Hella then took a deep breath to evacuate the fear and stress that was invading her. She then glanced discreetly at all the floor masters standing in front of her. Then she headed straight for the throne, climbing the stairs leading up to it step by step under the insistent and terrifying gaze of the monsters behind her.
She climbed up to the throne and took her seat as if it had always belonged to her. The sight of this strange and improbable spectacle left no landlord indifferent. They all said to each other inside
"What does this mean?
But more than the sight of someone other than Amon on the throne, it was the sight of a human woman on the throne of the powerful and proud master of Amon's dungeon before his very eyes that shocked the masters present. They were speechless, although neither Amon, Sins nor Hella seemed upset or even embarrassed by the situation.
Hella was completely at ease with her actions. As for Amon, he neither moved nor uttered a single word. Sins remained steadfast, while the bubbling, devastating mana of the other housemasters was gradually making itself felt and shaking the entire dungeon.
A few minutes before the guards arrived, Hella and Amon had had a conversation about how to deal with them. Through this short discussion, Amon taught hella
- In a moment, when the guards face you, you must show them no sign of weakness. Don't look away. Don't provoke them and don't let yourself be overcome by any feelings of fear or anything else. Is that understood?
- Why do you want me to be like the decor? Hella replies.
- The fact is that even though I've passed on a great deal of my knowledge to you and that thanks to your status, you have a large amount of Mana which has been bequeathed to you by the dungeon, you're not in a position to defeat these ten creatures. It's just impossible, especially the last five. You should know that, to this day, it's been over 200 years since the same creatures have ruled the last five levels, which just means that even the heroes haven't managed to eliminate them, which says a lot about their power. Take my word for it, their strength is phenomenal!
- I understand. In that case, what do you suggest?
- Leave it to me, I've got a plan.
It was with these words in mind that Hella was so serene as she sat on the throne facing the ten bosses or guardians. But this serenity disappeared little by little, as the guardians' mana intensified.
Only three of them remained apart from the others and posed no threat. The first was Sins, who had already embraced Amun's cause. The second was the white dragon who seemed indifferent and the last was the black knight who showed no reaction, while the others were all consumed by an uncontrollable desire to slaughter. They all looked set for a bloodbath when
- Enough is enough!!!
Amon uttered loudly. Amon's voice reverberated throughout the room and immediately calmed those excited by the carnage. Assu, the master of the first tier, was the first to speak.
- Explain, Lord Amon, why a weak female humn (human) is sitting on your throne? asked Assu.
- What is there to explain? I think the message is very clear, isn't it? I'm sure you've all realised, but the link that connected me to you through the dungeon has been broken. I'm no longer your boss and you're no longer my subordinates. But that's not all, I've also made this human here before you all the guardian of the heart of the dungeon. In other words, my replacement.
Amon replied calmly.
- That's what I thought. My strange sensation earlier was due to the breaking of the bond of servitude that bound us to Amon.
Medusa replied when the great white dragon added
- Certainly, but I'd also like to know, please explain, Amon the king of hell and Sins the demon king.
After that, Amon took the floor and explained the situation without going into the details of his contract. He let them know that it was he who had summoned hella from another world to allow her to complete a quest, the reward for which would allow her to heal herself and cure the evil that had been eating away at her for some time. To help hella with her task, and to make sure that she gets her place back without any more bloodshed in the dungeon, he has decided to make her the new guardian.
Amon's declaration left no one indifferent, and everyone was surprised and a little confused by this explanation, which was not very clear to them. After finishing his explanation, Amon made a request to the bearing masters.
- Now you know everything. From this moment on, Hella here is the new keeper of the heart of the dungeon and as such, I hope I can count on you to give her all your support.
Amon added with a threatening and rather intimidating air. The landlords remained impassive and threatening towards Amon's words, as if they had clearly sensed the threat in his words. Then the gorgon Medusa said
- If I've understood correctly, you're doing all this to escape death! Ridiculous, you lower my esteem, my lord, or rather Amon. I think I was crazy about you and I admired your omnipotence so much, but this is a total downfall. You could have spared us such a thing.
- Are you already speaking in the past tense, Medusa? It's a shame.
Amon replied with an even more menacing air, to which Medusa also replied in a rather dangerous and worrying tone.
- Of course she did! But the worst thing of all is that you dare ask us to kneel before that thing sitting over there! How low have you sunk, O lord...Amon?
The air immediately began to thicken between the two monsters, who didn't need to talk to each other to guess what the other was thinking. As if to accompany them in their murderous madness, the mana of the other monsters also began to be felt again when
- And what about you? What do you think of all this? Personally, I think that fighting in such a place and for such a...futile cause isn't really necessary. But I want to know, tell me, who are you?
Pronounced Luminus, master of the 7th level, which was represented by a cluster of fireflies. From her feminine voice, it was easy to guess that she was a female and that the pile of fireflies was not her real body. The sound seemed to come from elsewhere. At her request, hella was surprised and instinctively said
- I?
This had the effect of stopping the atmosphere of terror that was spreading through the room. Attention now turned to the discussion between Luminus and hella. Luminus said once again
- We heard Master Amon's call! But having said that, we are no longer obliged to obey his orders, so I'd like to know, why should we submit to you? I advise you to answer this question, as many lives, including yours, depend on it.
The room fell dead silent after this question. Hella glanced at Amon, but he decided to stand back just so he could judge how Hella would cope with this life and death question. She rose from her throne, took a deep breath before looking more serious and extremely confident as she stared at Luminus and then replied
- Because you need me! Just as I need you! If you submit to me, then each of us, one way or another, can only come out a winner. Let me be clear, I intend to use you as much as possible, but on the other hand, I wouldn't mind if you also used me for your own more personal goals. After all, that's the way the world works. Whether it's good or bad, we don't have to use each other to satisfy our more personal needs.
Hella's sentence surprised everyone in the room, and Amon and sins were no exception. They were all both surprised and astonished by the statement the young woman had just made. Their gazes were all directed towards the throne, towards the one and only person standing near the throne. She, in turn, held the terrifying, heavy gaze that was being cast at her. As for Amon and Sins, they seemed quite happy with Hella's sentence, but this was not the case for the other guardians, particularly Assu and Medusa.
Once again, there was a great silence in the room. Although some of the guardians thought hella's words were nonsense, others seemed curious or even interested, such as Luminus, who had asked the question, and the dragon, who lay down on the floor.
But in this dead silence, where everyone was trying to judge what was in front of them, a single noise could be heard in the room. It echoed throughout the room and caught everyone's attention. It was the sound of the first floor master's enormous club, making his mood towards the situation known. Once, twice, three times, he smashed the floor more than seven times, creating a huge uproar to draw all the attention to himself, not only from the others but also from the one sitting on the throne.
- We ogres are proud warriors. We will never obey a female as well as a humn (human).
Assu proclaimed loud and clear.
The tension was at its height under the delighted gaze of sins, who couldn't hide his wicked little smile. Everyone seemed on their guard. The sound of Assu's hammer was the only sound to be heard in the room, and the murderous aura began to make itself felt again when suddenly things took a completely unexpected and shocking turn for everyone.
The black knight, master of the penultimate tier, who until now had had no reaction at all, suddenly marched into the hall towards the throne. Arriving at the foot of the steps, under the worried gaze of hella and the curious eyes of the others, he drew his sword from its scabbard and pointed it skywards before stabbing it into the ground. He then knelt down, both hands on his sword, and bowed his head to Hella, pledging his allegiance to her.
It was a gesture that shocked everyone in the room and left them all speechless. The shock was so great that their brutal energy and the tension it generated disappeared, giving way to astonishment and curiosity, for this was an unexpected and shocking situation for everyone. To the point of leaving them speechless. But they were not at the end of their surprises when the white dragon in turn prostrated himself before Hella, saying
- As master of the 8th level, I, .... (The dragon's real name is Incomprehensible) acknowledge my status as master and undertake to serve the keeper of the dungeon as her subordinate, for better or for worse, until death do me part.
A second scene, even more shocking for Medusa but more amusing for Sins, had just taken place and it didn't stop there as the black wolf also joined the ranks of the submissive. He bent down in submission. Even without words, it was obvious and easy to guess that he had also come to submit to the authority of the keeper of the heart of the dungeon.
"What's going on?"
was the thought of the other guardians in the room. Namely, Medusa and Assu. As if to rub salt in the wound, sins also joined in the ceremony, swearing obedience and loyalty to Hella.
- Really interesting!
pronounced Luminus before adding
- I too, from this moment on, recognise the authority of the Guardian of the Heart as the mistress of the dungeon and therefore my mistress and ruler of the dungeon.
Without anyone being able to get a word in edgeways, the master of the 2nd tier, the skeleton or lich, came in turn to kneel in front of hella, pronouncing the sentence of submission and consequently accepting her as his new mistress.
After that, all that remained were Assu and Medusa, who still seemed hesitant. But Medusa's terrified, confident face was soon replaced by concern and curiosity. She seemed to be lost in thought when Amon hit the nail on the head, saying
- Hmm, finally, there will be two. But I'm surprised and disappointed because I didn't think you'd be one of them. I thought you were smarter than that, viper.
- Don't call me that!
Medusa shouted angrily at Amon before quickly pulling herself together. She looked closely into Hella's eyes, even though hers were bandaged. Then she smiled a little and said
- Finally, I agree! That's the way life is. Let's use each other for better or for worse.
Hella smiled slightly at this. A sort of electricity seemed to reign between the two females, whose eyes shone with greed. After her sentence, Medusa in turn came to submit to hella, saying
- I, Medusa, leader of the 6th and terrifying tier of Gorgons, submit to the authority of the dungeon, for better or for worse.
All the wardens were now on their knees before hella. There was only one left and he spoke loud and clear throughout the room
- Why is that? Why are beings as powerful as you bowing down to this female?
But he was immediately answered by the calm and terrifying voice of sins
- And why not? The real question is why has a being as weak as you been bugging us all day?
The dragon also answered Assu's question
- As far as I'm concerned, I consider myself to be Lord Amon's disciple. I've always trusted him. I trust him and I always will. If he says that you have to submit to this person, then I'll just do it! replied the dragon.
- It doesn't matter! Amon is no longer the master, he said so himself. I don't have to obey him. I would never bow down to a female! asserted Assu, master of the first floor.
- Really? You would never obey a female, did I hear you right? But what exactly do you hope to achieve? Do you think you're strong enough to impose your will here? Insolent! Learn to stay in your place, loser!
Medusa replied with contempt and anger towards Assu.
- That's enough of that!
Hella said calmly and quietly to stop the discussion. She then added
- Assu is it? I'm not saying I'm stronger than you, but one thing's for sure, if you oppose me then you'll die! As you can see, I'm far from being the weak woman you think I am and you don't really have a choice. Either you kneel or you die. It's up to you?
Assu gritted his teeth in anger and his murderous urge could be felt around the room as if he were about to spring into action when Medusa added
- Don't be any dumber than you already are. At the end of the day, you're just the first step. If you get excited here then it'll end just like she said. You'll die like the fool you are. Look, the living dead who are superior to you have understood and you've also seen who was the first among us to submit? From now on, he's at this woman's service, so how long do you think you'll be able to hold out against him if this human ever gives the order for your execution, one second, maybe two?
The room was struck again by a general silence. Assu's anger was growing but he knew he didn't have the upper hand. The slightest misstep and it would be his life on the line. He knew he had no right to make mistakes because he clearly didn't have the advantage. It wasn't really hella, but rather the other masters that Assu was worried about. If they, who had all sworn loyalty and allegiance to Hella, his new mistress, decided to eliminate him, he would have no chance of survival.
After a series of hesitations, he finally knelt down in front of Hella, his eyes filled with hatred and anger to the point where he was trembling. He bowed his head and said
- I, Assu, leader of the ogres and master of the first tier, swear fealty to the keep and promise never to betray this pledge!
After that, all the masters bowed to Hella, and she gladly accepted their oath. Even though there was no written agreement, nor any sign of a contract, deep down they all felt it. An enormous, indestructible and indescribable bond now bound them all to their new mistress. This one, being the most concerned, felt it even more strongly than the others. It was a feeling she couldn't explain herself. But she said to the housemasters
- From this moment on, you and I are bound by the thread of destiny. A thread that will lead us both to our goals. Rise and shine. May daily life be most... exciting for all.
With these words, the ceremony of enthronement of the new guardian of the heart as mistress of Amon dungeon came to an end.