Chapter 229 Surprise Attack 1
It was no exaggeration to say that the soul of the dungeon and its master were one in body and soul. The growth of the dungeon master soon led to the growth of the dungeon and vice versa.
Lucia also had a strong control of the dungeon now that could not even be compared with in the past. Nonetheless, she still needed more power.
The Labyrinth of Greed, or the dwelling place of Mammon, the great King of Greed, demanded much more power than now. In particular, Lucia had to skip the 7th and 8th floors to conquer the 9th floor, which was a big challenge for her because she had to cross the two floors remotely to reach the 9th floor.
Lucia barely managed to take control of the 9th floor. But her control was incomplete. She needed to grow a little more in order to completely control the 9th floor and control all the remaining floors of the Labyrinth of Greed, including the 7th and 8th floors.
The easiest way to grow the soul of a dungeon, Lucia, was to feed her the dungeon's heart with the essence of the dungeon that was collected from the heart of another dungeon.
Here was the problem. The number of dungeons in the unclaimed southern area was reduced to less than half because of the civil war that took place in all sides of the east, west, north, and south. Yong-ho, who had to dominate the enormous territory of the unclaimed southern area, had to stop the dungeons from shrinking anymore.
Because of this, he gave up the idea of obtaining the essence of the dungeons from the dungeons in the unclaimed southern area. What he should aim for was the dungeons outside the unclaimed area.
There was prey, of course. It was also very tempting and could be obtained relatively easily.
Numerous dungeons located in the territory of the King of Gluttony.
Although the masters under the command of the King of Gluttony were still alive, the king who controlled them and the greatest deterrent against the invasion by other kings, disappeared. And it was only the House of Mammon that knew the fact. Missing such a golden opportunity was simply ridiculous.
In general, there were two basic ways to attack dungeons.
One was the standard attack by mobilizing a massive military force.
More than 80% of the dungeon battles that took place in the demon world were fought in this way. They advanced by dismantling the dungeon's defense forces and traps by using a number of dungeon spirits. In this case, the damage to the general dungeon spirits was enormous, but this kind of fight could reduce the damage of the elite forces including the master's subordinate spirits. Moreover, in terms of occupying and dominating the dungeon, they had no choice but to mobilize a large army. The stultifying massive mobilization of troops by Vizaro, Embrio's right-hand man, was such an example. Although his force was small in scale, compared to Vizaro's, Foras used a similar method when he attacked Yong-ho.
The other way was to mobilize a small number of elite troops.
The stronger the elite troops were, the less damage they suffered. Besides, they reduced the time of attacking the dungeon. Since the size of the troops themselves was small, it was good to mount a surprise attack that the other party never expected.
However, it was a bad way to dominate the dungeon. Moreover, it carried a high risk because they had to send the elite troops into the dungeon where there might be an unknown danger and trap. In the worst case, the existence of the attackers would be put in jeopardy.
Yong-ho experienced both the pros and cons of the second method as the attacker as well as the defender in the past.
He did not mobilize many troops to attack the eastern area. It was Yong-ho himself and his six subordinate spirits that attacked Stravadi's dungeon.
Because of this, he did not lose a single spirit in the process of capturing Stravadi's dungeon. At that time, he took the initiative to attack Stravadi's dungeon, so he could minimize the damage to his troops.
The King of Gluttony used the same method as his when he attacked the House of Mammon. However, the king suffered a great loss, contrary to Yong-ho. The Ten Warriors that he sent first were annihilated. Then he himself went out next only to lose his life.
The reason that the King of Gluttony moved in person was because he lost the Ten Warriors, his right-hand men and loyal bodyguards. When the king was killed in the battle, his territory was reduced to something like an empty shell. The two dungeon battles not only cost the king his life but also shook the foundation of his kingdom.
Yong-ho was lost in thought while looking at the map of the demonic world that marked the territory of the King of Gluttony.
After thinking hard, Yong-ho made the conclusion.
He could not use the first method, namely using the massive troops to attack the territory. Although Skull and his unit, as well as the Black Orc squadron, which were the elite forces of the Mammon family, were powerful but numerically too few.
He realigned the troops in the process of occupying the unclaimed area in the south, but the number of troops he could mobilize at the moment was less than 2,000.
It was unreasonable and absurd for anyone to attack the north with these troops. Moreover, if he attacked the north with massive troops, it was highly likely that the absence of the King of Gluttony would be exposed to the other kings too quickly.
As it was always the case, he needed time. The later the news about the death of the King of Gluttony became known, the better. And the less the other kings including the Queen of Fury held him in check, the better.
Because of this, he had no other choice but to choose the second option, namely using the elite troops.
He had to attack the dungeon by using the best elite troops.
Although the King of Gluttony was gone, the dungeons under the command of the late king could not be compared with the unclaimed land in the south.
Moreover, it was better for him not to mobilize all his subordinate spirits to realize his bigger dream in the coming days.
From his point of view, the attacker who would infiltrate the dungeon under the King of Gluttony should not be the House of Mammon. For him, a mysterious force with unknown identity would be the ideal attacker.
If that was the solution, what should he do?
What other troops should he use than his subordinate spirits to attack the dungeons under the command of the King of Gluttony? Were there any available troops in the Mammon family?
Of course, there were such troops. They certainly existed.
Yong-ho expressed a small appreciation to the King of Gluttony, who was like a tree that gave everything to him generously.
***
"That's fine with me, but why do you want this place?" Said Gusion with a sullen expression, the owner of the arena.
Yong-ho responded by warming up slightly in the arena.
"It's strong here. It's good to fight. Right now, they are in the thick of farming in the Garden of Life."
Gusion wanted to remind him that the Garden of Life was originally a place for ornamental plants, not for fight or farming, but he only sighed. He suddenly recalled Scathach's letter in which she complained about the stench of fertilizers.
"I miss Scathcah."
"You will see her soon."
After answering readily, Yong-ho relaxed his shoulders. He took a deep breath and corrected his posture before looking at his subordinate spirits who stood in the arena like him. They were standing in a large circle with the center empty.
"Everyone, get ready. We're going to start right away."
As soon as he spoke, each of his subordinate spirits took their position.
Kaiwan giggled and let down her whip sword, and Catalina erected her tail stiff as if she got nervous. Ophelia and Eligos relaxed their ankles and wrists, respectively, and Tigrius gently swung his cane.
Skull, the most important figure in carrying out Yong-ho's plan, announced that he was ready by laughing loudly.
After checking the condition of his subordinate spirits, he looked back. He shouted at Gusion, who was sitting in the special stand at a distance.
"You can help me just in case, right?"
"I don't think you need my help."
Gusion was being sarcastic pleasantly. In fact, he was so glad to know that Yong-ho and his subordinate spirits grew up to the point that they did not need his help.
Yong-ho caught his breath again. He bit his lips slightly, which became dry as he became tense, and licked them. He then closed his eyes and concentrated his consciousness.
What he was trying to wake up was his desire for gluttony and the mana of the King of Gluttony that he swallowed with the power of greed.
His greed possessed everything that belonged to the late king. It was indeed a very greedy extortion.
Yong-ho found out about one of them. He deceived one that he had found with the Sin of Gluttony and the mana of the King of Gluttony. Yong-ho made himself mistaken for the King of Gluttony then ordered that the door of space be opened.
The contract formed by magic followed Yong-ho's command. By carrying out the contract, Yong-ho opened the door of the hidden space.
When the space opened in front of Yong-ho, there appeared several beings with great power.
Vampire Lords, Death Knights, Elder Liches, Bone Dragons.
Each one of them was the top undead who could overwhelm people with their names alone. The number of those spirits purchased by the King of Gluttony in a secret deal with the Dungeon Market for a battle with other kings was less than a dozen, but each one of them was already tantamount to an army of monsters.
Yong-ho did not call out all of the undead in the space. He only summoned those monsters that the King of Gluttony had reserved to attack the House of Mammon. Although he intended to do so from the beginning, he could summon them successfully because he used the most recent records on their summoning.
Five Vampire Lords and eleven Death Knights.