SSS-Rank Overlord: Defend the Dungeon or Die-Chapter 225: Episode
[Larkan is casting a transmutation circle.]
[The Rough Rock Tribe Dwarves have begun manufacturing the artifact.]
[Larkan begins to shed tears.]
[Tuperus comforts him and hands him the blueprints.]
The sudden incident was resolved, more or less. Although Larkan had to swallow his tears and begin his work, Taehyun was quite satisfied.
[? rank Raider ? has entered Balak’s territory.]
[? has used an A-rank wide-range radar.]
Meanwhile, a raider whose information was concealed tried to check the number of rooms in Balak using a wide-range radar. But Balak was already S-rank. There was no way an A-rank radar could determine the number of rooms. As a result, the raider was returning empty-handed.
’He must be a raider sent by Count Dinen. They planned to attack Balak even while fighting Leon’s forces, so some preliminary scouting was to be expected.’
The kingdom’s army and the rebel army had clashed over the Krantl Gorge. Everyone predicted that Count Dinen’s side, which had hired raiders, would have the upper hand, but Duke Centrix’s unit proved just as formidable. In the end, Branch Manager Gelix was outmaneuvered and forced to cede the Demolan estate in defeat. Count Dinen was being increasingly cornered. For him to be targeting Balak under these circumstances was impossible unless he had some ulterior motive.
’He’s been buying up all the Racodic he can get his hands on lately.’
Racodic, a crystal imbued with magic. Whatever the reason, Count Dinen was definitely preparing something. Now that Balak had grown to S-rank, Taehyun needed to prepare accordingly. He first checked Balak’s territorial finances.
[Zen: 43,294,145]
A considerable amount of Zen had been spent on the development of the small city of Myol, but there was still some leeway. Besides, with taxes from the dungeon residents, Racodic, dwarf-made equipment, magic materials, and the Balak Merchant Guild continuously bringing in Zen, there was no need to worry for now.
’The Zen I invested in Myol will come back several times over, so it should be fine. It’s about time I sent out troops composed of dungeon residents.’
There were still plenty of unexplored regions. It was worth sending the dungeon residents out for some practical training and to excavate ruins. Having made his decision, Taehyun rose from his seat.
"Master, where are you going?" Rabiz asked.
"Time to start strengthening the dungeon. Now that it’s S-rank, it’s obvious what needs to be done."
"I will assist you." Rabiz, who was next to him, wrapped herself around his arm. Having grown considerably through evolution, she had now shed her girlishness. Taehyun awkwardly scratched his head, feeling her press against him. With Riel and Mederia away, Rabiz was now the one subtly trying to seduce him.
"There’s not really anything for you to help with."
"I will follow you anyway."
"Well, do as you please."
A dizzying sensation passed through him, but once he cleared his mind, he felt much more at ease. He left the Master Room with Rabiz. Just then, a call came from Baron Momonte.
—"Count Dinen is suddenly delaying his raid schedule. Do you have any idea why?"
"I have a general idea."
—"Hmph. Now I’m the only one who’s swamped with work. It’s already a pain secretly leaking information to that bastard Leon, and now I have to buy large quantities of Racodic through the merchant guild. He always entrusts these things to me. That damn Count Dinen!"
"Ah, did I not tell you? Balak is also releasing Racodic into the market. Why don’t you just buy from us consistently?"
—"Ooh! Then I’ll take you up on that!"
"I’ll give you a good price. After all, your Zen is my Zen. And my Zen is my Zen."
—"Ahem. Something about that doesn’t sit right with me, but I understand."
The communication ended with Baron Momonte’s cough. Taehyun couldn’t help but question Count Dinen’s intentions in buying up large amounts of Racodic.
’He’s not even running a dungeon, so why does he need magic? What in the world is he preparing?’
The fact that he was hastily buying Racodic meant he was getting anxious. He probably thought Balak was A-rank, so now that it had grown to S-rank, he was delaying his plans again. In the meantime, holding out against Leon’s side would be his top priority. For Taehyun, this just meant he had earned more time to prepare.
’The three-way battle between Secret, Tarantula, and the Resistance that’s about to begin, the internal conflict in the Anais Kingdom, and the scrutiny from the Holy Kingdom and other nations... It’s about time I faced them as the S-rank Balak.’
The enemies were many, and there was much to prepare. But he didn’t feel rushed. He had already regained his composure after his bout of unconsciousness. Now, Taehyun was calmly turning things over in his head, feeling a sense of leisure.
’That bastard Leon will try to use Baron Momonte’s guild when he sees an opportunity. I need to lay the groundwork before then. Since Count Dinen has postponed his raid, other A-rank raid parties will start showing up again.’
If it came down to it, he might even have to face S-rank raiders. He finished his assessment and headed for the final room.
---
[Balak’s Crystal Orb]
[Rank: S]
[Level: 1]
[Magic Value: 2000/2000]
[Upgrade Value: Stage 1]
When it rose to S-rank, its magic had increased dramatically through another evolution. As a result, the crystal orb’s magic value was incredible.
’This level of magic is more than enough to substitute for the core in the temple. Just you wait, demon. I’ll show you the pride of our Rough Rock Tribe!’
Even Tuperus was burning with enthusiasm, so its magic value must be incomparable to other dungeons.
’Come to think of it, I need to utilize the dwarves and high elves more actively. The ancient artifact production is satisfactory, but I need to diversify into more specialized fields. The same goes for the troops composed of dungeon residents.’
He had been so focused on one thing that he hadn’t looked at the bigger picture. After a moment of reflection, he checked his status window.
[Name: Taehyun Yoo]
[Age: 22]
[Nationality: Republic of Korea]
[Level: 74]
[Rank: S]
[Class: Conductor]
[Title: Awakened]
[Affiliation: Balak]
[Guild: None]
[Skills: Command, Affinity, Control, Formation, Monarch’s Aura, Ambush, Status Quo Destruction, Concentration of Consciousness, Legionization]
[Special Abilities: Evolution, Remake]
[Strength: 5] [Endurance: 2] [Agility: 5] [Stamina: 6]
[Mana: 51] [Affinity: 68] [Luck: 52] 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
His status window showed significant changes since he escaped the labyrinth. First, a new title, ’Awakened,’ had appeared. Second, his affiliation had changed from Dungeon Master to Balak. Third, his skills were now in their own category. Fourth, he had gained two special abilities. Fifth, his magic stat, which had been at rock bottom, had risen dramatically.
’Of course, my level went up and I became an S-rank Dungeon Master, but still.’
His focus was immediately drawn to the special abilities; he had to find out what they did.
[Activating Evolution.]
[Please select a target to evolve.]
’Just from the name, I expected it to be related to evolution. Making something evolve...’
As long as there were no specific penalties, it would be an incredibly overpowered ability. He looked at Rabiz as his vision turned white.
[Rabiz, Pioneer of Space]
[Grade: A]
[Sub-grade: Hero]
[Evolution EXP: 4,728/15,000]
[Evolution Chance: 67%]
[Evolution Materials: A-rank Magic Stone × 103, Intense Soulstone]
A red aura enveloped her entire body. The color of the aura likely corresponded to her grade.
’Does this mean I can trigger evolution ahead of schedule? The magic stones for each grade make sense, but what’s an Intense Soulstone?’
It was an item he had never seen before. It wasn’t in the shop either, so it seemed to be a material he would have to gather himself from now on. Having finished his inspection, he was about to cancel Evolution when his eyes fell on a mushroom growing on the floor.
[Dungeon Spore Mushroom]
[Grade: C]
[Sub-grade: None]
[Evolution EXP: 0/4,000]
[Evolution Chance: 100%]
[Evolution Materials: C-rank Magic Stone × 40]
The spore mushroom, a plant that only grew inside dungeons, was glowing orange.
’Don’t tell me it works on any living thing.’
It was a waste to use magic stones to evolve a mere mushroom, but he had to experiment. He used the C-rank magic stones left in his inventory to attempt an evolution.
[Targeting Dungeon Spore Mushroom.]
[Attempting evolution using materials.]
[Evolution successful!]
[Dungeon Spore Mushroom has evolved.]
The mushroom, which had been practically rooted to the floor, shot up, now reaching his knee. The orange aura had also changed to blue.
[Magic-infused Spore Mushroom]
[Grade: B]
[Sub-grade: None]
[Evolution EXP: 0/8,000]
[Evolution Chance: 100%]
[Evolution Materials: B-rank Magic Stone × 80, Tenacious Soulstone]
"M-magic is flowing from the mushroom, Master," Rabiz confirmed beside him.
Through evolution, an ordinary spore mushroom was now imbued with magic. He stared down at the mushroom for a long moment, completely dumbfounded.
---
—"It appears Balak has now grown to S-rank. A report came from the raider we sent to the territory. It seems the A-rank wide-range radar he had no longer works."
’Gah... Unbelievable. It’s only been a year since it grew to A-rank, and you think it makes sense for it to already be S-rank?!’
—"I find it hard to believe as well, but it is the truth. In its current state, it seems even the magic from the monolith will be insufficient."
At first, Count Dinen couldn’t believe the report, but as time passed, he had no choice but to accept it. He erupted in fury as he looked at the situation in the besieged Veonas estate. He had finally charged the monolith with enough magic for an A-rank crystal orb, only for Balak to have already reached S-rank. This meant he had no choice but to gather more magic. Dinen ordered Momonte to purchase more Racodic and decided to slightly delay his plan.
"Count Dinen, a communication has arrived from the Veonas estate," a subordinate reported. "They say that the food and weapon storehouses, which were under heightened guard, are on fire."
"What?! What in the world were those fools doing? I told them time and again to be thorough with their watch! Damn it. How in the world do they know the locations of our key buildings?"
"A simple guess would be that a spy is relaying the information," Gelix offered, "but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Our top-secret information hasn’t even been shared with the soldiers. If I were to guess, I’d say it’s one of the members of our own faction."
"Hah! Don’t be absurd! Why would they do that when their own lives are on the line? Last time you lost the Demolan estate, and now you’re just spouting more garbage. Get out. I don’t even want to look at you!"
It was Branch Manager Gelix who had been in charge of the Demolan estate and opted for a defensive strategy. He had succeeded in cutting off the side roads and isolating Duke Centrix, but everything after that had been a disaster. Even now, anger surged within him whenever he thought of the ten thousand raiders who died after falling for Leon’s trick.
"...I will return later," Gelix said, bowing stiffly.
In the end, Gelix was all but kicked out of the room. Left alone, Count Dinen ground his teeth and contacted the raiders.
"How much magic is left in the monolith?!"
—"If we continue to absorb Racodic, we should be able to complete it within three months."
"Too slow. Shorten it to two months!"
—"...Understood."
The communication ended. With greedy eyes, Count Dinen thought of the now S-rank Balak.
’Yes. If it’s S-rank, it’s even more worth targeting. If this plan succeeds, the tide of the war will surely turn.’ A sinister chuckle escaped his lips.
He had been eyeing Balak ever since he established his territory in the west. He had been flustered when it suddenly grew to A-rank, but he had been making preparations. This time it had grown to S-rank, but he could shorten the time needed by using Racodic. Count Dinen’s hands trembled as he put a cigarette to his lips.
"Taehyun Yoo, I will make use of you. You will be sacrificed for my sake."
An image of a despairing Taehyun already flickered before his eyes. The plan may have been delayed, but it didn’t matter. Once the monolith was complete, he would be able to grasp what he desired.
"Struggle all you want for the time you have left, demon."
And so, as the tide turned against the noble faction, Count Dinen alone was betting everything on his final move.
---
