As Baalcherit was peacefully greeting the day.
Throughout the Silent Mountain Range, adventurers’ footsteps were unceasing.
Everyone was like moths drawn to a flame, following rumors in pursuit of a quick fortune.
Several days had already passed since the rumors spread, but no one had found the dungeon where treasure was buried.
Because of this, many people moved towards the mountain range with fiery eyes.
However, the Silent Mountain Range is not a place to be taken lightly.
It is connected to the Demonic Realm by land, and one never knows what monsters might appear there.
Being such a dangerous place, most adventurers who ascended the mountain range formed parties or were confident in their abilities.
Of course, even being confident in one’s abilities and forming a party did not guarantee safety.
“Hieek! Save me! Please!”
A man who had ascended the mountain range knelt and begged for his life.
The man had also come to the mountain range after hearing the rumors, but he encountered an unexpected variable.
The variable he encountered was an Orc.
It would be one thing if there were only one or two Orcs, but he had encountered a horde of dozens or more.
The leader of the Orc horde that the man faced was Skoll.
“Tch! You dishonorable scum have invaded the sacred land of the master! I, Skoll, decree it! Kill them all!”
Skoll, the chief of the Orc tribe and the master of the dungeon ‘Red-Haired Tribe,’ roared powerfully, clenching his rough fists.
His eyes burned with the firm will of a warrior, but his mood was not good.
He actually glared at the man begging for his life, his brow furrowed.
The reason was that his opponent was dishonorable.
“You trash who knows no honor! A true warrior fears no death!”
To beg for his life without even fighting.
It was an un-warrior-like sight.
A warrior, from time immemorial, never gives up easily, no matter how difficult the situation.
They are beings who must confront an opponent, even if they cannot defeat them.
That is honor, and what can be called a true warrior.
But to kneel without even fighting.
Skoll was angered by the opponent’s actions.
If he had knelt after fighting, or humbled himself respectfully, Skoll might have spared him.
It would have meant that the warrior himself was willing to show respect to the stronger opponent, even at the cost of his own honor.
But the weak human before him did not do so.
Instead, the man committed an excessive transgression.
He took out money from his pouch while begging for his life.
“Please! I beg you! I will give you everything I have, just spare my life—”
But before the man could finish speaking, his neck was severed.
“How dare you try to tarnish my honor too!”
Enraged by the man’s attempt to devalue his honor with money, Skoll swung his axe himself.
In an instant, the party of adventurers turned into cold corpses.
Skoll raised his blood-stained axe high and declared.
“Warriors! I, Skoll, am greatly disappointed by the reality of so many who know no honor!”
Woo-! Woo-!
At the words of Chief Skoll, the Orcs also raised their weapons high into the sky.
“I swear here, in the name of our tribe! I will not spare a single one who knows no honor! That is the path of a true warrior!”
The tribal members also let out a thunderous roar at Skoll’s declaration.
Clank-!
And then, Skeletons approached the Orcs with clattering sounds.
At the forefront of the Skeletons, Berter, a Dullahan, approached with his head held in one hand.
Berter was the leader of the Undead assault force.
Along with the Goblin scout team, they were the unit that defended the dungeon.
Skoll greeted Berter with a smile.
“Lord Necros sent you! Tch! Please take care of it this time!”
Skoll handed over the coldly cooled adventurer corpses to Berter.
The Skeletons began to clean up the adventurers’ bodies and traces neatly.
Skoll was impressed by their actions.
‘Indeed! Lord Necros is a warrior who knows honor!’
They cleaned voluntarily without being told.
This was surely an action stemming not only from honor but also from loyalty to their master.
Skoll was moved in his heart by Necros’s actions and looked at the Skeletons.
Among them, the Dullahan’s appearance caught his eye.
“Demonic Sword… Stronger… Power.”
Berter, holding his head, scanned the adventurers’ corpses.
More accurately, he was checking the swords held in the adventurers’ hands.
“De…monic Sword. Want… Power!”
However, the Demonic Sword that Berter desired did not appear.
In a way, it was natural.
An ordinary adventurer would not carry a Demonic Sword.
Even so, Berter did not give up and meticulously searched the bodies.
“Power… Stronger…, Power!”
Skoll was once again impressed by his actions.
‘A true warrior pursues strong power! Is he truly a subordinate of Lord Necros!’
Berter was someone who became a Dullahan after being killed by a Death Knight.
If you think about it, he was a subordinate of the Death Knight, but Skoll had no way of knowing that.
‘From a honorable leader, honorable tribal members are born! Today too, I am learning from Lord Necros!’
Skoll nodded and closed his eyes.
He had gained new enlightenment from the actions of Necros and Berter.
While he was organizing his enlightenment, the Skeletons disappeared with the adventurers’ corpses, and Berter, realizing there was no Demonic Sword, also disappeared.
As the Skeletons disappeared, only Skoll, with his eyes closed, and the Orcs remained.
And a new change began for Skoll, who had gained enlightenment.
– Skoll has gained enlightenment for evolution.
– Skoll’s rank evolves from 3 Stars to 4 Stars.
***
Meanwhile, the Goblin Lord, who had set out to hunt, wandered the forest near the dungeon.
Goblins belonging to the scout team were hidden and ambushed around the Goblin Lord.
They seemed to be guarding their king.
“Krrrk, this is good.”
The Goblin Lord casually drew his weapon as if he were out for a stroll.
The weapon he drew was a Mana Gun.
It was one of the weapons used by hunters on Earth.
It was a weapon gifted by Azmo, an Incubus on Earth, to Celia, and it was now being used by the Goblin Lord.
The Mana Gun had the advantage of being easy to use as long as mana was charged.
More importantly, it had the charm of its power varying according to the mana charge level of the user.
The Mana Gun held by the Goblin Lord had exceptional power because Celia had personally charged it with mana.
The reason the Goblin Lord had come out for a hunt after a long time was not for mere amusement.
He had come out to fulfill Celia’s orders.
Celia wanted only one thing: to create an environment where adventurers would continue to enter the dungeon.
To do so, they could not kill all the invading adventurers.
Some had to survive to spread rumors about the dungeon. However, letting them go without any response was also not acceptable.
If the dungeon was underestimated, there was a high chance of low-level humans entering.
It was a difficult mission that required showing just the right amount of force.
However, the Goblin Lord had a good method.
“I’ll let one human go at a time, krrk. Wait until I give the order!”
Before the Goblin Lord finished speaking, a signal flew from the scout team in front.
It meant humans were approaching this location.
“From now on, we will block the enemy’s likely escape route!”
Following the Lord’s orders, the Goblins began to move busily.
Not long after the signal from the scout team, the adventurers began to appear.
There were a total of six adventurers.
Since they were quite a distance from the Lord, the adventurers did not notice anything unusual.
“…….”
The Goblin Lord, revealing his bulging veins and dark green skin, aimed his Mana Gun.
His eyes conveyed the ferocity of a predator eyeing its prey.
He carefully exhaled and placed his index finger on the trigger.
Bang-!
Then, with a tremendous roar, a flash of light blinked in an instant.
Blue mana became a bullet and struck an adventurer.
The adventurer holding a staff had their head blown to pieces. Red blood splattered everywhere.
The adventurers, caught in the sudden attack, screamed in panic.
However, the Goblin Lord did not stop and fired the Mana Gun repeatedly.
Bang- Bang- Bang-
The roar shook the forest.
The bodies of the screaming adventurers were brutally torn apart.
Bang- Bang- Bang- Bang-
Armor shattered and flesh flew.
A gruesome scene unfolded amidst the bushes.
Five of the six adventurers died.
The one adventurer who managed to survive was also not in good condition.
An arm had been blown off.
The adventurer who lost an arm fled in a desperate manner.
The Goblins blocking the escape route tried to pursue the fleeing adventurer, but the Goblin Lord stopped them.
“Let that one go, krrk.”
The Goblin Lord commanded the Goblins in a raspy voice.
As Celia had said, they could not kill all the adventurers.
So, he had intentionally let one escape.
Besides, he had blown off an arm, so it wasn’t like he had let them go easily, making it a satisfactory outcome.
“Return to your positions and wait.”
Adventurers would continue to come for a while.
The Goblin Lord maintained his Mana Gun, waiting for the next adventurer to arrive.
In the meantime, the Skeletons who had been waiting nearby revealed themselves.
Clack- Clatter-
They began to clear the bodies of the adventurers hunted by the Goblin Lord.
This time, Necros and a Death Knight also appeared with the Skeletons.
“Click, click.”
“…….”
When Necros said something, the Death Knight just nodded his head silently.
Then the Skeletons moved busily.
The Skeletons dismantled the equipment from the adventurers’ corpses.
The corpses were sacrifices to be offered to the master, and the decent equipment was to be used for the monsters to arm themselves.
Naturally, all the money the adventurers possessed was taken by Necros.
However, Necros’s pockets were already full of gold coins.
There was no more space to put anything.
Of course, Necros did not give up.
Finance management Skeletons, who he had appointed on the spot, separated the gold coins and jewels and reported the amounts to Necros.
“Click click.”
(Five gold coins.)
“Click.”
(Understood.)
Necros meticulously recorded the amounts in a thick notebook.
The notebook also contained detailed records of how the spoils would be distributed in the future.
Among these were gold coins to be offered as sacrifices to the master.
After completing the ledger, Necros handed over a portion of the gold coins to the Death Knight.
The Death Knight, who had been wandering the mountain range with Necros, also had his Maid Outfit pockets full.
But who was the Death Knight?
Before being the foreman responsible for the dungeon’s siege construction, he was not the sub-boss of Sector 1, Level 1.
The Ghouls he brought from Level 1 took the gold coins and jewels on behalf of the Death Knight.
“Ggguuurrk?”
The Ghouls stuffed gold coins and jewels into their mouths.
Although their bodies were corrupted, unlike the Skeletons, they had flesh remaining, making this method possible.
Necros distributed gold coins to the Goblin Lord as well.
Money is always right.
“De…monic Sword. Power. De…monic Sword…”
While collecting the spoils, Berter appeared.
Berter scanned the adventurer corpses searching for a Demonic Sword, but this time it was in vain.
“…None.”
Bored quickly, Berter turned to search for a Demonic Sword again.
The Skeletons and Ghouls also began to move in the direction Berter had gone.
“Click.”
Necros and the Death Knight moved after them.
The mountain range was now like a place where gold flowed.
It was truly a place full of hope.
Necros was busy moving today to find more hope.
