It's Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

* * *

"Guh... ack...!"

Whira Juul was sufficiently tough and an excellent warrior.

Not only was he strong, but he was also tenacious, and on top of that, he had loyalty.

"You only need to open your mouth and say one word. You're enduring for quite a while."

"Heurgh... hi, hit's...!"

In the darkness where we were alone.

He was bound by my darkness, losing his main power, which was the source of his strength.

To be precise, I was sucking it out.

'It's at an excellent level.'

His main power, the magic power transformed by his sorcery, was quite pure.

『Attributes - ...Magic Power 72(◀ 67) Resistance 62(◀ 57)』

To the extent that it could increase the magic power stat of a Dungeon Lord, who is essentially a powerful mass of magic.

Although the efficiency wasn't high, just having magic power that could increase stats like this was amazing.

The magic from other monsters I experimented on mostly dissipated during the conversion process.

"Please don't forget that I'm being considerate of you. I like loyal warriors like you."

Loyalty. Faithfulness.

How beautiful are trust and loyalty.

Amelia, who risked her life to defy me as soon as she thought her family was in danger.

Yurianne, who tried to protect her.

Jarax, the Lizardman chief who doesn't actively express his desire for revenge to protect his lord.

Queen Echidna, who can break her own safety to care for such a chief.

The Arachne queens who revealed all their shameful past to protect their children.

"Even... if you... say that... I won't... surrender...!"

"I see... So that's how it is."

In my eyes, Whira Juul, who was loyal to Zarkra without properly knowing her affection, was a sufficiently valuable being.

It's almost regrettable that we met as enemies.

If I had a little less composure.

Or if I didn't have those who love and respect the current me as much.

I might have tried to obtain him somehow.

However...

'I don't need him now.'

"I'll respect your will."

I didn't forget my purpose.

The reason I came out here was to buy recovery time for Xue and Evangeline while breaking the enemy's fighting spirit.

For that, he needed to resist a bit more.

Thump!

"Kuh... heurgh... heuuuurgh-!!!"

He had to die more miserably.

For me, cruelty is a means I don't want to use, so when I do use it, I need to get a greater effect.

"You will die like this. And your body..."

"No..."

As if sensing something from my words, numerous dark emotions began to swirl in his eyes looking at me.

It was exactly what I was aiming for.

"...I will put it to good use."

"N-No...!"

There was no more magic power or main power left to suck out of his body.

But if human emotions are energy, there's no reason monster emotions can't be energy.

"What a pity."

Grudge. Despair. Anger. Hatred. Disgust.

The magic power sticking to my fingertips becomes stained.

The colorless, transparent power is dyed with the colors of all emotions, and when they all gather, it turns pitch black.

Puh-puh-puk-!!

It burrowed into that body again.

"「Summon: Bloody Knight」."

Bulge. Swell.

Originally a zombie-type knight summon belonging to vampire Dungeon Lords.

But its appearance is more similar to a golem or ogre than knightly someone like a Death Knight.

The body that became its sacrifice grows even larger, tendons bulge all over the body, and muscles develop much more.

On top of that oversized body, the faint armor of flames he originally possessed covers it in the form of armor.

"Kuaa... aack...! Aaaack!!"

"That's enough."

The existing contract breaks at the point of death.

Also, while summoning that being using his body as a sacrifice, I cut off the power at the stage before the 'contract' at the same time.

Although the upper individual limit slot increased by one due to the magic power absorbed from him, there's no need to use it here.

...Just breaking the contract should be more than enough as a warning to the hostiles.

He will die as a wild monster.

Not as my possession.

Whoosh-!

Now flames were rising from his body to reach the ceiling due to the magic power I forcibly inserted.

I take that power back again.

"「Ash, and Dust」."

The crimson flames turn into purple flames.

The power that blossomed from my body becomes a dark mace.

And at that point.

Whoof!

"Aaaack!!"

"...Huh?"

I removed the curtain.

* * *

"「Ash, and Dust」."

"Kuaack!! Aaaack-!!"

To those who didn't know the circumstances and only saw the outside, that scene looked quite beautiful, and also ridiculous.

A huge being spewing flames from its entire body was writhing with its head stuck to the fingertips of a small woman.

But if stems that seemed to be summoned by ink clotting were stuck in various parts of that huge body under her hands and feet, and those stems were sucking or injecting something.

From there, that scene turns from comedy to horror creature film.

"...What are you doing to him right now?"

"He's paying the price on behalf of you all for daring to oppose me. Zarkra."

She was still calm, and there was not a single unintended tremor in her movements.

Even though a huge body about ten times her size was writhing this way and that, fixed by the 'darkness'.

That wasn't all.

Crack! Crunch...!

The black power billowed up and finely crushed the large body caught in between.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Crimson flames bloomed as if to fill the whole world, then turned purple and beautifully dyed everything around.

Two powers were crushing and burning him.

For a long time. Slowly.

"This can't be..."

Zarkra had never imagined such a scene.

No matter how much Libertas was starting to gain fame as a super rookie, when one witnesses the power of the summons she possesses, it's natural to be captivated by one prejudice.

That only her summons are powerful, but the Dungeon Lord's own combat power isn't high.

'That appearance wasn't a lie.'

'My goodness...'

While the other two had at least tasted a fragment of her magical capabilities, Zarkra couldn't even do that.

And the reason why the other two didn't warn her is also clear.

'Combat power is certainly something built up over time, but how can she be so strong...?'

Moreover, combat isn't just about magical talent.

Libertas is a 'young Dungeon Lord' who was born just about half a year ago, and the battles she has fought so far should normally be few.

It would be common sense to think that she couldn't face a warrior who had been at the elite level for at least ten years.

"Let go..."

However, all such assumptions and common sense were.

Now, at this moment, destroyed.

The scene before her eyes now was 'half a year' crushing 'ten years', so there was no choice but to accept it as is.

Zarkra did this in the most impulsive way.

"Let go-!!"

Bang!

-Wait...!

Before Melzeros could stop her, Zarkra suddenly rushed towards the front.

"「Zygra'then」!"

She summons curses to wrap around both hands and casts beast blessings on her feet to run quickly.

A gesture full of the intention to intervene in the battle somehow.

"Let's stop, Lady Zarkra."

Of course, such a 'rule violation' was stopped by the Mammon Guild employee who was attending as a supervisor and referee.

With the appearance of a demon with thick horns growing on his forehead, his position was department head.

He held the same position as the goblin department head, Grim du Rol, who once visited Libertas's dungeon.

Therefore, he possessed a similar level of power.

At least above the full elite grade.

"This, let go...!"

"This kind of intervention can't have a good influence on you or your subordinates."

That ability was enough to restrain a baron-class and high-level Dungeon Lord, and at the same time, it was overflowing enough to clearly recognize what was happening before his eyes.

Because of this, he actually knew that Whira Juul had died.

He also knew what state his body had become.

"Lady Zarkra. Let's be calm. He's already beyond hope."

Nevertheless, he doesn't intervene in Libertas's cruelty.

He just restrains Zarkra according to the rules set by the guild.

In the demon realm's duel, 'cruelty' or 'simple combat inability' were not grounds for stopping the battle.

Even if one side has died in this duel, it doesn't matter how the winner kills the loser, makes them unable to fight and ends it, or kills and violates them.

"If there's no hope, then end the battle!! Why continue like that!!"

"Don't you know? I'm sure everyone has already told you. It's all in the rules you agreed to."

Unless the loser expresses surrender or indicates such intention, and the winner accepts such a plea and stops their activities.

Therefore, his expression was utterly cold, and there was no hesitation in his movement to restrain Zarkra.

Only his eyes looking at Libertas had a strange light.

'Indeed, she's a talent worth watching by that department head Grim. Even though she doesn't seem to like cruel actions, there's no hesitation in carrying them out. On the other hand...'

Contempt filled the demon's eyes as they returned to Zarkra.

'If you can't be honorable, you should be wise, and if you can't be wise, you should have been strong.'

For a demon realm noble, such youngsters could be sufficiently objects of contempt.

They acknowledged their own weakness and attacked in a group of three, yet failed to gain the upper hand.

And still unable to completely abandon honor, they didn't employ enough tricks before the battle, these ambiguous ones.

'They probably got drunk on the name of 'baron'. Thinking they've become truly honorable nobles.'

The demon, inwardly shaking his head at this clumsiness, looked towards Libertas once again.

She was consistently arrogant.

And she knew how to wear a gentle mask that could hide that arrogance.

She even had subordinates who supported that arrogance and strength.

Finally, she even had the boldness to sacrifice some dignity for 'strategy'.

'Excellent. If I were a subordinate, she'd really be the kind of superior I'd want to serve.'

That was the most fitting to what demon realm nobles consider 'noble-like', so she could be said to be a noble person worthy of the name 'Dungeon Lord'.

'This appearance is like... yes. Like the Demon King... or the Archdukes of the demon realm.'

The images of the seven Archdukes of the demon realm flashed through the demon department head's mind.

The sun of the demon realm symbolizing the solar eclipse.

And beneath it, the Archdukes of greed, wrath, pride, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth.

'Like...'

Among their faces, the ones that finally remained in the department head's mind were two.

"Hmm."

'No. This is not for me to judge.'

If what he was thinking was correct, she could soon become a shame of one of the highest-ranking nobles in the demon realm. Or conversely, she could become a source of pride.

However, if it was wrong, it would be disrespectful even to assume.

Either way, it becomes a fact that he shouldn't carelessly dig up like this.

The department head shook his head to clear his thoughts, then continued to watch the remaining 'match'.

"Kuaaack-!!!!"

The scene of that cruel torture that had become teabagging through the treatment of the strongest who had already become a corpse, breaking the morale of the other monsters.

* * *

The duel… no, the torture ended like that.

To call what happened at the end a 'duel', honestly, my conscience doesn't allow it.

"Ah ah. Juul... you...!"

Zarkra's mental state completely broke down.

As I assumed, her attachment to the first subordinate she summoned seems to have been quite deep.

"You...!"

At least, it seemed certain that their relationship was more than ordinary.

If that resentment she's burning while looking at me isn't sincere, it might be even scarier to think otherwise.

"I will definitely kill you... definitely...!"

"Sure. If you can, do so."

"Kuheueut...!!!"

Crunch!

Perhaps thinking my calm attitude was provocation, Zarkra, grinding her teeth savagely, returned to her camp.

Although I've incurred someone's resentment, I didn't feel any particular worry.

'After all, it's strange for both sides to survive in a war.'

If one side has to die, that dying side can't be me.

Even if she drives herself into madness because of it.

And their camp is already...

Murmur murmur...

"What's going to happen to us now...?"

"What do you mean what's going to happen! We prepare for the next battle!"

"In this state...? We're all going to die...!"

It had become a situation where it's difficult to raise that 'madness'.

'It's over.'

The war was my victory.

As I had foreseen.