CH 226

“Are you sure you won’t need any dismantlers or porters?” Camara asked. Although they were already standing in front of the dungeon’s entrance, it seemed Camara still couldn’t give up on his lingering thoughts.

Eugene nodded while checking his equipment once more. “It’s fine. They will only get in the way. And…”

Eugene’s cold eyes turned toward Camara.

“This dungeon may end today. At the least, I will wipe out everything inside the dungeon,” Eugene said.

“…!” Camara’s eyes quivered with shock, and the troops with him shared his anxiety. Several years had already passed since Eugene’s last visit, and as such, most of the soldiers didn’t know him personally. In fact, even the territory’s young knight had only been hired recently. He had only heard stories about Eugene, but he had never seen him in person.

‘Is he being serious? No, well, even if half the rumors surrounding the king are true, then he’s completely capable of following through with what he said…’

The most famous and undeniable of the legends surrounding the young, beautiful king was regarding how he was responsible for opening the Tywin territory’s dungeon. Moreover, he had even accomplished a tremendous feat by killing an intermediate-rank monster during the subjugation. It was one of the most famous stories told in the Tywin territory, and there were even poems and songs about the event.

‘Still…’

There were only eight knights, including the king. It didn’t make sense that only eight people would participate in a subjugation, as at least thirty soldiers were usually necessary for a subjugation of this scale.

“We’re going,” Eugene stated after opening the entrance with ease. He entered the dungeon without hesitation along with the elven knights as dozens of Camara’s soldiers watched them with half-doubtful eyes.

***

“Everyone, hide your presence,” Eugene said.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The monsters would have already noticed their presence by their sound and smell. Even so, there was no need to alert some monsters in advance by flaring their presence and emitting Fear. After all, the purpose of this subjugation was not to simply kill some monsters. Instead, it was to annihilate all of them and get to the bottom of the dungeon to uncover any secrets.

‘A vampire of the Helmond Clan…’

Eugene hadn’t told Camara, but Eugene expected that the vampire had been doing something inside the dungeon, so the vampire should still be alive. Eugene recalled how he himself had once thought of living inside a dungeon or a labyrinth if his identity were discovered and he had nowhere else to go.

Dungeons and labyrinths provided the perfect conditions for a vampire to live. So how could a high-ranking vampire belonging to a clan die inside a dungeon?

‘It’s ridiculous…’

Besides, the vampire had entered the dungeon nearly a year ago. Eugene had no idea what the vampire was plotting, but it was likely that it had to do with the sudden increase in the number of monsters and their extreme aggression.

“Scout ahead, just in case,” Eugene said.

“Got it!” Mirian answered before buzzing further inside. She had completely eliminated the light unique to spirits. Eugene and the elves had no maps and torches, which were essential items for dungeon exploration, but they continued without hesitation, thanks to their excellent vision and senses.

After about five minutes…

“Here they come,” Eugene said, after picking up on the sound of monsters from deeper inside. He unsheathed Wolfslaughter.

Shiiing.

Princess Lilisain and the elven knights unsheathed their swords as well, and eight beams of light appeared in the dark. One of the decisive reasons why Eland’s knights were veteran, capable monster hunters was that they were able to manipulate mana.

A blade containing the mysteries of mana was as powerful as a holy knight’s sword against monsters. Simple cuts and stabs would inflict enormous pain on the monsters, and even those with self-healing abilities would have their restorative powers forcibly limited. Elven knights were excellent knights capable of using Aura, and they also possessed excellent vision and senses, allowing them to move unhindered in a dark dungeon.

The subjugation of the Tywin territory’s dungeon was as good as over.

Kieeeee!

Kehhh! Kuaaehhh!

The cries of the monsters drew closer. Eugene held Madarazika in one hand and Wolfslaughter in the other as he spoke quietly, “Let’s get started.”

Ziiiing!

The blade containing an Origin’s Fear started to dye the darkness crimson.

***

Chomp, chomp, slurrrrrp…

The space was filled with consistent, unpleasant, dreary sounds. Only minimal light emitted by mana stones and torches filled the space deep within the dungeon, and dozens of mercenaries were crouched on the floor, casting ominous shadows as they intently went about their work.

They were currently having a ‘meal.’

Countless piles of bones and skeletons of humans and monsters were scattered across the entire space, and the creatures devoured blood and flesh. Although they possessed human forms, they could not be called humans.

Dungeons had always been colder than the outside world, and the temperature in a place as close to the ‘heart’ of the dungeon as here was unbearable for ordinary humans, no matter how many layers of fabric they surrounded themselves with. As such, corpses did not decompose even with the passing of time.

And the mercenaries with the bizarre appearances were now feasting on the flesh of those who had died here. Right in the middle of the grotesque dinner was a man seated on a throne of bone. He watched the mercenaries eat with bored eyes.

The figure had sharp fangs jutting out from his lips, a pale face like a sick man, and different colored eyes—red and yellow—he was clearly a vampire.

“…Hmm?” The vampire raised his head after watching the slaves feast for a while.

“Hooh. It has been a while since we’ve had fresh food,” the vampire muttered. A smile of anticipation appeared around his lips.

One of the mercenaries grinned and spoke. He had been ripping off the leather armor of a corpse with one hand and their heart with the other.

“Fresh offerings seem to have entered after a long time. Master, if you give me a chance…”

The vampire cut him off, “Silence.”

The mercenary started to tremble and immediately fell on his stomach. The powerful Fear contained in his master’s eyes was dominating his spirit.

“P-please forgive me, Master!”

The other mercenaries also stopped ripping into the corpses and fell on their stomach. The mercenaries were the slaves and servants of the vampire, and they had to be absolutely obedient to their master. Their master had taken control of the Tywin territory’s dungeon, as well as all other nearby evil lands. He was a ruler—a ruthless one at that.

In fact, he wasn’t someone who belonged in a place like this. Rather, their master had been doing this for nearly a year because of someone’s orders—orders from someone they could never know and should never know.

“It doesn’t seem like there are many of them, so I will leave it to the monsters, slaves, and servants. Don’t kill them for now. Bring them back alive,” the vampire said.

“Yes, Master.”

The monsters residing in the dungeon had already been completely dominated by their master. Even a high-ranking monster, the previous king of the dungeon, the cave spider queen, had been subdued by their master and was serving as a gatekeeper to the heart of the dungeon.

“Send the trolls first. Let them know that it’s fine to eat an arm or a leg,” the vampire said.

“As the master wishes.” The butlers licked their lips while following their master’s orders. It had truly been a long time since they tasted the tender flesh of a living human.

***

“Let’s get some rest.”

“Yes.”

The elven knights plopped down on the floor. They were rather exhausted after fighting four intense battles. Facing more than two hundred low-ranking monsters and three trolls within four hours of entering the dungeon had taken a toll on the elven knights’ stamina.

This was the only weakness of the elven knights. Within an evil land, the stamina of elven knights fell at a similar rate as human knights. This was because the circulation of mana inside an evil land was slower compared to the outside world. Moreover, while human knights could restore their stamina by consuming refined mana stones, elven knights were unable to do so. As such, they had to rest after exhausting themselves close to their limits, which was currently the case.

“Sorry for disappointing you, Your Majesty. Two hours. After that, we will be able to fight again," Princess Lilisain said. It was clear that she was exhausted as well.

Eugene nodded. “I will stand guard. Everyone should quench their thirst and get some sleep.”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, although the circulation of mana was slow inside an evil land, it was still there. As Princess Lilisain had said, the elves would be capable of fighting once more after resting for two hours.

“How many mana stones did we get?” Eugene asked.

“Kieeeh… W-well… A lot! Super duper lots! Kihehehehe!” the spirit answered with a laugh while drawing a big circle with her arms. Her greed was endless, but she was weak when it came to numbers. Well, the exact number didn’t matter, anyway. Just as Mirian said, they had obtained a lot of mana stones.

‘Just as they became stronger and more aggressive, the number of those possessing mana stones had increased as well. Even most of the low-ranking monsters have mana stones.’

Considering that less than thirty percent of low-ranking monsters possessed mana stones under normal circumstances, the rate had nearly tripled. Eugene had expected an increase in monsters with mana stones after his experiences with the roamers, but this was far beyond his expectations.

‘Monsters have become stronger, but the number of monsters possessing mana stones has increased as well. How strange. Technically, it’s not a completely awful phenomenon, but…’

Most races, humans, in particular, were extremely greedy for mana stones. Monsters sought to hurt people, but refined mana stones helped with human health and it even extended their lifespan. If the current phenomenon weren’t confined to a regional area, the nobles and merchants in the world would be overjoyed rather than alarmed.

Nobody wanted to be poor and live a short life. However, Eugene instinctively sensed that this wasn’t such a simple matter. What would happen if the number of mana stones obtainable from hunting monsters doubled or even tripled? Then everyone would set out to hunt monsters. Nobles would hire soldiers and mercenaries even if they had to go into debt, and commoners would abandon their livelihood to participate in monster hunts.

However, mana stones may be very valuable, but they weren’t indispensable to the livelihood of humans. Moreover, only a select few could ever get their hands on refined mana stones. In fact, the majority of those living in rural areas would often spend their entire lives without ever seeing a single refined mana stone. And for such people, who accounted for the absolute majority of the world’s population, there was something more important than even mana stones.

‘Food. Food is the most important…’

There were many starving people. For the vast majority of ordinary people, their goal was to eat their fill without worry rather than to obtain mana stones. Moreover, most ordinary citizens were farmers. As the number of monsters increased and they became more aggressive, farmers would be the first in line to suffer the most damage.

With little to no food left, farmers would be left with one choice.

What would happen if farmers were mobilized to hunt monsters after losing their livelihood?

What if those whose family members lost their lives to monsters became mercenaries for revenge and fortune?

What would happen afterward?

“An uprising…”

And it wouldn’t just happen in select regions. Rather, it would happen across the entire kingdom all at once. It wouldn’t make a difference to citizens whether they starved to death or died fighting against their lord. No, on the contrary, they wouldn’t have to starve if all went well in their latter choice.

“…I don’t know who it is, but if they’ve thought that far ahead and caused this…”

Eugene was thoroughly impressed. He felt enlightened. Only a real demon king, one who sincerely wanted to see the destruction of the world, could have planned such a thing.

It was then…

“Hmm?”

Eugene sensed something.

“As expected… They’re completely out of their minds.” Eugene grinned as he felt a vulgar, lowly Fear. The vampire of the Helmond Clan was plotting something after occupying the dungeon.

“Kieeeeh! Sir! Something is coming!” Mirian fussed after belatedly sensing the Fears of low and middle-ranking vampires. Princess Lilisain and the elven knights hurriedly stood up and started taking arms.

Eugene stopped them. “Just keep resting.”

“What? But…”

“The opponents are vampires. It will be better to capture them. So…” Eugene said.

He could feel the demonic armor’s desire to fully display its power after feasting on the blood of trolls to its heart’s content. He continued while pressing down on the helmet that resembled the head of a dragon, “It will be best to test it against other vampires.”

Paaaaaa!

Armis, the demonic armor, began to glow crimson in the darkness. Only a vampire Origin was capable of unlocking and fully utilizing one of the demonic armor’s mysteries. If he injected Fear into the armor, it would change into any shape and size following its master’s will.