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I had been pushed to my limit. Every man had a line, and when that line was crossed, they needed to do whatever was possible to survive. I was merely a dungeon. I didn’t ask to be born in this world, but now that I was here, I planned to survive as long as possible. I wasn’t going to allow some random heroine to come in and destroy my way of life.
“Attack!” I ordered.
My cyclops lunged forward. We had no choice but to go with the plan we had set up. While the Cyclops distracted River, Misty would use an opportunity to deliver the killing blow. With her being demonized, she should be more than a match for the loli bitch.
The Cyclops, wielding a giant club, roared and swung his weapon down toward the loli. River, with her pig-tails bouncing, easily sidestepped the monster’s attack and spun, letting the long hem of her cloak glide through the air behind her. Then with a flash of her eyes, she too lunged forward. Her fist slammed into the stomach of the Cyclops, blasting him back with a single strike.
The Cyclops was sent tumbling back, his feet skidding across the ground until he hit the far wall. She hadn’t even used her rapier yet… It looked like this bitch was planning to style on me and defeat my cyclops with pure strength.
As she walked forward, she looked every bit the heroine, with her chin held high and her eyes narrowed. She was a true force to be reckoned with, but I wasn’t going to just let her have it easy. If I was going to die, I planned to make her work for it. Just as she pulled out her rapier, I gave Misty the order.
“Now! While she’s distracted.”
Although the room didn’t have the columns of the previous room, there was still a trap door I had built that hid Misty. Coming out behind River, she would attack her former superior from behind, backstabbing her literally and figuratively while the loli bitch was busy with the Cyclops. Although it was damaged, I willed the Cyclops to peel himself off the wall and charge her one more time. This was the moment of truth.
The Cyclops roared and charged River, using its massive form to obscure Misty’s stealthy approach from behind. River’s body glowed with magic, and she slashed down. Blood splattered as the cyclops was cut across the gut. I tensed, but Misty had already reached River. She slashed out, but River, quick as a cat, spun around and met her blade.
“Misty!” River’s eyes widened with surprise.
“I’m sorry, Mistress!” Misty’s blade sliced across River’s neck, but a moment later the guildmistress disappeared. “An afterimage?”
“Hmph.” A sound came from behind Misty followed by a thud.
Her eyes rolled up in her head, and then she collapsed to the ground. River had struck her with the hilt of her rapier. She swung her blade through the air twice and then sheathed it as Misty became motionless on the ground. River looked her over and sighed.
“You turned. I was afraid of that.” She pulled a knife from her hip, reaching her hand into her pocket.
Seeing her about to kill Misty, I felt a strange feeling emerge from within me. It was fear and despair. I found myself speaking before I could help myself.
“Don’t you touch her!”
River froze, and then a lopsided smirk appeared on her face. “I suppose you’re the dungeon in all this? I must say, I never expected you to be this advanced. You even have language skills. You’ve corrupted my friend and caused me a great deal of trouble. Be very careful with the next few words you speak.”
I gulped, but I continued to talk. “There is no reason to hurt her. She’s innocent in all this.”
“Oh? But she tried to kill me.”
“She was following my orders,” I told her. “She had no choice.”
“So? She’s still a demon.”
“I’ll release her…”
She raised an eyebrow. “You can release her?”
[A demon cannot be released from servitude except in the case of their dungeon’s death.]
“Tch… no…” I muttered, but seeing her eyes I couldn’t help but add. “If I die, she will be released from my control.”
“You’re willing to die?” She raised an eyebrow. “For her?”
If I had teeth, I would have been grinding them. “If you let her live, you can kill me.”
She blinked and then threw her head back and laughed. “You think you can stop me from killing you?”
“You…”
“Relax, even if I did kill you, her demonification would remain unchanged. She may no longer serve you, but that only means she’d become a loose demon with no master. On this plane of existence, that’s as good as dead.”
“I-I see…”
River finally pulled a vial she had in her pocket out, then used the knife to pop the cork off. She put the vial to Misty’s lips, but when Misty didn’t drink it, she put some in her mouth and then pressed her lips against Misty’s, feeding her the potion mouth-to-mouth. As arousing as this was, I just couldn’t find it within myself to enjoy it.
When she finished, Misty made a few noises as her eyes fluttered open. When she saw River, she cried out.
“Master!”
“I’m still here,” I spoke as she panicked in River’s arms.
“You little brat. After everything I’ve done for you, you immediately give yourself to the first master you can?” River growled as she released Misty and stood up.
“Guildmistress, I’m sorry.” Misty looked slightly unhappy. “Please, don’t get my Master. He’s not a bad dungeon.”
“Relax… I don’t plan to kill either of you.” River rolled her eyes. “What do you take me for? I’m not some murderous vixen.”
“You killed her.” I couldn’t help but glance at Diamond’s head.
“Killed?” River made a face. “Ah, that’s right, I silenced her.”
She waved her hand, and a moment later I heard a muffled voice. Diamond’s head had landed in a way that I couldn’t see her face, but the sound appeared to be coming from her. I moved closer until I could understand her.
“Hey! Idiot! Will you pick my head up already?”
“Diamond?” I asked cautiously.
“What do you fucking think?”
“I thought you were dead,” I said sheepishly.
“I already died. I was a ghost possessing a body, did you forget?” She snapped as Misty reached down and picked her head up by the hair.
“Ow! That hurts, bitch!” Diamond glared at Misty.
“Good,” Misty responded, frowning as she looked at the talking head swinging by its hair in her hand.
“Wait, you sold us out?” I asked.
“Not like I had much of a choice!” Diamond huffed. “I almost died! She destroyed my body and then sealed my fucking mouth!”
We all glanced at River, who shrugged. “Her body weighed too much, and she wouldn’t stop flapping her tongue. You should be able to make her a new body, in time.”
“In time? Idiot, give me a body!”
‘Will you shut it!” I snapped back. “I’m still trying to deal with the problem you caused!”
“I hope you’re not suggesting I’m a problem?” River’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Not at all, beautiful loli! Your generosity and kindness knows no bounds!”
She snorted, rolling her eyes. “Well, at least you know how to talk. You don’t need to be so uptight though. I already said I don’t intend to kill you.”
“Magnanimous beauty, why have you come then?” I asked worriedly.
She glared at me. “Isn’t it to check on the well-being of my ward? If you had just shown me Misty from the beginning like I asked, I wouldn’t have had to go to such extremes.”
I couldn’t help but glance over at the cyclops, who was still barely clinging to life. Sandy had appeared and she was trying to nurse him. Wait, no, she was stroking his cock. Stop sending more blood away from his brain! You’re sending him to death! Ah, well, he was a tough monster, he’d probably survive. This room already had the highest regen in the dungeon. Since he was supported by the dungeon, he shouldn’t be able to bleed out like normal monsters. Unless he was specifically killed, he should be able to heal, eventually. That was the nature of dungeon mobs.
“Mistress… I failed you.” Misty lowered her head shamefully.
River’s expression softened, and she reached up and touched the top of Misty’s head, even though she had to get on her tippy toes. “No, I failed you. I promised to take care of you and look how you ended up. A demon!”
When she said that, she stared at me unblinkingly. I realized then that she could see my spectator form. I was just a ball of glowing light, but her eyes were locked directly on me. No one but my mobs had been able to do that before. Just who was this Loli?
“I-I didn’t mean to!” I cried out nervously, but then a thought struck me. “Hey, if you promised to protect her, why did you let her sister become a… what was it? A dilboy?”
“M-master!” Misty looked at me in surprise before turning to River. “Mistress, you don’t have to answer that!”
River chuckled. “Heh, it’s fine. I only promised to protect Misty, not her sister. I also promised to protect her, not live her life for her. Saying it in another way, as long as she’s alive and safe, I never planned to interfere. One could say I’ve already one enough for her by training her how to fight.”
“But you still came here…”
“I could sense Misty’s aura on Diamond, and when I realized Diamond was undead, I naturally traced her back to you. I had known Misty was sneaking out, but I never knew for certain where she was going. She always came back eventually, so I didn’t think much of it until the time she didn’t. Now that I see she’s alive and well, I’ve done my due diligence.”
“You don’t mind that she’s a demon?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Mind?” Her expression darkened. “Why? Do you think I should mind?”
“Not at all, beautiful queen!”
“In truth, had Misty become evil, suffering, or under mind control, I might have considered killing her and destroying you. However, Misty seems… different now.”
“Different?” Misty blinked.
“Since you lost your sister, you shut down. You’ve been cold and distant with everyone, even me. I’ve seen you more emotional in the last five minutes than in the previous six months!”
“Th-that’s not true.” Misty’s cheeks turned pink as if to betray her expression.
“And you!” She turned to me, causing me to subconsciously stand up straighter as if I had a spine. “You’re an interesting specimen too. Dungeons that learn speech are rare. Those that are friendly to humans are even rarer.”
“Friendly!” I said in disbelief. “How could you say I’m friendly? I’ve killed several heroines and… ah… never mind!”
I realized I wasn’t serving my case.
She chuckled. “Misty came here many times. I suspect her clumsiness caused her to fail countless times. You could have killed her and claimed all of her mana then, but you let her leave many times. As for those F-ranked adventurers, I saw coming in, none of them looked unhappy. They are fed better than some women in the cities. Even as breed stock, they might live better lives than our poor. I’ve never seen humans protect a monster before. That was a first.”
“Ah.. they’re just a little… delusional?”
“That’s true too… but they broke into your dungeon with the intent of stealing your stuff. If you were a human, no one would blame you for defending yourself. As for their mental states, I had a feeling they broke on their own. It just proves that you can hang as many warning signs as you want, but some people will still swim with sharks and get eaten.”
“No one would call a shark kind though…”
“She’s letting you off the hook, idiot! Will you stop talking?” Diamond snapped, her head having previously been placed on a pedestal looking our way.
“Ah, that’s… um…”
River giggled. “I don’t expect dungeons to think like humans, but you might be the most human dungeon I have ever seen. You seem to genuinely care about your girls. You were upset over Diamond’s death and you were even willing to die to protect Misty. This is something I have never seen before, a dungeon willing to die to protect his demon. I have to admit, even I feel a bit jealous of Misty having someone willing to die for her.”
“That is… Master…” Misty looked at me as she seemed to recall early, biting her lip consideringly.
I was a bit stunned too. I had said that, but it had been in a moment of passion. My life was the most important thing to me. I must have had a moment of insanity. That was it!
“You’re also a young dungeon, which means this is a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity for me. We can make a deal.”
“A deal?”
“You’re not the first dungeon the dungeon guild has made a deal with, but most of them are large and powerful. A well-developed dungeon for low ranks is rare, mostly because the dungeons are too stupid to communicate with.”
“Master is a bit higher level than he looks,” Misty revealed.
“True… he has the potential to be a B-ranked dungeon, but most of that isn’t because of his strength, but his cleverness. If he didn’t intentionally play the sheep, he never would have lured in so many unsuspecting heroines. Typically, higher-level dungeons are prideful and arrogant, and won’t decrease their difficulty to lure in low-level mobs. After all, the gains from such mana are too low to be significant. However, you’re different.”
“Don’t be getting full of yourself now,” Diamond spoke up. “You’re only clever for a dungeon. You’re still useless overall!”
I had been starting to feel a bit good under River’s assessment, but leave it to Diamond to put a damper on my mood.
“You mentioned a deal?” I redirected the conversation.
“Right, the deal is simple. I want you to cater to F-ranked heroines. What you have now is a good start, but the aim will be to feel challenged without threatening their lives. I want you to expand your dungeon to ten floors, slowly increasing the difficulty of each level. You can do like you did before, make a mock final dungeon where they can win a small reward. The treasures you’ve made are also pretty good. Things they need to survive as well as things they can’t normally get as an F-rank. You can keep that up. Few enchanters bother to waste their efforts on such meaningless enchantments, but F-rank eats anything magic up.”
“Actually, about that… the only reason I don’t do better enchantments is because I don’t know any,” I explained. “Also, if it comes to doing more enchantments, there is the matter of ingredients.”
“I see… in that case, I will send you a few books on enchanting. Most of the supplies are acquired from dungeons, but if you set up your production center, you can save a lot on supplies. For example, you could make the goblins from the village above grow the ingredients.”
“Yes… I’m starting to realize a lot of products come from different dungeon monsters,” I admitted.
“A lot of companies keep the manufacturing of their products hidden, but I might be able to help you out with some of the products known by the dungeon guild, as long as you use that knowledge to encourage F-rank heroines. The goal is to keep them interested long enough that they get good enough to work in real dungeons… no offense.”
“So, you want the dungeon to be enjoyable?” I asked, remembering what Misty had said about making it into a pleasure palace.
“They should be able to pick up the skills of dungeons, but also have them enjoy themselves. You can do that with treasures, but if you have any other ideas to keep the dungeon from becoming a slog, by all means,” she explained. “Once I return, I’ll give you one month to update your dungeon before I send in a B-rank team. You don’t need to stop them. Rather, it is their mission the reach the end and report back without killing you. They will construct a thorough assessment of the dungeon before you can be registered as a guild-protected dungeon. Once you have the seal of protection, it will become illegal for anyone to destroy your core. Presuming you pass your assessment, you’ll start to get a steady stream of visitors.”
“You… you’re going to do all that for me?” I asked nervously.
“For you? Hah!” She snorted. “I’m doing this because it’s convenient and solves several problems for me. The guild has been worrying for years because the F-rank dropout rate is too high, so an F-ranked dungeon might help bridge the gap. However, it’s mostly because this is what I must do to protect Misty. As long as you continue to protect her, I won’t allow you to be easily destroyed.
“I will continue to protect her!” I replied boldly. “Ah… but, you did say one thing I’m a bit worried about. You want me to renovate the dungeon to ten floors, but I don’t have that much DP. Ah… DP is-”
“I know what DP is.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re saying you need a downpayment of mana, hmm?”
“Yes, please.”
She sighed. “Although my presence has likely increased your mana accumulation substantially, I don’t plan to stand around being your lightning rod for the next few weeks. Misty, continue to stay safe, and if you ever find yourself unhappy, don’t hesitate to call for me.”
“I-I will,” Misty responded.
“What are you planning to do?” I asked, getting a strange feeling.
“Naturally, dungeons only gain mana through absorption. Either you take some of the mana a living being is absorbing, or you absorb the mana from something that is not living in a lump sum. Since I don’t plan to remain here, I’ll pick the lump sum option.” She pulled the knife she had earlier out and brought it to her neck.
“Ah!” Misty cried out.
“Relax, this is just one of my clones. You can have its mana. It won’t be enough to harm me.” She chuckled.
“W-wait… are you saying that the current you is just a fraction of your true strength?” I was in shock.
“I look forward to your future, dungeon.” Her eyes glinted. “Don’t disappoint me.”
She sliced her neck just like that. Her body collapsed to the ground. Misty still gasped and looked away, but I had the dungeon quickly absorb it. To my surprise, the body melted almost instantly. That meant that there was never a body in the first place, as physical items took longer to digest. It was just, as she said, a clone made of magic.
A very large sum of mana came pouring in. It was about as much mana as I had earned to date!
It looked like it was time for a remodel. I’d be having guests soon.
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