"That's enough, Loen, save your mana," the swordsman Rowd told.
"The hell, man! That was so cool! Sorry I'm not being much of use," the scout Vaiz said.
"Don't worry, Vaiz, combat is our specialty after all. And wasn't it you who detect their presence in the first place?" Rowd replied.
"What was that? The animals were trying to ambush us?" the mage Loen said in disbelief.
"... And retreat once the situation become unfavorable. It's not a strategy of a new dungeon, the dungeon consciousness must be quite intelligent. Be careful, they will come again," Rowd remarked.
"Do you think it happens because it has absorbed Mahza's son's corpse?" Loen asked
"Very possible. But isn't it good? We may find the
I saw the trio moved from the massacre field while thinking on what to do next. I decided Loen was too dangerous to be left alone, eliminating him would be the top priority.
(Uh, to think I lost more than a third of my force in that one. Let see... In the RPGs I used to play, adding a poison status is the most effective way against human type enemy. The units with poison are... spiders and centipedes. I'll go with that.)
After I turned the dead animals into light particles and absorbed them, I went ahead of the raiders and made a necessary preparation. This time I would only used a smaller animals to avoid detection. Except the snails. Since I didn't think I could use them to attack, I had them filled the sacrificial distractor roles instead. My preparation was finished just in time before our enemies appeared from the corner.
“What is it this time? Snails? Disgusting, there are so many of them.
*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
"Stop it, you want to kill us too?" Vaiz complained after the smoke from the burn made them hard to breath.
It was all happened in an instant but enough for my insect army to move. I had countless mosquitoes, centipedes and spiders attacked from behind the smokescreen. Some were flying, others were jumping down from the ceiling and walls and the rest were crawling on the floor. They made their way to bit their targets and inject as many poison as possible.
“Do something Loen! Use a wind to blo- Why are you firing fireballs!?” Vaiz shouted while kept on slashing the air with his dagger.
"Shut up! I'm a
"Get Down!" Rowd exclaimed and the other two ducked right away. He released the wind that had gathered around his sword's blade towards where his friends were standing a moment ago, creating a small tornado that swept most of the animals and the smoke, before finally hit the wall and caused a small quake and falling rubles.
I sent another wave with flies and cockroaches before they could recover, however it didn't go as planned either.
It was Rowd. He swung his broadsword with mana imbued, causing a burst of wind that blew my second wave away.
"Argh!" Loen groaned. "My body is all itchy. And hurts. Ugh!" he said while frantically trying to scratch all over his body.
Rowd casually shot another burst of wind towards both Vaiz and Loen. "Calm down. That amount of poison won't kill you. Just ignore them for now and proceed faster to the next room. Vaiz, lead the way," he commanded.
Ignoring the poison effect, the three run through the corridor while avoiding the arrow traps and pitfalls. The rats that were ambushing also be decimated easily. Finally they reached the third room.
The trio took a rest in the middle of the room where my creatures couldn't reach them without them noticing. They cleaned their clothes and bodies from the remaining spiders and centipedes and drank antidotes.
It was frustrating to see my every plan ended up with failure. And since they had reached this far, my time was very limited until they reached the last room where the heart was located.
I understood I was lacking a firepower. It was as Rowd said, I couldn't kill them. All because I lacked firepower. The one I thought as my strongest animals and should be able to inflict most damage, the rats, were almost annihilated without being able to deliver any.
I scanned through the options I could think of.
(Let see. What're my options?
(One, spawn more animals. However, it's very costly. And all available animals have proven ineffective.
(Second, breed the animals. It's less costly than option one but takes time, which I don't have at the moment. Even though I should be able to speed up the process, will it be fast enough? And as option one, the animals have been proven ineffective.
(Third, hmm, evolve the animals into monsters? Ah, forget it. None of the animals have monster core yet, it'll be costly AND takes time.
(Then, fourth. Uh, what is option four? Spawn more traps? No, they're useless.
(Fifth... Ah, I can create a dungeon lord, can't I? This option should give me the highest survival chance. However it will cost me a 6,000 mana points. Since I spent most of my mana points for the corridors and the traps before, even after I reabsorbed the dead animals, I still deficit more than 4,000 mana points. Where can I get that much of amount within the limited time?
(Uh, thinking too much makes my head hurts. Even though I no longer have a head.
(!! That's right! It's just like when the dungeon consciousness attacked me. If I use a mind attack simultaneously with the animals, I can turn the table! Let's give it a try first.)
...
...
(Not good. It seems there is no effect. Even though I can use it on the dungeon consciousness before, why can't I use it against my invaders?)
...
(Isn't there anything I can use? Think! Something! Anything!
(...!
(The ward!
(Of course, the ward father left to make sure no animals disturb my body. Ah, it's still there, good. And I can move them too.
(Let see... It's actually set to affect animals only. But if I tune it here... And here... Done! It will only affect creatures with humans intelligent level from now on.)
*Ding!*
(A notification?)
Requirements meet. New trap is acquired!You can now create Mind-disturber trap.
Mind-disturber trapA trap that causes a disorientation to every sentient within its range.Effect radius10 meters.TriggerA sentient enters 5 meters radius.
(I see. So the ward is recognized as a type of trap, isn't it?
(This one should be better than the too-easy-to-disarm arrow trap from before, and with the same cost too.
(Alright.
(Now for the attacking animals. Frogs, ants and moths are amongst that still have a large numbers.
(Leaving aside the non-poisonous frogs, as they are almost as useless as the snails, ants are the only one that can hurt them, aren't they?
(No, that is understatement. Ants are strong enough to prey even much a bigger animals than humans. All they need is swarming their prey and it's my job to make sure they can do that.)
I returned my attention to my invaders and found not only they had resumed their march but also had progressed far in the third corridor, in the later half of it.
I moved the tuned ward, now called Mind-disturber trap, and the animals ahead of them and positioned everything. Then it began. The three lost their balance and had difficulty to stand properly when the trap was activated.
"My head! What is this sudden headache!?"
Only Rowd stayed calm in such situation, showing his quality as a seasoned adventurer. "Be careful," he warned.
What followed was thousands of ants swarming the place, leaving no single empty space on the floor.
"Wha-! Loen couldn't finish his word as a moth entered his throat. Not only moths, but also numerous flies and mosquitoes survivors joined the party. Ants crawled all over the three bodies, entering every hole they could find and causing the bodies' owners to scream in agony with their bites and stings. Loen was the first to fall. As a mage his physical was the weakest after all. Soon Vaiz also fell to his knee, with his side rested to the wall. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Only Rowd stood still. The covered-by-ants figure raised his covered-by-ants broadsword and thrusted it down. A shockwave with him as the center blasted his surrounding and blew the insects away. (Ah, yes, I expect this much. You just won't die obediently, will you?) Rowd shook off the numerous dead ants from his body before he turned to his comrades. "Vaiz, are you okay?" he checked the closer Vaiz's condition. "Ha ha... Rowd, your face is swollen and full of red dots," Vaiz replied weakly. Seeing his friend could still joke around, he let a relief sigh. "Same with you," he grinned. "What about you, Lo- HEY!! -Ugh! GET LOST!!" Loen was being dragged by a dozen of rats and bats. Seeing that, Rowd was trying to help, but several bats quickly obstructed his way. The winged beasts refused to be driven away easily, forcing Rowd to cut them to half one by one. He then pursued with his unbalanced steps. However, after a turn, hundreds of frogs were welcoming him by leaping over, causing him to fall on his butt. As he was trying to stand, he saw something he would never forget for the rest of his life. Loen who was struggling while being dragged and a rat that was forcing its way to enter his mouth. What following after was a convulsion accompanied by a voiceless scream and a burst of blood from his mouth and nose. Then the rat, covered by blood, came out from the mouth and rejoined the dragging of the now motionless limb. “NOOO!! Rowd cried. He tried to move yet the frogs wouldn’t let him go. He tried to get rid of them but they were so persistence. He strove, only to see Loen disappeared behind a turn. “NOOO!!” Fueled by his anger, Rowd overcame his weakened state. He reached his sword buried under numerous frogs and grabbed it, smashing many of the amphibies in the process. He gathered his mana and wind started to swirl around him. Getting faster and faster, bringing in all the surrounding creatures. He pointed his sword forward and the gale began to focus around the blade, before he finally shot it out. A tornado swept the third corridor with a loud swoosh, making the rubles to fall when it was bouncing at the turn and making its way through. (Uwaah, what a terrific power. But it actually helps me. Even though Loen has died, I can’t absorb him until a minimum distance from an outsider is reached, and he was kind enough to increase the distance.) “Rowd!” Vaiz called. He appeared from behind, walking slowly while holding to the corridor wall. "Vaiz, we need to retrieve Loen back," Rowd said. He forced himself forward and almost fell if not for his sword holding him. He hasten his steps as he was leaving the Mind-disturber range area. However, it was already too late when he reached Loen's place. Loen’s limbs and the scattered remnants of the animals had begun turning into light particles. Soon after I could feel my mana increased drastically. (Let see... I got 2,650 mana points from the mage alone, yet he has magical items that can be converted to mana points as well.) I chose yes to convert and got additional 4,150 mana points from magic staff x1 @800 mana points, magic ring x2 @ 500 mana points, mana recovery potion x4 @250 mana points, health recovery potion x5 @250 mana points and tattered mage robe x1 @100 mana points. Together with mana from the absorbed animals, my mana point had been boosted to 10,710. I could now afford a dungeon lord and still had a surplus. Just in case, I checked my raiders again before anything else. They were resting in the place where I had absorbed Loen, drinking what I recognized as health recovery potions and antidotes. Even if I wanted to give them more trouble, my animals army had been crushed to the extent they might extinct from my dungeon. It was better to leave the two alone, for now. I then used (Ah, I can choose my race? From the explanation, it seems I can choose one of the race in my dungeon and my Dungeon Lord will be a superior version of it. (In the case, why is there 'humans' mixed in the race choice? (Was it because I originally a human? (Anyway, what should I choose? (If I consider the physical strength and agility, rats is probably the better choice, isn't it? Or should I pick bats which can fly? (However, it's possible that I will need time to adapt with my new body. (Dungeon Lord is the vessel for dungeon consciousness after all. In other word, my body. (Then, isn't it better to choose what I'm most familiar with? Even though it's not the strongest. (And it seems I can change my Dungeon Lord's race later on.) Thus I choose humans. Mana began to gather in front of my dungeon heart, swirling around forming a condensed mist. Then I felt my consciousness was being pulled into it. An image of the older version of my human self appeared, a blur at first but rapidly became more vivid. When I opened my eyes, I already inside a human body. *Ding!* Requirements meet. New skill is acquired!You can now use *Ding!* Requirements meet. New skill is acquired!You can now use *Ding!* Requirements meet. New skill is acquired!You can now use (Ah, I got three skills. Hmm, the last two seems derived from I tried to move my hands and legs, there wasn't any noticeable problem. I tried to walk, all was good. Then the stone door to my chamber were pushed open. What appeared from behind it was two worn out adventurers I already familiar with. "What the hell, man! There is somebody insi- Rowd?" "Who are you?" Rowd, after stopping Vaiz's spontaneous blabbering, asked me. His eyes were full of bloodshot and hatred. (Is he angry because I killed his friend? That's good. Because I too am very angry for what they have done to father and my dungeon.) "Me? I'm the Dungeon Lord."