Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 202
Chapter 202: Chapter 64. The Royal Observatory of Greenwich (1)
I arrived at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich. Humans called this place the center of the world, and the meeting of the archdukes would take place here.
I got there before anyone else to get prepared. I wanted to clean up and decorate the meeting place before the others showed up.
In addition, there were way too many humans around. I had a plan for that, too.
I sent Gigantes and Hydra to kick them out. When the two monsters appeared, humans in that area were seriously frightened.
Following the two monsters, other powerful monsters showed up in the town, and most of the humans in that area fled.
Some of them still did not leave and tried to defend the town.
“Crush them,” I commanded my monsters coldly.
I reached the top of the observatory and looked around.
Although a lot of humans had been around only a few hours ago, the observatory was now very quiet.
“I’m being watched,” I thought.
Despite the quiet atmosphere, I could feel eyes on me.
“I guess they are Pandemonium’s monsters,” I thought.
Pandemonium had taken over Asia and Europe.
The meeting took place in Europe, so it was no surprise that his monsters arrived at the meeting place first.
“Don’t you need more monsters? If you wish, I can bring some more…”
“It’s enough.”
Concerned, Krithli offered to bring more monsters, but I refused her offer at once.
I had brought the smallest number of monsters possible. They were the finest of the finest, but they numbered no more than a hundred. On the other hand, the other archdukes would bring thousands of monsters. Perhaps the numbers could be even larger.
If a fight broke out, I would be outnumbered. However, I could not care less because of one simple reason.
“The larger the number, the more damage I would receive,” I thought.
This meeting was indeed unprecedented; all the archdukes of the Devildom were coming.
I expected that fights would start at some point.
And I was sure that the other archdukes anticipated the same, so they would come prepared.
The larger the number of monsters that one brought, the more they could lose during the fight.
“My Dungeon Master, please allow me to at least install magic circles.”
Krithli was concerned. After all, I had disappeared once in the past, and she did not want me to disappear again. I must have looked very unprepared to her.
“Pandemonium is the master of magic. He will easily find the magic circles if there are any, and he can deactivate them with a flick of his fingers. I don’t want to provoke him by setting out magic circles that he will deactivate right away anyway.”
Although he was underestimated by many, Ufa was also quite ambidextrous with magic. Neither Krithli nor any of my monsters could trick him with magic.
“…As you wish.”
Krithli then left me alone.
No one had cared about me in my previous life, and Krithli’s concern for me felt quite awkward. However, such a feeling was not bad at all.
“It’s coming,” I thought.
The meeting was scheduled to start in two days. However, I had come here two days in advance not only to clean up but also for another purpose.
When I started moving, Krithli came to me again.
“My Dungeon Master, where are you going?”
“I am going to Buckingham Palace.”
“…?”
“They should be there by now.”
Coldly smiling, I started moving again.
Buckingham Palace was the home of the United Kingdom’s queen, and it was a very symbolic place. The prime minister of the United Kingdom died during the monster wave, and the queen was now taking care of stately affairs.
Before the death of the prime minister, the queen used to be a symbolic figure. However, now she was leading the actual operations of the government.
As a result, most of the important meetings took place in Buckingham Palace.
“The monsters have taken over the Royal Observatory of Greenwich.”
Bang!
When an army general reported the news, Queen Mary slammed the table.
“I already heard the news. What I want is not a report but a solution. Monsters are taking over the world.”
Had the monsters been mediocre, the queen would not have called such a large meeting.
The monsters that had been appearing recently were very powerful, and humans were unable to defeat them.
The army general, who was now sweating, spoke again.
“We will try our best—”
“Stop. I know that our army cannot stop these monsters. Now, some of you had told me that you were preparing an army of awakened heroes. What is the progress on that, Lieutenant General Carls?”
General Carls took a step forward.
“Our ‘White Tiger’ unit can crush anyone. No monster is a match for us, even if that monster is one of the highest monsters, ma’am.”
“That sounds comforting. Can I take a look at them here?”
“Your Majesty, the awakened heroes have not been screened. We cannot allow them to enter this sacred palace…”
An admiral tried to stop Queen Mary, but the queen was determined. She was staring at Lieutenant General Carls, asking him to bring the heroes.
The armed forces of the United Kingdom had lost many times so far, and the queen believed that the awakened heroes would be much stronger than regular soldiers.
Many countries around the world had attempted to train awakened heroes professionally, but their efforts were futile. All the heroes would start to rebel when they became strong enough.
Despite the other countries’ failures, the queen had hopes in Lieutenant General Carls for several reasons. First, he himself was a top awakened hero. In addition, the general was well respected among other awakened heroes. Finally, Lieutenant General Carls had never failed any mission in the past, and he was also a very patriotic soldier.
“Lieutenant General Carls, may I please see the awakened heroes?”
“As you wish, Your Majesty.”
“Then please bring them here.”
The general struck the ground a couple of times. Then he stood still. When everyone looked around, puzzled, something happened.
Boom!
A bright light beamed from the floor of the conference room. Everyone else besides Lieutenant General Carls was surprised, their eyes widening. The light then disappeared into a hole, and through that hole appeared thirty warriors.
Then the warriors scuttled into formation and bowed to the queen.
“We are the ‘White Lion’ unit, and all of the unit members are the finest of the finest.”
The soldiers looked very confident, and Lieutenant General Carls smiled proudly.
The awakened heroes appeared through a hole from the ground, and everyone in the room besides Lieutenant General Carls was shocked and overwhelmed by their presence.
There was no knowledge of an underground tunnel underneath Buckingham Palace. The people in the conference room started to believe that the awakened heroes were not bound by physical boundaries.
“I suppose these soldiers can eliminate the monsters in the Royal Observatory of Greenwich?”
“It will be hard to kill all of them at once. However, we can take one at a time. I was told that the total number of monsters in the observatory is less than one hundred, anyway. We can wipe them out in just three days. Please give me three days, Your Majesty. I won’t let you down.”
The queen was tempted to send the awakened heroes to the observatory.
Lieutenant General Carls’ argument sounded convincing. The monsters in the observatory were the strongest of the strongest, and the queen was worried that the heroes might lose if they tried to kill all of them at once.
The general had presented a plan in which he and the team would take down a monster a time, and the queen wanted to approve it.
“Your plan might provoke all of the monsters. Don’t you think that eliminating all of them at once is a better solution?” The army general intercepted.
The general’s point was also convincing.
If Lieutenant General Carls’ plan did not work, and somehow the rest of the monsters discovered the presence of awakened heroes, the entire team might end up in a terrible situation.
“The fate of our nation depends on the successful operation of this mission. Please make the wisest decision…”
If the monsters in the observatory spread out to the entire nation, that would be the end of the United Kingdom. A countless number of people would die or get hurt, and everything would be destroyed. Buckingham Palace was no exception.
Thanks to the high levels of awakened heroes and the strong military, the United Kingdom was a relatively safe place from monsters. In addition, the government had put much effort into analyzing monsters in the past five years, which helped the military and the awakened heroes defend the nation from monster invasions.
“The army has a large number of awakened heroes, too. For instance, all of the guards of Buckingham Palace are awakened heroes, and they are true warriors with much experience. I believe that we do not need to stake the fate of our nation on just thirty awakened heroes. We can always send more awakened heroes from other armed forces. If this mission fails, not only will we perish as a nation, but others around the world will also laugh at our incompetence.”
The general’s words were very convincing. He continued to insist that they should try to attack all of the monsters at once.
The army general stepped up to stop Lieutenant General Carls from executing his plan, but the lieutenant-general was still confident and relaxed.
“Well, I guess the ‘true warriors’ are too quiet, don’t you think?”
Some of the people in the room could not understand what Lieutenant General Carls was talking about, and they looked puzzled. However, they noticed that the entire palace was strangely quiet. They could not even hear anyone breathing.
All the people in the conference room had gone through tough training, so they would be able to hear the noises made by the guards of the palace. However, the room was deadly quiet, and they could not hear anything.
When they were about to ask the lieutenant general about the silence, the door opened.
Through the door, about twenty soldiers showed up.
One of them was dragging another soldier, who seemed to be passed out. Another was chewing gum. Unlike the thirty warriors that the people in the room had seen a few minutes ago, the twenty soldiers who had just appeared did not look so polite.
“W-what is this, Lieutenant General Carls?!”
Everyone in the conference room realized that there had been a fight in Buckingham Palace, which was a sacred place.
It also seemed that the twenty soldiers who just showed up had dominated the guards.
Queen Mary could have seen the fight as a sign of mutiny, but the queen did not seem perturbed at all.
“It was amazing how all of you took down the guards without making any noise. I could not hear anything.”
“They are indeed the finest of the finest. Your Highness, please give these warriors and me three days. We will wipe out the monsters.”
“I suppose they haven’t killed the guards?”
“These guys are a bit rough, but they don’t kill anyone without my order. The guards are only passed out.”
“Fine, then. I will let Lieutenant General Carls take charge of this mission.”
Queen Mary approved of the general’s plan. The general’s awakened heroes took down the guards, and that was quite a show, but it served its purpose; everyone in the room now admitted that Carls’ awakened heroes were perhaps the most powerful soldiers in the United Kingdom. Other generals and admirals seemed somewhat insulted. Their faces turned red, but none of them dared to speak up.
Things had changed, and now the strong decided justice. The rougher and the more powerful their strength was, the better and more influential they became.
Smiling proudly, Lieutenant General Carls held Queen Mary’s hands.
If he could finish this mission smoothly, no one in the United Kingdom would dare to stop him. In the past, every time he wanted to speak up, someone always intervened.
The general was about to let go of the queen’s hands, thinking about the bright future.
“I don’t know if three days will do.”
“…!”
Lieutenant General Carls shielded Queen Mary with his body and turned towards the direction where the voice came from. His soldiers, who were the members of the White Tiger unit, also got prepared to fight.
A man with a pale face who was wearing a white suit was sitting quietly on the window sill.
