Krimdor, who had the face of a hyena, and a pack of Nols.
They stepped into the dungeon.
As they entered the entrance, the torches on the walls welcomed them, leaving the silent darkness behind.
“It’s bright.”
The torches lined up along the walls illuminated the interior of the cave with their slowly flickering light, giving a sense of psychological stability.
Krimdor looked around and moved his steps again.
The floor was covered with soft pebbles, and his footsteps echoed quietly.
“It’s well managed too.”
He ran his hand along the wall, but not a speck of dust came off.
This meant the dungeon was very cleanly managed.
‘Is it the Master’s taste?’
The atmosphere and management of a dungeon vary according to the Master’s taste.
The dungeon they visited this time had a clean and simple atmosphere.
‘But it seems too bland for a succubus dungeon.’
Krimdor looked around and expressed his doubts.
He had visited a succubus dungeon like this before.
It wasn’t the Succubus Queen’s dungeon, but a dungeon under the Queen’s influence.
That was his impression the first time he saw a succubus dungeon.
– It’s beautiful.
As expected of a demon spirit.
The dungeon itself was a space that exuded a captivating and mysterious atmosphere.
A sense of calm and a dizzying thrill, as if one could fall into a charm, coexisted.
It was filled with red, black, and luxurious magenta decorations, and the portrait of the Succubus Queen hanging in the center was truly fatal.
Even though it was a past event, he felt as if it were still lingering before his eyes.
That’s how captivating the succubus dungeon was when he first saw it.
But look at the dungeon he was seeing now.
Isn’t it too simple to be a succubus’s master?
“How strange.”
Of course, it might just be a matter of taste.
But as he came this far, a suspicion arose.
‘Why did the Merchant Guild tell us to look into this dungeon?’
Perhaps there was information that even the Merchant Guild couldn’t uncover, which is why they were assigned the mission.
If so, can they be sure that this is truly a succubus dungeon?
‘That’s not right.’
The Underworld Merchant Guild had called this a succubus dungeon.
However, they didn’t say what level the succubus, the master of the dungeon, had reached.
Besides, there was no mention of so many goblins in the forest.
‘The Merchant Guild doesn’t know this dungeon well either!’
There was only one conclusion.
It meant that even the Merchant Guild that assigned the mission didn’t know much about this dungeon.
In that case, there was no guarantee that the dungeon’s master was a succubus.
Krimdor’s thoughts went this far.
Indeed, his thoughts were accurate, but unfortunately, at the time of receiving the mission, the Merchant Guild only mentioned it as a succubus dungeon.
For now, there was no guarantee that Krimdor’s own thoughts were correct.
“Hmm…”
As he walked cautiously through the dungeon, he heard a sound from afar.
Krimdor focused all his senses on the sound.
‘Water?’
It was the sound of water.
The sound of water gently rippling could be heard from deep within the dungeon.
‘Is there a lake in the dungeon?’
The sound seemed too large to be a mere puddle.
Various thoughts crossed Krimdor’s mind.
The dungeon was much larger than he thought.
And the information the Merchant Guild had provided was not certain, which also weighed on his mind.
“Halt.”
Krimdor stopped his subordinates who were walking with him.
He too had done many things with the Merchant Guild.
Among the many things were missions like investigating dungeons and missions to conquer dungeons.
Those experiences built up, allowing him to assess the current situation.
Krimdor took a breath and then shouted so that the interior of the dungeon reverberated.
“I am an Inspector from the Underworld Merchant Guild!”
From the moment they entered the dungeon, their movements were as good as discovered.
‘Perhaps even before we entered….’
He thought of the goblins in the forest for a moment.
Perhaps those goblins weren’t wandering the forest, but belonged to the dungeon.
Such a feeling of unease suddenly struck him.
In such situations, it was better to openly state that he belonged to the Merchant Guild and take a direct approach.
Whether that was the right answer or not, a monster immediately came to greet him after he shouted.
“Goblin…”
The monster that came to greet them was a goblin.
The problem was that it was armed the same way as the goblins in the forest.
“You mean there’s no need to hide it.”
Krimdor’s expression distorted for a moment.
* * *
Krimdor and his subordinates followed the goblin.
First, there were three paths, and the goblin headed for the first path.
Normally, the subordinates should have divided and scouted the second and third paths as well, but for some reason, he felt uneasy.
So, Krimdor and his subordinates followed the goblin without a word.
As they headed down the first path, numerous undead monsters appeared in the first open field.
Among them, the proportion of skeletons was overwhelmingly high.
There were no high-ranking monsters, and it was a normal dungeon appearance up to this point.
However, when he reached the next location, he was shocked.
“Death Knight…!”
Seeing the being there, Krimdor exclaimed involuntarily.
There was a 5-star being!
“But why a Death Knight…?”
There was a large lake in that place.
He wondered if it was this lake whose sound of water he had heard near the entrance of the dungeon.
But there was one thing he couldn’t understand.
The Death Knight was digging the ground near the lake with a shovel.
“?”
He couldn’t understand.
A 5-star Death Knight would essentially be the master of the dungeon, wouldn’t he?
In Krimdor’s mind, the succubus had already disappeared.
He was convinced that the original master of the dungeon was the Death Knight and that the Merchant Guild was mistaken.
If the Merchant Guild had known that the dungeon’s master was 5-star, they wouldn’t have sent him in the first place.
Rather, they would have tried to establish a good relationship with the current dungeon.
The Death Knight, who was surely the master of the dungeon, continued to dig with a shovel.
‘Is the dungeon’s situation bad?’
Sometimes, in dungeons with poor financial status, the master would participate in the work themselves.
But something was strange.
The Death Knight, presumed to be the dungeon’s master, was working hard here, while the undead he saw earlier were just standing still.
“Hmm.”
Perhaps the dungeon’s master was diligent.
He didn’t know the exact details, but it was rude to just watch.
Krimdor greeted him as politely as possible.
“I am Krimdor, from the Merchant Guild.”
He had thought it was a trivial dungeon when he only heard it was a succubus’s.
But in reality, it was a dungeon with a Death Knight as its master.
As the actual master was 5-star, Krimdor had no choice but to be cautious.
As expected of a Death Knight.
Even though Krimdor greeted him, the Death Knight merely kept digging.
‘He’s ignoring me on purpose.’
After all, he was someone who commanded so many goblins in the forest.
Such a being would have immense pride in his strength.
Krimdor spoke to the Death Knight again.
“I am Krimdor from the Merchant Guild. You appear to be the master of the dungeon, Your Excellency-”
But his words did not finish.
This was because the Death Knight, who had been diligently digging until a moment ago, reacted to Krimdor’s words.
“Huh?”
He was puzzled by the Death Knight’s behavior.
The Death Knight brought his finger to his lips.
It was a gesture to be quiet.
‘What is this?’
Why was he told to be quiet?
Then, the Death Knight started digging again.
“……”
Is this ignorance?
No matter how high-ranking a being he was.
Krimdor himself visited as a member of the Merchant Guild.
No matter how great the dungeon, in front of the Merchant Guild, they were just mice in front of a cat.
Yet, this treatment crossed the line.
“No! Even if you are the master of the dungeon, this kind of treatment is-”
But once again, his words did not finish.
“Huh?”
The goblin who had come to greet him was beckoning him from afar.
‘What is this?’
There were too many strange things about this mission.
For now, as the goblin beckoned, he moved his steps, leaving the Death Knight behind.
And another place appeared.
‘How big is this place?’
The lake he had just seen was already impressive in size.
But another place appeared.
“Ho…”
There, humans were captured.
It was certainly a thought befitting the master of the dungeon.
“You’ve arrived?”
And another being who greeted Krimdor and his party.
“A succubus…?”
At first glance, he realized that the other party was a succubus.
Her enchanting appearance and dress caught his eye.
Even the horns on her head were attractive.
However, the power he felt from her was negligible.
No, it felt as if it didn’t exist, perhaps because her power was weak.
‘As expected.’
The existence of a succubus.
He finally understood why the Merchant Guild had called this a succubus dungeon.
‘The succubus was manipulating the dungeon’s master!’
Succubi, along with Incubi, are treated as demon spirits.
They use their charm to seduce others.
Basically, succubi seduce men, and their abilities are not limited to humans.
Sometimes they seduce other monsters, and this was one such case.
‘Ha, a succubus seducing the dungeon’s master and acting as the master…’
It was definitely true.
Currently, the Succubus Queen was missing.
In such a situation, there was no way a succubus higher in rank than the Queen could exist.
Even if there were, her name wouldn’t go unnoticed.
In short, the succubus before him was seducing the Death Knight, the master of the dungeon, and acting as the master.
“Hahaha. This is truly…”
Krimdor burst into laughter out of disbelief.
“It’s absurd.”
The Merchant Guild probably didn’t know this fact either.
At the same time, the Death Knight, who had fallen for such a woman, seemed pathetic.
“Can you tell me what’s so funny?”
The succubus opposite him said with a smile.
Indeed, she looked dignified, as if she had been well-maintained.
But in Krimdor’s eyes, she was just a pretty flower.
“It’s hilarious that a fake is posing as the dungeon’s master. Hahaha!”
This time, he finally burst into laughter.
He might be rude from the first meeting, but after all, the other party was a succubus.
A mere woman who competed only with her appearance couldn’t harm him.
Moreover, as soon as they heard from the Merchant Guild that it was a succubus dungeon, all of them, including his subordinates, wore equipment that was immune to mental attacks.
“Well, with the dungeon’s master being like that, it’s no wonder a succubus is posing as the master.”
Krimdor’s words became increasingly rough.
Now that he saw it, it was truly an insignificant dungeon, and Krimdor felt foolish for coming all this way.
It was pathetic. He was angry.
He shouted to release the resentment he felt.
The more he did, the more the other party’s expression distorted, but what did it matter?
“You think making that face is any good to you-”
But his words were cut off midway.
‘Wh-when!’
The succubus, who had been in front of him, had suddenly approached him and covered his mouth.
“Be quiet.”
Her cold words sent a shiver down his spine.
And he found it impossible to break free from her grip, her power was so strong.
No matter how much he struggled, it was useless.
Of course, as their leader was subdued, the Nols, his subordinates, immediately raised their weapons, but it was useless.
Goblins who approached immediately subdued them.
There were even Hobgoblins among the goblin pack.
‘G-Goblin Lord?!’
The most conspicuous was the goblin wearing a crown.
The so-called Goblin Lord.
‘Why!’
A dungeon with a Goblin Lord, following a Death Knight.
And the succubus was not an ordinary one either.
Only then did Krimdor realize that something was wrong.
Even so, he couldn’t escape her grasp.
“You may insult me, but I cannot forgive you for insulting my Master.”
Although she spoke quietly, there was force in her voice.
Even Krimdor could tell that she was angry.
“Ugh… ugh!”
He couldn’t say anything, even if he wanted to.
And simultaneously.
*Swoosh-*
*Thud-*
His subordinates around him began to fall to the goblins’ swords.
“Ugh!”
Then, the succubus before him, Celia, relaxed her grip.
Only then, Krimdor shouted and protested.
“How dare you touch the Merchant Guild!”
To be precise, it was a contractual relationship with the Merchant Guild.
But for now, using the Merchant Guild’s name to escape the dungeon was the priority.
No matter how much power the other party had, if he mentioned the Merchant Guild’s name, they would cower.
They would have no choice but to do so.
But contrary to his thoughts, Celia simply smiled.
“Indeed. Did you do this relying on the shallow name of the Merchant Guild?”
Celia had no intention of letting Krimdor go in the first place.
He had insulted her great Master.
For that alone, he deserved to die a hundred times.
As Celia gestured, the Goblin Lord moved this time.
*Clang-*
With a deafening roar, Krimdor realized he felt pain in his abdomen.
“Wh…?”
When he touched his abdomen, he found it covered in blood.
“Even after doing this, you think you’ll be safe…!”
Killing a monster belonging to the Merchant Guild means the end of that dungeon.
Knowing this, Krimdor shouted and pressured the other party.
But the other party didn’t flinch at all.
“Do you think a mere word like that scares me?”
The more Krimdor struggled, the more Celia smiled.
“Seeing as you’ve received a mission from the Merchant Guild.”
Perhaps this was their destination.
If Krimdor went missing, this place would be the first to be suspected.
“But unfortunately, you were attacked by wandering goblins on your way here.”
Krimdor wore a dazed expression at her words.
“Wh-what do you mean!”
At the same time, Celia snapped her fingers.
Then something surprising happened.
“Kee-hee! For the Master!”
Several goblins, speaking with difficulty, plunged their swords into their own necks.
Some plunged their swords into their own bellies.
The sight of goblins cutting their own throats, even with blood splattering, felt like madness.
“……”
Krimdor’s expression darkened.
“You were attacked by goblins, and you fought hard with your subordinates, but ultimately died.”
Celia pointed to the corpses of the goblins who had just taken their own lives.
“Still, you killed goblins before you died. That’s amazing.”
Her smile felt demonic.
Krimdor, in a trance, remained still, and Celia commanded.
“Shadow, take the bodies as far away as possible. Make it look like they killed each other.”
The bodies of the Nols and goblins still held some warmth.
If the scene was manipulated well, even the Merchant Guild wouldn’t be able to notice.
Krimdor was astonished at her words.
“This place… is crazy.”
These were his last words.
