My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1635-1637

Chapter 1635

“We’ve managed to set up defenses here and here.” A man who looked to be the head of the island’s security forces declared. “The pirates have lightened their attacks lately. I think we have started to wear them down.”

“They’re not pirates, they are fey.” I interrupted. “And the reason they’ve slowed down their attack is that they failed to acquire the award at the end of the dungeon.”

Before I could do anything, we had to discuss plans with those present. We have recovered Anne, Calypso, and the rest I had left behind when I charged into their town hall. After I appeared, the fighting did seem to back off, which would have coincided with the fey getting in touch with their forces. Unfortunately, this defensible position put me up against many irritating people, including the merchant council that ran this island, and the leaders of the tribes who had arrived to begin their peace talks.

“I take offense to that!” A woman with pink hair in a ceremonial robe declared. “The fact that you try to villainize our people because of past events, you’re trying to put us in a place of disadvantage during the peace talks!”

She was a representative of the fey who remained. They had a tribe of several thousand in the south of the Ost Republic. They seemed to be as clueless to the fey invasion as anyone else. Culturally, they believed that the fey that tried to go overseas all died. Since then, they had more or less integrated with the rest of the species that established themselves on Faerith, although their numbers never recovered.

I had come to learn that most of them weren’t even full fey. Since they couldn’t be resurrected, a lot of them sought partners with another species so that their children could have the same chances as the children from other species, without the fears of death. Ultimately, she felt like more of a nuisance, seeming to think that my words were an elaborate ruse just to spite the fey.

“This isn’t what Lord Deek means.” Eliana tried to soothe the bristly politician.

“I also am not convinced of this so-called story.” The councilman who had been with us in the dungeon spoke up. “You claim to have beaten a dungeon in two days that couldn’t be conquered by even the best of us in centuries? You expect us to believe that?”

“That’s what happened.” I glared at him. “And we didn’t beat that last dungeon, but still managed to get the core.”

“Yes, this supposed species core.” He sneered. “Why have I never heard of such a thing? A core connected to every person of a certain species? One that can take away their resurrection? Bah!”

His words were dismissive, but some of the others present shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t know if that was because they were aware of such an artifact for their species, or were simply unnerved that such an artifact might exist and could be used against them at any time.

“You can ask Prelate Anne. She witnessed the entire event. She’s the leader of the church of the daughter!”

“She’s not the leader of my church!” A demon councilman cut in angrily. “If you claim that this human core can make you as powerful as the Demon King Aberon, then why don’t you use it and show us?”

It would be improper to call the demon colony down here part of the demons under Aberon. They were mostly outcasts. Some of them fled with Aberis, but after the Demon King fell, they weren’t welcome there and fled with the Osterians. I had Eliana probe them very carefully, and the Demon King Aberis had never reached out to these brethren of his, and they had no clue he was even reincarnated. They never would have accepted him anyway in his reincarnated form. Bloodlines seemed to be pretty important to these demons, and they didn’t breed with other species like the fey had.

“We need to deal with the fey threat before we can do anything.” I declared.

“Hmph, this is a farce.” The demon snorted and crossed his arms.

I rubbed my forehead. I was starting to understand why Eliana was so stressed out these last few weeks. These people were unbearable to deal with.

Chapter 1636

The conversation was supposed to be how we were going to put out guards. Naturally, the fey, the demons, the dwarves, the humans, and the merchants all had their small military force. Well, the merchant’s force was more like a security force. It was this reason as well as the aid of the adventuring guild that was quite large here that the city had managed to hold out as they did. However, every group was fighting independently of each other, and we needed to combine them.

Arguments over even those who were fighting sprang up almost immediately, and that hadn’t even grown to the point of unit distribution or sharing resources. I ended up getting roped into it for nearly an hour. Even though the fey attack had slowed down, it hadn’t stopped. Kaia had said that they had other plans, so I did not doubt that they’d be coming with something else soon enough. This was an invasion force that had been gathered and planned for months. A stronger defensive line wasn’t going to change the course of events.

I had considered summoning the girls and my army from Chalm, but Eliana told me that such an act would be seen as an act of war, ironically destroying the peace talks in the process. I considered the peace talks already destroyed, but Eliana begged me to hold off. I could just summon my girls, but there was still time for that. I started to think that a strong counterattack was the best option.

I slipped away from the meeting as they were arguing about food distribution. The dwarves ate more food than the demons, and so they insisted on discussing how food was going to be fairly distributed through the duration of this siege. In most of their minds, this wasn’t an invasion at all, but a pirate attack that would end once they got bored. If I had to hear it any longer, I was going to explode, and Eliana was rubbing her temples like she had a throbbing headache.

I wanted to be the supportive guy for my pregnant woman, but I decided I could support her far better by ending this battle. So, after feigning a bathroom visit, I opened a portal and stepped through. I stepped out into the dungeon where Calypso had been locked up once again. She had various times where she could have escaped now, but she had chosen not to. Furthermore, she had handed me the human orb. Did that mean I could trust her?

“Carmine?”

“Calypso hasn’t caused any trouble. The inquisitor tried to get some alone time with her, but I got her to bugger off. She called me a blasphemer, but Anne told her to retreat. I’m quite surprised. Prelate Anne has normally hated me.”

Carmine had been standing in the corner. I had asked her to be Calypso’s guard once we got back. I had feared the church might make a move again now that Calypso’s use was over.

“You’ve met her before?” I asked Carmine.

“Once… Mary attempted a meeting of the churches. Anne called me a cow. It failed quickly.” Carmine responded, not seeming to care at all.

“I see…” I turned to look at Calypso, who had her head back and was watching us with an unnerving smile. “You mind giving me some time with her… alone.”

“Master doesn’t plan to violate her, does he?” Carmine asked.

“Geh! Wh-what are you saying?”

“She hasn’t been initiated into the harem yet. I suppose you’ve already slept with all of the other girls since you’ve been back?”

“Th-that’s not… I mean… it’s not like that…” I held up my hands defensively, trying to ease the bristling anger coming from Carmine.

“Whatever… I want new armor.”

“Magical armor forged by deep dwarves?” My lips twitched.

“Hmph… that will do.” She spun around and left the room.

I let out a breath. Carmine had thought I was dead, was sent to train relentlessly in a monster gauntlet, and was then captured and used as a puppet by the fey. All the girls had gone through harrowing adventures and come back changed. Yet… Carmine hadn’t changed much at all.

Chapter 1637

With Carmine gone, it was just me and Calypso. This was the first time I had the chance to speak to her alone since her initial capture. Well, Alysia was always there, but she had been by my side so long at this point that she felt like another part of me. She rarely commented on issues, and she only stepped in when she felt like I was in danger.

“Calypso, I need to know your story,” I said.

Calypso stared at me silently for several moments, and then she leaned back against the wall she was chained to. “Oh? It’s a rather long story, are you sure you truly care or are you just trying to figure out how to harness the power of the orb and become the human king?”

Calypso was smart and observant, but then again, for as long as she had been alive, she would have had to be. I had always assumed she had used some dark ritual involving sacrificing lives to extend her lifespan. She had certainly led me to believe that she had achieved her long lifespan through such a means. Then again, if such an ability existed, wouldn’t King Roth have been able to use it too? He was certainly ruthless and desperate enough that if sacrificing a few lives was all it would take, he’d do it.

The only answer was that King Roth wasn’t the Beastkin King. Sure, he was the King of Dioshin, but he didn’t have mastery of the Beastkin dungeon core that had brought them to this world. I knew that to be true because I had absorbed all of his lore and he didn’t contain such a thing. Some of his lore was relevant. There was just a hint of a story that suggested that the Beastkin lore had been destroyed. The way the tribes were, it wasn’t hard to believe that they’d rather destroy it than let any given species become the king of all beastkin forever. He wasn’t like Aberon, who must have held the true mastery of the Demon King, which was why he was still alive despite so much time.

“I don’t want immortality, and I don’t want the power.” I shook my head. “I just want to repel the fey and keep it from being used against humanity.”

The orb had remained in my soul world since Calypso had thrown it to me, and I had honestly been afraid to touch it. If it had some kind of connection to all of humanity, was it right to take on such power?

“It always starts that way, doesn’t it?” Calypso mused. “That’s how it always goes with these things. No one wants to claim mastery over their entire race, to become the slave master of your entire people…”

I blinked, and then my eyes widened as I started to realize the hint she had just given me. “It’s… like a soul that is connected to all people? That means, if you use slave master, you will enslave the entire population at once?”

“Do you know why I always found you fascinating, Deek?” She didn’t answer me but instead gave me a considering look. “When I betrayed them all and took the human orb as my own, I gained the ability to sense all of humanity. I have a connection to every human. I can… feel them. There is only one human being I am unable to feel. Do you know who?”

I already knew what she was going to say.

“Me.”