Reverse Dungeon

“Argh! Lord Fitzmoff!”

“You bastard, spawn of a dead god! What right do you have to judge us?”

“The world suffers. Life is tragedy itself. We have prepared ourselves to welcome a new god!”

“Ah, foolish souls, forgive them. They know not their sins.”

The demon worshippers spat curses and screams.

But the escape route they had chosen was already one Louise had been watching.

Ian’s command to the party had been simple.

Capture the leader of the demon worshippers.

Everything else could be ignored, even if they escaped. fгeewebnovёl.com

But Louise could not let them go.

‘They’ll abandon me.’

His heart pounded violently.

The symptoms that had started when he heard the dwarf’s reproach had not settled. They continued to torment him.

The “Traitor Clan” had originally been a rootless wandering people known as the “Wanderer Clan.”

It was a derogatory name.

Outsiders with nowhere to rest their heads.

They looked human, but their skin was strange in color, and no one welcomed them. To protect themselves, they banded together, never staying in one place for long, making their living as mercenaries and entertainers.

It was a painful life.

In the cold, they survived by relying on one another’s body heat.

In the heat, all they could do was lean into meager patches of shade and pray that heatstroke would pass them by.

Louise’s parents had dreamed of a different future.

Dissatisfied with reality, they craved a new power.

They performed a ritual.

And the demon realm rose.

The world changed drastically.

More than half the clan sacrificed themselves in that ritual.

Louise was one of the children who survived.

The fact that he had lived at all, while still in his dead mother’s womb, was a miracle.

But he had never wanted such a miracle.

There was only one true miracle in his life.

Meeting Ian.

The demon worshippers fled ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) down the path where Louise had set his trap.

The monster they rode, a spider-legged creature, moved with a speed that was hard to believe possible on six legs.

WHOOSH—!

Louise activated the trap.

A hissing sound came from the iron spheres rolling across the ground, and poisonous gas erupted.

An instant-kill poison was difficult to make, and it was not very effective against monsters. What Louise had used was a neurotoxin.

The legs of the spider-deer tangled together.

They staggered, lost balance, and slid down the path as though tumbling.

“W-What was that just now...?”

“The monster isn’t obeying!”

“No, no!”

‘It worked!’

Louise clenched his fists.

His wildly pounding heart seemed to calm, if only a little.

He had caught the stragglers.

He had done it.

His chest ached with pride.

‘I won’t be abandoned.’

He was determined to prove to Ian that he could be useful.

But then, the herd of monsters began moving strangely.

— KIIIEEEEK!

With a sound like pigs being slaughtered, the monsters howled and thrashed.

They did not move in any particular direction.

They scattered wildly, destroying everything in their path.

With their herbivore-like upper bodies, they swung their necks and attacked in every direction. Each violent snap of those long necks shattered trees and tore through fabric.

Even the animals fleeing nearby were crushed by their blind rampage.

A chill ran through Louise.

Could they avoid this?

If he ran, the next target would be—

“Come here!”

His eyes met Ian’s.

For the first time, Louise disobeyed Ian’s order.

“I can’t do that.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty!”

He wished for his king to rule forever over that beautiful, peaceful kingdom.

Ian had accepted him.

For the first time, Louise had been treated like a human being.

Not as the “son of a traitor.”

Not as a “disgusting creature.”

Not as the “spawn of monsters.”

But as a person named Louise.

Ian’s face twisted.

Louise felt guilty.

He did not want Ian to suffer because of him.

— KIIIEEEEK?!

At that moment, a massive creature slammed into the herd of spider-deer.

Unbelievably, the monsters were sent flying.

Even more unbelievable was the identity of that creature.

“...A camel?”

“Ah, it’s the camel. Come here, my friend!”

The elf merchant Louise had seen before waved his hand.

“Louise!”

The moment Ian’s furious shout reached him, Louise had no more room to think.

He jumped onto the camel.

The camel swiftly leaped over the rampaging herd and reached the base of the cliff.

Ian glared at him with a terrifying expression.

Louise swallowed nervously.

“You... we’ll deal with you when we get back.”

“......”

Louise was afraid of what would happen when they returned.

In any case, it was clear that now was not the time for Ian to scold him.

Without the mage controlling them, the monsters acted on instinct.

The desperate prisoners were easy prey.

It was difficult for a small group to fight against so many enemies at once, so Ian’s party was struggling.

Meanwhile, the dwarves with combat ability were fleeing.

“Ugh! Demons!”

“Monsters!”

“Why did you summon those things?!”

Ian was irritated by every single part of this situation.

“Should we capture the dwarves too?” Dorian asked.

“This isn’t the time to capture them! Deal with the monsters!”

Ian snapped while unlocking the prisoners’ shackles.

The sacrifices used in demon-summoning rituals were people whose bodies had not been damaged.

In other words, once freed, they could run.

“Ughhh!”

“Hiiiek...!”

Seeing Ian, the others began following his example.

Even with their help, however, the prisoners could not distinguish friend from foe. They were in a blind panic, trying only to escape.

The chains binding them together only made things worse.

The freed prisoners fled without so much as a word.

It was unclear whether they even knew where they were running.

Still, they seemed to be running in the opposite direction from the dwarves, and that was the right choice.

Ian knew what waited in the direction the dwarves had taken.

Ian shot down a winged monster.

Of all the monsters that had filled the area, only that one remained nearby. The others had fled, whether driven by wild frenzy or by instinct.

Monsters did not listen to anyone’s orders.

They followed the leader of their pack, but they would never obey some unrelated human’s command.

Only higher beings, such as demons, could control them.

“So there really are demons behind the demon worshippers.”

Ian explained.

Ding!

A quest update notification rang inside his head.

Genea’s main quest, [The Shadow’s Behind (4)], had appeared.

In the end, Genea would have no choice but to oppose the demons and the Demon King.

That was the story.

Ian looked around at the devastation left behind by the rampaging spider-deer.

Then he sighed and spoke to Louise.

“Louise.”

“...Yes.”

Louise braced himself to be scolded.

Ian might even cast him out.

If that happened, Louise had already decided to hang himself.

He could not bear the thought of Ian finding him afterward and being distressed.

“Well done.”

Ian praised him.

“Yes?”

Louise’s eyes widened in shock.

“The original plan was to kill all the Demon King worshippers first. But that plan got ruined because of him.”

Ian jerked his chin toward Dorian.

Dorian clasped both hands over his chest. His eyes were blank.

“Are you telling me you abandoned the plan to save me? I’m even more touched. Look, my heart is still racing.”

Ian was no longer fooled by that reaction.

This bastard would not become his subordinate just because of something like that.

“I should have stuck to the original plan. I was an idiot. You didn’t disobey my orders. You set a trap to catch the Demon King worshippers when you had the chance. That deserves praise. Blocking the escape route was well done too.”

Louise’s eyes trembled.

‘Is his mental state recovering?’

Ian hoped Louise would clear his head soon.

With Louise’s power weakened, they were struggling in large-scale battles.

In truth, the best class for handling swarms of minor enemies was a mage, but the only proper mage Ian had was Sema.

‘Louise needs to get himself together.’

“B-But I... I almost put you in danger by disobeying my Lord’s order.”

‘Why is he so conscientious?’

Compared to the elf who spouted nonsense without even wetting his lips, this was almost touching.

That kind of troublesome morality was already more than enough with Keith.

Ian kicked at the ground.

The demon worshippers who had been crushed after falling from the monsters had left behind only broken corpses.

Not a single part of their bodies remained intact.

“What danger? You were trying to draw aggro in the opposite direction.”

“Well, that’s true, but—”

“When was I ever in danger?”

Louise gently shook his head and lowered his gaze.

Ian had not been in danger.

Louise had never once intended to put his master in harm’s way.

His king knew that.

That alone was enough for Louise.

No.

It was more than enough.

Tears slipped silently from his eyes.

Ding!

[Louise is moved by you.]

Ding!

[Louise pledges eternal loyalty to you.]

‘Ah. I already knew that.’