Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 164

Chapter 164: Episode 50. Ifrit (1)

I had a total of three dungeons, including the one in Korea. I assigned two to my monsters, and now all of the dungeons had their respective Dungeon Masters. And I believed that Krithli and Tashumal would make great Dungeon Masters.

I also had another item to give Tashumal.

“Can you recognize what this is?”

I gave one of the items, which I had bought in the auction, to Tashumal.

When the angel saw the item, her eyes widened.

“Isn’t this an Egg of Angel? It’s not just a normal egg, but it is blessed! Goodness gracious, where did you get this?”

“I got this from the Auction of Devildom. Now that you are a Dungeon Master, you will be able to come, too, next year.”

“I can’t believe that the Spirits of Darkness have reached the Celestial World and stole the Egg of Angels!”

Tashumal trembled in anger. I could also get an Egg of Angel from the Achievement Store, too, but I had good intentions at least on the surface. If asked for the purpose of purchase, I could say that I would grow angels and have them help me defeat other demons, so that I could save humans.

And that was exactly what I promised the Gods before I returned to the Earth. The Gods gave me one more chance, and saving mankind was the only promise that they asked from me. Getting one more chance was a miracle, and I was not dumb and immoral enough to completely ignore the promise. Trying to keep the promise, I had tried to help the humans.

Tashumal agreed that she would work for me, so long as I was trying to keep the promise with the Gods. However, the Spirits of Darkness had completely different intentions from mine when they got the eggs. The spirits’ only interest was earning more points by selling monsters and valuable items, including this egg, in the auction. Tashumal had heard about how the Auction of Devildom worked, and she could discern the spirits’ greedy intentions.

The angel was aggravated by the spirits’ filthy motivations.

“Don’t worry. There wasn’t anything else besides this egg.”

When the angel heard that there was no other egg sold in the auction besides this one, she calmed down.

“This egg is very special. The King of Heaven blessed it. The king only blessed the eggs from which high angels would be born.”

Even the powerful Tashumal was only an intermediate Dominion. I could not imagine how strong a high angel would be.

“Tashumal, why don’t you take care of this egg?”

“I cannot do that! We need to return this holy egg to the angels!”

Tashumal did not want to keep the egg. There seemed to be some sort of tradition where if an angel came across a blessed egg, they would return it to a high angel. I also noticed that Tashumal was very cautious when she was handling the egg.

Despite her complaints, I laughed coldly.

“Who do you want to return this to? Do you want other angels, who are on Earth, to take care of it? Do you really think that they will gratefully accept this egg? In addition, they, too, cannot return to the Celestial World. Demons are always trying to attack them, and the angels themselves are also belligerent. It is not safe to entrust this egg to them.”

I knew a bit about how angels interacted with each other. Tashumal was a fallen angel, and normal angels would not accept the eggs from fallen angels, even if the egg was blessed. Moreover, there were many ongoing conflicts in this world, and it was not the best time to ask the angels to keep a valuable egg for us.

“…”

Tashumal was speechless.

I asserted even harder that we keep the egg.

“The dungeon in Japan is the safest place to keep this egg for now. Don’t you understand? Otherwise, this egg might get destroyed by others.”

“…Okay. However, don’t expect too much from me. Only an angel who is higher than me can safely take care of this egg. I’m concerned if I can handle this job.”

Tashumal said bitterly and turned around.

I did not have any other angels besides her. In addition, she was more knowledgeable about angels than anyone that I had. She was now a fallen angel, but she used to be a normal one, and her knowledge did not fade.

“I have about twelve million points,” I thought.

Dungeon assignment to my monsters was over. I did not hold any ceremony for the delegation, because they were perfunctory and did not interest me. I was happy as long as the delegates got the job done.

“All I needed to do is wear this ring,” I thought.

I was currently wearing the “Conqueror’s Ring,” which I had bought from the auction. When I opened my Mind’s Eyes, several message windows popped up with explanations about the ring.

Name – The Conqueror’s Ring (Epic, Set)

Comments: It is a ring that only conquerors can wear. Two rings form a set, and whoever wears the full set becomes very powerful.

*The ring has the effect of “majesty,” and its power is proportional to the mana of the wearer. In addition, this ring greatly increases the recovery rate for the wearer’s mana. For each conquered territory, the wearer enjoys an additional ten percent increase in the recovery rate.

*All of the ring’s effects are activated only if the wearer has his or her own territories.

**When the wearer of this ring also wears the “Ring of Condescension,” he or she can use the skill of “Final Impact” (Ex Epic.)

The ring did not increase any of my statistics. However, its ability to increase the recovery rate of mana and its synergy effect with another ring interested me.

There were many items that recovered lost health points, but there were only so many that increased the rate of recovery. Furthermore, the ring had great potential, since I could use it in combination with other rings.

At a glance, one might think that the description of this ring’s ability was rather vague, because there was no clear definition or standards about the recovery rate. However, doing the math with my territories, I had a rough idea about how good this ring was. If I used up all of my mana, I would have to rest five days to fully recover. Now that I had three dungeons and the Underworld, that would make this ring increase my recovery rate by forty percent. As a result, it would take only three days for full recovery of mana.

“I cannot find the Ring of Condescension for now…”

I had never heard about that ring before, nor did I have the faintest idea where I could find it. However, I had this gut feeling that I might find it someday.

“Krithli, tell me about how Roy has been doing.”

Roy, the small Dark Elf, had teamed up with the Kirin and awakened heroes in Korea. The team was trying to attack the dungeons of demons who worked for Pandemonium.

Had their campaigns been successful, I would be receiving news pretty soon, so I got curious.

“I will bring the crystal ball.”

Krithli slightly bowed and left to get the crystal ball.

The Dark Elf soon returned with a crystal ball, which was as large as her torso.

When I injected some mana into the crystal ball, Roy showed up.

“Shit!”

One of the awakened heroes near Roy swore.

The hero looked terrible and his ankle was broken. He could barely walk.

“I almost had it! The Dungeon Core was right there!”

“Who would have known that reinforcement would arrive?”

The team had failed to conquer the dungeon. They were inches away from getting it, but help arrived, and the team could not hold any longer.

Thanks to the Kirin’s barrier, the team could retreat without getting killed.

“That is good enough. We have done substantial damage to our enemy. Once we return to our homes and get stronger, we may be able to crush them the next time.”

The Kirin, who was now in the shape of a woman, told everyone. She was leading the rest in front. The conquest failed, but it was a valuable experience. For the first time, the awakened heroes, who had been fleeing from threats, came together to strike back. The heroes would regain confidence through this experience and become stronger.

“Y-you are right…”

Roy, standing next to the Kirin, nodded.

Roy had been fighting with the rest of the team on the frontline. The conquest left many scars on the boy’s body, which made him look more manly, even though he still stuttered like a child.

The Kirin and Roy had been leading the others, so their words carried weight. When the two leaders encouraged others despite the apparent defeat, the atmosphere changed.

“They are right. Even the child of our savior agrees with the Kirin!”

“We will get stronger. Please help us.”

“Please…!”

The awakened heroes’ eyes were burning with determination. Without any help, they almost conquered the Dungeon Core. No awakened hero had accomplished such an achievement before, and it made the heroes become more confident about themselves.

While the rest of the team were crying out, the Kirin quietly spoke to Roy.

“Child, you are also connected to the wishes of the people. If your master helps, everything will be a bit easier. Unfortunately, he is not willing to help, so you must take charge.”

“You’re asking me?”

“I used my skill, ‘Child of Kirin,’ on some of the people. They will become kings and leaders among them. However, when people suddenly get a lot of power, they become out of control. I want you to keep them on the right track.”

“Why don’t you control them yourself?”

“I am their guardian. The ‘Child of Kirin’ will only be effective if they believe in me. In other words, if I punish them, the skill will no longer work and no king will be born. Even if some of them become kings and leaders, they will be tyrants.”

Hesitating, Roy spoke again.

“…I need my master’s approval.”

The Kirin slightly smiled.

“He will approve of it.”

I thought that Roy alone would have a hard time controlling the people. I called for Rose and asked her to help her brother.

“Rose, go to Roy at once and give him this sword.”

“The sword looks awesome!”

“It is the Ethereal Blade. Roy will find this sword useful while he establishes himself among the people.”

Rose’s eyes widened.

“What about mine, master?”

The girl seemed to be jealous that only his brother would get a sword.

“I will make one for you later. I was able to get some ‘orichalcum.’ ”

“Ah! I read about that material from a book. It said that orichalcum is a fascinating metal. Are you going to make my sword with that? Wow!”

Rose bounced around happily.

I purchased some orichalcum from the Auction of Devildom. It was a type of iron, which was also known as the metal of Gods. Every weapon, which was made out of this material, became a masterpiece. In addition, I had two of the best blacksmiths in the world: Dwarf King and Oswen. If the two worked together, they could easily refine this metal and make a masterpiece out of it.

“I will send you the sword when it is completed. Give this sword to Roy first, and then help him.”

“Rose will be helping Roy. Am I correct?”

“You are right.”

“I know, Roy is not the most reliable person. Rose must be next to him and make sure that he doesn’t mess up.”

Rose lifted the sword, which was larger than her body, without much effort. Then the elf handed the sword to M3 and bowed.

“I will see you later~”

Rose got on M3’s shoulders, and they left for Roy.

“There is one more thing to do,” I thought.

I finished organizing the purchased items from the auction, and I had one urgent task left to do.

“The Great Quintessence of Fire,” I thought.

When it arrived, it was caged. I brought the Quintessence of Fire to the top floor to appreciate its beauty.

The item looked like fire to others, but it looked like a dragon with two legs to me. The dragon had two short hands.

There were flames along the spine on its back, and the monster looked sharp.

“What are you?”

I asked the question in my head. I got attracted to this dragon as soon as I first saw it. The dragon even looked very familiar, and I was baffled.

Now, it was time to figure out the reason behind this.

I wanted to find the answer to that question before I returned this to the Spirits of Fire.

I unlocked the cage and looked at the dragon.

Grrr!

The dragon tried to attack me.

Then suddenly, I was transported to a white space that was infinitely large.

In the middle of it, I opened my eyes.

“Where am I?”

I had never been to such a place before nor did I remember coming here on my own will. I frowned and could only suspect that somehow the Quintessence of Fire transported me here.

“Give me what you have inside of you.”

A white flame started to burn in the white space.

Then a familiar figure appeared.

“Are you the Quintessence of Fire?”

It was the dragon with two legs.

This white space seemed to be the world in its mind.

“My name is Ifrit, and I am one of the nine kinds of fire. Contegnome had stolen my half, and you have it. Give the half back to me or I will destroy you.”

I had no idea what it was talking about. I could only guess that something entered me when I killed Contegnome.

“Ifrit, even if you had had it in the first place, when it came to me, I am the owner of it from that moment on. If you want to negotiate, I will comply. However, if you’re going to threaten me, I will not give it back to you.”

“I have been caged before, but we are in a different world now! It is my world, and you cannot defeat me in this world. If you are not going to give me my half, I will conquer your body!”

Grrrrr.

The world started to shake and Ifrit’s body began to grow larger.

The monster soon became infinitely large that I could not even see its entire body.