"This is… not what I was expecting," Azuma said dryly, staring at the final dungeon on the tenth floor. Instead of the usual 'random tunnel within a tunnel that leads to a dungeon,' the area was much more extravagant.
The roof was expanded upward, as the ceiling was much, much, higher than usual 10-20 foot headspace the majority of the tenth floor had. Since the ceiling was higher, it also made room for the massive structure in front of Azuma - which was more like a castle than a structure. Towering stone walls, a large red flag blowing in the wind - well, there was no wind in the dungeon, so it was actually just hanging there lamely - along with a massive trench in front of the castle.
It looked like there was usually a bridge that went over the trench, but the makeshift stone contraption was pulled up by two long vines at the moment. The castle itself was well over twenty feet tall, looking closer to 50, and the actual structure looked to be more than a hundred feet wide overall.
Why do I have an ominous feeling?
"Big ass castle," Azuma eloquently described, and Ravel nodded at his side.
"Yes, Master," She nodded sagely at his profound words, "Our scouts have reported that the Dungeon Master who lives here is a dragon."
"A dragon?" Azuma's eyes widened slightly. "Aren't those, like, super strong?"
The dragons of the DxD world were at least, as even the fodder ones were as strong as high-class devils, with the top-dogs - or top-dragons more specifically - being some of the strongest beings in the whole world.
"No way!" Aphrodite huffed, shaking her head wisely, "Dragons are just big and stupid! Even if some of them are strong, they have no brains!"
Azuma looked at her blankly.
"You… you're insulting someone's intelligence?" He asked incredulously, "You? The same person who thought the stuffing in our pillows was cotton candy?"
I don't even know this dragon Dungeon Master, and I'm about to kill him, but I'm offended on his behalf.
The Dungeon Master would have to be Orc Dungeon Master levels of stupid to justify Aphrodite calling them stupid.
"I-It looked exactly like cotton candy!" Aphrodite huffed, "And trust me, dragons are really dumb! One time, this dragon came and picked me up because he thought I was a statue! Like, do I look like I'm made of gold!?"
Azuma stared at her blandly, taking in the sight of her near-glowing skin. Considering the airhead could often be found staring off into space dumbly, Azuma couldn't blame the dragon for mistaking her for a statue of gold.
"Yeah… how dumb…" Azuma trailed off sarcastically, but Aphrodite just nodded happily as he 'agreed' with her, "Anyway, is this dragon guy tough, Ravel?"
He's gotta be at least decently strong if he was taking down my units.
This dungeon was the sole one out of the many on the tenth floor that didn't crumble under the assault of Azuma spamming units down the tunnels, as the castle remained unharmed.
"He is stronger than the rest of the Dungeon Masters, at least, Master," Ravel nodded at his words, "Though, he seems to be more crafty than strong. The castle is well-made, and only a few of the scouts made it out alive after entering. There seem to be many traps and places to be ambushed."
"Make sense," Azuma hummed, looking at the towering castle. Considering that he and a large collection of units, along with Artoria, Aphrodite, Ravel, and Better Riser, could stand outside the front without being confronted meant that the dragon was content with holing himself up in the castle.
Traps are annoying. Should I just have Better Riser blow it up?
While Azuma didn't have any crazy destructive abilities yet, his Phoenix was more than capable of releasing a burst of fire strong enough to topple the entire castle. But…
Nah, castles are fuckin' cool. I want this castle.
"We're conquering this castle!" Azuma pointed at the castle in finality, "Artoria, lead the way!"
"Me?" Artoria blinked at his words, tilting her head at him, "Why me? Aren't I just the backup?"
Azuma had brought Artoria along with them mainly for anything unexpected, as while he could deal with the Dungeon Masters it was nice to have the Heroic Spirit around as insurance.
"You've been promoted," Azuma nodded sagely, placing his hand on her shoulder, "Over these past few days of dungeon conquering, I've realized how much I really value you. Not just as a subordinate, but as a comrade. There's no one else I'd rather entrust this role to than you!"
"R-Really?" Artoria blushed at his intense words, glancing away, "T-That's so kind! I won't disappoint you-"
"If someone dies to a trap, he wants it to be the British person," Aphrodite added blandly, causing Artoria to facefault.
"And that," Azuma shrugged unapologetically, "But also because you're badass and experienced. If you die to a trap, then I would've died the same way."
"T-That's true, but I still don't appreciate being used as a guinea pig," Artoria huffed, blushing lightly at his words as she turned to the towering caste, "Fine. I will lead the assault!"
Artoria sprinted forward, running at the large trench in front of the castle. It was at least fifty feet wide and was so deep that Azuma couldn't see the bottom.
I wonder if it goes to the 11th floor?
Artoria reached the trench and then leaped forward. She flew over the gap, easily clearing it as she landed in front of the castle's massive stone entrance. The entrance stuck out from the rest of the structure slightly, leading Azuma to believe that it doubled as a jaw-bridge that was currently pulled up to block the entrance.
"Woah!" Aphrodite breathed out, looking in awe at Artoria's movement, "She jumped so far! You're so cool!"
"That was actually pretty cool," Azuma hummed, looking suspiciously across the gap at Artoria's back, "Can British people be that cool? Are we sure she's not faking the accent?"
"I'll look into it, Master," Ravel nodded far too seriously at his question.
"That's so far…" Aphrodite trailed off as she looked at the gap, then glanced over at Azuma with a blush, "I can't jump that far… I think you need to carry me, Azuma!"
"You have wings," Azuma deadpanned in response, pointing at the wings on Aphrodite's back, "In fact, you're literally flying right now. Just fly over the gap."
"...oh, right," Aphrodite blinked, nodding at Azuma's words, "You're so smart, Azuma! Good idea!"
Yeah. My remembering that she had wings is smart.
Azuma quickly ran forward, leaping over the gap in one movement just as Artoria had done. Behind him, two flaming wings shot from Ravel's back as she floated over, along with Aphrodite and Better Riser.
"Bye goblins! We'll be back soon!" Aphrodite jumped up and down, waving at the collection of units waiting on the other side of the gap. There were only a few goblins in the bunch despite the fact that Aphrodite specifically called out to the goblins.
As the group landed in front of the towering castle, Artoria took the lead again.
"The entrance is blocked, and we have no siege tools, but there's probably a side entrance somewhere," Artoria nodded wisely, her face deep in thought. "We could also scale the wall and go from the top if we can't find one. We should split up and look-"
"Boom," Azuma said dryly, slashing out with his red sword at the wall. Even with just using a little bit of his strength, the sword cut through the stone like butter. The two sides of the huge stone slab parted, falling onto their sides with a rumble and revealing the dark interior of the castle.
"...Ah, or we could do that," Artoria blushed slightly, quickly walking forward ahead of the group into the castle, "Now, we must keep our eyes open for traps-"
Before she even finished her sentence, she had to quickly unsheathe her sword and slash forward. Her blade cut through roughly a dozen arrows flying toward her, cutting them into bits that fell to the floor in front of her.
"Well, there are definitely traps," Azuma muttered, stepping carefully over the shards of arrows.
Artoria sighed, lowering her blade slightly. "There was no sound of a mechanism activating. The traps seem to be magically silenced."
"This is why you're in the front," Azuma nodded wisely, patting Artoria on the back. "Good job, meat shield - uh, I mean, commander!"
Artoria looked at him flatly, but didn't say more as she continued into the dark interior of the castle.
"This is so creepy," Aphrodite wrinkled her nose, her smaller arms wrapping around Azuma's larger one as her massive breasts sandwiched it, "It's like a horror movie! Don't let them take me, Azuma! They always go after the smartest character first so they can't outsmart them!"
This place definitely is creepy.
The long hallway was dark, with neither a glowy ore nor a torch in sight. There was also dirt all over the floor, the stone looked old and cracked, and there was even a slimy substance stuck between the cracks in the stone.
"Then you'll be fine," Azuma countered dryly, "We should be worried about Ravel."
"Are you calling me stupid?!"
"Yes, but you'll be fine mainly because the hot ditzy girl always lives until the end," Azuma nodded wisely, "You gotta have enough screentime for your tits to flop around a lot, y'know?"
"Oh! Then I'm safe!" Aphrodite cheered, instantly getting over her fear at Azuma's sound logic.
As they proceeded through the dark corridor, their footsteps echoed through the hollow hallways of the castle. The hallway was eerily silent, and Azuma was starting to wonder if they'd gone into the wrong place, but the walls certainly ensured this was a dragon's dungeon. They were lined with various carvings that depicted dragon-looking creatures, looking almost like caveman drawings.
This guy's smarter than the Orc at least. I doubt he could even draw a stick figure.
The group continued deeper into the castle, tension slowly filling the air with each step they took. The silence was broken only by the occasional drip of water-slime from the ceiling, the echoes of their footsteps, and Aphrodite's random squeaks.
"Master, I detect something strange up ahead. The air seems to be vibrating slightly," Ravel spoke up finally, sounding a bit cautious.
Azuma raised his eyebrow at her, "Vibrating air? The fuck does that mean?"
Ravel narrowed her eyes as she stared forward, "It's like… something's building up? Oh, wait, it's fire!"
Ravel smiled brightly at Azuma as she realized what it was.
"Fire?" Azuma deadpanned back, "Well, then we should probably move-"
Azuma dove out of the way, dragging Aphrodite with him as Artoria did the same in front of him. A second later, a huge burst of red flames shot out of the darkness and filled the space where they had been standing. The air around Azuma heated up, and he was silently glad Ravel had warned him.
I wouldn't have died or anything, but that shit was hot.
"That was fuckin' cool," Azuma hummed as he pushed himself off Aphrodite, ignoring her soft moan as he used her breasts as a handhold. "Can my traps do that? I should've checked."
"Well, he's a dragon, so I imagine this Dungeon Master's traps are more flame-focused then yours will be, Master," Ravel looked at him apologetically, even though it wasn't her fault, but then puffed out her cheeks cutely, "Why didn't you pull me out of the way too?! That would've been so romantic…"
"You're a Phenex," Was all the explanation Azuma gave, his tone dry.
"I-It still would've been nice…" Ravel pouted at him.
"Let's not dawdle, shall we?" Artoria called out from the front, her blade at the ready as she stepped over the smoldering stone. Despite the intense flames, the stone walls looked fine and were still covered in a weird, slimy substance.
Dawdle? Yeah, she's old as fuck.
The heroic spirit being born in ancient times was starting to show.
They advanced down the corridor, the smell of charred stone mixing with the dampness of the underground as Aphrodite covered her nose. Azuma kept his eyes narrowed as he looked for any more traps, but there weren't any. Instead, they walked into a large, open circular room.
"It's like something out of a fantasy book!" Aphrodite gasped, looking around. The room had a high ceiling with arches that supported it, and in the center was a giant statue of a dragon. It looked like it was made of pure gold, as it stood over ten feet high and glinted from the small singular glowy ore sitting in the ceiling.
"Fantasy book?" Azuma looked at her blandly, "Have you even read one? You're probably in a bunch of those."
"Watch out! Something's off with this room!" Artoria shouted dramatically before Aphrodite could answer, pointing her blade at the statue, "It's a trap! Get down!"
The heroic spirit dove to the side, doing a rather cool-looking roll as she crouched and stared at the statue suspiciously.
"...You sure?" Azuma deadpanned, ignoring her cool maneuver as he walked up to the statue and tapped on it, "Looks like free money to me. Remind me to come back and sell this after we kill the Dungeon Master, Ravel."
"Yes, Master."
"I-It's definitely a trap!" Artoria blushed as the statue just sat there, not moving or doing anything at all.
"You're worried over nothing, Artoria. It's fine. It's probably just a fancy decoration for the dungeon," Azuma said casually, leaning against the statue. "Dragons are known for doing shit like this, right? Besides, I don't feel like fighting a giant golden statue right now-"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the statue's eyes snapped open. Its arm swiped forward, the golden claws slashing at Azuma, but he easily backpedaled and dodged it.
"See?" Artoria said smugly, raising her sword.
"Well, shit," Azuma hummed, staring at the moving statue, "Maybe it was a trap."
"Maybe?! It definitely is!" Aphrodite pointed at the statue dramatically, "What do we do?!"
"Why are you freaking out? It's just a statue," Azuma said dryly at her reaction, "We can just smash it."
"But then we'll lose all the value!" Aphrodite actually made a good point, "If we don't break the statue, then it'll break us, but if we do, then it won't sell for as much!"
She's… right, actually.
Azuma stared at her strangely, "That was smart-"
"And then Gobby will starve!" Aphrodite wailed, looking like she was on the verge of crying, "We have so many goblins now that it costs too much to feed them all! We need to sell this statue to feed the goblins!"
Anddddd, there it is.
"Gobby wears exclusively Gucci and Prada," Azuma deadpanned, "He could sell his 20 pairs of Jordans if he needed food. Fuck it, let's just break the statue."
Azuma glanced up, looking over the now sentient golden dragon statue.
[E-Rank Living Statue]
E-Rank? Looks like this dragon isn't broke like the rest of those bums.
A grin formed on Azuma's face. The other dungeons hadn't given him many points, especially compared to the amount he was getting from the resort, and Azuma had been starting to wonder if the trip was even worth the effort. Now, it looked like he'd at least get something decent out of it.
"But," Azuma blinked, looking up at the box floating above the statue's head, "Was that always there?"
"Yes, Master," Ravel nodded, pointing up at the 'living statue' identifier, "I saw it, but I didn't want it to seem like I was taking Artoria's side, so I didn't mention it."
"I see," Azuma nodded sagely, "This is what it feels like to be Aph."
"What is that supposed to mean?!"
Azuma didn't have to answer Aphrodite's question because the living statue finally decided it was done standing there menacingly. There was a grating sound as the golden dragon statue lunged at them, its jaws snapping at Artoria's crouching form.
"Get into formation!" Artoria ordered as she raised her blade, blocking the dragon's mouth as it crunched onto her blade, "Aphrodite, buff Azuma! Azuma, protect my flank while Ravel-"
"Fuck it. I'm rich anyway," Azuma said blandly as he shot forward, slamming his fist into the side of the statue. "This isn't the boss. You don't need to be all serious about it."
As Azuma's fist hit the side of the statue, the statue exploded outward into a bunch of golden shards. Its body was there one second, and then the next, it was a pile of gold scraps.
[E-Rank Living Statue Defeated!]
+350 Points!
+350 XP!
"O-Oh," Artoria blushed lightly, shaking her head as she stood up, "O-Of course, that was also a fine course of action."
"I'll still come back to sell this," Azuma hummed with a shrug, staring at the pile of scraps, "It would've been nicer to have him full, but it can't be helped."
The group continued forward past the pile of gold that was once a dragon, continuing deeper into the dungeon. It went pretty smoothly from that point forward, as besides a few traps and another room full of golden dragons, the group didn't encounter much. Azuma managed to deal with the statues easily, and the traps weren't very dangerous to begin with.
"Azumaaaaaaa, my feet hurt from all this walking!" Aphrodite whined after nearly an hour of walking down seemingly endless dark hallways.
"You're flying," Azuma deadpanned, as the woman was floating with her wings.
"Azummmmmmmma, my wings hurt from all this flying!"
"You're barely even flying," Azuma deadpanned again, as the woman was half-leaning against Azuma for support.
"Stillllll, when are we going to be there-"
"Light!" Artoria shouted from her position ahead of the rest of the group, pointing forward as she started walking a bit faster.
"We'll be there in about…" Azuma hummed, walking with Artoria as the light grew brighter, "Now."
Azuma blinked rapidly as he finally reached the light, stepping through the doorway to see… a huge colosseum?
As Azuma glanced around, his eyes were assaulted by light. Various glowy ores and torches were surrounding the circular area, and there was a circle of stands around the open area.
"This place is so big!" Aphrodite gasped as she floated over to Azuma's side, her eyes wide.
She wasn't wrong, as the colosseum was quite large. It was vast, with rows of stone benches stretching upwards around the open area, creating a natural amphitheater. The arena floor looked like a mix of dirt, pebbles, shards, crumbling stone, and actual stone.
However, there was one thing in particular that stood out more than the rest. All around the colosseum, on the stone benches, were miniature dragon people. They weren't actually that miniature, as they looked human-sized. They had varying colors of scales covering their body, along with sharp teeth and snouts.
[F-Rank Dragonling]
[F-Rank Dragonling]
[F-Rank Dragonling]
[F-Rank Dragonling]
[F-Rank Dragonling]
[F-Rank Dragonling]
[F-Rank Dragonling]
They all looked to be the same species, and Azuma felt another ominous feeling as they were all staring directly at where Azuma's group was entering the colosseum from.
Were they waiting for us?
"Challengers!" A shout came from the stands around them, and more followed.
"Challengers!"
"Challengers are here!"
"There are challengers!"
"Hear me out, I know she looks like a human, but that woman is smokin- I-I mean, challengers! Challengers!"
"How the fuck did we not hear any of them on the way here?" Azuma asked dryly, as while the literal hundreds of dragons hadn't been chanting until they arrived, Azuma still assumed they were making some kind of noise.
There's no way they were just sitting in here silently. That'd be some fuckin' psycho shit.
"Thick walls!" Aphrodite supplied to Azuma's question, to which he ignored her.
They weren't that thick! They'd have to be Aph-thick to block out hundreds of voices!
"Alright, Better Riser, just start blasting all these guys until the Dungeon Master-" Azuma started to order, but was cut off as a much louder voice rang out around him.
"CHALLLLLLENGERSSSSSS! OHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHH BABYYYY!"
Azuma stared blankly as the ground under him shook, a massive figure yelling as he walked out of a tunnel directly across from Azuma's group. The figure was huge and hulking, standing at over 40 feet tall.
"Big ass dragon," Azuma described the figure eloquently, and Aphrodite nodded sagely next to him.
The dragon was indeed 'big ass,' as it had a fat belly that jutted out with scales covering it, muscular arms and legs, and two massive wings sticking out from its back. It was red all over, with piercing yellow eyes and a bulky snout.
[F-Rank Dragon Dungeon Master: King Dragconix]
He named himself 'king?' And I thought I had an ego.
"I'VE BEEN WAITINGGGGGGGGGG! CHALLENGERSSSSS!" The dragon roared, and the crowd around them cheered as he walked into the middle of the arena.
"His voice is so annoying," Azuma said dryly, almost wincing from the loud noise.
"In this instance, I agree," Artoria nodded, frowning at the huge dragon, "Should I kill him, Master?"
"No, I wanna beat the shit out of him," Azuma said bluntly, walking forward into the arena as another cheer rang out around him.
"YESSSS! COME HERE, CHALLLENNNNGERRRRR! LET US BATTLE!" King Dragconix roared, raising his arms and flexing his biceps as another cheer rang out, "THE VICTOR WILL RECIEVE…"
King Dragconix pointed at Azuma dramatically, grinning widely so his sharp teeth were bared, "ONEEEEEE BILLLLLLIONNNNNNNNN GOLDDDDDDDDDDDDD!"
Wait, a billion gold?
Azuma paused, blinking as he stared at the lumbering dragon and echoed his thoughts, "Wait, a billion?"
That's like… a lot. That's a fuckin' lot of points.
Slowly, a huge grin formed on Azuma's face. While the Phenex family had an unlimited supply of gold, items from the DxD Realm didn't sell for nearly as much as items from the Monster Realm. Even if it was just gold and not a rarer ore…
A billion is going to give me a shit ton of points!
"I like you, dragon," Azuma grinned widely, his eyes shining with a hint of excitement. Not for the assuredly short battle to come, but at the gains he'd get afterward.
I get it. This guy's probably been around a while if he built this whole castle, and he's probably loaded with gold. But he's a dragon, so instead of being smart and selling it to buy more units, he's hoarding it-
"WORTH OF PRIDE!" King Dragconix shouted abruptly, flexing his chest as another roar of cheers echoed into the arena.
"W-What?" Azuma stuttered, reaching up and rubbing his eyes, which didn't make sense for what he was going to say next, "What'd you say? I think I heard you wrong."
"Worth of pride," King Dragconix repeated, not shouting this time, "One billion gold worth of pride!"
"...Run that by me again…" Shadows covered Azuma's eyes.
He can't really mean…
"Well, I don't have a billion gold to bet," King Dragconix explained pretty reasonably, "So, we're betting a billion gold worth of pride! You know what they say, one's pride is worth more than a mountain of gold!"
"No one fucking says that," Azuma groaned, and he could hear Aphrodite snickering behind him as his excitement plummeted, "Why the fuck didn't you start with that? Why'd you take a long ass pause? You got my hopes up!"
"Hah, is it a crime to have a flair for dramatics?" King Dragconix chuckled, placing his hand on his forehead as shadows covered his eyes in a way that the dragon probably thought looked badass.
"No, but it's a crime to piss me off," Azuma said bluntly, and a split second later he was in the air, skipping through time as his blade pointed directly at King Dragconix's forehead.
"W-What- GUH!" The dragon was cut off after just one word as Azuma's blade tore through his scales with ease, slicing into the dragon's head and jutting deep into him. He tumbled backward, the colosseum going silent in shock as the dragon fell onto his back, the ground shaking as Azuma stood on his large scaled chest.
"You're the coolest villain I've seen so far," Azuma hummed, staring down into King Dragconix's wide eyes, "Which isn't saying much, since all the other dungeon masters were stupid or lame. But you pissed me off, so you're not getting anymore screen time."
"W-What does screen time mean-" Were the dragon's final words before Azuma slammed his blade deeper into his skull, cutting into his brain and killing the Dungeon Master.
[F-Rank Dragon Dungeon Master: King Dragconix Defeated!]
+5000 Points!
+5000 XP!
Damn, was he actually tough?
Compared to the other Dungeon Master's Azuma had killed, King Dragconix had given a significantly higher number of points.
But, I still didn't get that many overall. Since it seems like hes been around for a while I'll probably get a lot more from breaking the core.
"N-New King!"
"New King!"
"New King!"
"Damn, the new king has a sexy quee- A-ah, New King! All hail the New King!"
A roar went around the colosseum, and Azuma was glad that he at least wouldn't have to worry about earning the remaining dragon's loyalties. They'd be forced to become his subordinates after he broke the Dungeon Core anyway, but willing soldiers were always better than forced ones.
"Awww, poor dragon," Aphrodite frowned as the rest of Azuma's group walked up to him, "He was funny!"
"He was annoying," Artoria countered dryly, and Azuma agreed.
"Good job, Master!" Ravel cheered, golf clapping for him, "That was awesome!"
"He was big, slow, and weak," Azuma replied dryly, "There wasn't much awesome about that."
"Well, it was quite a good jab," Artoria said begrudgingly, having a slightly proud look on her face, "I'm glad to see our training sessions were not for nothing."
Yeah, I did pierce through his scales with just one attack. Maybe that was kind of cool?
"Thanks," Azuma grinned lightly, sheathing his sword at his hip again, "Well, let's go find the dungeon core now and get back home. I never thought I'd miss Gobby, but not having someone to shove all my work onto is exhausting."
This was easy, I wonder why I was getting that ominous feeling earlier-
As if he'd jinxed it, a chill suddenly went down Azuma's spine.
"Your heart was not pierced because I thrust the spear."
Azuma blinked as, despite the cheers around him, a male voice seemed to pierce through, sounding incredibly clear.
"Do you hear that too-"
"MASTER! MOVE!" Artoria shouted abruptly, unsheathing her sword.
"I thrust the spear because your heart was pierced."
Artoria shot past Azuma with her sword raised, lunging towards the dark tunnel that King Dragconix had walked out of. Standing in the tunnel, with his face half covered by shadows, was a familiar face. And, a familiar spear. Azuma's eyes went wide.
Why the fuck is he-
"Gae Bolg!"
In an instant, a searing pain ripped through the air.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I had some writers block but it'll be updated 2-3 times a week again! The next chapter should be out in a few days!
Super excited for the direction the story's headed in now - we'll be getting to some more serious plot stuff pretty soon!
You can also read 4 chapters ahead on Patreon.com/Koyon !