Chapter 170: Dungeon Breakthrough (1)

Chapter 170: Dungeon Breakthrough (1)

It was an overwhelming victory for Yong-ho.

The Mammon family's casualties were only about 30. On the other hand, nearly half of the eastern army soldiers lost their lives, and hundreds of those who survived were injured.

Unlike Embrio's army, whose frontline commanders mostly survived, the command system of the eastern army was smashed. Therefore, there was no leadership for the defeated soldiers.

Since they were completely shattered, they were no longer a threat.

The battle was completely over. However, the battlefield was still full of vitality because Yong-ho's forces were absorbed into capturing booty from the dead eastern army soldiers.

The armaments of the eastern army soldiers, who gained wealth through their northern expedition, were quite excellent. It was clear that just recovering various armaments and armor would generate a considerable amount of money. Moreover, some of them possessed quite expensive items.

But Yong-ho was not greedy for small things. He planned to distribute most of the items obtained from the battlefield to his rank-and-file soldiers. Actually, he had already made the announcement about it before the battle. He took the measure to raise the morale of the soldiers of the Free City who were out on an expedition at his order.

Fluttering its wings, Salami landed on the ground. Salami landed in front of the Skull unit that maintained its ranks in an orderly fashion even when other soldiers were to acquire the spoils of the battle.

Bucephalas was the first to pretend to know Salami. Its face was soulful when it neighed cheerfully. It seemed to ask Salami something like, 'Didn't you see me fighting well? Wasn't I cool?'

Salami snorted, but only for a moment. Instead, Salami appreciated Bucephalas, its arch-rival and bad friend, with a pleasant smile.

"Skull Skull."

Skull, the Knight of Death, who could now be said to be the pride of the Mammon family, expressed due respect to Yong-ho by erecting its hammer spear. When the two hundred members of the skull unit, who had yet to break their synchronization with the end of the battle, bowed to Yong-ho in unison, they created such a spectacular scene.

Yong-ho was really happy. He seemed to know why it took so long for the principal to make a long speech whenever he took the podium when he was in elementary school. Hundreds of skulls fixed their eyes on him. He felt a great thrill at that moment.

Behind his back, he heard Catalina flapping her ears and tail cheerfully. She was as much thrilled about the skulls' spectacular greeting as he. Indeed, the shabby little House of Mammon on the verge of collapsing was the thing of the past.

Just like Salami did, Yong-ho returned their greeting with a happy gaze. When they were done, Skull laughed heartily, as usual. Skull loosened his synchronization with his members that he had maintained during the battle and sat down on the ground comfortably.

'Man, they're back to their old selves!'

The two hundred skulls, who behaved themselves so politely only a minute ago, were fully relaxed and began to wander around in place. Some of them sat down on the floor like Skull or even rolled around on the floor. It seemed that it was not just their combat skills that were delivered through the synchronization.

Yong-ho also lightly tapped his left chest to get out of the consciousness that had been gripping him throughout the battle. At the moment, he felt a tingling pain in his chest, but he soon felt comfortable.

The heart of the Demon God.

Mammon's legacy, which was left behind in the human world, was not an ordinary Brigada. Know-how on how to deal with greed was just redundant for him.

The seven fragments stuck in his left chest. The heart of the Demon God was different from the Godly Energy of greed that was created through the 12 Spirits of the House of Mammon.

It was an object that existed for only one ritual, namely bringing the owner's spirit and body closer to the Demon King.

Of course, it wasn't permanent. It was just a temporary doping. But the effect was absolute.

When one fragment was triggered, they called it one demon. When one demon was activated, one's consciousness started working since the fragment penetrated deep into the heart.

Bragada's fragment directly stimulated the essence, which could be called the center of the mana, so that it could make the flow of mana stronger and faster. It forcibly opened up the potential of the body through insinuation, which would not normally be opened up, It was like overclocking a computer.

It was also thanks to the activation of the demon that Yong-ho managed to create the green sun, although he couldn't have enough time to concentrate mana, compared with when he did during his fight against Embrio.

There were seven fragments that made up the Demon God's heart. Naturally, the stage of consciousness existed up to seven demons.

When the consciousness progressed one step further, it was supposed to increase the power, so it was hard to imagine how powerful it would be when all the seven demons were fully released. Perhaps, as the name suggests, Yong-ho might reach the level of the Demon God.

Of course, it was dangerous. Even activating one demon exposed one's body to severe stress.

Moreover, starting with the stage above four demons, the method of amplifying the power itself was not as simple as one demon. It demanded more than stimulating essence with Brigada.

The reason why Yong-ho learned about the heart of the Demon God even belatedly was because he made Kaiwan his dungeon spirit.

He came to know roughly about its usage and danger through Mammon's remaining mana left in Brigada. Probably, it seemed to be a kind of artifact that wouldn't trigger at all if the owner's mana did not reach a certain level.

It was indeed Mammon's way of securing his surrogate, which was consistent with many experiences Yong-ho went through until now.

After deactivating one demon, Yong-ho faced the dungeon spirits more comfortably.

"The captured commanders are here. They are at your mercy, master. You can either grill them or kill them."

Kaiwan unleashed one of the captured commanders that she dragged to the floor, bound by her whip sword. Then Eligos and Ophelia also laid down the eastern commanders they had carried or bound.

All of them were in bad shape. Those with one of their arms or legs broken were the least injured, while most of them were severely wounded.

In the battles of the demon world, especially the battles among the masters of houses, there were few cases in which prisoners were released for ransom.

The masters could grow their power only when they took the essence of their opponents.

Moreover, the death of the masters meant a sharp decline in their dungeon defense. Because of this, it was a big advantage for the winner to capture and kill them.

Nevertheless, there were some reasons why the master of a house was taken as a prisoner.

First, when he was highly valuable as hostages.

Second, when the winner wanted to make him a subordinate.

Third, when the winner wanted to gather information from him.

The eastern masters-cum-commanders taken as hostages, who fell on the ground, generally had three horns. They had four horns at most, but the level of their mana was the nascent four.

Since there was such a gap between the level of his mana and theirs, Yong-ho would not get much benefit even if he took their essence.

It was for the second and third reasons that the eastern masters were captured alive.

"I will set up a temporary prison and torture room right now. Please allow me to take the task of interrogating them, so they can leak everything about the eastern area. I'll force them to confess anything they know," said Eligos with his eyes glaring sharply this time.

Although his whole body was stained with the blood and flesh of his enemies, he seemed to be even more muscular and powerful than before.

Catalina narrowed her eyebrows, and Yong-ho smiled bitterly. Though he witnessed it several times, he could not get used to the way Eligos enjoyed his hobby of tormenting their enemies.

'Well, let me give him a pass since he does it only occasionally.'

In fact, Eligos needed it. Since he didn't catch Stravadi and Sargatanas, the heads of the eastern army, in this battle, he had to gather all the intelligence to prepare for the next battle.

Even Ophelia made a horrible expression at Eligos's request, but Eligos was all smiles on his face and got ready to interrogate the captured eastern commanders.

Right at that moment, somebody shouted, "No, you don't have to interrogate us."

One of the least injured among them opened his mouth. He was a master from the Nagaraja race that was said to have a snake's heart and tongue.

"I will tell you all. Let me tell you anything that you want to know, no matter what."

He didn't say that because he was resigned to his miserable situation. There was resentment in his voice. Eligos urgently clenched his fist.

"How dare you try to trick us?"

"Stravadi and Sargatanas abandoned us first! They betrayed us!"

The Nagaraja master shouted quickly. The resentment in his voice was not directed against Yong-ho, but Stravadi and Sargatanas.

He was right. Stravadi and Sargatanas did not appear while the eastern army was being annihilated. The Nagaraja master knew what their disappearance meant. It meant that the two leaders of the eastern army fled after making them scapegoats on the battlefield without even fighting Yong-ho's forces.

Only

The Nagaraja master stared at Yong-ho desperately.

Kaiwan, who was silent all along, stepped out to second his opinion.

"It doesn't sound like he is telling a lie. I don't think he has any reason to stay loyal to his bosses who ran away."

"I agree. Moreover, this guy is from the Nagaraja race that allegedly has a snake heart. It is unlikely that he will keep his loyalty when the eastern army has collapsed, and he himself was betrayed by his bosses," Ophelia seconded this time

Then she made eyes at Yong-ho slightly, suggesting she was ready to test him if her master wanted.

Catalina didn't say anything, but given that she flapped her ears and tail, she seemed to be on the same page with Kaiwan and Ophelia.

"Alright. Let me listen to your story."

Yong-ho gave him the go-ahead. The Nagaraja man let out a breath of relief, while Eligos became sullen, with his shoulders drooping.