“Dungeon? Asking for a curse? Dude, do you often hear you’re out of your mind?”
“No? I often hear I’m just an extremely ordinary and simple young man.”
“You’re totally lying…”
The Centipede Nun prepares her curse, gathering demonic energy at her fingertips while grumbling.
She still does what she’s told.
She’s even got abilities.
Those Four Heavenly Kings have an unexpectedly massive talent pool.
“Hmm…”
The Centipede Nun places her hand on the Dungeon Stone Door.
Instantly, beads of sweat start trickling down her face, revealing a flustered expression.
Then she turns around and says,
“I don’t think I can do this…”
“What’s impossible? If you try hard enough, you can do anything.”
“Are you really that clueless? What kind of nonsense is that?! Even the Four Heavenly Kings nowadays don’t talk like that!”
“Yeah, just try it before you talk.”
“There’s nothing to try! The dungeon’s too big for the curse to cover! We’re short on demonic energy. By a lot!”
“Hmm…”
That makes sense.
Just casting a curse across the entire train is already a monumental task.
How much demonic energy is required to cover the whole complex, maze-like dungeon?
“Then we can supplement the life force. I’ll let you use Mi Jeong. Siphon her life energy.”
“Me?”
“What energy could there possibly be in this corpse? Even if you suck her dry, you’d get enough for one hypnosis curse at most.”
“What? There’s a hypnosis curse?!”
“Your eyes are brimming with desire. No wonder you’re such a lowly human…”
Wait, there really is a hypnosis curse?
If I’d known that, I would have focused on curses instead of wasting time on swordsmanship or magic.
I could’ve just hypnotized the main heroine trio and called it a day.
Major regrets.
“What’s become of my 12 years…”
“Anyway, what’s not doable is not doable.”
“Then let me use my mana. You know how to convert mana into demonic energy, right?”
“I do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be a curse caster.”
Mana and demonic energy are like half-brothers.
They’re made of the same mana, but their properties differ.
So theoretically, both mana and demonic energy can be converted into each other.
Of course, that only refers to theory.
Usually, curse casters are good at converting mana into demonic energy.
It’s rare for mages to know how to convert demonic energy into mana.
It’s not necessarily due to a difference in difficulty.
It’s just experience.
There are far fewer curse casters compared to mages.
While curse casters are so starved for demonic energy that they’ll convert mana, mages rarely even get the chance to engage with demonic energy.
It’s similar to how baseball players struggle against left-handed pitchers.
“Still, a mere human’s mana isn’t enough. Unless it’s a holy knight draped in holy relics, how much can a naked human even have?”
“Just absorb it for now. Will this be enough?”
“Hmph. It’s obvious it won’t work, yet you keep asking… Wait?”
She hesitantly grabs my outstretched hand.
Carefully and slowly, I pour the mana—supercharged from being boosted by the Guardian Knight—into the Centipede Nun.
The mana, filtered through the Mana Stone, is purer than ever.
As she accepts that mana, the Centipede Nun’s eyes widen to the size of saucers.
“Hey, what are you? Who are you really? You can’t be human, right?”
Her eyes shimmer as she can’t take her gaze off me.
Huh, her eyes seem softer now.
The rebellious spirit seems to have vanished.
“Yep, that’s right. Will this be enough?”
“It might barely work… Should I use a weakening curse?”
“Sure.”
Looks like we’re just on the brink of covering the entire dungeon.
If I pour out all my mana, it’ll affect the battles inside.
I leave just enough to handle the mobs and throw the rest at the Centipede Nun.
Since there’s no boss in this dungeon, there’s really no need for a large amount of mana.
“Please…”
In an instant, mana converts into demonic energy, filling the air with an ominous aura.
The moment the Centipede Nun places her hand on the stone door, black energy flows into it along the engraved patterns and begins to glow.
“Please take the strength from the evil ones…”
“Is it okay for monsters to call other monsters evil?”
“Shut up… I’m trying to concentrate…”
Is she using the stone door itself as a totem?
Pretty clever.
Before long, the entire stone door starts radiating a sinister light.
After a while, that light gradually dims.
The immense demonic energy that was just present is now gone.
It seems it has diffused throughout the entire dungeon to the point where it can no longer be sensed.
“Well, it’s done. I’ve cast a curse over the entire dungeon, but… its power is significantly weakened. The weakening might be barely noticeable.”
“I don’t care.”
I just wanted to see if I could cast a curse on the dungeon.
I’m not using it because the conquest is getting too hard, so it’s fine.
Still, I should go check how weakened it actually is.
“Okay, let’s go in. Let’s hurry up and grab the dungeon core then grab a bite and sleep.”
“Huh? Why are you telling me this? I’m not going in!”
“Since who made that decision?”
“Why?! Let me go already!”
“What if you suddenly turn the curse into a monster-boosting curse while outside?”
“I wouldn’t do that! I swear! I’ll stake my life on it! No, the Great Druid is already dead… I’ll swear on Draken!”
“How am I supposed to believe that? Just follow me.”
“No! No! I don’t want to! Why are you picking on me!? What did I do wrong?!”
“The guards in the Clockwork City are going crazy looking for you. Do you want me to hand you over to them? You curious how the guards treat monsters?”
“Ugh! You’re evil! You rogue! Bad human!”
“That last one isn’t even an insult…”
Tears in her eyes, she spews insults at me but nonetheless keeps following closely.
Looks like she doesn’t want to die after all.
Even while tick-tocking in annoyance, she obediently tags along.
I’d love to just slap a collar on her and call it a day…
‘But that would just backfire.’
A cornered mouse will surely bite.
If I keep repeating the deception that I’ll set her free as soon as this is over, one day she might just kick back hard against me.
It would probably be better to let her loose and control her from a distance.
How would I control her if I let her go, you ask?
There are ways.
“…If you give up, it’ll be easier.”
“You ended up trapped and turned into a slave too. Let’s join forces here—”
“…Don’t pretend to be friendly.”
“Huh?”
Mi Jeong, who steps back, swatting away the Centipede Nun’s comforting hand, hops over to cling to me.
I suppose for Mi Jeong, being associated with a monster from a dungeon is unpleasant.
After all, Mi Jeong used to be human.
She seems to feel more kinship with me than with the Centipede Nun.
[The curse of the great centipede weakens the monsters in the dungeon.]
As soon as we push through the stone door, the System Window pops up, announcing the curse’s effect.
So it seems I wasn’t completely lying.
[…And the slumbering boss awakens.]
What?
What does that mean?
Originally, this dungeon didn’t have a boss.
After passing through mobs and traps, the final room just had the dungeon core waiting, and once you grab it, you’re set.
I’ve believed that for the past twelve rounds…
And now apparently, there’s a boss I didn’t know about.
Looks like the system made some adjustments to keep things consistent.
What the heck was the issue that made them add a non-existent boss?
I’m completely lost.
Were there really that many inconsistencies in the Clockwork City?
‘Not a clue…’
There are countless things to keep an eye on.
I need to minimize traces in case Yerina is on my tail.
And I have no idea what the inconsistencies in the Clockwork City might be…
There’s really no scenario left.
I have no choice but to quickly finish up the magical tool and escape from the Clockwork City.
I don’t know what kind of boss has awakened inside, but I’ll have to approach it directly for a judgment.
If things get tough, I can always retreat.
“…Human. Voice.”
Inside the dark dungeon.
Mi Jeong, lighting the way as my human torch, suddenly freezes in place.
Looks like she sensed something.
Concentrating on her words turns my attention to a faint murmur coming from within.
It’s not a monster…
Is it a person?
“Yep, definitely a person.”
White bones are scattered all over the dungeon corridor.
Remnants of skeletons.
Ah, being undead means calling them remains would be odd now, right?
Be that as it may.
The broken ends of the bones appear to be pierced by weapons, like swords and shields.
The weapons the skeletons held—sword, bow, shields—were neatly taken away.
It’s unlikely that someone would actively loot if they accidentally wandered into the Black Star Dungeon.
Are they a professional mercenary?
Could anyone have the guts to enter the Black Star Dungeon without a shred of readiness?
My anxiety starts to bubble up.
“Hurry up.”
“….Okay.”
“Ugh, my feet are starting to hurt. I want to stop walking.”
“Should I carry you?”
“Yikes! No thanks! That feels too… suggestive!”
“Hey…”
Picking up the pace, I move forward quickly.
Before long, light filters in from the end of a narrow corridor.
Beyond it, talkative voices can be clearly heard.
“Okay! Is everyone ready?”
“Yes, Vice Captain. We’ve got smoke bombs, explosives, potions, extra weapons, and even food and water for unforeseen circumstances. It’s all perfect.”
“Everyone, keep your guard up!”
“Hey, it’ll be fine! We already confirmed through local investigations that there’s no boss in this dungeon, right? We can take out any strong mobs ourselves!”
Those guys.
They’re the mercenaries I saw on the train.
Multiple mercenaries, all equipped, are crowded together getting ready.
They seemed to be a disorganized bunch on the train, but now it’s clear.
These guys are some of the strongest veterans among mercenaries.
“They’re toast…”
Of course, my worries aren’t about them potentially stealing the dungeon core.
If I leave them be, those guys…
They’ll all die.
