SSS-Rank Overlord: Defend the Dungeon or Die

Chapter 351: Side Story 17

Only six survivors remained from the previous attacks. The dungeon soldiers had also suffered significant damage, but the real problem was food.

"What are we going to do now? Because the captain wasn’t paying attention, our last rations were stolen!"

"It’s over. He wasted two items at once. What are we supposed to do?"

"Damn it. I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him."

Cliff instantly became the target of their blame. With only three rooms left to clear, he ended up shouldering all the responsibility. Perhaps not having anticipated this situation himself, he trudged along with a devastated expression. Still, his will to live must have remained, as he silently activated the radar detection network.

’I’m going to go crazy. How did we end up in this situation?’

Even for a Transcendent, the basic needs of survival were inescapable. Darun advanced through the room with exhausted steps, plagued by a constant, gnawing thirst. A low growl echoed through the darkness. The dungeon soldiers attacked relentlessly.

And then—

"Aaaagh! S-save me. I don’t want to die—" A sickening gurgle cut off the plea.

The party’s numbers dwindled further. In his exhausted state, Darun could no longer protect the mercenaries and soldiers. Realizing this, he ultimately chose to survive alone.

’Since it’s come to this, to hell with the Imperial Army. I have to survive on my own somehow. Right, that bastard Cliff is still somewhat useful. I’ll make him use the rest of his items and use him as a meat shield.’

Given the circumstances, he threw away all his arrogance and pride. His biggest priority was surviving and returning to the Paslan Empire. The Dungeon Master of this place was no longer an opponent he could ignore.

But then—

"I shall dedicate this body to my Summon."

"They said you were a knight renowned for your swordsmanship. Let’s see what you’ve got."

Unfortunately, Darun had realized this fact too late. With the seventh room just ahead, two Main Force soldiers appeared before his eyes. The situation worsened even further due to these powerhouses, whose skills could never be evaluated as mere B-grade.

"Ugh. You bastards!"

"Man, as expected, since we received a penalty, all our skills have weakened."

"But the two of us are enough to stop him!"

The dungeon soldiers, having poured out almost all their combat power, trampled the remaining survivors. Meanwhile, the shield-bearer and swordsman—clearly Main Force soldiers—began to press Darun. Eventually, the exhausted Darun made a fatal mistake during the battle, forcing him to consume his last item—his only hope.

[Used the Save a Comrade Coin.]

[Darun is moved to Cliff’s location.]

The two men barely escaped with their lives. In a despair devoid of hope, they hastily chose to flee, but what they ultimately faced was the Dungeon Master.

"Hello. Good morning, isn’t it?"

Darun fell silent.

"Huh. You’ve given up already? Are you really a duke of the empire? Why are you so boring?"

Along with his light banter, the rest of the soldiers revealed themselves. Darun slumped down with a hollow expression.

’...To think I failed.’

It was an undeniable failure to conquer the dungeon.

---

[Thwarted the Paslan Empire Army’s attack.]

The defense had lasted a whopping six days. Taehyun had lost most of the soldiers he had summoned in advance, but by perfectly grasping the enemy’s psychology, he seized victory. And by capturing an A-Rank Hero, he was fully prepared to extract information.

"Summon. I’m glad I could be of help this time as well!"

"Haa. This is much better than following Regia van Noah around shopping. Call me often."

Arthur and Zighart had been summoned for the final battle. Although they couldn’t display their true skills due to restrictions, the two had excellently stopped Darun. Taehyun sent back Zighart and Arthur—who kept calling him "Summon, Summon"—early on, and then called for Riel separately.

"Oh my. It seems you’ve already stopped them?"

"This much is a piece of cake. Did you really think I couldn’t stop them? I’m a Demonic King, a Demonic King."

"Yes, yes. Of course you are. Anyway, why did you call me?"

"Ahem. I just happened to catch two suitable prisoners. I need you to do ’that’."

At his light gesture, Riel’s eyes sparkled. It was quite a shift from her sighing just a moment ago.

"If you mean ’that’, it’s ’that’, right?"

"Yeah. It’s ’that’."

"I knew it was ’that’."

"Yep. ’That’!"

Amidst the incomprehensible conversation, Arin tilted her head in confusion. Meanwhile, Riel gathered various tools and headed to the Underground Prison where the two prisoners were held. She let out a chilling laugh along the way, but only Taehyun knew the truth of what was to come.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the halls. That day, the screams from the Underground Prison never ceased. Before long, Cliff was grabbed by the soldiers and dragged into the room.

"P-please, don’t torture me anymore. I’ll tell you everything I know. So..."

"Now, now. Calm down, my friend. You still have plenty of chances, you know? Your life or death will depend on what you say. And shouldn’t speaking respectfully be a given?"

"Got it... No, I understand, sir!"

The mercenary captain began to confess everything as if he had become a completely different person. Whatever had happened in the basement, he answered every question faithfully with a face full of fear. Having acquired basic information about the imperial expeditionary force, Taehyun didn’t stop there and called Darun in.

"Duke Darun Solodos, you know your sins well, don’t you?"

"...Save me."

"What was that?"

"I said save me. I’m not meant to die here. They promised me eternal life!"

A Transcendent unable to exert his true abilities due to mana shackles. He was now nothing more than a human faithful to his base instincts. Having given up struggling due to Riel’s torture, Darun confessed everything he knew, naturally mentioning the Behemoth Cult that was controlling the Paslan Empire.

’A black magician named Balak. So the rifts are all their doing too.’

Finally, the cause of the rift in the basement was revealed. But more than that, the suspicion regarding the black magician who ordered Darun’s expedition amused Taehyun. With this, the fourth clause of his contract with the Creator would also be resolved. All that remained was to eradicate the root cause of the rifts completely.

"Then first, let’s try shaking up the empire... Hmm?"

Suddenly, the Crystal Sphere in his arms vibrated. As an exclusive communication device for Dimensional Travelers, it was a tool that only received calls from pre-set targets. Yet somehow, a call had come from a completely unexpected guy.

"What the... I’m busy as hell, who’s calling me?"

—"Cut the crap. Damn it. What are you doing?"

"Me? Same as always. Anyway, didn’t you say you went to track down the Cult of Dawn or whatever they’re called this time?"

—"I lost them just when I was about to catch them. God damn it. From the looks of it, they were forcibly moved to another dimension, but the problem is that it’s the destination of your next request. So I washed my hands of it early and gave up."

It was the request he had heard about from Seonghwi when he visited Paonir. If it was a closed dimension like Tainworth, it was impossible to enter without the Creator’s power. Taehyun picked his ear with an annoyed expression and replied.

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

—"It’s because I have nothing to do until the next request, you son of a bitch. Got any work on your end?"

"Oh boy. Now this Reaper bastard is trying to steal someone else’s job. Are you out of your mind?"

—"Hehehe. I have zero intention of stealing it. Just point me to someone I can take my anger out on."

Had he finally gone crazy? To think that a top-tier expert, counted among the top five Dimensional Travelers, was looking for someone to vent his anger on. It was a demand he simply couldn’t accept as a Demonic King. But that thought only lasted a moment.

[An unidentified entity has appeared at the dungeon entrance.]

His mind changed at the sight of a suspicious magician appearing on the screen.

"Wow. Come to think of it, there might be quite a few guys to deal with. Well then..."

—"That’s great news."

"It is great news."

The gloomy laughter of the two men echoed inside the cave. Unaware of this, the robed magician looked around the cave before disappearing.

---

’How could this be? There should have been a whopping 5,000 soldiers!’

It even included a duke who had made a name for himself across the continent. He had even roped in a mercenary company in advance just in case. Yet the Imperial Army had failed to conquer a mere B-grade dungeon.

’It shouldn’t be like this. We’re almost in control of the imperial family now, but of all people, one of the Four Great Dukes had to die. Just what is the true identity of that Dungeon Master!’

Balak, who had personally inspected the dungeon entrance, was beyond flustered. Anyone could see that the Imperial Army’s victory was a given, yet this was the result. Having suddenly suffered troop casualties, a part of their original plan was bound to go awry.

"I heard you called for me. What’s the matter, Balak?"

Just then, another black magician, a colleague, came to visit. Balak handed him the Crystal Sphere reflecting the dungeon’s image and said,

"The expeditionary force was defeated this time. And by a B-grade dungeon at that!"

"What do you mean? Didn’t Darun, one of the Four Great Dukes, go with them?"

"It seems he was defeated too. It doesn’t look like an ordinary B-grade dungeon."

"Hmm. Let’s convene all the black magicians and discuss this matter first."

Most of the black magicians were focusing their efforts on taking over the imperial family. Some were widely spreading the cult and gathering Demonic Energy through black magic. Because of this, it was difficult to gather their colleagues in one place, but for a problem like this, they would gather quickly. Balak also agreed with that opinion and nodded.

At that moment, mana swirled into the quiet room.

—"Ah, ah. Mic test. One, two. One, two. Can you hear me?"

A voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire room. The two black magicians panicked and looked up at the mirror floating in the air.

—"Urgh. S-save me."

—"Now, do you see these guys?"

"D-Duke Darun Solodos?!"

Two men were visible through the mirror. One of them was none other than the Transcendent of the Paslan Empire. The owner of the voice, who had covered his face in advance, took out an Exclusive Item and explained.

—"I caught them all."

The two black magicians were rendered speechless.

—"Because I used this."

The corners of his mouth rose beneath the mask. The man, who appeared to be the Dungeon Master, gestured as if sweeping his surroundings and smiled contentedly.

—"They all got caught."

"H-how dare a mere Dungeon Master!"

—"Do you guys want to pop too?"

"Ack!"

—"Nice and clean!"

Along with his incomprehensible monologue, the heads of the two captured prisoners exploded. Balak’s jaw dropped at the sight, which in some ways could be seen as even more cruel than the black magicians.

—"I’ll be visiting the Paslan Empire soon. Look forward to it."

With those final words, the mirror floating in the air disappeared. The two black magicians were dumbfounded by the unexpected declaration of war.

"To think he would declare war on our Behemoth Cult of all places. A mere B-grade Dungeon Master. He must be out of his mind to do that!"

"Convene the black magicians immediately," he ground out. "We must capture that arrogant bastard and use him as experimental material!"

"Of course. With the Demonic Energy we’ve gathered so far, subduing a guy like that will be simple."

Even if he was hiding his strength, there was nothing to fear once the Behemoth Cult stepped up in earnest. As his fellow black magician left the room, Balak, left alone, looked up at the empty space where the mirror had been.

"Whoever you are, you messed with the wrong people. In the end, you’ll be miserably begging for your life at my feet too. Just wait and see. Hehehe!"

The sight of the guy begging for his life was already flickering before his eyes. But then, a question suddenly arose about the voice he had heard through the mirror. For some reason, it was a familiar young man’s voice. Balak, who had been letting his imagination run wild, belatedly tilted his head.

’...It was a voice I’ve heard somewhere before. Nah, it couldn’t be.’

In the end, his question remained unresolved.