Between the House of Mammon and the free city, it took more than a day on horse, but it only took Ophelia a day to come back.
Unless she really pushed her horse, she probably changed directions before arriving at the free city and returned to the House of Mammon.
Ophelia was a mess and that was more than enough to explain how violent the ride back was.
Her light, blonde hair was covered in dust and her neat and tidy clothes were a mess.
Opheliaâs horse was covered in sweat and as soon as they arrived at the dungeon entrance, the horse collapsed to the ground. Ophelia quickly entered the House of Mammon without taking care of her horse.
Yong-Ho was exploring the dungeon with the spirits and it didnât take him long to reach the dungeon entrance. However, ten minutes felt like an eternity for Ophelia.
âWhatâs wrong?â
Yong-Ho asked directly when he arrived.
He was curious as to why she returned so quickly and why she came here instead of using the communication device.
All of those thoughts were condensed into that one question and after hearing it, Ophelia collected her breath. She assumed that he would have a lot of questions, but answering each and every one wasnât important right now. Ophelia didnât even greet him properly.
âThe House of Foras surrendered to the House of Abigail.â
He stopped breathing for a moment. Silence filled the room when the spirits heard what Ophelia said.
They abandoned the dungeon and surrendered.
Through that, theyâre able to avoid death.
It was a reasonable choice.
The House of Foras lost a reliable owner. The Orcs were the main combat group and they lost them and the anxious spirits started to leave one by one.
It mightâve turned out differently if the situation was calm, but things were chaotic. It wouldnât be weird if another dungeon battle occured.
Yong-Ho gritted his teeth.
There was one possibility he didnât think about. The House of Foras was the enemyâs stepping stone, not a shield.
[Itâs rare for an owner to give up a dungeon and surrender without a fight. Please donât blame yourself.]
[Even the spirits didnât think that the House of Foras would surrender so easily.]
[And the conditions werenât good enough to attack the dungeon in the first place. It canât be helped.]
Lucia spoke gently as if to comfort him.
Yong-Ho closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He wasnât trying to rely on Lucia to make himself feel better.
He was trying to determine what was important right now.
âWhatâs the current situation of the surrender? Is the House of Foras under the House of Abigailâs control? And how did they surrender?â
It was safe to say that the moment the House of Foras surrendered, it belonged to the House of Abigail.
What Yong-Ho wanted to know was when the House of Foras surrendered to them.
And how they surrendered was important as well.
Owners fight over dungeons in order to steal the ownerâs spirit.
The ownerâs spirit.
The mana that was built up within the Heart of the Dungeon.
Yong-Ho couldâve preserved the dungeon and used it as a second dungeon. It could be used as a branch office or to expand the dungeon.
Ophelia kept on gulping. She had a hard time talking because she was sweating so much. Her voice cracked as she spoke.
âOut of the spirits that left the House of Foras, some of them didnât actually leave. It was a way to hide the fact that they surrendered.â
Yong-Ho recalled the report that he heard from Ophelia. About the spirits that either went to the free city or joined a different dungeon after leaving the House of Foras.
And out of those that left, the spirits that joined the House of Abigail didnât join because they wanted to. Itâs because they surrendered to them.
âItâs been a few days since the House of Foras told them that they wanted to surrender. And worst of all, during the few days that I visited the House of Mammon, Jungceros, the owner of the House of Abigail, left the dungeon.â
âIs it to accept the House of Foras?â
Eligor couldnât contain his curiosity and asked. Ophelia nodded her head.
âWhile returning to the free city, my subordinate quickly notified me. Jungceroes shouldâve arrived at the House of Forasâs dungeon by now.â
The House of Foras already fell into the House of Abigailâs hand. Yong-Ho didnât even get the chance to stop them.
Yong-Ho was thinking. He asked for more information before becoming discouraged.
âDid the House of Abigailâs owner visit the House of Foras in order to register the Heart of the Dungeon?â
âI canât say for sure. They could be visiting in order to register the successor of the House of the Foras as their own spirit. HoweverâŚâ
Ophelia suddenly stopped talking and bit her lips. She hesitated and then spoke again.
âPersonally, I think theyâre visiting in order to absorb the dungeonâs spirit. They believe that the owner of the House of Mammon, the Demon of Fire, isnât an easy opponent. Instead of using the dungeon to advance, thereâs a high chance that theyâre choosing to completely get rid of all fights.â
The owners near the free city get their sources from the pub. Yong-Ho was known as the Demon of Fire thanks to Opheliaâs database and he was known to be a tough opponent.
Foras was known to be strong despite his old age, but Yong-Ho managed to defeat him and he even took down a Land Worm.
Different thoughts popped into Yong-Hoâs head. He gulped. He calmed himself down by thinking deeply.
âIf what Ophelia said was true.â
There was a low chance that another dungeon battle was going to occur soon. If Abigail leaves after breaking the House of Foras, then there wouldnât be any other dungeons around the House of Mammon.
But he couldnât relax. There was still the possibility of Abigail using the House of Foras as an advancement base to invade the House of Mammon.
âI wonât be able to find an answer soon.â
The answer wonât reveal itself just because he was being impatient about it.
After feeling calm, Yong-Ho tried to calm down the spirits. He also didnât forget to credit Opheliaâs effort for rushing back here.
But before he could talk about it, a new issue came up.
[A group of Orcs are quickly running towards here from the House of Foras!]
[According to the report by the Dungeon Meerkats, theyâre all on horseback!]
âIs the enemy planning on attacking us?!â
Eligor spoke in a surprised tone. Rikum quickly shook his head.
âA dungeon canât be invaded with a few Orcs. Master, are you able to provide detailed information regarding the Orcs that are approaching?â
Yong-Ho was just as surprised as Eligor and he managed to calm down when he heard Rikumâs voice. When he lightly waved his finger, Lucia replied.
[Thereâs a total of four Orcs.]
[The Orc thatâs leading them is wearing a piece of white fabric on his back.]
Letters of light were drawn in the air so that the spirits could see it as well.
Rikumâs face started glowing.
âItâs clear that the Orcs that remained in the House of Foras are coming here to surrender.]
Ophelia nodded her head.
âI secretly spread the news of Rikum surrendering to the House of Mammon. They could be coming here after hearing that their captain was here.â
Catalina looked back at Yong-Ho with a hopeful expression.
It was good news.
The value of the Orcs that left the House of Foras was displayed. Yong-Ho had enough evidence to assume what was going on at the House of Foras and what Abigail was going to do.
âLucia, open the dungeon door. Weâll greet them at the dungeon entrance.â
Immediately after ordering Lucia, Yong-Ho looked back at the spirits. Catalina and Skull nodded their heads and Rikum and Ophelia followed Yong-Ho.
âCatalina.â
A Dungeon Meerkat raised its voice while pointing at the Orcs that were approaching. After patting the Dungeon Meerkatâs head, Yong-Ho waited for the Orcs to arrive. Rikum spoke energetically.
âIâm sure that they were under my command.â
It looked like the Orcs recognized Rikum. Despite the fact that they were still far from the dungeon, Catalina noticed that their faces were mixed with anxiety, relief and happiness.
âCaptain Rikum!â
As soon as they arrived, one of the Orc immediately jumped off their horse and yelled. The Orcs that arrived after them did the same. Rikum spoke with a stern voice.
âYouâre in front of the master. Show your respect first.â
The Orcs already knew that Rikum became the House of Mammonâs spirit, so they acted pretty quickly. Yong-Ho wasnât sure if they did it because of the current situation or because they confirmed that Rikum actually surrendered, but they kneeled in front of Yong-Ho without any hesitation.
âIt is an honor to meet you, owner of the House of Mammon.â
Yong-Ho couldnât feel the unique mana emanating from them as he had done from the previous Orcs. Itâs probably because their contract with the House of Foras had ended.
Yong-Ho spoke as calmly as possible.
âIâm glad youâre here. Did you work under Rikum?â
âYes, we worked under Captain Rikum.â
The Orc that had a white flag on their back answered for the rest of the group.
Rikum stepped in to get rid of Yong-Hoâs curiosity.
âWhat happened? Is it true that the House of Foras surrendered to the House of Abigail?â
Everyone focused on the Orc. Even Skull looked at the Orc while holding his battle hammer instead of rolling around on the ground.
The Orc was nervous due to the attention he was getting, but he quickly spoke. The words that came out of the Orcâs mouth was something that Yong-Ho and even Ophelia wasnât expecting.
***
âThe owner of the House of ForasâŚthe young owner was killed by Jungceros. And Jungceros is currently trapped in the House of Forasâs dungeon.â
There was a need for an explanation. There were too many unanswered questions to accept it as is.
The successor of the House of Foras died?
It was possible. The enemy could have pretended to accept the surrender and ended up killing the successor. This happened in both the demon world and the human world.
But it was difficult to understand the part about Jungceros being trapped inside the House of Forasâs dungeon.
Rikum urged the Orc to explain and he started providing information about the things they knew.
âThe young ownerâŚno, I believed that the owner of the House of Foras wasnât able to protect the dungeon. The butler agreed as well. There were barely any fighting spirits and one by one, they started to run away.â
It was something Yong-Ho expected. Instead of pressing him for more information, he waited patiently. The Orc glanced at Yong-Ho and then continued to talk.
âThere were few options available. As the owner, the enemyâŚum, since the owner of the House of Mammon was considered an enemy, they couldnât surrender to you. So thatâs why they decided to surrender to Jungceros, the owner of the House of Abigail. They asked to get revenge on the House of Mammon in exchange for the surrender.â
âBut Jungceros wasnât planning on doing it. After pretending to accept the surrender, he planned to visit the House of Forasâs dungeon, kill the owner and destroy the Heart of the Dungeon. Because all he needed to do was absorb the spirit of the dungeon.â
Ophelia explained and the Orc nodded his head with a surprised look on their face.
âJungceros brought guards and elite soldiers with him. As soon as he finished registering Forasâs spirit, he showed his true face. But the butler didnât stand by and just watch.â
Eligor flinched when he heard the word, butler. The Orc spoke while tightening their fist.
âThe butler was suspicious of Jungceros from the start, so he built a trap just in case. Jungceros targeted the Heart of the Dungeon after killing the owner, but it was useless. The room that the butler made Jungceros enter contained a fake Heart of the Dungeon. The butler closed the dungeon.â
âClosed the dungeon?â
When Yong-Ho asked, Lucia quickly replied.
[When the owner dies, the Spirit of the Dungeon dies as well. But for the House of Mammon, even if the Spirit of the Dungeon dies, it doesnât mean that the facilities within the dungeon will stop working. Theyâll start using the mana that was stored and will experience a slow death.]
[The butler of the House of Foras probably chose to have a quick death rather than a slow one.]
[He probably closed the dungeon door by pouring the remaining mana into the dungeon trap. Since he used up a lot of the mana, the dungeon would die faster, butâŚit can trap the enemy that entered the dungeon.]
Instead of letting the dungeon die, the butler used it as his final attack.
âThe other Orcs and I escaped the dungeon through a secret passageway. But Jungceros is probably still stuck in the deepest part of the dungeon. The room that the butler led them to was a fake throne room and had traps installed all around the room.â
Yong-Ho organized the situation once more in his head.
The successor of the House of Foras had died.
Jungceros, the owner of the House of Abigail, is trapped inside Forasâs dungeon.
Jungceros doesnât know the layout of Forasâs dungeon. And the traps that were installed are dangerous to him.
Of course the traps were dangerous to Yong-Ho as well. But Yong-Ho knew the layout of the House of Foras. The spirits that knew the layout were working under him.
âHow many soldiers did Jungceroes bring with him?â
Ophelia caught a glimpse of something when Yong-Ho asked. The Orc blinked, then counted with his fingers and then answered.
âHe brought around 20 guards with him. Some of the guards probably died from the traps through.â
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Yong-Ho calculated in his head. Greed raised its voice.