Chapter 200: Chapter 63. The Four-party Encounter (2)
Ufa… He was one of the Archdukes and a demon who had the title ‘Destroyer’. He had designed his dungeon as a castle and was reigning over it. He didn’t exert any effort to recreate his huge castle ‘Blennon’ from the Underworld.
Thanks to this, his dungeon always had a dreary atmosphere. The long displays of black armor, paintings, and swords that decorate the wall contributed to the spooky atmosphere.
Ufa was a fat man, and he had spiky hair. His eyes always sparkled, showing his persistent personality.
“I know one of you. Your name is Krithli, isn’t it?”
In front of him, two beings covered in dust stood. They were Krithli and Oswen. They visited Ufa’s dungeon as emissaries.
Krithli nodded her head slightly. She was not used to such a brash welcome, but Oswen seemed pretty relaxed.
“Hmm… And you are?” Ufa asked Oswen.
“My name is Oswen. We are here as Archduke Randalf Bruciel’s messengers.”
“You must be kidding!” Ufa laughed sarcastically. “‘Archduke’ Randalf Bruciel?”
Ufa seemed very displeased. He was sitting on a giant throne made of bones, rested his chin on his hand, and looked down on them.
Krr!
Kii!
A long red carpet extended down the stairs, and many kinds of drooling monsters lined up along it. As Ufa was in a foul mood, the monsters revealed their teeth to intimidate Oswen and Krithli. There were at least over 1,000 monsters, and each of them seemed like high grades.
Moreover, the temperature around Oswen and Krithli had also increased drastically. It was so hot that Krithli’s face turned red. Ufa was controlling the space where they were by only moving his finger.
Then Oswen, losing his patience, came forward. “We are messengers. It is our task to hand over Archduke Randalf Bruciel’s invitation card. Is Archduke Ufa threatening emissaries with legitimate missions?”
“Legitimate missions? I don’t remember inviting you. Furthermore, Randalf Bruciel and I are certainly in hostile relations.”
Tap. Tap.
Ufa tapped his fingers. His displeasure was turning to something worse. If Oswen and Krithli made one wrong move here, they could lose their heads. Oswen was obviously stressed out.
“We greatly appreciate that you give us the time of day. If you didn’t, we would not be able to stand in your presence anyway. However, I am sure the invitation we brought is worth receiving. It will not disappoint you.”
This was a dungeon. To climb, they had to deal with the monsters along the way. No matter how strong Krithli and Oswen were, what they could do was limited. They had to minimize their damages to meet Ufa as messengers. While they had tried to climb, Ufa had found them and brought them to the top floor.
Ufa’s curiosity was aroused as to why Randalf Bruciel had sent envoys for him. He thought it would be okay to meet them. That was it.
Also, he was planning to get rid of them after their meeting. Oswen and Krithli could sense Ufa’s intention. The only thing that could save them was the invitation. However, Oswen remained unswerving.
“Hmm… An invitation in such a time? There is no way he doesn’t know Ariel and I are at war.” Ufa touched his chin a few times. “I believe he is just waiting for the victor to emerge. Oh, well… I will take a look. Bring it to me.”
Ufa had already anticipated that there would be scavengers who would consume the spoils when the war between Ariel and him was over. However, he was certainly not expecting an invitation during this time that they were on a truce.
Oswen climbed the stairs with the invitation. When he reached the middle, a lich popped out and blocked him.
“What?”
“I…check…the card.”
The lich wanted to inspect the card first. Oswen frowned as he handed the card to the lich. The lich used a special mirror and chanted a few spells before nodding and handing the invitation to Ufa.
Rip!
Ufa opened the sealed invitation. He quickly read it.
“…”
Silence ensued. Oswen and Krithli watched Ufa with casual expressions, but they actually felt like they were walking on eggshells. No matter how confident they were, it was impossible to stop Ufa if he wanted their heads off. Their chances of survival were very slim.
The further he read, the more Ufa’s face became serious. He clenched his right fist and, soon, crumpled the card with his left hand.
“Randalf Bruciel!”
Gnashing!
Ufa gritted his teeth. His red eyes glowed in rage. He turned to look at Oswen as he blurted out, “Tell Randalf Bruciel that I am coming. And also tell him, if he tries another cheap stunt like this, I will cut his neck first before Ariel’s!”
Ufa turned his head. The meeting was over. However, the words “tell him” implied that Oswen and Krithli would leave his dungeon alive. The emissaries looked at each other. Oswen made a V sign with his fingers.
***
A griffin was flying in the sky. Oswen and Krithli were riding on it.
“Ufa’s personality is just like what Dungeon Master has described,” Oswen observed.
“It was a fierce confrontation,” Krithli commented.
The two of them had been roaming the world to meet the Archdukes with the invitation cards. However, actually meeting them in the flesh proved to be challenging.
All the demons, including Archdukes, were masters of the dungeons. They were busy dealing with matters great and small. Even if Oswen and Krithli brought the invitation cards, there was no guarantee of meeting the Archdukes right away.
They had only met Ufa so far, but their experience wasn’t that good. They had visited his dungeon as “emissaries” to avoid encountering any untoward or violent incident. They knew that with one wrong move or word, they were done. Even after meeting Ufa did not assure a safe passage out.
“He was a scary man,” Oswen said. “If it wasn’t for the contents of the invitation, he would have tried to get rid of us. Actually, I think we are being followed right now.”
Ufa was a demon who pretended to be broad-minded, but he was actually not. He had tried to bite and hold on to the end of their talk. If they had made any small mistake, he would have used that as an excuse to kill them.
“He probably knows we know other Archdukes’ dungeons.”
“This is not good. If it tags along, we won’t be able to hand these invitations to others.”
It was King Wyvern, the monster known as the ruler of the azure sky. It looked like it tried to keep its distance, but there was no way that Oswen and Krithli would not notice it.
If Oswen and Krithli went to meet the other Archduke, Ariel, with Ufa’s monster tagging along, she would think they were under Ufa’s orders as well. Ufa and Ariel were at war, so they probably knew the location of each other’s dungeon already, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.
“Let’s speed up.”
The griffin flapped its wings harder. Soon, King Wyvern missed them.
Oswen spoke again, “I hope Ariel Diablo is a liberal demon. Whew! My heart is still pounding.”
“I will take care of the next one,” Krithli declared.
When they had met Ufa, Krithli had not done anything. She never had such an experience. She did not want to commit mistakes, so she watched Oswen deal with Ufa.
***
Ariel Diablo and most of her demons were located in North America. Ariel’s dungeon was in the United States, but, recently, she had been running two dungeons. Her other dungeon was in Greenland. It was the largest island in the world, and more than 80% of the land was covered in ice.
Originally, it belonged to a marquis in Ufa’s faction. However, Ariel took over it. It seemed like she quite liked the ice-covered land.
Thanks to that, Krithli and Oswen had to travel to Greenland. The demons in North America had better defense than Ufa’s demons. So, Krithli and Oswen had to watch out while they flew on the land.
“She must have eyes at the back of her head!”
Oswen couldn’t help but admire how Ariel ran things in this land. Ariel’s demons were all good at strategy. No wonder she was called ‘Knight Archduke’.
Watchtowers were installed on paths where the enemy could strike. A large number of monsters were standing guard next to the towers. Oswen and Krithli were chased many times.
“We are almost there.” Krithli was sweating.
The magic items and the scrolls for stealth that they had brought up were almost gone. Although no one could catch the griffin in the sky, it was hard to escape from the monsters that surrounded them from all directions.
“Oh, I feel like I will die soon…” Oswen shook his head.
Although he was already dead, he sighed, complaining the owner treated him roughly. He had a lot of other works to do in the dungeon, too.
“Argh! I was about to finish the equipment for removing the curse. Oh, well. It will be fortunate if I can go back alive later,” Oswen muttered.
***
In front of Greenland’s dungeon, a knight wearing silver-white armor was on guard. However, Oswen and Krithli could not get a feel of the potential opponent. The mana flow and scent of the knight were very strange. They were something that the two of them had never encountered before. The only thing they could deduce was this knight was probably about the level of a highest-grade monster.
“Who are you?”
A thin, beautiful voice came out from the helmet. It seemed like the knight was a woman. When Oswen tried to step up, Krithli swiftly went ahead of him.
“We are messengers from Archduke Randalf Bruciel. We are here to hand the invitation card to Archduke Ariel Diablo.”
“Randalf Bruciel… I heard that name before.” The knight nodded.
But she didn’t sound pleasant. Krithli felt some sort of hostility from her at the mention of his name. She tried to brush off this feeling and went on, “Then, please open the door for us. We are not here to cause any commotion.”
“No. If you want to pass this door, you have to prove your qualifications first. Archduke Ariel is too busy. She won’t meet with just anyone.”
“But we are here at the command of Archduke Randalf Bruciel—”
“Hold your weapons, man and woman.”
The white knight raised her rapier. She was not going to let them pass. Krithli looked at Oswen. He sighed and nodded. Although they could not size up the opponent in front of them, it did not seem like they would lose easily.
No, Oswen and Krithli were both at par with the highest-grade monsters. In particular, Oswen had a long and extensive experience. Now that his six arms were restored and his weapons improved, he believed he could easily win over the white knight. He was actually very confident with his strength.
Oswen pulled out his six swords and said, “We want a fair fight.”
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