Dungeon Maker

Instead of answering, Yong-ho mimicked Gusion's expression.

Alarmed, Gusion gnawed his teeth and rummaged through his pocket.

"Man, here you are."

It was his letter to Scathach.

Upon receiving the sealed letter, Yong-ho smiled warmly. He was not sure whether it was because of the power of greed or his illusion, but he felt Gusion's sincerity in the letter.

"Gusion."

"Why?"

"I just called you. I think you're a better guy than I think."

Gusion's expression turned bizarre. Yong-ho laughed like Skull and stood up with Catalina.

It seemed like the two relied on each other.

"Let's go, Catalina."

"Yes, Master."

She quickly responded and nodded with a joyful expression. Her tail fluttered pleasantly.

Yong-ho and Catalina moved out of Gusion's sight. Watching them silently, Gusion muttered with mixed feelings, "I wonder if I am right in describing them as Master and Elune… Well, Elune was more ferocious anyway."

He spoke with longing and joy as well as wistfulness mixed in his voice.

Aamon didn't respond, and Gusion did not want his response.

Taking out a cigar and putting it in his mouth, Gusion kept saying wistfully, "I really miss our lord."

Even now, when he closed his eyes, he remembered clearly the last time he looked at the king's back.

[Let me go back now, Gusion.]

Aamon's voice was also trembling. Smiling at him once, Gusion slightly stuck out a cigar in his mouth, and Aamon scattered the flames of the red lotus in the air with a smile. One of the small embers lit his cigar.

Aamon disappeared. Yong-ho and Catalina were no longer visible.

But Gusion did not turn. Standing still, he was puffing out the smoke. Then he recalled the distant past.

***

[It's really bad for my heart!]

[Do you know how anxiously I am waiting for you every time you go to the arena?]

[You get disconnected to me suddenly then it takes a few hours to connect to you again!]

[If you think I like you because you have come back much stronger, you're mistaken! Awesome! The dungeon's mana has been greatly enhanced along with the control!]

[What am I saying now?]

[Anyway, it's not good for my heart!]

As soon as Yong-ho got out of the arena, something like Lucia's nagging or affectionate complaints kept pouring down like rain.

Making a sorry expression at her voice full of worry, Yong-ho laughed silly at her continuing chattering.

'Come to think of it, isn't Lucia's whole body her heart? Then, what's bad for the heart means that it's also bad for her whole body, right?'

Yong-ho stopped being a bit delusional about her and raised his head again.

Catalina looked at him with a worried expression. Since she couldn't hear Lucia's voice, it was natural that she thought his action was strange because he suddenly giggled as soon as he turned around the arena.

He stroked her hair again then said emphatically to clear her suspicion, "Did you say I became so strong?"

[Of course! Maybe you can take full control of the first basement floor.]

[I'm sure you can. Definitely!]

[What happened at the arena?]

Lucia was usually psyched but even so today. She seemed so because she underwent a sudden growth.

Although he couldn't see it, he could feel it. Obviously, the heart of the dungeon grew one step further. The images of Lucia in his head also changed from a young girl to a girl in the mid-to-late teens, who looked like an adult now.

Instead of explaining, he pointed his finger at the center of his forehead. As he withdrew mana to hide the horns, what he touched at the tip of his fingers was his smooth forehead, but Lucia could discern it.

[Fifth horn!]

[Oh my God! My master has a fifth horn!]

There was a marked gap between the second and third horns. And the gap widened as the number of horns increased.

So, it was natural that Lucia grew up, and that Catalina had a fourth horn.

Yong-ho's growth this time was so dramatic.

"Anything unusual while I was in the arena?" He asked.

[No, but something unusual happened yesterday.]

[Dungeon spirit Eligos's mana has become stronger.]

[I can't confirm the current status of the dungeon spirits Skull and Ophelia because they are in the dungeon of the House of Randolt, but it is clear that they have also changed… Oh my God!]

"Lucia?"

Lucia could not immediately answer his call. Only shortly afterward did she respond emotionally.

[A fourth horn has sprung out of Ophelia, the dungeon spirit!]

Finally, Ophelia has a fourth horn.

"Wow, numerous happy events in a row."

Yong-ho smiled happily then told Catalina briefly about it since she was curious about what was going on. Even Catalina was so happy about Ophelia's fourth horn, but her expression was rather strange. Moreover, the way she touched the upper part of her ears was also unnatural.

Only then did he find out what was on her mind. So, while brushing her hair, he told Lucia, "Catalina also has four horns."

[Wow, really?]

[I'm thrilled because everyone has suddenly become strong!]

Yong-ho's expression represented Lucia's reaction. Catalina, who wanted to show off her four horns, slightly bit her lower lip to hide her satisfied smile.

He stroked Catalina's hair again and let out a long sigh. Since he was psyched in one way or another, he forgot he was still in bad shape.

Lucia asked again in a worried tone.

[Master, are you okay? You look very tired.]

He didn't deny it flatly. Leaning against Catalina slightly, he said to Lucia, "Tell Eligos to come here, no, to Scathach's room on the first basement floor. Catalina and I will also move there."

[Okay.]

[Don't overwork yourself. Please wait where you are now.]

[I'll call Clay Golems in the training ground to come here. Sometimes it would be nice to use something to ride on, right?]

She insisted rather than inviting him to do so.

Yong-ho nodded gently again this time.

"Sure, please."

Yong-ho sat with Catalina on the sofa in Kaiwan's lounge.

How long did they wait? Soon, Clay Golems appeared, making a thumping noise.

***

"What a mess you are!"

Scathach, standing clockwise, spoke to Yong-ho with a bitter smile.

Yong-ho, who was held in Clay Golems elegantly, smiled bitterly.

Lucia was currently trying to take over the entire first floor of the Labyrinth of Greed.

So, Yong-ho directly ordered the golems to put him and Catalina down.

Eligos wasn't seen yet because he was still coming down.

Watching the Clay Golems waddling out of the Garden of Life, Scathach cast her gaze at Yong-ho and Catalina again.

"Well, I don't need your explanation. Okay, you need recovery first. Take a deep breath and relax."

Yong-ho and Catalina gently followed her instruction.

Right after he breathed out, Yong-ho suddenly felt naked.

"Scathach?!"

He didn't even finish talking. When Scathach beckoned lightly, all his clothes including his underwear were removed.

In a strange sense of liberation, Yong-ho knew what he had to do. But it was too late.

The moment he rolled his eyes to the side, this time, a fresh blue liquid wrapped around his body. It was the same for Catalina, who was sitting next to Yong-ho.

Scathach touched the air again. Then, Yong-ho and Catalina's clothes were folded and placed neatly on the floor.

"How about it? You feel so comfortable that you don't even want to resist, right?"

With his whole body buried in a blue liquid mass and only his head sticking out, he nodded instinctively. He wanted to deny it, but he felt really comfortable. Catalina moaned pleasantly with her eyes closed.

Yong-ho felt so comfortable as if he was bathing in hot spring water. He felt like all the fatigue in his body was washed away.

And that wasn't the only effect. The blue liquid, which could be called the vitality of Scathach, the Immortal Witch, breathed new power into them. It also affected their souls, too.

"It's extremely significant that the demons have one more horn. What I mean is you should not be content with the fact that your mana has become strong."

Scathach approached him. Part of the blue liquid from the floor entwined her legs.

"Elune even described one more horn as 'rebirth'. I agree with it to some extent because it's not your appearance that changes. Your essence can be changed. And this change becomes greater as the number of horns increases."

Yong-ho could feel something about Scathach. His feeling was similar to what he felt about his dungeon spirits Catalina and Eligos.

"It seems that both of you overworked yourselves. You seem to have consumed a lot of mana right away as soon as you got another horn. But you will be in big trouble. So, you had better refrain from repeating it next time."

Yong-ho could not help but laugh awkwardly at her words. Obviously, he must have been crazy enough to use up the power of evolution during the battle.

"Oh my gosh, I think I was nagging too long. Don't speak ill of me later!"

She was kind and gentle, which was different from Lucia's.

It was unthinkable to speak ill of Scathach, who smiled as lovingly as a mother.

Yong-ho pointed to the floor with a glance.

"Rummage through the inner pocket of my jacket. You'll find a letter from Gusion."

Scathach's expression immediately brightened.

"Thank you as always."

"You're welcome."

Smiling shyly, she took Gusion's letter. Normally, she would have opened the seal of the letter and started reciting it to Yong-ho, but she didn't today.

Looking at the letter lovingly for a moment, she quickly poised herself and faced Yong-ho again.

"I want to read it right now, but I have a lot to do today. In particular, I have something to tell you, little master."

Her voice was still sweet. But her eyes were a little different from before.

Yong-ho recalled what Aamon had said before he left the arena.

'Scathach has something to tell you.'

Why was it now? Was it because he had five horns?

"You know that Brigada and the Seven Godly Energies were the fragments of the Demon King's flesh, right?"

She started by asking him. Yong-ho nodded because he experienced various things since he got Brigada.

The Absolute Power that didn't exist anymore.

Some said that the Demon King was the true creator of the demon world, and others said he was just a symbolic mass of power.

No one could affirm which was more true. However, no one could deny the "fact" that the Demon King existed.

The Seven Deadly Sins, the fragments of the spirit of the Demon King.

The Seven Godly Energies, the fragments of his flesh.

Brigada, the remnant of the Demon King and God's metal, who didn't have Godly Energy.

Scathach now started to mention Godly Energy, which was not the Seven Deadly Sins, and Brigada.