His eyes burned—
As if an fire were about to crawl out of them.
The instant Kejie looked at the figure, a flicker of yellow fire—pure, concentrated madness—reflected in his pupils. It felt as though his sanity itself had been set aflame.
No matter the race, once a creature senses itself being eroded by an incomprehensible entity, fear is inevitable.
Demons were no exception.
Kejie shrieked and tried to flee at once.
But the brief moment he had spent making eye contact was enough for the accumulated madness in his mind to burst forth.
Simply put—
His Madness Meter hit maximum.
"Aaahhhhhh!"
Kejie clutched his eyes, screaming in a way he never had before—not even when he'd watched his own kin devour each other as a child.
But this…
This was different.
This was the primal despair of a lesser being confronted by an eldritch god far beyond mortal comprehension.
Even with his eyes tightly covered, yellow flames still flickered wildly between his fingers, threatening to erupt at any moment.
Right now, all he wanted was to gouge his own eyes out.
The feeling of fire dancing inside his skull was enough to shatter anyone's mind.
"No—no—I need to get out of here!"
He dropped his hands.
His eye sockets glowed with solid yellow light.
Survival instinct alone kept his legs moving—forcing him to run.
But that warped, hunched silhouette appeared before him as if summoned by his fear—
And its crooked cane thrust straight toward him.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Terror twisted into rage.
He roared and slapped the elder's cane aside.
He touched the Aging Untouchable.
The instant he realized what he'd done—
His fury collapsed into soul-freezing horror.
"AaaAAAAAHHH—!!"
His scream tore through the entire Val Dungeon.
Demons lingering in the plaza froze where they stood, cold sweat pouring down their backs.
They exchanged looks of pure terror.
In each other's eyes, they saw the same despair.
Escape?
They didn't even dare contemplate it.
Because at the entrance lurked an unseen presence—
An enemy whose oppressive aura covered them like a suffocating veil.
Anyone who approached the teleportation gate was decapitated instantly by a black dagger.
Ironically, these demons were the "lucky" ones.
Before they had the chance to rot away like their companions, they had already been captured and imprisoned here.
The Scarlet Rot and the Madness existed deeper inside the Dungeon.
Compared to that nightmare, this front section was practically a safe zone.
Even so, none of the surviving demons could understand:
Why were monsters appearing inside Val Dungeon when it should have been a dead dungeon?
When a Dungeon Lord exhausted their mana, the dungeon entered a dormant, silent state.
This could last for months, even decades—until some unlucky passerby was chosen as the next Dungeon Lord.
Doslepo and his demons chose Val Dungeon precisely because it was in this dormant phase.
They never imagined the dungeon already had a master—
A golem silently watching them from the shadows.
Now, Scarlet Rot bloomed across Val Dungeon.
Land Squirts sprouted everywhere.
Deadly red spores drifted through the air.
Beautiful yet horrifying "flowers" blossomed across corrupted demon flesh.
And in the deepest section, the Aging Untouchable wandered alone.
Specks of yellow fire flickered on the ground around it, but the flames never spread.
Behind him, a bat-like demon knelt motionless, hands clamped over his eyes.
Madness flames danced in his sockets.
His mouth hung open in eternal agony.
He looked like a statue—
Forever frozen in fear.
This was a true forbidden zone of life.
(***)
In the Dungeon Lord's chamber, Wade admired his masterpiece through a metal panel, repeatedly sighing at how dangerous things always seemed to be the most beautiful.
Watching Scarlet Rot spread through the bronze ruins, turning them into a deadly work of art, he could finally understand why the Servants of Rot were so obsessed with "making the Valkyries bloom."
Unfortunately, he wouldn't see such scenery again until the next dungeon war.
The Scarlet Rot's devastating performance only reinforced his conviction:
This must never leave the Dungeon.
Even a small leak wouldn't destroy the entire world…
But Bedford City and everything around it would certainly be finished.
He had no interest in turning Bedford City into Caelid.
"Hoo… hoo… hahaha—!"
A mechanical, almost demonic laugh echoed behind him.
Kid—the Dungeon Lord—was spinning wildly, wheels squeaking as he turned in circles, one clockwise and one counterclockwise.
His delight was unmistakable.
Perhaps he hadn't always been this violent—
But Kirich's restrictions had suppressed him for so long that, once unleashed, his joy rivaled Wade discovering a Rot Lake on a lonely night.
"Amazing… Lord Aldwin, you're truly incredible!"
Kid spoke now with unconscious reverence.
In his memory, even Mr. Kirich—with all his Level 4 authority—had never created anything as contagious or destructive as Scarlet Rot.
Kid had no idea what Scarlet Rot truly was, and Wade saw no reason to explain.
To Kid, Wade had simply released a few odd-looking Land Squirts, and they had sprayed a little red mist—
And the demons all died, many without even leaving their beds.
A Scarlet Rot variant Land Squirt cost no more than a roasted pig.
The normal ones were cheaper than goblins.
Minimal cost.
Maximum effect.
The demons might not be satisfied—
But who cared? They weren't human.
When Kid finally calmed down, he rolled over, the light atop his head flickering.
"Lord Aldwin… should we go a step further?"
Black light blinked atop his head.
"Let's go out there and kill all of them!"
I should rename you to Popo, Wade thought dryly as he shook his head.
For monsters to leave the dungeon, the Dungeon Lord needed to act—and the dungeon had to feel threatened, or Kid's emotional state had to shift dramatically.
But Val Dungeon had no usable monsters left.
Not a single one.
Kirich had left Kid nothing but fragmented, weakened monster blueprints—nowhere near enough to generate new creatures.
Even if the dungeon went berserk, it wouldn't matter.
Without monsters, the outside world wouldn't even notice.
If they truly wanted to slaughter the demons outside, Sein would need to take action.
But Wade would never allow that.
Sein had already gone berserk once—triggering it again risked unknown consequences.
And two berserk incidents in quick succession would spark suspicion.
No one would dare approach such a dungeon ever again.
And lastly—
Wade didn't know Kid well enough yet.
He wouldn't trigger a berserk for him.
Kid sagged slightly, disappointed he couldn't go out and rampage—
But brightened almost immediately, remembering how many demons they had just destroyed.
As an alchemic golem, he didn't overthink things.
If something made him happy, he was happy.
If something made him unhappy, he ignored it.
Anyone who helped him deserved his gratitude.
"Lord Aldwin…"
Kid tilted his smooth, round body upward—
As if looking up at Wade.
"When this is over… may I become your subordinate? I want to give this dungeon to you."
Before Wade could even react, Kid continued:
"I should have ended my existence in endless hibernation.
But those damned demons woke me.
I wanted to kill them, but my long sleep stripped me of all authority.
So I had no choice but to rely on someone else."
His mechanical voice carried genuine sincerity.
"Choosing you from the beginning must have been the blessing of the goddess of fate."
"I will not return to hibernation.
Even if I'm just a golem, after seeing how wonderful the world is, I refuse to sleep again.
Thankfully, Mr. Kirich never gave me a forced-sleep command."
"I want to entrust everything to you.
Once you inherit my mana, I can release my status as Dungeon Lord… and search for my creator."
A Dungeon Lord who relinquished their position always met the same end—
Death.
To gain a new dungeon for free—
It was an absurdly generous offer.
Wade patted Kid's smooth head.
"No need to rush. Let's watch what's happening outside first.
You've never seen the outside world, have you?"
"The outside…?"
Kid's voice trembled.
Could Lord Aldwin communicate with the outside?
Impossible.
But then Wade pulled out his crystal ball—
A much more pleasant viewing tool than the metal panel.
Scenes from outside Val City flickered to life.
A towering City of Flesh pierced the clouds.
The coalition army clashed violently with it.
"H-how did you do that!?" Kid stammered.
"I'll explain later. For now… let's enjoy the show."
Wade watched the Flesh City calmly.
Though it resembled something from a cult's nightmare, it didn't worry him.
He believed the adventurers he'd trained would not fall here.
Besides—
The one who had died countless times under the Abyss Watchers wasn't here today.
He—and his wolf pack—
Were already charging toward the battlefield.