As the aftershocks of the explosion subsided, Iris barely managed to get up. Wiping the blood flowing down her face, she stared ahead.
“How on earth… could a zombie use a fireball…”
Zombies, by nature, couldn’t use magic.
If it were a Lich, an undead monster that used magic, perhaps, but the one before her looked like an ordinary zombie in appearance. No, she could be certain.
Yet, being confused by this situation where a zombie not only moved fast but also used magic was overwhelming.
“Grrr.”
The zombie stared at Kaiden, who was floating in the air. The grip on Kaiden’s neck tightened with increasing power. Dark green liquid began to seep from between the rotting zombie’s fingers. As it touched Kaiden’s neck, his skin started to burn. It was the power of the ‘Poison Coating’ skill.
“Ugh… H-help me…”
Kaiden’s face turned increasingly pale. Sweat poured down his contorted face in pain. His eyes were about to roll back.
“Senior Kaiden!”
Iris mustered her last bit of strength and raised her staff. However, her body was already at its limit. With her mana depleted, she couldn’t cast any more spells. Of course, the same was true for the zombie. But unaware of this fact, the adventurers could only stare at the zombie with terrified eyes.
“Ugh…”
A moment later, Roan, who had crashed into a rock in the distance, also barely regained consciousness. She felt her chest had caved in. Some of her ribs were probably broken. Soon, she grasped the current situation.
“Th-that’s a zombie?”
Roan muttered, spitting blood. What kind of zombie lifts a person with one hand? Zombies were fundamentally the weakest beings. Slow-moving and weak, they could be hunted with just a weapon, even by non-adventurers. But what was this situation now!
“I-I should have just run.”
I should have just completed the request. But regretting it was too late. The zombie tightened its grip on Kaiden.
*Creak*
The sound of a neck breaking echoed through the forest. It was a dry and harsh sound, like a twig snapping. Tears welled up in Iris’s eyes. Roan also covered her mouth in silence. The zombie then threw Kaiden’s corpse to the ground. Afterward, it began to douse his entire body with potent poison. Soon, Kaiden’s body melted away with the green liquid, his organs spilling out, but the zombie, unfazed, brought it to its mouth.
“Senior!”
Iris cried out, sobbing, but there was no way a dead person would come back to life. After consuming the entire corpse, the zombie turned its gaze to the remaining adventurers. The zombie’s mouth was smeared with blood and flesh.
“Grrr.”
The zombie’s gaze turned cold.
“I-I can’t escape…”
Roan was already injured. Escaping was impossible. The same was true for Iris. Although she wasn’t injured, she instinctively knew she wouldn’t be able to get far given the zombie’s speed. They huddled together, sensing their impending death. The shadow of death fell upon them.
“Grrr?”
As the zombie was about to kill the remaining survivors, it remembered one thing. It was the gender of the remaining humans. As its thoughts cleared, the zombie realized that Chief Administrator Celia gathered those of specific genders separately. It was the result of ‘cognition’.
“Grr, Grr.”
The zombie nodded. Then, it momentarily accelerated its body and struck Iris and Roan on the necks, knocking them unconscious. It intended to take them to Celia. Leaving behind blood-stained footprints, the zombie dragged the two unconscious women to the dungeon. The zombie’s steps were light.
***
“Hmm? What are those?”
When the zombie returned to the dungeon, the first being it encountered was Baalcherit. She raised an eyebrow as she saw the blood-stained zombie dragging a female adventurer in each hand.
“Are these… delicacies for me?”
Baalcherit’s eyes sparkled. As a vampire, she was thirsty for fresh human blood. Especially since she hadn’t had a good ‘meal’ in the dungeon recently, her voice was filled with anticipation. However, the zombie didn’t have time to pay attention to Baalcherit. It planned to present the unconscious adventurers to Celia before they could wake up. As the zombie passed Baalcherit without a glance.
“What are those?”
The Goblin Lord, who had approached at some point, asked.
“Grrr, Grrk.”
(“To Celia, a sacrifice.”)
“Is that so? Well, alright.”
The Goblin Lord nodded and went on its way.
“Grrr.”
The zombie, bowing its head to him, moved on.
“…”
Baalcherit, watching the scene with an incredulous expression, yet again.
“Wait… perhaps a drop of blood for me…”
The zombie continued walking, ignoring her. Baalcherit could only gaze at the zombie’s retreating back in despair.
“Is… is this right?”
Baalcherit wished she could go back to the Minotaurus Dungeon.
***
“Alright, the zombie is more or less taken care of.”
Now, who should I empower?
‘Most of them are undead, so it’s a bit…’
Unless the species diversified, enhancing only the undead in the current state didn’t seem like a good option.
‘Should I empower Azmo a bit more this time?’
I did give him the Rapid Stab skill last time, but he’s still lacking, that’s for sure.
‘Considering it all, Celia’s dungeon forces are sufficient now.’
Moreover, since the dungeon monsters can be deployed in appropriate places, Necros’s Satellite Dungeon is also relatively safe.
‘If worse comes to worst, Celia can help.’
Celia became 7-star this time, and with the Wyvern joining, there are now several 5-star monsters.
‘On the other hand, on Earth, Maru is all there is.’
The monsters with 5-star or higher are only Maru and Gargoyle. Furthermore, Maru’s role is solely to escort me. It’s natural that Azmo’s dungeon seems relatively weak.
‘No matter how I think about it, Azmo worries me.’
Azmo is still 4-star. Although 4-star isn’t a low rank, there’s still an uneasy feeling compared to others.
‘Hmm.’
Especially considering how much Azmo is undertaking. Not only producing and making potions, but he also established a dungeon company and consults for other dungeons. During this process, Betta, who can transform freely, is active, and since both are 4-star, their ranks seem low for the work they do.
‘But there’s nothing I can give him with my current remaining abilities.’
Should I have just given Azmo the A-Rank skill ‘Blood Vein Absorption’ earlier?
‘No.’
While Azmo’s abilities are important, my own growth is the top priority. Furthermore, there is a reason why I am focusing mainly on the dungeons in the El Dorado Continent.
‘Even if Azmo’s dungeon is subjugated, it won’t affect me.’
On the other hand, if the dungeons in the El Dorado Continent are subjugated, I will die. Of course, Azmo’s dungeon has an invisibility artifact, so its aura is not detected from outside.
‘At least that’s fortunate.’
Even so, the fundamental problem remains unsolved. I wish there were a Real Money Purchase package to increase monster ranks or a special rank like last time. No matter how much I tapped on my Smartphone, nothing like that appeared.
‘Or should I go near Azmo’s dungeon this time?’
If he were closer to me, I would feel more at ease. Ciel could also look after the Terrilif Tree with peace of mind, and most importantly, placing Gargoyles nearby would enhance security.
‘Okay, so where should I settle?’
There was one problem. Around Azmo’s dungeon, there were only open fields, so it wasn’t close to any residential areas. Although there might be nearby houses, moving my residence, which isn’t very far from Azmo’s dungeon, seemed like a waste of time to save a little more.
‘Should I move into the shop Azmo runs instead?’
I’ll contribute to running the shop, too.
‘It’s not bad, is it?’
But the problem is whether Azmo would actually like it. Wouldn’t he feel burdened?
‘Even if he’s a monster, he probably wouldn’t want to be with his boss.’
I would be horrified too.
‘Hmm, it’s ambiguous.’
Should I build a new house nearby instead? But I had to shake my head. I didn’t know how long it would take to build a house on bare land. And if legal issues were considered, it would take even longer. Well, if I left the legal matters to the Fire Bird Guild, it would be resolved quickly, but building a house indeed took too much time.
‘There’s no other answer.’
In the end, there was only one answer.
‘I’m sorry, Azmo, but…’
There was no other way but to move into Azmo’s shop.
‘Still, asking once wouldn’t hurt, would it?’
***
Azmo, who had received the contact a little while ago, almost fainted at the unbelievable news. The Great One wanted to move into the general store run by Azmo, bringing Maru, Ciel, Gargoyle, and Coco. And not just a visit, but expressing a desire to live there!
“For the Master to come to me, what greater honor could there be!”
Azmo exclaimed, raising both hands to the ceiling in deep emotion. His voice echoed throughout the entire dungeon. Tears of emotion welled up in Azmo’s eyes.
“The moment I’ve waited for my entire life has arrived!”
Azmo spun around three times on the spot, then suddenly knelt on the floor, extending both arms to the sky. It was a posture as if he had received a divine revelation.
“I need corpses immediately! I need corpses for the Master to feast on!”
Azmo’s face was flushed with excitement. His heart was about to burst at the thought of attending to the Master directly.
“Contact Betta and tell him to bring a large quantity of hunters’ corpses!”
That day, the number of missing hunters increased.
***
Yerin Jeong was on the phone with Kanghyeon Lee.
“Excuse me? Moving?”
Moving all of a sudden. It was out of the blue. But she nodded. Kanghyeon Lee had recently been promoted to an A-Rank Hunter, and more importantly, he had earned a lot of money. Especially with the contract for Terrilif Potions with the Fire Bird Guild, a massive amount of money was expected to flow in. The amount was in the hundreds of millions, so moving was a natural progression.
‘Indeed. It would be difficult to provide security at the current house.’
“Where are you moving? Is it a nice apartment?”
Yerin Jeong was curious. Where would this great Hunter move? She expected it to be a luxury apartment or a Tower Palace. But a completely different story came from the other end of the phone.
– Ah, well… I’ve left my house and decided to stay at a general store.
“……?”
What did he mean? Yerin Jeong momentarily thought she had misheard.
‘Perhaps it’s an apartment named General Store?’
“…A general store?”
Yerin Jeong’s expression changed in an instant. No matter how she thought about it, the words she had just heard didn’t make sense.
– Yes, you see… I know a general store owner, and I decided to stay there.
Kanghyeon Lee spoke while concealing the story about Azmo, but Yerin Jeong’s expression grew increasingly sympathetic. Just staying at a store and not an apartment?
“Um… Kanghyeon, is something wrong?”
– No, nothing’s wrong. It’s just a good location.
In fact, the location was good for Kanghyeon Lee. Being close to Azmo gave him the advantage of being able to respond quickly to various situations.
“……”
But Yerin Jeong remained silent. Complex thoughts flashed through her mind.
‘Does he have temporary financial problems before the potion contract money comes in? Or did he owe someone money?’
Yerin Jeong’s misunderstanding deepened.
