Chapter 338 – Protagonist (3)

[Come up to the 50th floor.]

Dark shadows move their mouths.
Fearful of appearing in dreams, a shrewd figure.
Against that shadow, Athanasius opened her mouth.

“Where did you give orders at will?”
[… ] … Alas, young dragon. Nice to meet you again.]
“—Did you say honey?”
[Yes, young—.]

At that moment, heat rays so high that the dungeon walls melted came out. The shadow hit by the dragon breath melted without being able to maintain its shape, and Atanasia, who easily got rid of the shadow, looked back at Dojin and said,

“Hero, let’s go up quickly. Before my heated body cools down…….”
“Uh, uh uh.”

Seeing Athanasia spewing flames from her mouth her, as if feverishly supported-Dojin slowly began to rise upwards.

* * *

Pleasant.
It’s so pleasant that I wonder how this could be.

‘Is this a dungeon?’

Before Dojin destroyed it, the dungeons managed by the empire would not have been so pleasant.

Not a single monster was visible, the dungeon was made up of only straight lines, and even the dark curtain that covered the front had disappeared.

Seo-yoon, who was walking quietly down the street, opened her mouth to see if it was not only Do-jin who felt strange.

“Something is strange.”
“Right?”

Originally, a dungeon is about dealing with monsters who don’t know when and where to pop out in the darkness where you can’t see the front.

A maze-like topography with an unknown end was a bonus, and the dungeon where all of this was put together was a demonic realm that was difficult to break through.

However, what about this place? All of the things that make a dungeon a dungeon don’t exist.

‘It’s dangerous…….’

Do-jin knows how this is possible. As he is also the ruler of the dungeon, he knows that it is possible to control the dungeon to remove the blockade or change the terrain.

Since it wasn’t originally made for humans to control, Dojin couldn’t manipulate the dungeon quite skillfully…… Indeed, the innate dungeon master was different.

The monsters were manipulated so that they did not appear, the terrain was made very short, and the blackout and mud were removed.

‘It looks pretty good, but….’

Although this world is a fantasy world where magic exists, it is not completely free from the laws of physics.

There is no such thing as infinite power, and the energy of 1 is required to produce the result of 1.

In other words, it also meant that the ruler of the Imperial Dungeon was absorbing and storing all the energy of the monsters that would come out from the lower levels.

‘It’s inefficient, but if you don’t care about efficiency…….’

Why doesn’t the original dungeon work like that? It’s because making ten goblins is better value for money than absorbing all the energy from ten goblins.

A dungeon is a dungeon, and its purpose is to prevent prisoners inside from escaping.

If there were no monsters blocking the way, each country would have sent troops to kill the rulers or the prisoners trapped in the hierarchy.

“Hero, what are you so worried about?”

“…… There are no monsters.”

“Hey, wouldn’t it be better if the monster didn’t appear? I can go there so comfortably.”

“What if one person possesses all the mysteries and magical powers of monsters?”

“Aha- you were worrying for nothing like that.”

Upon hearing Dojin’s concerns, Athanasius burst into laughter and began to explain why it was practically impossible.

“Yes, as you said, hero, let’s say that the person who possesses all the magical powers and mysteries of the monsters that did not appear…….”

“That could be the ruler we will meet.”

“Hero, what are the materials for this dungeon?”

“…… Ingredient?”

“What keeps this dungeon going? This is it.”

At that, Do-jin recalled the information she had heard from her before.
The source of each dungeon is the corpse of the demon king. He said that he took out the devil’s heart, brain, and all kinds of organs, tore them in all directions, and made them into a dungeon.

“It’s the Demon King.”
“Yes, the Demon King. It means that all the mysteries and magical powers that come out of this dungeon belong to the demon king. And what if one person could handle all of the magical powers and mysteries?”

That person is the Demon King.
Realizing that fact, Dojin let out her sigh.
It was a really useless worry.

Seoyoon, who was listening to her story, thought that only Dojin understood the story, so she asked him for an explanation.

“What, what is it? What are you talking about?”
“Did you understand that the dungeon is the Demon King?”
“It’s the first I’ve heard of it, but…… Anyway. Therefore?”
“If someone can put everything in this dungeon into one body and handle it freely…… It means that he is the demon king, and if the dead demon king is resurrected, there is no reason to be trapped in this dungeon. This is it.”

The ruler of this place couldn’t get out of the dungeon. In other words, it meant that he could not fully utilize the power of the demon king.

And, there is no reason to be trembling for nothing when the opponent is not even a demon lord level being.

After hearing Dojin’s explanation, Seoyoon, who she had understood to some extent, nodded in agreement, but did not let go of tension until the end.

This kind of carelessness has often been seen in any subculture.

[It’s fast.]

And before I knew it, I had reached the 50th floor. Although the ruler said it was amazing, going up a dungeon with no monsters and shortened length was just a tedious repetition of climbing slightly longer stairs 50 times.

An act without greatness or anything- Dojin immediately put into his mouth what he wanted to ask the ruler.

“Yes, the reason for calling us here is—”
“Die. Damn child.”

Dragon Breath.
The most threatening weapon of the Balaur attacked the ruler.

* * *

Heat so hot that the atmosphere boiled over all the classes, and the resulting dust and smoke covered the eyes.

Dojin covered his mouth and coughed a little, then screamed out loud.

“Artie! What are you doing all of a sudden!?”
“Heh, isn’t that guy a dungeon monster? So he killed Any complaints?”

It was not wrong. I wasn’t wrong, but… Do-jin, who had a few things to ask her, glared at her with her displeasure.

Arty, who was trying to ignore Dojin’s gaze, frowned at the ruler who appeared after the dust settled.

“What, how did you live?”
[All sorts of information exists in the knowledge of the Demon King. Among them are all the weaknesses of the dragon tribe that the dragon king pledged allegiance to himself.]

There was not a speck of dust on the ruler’s body. It was amazing. When Dojin also fought with Atanacia, he avoided the breath so as not to get hit head-on.

Are you just blocking it? I don’t know anything else, but the defense alone was worth being wary of.

[So, are you willing to talk?]
“Haha—I’ve been stimulating you since earlier!”
“Be quiet, Artie.”

Pulling out the horns from her head and the wings and tail from her back, she lightly subdued Arty who was about to go mad, and Dojin looked at the ruler.

It was not the appearance of an orc he had seen before. Because the part of his face inside the robe he was wearing shimmered in black shadows.

Maybe that’s what I saw. It must have absorbed all the monsters in the lower layer to stay in that form.

In other words, it means that he has already finished preparing for battle.

‘Can I kill him?’

I couldn’t be sure. Doesn’t it have the defensive power to block Atanasia’s dragon breath? It was not an opponent that could be cut by cutting with sword skills.

If so, it wouldn’t be bad to listen to the story for now.

“What did you call us for?”
[To be precise, I called you…… Hmmm, that’s right. That’s how it happened.]

The ruler looked at Seoyoon carefully while saying that. The ruler, who had been staring at her intently to the point of falling in love with her at first sight, nodded her head and looked at Do-jin and Seo-yoon.

[It’s okay if I called you guys. Yes, welcome Stranger.]

“…… A stranger?”
[Would it be better to call you a foreigner?]

At those words, Dojin stiffened. Because he fell into another world and a secret he had never told anyone was revealed in an instant.

However, to my surprise, Aderange and Athanasius dismissed the words as if they didn’t care. Only Dojin and Seoyoon were embarrassed.

When the party didn’t show any signs of surprise, the ruler retrieved the arm he had spread out as if it were trivial and started firing at the two.

[What, did you already know?]
“Ah, I knew at least that the owner was not from this world.”
“Edo, I guessed that there was something strange about the hero.”
[Hmm…… That’s not funny. Here, the original ‘Heogobs! How could that happen! Shouldn’t I say something like ‘shock shock terrorist!’?]

Do-jin, who heard the ruler’s words, did not understand what the author was talking about. Gasps? Shock…… What?

One thing is for sure, he is an old man Do-jin can’t even imagine, and people often make fun of him and call him a jerk.

“—Yes, we are from another world— so what?”
[… ] … Why is it so hot?]
“So, are you our enemy?”
[Enemy? You’re making a strange noise. Stranger.]

Upon hearing this, the ruler began to tilt his head as if he could not understand. Then Do-jin spewed out a story that he was shocking to hear.

[Aren’t you guys the reinforcements we called?]
“…… What?”
[Oh, did you not know?]

As if it was getting a little funny now—the ruler opened his mouth, creating a smile on his lips.

[It is the Demon King who summoned you here.]

At those words, Dojin and Seoyoon were speechless and looked at the ruler for a long time.