บท 185: Taking over
"Slut! What are you doing? Attack these monsters! Order your sisters attack now!" shouted Klein in panic. He was still alive having used the Flame Sister he grabbed as a meat shield.
The Flame Belle felt conflicted. She did not want to stop the monsters. She did not know their identity but it was clear that they did not belong to the dungeon. 'Maybe it would be good if we can just let them kill us? Maybe they'll even destroy the dungeon core.'
The barbarians quickly recovered and many rushed to grab their weapons. Their number dwindled. Even though their level was higher than the monsters; the barbarians were used to rely on weapons. Without them, their strength decreased significantly.
The Flame Belle did not move. A force inside of her was forcing her to move but she fought back. She watched as Klein's throat was slit by Harriet's Harpy's Blood. The barbarian died with resentment. He was one of the most powerful barbarians of the region but when faced with the Harpy Queen almost fifteen levels above his own, Klein was unable to fight back.
Harriet's eyes briefly met the Flame Belle's but quickly disregarded her and continued slaying the barbarians. She did not have time to take care of her; her main task was to prevent the barbarians from alarming the others.
Behind her, Alice landed next to the Flame Belle. "There is no need for you to fight. We have already gotten our hands on the Dungeon Core."
Instantly, the Flame Belle felt the force compelling her to fight, disappear. She heaved a sigh of relief but quickly went on guards again. "Who are you?"
"We are the monsters of the Dungeon of Madness. We are here to conquer your dungeon. Now don't move. Once this is over, you can come and live with us. We will treat you differently. Our dungeon is not so weak that a simple barbarian tribe can conquer it," proudly answered Alice.
The Flame Belle remained silent. She looked at Alice and the other harpies' figure. They all looked well. There were no signs of suffering on them. The harpies were monsters with a similar bloodline purity to hers, so why was their life so easy? Maybe if she joined that dungeon, the Flame Sisters would also be able to prosper.
"If I join you... Do you promise to treat the Flame Sisters well?" hesitantly asked the Flame Belle.
Alice smiled faintly. "Of course! You will be one of us but that does not mean you can slack off."
"Don't listen to them! Fight the monsters!" exclaimed one of the barbarians. The situation seemed desperate; their only chance was to use the two hundred Flame Belles to divert the attention of the monsters.
However, Alice grabbed the Flame Belle's hand. "Do not listen to him. You should feel it, right? Your dungeon core is no longer forcing you to listen to him because the dungeon core is no longer with them. One of our comrades have already taken it and is just waiting for us."
"We saw how you and your sisters were treated. Why don't you help us? Our master only told us to bring back the dungeon core but there is no harm in getting rid of these scum. Killing the barbarians should vent your frustration a little bit," said Alice. She felt the warmth of the Flame Belle. She tried to comfort her as she did not want her to have any psychological scars.
The Three-Horned Rhinoceros stomped the poor barbarians under its heavy body. It led the charge, absorbing most of the damage. The barbarians managed to kill a few beasts but in the end, they simply could not fight the charging pack of Horned-Rhinoceros in such a closed environment.
Furthermore, more and more monsters kept pouring into the room. A large army of Undead Monsters followed behind the beasts.
The barbarians fought with their life on the line but in the end, they all perished without being able to leave the training room. The monsters suffered minimal losses. Some beasts and Undead died but it was nothing compared to the four hundred dead barbarians.
Harriet flew back to the Flame Belle and landed next to her. "Now, what are you going to do? Join our dungeon, or fight to death?"
The Flame Belle felt Harriet's unfriendly stare. She did not like it; it reminded her of the second dungeon where the monsters competed with each other. Nevertheless, it was still better than the one she was in now. As long as she worked hard, she would still be able to obtain enough resources for the Flame Sisters. She steeled her heart and answered with a decisive expression: "I will join your dungeon. Please don't harm my sisters."
Harriet nodded as her expression became gentler. "What is your name?"
The Flame Belle froze. Her eyes became watery. "I would like to not mention it and ask my future dungeon master to change it."
"I get it. You've suffered enough."
Harriet raised her head and looked at the monsters. "Let's retreat. We have already obtained what we wanted."
"What? Why don't we at least kill all the remaining barbarians of the dungeon?" asked Alice.
Harriet shook her head. "It is too dangerous. Do not underestimate the barbarian tribes. It is possible that they already know we are here. At the very least, their totem spirit should already know that something is wrong. It is linked to all the tribesmen; it should have felt its connection with four hundred individuals disappear. Maybe it has already alarmed the Shamans. We should leave while we are ahead."
The Three-Horned Rhinoceros and the Purple-eyed Vulture nodded, agreeing with Harriet.
"Gather the corpses. We can bring them back for Dreidus. Ishan should have already left the dungeon with the dungeon core. Did you feel anything in particular?"
"No. I am still connected to the dungeon core," answered the Flame Belle.
Harriet furrowed her brows. 'Did something happen to that Scarab?'
...
Ishan and the Flame Scarabs remained at the back with the dungeon core. Their task was simple; instead of joining the other monsters in the attack of the other floors, they would escort the Dungeon Core to the exit. They would use the same tunnel they used to enter.
However, Ishan found this task boring. He wanted more action but fortunately, there was someone willing to give him some entertainment nearby. The dungeon master's room was located not very far from the throne room.
He walked to the room and unceremoniously opened the door.
Stargaze jumped in fright. He had already been dragged to the throne room by the barbarians earlier. Normally, he would have at least a whole day of peace. "Who are you?" exclaimed Stargaze when he noticed that the intruder was not a barbarian.
His eyes lit up. "You are a monster of that dungeon? Did you manage to kill the barbarians? Where is the dungeon core?"
Ishan narrowed his eyes. He disregarded the player's excitement. "Don't move. We have your dungeon core but there are a few things you need to do before we give it back. My master said that we needed to be careful. He wants me to check your messages before we give you back your dungeon core. He wants to be sure you did not plan anything behind his back."
Stargaze froze for a moment, surprised by the unexpected demand. "Sure. No problem. I have nothing to hide." He hurriedly opened his interface and showed all his messages to Ishan, thinking to himself. 'That guy is cautious but still naive! I will play along for now and when I recover my strength, I will teach you a lesson!'
"Hmmm." Ishan took his time, browsing through the messages. He has already seen Five do so and knew roughly how to use the interface. "It looks like you did not do anything behind my master's back. Now, tell me what happened during the time you contacted my master and now. What did you do exactly for the barbarians?"
Stargaze was again surprised by the question. Nevertheless, he truthfully answered; he did not want to anger the Flame Scarab Warrior. "Just the usual. I summoned more Flame Sisters for them. Bought many Grade 4 and Grade 5 weapons. The Shamans also used the dungeon core to purchase books and recipes about their professions. Ah, and they also asked me to summon them some mounts. There are already more than two thousand Gazelles on the floors near the surface. I think they are thinking of switching all their mounts to the Gazelles."
Ishan's eyes lit up. "Alright. Then, give me access to the dungeon core just so that I can check whether what you said is true."
"You want access to my dungeon core?"
Ishan nodded. "Yes. I just need to see your past transactions and check your map. If what you said is true, then I would have confirmed that you really mean no harm."
"But... I cannot give access to my dungeon core to someone who does not belong to my dungeon," answered Stargaze.
The Flame Scarab fell silent. It was something he did not consider but after recalling the events of the dungeon, he asked: "Does this rule also appeals to pseudo-dungeon cores? You quickly purchase a pseudo-dungeon core and give it to me. If you try anything funny, we will just kill you on the spot!"
Stargaze looked at the Flame Scarabs unsure of their intention but he had no choice. He was already used to the procedure. He listened to Ishan and purchased the pseudo-dungeon core before giving back the two orbs to the Flame Scarab Warrior. If he tried anything, the giant blade hanging above his head would kill him in an instant.
Ishan tossed the dungeon core to one of the Flame Scarabs and pressed the interface on the pseudo-dungeon core. 'It works!' He could control the interface and access the various functions. He opened the map of the dungeon, showing the location of the monsters and barbarians. There were too many dots for Ishan's brain to process but he knew that it was working!
"Is it fine now? As you can see, there is a large group of Gazelles on the first few floors," said Stargaze. He was impatient to get back the control over his dungeon core.
Ishan glanced at Stargaze and smiled. "Right." Ishan grabbed his Halberd and without a word, pierced through Stargaze's body.
"What? Why? We had an agreement!" exclaimed the dungeon master.
"Did we? When did we say we would save you? Now that we can control the dungeon directly, you are no longer needed."
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nikostar
nikostar Just saw that we are on the front page. Second time this is happening and the last time was last year when I published like crazy at the end of volume 2.
Thank you to everyone who made it possible :)
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