The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

Chapter 181: Baalzerith's Dungeon Management Plan

The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices – 181

EP.181 Baalzerith’s Dungeon Management Plan

– Successfully absorbed the sacrificed Minotaur. –

It took over 5 hours for me to fully absorb the offered sacrifice by Baalzerith.

As I opened my eyes feeling refreshed, Assistant Manager Park Seo-yun spoke to me.

“Advisor, you must have been really tired? You were sleeping so deeply that I didn’t wake you up.”

I was momentarily flustered, but since I couldn’t say I had passed out from absorbing the sacrifice, I made up an excuse.

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry. Did anything happen while I was asleep?”

Park Seo-yun waved her hand at my words.

“No, it’s fine. Some people have already come out, and it looks like the team leader will be coming out soon too.”

Fortunately, nothing had happened while I was unconscious.

‘Still, I need to be careful.’

I had asked Celia to let me know before offering sacrifices, but this was the first sacrifice from Baalzerith.

It was fortunate that I wasn’t in the dungeon; otherwise, it could have been a big problem.

At least the Phoenix Guild members were on guard around the area, so it wasn’t dangerous.

“Thank you. Then I should start getting ready too.”

After getting up, I checked the notifications first.

It was time to see what abilities I had gained.

– Acquired the Minotaur’s trait [Tough Hide (B)]. Can be used for enhancement. –

– Acquired the Minotaur’s skill [Earth Smash (C)]. Can be used for enhancement. –

– Acquired the Minotaur’s trait [Bull’s Mighty Strength (B)]. Can be used for enhancement. –

– Acquired a portion of the Minotaur’s Defense stat. –

– [Defense] ×4 –

I gained two traits, one skill, and the Defense stat.

‘Not bad.’

It was a good start, with two B-rank traits appearing.

– Tough Hide (B): Increases resistance to physical attacks. Possessing this trait affects the Defense stat. –

– Bull’s Mighty Strength (B): Greatly increases the body’s muscular strength. Possessing this trait affects the Attack Power stat. –

The descriptions were simple, but they were fundamental traits that also boost stats.

‘I’ll use these myself.’

I planned to use all the traits I gained this time to reinforce my lacking strength.

I also decided to apply the Defense stat to myself, following the traits.

‘Lastly, the skill.’

– Earth Smash (C): Strike the ground with powerful hooves to damage nearby enemies and stun them briefly. –

As much as more is better, the Earth Smash skill didn’t seem particularly necessary.

‘I’ll pass on this one for now….’

I didn’t need to use it right away anyway.

It would be enough to enhance it later if I found a monster that it suited.

‘But I’m more concerned about the content of the earlier notification.’

The notification said that the time needed to absorb sacrifices had been reduced.

– You are conquering and managing a total of 1 dungeon. The time to absorb sacrifices is reduced by 10%. –

This was the second dungeon conquest after the Stone Golem dungeon. However, this was the first time I had appointed a manager.

At first, I was skeptical about whether there was any merit in conquering and managing, but not anymore.

‘The time it takes to absorb sacrifices has been reduced.’

Originally, it took a total of 6 hours to fully absorb a sacrifice.

For simple items, it might only take 1 hour, but the biggest problem was that I was defenseless during that time.

Of course, Maru could guard me, but there was always the possibility of sudden situations like this one.

‘Time reduction is what I need most right now.’

If the time it takes to absorb sacrifices is reduced, I can become stronger more safely and quickly.

‘So, does this mean the reduction time gets shorter as the number of conquered and managed dungeons increases?’

That was likely the case.

It meant I needed to conquer and manage multiple dungeons.

‘It won’t be easy.’

If it was just about conquering dungeons, it wouldn’t be a problem.

I could just send high-ranking monsters to conquer them.

But considering that I had to appoint managers to the conquered dungeons and protect them, it wasn’t such a simple task.

‘The rank of the manager is important too.’

What would happen if I recklessly sent any monster as a manager and they died?

On the other hand, if I only sent high-ranking ones as managers, it would have the disadvantage of dispersing the power of my main dungeon.

It wasn’t just a matter of simply increasing the number of dungeons.

‘If I had known this, I would have sent a manager to the Stone Golem dungeon too….’

After all, the Stone Golem dungeon was under the management of the Phoenix Guild.

Unless the Phoenix Guild decided to clear the dungeon, the chances of it being attacked by other intruders were extremely low.

But that’s water under the bridge now.

No matter how much I regretted it, the Stone Golem dungeon wouldn’t come back.

It was better to put the regret aside and focus on conquering new dungeons.

I looked around.

Jung Ye-rin hadn’t come out of the dungeon yet.

‘Did she go all the way to the center?’

Now, Baalzerith is the manager of that dungeon.

If Jung Ye-rin had encountered Baalzerith in the dungeon, there was a possibility she might propose a deal.

‘Well, they’ll handle it themselves.’

Whatever choice Jung Ye-rin or Baalzerith made, it wasn’t something I needed to interfere with.

In Baalzerith’s case, if the dungeon management seemed inadequate, I could just dismiss him, so I wasn’t worried about it for now.

‘Then, shall I try conquering until everyone comes out?’

I immediately touched my smartphone screen and looked at the list of dungeons available for conquest.

[Dungeon Conquest & Dispatch]

– Dungeon ‘Silent Fortress’ (El Dorad, Dungeon Master: 4-star Lich) –

– Dungeon ‘Cockroach Lair’ (El Dorad, Dungeon Master: 2-star Giant Cockroach) –

– Dungeon ‘Sticky Temptation’ (El Dorad, Dungeon Master: 5-star Arachne) –

– Dungeon ‘Snake’s Nest’ (El Dorad, 2-star Cobrite) –

‘Hmm, this time they’re all dungeons in El Dorad.’

In order, they were dungeons with concepts of undead, cockroaches, spiders, and snakes.

‘The Silent Fortress has a Lich as its master.’

It’s a dungeon that anyone could see was full of undead monsters.

‘The question is, how large is the dungeon….’

2-star dungeons weren’t much of a problem.

However, the 4-star Lich and 5-star Arachne were different.

I had to be cautious since I didn’t know what existed inside the dungeon.

Moreover, the environment itself was different from the Stone Golem and Minotaur dungeons.

The Lich uses undead monsters for corpse explosions.

The difficulty of conquering would depend on how many undead monsters were in the dungeon.

The dungeon with Arachne would undoubtedly be full of spider webs.

If I wasn’t careful, the monsters I dispatched might be counterattacked.

Thus, the dungeon environment itself was structured to be disadvantageous to intruders.

‘And there’s also a problem after conquering the dungeon.’

My current purpose in conquering dungeons is for management.

Even if I conquered the Lich and Arachne dungeons, I would need to dispatch managers of similar rank for the dungeons to operate smoothly.

‘Should I start by conquering other dungeons first?’

I started touching the screen.

– Dispatching Baby Hydra to the dungeon ‘Snake’s Nest’. –

First, I sent a Baby Hydra, which was no different from a snake, to the snake dungeon.

Even though it’s called a baby, it’s still a 4-star monster.

If I had preferred to conquer safely, I would have sent a different monster instead of the Baby Hydra.

‘I need to think about the future.’

The number of dungeons I need to manage will continue to increase.

As such, I needed to cultivate new monsters, not always the same ones.

In that sense, I planned to use this opportunity to give the Baby Hydra some real combat experience.

‘Who should I send to the Cockroach Lair?’

The Cockroach Dungeon is different in nature from existing dungeons.

In a way, it could be seen as the final result of evolution adapted to its environment.

‘Since it’s a case of cockroaches entering the dungeon and mutating into monsters.’

Their reproduction was already tremendous, but the cockroaches that became monsters were on a different scale.

Probably, as the dungeon’s name suggests, the interior is filled with an enormous number of cockroaches.

‘I need an ability that can dissolve them all at once.’

For example, area-of-effect attacks like fire or poison were necessary.

While pondering, I thought of a creature that had recently completed its own evolution.

‘Ah! That one was there!’

It was the Toxic Ghoul.

‘It uses poison and is also 3-star rank, so it should be fine.’

– Dispatching Toxic Ghoul to the dungeon ‘Cockroach Lair’. –

I sent monsters to the remaining two locations, excluding the Lich and Arachne dungeons.

‘Should I send Celia to extract the Lich and Arachne?’

If it was ambiguous to conquer and manage the dungeon anyway, it would be beneficial for me to just extract the monsters like with the Stone Golem dungeon.

As I was thinking that, a new notification message popped up.

– Baalzerith requests to reinforce the dungeon with monsters like ‘Necros’. –

“Hmm?”

Baalzerith had made a suggestion to me.

The content of the suggestion was to deploy monsters like Necros in the dungeon.

Of course, just as monsters could be taken out of the dungeon, it was also possible to reinforce them.

‘Monsters like Necros…’

I’m not sure why she specifically pointed out Necros.

‘Or does dungeon management need Lich-type monsters?’

My eyes turned to the 4-star Lich on the screen.

*===*

**

===

The conversation between Baalzerith and Jung Ye-rin ended soon.

To proceed with the actual transaction, Jung Ye-rin also had things to prepare.

First and foremost, Yoon Tae-kyung’s death.

Although he was in the vice guild master line, he was now a team member.

But since he died inside the dungeon, it was clear that the vice guild master would try to check in some form.

Those issues needed to be resolved first before she could engage in full-fledged transactions with Baalzerith.

“Then I’ll come back again.”

Jung Ye-rin bowed politely to Baalzerith.

“Yes, I’ll be waiting!”

Baalzerith also smiled and waved her hand.

A moment later, Jung Ye-rin and her team members left, carrying one Minotaur corpse.

Now, only Baalzerith and the Minotaurs remained in the center of the dungeon.

Baalzerith was still smiling.

“Moo…?”

The Minotaur chieftain’s body trembled at that sight.

Just as he was worrying about what would happen this time, Baalzerith immediately ordered.

“From now on, we shall develop the dungeon in earnest!”

“Moo-eh?”

Baalzerith had officially become the manager of the Minotaur dungeon.

With no Celia to nag, she planned to create and operate her own dungeon.

“Bring something to record! I shall show you the image of the dungeon I pursue!”

At her command, one Minotaur brought paper and a pen.

It was the writing tools received earlier from Jung Ye-rin’s team member.

Baalzerith took the paper and held the pen, lost in thought for a moment.

Soon, her red eyes sparkled, and the pen began to move quickly across the paper.

The scratching sound echoed through the dungeon.

“Moo-eh-eh…”

The Minotaurs watched the scene, shrinking their bodies.

Beads of sweat formed on Baalzerith’s forehead, but she showed no sign of stopping.

Rather, a faint smile played on her lips.

After quite a long time had passed and the pen stopped, Baalzerith held up the paper high.

A bright smile was on her face.

“It’s done!”

The structure of the dungeon was drawn on the paper.

And that structure closely resembled the dungeon managed by Celia.

There were some exaggerated aspects, but it didn’t matter.

Baalzerith was originally a dungeon owner too.

But she lost her dungeon due to frequent invasions by the White Order and the betrayal of the Demon World Merchant Association.

To never repeat that pain again, Baalzerith thought and thought.

How could she create the perfect dungeon?

The answer lay in Celia’s dungeon.

“Now, chieftain. Look at this!”

Baalzerith said, waving the paper with the dungeon structure drawn on it.

“This dungeon has a path that splits into three at the beginning. We too can reconstruct the maze to create a more complex and perfect dungeon!”

“Um, moo-eh?”

The chieftain’s eyes wavered at Baalzerith’s words.

The chieftain already knew.

The vampire before him would just give orders, and they would have to do the work.

Even if there were complaints, they couldn’t argue.

It was the principle of the dungeon that the weak follow the orders of the strong.

(Understood…)

“Good! I shall make a suggestion to the voice’s owner!”

A little while ago, Baalzerith had offered the Minotaur corpses as sacrifices.

It was a kind of bribe to look good to the owner of the voice, and the corpses had disappeared without a trace.

Just from this, she realized that she was connected to the owner of the voice in some way.

This time, she planned to suggest what she needed in return.

‘The dungeon alone being grand isn’t enough.’

Hadn’t she felt that fact deeply after losing her dungeon once?

And while staying with Celia, she had given some thought to dungeon management.

The most important thing was the harmony of monsters to guard the dungeon.

And the best combination Baalzerith thought of was…

‘Death Knight and Necros!’

She had seen it.

How the friendship between those two changed the atmosphere of the dungeon.

‘If we fill the dungeon with beings like Necros, it will surely become a perfect dungeon!’

*===*

**

===

– Dispatching Necros to the dungeon ‘Silent Fortress’. –

Baalzerith had gone to the trouble of making a suggestion, so it felt a bit awkward to refuse.

So I decided to dispatch Necros to the ‘Silent Fortress’ dungeon where the 4-star Lich was the owner.

It would be easy using Celia’s charm, but what Baalzerith wanted was not a monster under charm, but monsters like Necros.

Necros is a 5-star Arch Lich.

And the owner of this dungeon is a 4-star Lich, so I planned to appoint Necros as a temporary manager once the dungeon was conquered.

‘Come to think of it, since it’s an undead senior, it should teach well.’

From any perspective, Necros could be considered the Lich’s great senior.

I planned to send it to Baalzerith after the Lich learned a lot under its great senior.

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