Reverse Dungeon

At the head of the Holy Knights, Malveric raised his sword high.

Before them stood a Yalsi that had devoured its own kind until its body had swollen dozens of times larger. Whenever its translucent skin writhed, the heads, legs, and other body parts of the consumed Yalsi bulged grotesquely beneath the surface.

The final form of the Yalsi.

Otherwise known as the fusion-transformation monstrosity.

Yet even before that hideous sight, the morale of the Holy Knights did not waver.

Malveric's voice rang across the battlefield.

"In the name of God, we shall destroy evil! Our blood shall become the road toward the light, and our flesh shall become an offering upon His altar. Fear not death. The One in Heaven stands with us!"

"Waaaaaaah!"

With a roar loud enough to shatter the field itself, the Holy Knights charged.

The blessings they had cast upon themselves wrapped around their bodies like radiant halos.

Keith believed in the victory of the knights he had once commanded and the disciple he had personally trained.

And there was something else he believed as well.

The reason he had survived until now was to protect Ian.

Ian had said they must choose the path to survival.

But now that Keith knew the dungeon was directly tied to Ian's life, there was no choice left for him.

While the Holy Knights held the evolved Yalsi at bay like an iron wall, the retreating allied forces reformed their lines and launched a full-scale assault.

The evolved Yalsi responded by hiding within its hardened shell, avoiding powerful attacks, enduring weaker ones, and devouring enemies whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Ian intended to invest every artifact he possessed into the Demon King's castle assault party, which meant the Dungeon Alliance could not use Mermaid's Tears.

Instead, the mages employed a downgraded version of the strategy, bombarding the battlefield with Water Balls.

The damage was negligible, but the mages of the dungeon's Magic Tower considered themselves specialists in an advanced branch of magic called Liquid Property Manipulation.

At least, that was what they told themselves.

No matter how Ian looked at it, they didn't seem like proper water mages at all.

At some point, the evolved Yalsi realized the attacks directed at it had weakened.

It crawled out from its shell.

Waiting outside was the sight of enemies retreating in every direction.

And humans pointing wooden staffs toward it.

The evolved Yalsi assumed the water bombs would do nothing more than irritate its skin mucus again. Deciding such insignificant attacks were beneath notice, it charged forward.

But the magic that burst from the staffs was not what it expected.

"!"

Sliiip.

The evolved Yalsi nearly lost its balance as its massive body shifted forward.

"O God, watch over us."

"Charge!"

With another battle cry, the Holy Knights surged forward.

The moment they collided head-on with the evolved Yalsi—

Thud. Thud-thud-thud.

Fwoooosh!

A rain of flaming arrows descended and embedded themselves in the oil-soaked body of the monster.

The evolved Yalsi writhed and screamed.

"Kyaaaaaaaak!"

It had to extinguish the flames.

But how?

"Kyaaaak!"

A spear flew from somewhere and buried itself in its golden-brown side.

Instinctively, the evolved Yalsi turned to look.

An infuriating sea dweller was sticking only its head above the surface of a pond.

Without a moment's hesitation, the evolved Yalsi charged toward the water.

The Holy Knights followed, wrapped in layers of buffs that reduced fire damage.

Water was not the Yalsi's battlefield.

But neither was it the battlefield of those white monsters.

The evolved Yalsi plunged into the pond.

Splash!

Beneath the water's surface, countless hands reached toward it.

...!

Long, blue, scale-covered hands.

The hands of merfolk guided it toward the abyss below.

The air trapped inside its shell was forced outward by the crushing pressure.

Its body became as heavy as lead and continued sinking.

Downward.

Further downward.

Gurgle!

The evolved Yalsi sucked the pond water into its body.

Its flesh swelled like a balloon.

Its size expanded twentyfold in an instant.

The merfolk became no larger than its forearm.

The evolved Yalsi intended to swallow them together with the water itself.

Then, in the next instant, its body was caught by a violent current.

It spun helplessly through a raging whirlpool before being violently expelled somewhere else.

Whoosh!

The nauseating transportation was horrific.

But it freed the evolved Yalsi from the grasp of the merfolk.

The monster pushed its gigantic shell above the water's surface.

It would consume the entire pond.

Even if its stomach burst.

Filled with rage, the monster thought—

Gurgle...?

No matter how much it drank, the pond did not disappear.

Was this really a pond?

Soon, the lack of oxygen became more urgent than revenge.

The monster raised its head and looked toward the shore.

It would return there, produce more of its kind, and prosper once again.

Prosper.

Upon that land of prosperity, a colossal serpent sat coiled.

Its mere presence caused slime to drip from the monster's body.

"Insignificant creature. Have you come to disturb my sleep?"

The former Demon Archduke.

The current Dungeon Keeper.

The Demon of Pride raised his head.

Ding!

[Character] Demon of Pride Lucifer

⁝

Loyalty: 2%

When is this bastard ever going to hit thirty percent loyalty?

Ian swallowed a sigh.

Monsters were simple.

Once captured, they could be put to work as defensive assets immediately.

Demons were far more troublesome.

Until their loyalty reached thirty percent through consistent feeding and management, they had no intention of obediently following orders.

If Ian assigned one to a location, it couldn't even be relocated elsewhere before reaching thirty percent loyalty.

And naturally, until they reached that threshold, they constantly engaged in bizarre behavior.

"D-Do you really think I can manage a demon like that?"

"Only Your Majesty can do it. If anyone can maintain peace while keeping a powerful monster deep within their kingdom, it is the ruler who has already accomplished such a feat."

Ian praised the Mermaid Queen without the slightest shame.

Raised all the way to the heavens, the Mermaid Queen no longer had the courage to ask to come back down.

"But the one who captured that monster was Ian..."

Nope.

"I captured him too. All Your Majesty needs to do is make sure that demon performs his duties as a guard dog."

"Then why aren't you handling him yourself, Ian?"

The celebration party for the successful defense was in full swing.

Yet the queen wasn't even participating.

Instead, she stood there with watery eyes.

Deciding to tell her the truth, Ian spoke solemnly.

"The truth is, I'm leaving soon."

"What?!"

"To kill the Demon King."

"What?!"

"I'm telling you because I trust you. If the other allies found out, there would be chaos. But you've maintained your kingdom for many years. I believe I can entrust this dungeon to you."

Ian looked at her with eyes full of trust.

The Mermaid Queen clasped both hands together.

"You... trusted me that much...!"

Ding!

['Mermaid Queen' Moel is moved by your trust.]

Good enough.

Ian left her behind and approached Moiken, who was drinking wine by the barrel.

"Oho! Ian! Why aren't you drinking with us?"

"I need to talk to you privately."

"Hmm? Must be important."

"There's nobody else I can ask."

"Indeed, Ian. Heroes recognize heroes. What problem requires the assistance of the great Moiken? ...What?! You're leaving the dungeon? Wh-What...? You trusted me that much...?!"

After making one complete round of the celebration, there was no longer a single allied leader who didn't know about Ian's plan to kill the Demon King.

Now all that remained was assembling the party.

Where the hell is Nameita?

Ian had told him to return even if the persuasion failed, but there was still no sign of him.

Maybe he should have stopped him from wasting time and forced him to continue skill training instead.

As Ian was thinking that, Keith approached.

Perfect.

Ian immediately dragged him into the meeting room.

"Let's check our equipment."

If they were leaving the moment Nameita arrived, they might as well inspect everything beforehand.

"Weapon?"

"The Holy Sword. Ian, aren't you enjoying the celebration?"

"Later. Armor?"

"Would you like me to show you?"

"...?"

Keith demonstrated instead of answering.

Clank. Clank.

He removed his armor and set it on the floor.

Ian forgot whatever he had been about to say and stared at Keith's broad shoulders.

Isn't this difference a little unfair?

Ian's build wasn't much different from Jung Iwon's.

That made it feel particularly unjust.

Who said an archer wasn't allowed to be over six feet tall?

And weren't Keith's shoulders almost twice as wide as his?

The comparison was deeply annoying.

As Ian drifted into pointless thoughts, sounds from outside the building reached his ears.

"Long live Ian!"

"Hero Ian!"

"Wise King Ian!"

Laughter filled the air.

Cheerful music played.

The fairies danced with elementals around blazing campfires.

Ding!

[Morale: 86%]

Not bad.

Ian had worried that his karma for replacing depression with alcoholism among the priests was finally coming back to haunt him.

Surprisingly, though, a drinking party after battle had done wonders for morale.

Everyone seemed to be getting along much better after a few drinks too.

Finally giving up on pretending not to notice, Ian looked at Keith.

"Why are you taking off the clothes underneath too?"

"Is that not allowed?"

Hearing something like that from such a saintly face sent a strange twitch through Ian's lower abdomen.

"Everyone else is sharing their joy. Won't you share some of your grace with me as well?"