Chapter 113
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 113
Yes, that lingering sense of unease was precisely why they had hesitated to enter the dungeon.
The Primordial Core defied common sense, starting with its very location.
A proper dungeon was designed to efficiently repel human encroachment.
Take Azi Dahaka's Margar, for instance. Situated at the very peak of the White Mountains, it was a place humans couldn't easily approach. On top of that, two dragon sentries constantly patrolled the skies above, monitoring the ground below.
The other Great Evil Caves also utilized geographical advantages to keep humans at bay. Hexabel's Sand Hell was protected by thousands of sentry insects buried beneath the sand, while Erebos's domain was a literal fortress, its hundreds of thousands of undead soldiers ever vigilant.
But the Primordial Core?
It sat right next to a human village, as bold as brass. Even the Forest of Graphenia was just an ordinary forest. They hadn't felt a single watchful eye on them the entire way here.
What kind of absurd dungeon was this?
"Lord."
Fafnir, venom dripping from her hair, shook her head and looked at Azi Dahaka.
The cave, growing darker the deeper they went, felt like a deep quagmire. If they went any further, escaping wouldn't be easy. If this was Swallow's scheme, they were undoubtedly dancing in the palm of his hand.
"...We proceed."
Even so, Azi Dahaka gritted her teeth and pressed on.
When they finally arrived in Room 3, the only thing that greeted them was a single golem.
"..."
Staring at the golem standing blankly in the distance, Azi Dahaka was speechless.
A golem. A single golem. They had penetrated deep enough to be near the heart of the cave, yet the only monster they had encountered was that one golem.
This was no joke. Even a ruined dungeon whose boss had been slain would have more monsters than this.
Patience—or what little remained of it—snapped inside Azi Dahaka's mind.
"How dare you make a fool of me, Azi Dahakaaaaa?!"
Crack, crunch.
The sound of warping bones echoed from all over Azi Dahaka's body.
First, her beautiful, delicate face twisted into a hideous snarl. Her draconic eyes, now dyed an even more ominous shade of purple, blazed with pure hatred.
Next, a pair of massive wings burst from her back. Her long, harpoon-tipped tail slammed against the cave floor, sending stone fragments flying.
With flames beginning to pool in her mouth, Azi Dahaka glared straight ahead.
She had intended to back down peacefully if they could just communicate, but he had clearly touched her reverse scale.
"If that's how you want to play, then I, Azi Dahaka, will show you no mercy...!"
Every monster in her sight would be obliterated. It was a declaration of war. From this moment on, every monster of the White Mountains would be an enemy of the Primordial Core.
"Huh? What in the world are you doing?"
Just as she was about to unleash her flames, a voice echoed from the darkness.
Azi Dahaka glared. How cowardly, to only show themselves when one of their own was threatened. Anger surged within her, souring her mood even further.
Looking toward the source of the voice with eyes full of hostility, she saw a skeleton standing in the distance, speaking in perfect, fluent language.
"You must be Lady Azi Dahaka, and is that your companion beside you? Ah, wait, I got the order of greetings wrong. My apologies for the delay. The Boss and I were having a little chat, and we had a... slight disagreement."
"...?"
Sensing no hostility in the speaker's casual tone, Azi Dahaka swallowed the flames she had been holding.
She had heard that the Primordial Core had no skeletons aside from the gatekeeper known as the Death Knight.
In short, the skeleton approaching her was Patrick.
"In any case, you've arrived at the perfect time. Now we just need the Orc Legion Commander. I didn't think everyone would gather until tomorrow, but at this rate, we might actually get the whole group together today."
"You, what on earth are you talking about..."
Azi Dahaka trailed off. Just then, three more silhouettes came into view behind Patrick.
One was a small girl in a maid outfit, and the other two were...
"Erzsebet Bathory... Mother Hexabel..."
Two bosses of the Great Evil Caves were standing casually behind the gatekeeper of the Primordial Core.
It felt as if every circuit in her brain had shorted out. She couldn't begin to process what was happening.
Her strength seemed to drain away, and Azi Dahaka let her wings droop.
What on earth was this?
What in the world was going on?
* * *
"Come on, Boss. Get up already. Can't you see everyone sitting over there waiting? Please."
When Patrick gave the entity he called "Boss" a forceful shove, it went rolling across the floor.
That rolling entity, it seemed, was the "Black Disaster" himself—Swallow.
That was the true identity of the tyrant Azi Dahaka had imagined, the culprit who had half-destroyed Riaze... or was he? She didn't know anymore. She didn't understand a single thing.
Mindlessly sipping the tea brewed by the Blade Maid, Azi Dahaka just sat there blankly, her eyes wide with bewilderment.
Even the usually playful Fafnir was frozen stiff. They had been like this for so long that their sense of time was beginning to blur.
At least a couple of hours had passed, and for those two hours, the exact same scene had repeated itself.
Patrick would roll Swallow, and Swallow would tumble around the cavern several times, refusing to get up.
Bathory enjoyed her tea, watching the rolling Swallow with a pathetic look in her eyes, while Hexabel was deep in conversation with a small Demon King from the Primordial Core, as if they were already old friends.
It was... harmonious. A gathering of beings who had no business being harmonious were creating an atmosphere of bizarre peace, making it utterly impossible for her to comprehend.
...First of all, the elders had been right. Bathory did seem to have a deep friendship with Swallow. The only surprise was that Hexabel also seemed to be acquainted with him.
Surely, Azi Dahaka wasn't the only one seeing the notoriously ruthless Hexabel act so gently for the first time.
The situation was the absolute worst.
She had believed that the other Great Evil Caves would become her allies if friction arose with Swallow, but that premise had been shattered. Her vision went dark, and the future looked bleak.
Ah, something was going terribly, terribly wrong.
After a long period of dazed silence, the final Great Evil Cave boss, "Orc Legion Commander" Kurak, made his appearance. Only then did Patrick, who had forcibly pulled Swallow to his feet, address everyone.
"Now then, thank you all for waiting. Let us begin the meeting."
*
Before the meeting started, during a brief intermission, Fafnir asked Azi Dahaka a question.
"Lord... what are you going to do?"
"..."
'Deliver a warning to the rampaging Swallow. If push comes to shove, stand against him to stop his rampage.'
But that goal was drifting further and further from reality.
Azi Dahaka's resolve had been built on a single prerequisite.
The Great Evil Caves were not on friendly terms. Most of the bosses commanding large forces must have suffered from Swallow's rampages, so they would surely harbor ill will toward him.
If her assumption was correct, every single boss from the Great Evil Caves should have been hostile toward Swallow.
Besides, wasn't Swallow a famous recluse who spent most of his life inside his cave?
She had never once imagined that Swallow would be close with the other Great Evil Caves.
...Every one of those assumptions had been shattered.
And while Azi Dahaka was confident in her own strength, she wasn't foolish enough to misjudge her opponent.
Though she had claimed, 'I will not lose to anyone,' she honestly didn't think she could win in a one-on-one fight against Swallow.
Her resolve to fight the Primordial Core required the condition of 'joining forces with all the other Great Evil Caves.'
Yet, Bathory and Hexabel, the essential elements of that condition, were showing nothing but friendliness toward Swallow, let alone hostility.
Under these circumstances, confronting Swallow was absolutely impossible.
"It's fine."
Even so, Azi Dahaka patted Fafnir's head.
It was hard to tell whether it was sweat or venom dripping from Fafnir's light-green hair. Fafnir was incredibly tense, and Azi Dahaka was no different.
"It's too early to give up, Fafnir."
They had already come all this way, to the very heart of the dungeon. She couldn't turn back now just because the situation looked unfavorable, not before they had even played their hand.
"...Both of them left their dungeons empty just to come here. Bathory and Hexabel alike. Since they're participating in this meeting, they're bound to say something."
Fafnir was skilled at reading others' emotions. In short, she could discern the feelings hidden behind a poker face.
Fafnir had called Hexabel a 'monster mimicking kindness.'
Which meant no one knew what her true intentions were.
"So, it's still too early to jump to conclusions."
She had her pride as a boss. Having stormed out despite the elders' protests, she couldn't return empty-handed.
Above all, Azi Dahaka had a duty to protect the monsters of the White Mountains. The thought that every one of them was counting on her made her shoulders feel even heavier.
Now that she had come this far, there was no turning back.
She had to eliminate the unstable external threat that was Swallow.
"There is still a chance of victory."
* * *
"You all went through a lot of trouble to come here even though I didn't invite you. Now, get the hell out of my sight, you pests."
"Seriously, what kind of boss gives an opening address like that..."
All the bosses of the Great Evil Caves sat around a massive table of unknown origin.
The meeting began as Swallow, finally giving in to Patrick's nagging, reluctantly took his seat.
It started as a cold war.
It began with an opening address riddled with complaints. Everyone's eyes focused on Swallow, who had kicked things off.
However, Swallow showed absolutely zero interest in the meeting itself. He clearly had nothing particular to say.
Since even the host refused to speak, a heavy silence persisted.
He was slouched in a posture that was closer to lying down than sitting. Just as Swallow was on the verge of closing his eyes, Bathory, unable to watch any longer, spoke up.
"I have nothing to say."
Everyone's eyes, except for the indifferent Swallow, turned to Bathory. Azi Dahaka's gaze was especially intense.
"I just came to hang out because I heard everyone was gathering, but why is everyone so quiet? Didn't you all come here for a reason? If you have something to say, spit it out. I came to see if there was anything fun going on, not to play mind games."
As Bathory spoke, she lightly flicked her wrist. A bat hanging upside down from a stalactite descended, transforming into an elderly butler.
Savoring the blood in the glass she received, Bathory gently closed her eyes. Her message was clear: she was just here to watch, so they could do as they pleased.
"Ah, actually, I don't really have much to say either."
Hexabel, who had been gauging the room, spoke next.
"I'm always so busy, and though there are many faces I've wanted to see, I never had the time. I decided to drop by since the Great Evil Caves were gathering. Of course, coming for the sake of my dungeon was another reason. If I didn't show up, who knows what you all would discuss behind my back?"
Hexabel added a laugh at the end of her words. The sound that escaped her bizarre voice was closer to a shriek.
Aside from Bathory slightly raising the corners of her mouth and replying, "Hmph, how boring," there was no reaction, and silence fell once more.
With Hexabel speaking in a similar vein right after Bathory, an atmosphere naturally formed where each person would state their purpose one by one.
Since Hexabel was seated to Bathory's left, the speaking order naturally proceeded counter-clockwise.
To Hexabel's left was Azi Dahaka.
...Next was Azi Dahaka's turn.
Everyone's eyes turned to her.
* * *
Under the collective gaze of the room, Azi Dahaka replayed the words she had spoken just moments before.
'Both of them left their dungeons empty just to come here. Bathory and Hexabel alike. Since they're participating in this meeting, they're bound to say something.'
'There is still a chance of victory.'
Ah.
To hell with a chance of victory. Her mind was a complete blank. Not a single one of her predictions had come true. Was this some cruel joke of fate?
What is this? What on earth is going on? Why was everyone refusing to offer an opinion? She could almost understand Bathory, but... why Hexabel? Had she already submitted to Swallow? Sand Hell was located within the Kingdom Alliance's territory; had she truly not suffered from his rampages? Was she just feigning ignorance because she hadn't taken any direct damage? No, that couldn't be right. At the very least, she should be on her guard.
She simply could not comprehend a situation where two bosses of the Great Evil Caves, who had supposedly gathered for a meeting, were offering absolutely no opinions whatsoever.