The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices – Chapter 159

The dawn’s light gently permeated through the branches. The mountain range at dawn was quiet. But there were those who broke that silence. “Shift change!” “Shift! Growl!” They were goblins from the scout team, guarding the forest around the dungeon. The shift change between the morning shift goblins and the night shift goblins was happening quickly. Even if the mountain range was quiet, the scout team guarding the dungeon had no moment of rest. While the shift change between goblins occurred outside the dungeon, the interior of the dungeon also finished preparations to start the day. The Death Knight of Sector 1 headed to Sector 4 for the endless siege construction. A Death Knight carrying a shield with a maid outfit on its back. And behind it, various ghouls and humans lined up, creating a chilling sight like a procession of death. In Sector 2, the goblins were uniting around the Goblin Lord. “We will start hunting! Keryu!” “Hunting! Hunting!” The goblins responded with energy to the Goblin Lord’s booming voice. While Sector 2 was vibrant, Sector 3 was quiet. Aren, who recently became the honorary sub-boss of Sector 3, was still deep in dreams. Beside her, Baalcherit was also immersed in sleep. It was natural, as both of them were vampires. However, a moment later. Baalcherit woke up. She originally wanted to sleep more, but she couldn’t because of the mission she was given. “Ah, Ms. Riche. Are you awake?” As Baalcherit woke up, someone called her. The name ‘Riche’ was Baalcherit’s alias. Since she used it to hide her identity, everyone in this dungeon called Baalcherit Riche. Baalcherit turned her head to the person who called her. “Yes. You are working very hard today as well.” She looked at Nariel, who was tending to the wriggling plants amidst the dense bushes. Nariel was an elf who was apparently captured while being an adventurer. Of course, thanks to the elf’s high affinity with plants, she wasn’t a slave but held a key position managing the plant monsters of Sector 3. “By the way, it’s truly amazing. To bring back plants that were all dead… As expected of an elf.” Baalcherit was genuinely impressed. Recently, when Lamias invaded, they had turned Sector 3 into a mess. Due to the Lamias’ poison, the man-eating tentacle plants were all annihilated leaving only their roots, and the Blood-sucking Butterflies flying above them all died. But Nariel revived all the plants that were left with only roots. As the plants grew again, the eggs that the Blood-sucking Butterflies had once laid metamorphosed into larvae. The larvae pupated into Blood-sucking Butterflies, and they laid eggs again, returning Sector 3 to its original state. “Hmm…” Baalcherit silently took in the scenery of Sector 3. The Lamia invasion incident was a turning point for her as well. After the Lamia invasion, Baalcherit became an official member of the dungeon. It was definitely not a choice she made herself. She briefly fainted, and when she came to, she was affiliated with the dungeon. ‘I still don’t know about what happened then.’ She still didn’t know why she became affiliated with the dungeon. At first, she was flustered. Because she unexpectedly became part of the dungeon. But looking back now, she thought it wasn’t entirely a bad situation. ‘This place is truly unique.’ The fact that monsters of various races mingled in one dungeon while faithfully following the chain of command was appealing to her. It was the same now. She never dreamed that vampires and elves would share the same sector. Not only that. While Nariel, an elf, took care of the plants, the Water Spirit behind her sprinkled water on the plants. Seeing this absurd combination made her feel strangely. “……” While Baalcherit was lost in thought for a moment, Nariel called her. “Ms. Riche, you are going outside the dungeon again today?” Nariel said so and began to pack something. “Today, the children have seeds, so I will give them to you as seeds.” She carefully placed the plant seeds one by one into a small pouch. This was related to Baalcherit’s mission. Her mission was given by Celia, who managed the dungeon. The mission was simple. To plant the seeds of the plant monsters in Sector 3 outside the dungeon. At first, she had Aren, a lower-ranked vampire than herself, do it for her. Of course, after being caught by Celia and receiving a lot of scolding, she faithfully carried out the mission. The reason why she, who was once the owner of a dungeon and a descendant of vampire royalty, did such menial work was because of Celia’s orders. Celia was the Chief Administrator of the dungeon. Moreover, knowing that Celia was much higher ranked than her, Baalcherit obeyed the orders without complaint. “Here you go, Ms. Riche.” Nariel handed her the seeds with a smile. “Ah, Ms. Riche, please plant the seeds at regular intervals. Otherwise, they are likely to engage in cannibalism among their own kind as they grow.” Nariel happily told her the precautions to take when planting the seeds. Although she was in a position that was no different from a hostage, and her close Mage friend was trapped somewhere in this dungeon, Nariel lived her life energetically every day. Above all, managing plants was always enjoyable for an elf. “Well then, I’m off. Take care.” “Have a safe trip, Ms. Riche!” Baalcherit took the pouch Nariel gave her and said goodbye. Before leaving the dungeon, she glanced at Aren once more. In the bosom of the deeply sleeping Aren, an earthworm as thick as her forearm was squirming. According to Celia, it was the dungeon’s subordinate officer. ‘That thing is the dungeon’s subordinate officer….’ Baalcherit, who couldn’t say anything because it was a being brought by the Master and the Great One, could only remain silent. Anyway, this place was full of strange and incomprehensible things. First, the size of the dungeon. The first layer of the dungeon, which has sectors 1 to 4. Not only that, but there is another underground layer below. That is the second layer. According to Celia, the Master expanded this enormously sized dungeon solely with his abilities. ‘Just how amazing is this being to create a dungeon?’ Not only that. Besides herself, there are as many as three 5-star monsters in the dungeon. Furthermore, the Arch Lich, who was originally a 4-star Lich, was raised to 5-star by the Great One’s abilities. ‘……’ No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t believe it. She herself was once the owner of a dungeon until she was ambushed by the White Church. Expanding a dungeon and freely raising the rank of monsters with abilities alone? Absolutely impossible. Despite living for a long time as a vampire, this was the first time she had ever heard such a story. However, she knew for sure that this dungeon was not ordinary. So it was difficult to deny it outright. Perhaps their ancestors, who were called kings of great vampires in the past, also had such abilities… ‘If I had possessed such great abilities…’ Couldn’t she have made the dungeon stronger? Then she wouldn’t have been ambushed by the Church so futilely. ‘It doesn’t matter anymore.’ The current Baalcherit is no longer the owner of the dungeon. To be precise, the dungeon was seized by the Underworld Merchant Guild. In order to defend against the White Church’s attack, she incurred a massive debt with the Underworld Merchant Guild, and she lost her dungeon because she couldn’t repay the debt. All of this had become irreversible past events. Currently, she just needs to follow Celia’s orders well. Baalcherit shook off her distracting thoughts and stepped out of the dungeon. And as Nariel instructed, she took out the seeds and planted them in the ground. While Baalcherit was planting seeds, goblins appeared from inside the dungeon. “Hunting! Hunting!” “Growl! Our Lord has gone out!” The goblins moved towards the forest in a formation surrounding the Goblin Lord. Baalcherit watched the goblins heading somewhere. “Goblins are always diligent.” It wasn’t just words. Goblins were truly diligent. They not only handled the dungeon’s miscellaneous tasks but also patrolled the surrounding forest to prepare for any eventuality. If she had prepared to that extent, she wouldn’t have been surprised by the Church’s ambush attack in the past. She felt a sense of regret for some reason. After the goblins disappeared, as she was about to replant the plants again. “Clack clack.” This time, others appeared. It was Necros, the Arch Lich. The robe Necros was wearing was filled with Gold Coins and Jewels. Not only that, but the Skeletons behind Necros were moving with pouches of Gold Coins. At that moment, the Death Knight came out of the dungeon. “Huh?” Why was the Death Knight, who should have been engaged in siege construction, out? Baalcherit quietly watched them. “Clack. Clack clack.” Necros briefly scouted the surroundings and took out Gold Coins and Jewels from his pocket. Then he handed some of them to the Death Knight. “……” The Death Knight quietly nodded and accepted the Gold Coins handed by Necros. Since the Death Knight had no place to store them, he stuffed the Gold Coins and Jewels into the maid outfit pocket attached to his shield. Necros’s actions didn’t end there. When their eyes met. “Clack clack. Clack clack clack.” Necros took out a few Gold Coins and handed them to her as well. “Clack.” (It’s a gift) Necros was always a cautious Arch Lich. If he swallowed it alone, it would be a bribe, but if he shared it, it was a gift. “……” Of course, Baalcherit didn’t know Necros’s intentions. Necros and the Death Knight disappeared into the forest. It was natural for the Skeletons to follow them. “As expected, they get along well as they are both Undead.” Baalcherit envied the close relationship between those two. Wasn’t the overall atmosphere of the dungeon determined by such minor relationships? With such strong friendship, they would overcome any threat to the dungeon somehow. Above all, she was moved by Necros’s action of sharing Gold Coins with her. “This is the true form of the dungeon.” Baalcherit realized that fact far too late. When a threat approached the dungeon she managed, the first to leave were those who were close to her. They had always called themselves loyal retainers, but when Baalcherit was in danger, they were the first to flee, the betrayers. Baalcherit felt a little depressed. If there were people like Necros, she wouldn’t have lost the dungeon so futilely… But she shook her head soon. What was the point of regretting it here? Still, Baalcherit devised a small plan. If she ever ran a dungeon again, she would fill it with people like Necros. Then the dungeon’s atmosphere would improve. As Baalcherit was replanting seeds, another guest appeared. It was Durahan Berter. Berter lifted his head with his left hand. His detached head muttered continuously. “Demonic Sword… Power… Want… Demonic Sword…!” As he was about to pass by, Berter’s detached head looked at Baalcherit. “…De, monic Sword?” The eyes of the head scanned her entire body. “De… monic Sword… No.” Losing interest, Berter turned his body back. “De… monic Sword… Power, want…” Thus, Berter disappeared somewhere. Although it was likely to be bewildering, Baalcherit viewed Berter’s actions in a positive light. “Indeed, to defend the dungeon, one must have strength.” It was natural for monsters to pursue strength. Then why do monsters pursue strength? To survive. At the same time, they can defend the dungeon with that power. Ultimately, the more monsters pursue strength, the higher the probability of defending the dungeon. “He has high loyalty.” Baalcherit nodded. Berter’s value in her mind rose a notch. “It wouldn’t be bad for me to stay here for a while.” The only reason Baalcherit fled and came to the Sail Kingdom was one. To find the owner of the mysterious voice that approached her someday. But for a while, mingling with them wouldn’t be bad. The diligence of the goblins, the strong bond between Necros and the Death Knight, and the constant pursuit of strength. All of this, combined, made this dungeon even more special. It was a valuable experience to witness the true power of the dungeon that she hadn’t known before. “This place is truly strange.” A faint smile bloomed on her face. Another day passed for Baalcherit.