It's Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

* * *

The battle between Copzerin’s senior knights and the abominations grew increasingly fierce.

The overall situation was such that although the knights were pushing back the zombies, there were already considerable sacrifices on the knights’ side.

“Die-!”

-Mueokitgaam!!!

“Kuaaak!!”

Because their bodies were inherently smaller, they were somewhat weaker in 1-on-1 combat compared to the abominations, and the sacrifices came from filling that gap with cooperation or throwing their bodies to defend their subordinate knights.

For every arm cut off, one knight would die as a sacrifice.

Considering that each knight was high-rank or well-trained formal-rank personnel, this alone would be quite a loss for the city.

The bigger problem was that those zombie giants still wouldn’t fall easily despite this.

Swish swish swish…

“Here it comes.”

And behind those giant zombies, mist was rolling in from above.

Mist tinted entirely red as if made by evaporating blood.

Its identity resulted from a vampire who didn’t spare magic power, expanding the ‘demon realm’ that should only be inside the dungeon to its limit, and simultaneously, the vampire’s blood magic spread in the form of mist.

At the same time.

-Fertilizer…

It was the signal announcing the arrival of Dungeon Lord Serica.

“That’s…!”

“A different enemy!”

It didn’t take long for people to notice the red mist covering the sky like a sunset.

Rather, it would be strange not to notice it as it covered such a large area.

-I need fertilizer.

“A mage…?”

“A girl? Where from…”

“No! It’s the Dungeon Lord! Everyone, get a grip!!”

The external appearance of Dungeon Lord Serica revealed like this had some similarities to me in some ways.

A dress with many frills, unlike the more modest dress she’s wearing now to come outside, and an appearance that looks like a girl at first glance because she’s quite small.

And the fact that she’s a powerful demon as a mage handling undead.

Lastly…

“Lady is prettier.”

-Tack!

“I wasn’t thinking that. Thank you, Xue. Eve. Ahem.”

Hmm.

According to Evangeline and Xue, she’s less pretty than me but still pretty, and there’s somehow an inhuman feeling from that appearance that resembles humans so much.

The difference would be that I’m dark, and that one is very flashy.

-Here. There are many children who will make good fertilizer. Many who will make good bonsai too.

Golden twin-tails, and red eyes.

It was literally an appearance that looked like it had popped out of a cartoon.

It’s ironic that the actually dark me lurks just before dawn is about to rise, while that flashy child greets the twilight.

“Mages assemble-!!!”

“Bring down the Dungeon Lord!!”

The humans’ goal is to completely set that brilliant star.

“What should we do? Master.”

“There’s no need to move hastily. Still, it’s about time we disappear from this battlefield.”

The request given to me is to somehow give that setting star that’s causing twilight a chance to greet another dawn.

Of course, there’s also the option of waiting until that decaying star sets on its own, then just chewing and swallowing it like a fruit or just handing over the corpse to the requesting family…

“Hardships are bitter, but their fruits are sweet.”

I was intentionally planning to choose the difficult path.

To ripen more fruits, more sweetly.

* * *

“Everyone. Make them components of my garden.”

As soon as the Dungeon Lord appeared and gave one childish-sounding order.

All demons started rampaging even more severely. No, not just rampaging, but actually becoming stronger.

-Kiyaaaak-!

Red light frosted over the zombies’ entire bodies, and their eyes became bloodshot before bursting, dyeing the entire whites of their eyes dark red.

Some even shed bloody tears, and the excessively elevated blood pressure and heat caused by that pressure created shimmering air above the zombies’ skin as blood vessels bulged conspicuously all over their bodies.

-Kiruroroyoot-!!!

Even greater changes occurred in the case of the greenskins that were originally in the wild before encountering the calamity of the berserk Lord. Their green skin instantly turned a murky black color.

As if all the blood color inside their skin had changed.

-Kihihihit-!

-Kruraak!!

Both zombies and greenskins moved faster, and their strength increased as well. The existing manic charge was also further ignited, propelled by that strength.

“Rise. Corrupted spirits.”

It didn’t end there.

-Groooak…

As magic power was poured out without reserve, corrupted beings arose from nature polluted by blood magic.

Natural beings that had been sealed and put to sleep by the vampire.

Earth and shadow spirits corrupted and summoned, aided by the affinity for land and shadows that commonly existed in these evil races from the beginning.

-Bones… to stone… flesh… to earth… blood… to river…

The earth spirit governing this mountain.

To describe its appearance, it was like a wild boar with short hind legs and long forelegs that could be used as hands. This being, resembling one of the main game animals of continental hunters, dyed its dark body bright red and opened the eye on its forehead that it usually kept closed.

An eye split long horizontally and vertically, filled with teeth in between.

Kiiiing-!!

“Kuaaak!!”

What was shot from there was a beam of light.

Fortunately, most people succeeded in avoiding or blocking it, but one unfortunate high-rank adventurer ended up getting hit.

Its effect was extremely simple.

“Save m…”

“No, Kylze!”

“He turned to stone!!”

“That’s the mountain spirit? That?”

It was petrification.

The third eye, which used to judge those who defied the mountain’s providence, began to exert the power to turn all life into mountain materials as its owner became corrupted.

-Do you… see… me…

What rose along with the mountain spirit was the spirit governing night and darkness that cared for the rest of all caves and creatures of that mountain.

However, if druids or diviners with powers close to nature saw her current appearance now, the stronger their talent, the more shocked they would have been.

Her current appearance was much more degenerated than the mountain spirit’s.

As she possessed qualities closer to the essence of vampires, she had become even more corrupted into a grotesque form.

-The abyss… is watching… you…

The giant wings said to cover the sky and bring night in legends had differentiated into tentacles and touched the ground.

The eyes that always gently watched over the dreams and lives of sleeping young lives like a mother of ten thousand lives had become compound eyes split into ten parts, selecting lives to become nature’s sacrifices.

-You shall… sleep.

Swish…!

“Sehera? …Her? Are you joking?”

The shade she used to cast for comfort had now become a curtain of eternal rest that takes away life.

If those caught in her grasp weren’t rescued in time, countless people would vanish in vain right here and now.

“They’ll make good fertilizer…”

-…

Thus, floating in the sky and casting ominous power towards the ground, one life and two spirits generally called elite-rank.

Of course, the Copzerin side had also prepared their next move.

“…”

“Ah… This sucks. At a time when I should be rolling around in bed…”

“Shut up and move.”

A silent mature female mage, a foul-mouthed male swordsman, and an equally rough but somewhat younger female archer.

Jin Kyung, Alexis, Linsia.

These three were the most famous elite-rank adventurers currently making a name for themselves in Copzerin.

Considering that most adventurers above elite rank usually operate at the borders with demon realms, they were the most powerful adventurers currently available in the city.

Naturally, because of this, they were the adventurers who received the city’s request first, and also because of this, they couldn’t refuse that request.

Fleeing from the city’s crisis would be tantamount to throwing away all the fame they had built up until now.

“Ah… Fuck. Is this right? No matter how I look at it, those rotten pigs seem much easier…”

“…”

“That’s true.”

These three people were not comrades.

People with personalities as bad as theirs usually fill their parties with subordinate companions below elite rank who would accommodate them, and raise them while thinking about going to the demon realm vicinity, rather than forming parties with people who wouldn’t accommodate each other.

If one had to say, two of them needed people who would accommodate their personalities, and the remaining one needed someone to take care of them.

“I should be spanking my pretties’ bottoms…”

“…”

“Fuck. Shut up, it’s disgusting.”

“Yes yes yes.”

Anyway, they actually had parties tailored specifically for them.

They had just formed a temporary party among themselves now to deal with the berserk high-rank Dungeon Lord, and to prevent the death of party members they had deep relationships with.

Now that the city’s knights had rushed out first to deal with the abominations, they were the only ones left to stop the Dungeon Lord and spirits.

-I’ll go first.

“Hup…!”

The first to move was Jin Kyung, who had been silent all along, not the two who seemed impatient.

After conveying her intentions to the other two through message magic, she drew in her breath without waiting for a reply.

-From the land of eternal frost, winds that will freeze even darkness and lightning that will shatter everything shall come-!!

Words spewed out at once without taking a single breath.

If someone who didn’t know the situation saw this, they might wonder what kind of skit this was, but the phenomenon that followed was not a small play but an entire opera.

All sorts of natural phenomena and magical distortions as actors, under the direction of the mage, create a performance on the stage of the red sky presided over by the vampire.

Crack…!!

Rumble!!!

On that stage, two actors named Icey Gale and Lightning Storm raised their voices against each other, heightening their presence.

And each struck down one audience member with their voice.

-Kuaaak!!!

-Kaak!!!

The mountain and darkness spirits in the forms of a wild boar and crow moved with a roar.

The mountain wrapped its body around the vampire, and darkness spread its tentacles, which were wings, to drape a curtain connecting them. The curtain protected not only them but also the vampire.

Swish…!

Darkness moved softly to receive the attack.

But true to that movement, it couldn’t deflect it.

Crack…!!

-Kaaa…!!

Boom!!

The darkness froze and cracked, and lightning tore through it.

The supporting fire launched by the adventurers afterwards struck the spirits’ main bodies visible beyond that, and when darkness and mountain staggered.

“This is it!”

Swoosh!!

“Ha.”

Swish!

Alexis and Linsia shot their sword strikes and arrows infused with their own magic power.

Towards the vampire slightly revealed in between.

“You stupid and inferior humans…!”

The reason the vampire had waited until then was not because she couldn’t do anything.

It was due to aristocratic arrogance.

“You dare show your ugly faces to cute and pretty me?!”

Swish!!

Along with her narcissistic statement, her elongated nails tore through her sleeves and both arms in self-harm, and the blood that gushed out instantly covered the vampire’s arms, revealing hideous reinforced gauntlets.

Of course, the translucent wings that had been faintly spread in the sky until just now became even darker as they absorbed blood.

Crack!!

Bang!

She crushed the sword strike and swatted away the sniper shot. It was an intense movement that didn’t match her outward appearance.

“Whew! Tough one! I don’t know who’s uglier. Look at those red eyes!”

“Focus!”

“I am!”

Alexis, Linsia, and Jin Kyung each exerted their powers to lift their bodies into the air and approach the vampire.

The situation was even.

It was because although the three adventurers had weaker output, the spirits, even though they had gained more power as they became corrupted, were currently unable to exert their abilities.

It was the effect of long sealing.

“Don’t retreat!! If you retreat here, you might all end up on the streets right away!!”

Thus, on the ground, two knights pushed back the vampire’s army along with their troops.

-Kyaoo!!

-Kuaaak!!

In the sky, the battle continued between the corrupted spirits with huge bodies led by the Dungeon Lord and the three adventurers supported by mages.

“Miss Angelita…?”

None of them noticed.

Swish.

Two black figures hidden in the shadows crossing the center of the battlefield.