Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 141
Chapter 141: Episode 44. Return (1)
The war continued for three days. We were having a close match, fighting all day and night.
However, I was already the strongest in this place as I regained all my power and became stronger than before. I burnt enemies using Lightning God and aimed at the commanders.
Oswen and Maxium were aware of my intentions and tried to break into with soldiers. As a result, on the evening of the fourth day, I was able to send back all six enemy commanders to Earth.
They spoke right before my sword slashed their necks.
“I wanted to forget everything.”
“I only cherished hope!”
We were in the Underworld. Here, time was the only constant thing. Change was hardly experienced or noticed, if there was any at all. And this exhausted them as time went by.
Perhaps they were waiting for someone to punish them. There was a look of peace on their faces before returning to Earth. They could no longer endure the many years of blindly obeying the Hell Lord’s orders anymore.
As the commanders disappeared, the morale of the remaining enemy forces rapidly fell. They either ran away or surrendered. We quickly cleaned up the remaining troops and claimed victory.
Finally, my work in the Underworld was finished.
<hr />
After the war ended, I stood in front of a huge mountain. This was the place where the Hell Lord buried his treasure.
‘There will be a way for me to go back.’
There had to be. My real goal was to become the Dark Lord. It wouldn’t be bad to reign over the Underworld, but that wasn’t my goal.
I needed to quickly leave here and check my dungeon’s situation. After Oculus died, Earth was likely to have fallen into confusion.
The time I spent here was a little over half a year, but, if the dimensions and the world itself were different, the flow of time could also be different.
“Their souls were sucked in,” I commented.
The mountain had a huge entrance. The souls of the commanders were sucked in there.
“Once a commander loses their body, their souls are meant to be sucked into the Treasure Warehouse,” Maxium explained. “Your Majesty, after Oswen and I place our hands on the entrance, please put your sword in the middle. Then, the door will open.”
I nodded. There was something like a keyhole at the bottom of the door. The sword was supposed to be placed there.
Shortly after, Oswen and Maxium touched the large door guarding the Treasure Warehouse.
I pulled the Sword of the Emperor. I slid it inside the hole, and the world began to shake.
[System recovery complete.]
[The protection system is working.]
[The details of the demon ‘Randalf Bruciel’ have been updated.]
[Impossible achievement! You are the first one to step in an unknown world.]
[The system has obtained information about the Underworld.]
[A crack was created between the dungeon of the demon ‘Randalf Bruciel’ and the ‘Underworld’. Forming the link… 1%, 2%…]
[You have gained 5,000,000 points.]
[3,000 achievement points will be added.]
[You opened the ‘Treasure Warehouse of the Hell Lord.’ Unable to judge accomplishments. Searching for similar achievements.]
[You have gained 4,000,000 points.]
[2,800 achievement points will be added.]
[A list of treasures has been added to the Achievement Store.]
[Incredible achievement! You have exceeded the limit for the first time.]
[You have gained 1,500,000 points.]
[1,000 achievement points will be added.]
[A remarkable achievement! You have killed 50,000 creatures alone for the first time.]
[You have gained 1,000,000 points.]
[500 achievement points will be added.]
[An amazing accomplishment! You have brought two highest undead into submission.]
[The title ‘Undead (Ex U)’ has been obtained.]
[You have gained 1,200,000…]
[A great accomplishment…]
…
[You will be forcibly transferred to ‘Earth’.]
<hr />
I was sucked into a big crack.
When I opened my eyes, everything around me was changed.
‘Earth.’
The air and mana were familiar. It had been six months since the last time I felt it.
This was Earth. I came back.
But I wasn’t near my dungeon.
“He suddenly appeared!”
“Shit! What are you doing? Run away!”
I could see humans with pale faces. I believed they were called Caucasians. They seemed restless.
We were surrounded by numerous buildings. Most of them were wrecked, and many humans were pressed to death.
‘It must be a monster wave.’
The monsters saw me and swiftly walked towards my direction. They drooled as they came closer.
When I was just about to pull out the sword, two cracks appeared, and something came out from those.
“Where am I?”
“Your Majesty!”
They were Oswen and Maxium. It seemed that the two came together when the cracks occurred.
Oswen looked confused. It was his first time on Earth. Meanwhile, Maxium looked surprised but calm. Unlike Oswen, he had experienced falling to Earth once before.
“Clean up all the monsters nearby.”
I gripped Rage and the Sword of the Emperor.
I had no idea whose monsters were those. Nevertheless, I decided to wipe them out first and then talk to humans.
<hr />
The awakened heroes arrived in about 10 minutes, but things were already over. The three of us had killed 500 monsters. The spectators were greatly astonished and speechless.
“Are you a demon?” one person stepped forward and asked me. He seemed like the representative of the 50 awakened heroes.
He might not ask in that manner had I been alone. But Oswen and Maxium looked very much like monsters.
‘He asked directly if I were a demon… That’s odd… Have demons become more prominent?’
It seemed a little different from when I had been on Earth the last time.
It felt like a long time had passed.
I put my swords away and replied, “I’m a conjurer.”
It was extremely rare, but there were some conjurers among the awakened heroes. A conjurer was someone who summoned unknown creatures and raised them. Thus, it was the perfect cover to get rid of their suspicions.
The representative nodded at my words. “Oh. You are a conjurer. Where are you from?”
“South Korea…The Guild of Heaven’s Will. I am the unit leader of Devil Hunter. Is that enough information?”
“South Korea? The Guild of Heaven’s Will?”
The response was ambiguous. I could sense his distrust.
I frowned and said, “I want to know the current date and year.”
“It’s the 13th of July. The year is 2021.”
“2021? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Tut! I clicked my tongue. As I expected, the flow of time was different. One year and eight months had passed.
If that was the case, I could totally understand their misgivings. The demons probably began to move and revealed their presence. That was why the man unexpectedly asked if I were a demon.
“By the way, are you really from Korea? No one can come out from there these days.”
He still had a suspicious gaze. He slowly moved his hand to the sword, preparing to get rid of me.
It was a cautious move, I must say. It seemed like the level of the awakened heroes had been increased.
‘Ah… That’s right. I can open my Mind’s Eye.’
I almost forgot about it since I couldn’t use the skills for a while. I utilized the Mind’s Eye to grasp the level of the awakened heroes.
Name: Edgar Sheen
Occupation: Hero (Warrior)
Title:
<ul>
Survivor (R, Power +4)
1,000 Victories in Battle (U, Strength +7)
</ul>
Capability:
Power 65(+4), Intelligence 41, Speed 44, Strength 48(+7), Mana 48
Potential (246+11/311)
Others: None
Skill: Final Blow (U), Concentration (R)
Most of the awakened heroes gathered here had similar figures.
It was surprising. I couldn’t believe the changes happened in only one year and eight months. No one had these good abilities at the time I was here.
If I considered them as average, not the elite troops, the best ones would exceed 300 in a total of capabilities.
It meant that things had changed dramatically over time.
“What does it mean that ‘no one can come out’?”
“Have you been living in the mountains or something?”
“I have been in a similar place for the last two years.”
“Ah…then you might not know.”
The man removed his hand from the sword. I could sense that he was beginning to ease up on me.
He went on, “South Korea is under attack from various demons. They have blocked all entry and exit points. The demons’ goals were the dungeon in Korea and the awakened heroes there.”
‘The attack from several demons? Should I feel glad that it isn’t occupied yet?’
I sighed. I needed to consider the possibilities before moving hastily. I had to know what happened and the current state of affairs.
“Since when?”
“About a year ago. The electricity is cut off, and the flying monsters patrol the sky. Thus, it is impossible to contact people in Korea. Well, Korea is not the only country in such a situation. Angels are fighting against demons here, too. And they don’t care about humans.”
I could see the dismay in the faces of the awakened heroes.
So even angels came again…
‘There’s no time to waste.’
It was worse than I thought. I needed to move before I lost everything.
“Anyway, thanks for the rescue. Conjurers are very rare. We were lucky today. My name is Edgar, the master of an American guild: The Guild of the Golden Time—”
I barely heard his last words as I immediately turned around and ran as fast as I could. As I disappeared in a flash, the awakened heroes made a fuss.
“Did he use a teleportation scroll?”
Edgar, the guild master of the Golden Time, blinked his eyes and quietly withdrew the hand he had held out.
<hr />
The basic system had been restored, but my connection to Lyhee was not working yet. I had to go directly to check the situation in my dungeon.
“So this is Earth, huh? It’s amazing.”
Oswen had heard the circumstances about how I obtained the heart of the Hell Lord. He knew that I was a demon and was fighting to become the Dark Lord.
“His Majesty has work to achieve here. Keep silent,” Maxium spoke seriously.
The two of them were moving together with me.
“Of course, I will follow him.”
Oswen couldn’t help but laugh. He seemed to be enjoying the situation. He was delighted to see Maxium thinking of me as the Hell Lord. However, I had no time to worry about what he thought.
‘Okay…I almost arrive in South Korea.’
Despite the distance, I already could see the monsters. Most of them were intermediate. I increased the speed even more.
<hr />
Lyhee called the monsters. She was armed with the Jeweled Crown, Jeweled Shield, and the Fairy Knight’s Sword.
“They have already arrived on the 14th floor. If we lose the Tree of Origin, we are done. We must keep it until the master returns.”
The badly wounded Krathra looked terrible as he spoke, “Fairy of the dungeon, the enemies are well-prepared. Not long ago, Griffin and Gigantes were severely wounded. Krithli is also not safe. If Tashumal, Mago, and I—”
“Can’t you be quiet? We will defend it no matter what. Anything other than that won’t be allowed! Lyhee will surely defend it!”
“I know. But you don’t have to come forward. You already became the ‘Core’ itself. The Tree of Origin and the Core only lasted because of you.”
The demons were completely ready. They somehow twisted the flow of the mana of the dungeon.
The Tree of Origin and the Core of the dungeon used a lot of mana. As the mana was messed up, the dungeon began to collapse. It only withstood the attacks because Lyhee had been upgraded.
“Are you telling Lyhee to just sit back and watch? But Lyhee caused all this! It’s all happened because of Lyhee!”
“Fairy—”
Rumble!
Rumble!
It was at that moment that a massive movement began with a loud noise from downstairs.
“The enemy is coming. Please don’t overdo it.” Krathra stood up, holding his red spear.
There had been over 100 attacks in the past year. So far, they managed to block them, but the enemy’s attacks had been more aggressive these days.
They had been persisting—thanks to Tashumal, Mago, Krathra, and Gaparam’s extraordinary magical items. But Krathra thought they could not last long anymore.
‘I will protect the dungeon even if I have to burn my body!’
The severely injured Krathra turned his body. He already gave his hopes up for the Dungeon Master since nothing had been heard from him for a long time.
“Lyhee will protect it, too. Until the master comes back, Lyhee shall protect the dungeon.”
Lyhee could not just sit back. The fully armed fairy bit her lips and flapped her wings.
