Two days after Yong-ho returned from the auction house urgently, the eastern expeditionary force, headed by Skull and its units, returned to the House of Mammon in the afternoon.
"Are you back?"
"Sure. How did it go?"
Yong-ho and Ophelia giggled while exchanging greetings to each other. They could feel relaxed for now because the news about the King of Violence's advance into the south didn't reach them yet.
Ophelia gathered intelligence much better than when she worked as the hostess of a tavern, but she didn't do it well enough to immediately find out what was going on outside the southern area.
After welcoming Ophelia and other dungeon spirits back, Yong-ho got to the point even without having them take a break from their long journey. He talked about what happened at the auction house while they were moving various essences collected from the eastern area to the heart room where Lucia was located.
"Really? You met the King of Fury?"
"Yeah, to be precise, I didn't meet her. I just made eye contact with her. I don't think she noticed that I am the King of Greed."
Ophelia didn't respond immediately. Instead, she kept her mouth shut for some time, as if she was lost in thought, then asked, making eye contact with him, "How did you feel about the King of Fury? What do you think she felt about you?"
"Well, not bad. I only saw her face only briefly…"
Burring at the end of his words, he recalled the King of Fury. Her rainbow-colored eyes and fresh face came to his mind.
At that moment, he turned his eyes and saw Catalina walking side by side next to him.
In no time, he said to Ophelia again, "Well, I felt like she was like Catalina. I'm not sure what she thought of me. She didn't know I was the King of Greed in the first place, and I didn't talk with her in the auction house anyway."
Catalina blinked and flapped her ears at his reply as if she didn't know what he was talking about. On the other hand, Kaiwan narrowed her eyes as if she understood it.
Ophelia grinned and said, "If so, I think my analysis is correct."
Catalina became more puzzled now. Obviously, she was the main topic of their conversation, but she felt like she alone couldn't make head or tail of what was going on.
Ophelia said, "Someday, it will be known throughout the demon realm that the King of Greed has returned to the House of Mammon. It means the opening of the era of the six kings. When that day arrives, the King of Fury is the strongest candidate to be your ally."
There were as many as seven kings in the demon world. With seven kings and their territories, it was natural that they formed a temporary alliance of their own because it was impossible for any king to confront other kings as a group.
Yong-ho, who recalled the Three Kingdoms game, asked Ophelia again, "Isn't it good enough to be close to the King of Fury?"
Ophelia replied immediately, "Although the King of Fury is known as the warmonger, she is exactly the opposite, if my analysis is correct. She doesn't enjoy fighting. She only goes out to fight for the peace and well-being of her own people because it's the fastest way to end a war."
"Do you mean she is a pacifist?"
"Sort of. What she wants is not to seize the hegemony of the demon world, but to bring peace and prosperity to her people. Besides, she is sharing the borders with all the other six kings. She even has a border stretching into our southern area. Nowadays, there is a big turbulence in the northern area, so I think she needs an ally badly these days."
Ophelia spoke so fast that Yong-ho and the others found it hard to follow her, but she hit the nail on the head. Reviewing her point in his mind quickly, Yong-ho nodded. Then he said in a low voice, recalling the King of Fury's face, "I wish I could be on her side. I don't want to fight her for some reason."
"What do you mean?" Kaiwan asked, cutting in timely.
Like she did last night, her eyes were glaring sharply. Catalina gently pulled his hand as if to imitate Kaiwan's action.
"We're almost there."
Right at that moment, they reached the entrance to the heart room of the dungeon.
Skull shouted loud as if to help Yong-ho and opened the door.
"Skullkull!"
[The day I have been earnestly waiting for has finally come!]
[Pounding, pounding! Pit-a-pat!]
[Please give me essence quickly! I feel dizzy!]
As soon as Yong-ho entered the heart room of the dungeon, Lucia shouted, making a big fuss.
Since they were also in the heart room of the dungeon, the dungeon spirits could hear Lucia's voice.
Kaiwan whispered, shaking her head, "Isn't it right for you to follow your master when you choose words or speak in the heart room of the dungeon?"
"Exactly."
Tigrius replied seriously, and Ophelia grinned quietly. Yong-ho, who suddenly got embarrassed for no reason, cleared his throat.
But Lucia was still cheerful. She shouted cheerfully without caring about Yong-ho's embarrassment.
[I've not eaten anything for the past several days, waiting for today!]
After all, Yong-ho also burst into laughter. After receiving the essence from Eligos, he approached the heart of the dungeon. As if to reflect Lucia's mood, he pushed the essence into the wriggling heart of the dungeon.
"Be sure to chew it."
[Of course, I will!]
[Yum-yum...Oops! So delicious!]
Lucia didn't exclaim artificially. Obviously, she admired it sincerely.
Lucia was not the only heart of the dungeon. It was good to say that the heart room of the dungeon was Lucia herself.
The dungeon spirits felt unusual energy. It was as if the whole room was wriggling.
[Please keep supplying it to me! Please!]
Lucia shouted. But her voice was a bit weird. Her voice trembled in ecstasy as if she had drugs.
At that moment, Yong-ho paused for a moment and looked back because he wasn't sure if it would be okay to keep injecting essence.
At that moment, Tigrius shouted, "Now is a good chance. Don't stop! The efficiency rate of essence absorption has been doubled. It's a very rare occurrence, so don't miss it!"
Yong-ho, who thought of the double EXP of online games, immediately began to act. He injected various essences into the heart of the dungeon at high speed.
[Oh! So good!]
[Wow!]
Even though he was so embarrassed because of Lucia's shouting in ecstasy, Yong-ho did not stop it. Finally, when the essences harvested from the eastern area ran out, a bright light was pouring out from the heart of the dungeon.
"Wow."
The brilliant light never hurt their eyes. Yuria, who followed Yong-ho with Baduk, innocently admired the scene with her eyes twinkling brightly.
It was beautiful. It was a splendor reminiscent of the morning sunrise.
Then the light disappeared. A hush descended over Yong-ho and the others.
"Lucia?"
[The dungeon has gone up by three levels.]
[I have taken control of the third floor of the Labyrinth of Greed. I will immediately start taking control of the 4th floor.]
[As the dungeon has leveled up, you can install new facilities.]
[Intermediate bathhouse / advanced training ground / advanced workshop / advanced water and sewage facility / sleeping room / recovery room / mine with improved mining efficiency / refinery / cultivation room / arena, etc, can be installed.]
[As the control of the dungeon increases, it is possible to manage and understand the dungeon more carefully.]
[Found new veins]
[One silver vein and one gold vein. Both are located on the third floor of the Labyrinth of Greed.]
[Currently, I'm taking control of the 4th floor.]
[When the control of the 4th floor is completed, you can use the equipment manufacturing facility of the Labyrinth of Greed.]
[Wow!]
[I feel the best right now!]
Lucia, who gushed like a machine gun, kept exclaiming in joy as if she was enjoying the lingering pleasure.
Just as absorbing the essence was the highest pleasure for the master, the heart of the dungeon also felt the extreme pleasure in the absorption of the essence.
After enjoying the lingering pleasure for some time, Lucia suddenly realized a strange fact.
Yong-ho and all of the dungeon spirits of the House of Mammon were glancing at her blankly.
Right at that moment, Yuria, who had been watching her behind Skull, walked out.
She said, presenting the beautiful colored pebbles, her precious treasure, "Do you like playing with pebbles?"
Lucia blinked, and she soon realized that she blinked her eyes. Through the dungeon's perceptual abilities, she recognized herself and the heart of the dungeon that changed its shape.
A girl with blue hair in a white dress was standing there. Since a large silver cable attached to her back was plugged into the floor, she couldn't move far, but it was obvious that she was a humanoid anyway.
Lucia tried closing and opening her hands. She also moved her fingers then jumped from her seat.
[Oh oh! I can play with pebbles!]
[Of course, I like it! From now on, I'll love it very much!]