"Oh?"
The Flood Dragon King reclined in his throne. A behemoth of a monster, he was about five meters in height and ten meters in length, his tail coiled at the seat of his throne. Ridged armored scales shone golden, imbuing him not just with protection but a potent aura of strength. His narrow eyes glowed a crimson red while exquisitely woven leather hung from his shoulders and around his chest and waist. Despite the textures, they gave him the look of a monarch. Even when leaning, he appeared massive as he stared down on the diminutive form of the Merchant.
"That's all the Deep Sea Palace has? A human as its master? A few hundred ordinary ranked spirit beasts, about a hundred Yellow ranked spirit beasts, with only about fifteen Mystic ranked spirit beasts? That's it?"
"Eighteen, if we include the dragon butler and the fairy girls," the merchant corrected. The Flood Dragon King snorted, his exhalation coming out in huge puffs of condensed smog, and waved a colossal clawed hand dismissively.
"Three more Mystic ranked spirit beasts wouldn't save them from my army."
"Yes, of course." The Merchant bowed deferentially. "From what I see, the dungeon master of Deep Sea Palace is too soft. He lacks the ruthlessness to survive in the Celestial Labyrinth. He gives in to the wants and desires of his subordinate spirit beasts, even allowing them rest and leisure. He doesn't work them to the bone like how laborers should be, but instead treats them like equals. I've witnessed him politely thanking his servants for doing their duty. Him, thanking his servants."
"I don't care about that," the Flood Dragon King snapped. "I just want to know how powerful he is. What kind of abilities he has. Seems like he's only a Mystic ranked cultivator himself? And not even peak Mystic ranked?"
"Correct. But the point is to tell you that you should have no problems overrunning his forces and slaughtering them once you've overcome the spirit arrays and defensive siege towers that protect the dungeon."
"Yes, that will indeed be a problem. Even an Earth ranked spirit beast like myself cannot simply waltz into his dungeon and survive an onslaught from so many spirit arrays and ten siege towers. However, that's what my Siege Flood Dragons are for."
As he spoke, gargantuan shapes loomed in the background, their massive silhouettes hidden in the shadows. A crackling air of tension sizzled through the dungeon hall, the destructive qi already causing cracks in the marble.
The dungeon hall itself was a palace befitting a monarch such as the Flood Dragon King. In addition to his ornamented throne, surrounded by trophies – each of them skulls or skeletons of the various spirit beasts he had fought and conquered over the centuries. More than a few of them belonged to rival dungeon masters who he had vanquished in direct combat, their skulls hollowed out and polished to gleam in the flickering flames that burned forever on ornately sculpted torches above.
They had been carved into the shapes of dragon skulls, their fanged jaws wide open to house a blazing fire each. They cast dancing illumination across the two rows of dragon statues that stood like knights on either side of the hall, their marble surfaces resembling armor and chainmail. In front of the towering statues were the elite Flood Dragon Guards, each equipped with lances and standing sentinel as they watched over the hall to protect their king.
Not that the Flood Dragon King required their protection, for he was the strongest among them. None could hold a candle to him.
"Also, for the spirit arrays…we have over a thousand Yellow ranked soldiers. Expendable pawns. I'll just keep feeding them to the meatgrinder and occupy the spirit arrays for a while until I destroy them one by one." The reptilian monarch smirked. "I am sure there will be plenty of my subordinates who feel honored to sacrifice their lives for our conquest."
None of the Flood Dragon soldiers responded. They remained stationary, though a few of them tightened their clawed grips on the hafts of their spears.
"So what do you think?" The Flood Dragon King asked, turning his predatory gaze to the three warriors who stood apart from the regular Flood Dragon soldiers. They were encased in full plate and wielded weapons. One had a spear, the other a sword and shield, and the third sported a heavy broadsword. Despite their cumbersome equipment and armor, they were kneeling before their king, their heads lowered. "Do you think you can defeat them, my champions?"
"Yes, my liege."
"They will be destroyed, your majesty."
"Our blades are yours to command, my king."
"Excellent." The Flood Dragon King didn't rise from his throne, his talon still rapping on the armrests and leaving slight gouges on the gleaming metal. "Ready the armada. We will use the old ways."
"…huh?"
"What armada? We have an armada?"
"…old ways, my king?"
The three Flood Dragon champions raised their heads to stare at him blankly. The Flood Dragon King coughed sheepishly before exhaling a violent geyser that caused the flames to flicker out and even the normally immobile Flood Dragon soldiers to tremble from the sheer force. Only the three champions remained unmoved, but even they stilled at their liege's displeasure.
"I mean we shall march at first light tomorrow," he snarled, glancing at the great windows at the end of the hallway, which revealed the darkness beyond. Within the vast interdimensional space that was the Celestial Labyrinth, the cavernous interior did not conform to usual weather patterns. While a lot of the spaces appeared to resemble subterranean caves, the vast majority of the spaces within the Celestial Labyrinth were isolated worlds unto themselves, with their own atmospheres, ecosystems and even internal weathers.
Outside the Flood Dragon Dungeon was a lush, verdant forest surrounded by crushing waterfalls, serpentine rivers and ocean-like swamps. That was probably why the Flood Dragon King referred to his own forces as an armada, though in truth…
"…does no one watch Zack Snyder's Justice League anymore?" he grumbled under his breath. "I cannot believe no one caught that reference."
"There are…disturbing rumors that the Snyderverse is dead, my lord," the Merchant reported somewhat hesitantly. "After the upheaval at DC Studios, and the appointment of James Gunn and Peter Saffran, they have decided to reboot everything. They even decided against recasting Henry Cavill as Superman and cancelled the Man of Steel sequel, despite him making a cameo in Black Adam after Dwayne Johnson's attempts to bring him back."
The Flood Dragon King shot up in his seat and jumped to the ground with enough force to shake the dust off the walls and ceilings. Clenching his talons into wicked fists, he roared thunderously into the air. Shockwaves buffeted the reeling Flood Dragon soldiers, caused the silent statues to sway precariously, and even cracked a few of the dragon-shaped torches on the arches above.
"NOOOOO!!!!!"
"My liege, I don't think that's important right now."
"Your majesty, we should focus on the task at hand."
"We will begin preparations for an invasion right away, my king. How many should we mobilize?"
"All of them!" The Flood Dragon King snapped, sweeping his arm out before flopping back to his throne. "Leave no soldiers behind. We are to bring the full might of our Flood Dragon army upon this pathetic human's dungeon. We will crush them until nothing but dust remains, and conquer their dungeon for ourselves."
"It will be done at once, my liege."
"As you will it, your majesty."
"Victory will be ours!"
As the three Champions rose and turned to leave, the Flood Dragon King idly turned his malevolent gaze to the trembling Merchant, who had fallen to his knees after the titanic dungeon master's rage.
"Is there anything else you're not telling me, Merchant?"
"You know, my lord, that as a neutral party, I am not allowed to tell you the exact location of the Deep Sea Palace."
"I am not asking about that," the Flood Dragon King snapped. "And you don't have to worry about that. Over the last month or so, we have realized a particular region of the Celestial Labyrinth where an abnormally large number of scouting parties have gone missing, and we are confident that we can find the dungeon ourselves. However, this human cultivator's dungeon seems to be a little too weak. Apart from the spirit arrays and siege towers, it doesn't seem like he has anything that can threaten us. It sounds too good to be true. Are you certain there isn't anything else about him or his dungeon that you haven't told us? Any trump cards?"
"Well…" The Merchant paused and lowered his head. Under his cowl, his eyes glinted with a hint of an insidious scheme already set in motion, but the Flood Dragon King had no way of noticing it. "I have given you almost all the information about the Deep Sea Palace that I possessed. Please do not forget, my lord, that this is a new dungeon. The current dungeon master had only come into possession of his Deep Sea Palace for less than two years, and he had to build it from scratch. Given such a short amount of time, it is all but impossible for him to muster any formidable forces capable of standing against your mighty Flood Dragon army."
"Fair enough."
"Of course, if there's anything new, then I will update you, but for now, this is all the intelligence I can provide. The rest, you have to discover it yourself."
"My subordinates will take care of that," the Flood Dragon King rumbled, resting his jaw on one clawed talon. He then waved his talon dismissively. "That's all. You may leave."
There was a long stretch of silence before the Merchant dared to raise his head.
"My lord, the payment?"
"Hmph." The Flood Dragon King sneered. "That's all you greedy Merchants are after, aren't you? Treasures. Information. Rare materials. Give you a bone and you show your true colors."
"You promised to give me a Flood Dragon Scale in exchange for information regarding the Deep Sea Palace and its dungeon master," the Merchant insisted, remaining unfazed by the insult. The Flood Dragon King burst out laughing.
"And you think I will deign to honor that? All you provided was information. Do you think that information is worth one of my scales?"
The Merchant narrowed his eyes, even as he kept his gaze riveted to the floor.
"We had a deal. Knowledge is power. Information is as precious as any material treasure. Without the intelligence I provided you, you would have underestimated the enemy, which would then cost your soldiers massive casualties…and perhaps even victory."
"Don't be foolish. Do you think I care about how many Flood Dragon soldiers I lose? I told you, they are expendable pawns. They can be easily replaced…in fact, I'll use the newly conquered dungeon to replenish my forces. Just wait and see."
"You intend on reneging on our deal?" The Merchant's voice dripped with bitterness. "You dishonor your title as king, my lord."
"Fine, but since you're offering information, then it's only fair that I'll provide you with information in return." The Flood Dragon King leaned over with a hideous grin. "My conquest of the Deep Sea Palace is set in stone. You may spread the news of my victory throughout the Celestial Labyrinth. I'll grant you the honor of disseminating that news, at least."
He then threw his head back and laughed, even as the Merchant's shadowy fingers tightened into a fist, raking slight trails into the marble ground and throwing up a tiny puff of dust. Not caring or not noticing the Merchant's anger, the Flood Dragon King scoffed and flicked his tail at the hooded figure.
"We are done here. You may leave."
"Yes," the Merchant bit out the words, his rage simmering within the dark cowl. "I will be taking my leave now."
Even as he rose to his feet, spun around and stalked off, there was a gleeful glint in his glowing red eyes that gradually replaced his fury and desire for vengeance.
For the Merchant had already anticipated such a turn of events, which was why he had enacted his scheme in the first place.