“Return!” My body disappeared, and I reappeared in my dungeon.

Yes, it was the boss room of the dungeon, not my mansion. Being the dungeon master had somehow caused the target of my Return to change once again. For whatever reason, I hadn’t unlocked the Dungeon Master job yet. Although, I had the slightly superior Dungeon Builder job. I suspected that return, or an ability like it, was a part of Dungeon Master. This way, a dungeon master could return to their dungeon should the boss’s room be breached.

I cursed at my bad luck as I looked around the room. After everything, the guy had still attacked me. How was I to guess that some dungeons held violent opinions toward the council? It was an entire culture built around dungeons, and I had only just touched the surface. Had all of this pressure been on Elaya’s shoulders before? She was the previous dungeon master. I had created the dungeon, but I had avoided all of this trouble before because I wasn’t technically the dungeon’s master.

“Hmm? Is the evolution complete?”

“It is, Master, and a bit ahead of schedule.”

I turned to see Elaya and Xin standing in the boss room, casually playing some kind of board game.

“Master, have you visited another dungeon? I can smell it on you.” Elaya asked.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Yes, I was in Gram’s Passage. The guy tried to take Alysia and kill me.” I frowned. “I had to leave the others behind. I don’t know if they are alright.”

If he killed them, there was still a chance. I could resurrect people from within the dungeon. Most priests didn’t resurrect people once they died in a dungeon. First off, the dungeon immediately started to eat away at the soul, so where a soul on the surface could last a month, a soul in a dungeon could only last days. It was dangerous for them too, as they weren’t fighters. It was also considerably more difficult as miasma interfered with the resurrection. You’d have to get close to where they died.

That didn’t affect me as much, thanks to my blessing-induced miasma immunity as well as my god soul and ability to make Portals. Thus, if I could return within a day or so, I could resurrect everyone that died. However, that meant that I did return, which was uncertain at the moment.

“He tried to take my Alysia!” Xin stood up, nearly knocking over the board as fury painted her face.

“My, my… it seems like this dungeon has pushed his luck.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “This guy is regrettably stronger than me.”

“Maybe the master is… but what is a master without his dungeon? Just because a king is less physically imposing than another king, what does that matter in a war between kingdoms?”

“You recently tamed that western dungeon, didn’t you?”

“You know about that?”

“Yes, there is a faint connection between that dungeon with our own. Once you gained his loyalty, you gained access to his lore and power. I noticed your victory. It’s part of the reason the dungeon evolution was finished so quickly.”

“Well, what about it?”

Elaya licked her lips. “I think it’s time we started a dungeon battle.”