Lord: Sequence Master

"Just how many Deception Demons are there?"

After Rosen stealthily killed another Sequence 8 Deception Demon, disguised as a Catfolk, he frowned in frustration. Since entering the Deception Lair, he had already slain over a dozen of these demons. Yet, not a single real Catfolk had been spotted—only more and more Deception Demons.

The overwhelming number of demons was manageable for someone like him, but any other Sequence 8 adventurer group would likely struggle to clear this dungeon. Something felt off.

Rosen deployed his Self-Portrait Clone, alongside his main and secondary spirit pets. He also summoned several characters from his Void Gallery to sweep the lair. After half an hour, as he stared at the hundreds of Deception Demon corpses littering the ground, Rosen paused in deep thought.

Something was wrong. He could feel it, but he couldn't quite pinpoint the issue.

Just as he racked his brain, an intense, searing pain ripped through his chest. His heart was being gripped by an invisible hand, then brutally torn out through a wound in his back. Blood surged out, painting the ground in crimson streaks.

Before Rosen could react, his Self-Portrait Clone appeared in front of him, holding his still-beating heart, taking a grotesque bite out of it.

Rosen's world went dark as he collapsed, dead before he could fully comprehend what had happened.

The Self-Portrait Clone smirked, mocking his lifeless body. Another unfortunate soul, taken by deception. After consuming the heart, the clone prepared to hunt down the rest of the Catfolk.

But then, a sharp, agonizing pain coursed through the clone's own chest. It recoiled, dropping its Deception Demon disguise, revealing its true form.

At the same moment, Rosen's body slowly rose from the ground, his being enveloped in blazing spiritual energy. His Angel's Blessing Card had been activated. Behind him, an Angel Beast appeared, gently exhaling a healing wind over his torn flesh.

Half of Rosen's spiritual energy was depleted as his body was restored—his heart regenerated, and his blood, scattered on the ground, was purified and returned to him.

"I nearly died for real…" Rosen muttered, still shaken. He glanced at the writhing Deception Demon, realizing that this Deception Lair was not an ordinary Sequence 8 dungeon. Despite his Mind Canvas, his powerful spiritual awareness, and even Freddy's Nightmare Control, all of which gave him resistance against spiritual manipulation, he had been deceived right from the start.

Everything—the dead Deception Demons, his summoned Self-Portrait Clone, even his spirit pets—had been illusions. His memories had been tampered with, making him forget essential survival methods like using his Adventurer Badge to locate the Catfolk. It wasn't until the moment of his "death" that he realized the extent of the deception.

The Deception Demon that had torn out his heart had to be at least a Sequence 6 Intelligent Demon. Most demons in the Dungeon Kingdom were artificially spawned from a demon god's power, rarely gaining intelligence. But this one was an exception, far more dangerous than the dungeon's description suggested.

Rosen summoned his Nightmare Slime, which lunged forward, devouring the Deception Demon. At the same time, his Gluttony Beast, housed within his heart, attacked from within the demon's body.

The Deception Demon was trapped, being consumed from both the inside and the outside.

Rosen used his Adventurer Badge to locate the real Catfolk, extending his spiritual senses through the inner spaces of his spiritual paintings. He saw the Sequence 9 Catfolk continuing to fight and kill Sequence 9 Deception Demons—this time, their kills were real.

Two hours later, the struggling Deception Demon inside the Nightmare Slime finally died. An hour after that, the Nightmare Slime finished digesting the demon, except for one indigestible object, which it spat out.

Rosen picked up the object—a crystallized drop of blood.

He didn't recognize it immediately, but Graymouse, excited beyond measure, jumped forward. "This is… demon god blood! No, wait…" Graymouse corrected itself. "It's not pure demon god blood, but it's a mutation. This Deception Demon must have devoured so many hearts, including those of its own kind, that the demon god's power in its body mutated."

Rosen understood. The monsters in the dungeon were manifestations of the demon god's power, all sharing the same origin. This particular Deception Demon had consumed so many hearts that it mutated, gaining intelligence and a powerful bloodline resembling that of a demon god's descendant.

He carefully stored the extraordinary bloodline crystal, aware of its immense value.

This time, Rosen conducted a proper sweep of the Deception Lair, making sure no Deception Demon was left alive. Over the course of a full day, he and his team systematically exterminated every last one.

After killing the final demon, a Dungeon Chest materialized in front of him—one of the unique rewards of the Dungeon Kingdom. When dungeon monsters died, their bodies either remained or dissipated. The ones that dissipated became treasure or new dungeon seeds.

Legend had it that when the demon god was sealed, a Sequence 0 Hunter left behind his Hunting Divinity, which is why dungeon chests often contained loot orbs—rewards typically acquired only by high-level hunters.

Rosen eagerly opened the chest, hoping for a worthy reward after such a harrowing ordeal. Inside, three glowing orbs of light awaited him.

Rosen crushed the familiar orbs and examined the three items they contained: a skill crystal, ten units of spiritual crystals, and an extraordinary artifact.

The skill crystal held the ability Sequence 6: Illusory Deception, a skill that makes targets deceive themselves with their own illusions. It was this very power that had trapped Rosen, causing him to believe he was encountering Deception Demons disguised as Catfolk, leading to his near-fatal experience when one of them tore out his heart.

Rosen was tempted by the skill. With the Hunter Sequence, he could master Illusory Deception by converting it into a Hunter Skill Crystal. The unique thing about dungeon chest skill crystals is that they aren't restricted to specific sequences, making them free skill crystals, highly coveted by many extraordinary beings who ventured into the Dungeon Kingdom solely to acquire them.

Rosen stored the skill crystal and spiritual crystals before turning his attention to the third item: a small, pitch-black crystal orb.

This was the extraordinary artifact, a Sequence 6 item, something Rosen could barely refine at his current Sequence 7 level.

[Deception Orb: Extraordinary Artifact]

Level: Sequence 6Attributes: The orb contains the divine power of deception, greatly enhancing deception-based abilities.Divine Power: Self-Deception—This allows the user to deceive themselves, temporarily making illusions seem real.Negative Effect: Non-demonic users gradually lose the ability to distinguish between reality and illusion.

Initially pleased, Rosen was unsurprised by the negative effect. The higher the level of an extraordinary artifact, the stricter its restrictions. Lower-sequence artifacts were weaker but carried fewer negative side effects. Rosen knew that using the Deception Orb would be risky unless he refined it into a Hunter-exclusive artifact by hunting a Sequence 6 being—a difficult task.

After some thought, Rosen retrieved three items from his Divine Library: the Illusory Deception skill crystal, the Deception Demon's extraordinary bloodline, and the Deception Orb. As he expected, the Mainframe Computer immediately reacted, its network cables entangling the items, extracting divine power from the bloodline and the orb, and infusing it into the skill crystal, causing a transformation.

While Rosen had anticipated gaining a divine-level skill, the Mainframe's cables unexpectedly extended toward his Nightmare Slime. Instantly, the extraordinary bloodline within the Nightmare Slime began to boil. Moments later, the slime forcibly advanced from Sequence 8 to Sequence 7.

Concerned, Rosen checked the Nightmare Slime through their Nightmare Chain bond and noticed a new innate ability:

[Greed LV3: Can forcibly seize any extraordinary element below Sequence 3.]

"Gluttony and Greed..." Rosen mused thoughtfully. Gluttony had already manifested as part of the slime's abilities, but now Greed, another of the Seven Deadly Sins, had emerged. The items absorbed by the Nightmare Slime had somehow awakened this latent power.

Rosen speculated that the Nightmare Slime's extraordinary bloodline, which he had purchased earlier, likely came from a demigod-level creature or had been altered by someone attempting a failed demigod ascension. The activation of Greed suggested a deeper, more ancient power hidden within the slime.

With this newfound power, Greed not only accelerated the digestion of Gluttony, but also allowed Rosen to bypass the sequence restrictions on extraordinary items. Greed made him more efficient in hunting and void-scavenging extraordinary items. Though its full potential required further exploration, Rosen knew he had gained a significant advantage.

After the final Deception Demon was slain and the dungeon cleared, Rosen led his group of Catfolk out of the Deception Lair. The unexpected danger had nearly cost him his life, but the rewards had proven worth the risk.

Upon returning to the Dungeon Kingdom's Adventurer City, Rosen promptly reported the situation at the Hunter Guild, presenting the remains of the Deception Demon leader to verify his claims. He learned that it wasn't unheard of for dungeon creatures to develop intelligence, though it was rare in a Sequence 8 dungeon like the Deception Lair.

With the dungeon's danger level adjusted and extra adventurer points awarded to his group, Rosen continued his conquest of two more Sequence 8 dungeons. Alongside the twenty Sequence 9 dungeons cleared by his five hundred retainers, Rosen's adventurer group finally advanced to Sequence 7.

Without delay, Rosen applied for the right to challenge a Sequence 7 dungeon. Unlike the lower-sequence dungeons, where the risk-to-reward ratio was often unbalanced, higher-sequence dungeons offered more valuable rewards. Fierce competition meant that groups often had to wait for their chance to enter.

However, Rosen didn't need to wait. Thanks to his group's recent advancement, the Hunter Guild granted him priority, allowing him to secure the right to tackle a Sequence 7 dungeon in just two days.