ghouls.
Unless they aimed for the head or infused the arrows with holy power.
Whenever they imbued arrows with holy power, Death Knight would always detect it like a ghost.
And then the shield with the maid outfit would block it again, repeating the same situation.
Guns were the same, so in reality, ranged attacks were practically useless.
‘Death Knight who brings death and a maid outfit…’
It was a completely mismatched combination.
As such, the sight was terrifying.
Where on earth did they get something like that?
She had never heard of a maid outfit with such options.
‘Could it be.’
Could there be a being even more powerful than them?
Suddenly, goosebumps spread all over his body.
But Han Jeongcheol quickly shook his head.
‘That wouldn’t be the case.’
Even just looking at Death Knight was a threat.
With a Lich present in this situation, could there be an even more powerful being?
If so, that would be a serious problem.
It would undoubtedly be a disaster for humanity.
In the end, it was more comforting to think that they were the maximum force.
As he was lost in thought for a moment.
“Leader!”
One of his subordinates called Han Jeongcheol.
It was Kim Seungsu Hunter, the vice-team leader of the Emergency Response Team.
“Why don’t we just charge straight at them? Just dragging time here won’t do any good.”
He was right.
Staying still here wouldn’t solve the problem.
The best method now was to stall for time while waiting for reinforcements.
‘I hope reinforcements arrive soon…’
However, if they visibly stalled for too long, the monsters would catch on.
From then on, there was no telling where they would go.
In other words, they would become uncontrollable.
They had to take advantage of the current situation where they were gaining attention.
‘Attack…’
However, a frontal assault was too dangerous.
It might not be bad to tie them down with guerrilla attacks.
If done well, it might even deplete the opponent’s strength.
But he couldn’t agree immediately because of the Lich.
“But there’s the Lich.”
The Lich was a monster that used the skill ‘Corpse Explosion’.
“Hey, surely the Lich wouldn’t randomly explode friendly monsters?”
At the vice-team leader’s words, Han Jeongcheol slightly nodded.
“True.”
Corpse Explosion.
Corpse Explosion was a Lich’s skill that exploded undead below its rank.
Even if the Lich’s explosion skill was tricky, it was only possible if there were enough undead around.
If there were no undead nearby, the Lich was no different from nothing.
Moreover, a Lich was an intelligent monster.
An intelligent Lich would not be unaware of this fact.
Therefore, it wouldn’t randomly explode Ghouls.
‘Right.’
If they exploited that gap, they could fight easily.
They had acted too timidly, being overwhelmed by the opponent’s momentum from the beginning.
After pondering for a moment, Han Jeongcheol finally agreed.
“Alright! Everyone, listen carefully!”
Han Jeongcheol shouted.
“There are Death Knight and Lich over there. Absolutely do not engage them! Ghouls too! Scatter and target the Incubus!”
The Incubus was not undead.
Unlike the Ghouls that the Lich could explode, the Incubus could not.
If they exploited the gap well, defeating them would be easy.
Han Jeongcheol decided to slowly chip away at the enemy’s strength.
Of course, not everyone would attack.
Hunters specialized in ranged attacks would benefit more from attacking from the rear, providing cover.
“Alright! Let’s move out!”
As soon as the team leader’s command was given, vice-team leader Kim Seungsu shouted, boosting the morale of the Hunters.
Then he charged forward.
Seeing the vice-team leader’s action, Han Jeongcheol did not stop him.
‘That guy is fast.’
His specialty was swift movement.
He could toy with the opponent, but he couldn’t imagine him being defeated.
“Let’s go too!”
“Let’s get rid of those damn guys!”
Seeing the vice-team leader who had reached the monster horde, the remaining members also boosted their momentum.
Although they were suppressed by the monsters’ unexpected momentum, they were all elite fighters.
As Han Jeongcheol watched them and was about to join the attack.
*Pong-*
*Pong-*
*Pong-*
“Huh?”
Ghouls exploded from the front.
Not just one, but three Ghouls exploded simultaneously.
“Damn it!”
The problem was that the vice-team leader, who had charged forward, was nowhere to be seen.
No matter how much he looked around, he couldn’t find him.
Perhaps he had noticed the Ghouls exploding and had already retreated from the scene.
But that hope was soon shattered.
From the spot where the Ghouls had exploded.
Nearby scattered bone fragments began to move.
Bone by bone, they assembled and began to take shape.
“Skeleton…?”
Bones gathered to form a Skeleton.
The Skeleton moved and began to equip the scattered equipment.
Everyone fell silent at the sight.
“……”
No one could make a sound.
This was because the Skeleton, fully equipped, resembled someone.
“Vice-Team Leader…”
“Grrrk!”
Everyone was in turmoil.
It was a Skeleton equipped with the same equipment as the vice-team leader.
What’s more, there were no Skeletons among that monster horde.
This meant only one thing.
“…Arch Lich.”
Han Jeongcheol muttered.
The worst-case scenario he had envisioned had occurred.
A being fundamentally different from a Lich that only used explosion skills.
It was an Arch Lich, a being that resurrected corpses into Skeletons.
“Report to headquarters immediately! There are two A-class monsters!”
He finally realized it.
The reason the opponent had proposed negotiation in the first place was not because they were weak.
It was literally a negotiation.
In a way, it might have been mercy.
* * *
At the same time.
Kanghyeon Lee was traveling in a taxi with Maru.
Maru covered his entire body with a robe and a mask.
Despite his peculiar appearance, the taxi driver paid little attention.
This was understandable in an era where summons were commonplace.
Kanghyeon Lee didn’t put down his smartphone while traveling.
Just then, Skeleton Knights entered the dungeon managed by Azmo.
Since Celia’s appearance was not visible, she seemed to have already left.
Of course, Kanghyeon Lee wouldn’t just watch.
‘The events must only unfold under my control.’
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be true power.
He would have to be the one to finish this job.
