Chapter 37
Chapter 37
they were intel/assassins—overmatched by a lich
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Inspector Lich's Evaluation
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Deep and secretive space.
A dark, chilling atmosphere permeated the air.
The candles placed around the room faintly pushed back the darkness, etching shadows onto the walls.
And those shadows were moving busily.
"Ah, now it begins."
It was none other than Celia.
"The time has come to properly spread Master's will."
Recently, Master had reorganized the dungeon's structure.
An environment had been created where everyone was assigned roles and could work for Master.
But this reorganization wasn't just for efficient operations.
Master was surely testing them.
It was a signal to adapt to the current situation and prepare for future goals.
"Master is undoubtedly looking toward a greater world."
No matter how many other dungeons had come under Master's wing, they were far too small.
A great being wouldn't be satisfied with this.
Ahead lay villages and cities beyond this dungeon, and not stopping there—nations and the entire continent under rule.
The great and noble Master must have held such grand plans in his sights all along.
"This Celia is still overwhelmed just trying to keep up with Master's wisdom."
The current reorganization was merely one part of the future plans.
Ultimately, the goal now was to build Master's forces as a minimal safeguard for when a nation was established.
"Ah, ecstasy. Master!"
All would prostrate themselves on the ground, offering loyalty to Master.
Celia smiled, genuinely delighted.
But she quickly composed her expression.
"This is another test. It's too early to celebrate."
The grand framework had been laid by Master.
The Lich was patrolling the dungeon and nearby forest as inspector, while the Death Knight focused on dungeon defense as knight commander.
And she herself had plenty on her plate.
Total administrator, handling diplomacy, and enforcing discipline.
Just from this, it was clear how highly Master valued her.
Celia interpreted it as a call to produce even greater results.
At the same time, she thought:
She would have to fill in the details herself on the stage Master had set.
"Let's start by seizing control of the mountains."
For that, information was key.
They had only merged a portion of the mountain range's dungeons so far.
Now, they needed intel on the entire range—and expand it to the human world.
"We'll need a department for intelligence."
But those bound to Master with her faced mobility restrictions.
That constraint would lift someday, but not yet.
Still, there was a way.
A fine alternative.
Use those who had recently joined under Master.
Unlike her group, who had been with Master from the start, they had no such limits.
Of course, they were souls bound to the dungeon.
But exploiting their freedom of movement could fill the intelligence gap, however slightly.
Their capabilities might be an issue, but that was her concern.
Celia planned to reward the capable generously.
"Watch over me, Master!"
Celia clenched her fist, steeling her resolve.
Now, it was her time.
"Haa... ha... ."
Beren was in utter agony right now.
'Fuck!'
The orc's strength was far beyond what he'd imagined.
Who was he, after all?
He'd led the "Red Fang" mercenary band through countless battlefields.
A mercenary who had survived even the blood-soaked fields of despair—what was he doing getting pushed back by a single orc?
'Such a gap in raw power?'
The silver lining was that the surrounding skeletons were staying put.
A few of his men had tried breaking through them, but they were all dead now.
The skeletons they'd targeted had exploded, taking their lives.
He'd been puzzled at first, but soon figured it out.
It was all because of the lich.
No matter how ignorant of monsters one might be, not everything was unknown.
Beren knew the lich well from tales.
Liches were among the trickiest monsters to face.
The issue was their skill: making nearby skeletons explode. And it was true.
With skeletons swarming like this, nothing was more troublesome than a lich.
Beren vaguely recalled hearing about it somewhere before.
Of course, this lich wasn't interfering beyond the explosions.
It was just spectating, pretending to jot down notes.
Humiliating.
And come to think of it, the orc he was fighting didn't seem to be going all out either.
'Toying with me, is it!'
Rage boiled over.
"Kugh."
He couldn't believe he was being overpowered by a mere monster.
In a surge of fury, he swung wildly, but the orc's weapon blocked every strike.
There was one fact Beren didn't know.
If he'd had an adventurer's knowledge of dungeons and monsters, he might have realized this orc wasn't ordinary.
But Beren had only fought humans on battlefields until now—this was his first real monster encounter.
So he blamed his own skill and pressed harder.
The worst choice possible.
Gaps started appearing in his stance.
The orc warrior Skol, effortlessly parrying every attack, noticed.
Whenever a slight opening showed, he'd slash for a shallow cut.
Purely toying with him.
"Tch."
Skol clicked his tongue softly.
He'd thought a warrior worthy of stirring his blood had come after so long, but this human lacked the caliber.
Worse, he was dooming himself.
The key to battle was calm observation; this one was just flailing in panic.
Skol understood why.
Skeletons had them surrounded—no escape. His men who tried forcing through were already gone.
Skol casually deflected Beren's weapon and glanced aside.
The lich entered his view.
Observing the fight, scribbling on paper.
'How about that. Heh!'
Surely to report his great prowess to the Ruler.
Skol swelled with pride and slowly increased the pressure on Beren.
He'd shown enough.
Time to end this bore—he ramped up the intensity.
Snap—
The lich watching nodded.
Then began recording on the paper.
The lich was a cold, impartial inspector.
Then he glanced at the Death Knight, who had sidled up to watch.
Nodding at the Death Knight, the lich noted:
The lich was truly a cold, impartial inspector.
Someone was watching the scene from afar.
Gurlon, from the Demon Realm Merchant Guild's audit team.
He was observing everything through a telescope without missing a detail.
His toad-like face trembled at what he saw.
"Insane."
A curse slipped out unbidden.
The monsters were crushing the humans.
But it wasn't simple.
'A lich and a Death Knight to boot?!'
Even if each claimed to be a dungeon master, he'd believe it—their power alone justified it.
And they were being handled casually.
Gurlon knew well, having been chewed out by his boss.
Nearby dungeons topped out at 1- or 2-stars, with 3-star orcs as the max.
So he didn't wonder whose dungeon the Death Knight and lich belonged to.
'They hid their power.'
When he'd visited, he hadn't sensed such forces.
At best, skeleton knights.
Gurlon's body shuddered.
Such power meant even the guild likely didn't know.
Or the assigned merchant did—but hadn't reported.
'A scary bastard.'
Even seduced the merchant?
What chilled him most was the hidden strength.
'Now what?'
Gurlon pondered.
Four shadows behind him.
Monsters assigned by the guild.
Shadows themselves—no fixed form.
They could go anywhere with darkness and shadows, specialized in intel and assassination.
Identity-less enigmas.
The guild's reason was obvious:
Resolve this situation.
Infiltrate and dismantle before it grew.
But look at that scene.
Death Knight. Lich.
'They've got more hidden power for sure.'
It made sense.
His surface-level report had been shattered.
Fail, and he'd be ousted from the guild.
"......"
No solution came to mind.
No matter how many shadows there were, as specialized as they were in information gathering and assassination, they were overwhelmed even by the Lich, let alone the Death Knight.
The opponent had to be reasonably strong; this was an act of digging one's own grave.
"Sigh..."
Gurlon sighed deeply.
He wanted to flee.
But he was concerned about the presence of the shadows behind him.
Abandon the mission, and they'd target him first.
As his thoughts dragged on.
'On second thought...'
A clever idea struck.
As soon as the thought came to him, Gurlon turned his body towards the shadows behind him.
"It is said that to overthrow an enemy, you have to enter their stronghold."
Actually, he didn't know if such a saying existed.
Gurlon just muttering as he pleased.
"We'll enter their dungeon as guild representatives."
Gurlon began explaining the plan to the shadows.
"OnIf we just enter the dungeon..."
Of course, contrary to appearances, a different thought was emerging in his mind.
'Surrender. This is suicide.'
The guild that abandoned him was gone from his mind.
Even dense as he was, he read the room and chose wisely.
Firstly, was getting away from the shadows right now.
'Yes, if I can just get inside the dungeon...'
Gurlon thought of Celia.
Her power alone could handle the shadows easily, he believed.
Rush to her dungeon, beg and grovel—save his skin at least.
'Please...'
He'd learned: in this harsh world, quick wits were key sometimes.
Ding—
Ding—
His smartphone buzzed like yesterday.
The content was obvious without checking.
"Celia will handle it fine. Let's just get this done quick."
There was work now.
The skeleton beside him—named Maru.
To officially keep him, register at the Awakener Center.
Nothing fancy: just notify if you had summoning powers like a summoner or spirit user.
Government law to prevent hunter crimes. Skipping it made walking with a skeleton like this illegal.
"Just register and bounce."
Probably as a necromancer.
Shame he was strong—but a 1-star skeleton soldier.
F-grade hunter fodder here.
"Eh, still handy all around."
Handled all the housework.
And he wasn't the main event anyway.
The real deal was elsewhere.
"Hurry up and come, day I pick up the demon sword."
The one Celia offered as tribute.