It was a very luxurious altar. It was so dark that it was difficult to clearly distinguish except for the various different patterns of flames that were carved on its surface.
In the center of that altar, there was a lance.
The lance was a dark red, topped with a golden head.
Yong-Ho started walking towards it as if he was bewitched. The sudden movement caused Catalina to yell out in surprise.
"Master!"
"I got you."
Yong-Ho grabbed the lance without hesitation. And immediately pulled it out of the altar.
Catalina held her breath. If arrows started to shoot out of the walls, she was planning on throwing her body to protect him. If fire suddenly enveloped Yong-Ho, she planned to sacrifice herself to shield him. If nothing worked out, she was ready to die with him.
However, nothing happened. After pulling out the lance, Yong-Ho suddenly realized what he had done, but fortunately, he didn't throw the lance away.
And then there was silence.
Yong-Ho kept looking back and forth between the lance and the altar because nothing was happening, and then looked at Catalina with a subtle expression.
Catalina suddenly yelled out.
"Mammon's Spirit!"
At Catalina's sudden shout, Yong-Ho almost dropped the lance. While Catalina caught her breath, Yong-Ho started to inspect the lance.
"Spirit… really? It's a lance."
"Oh, no. The head and shaft of the lance are giving off a scarlet color...I'm sure this is Aamon, the Red Lotus Demon Lance."
Catalina moved closer to Yong-Ho. With a tense expression, she observed the red lance while continuing to talk.
"The Red Lotus Demon Spear was the weapon that Mammon used. The lance itself is part of his demon family...a very high-ranked demon."
Catalina looked serious. Yong-Ho looked at the lance again.
"So, this lance is part of the demon family?"
"Yes. And…"
"And?"
"There's a legend."
Catalina paused for the moment. She locked her eyes onto Aamon, held in Yong-Ho's hand, and then continued to talk, "If anyone other than Mammon touches Aamon, they'll experience the wrath of hell...Master!"
It happened before Catalina had even finished talking. A flame released from the tip of the spear head enveloped Yong-Ho.
Yong-Ho couldn't even scream. His entire body was quickly enveloped in flames. He felt like the flames not only enveloped himself but the entire world around him.
He violently struggled. He fell to the ground and started to roll around. A few seconds later. Yong-Ho realized something.
It wasn't hot. Although the flames completely covered him, it didn't hurt.
Yong-Ho stopped struggling and examined himself. Inside the flames, Yong-Ho's arms and legs were completely intact without a scratch on them.
What on earth was going on? If the flames had completely enveloped his surrounding then how was Catalina?
Yong-Ho quickly scanned his surroundings. But he couldn't find her. His body froze up due to the pressure.
Right behind him. There was something watching him.
It was a large eye. A large eye covered in flames. The eye was located in the center of the flames and was looking down at Yong-Ho.
"Why are you not being burned?"
The voice of an adult male reverberated In his head. The voice felt deep and overpowering, with a pressure that felt as if it could oppress the entire world.
The eye approached Yong-Ho. Yong-Ho still couldn't move. After loudly exhaling, he stared straight into the eye. The eye observed him. Yong-Ho felt like the eye was inspecting every inch of his body.
A large lump of mana.
Yong-Ho sensed it. The large eye was Aamon, the Red Lotus Demon Lance. Perhaps this entire space was built by him.
Aamon carefully observed Yong-Ho. And then laughed loudly. It was impossible for an eye to laugh, but that's what Yong-Ho felt. The sound of a man's laughter filled his head.
"Really? Is that so? You harbor the power of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Finally, finally, there's someone that has inherited the power of Greed!"
Aamon appeared overjoyed. However, at the same time, he displayed a completely opposite emotion.
"But you're still just a child. It seems that I've run out of patience due to being asleep for so long."
The sound of the man's laughter died down. The red eye moved closer to Yong-Ho and filled his entire vision.
Yong-Ho breathed out. He tried to speak as he breathed out. Aamon laughed again. It was quite a different laugh from the previous one. It was far from ridicule.
"I'll adjust to your level for now, child."
The eye once again changed into a flame and enveloped Yong-Ho. His whole world was set ablaze.
"Master!"
"Ack!"
Yong-Ho coughed. At the same time, he opened his eyes and saw Catalina approaching him. He instinctively pulled himself back. He was still covered in flames. The flames of the Red Lotus bloomed out of his body.
"Master!"
Catalina yelled again. Yong-Ho extended his hand out and stopped her. He then gradually caught his breath. The flames started to slowly die out. The flame that rose out of his body had all disappeared.
"Ha...ha...ha…"
Beads of sweat were rolling down his back. Yong-Ho turned his attention elsewhere after confirming that the apprehensive Catalina was standing still in the same spot. He looked down at the lance that was still in his right hand.
'It changed.'
The scarlet-colored lance had changed into a golden color. The lance had also shortened in length.
Yong-Ho's eyes turned emerald in green color as he inspected the lance with the Power of Evolution.
[Name : Aamon]
[Race : ???]
[Specialty : Fire / ???]
[Development Rate : 0/100]
[??? | ★★★★★★ (6)]
[??? | ★★★★★★ (6)]
[??? | ★★★★★☆ (5.5)]
There were so many question marks that he couldn't really gather much information but there was one thing he was certain of.
The spirit, Aamon, appeared in the form of a lance. Mammon, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, who had once controlled a quarter of the demon world, greatly favored this lance.
"It shrank. It must have matched my current level of power?"
While using the power of evolution, Yong-Ho quietly mumbled to himself. A bitter smile unknowingly appeared on his face. He was filled with a variety of different emotions, but he couldn't express them.
"Mas...ter?"
After hearing Catalina quietly call out his name, Yong-Ho looked back at her. She was now beyond the level of just being nervous and was on the brink of breaking down in tears. After staring at her for a moment, Yong-Ho spoke.
"You can come here now. And… just like you had said, I think it is Aamon. Although, I think he's asleep right now."
After Yong-Ho gave her permission, Catalina was about to run to his side, but suddenly froze after hearing his last comment. She stared at Aamon with both shocked and excited expression.
"Amazing! You're absolutely amazing Master!"
Catalina lavished him with an excessive amount of praise, but he had an idea why she was like that. Yong-Ho chuckled to himself and acted like he was inspecting the quality of the weapon.
Even though it had become shorter, one of Mammon's Spirits had actually trusted himself to Yong-Ho. If Yong-Ho became stronger, then it was possible for Aamon to regain his original power. That was probably the reason why Aamon had trusted himself to Yong-Ho in the first place.
'Then, was that peculiar feeling because of this lance?'
It was one of the skills of the power of Greed.
It was hard to say that it was as simple as just having luck in obtaining wealth. It might be a bit of a leap, but it appeared to Yong-Ho that Aamon was actually calling out to him.
'Anyways.'
Now that he had Aamon in his hands, it was now time to find a way out of this room.
Yong-Ho looked at Catalina again. A frown unknowingly appeared on his forehead.
"Oh, master. As expected of our master. To be able to wield Aamon. Oh my. You actually overcame the wrath of hell."
It felt like he was watching Eligor, not Catalina. She was acting as if she was drunk and on the brim of crying her eyes out.
"Catalina."
"You're really amazing. Praise master. Praise the House of Mammon. Our master is the greatest."
It seemed as if she was really moved by his actions. Yong-Ho called out her name again.
"Catalina!"
As he called out her name louder, Catalina raised her head up in surprise. Yong-Ho gave her an order.
"Calm down."
His sudden order caused Catalina to go into an even greater frenzy, but she somehow succeeded in displaying a calm expression. Her eyes asked inquiringly if this was enough and Yong-Ho nodded in satisfaction. Yong-Ho spoke while examining Aamon, who was about one meter in length.
"Great. Now, let's think of a way to get out of here."
As soon as Yong-Ho finished talking.
The ground, walls and the ceiling started to shake. Yong-Ho quickly lowered his body and his eyes met with Catalina's. The shaking continued. Debris started to fall from the ceiling.
"Do you think it's because you pulled out Aamon?"
Catalina asked worriedly and Yong-Ho started to look around. The shaking was getting more and more violent. It felt like the room was soon going to fall apart.
Yong-Ho quickly placed Aamon back on top of the altar, but that didn't seem to do anything. It actually started to get worse.
Yong-Ho shone the flashlight around the room. He noticed something that looked like an entrance, but it was completely sealed.
There wasn't any time to think. Yong-Ho grabbed Catalina's wrist and ran towards the area where they fell. Using the flashlight, he looked at the hole that Catalina and him fell through. The hole was roughly two to three meters in width.
Larger pieces of debris started to fall from the ceiling. It seemed like walls and ground were going to collapse at any moment.
How would they escape? Will the method that he thought of work?
He pulled Catalina closer with his arm and started to yell to her when she became closer.
"Catalina! Do you trust me?"
"I trust you!"
Catalina answered right away. Despite the dangerous situation, Catalina didn't doubt him for a second.
Yong-Ho smiled. With a nod of his head, he placed Aamon down on the ground. He then placed both of his hands on top of Catalina's thighs and used his power.
Catalina flinched for a moment. Green flames bloomed out of Yong-Ho's eyes.
The Power of Evolution.
Yong-Ho's injected his mana into Catalina's body.
***
As soon as the ceiling collapsed, the walls and ground also collapsed with it. At that moment, Catalina kicked off the ground. She was so quick, that it reminded him of a falcon lifting off.
Yong-Ho, who was attached to Catalina's back, had exhausted all of his mana. After making a makeshift rope out of Yong-Ho's top, they had used it to tie each other together.
Catalina hits the wall while firmly holding onto Yong-Ho's legs. She then jumped diagonally towards the opposing wall and then took another leap.
Evolution of the agility specialization.
Since she had constantly sparred with the Treant, her evolution rate had reached its limit, which made it possible for him to use the power of evolution.
It was a gamble. It seemed almost impossible for Catalina to carry Yong-Ho while running up a wall dozens of meters high.
But Yong-Ho still placed his bet on Catalina.
Catalina didn't stop. She moved like a soaring falcon gliding through the air. It was unthinkable to her before that she would be able to move like this before her evolution.
Gravity didn't stop her. She continued to run. But, moments later.
Catalina suddenly let out a groan. She felt like her legs and ankle were going to break any second. However, she clenched her teeth and endured it and continued on running. She jumped again. This time, however, she didn't land on the opposite wall. She lacked the strength. There wasn't much left. She just needs to go a little further.
"Ahhhh!"
Yong-Ho suddenly intervened. He used whatever remaining strength he had left and pierced Aamon into the wall with all of his might.
It was for just a moment. But, despite the fact that Yong-Ho's body had become stronger the past few days, piercing Aamon deep into the wall while exhausted was incredibly difficult for him. But, it was enough.
Catalina moved once again. She utilized Yong-Ho's effort and firmly placed her feet on the wall. With her remaining energy, she leaped off the wall with all her might.
The relationship between the owner of a dungeon and his spirits wasn't as simple as just of a master and servant. Yong-Ho pulled Aamon out right on time as if he read Catalina's mind.
"Ahhhh!"
Catalina screamed. She twisted her body in midair and using her remaining energy, she hit the opposite wall and pushed her body into the air.
Yong-Ho and Catalina both rolled on the ground and after bumping into the entrance of the secret passageway, they stopped suddenly. Yong-Ho was on top of Catalina again.
"Ha, ha."
"Ha, ha…"
Both of them didn't say a word as they tried to catch their breaths. Both of them suddenly erupted into laughter.
They had survived. They had escaped safely!
"Catalina."
Yong-Ho called out to Catalina and instead of groaning, she answered in a low voice.
Both of them were completely exhausted. They just wanted to rest.
But, they couldn't. When Yong-Ho had suddenly arrived on the first level, the Spirit of the Dungeon and Yong-Ho re-connected. The dungeon spirit was in a state of panic because she couldn't reach Yong-Ho, so she just yelled loudly.
"The dungeon is under attack!"
Yong-Ho's eyes widened. They both quickly stood up.