"And here I thought you would need a parasite and plot armor to win, my lord," Long Wang said as he kicked the corpse of a Flood Dragon soldier into a pile where we allocated for a mass burial. With Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long, as well as the Guardian Golems and Titan Golem, we could incinerate the corpses before they began decomposing and causing diseases. But first, we had to gather all of them.
"What are you talking about?"
"Dungeon Odyssey."
"Can you stop making references that might get us into copyright trouble?"
"Well, anyway, my lord, I guess it's fitting that you won the war by unleashing your summoned spirit beasts on the enemy. Well, I'm included among them even though I look like a human for now."
Long Wang beamed as he watched the mass funeral pyre. I wasn't as sanguine, even as I tallied the losses suffered by my dungeon. Over fifty Little Anglers had perished, and I had also lost about a dozen Phantom Stumps and Ghost Pumpkins each. Three Lantern Fishes were dead, as well as two Guardian Golems. About thirty Construction Crabs were lost when the four siege towers were razed by the Siege Flood Dragons.
Though the losses would be replenished when my summoned spirit beasts bred within my dungeon, and I didn't lose any of my major spirit beasts, the list of casualties still hurt. I winced as I stared at the corpses of my spirit beasts being laid out by their brethren.
"Sorry, guys. But thanks to your sacrifice, we have successfully defended our home."
"I don't mean to be callous, but you completely annihilated the Flood Dragon army consisting of over a thousand monsters while losing about a hundred of your spirit beasts in return. You won against an enemy of superior strength outnumbering you three to one. And most of your main forces such as the Colossal Crabs, Tree Revenants, Pumpkin Wraiths survived, and your favorites evolved." Myria nodded at my newly evolved six-tailed fox, Blast Tortoise, Charred Drake, King Crab, Lantern Sharks and more.
She also glanced at Hei Ba, who was slowly slithering back to the Abyssal Cavern at the bottom of my dungeon.
"Yeah, but…honestly, I'm not sure it was worth it. The life of every spirit beast is precious to me. This war ran too close for comfort."
"At least we survived." Sylvie placed a hand on my arm and smiled. "If you hadn't taken command and led us in the war, we would have been wiped out."
"Yeah!" Silvia threw her hands up and cheered. "You did great, big bro!"
"Thanks." I knew they were trying to comfort me, but I was exhausted. Even so, I still had a job to do. In addition to surveying the beleaguered survivors of my spirit beast army and enacting repairs to my damaged dungeon, I had to look through the notification windows from the system.
-Quest [War between the Flood Dragon Dungeon and Deep Sea Palace] Completed. The user has emerged victorious in the war against the Flood Dragon Dungeon. The Flood Dragon Dungeon has been defeated by the Deep Sea Palace. The Flood Dragons that inhabited the Flood Dragon Dungeon will turn feral. –
I guess that made sense. Even though we had completely exterminated the Flood Dragons that had come to invade my dungeon, they should have at least left behind a skeleton contingent of Flood Dragons back in their own dungeon to defend it from any attack. Those remnants should have turned feral now that their king cum dungeon master had been slain.
But at least give me some rewards for completing the quest. I frowned when the system didn't notify me of the "appropriate rewards" that it promised. Stingy.
"My lord, it's not over yet," Long Wang reminded me. "Right now, the Flood Dragon Dungeon should be relatively empty, save for the residents and servants within who turned feral. This is your best chance to go to the Flood Dragon Dungeon and seize its core."
"That will take a while," I muttered and glanced around. "We're still in the midst of repairing our dungeon and cleaning up the mess the enemy left behind. Once we're done with that, we can set off."
"I do not believe that is wise, my lord. I advise that we leave immediately. The Construction Crabs and most of your spirit beasts can handle the repairs and cleanup. However, you need to reach the Flood Dragon Dungeon as soon as possible. Before it chooses a new owner, or before any of the other dungeon masters or Celestial Labyrinth residents seize it, you must claim it quickly."
"How troublesome…" I sighed wearily. "Okay, I'll listen to you. But will we really be able to get to the Flood Dragon Dungeon before the others?"
"If we follow the route the Flood Dragons dug to here, we should be able to get there in half a day," Long Wang said, gesturing toward the passage. I raised an eyebrow.
"That's…quick. Doesn't that mean their dungeon is a lot closer to ours than I initially believe? It's almost as if we are next door neighbors."
How did they not find us in the past year and a half when we were so close to each other? That was mystifying.
"Honestly, it's because they dug a route through the thick rock with their Siege Flood Dragons and created a shortcut to here. Otherwise, all the passages are blocked. Normally, they would need over a week if they were to use the conventional winding route throughout the Celestial Labyrinth."
"I see." I recalled the drilling horns of the Siege Flood Dragons and their immense sizes. There were quite a lot of them, so it made sense that they could dig through the bedrock and create a passage large enough for the whole army to march through. "But that opens up a new passageway, doesn't it? How are we going to seal it?"
"Don't worry. The Celestial Labyrinth will restore itself in a few days, maybe a week. That's why we should hurry, before the route to there and back is sealed by regenerating rock."
"I understand." I nodded to the King Crab who was shepherding a few Colossal Crabs to stand sentry while they protected the hundreds of Construction Crabs scuttling around to repair and remove debris. "King Crab, please oversee the repairs and restoration of the dungeon."
He saluted me with a pincer.
"I'll leave the dungeon to you guys," I told the Elder Tree Revenant and Titan Golem, who were also helping out. They nodded. The Guardian Golems helped pile away the debris while the ghost and wood spirit beasts lent the Construction Crabs assistance in the courtyard. The Little Anglers, Lantern Fishes and Lantern Sharks, under Da Hai and Xiao Ke's direction, were cleaning the place up by washing the dirt and blood off.
Everyone was working well together.
I was about to turn and depart with Long Wang, Sylvie, Silvia and Myria when a newcomer showed up.
"My lord. Congratulations on achieving a valiant victory over the Flood Dragon Dungeon. I would like to express how impressed I am at such a heroic feat."
I spun around in surprise, and though I recognized the voice, I couldn't help but be wary at how the Merchant infiltrated our lines and appeared in the middle of my dungeon so stealthily. Swallowing, I bowed my head politely.
"Thank you."
"Oh…to remain humble even after such an amazing display…dungeon masters like you are rare." The Merchant chuckled and nodded approvingly. "As I thought, it's best to conduct business with people like you."
"Business?" I cocked my head to the side. "I'm guessing you have something you want to buy?"
"That's right." The Merchant gestured to the mass graveyard that I had yet to set alight. "Whenever there's a war, there's a victor. And to the victor goes the spoils of war. We Merchants are willing to purchase the spoils of war at a high price."
"You should ask Leon Kennedy then," I replied. The Merchant stared at me.
"Who is Leon Kennedy?"
"Never mind. Anyway, I'm not sure what spoils of war we have, but you're more than welcome to buy them. I'll get my spirit beasts to cooperate with you, so let me know what you want."
"Certainly." The Merchant nodded before hopping over to the mass grave. He kicked the corpse of the Flood Dragon King. "The body of the Flood Dragon King is certainly something we covet, but it's a pity you didn't leave much intact. Still, whatever remains will fetch a high price. There are still a few scales we can use, and the tail seems to be in good shape. Oh, and that horn! Excellent! High grade treasure weapons can be crafted from that. Hmm, a few fangs too. Not as many as I had hoped there will be, but better than nothing."
"Yeah, go ahead and take the whole thing."
"The Flood Dragons too. Behemoth, Siege, ordinary soldiers…even the champions. We'll take their corpses, gear and equipment."
"Sure, help yourself."
"Excellent. Don't worry, we'll buy them all at a high price." The Merchant whistled, and a bunch of shadow creatures scrambled into the passageway. They resembled rats, but were completely black. I could only see a pair of cute, large eyes, but no tail or fur or anything mammalian. They reminded me of youkai from an old anime movie.
They were pretty efficient, though. I watched in awe as they began breaking down and disassembling the Flood Dragon corpses and gear before scurrying away with the components. The Merchant seemed to grin, but I couldn't see his mouth under his cowl.
"I'll work the details out with you later, but I'll offer you a million spirit stones for these alone. At least. Probably with a few spirit seeds for your burgeoning forest. Seems like you might need those."
"Sounds good to me. I'll leave it to you then."
While the Merchant's Shadow Mice worked on the Flood Dragon corpses and I prepared to set off for the Flood Dragon Dungeon, I noticed a new notification window from the system.
-The reward for completing the quest [War between the Flood Dragon Dungeon and Deep Sea Palace] is as follows: the user has been promoted to the rank of Baron. –
"Huh? Baron?"
-As Baron, you may now set a toll on your territory, the Deep Sea Palace. You now have access to the Celestial Labyrinth levels. You have obtained the authority of a low ranked noble. –
Access to the Celestial Labyrinth levels? Come to think of it, I realized that I never ventured out of my dungeon to explore the Celestial Labyrinth before. I didn't know I didn't have permission to explore the other levels.
-The user had been implanted with the subconscious suggestion to stay within your dungeon and not set a foot outside as part of the restriction. –
I didn't like the sound of that. It was as if the system or the Celestial Labyrinth was tampering with my mind. Trying not to think too much about the implications, I embarked on the journey along the dug-out passageway immediately. Myria stayed behind because I couldn't teleport her back to my dungeon once we had visited the Flood Dragon Dungeon. She wasn't a summoned spirit beast, after all. The others, though, could conveniently be teleported back if necessary.
Otherwise, the journey back and forth would take a full day. And that didn't include the time needed to investigate and explore the Flood Dragon Dungeon.
To my surprise, the Merchant followed my entourage, rubbing his hands eagerly as he stared at the looming gates. I stopped right in front of the seemingly empty Flood Dragon Dungeon, and Xiao Huo, Xiao Huo Long and Long Wang set off immediately to look for any enemies. Sylvie and Silvia stayed by my side, instead casting a detection technique to scan the entire area.
While they did so, I glanced at the Merchant.
"Um, why are you following us? Wouldn't it be safer back in my dungeon?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the Deep Sea Palace doesn't have the manpower to occupy and run the Flood Dragon Dungeon right now."
"Yeah." I saw no point in denying it. I also realized what he was hinting at. "So you want to buy the Flood Dragon Dungeon?"
"Correct." The Merchant sounded like he was grinning. "Given that the Flood Dragon King died when he was attacking you, it means that both the dungeon and its core are in perfect condition. Don't worry, we'll purchase this dungeon at a high price."
"That's a tempting proposition, but I'm afraid I will have to decline." I was strolling toward the dungeon core, which resembled a hovering purple dragon egg in the middle of the dungeon. I could sense the immense, potent qi that radiated from it, almost reminding me of the time when I faced Long Wang in his Heaven realm form. Now that Long Wang and the others had formed a perimeter and ensured there were no threats within, I felt safe moving toward the core. With a snap of my fingers, I summoned my Collector Crabs in here. "I'll sell you everything inside this dungeon, whether it's the treasures the Flood Dragons have hoarded, their weapons or equipment, but for the dungeon itself…"
"You can't mean to…" The Merchant protested, but I shook my head apologetically.
"Sorry, but as you pointed out, I'm the victor of this war. I have the right to do whatever I want with the spoils of war. And I don't think I'm comfortable with the prospect of another dungeon growing near my own. I'm not stupid enough to leave a potential threat to incubate right next to me."
"I understand." The Merchant sighed. "Personally, I think it's a waste, but as a newly fledged dungeon master, this is probably the more prudent move. Long term safety over short term profit. I am impressed that you aren't allowing your greed to overrule your strategic sense, but I'll admit to being disappointed. It's not always that we can get our hands on a fully intact dungeon in such a good condition, you know."
"I know, and I apologize. But as you rightly pointed out, I am prioritizing the safety of my dungeon over money. You can have everything else."
"Fine." The Merchant sighed.
"Oh, and one more thing." I stepped up to the dungeon core and saw the system flash me a message.
-Would you like to deactivate and dismantle the dungeon core? –
"What is it?" The Merchant asked.
"If I'm not mistaken, I can feed this dungeon core to my own to upgrade my dungeon, right?"
"…that's right." The Merchant saw no reason to hide the fact. "That's actually one of the reasons why dungeon masters go to war. To devour the dungeon cores of their own dungeons…and increase their territory."
"Excellent." I picked the affirmative option, and the dungeon core stopped glowing, turning back to what looked like an ordinary but oversized egg. Catching it with one hand, I grinned. "I'm sure my Deep Sea Palace will find this Flood Dragon dungeon core very delicious."