The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices – 162

EP.162 The Generous Ghoul (1)

The ghoul wandered aimlessly around the mountains. Along the way, it swallowed various colorful venomous snakes, small animals, or insect-like monsters. If it was small enough to fit in its mouth, the ghoul would gulp it down.

“Guooor…”

After repeating this behavior several times and moving forward, it eventually reached a dungeon. In front of it, the vampire Baalzerith was diligently planting seeds.

“Guoo?”

“Hmm? Isn’t that a ghoul? What brings you here?”

Baalzerith noticed the ghoul and waved her hand.

“Guoo, guooor.”

The ghoul was a creation of the Death Knight. It could faintly sense the Death Knight’s aura, but it was too weak to pinpoint the exact location. However, perhaps Baalzerith might know where the Death Knight had gone.

“Hmm… If it’s the Death Knight, he went that way.”

“Guoo, guoo.”

(Thank you, thank you.)

The ghoul bowed its head in gratitude.

“Why make such a fuss over this? It’s natural to help each other out.”

Baalzerith waved her hand dismissively. She had learned a lot while planting seeds here for the past few days. She had observed the strong bond between Necros and the Death Knight, and the goblins who were diligent in their duties, never shying away from hard work.

Baalzerith had also observed the Dullahan Werther, who was dedicated to serving the dungeon. Watching their efforts made her reconsider the collective entity that was the dungeon. She felt a sense of pride knowing she had been helpful to the ghoul.

“Oh, right. Take these with you as well,” Baalzerith said, handing some seeds to the ghoul. “It would be great if you could scatter them along the way.”

In fact, she had been scattering seeds around the dungeon on Celia’s orders. Despite her diligent planting, the growth rate of the carnivorous plants was so slow that there were no significant results yet. So she had come up with an idea: why not scatter seeds throughout the forest as well, not just around the dungeon? Baalzerith hoped the ghoul would scatter the seeds while heading towards the Death Knight.

“Guooor…”

Fortunately, the ghoul readily accepted. With the seeds given by Baalzerith, the ghoul resumed its journey.

‘Everyone is so dedicated to their duties,’ Baalzerith thought, feeling moved as she watched the ghoul’s departing figure.

Of course, as the ghoul walked, it swallowed all the seeds Baalzerith had given it.

“Guooor.”

As a result, a constant battle raged inside the ghoul’s body. It was nothing short of a horrific miniature ecosystem.

“Kyaaa!”

“Sssaaak!”

Various creatures devoured and merged with each other, continuously evolving. The green monster resembling a squirrel that the ghoul had initially swallowed, the Venom Squirrel, tore through the snake’s scales with its sharp claws.

The venomous snake released sticky liquid as it died from a powerful blow. The liquid quickly filled the ghoul’s intestines, and within it, the venom grew even more potent. Perhaps due to the venom’s influence, the ghoul’s initially ashen skin began to take on a deep purple hue.

“Guooor.”

Of course, the ghoul wandered peacefully through the forest, unaware of its transformation. Meanwhile, battles continued to rage inside its body. The mutant DNA of the Venom Squirrel rapidly replicated, infecting the ghoul’s organ tissues. The infected tissues grew and mutated at an alarming rate.

Insect-like monsters that came into contact with the venom melted instantly, except for their tough exoskeletons, which resisted the venom. These exoskeletons began to merge with the ghoul’s internal tissues, making its skin tougher and sharper.

The internal chaos also triggered a reaction from the seeds of the carnivorous tentacle plants that Baalzerith had given the ghoul. Although their growth was initially slow, they sprouted shortly after entering the ghoul’s body. The sprouts extended their stems, anchoring themselves throughout the ghoul’s body. The ghoul’s decayed, rag-like body was now firmly held together by the plants’ stems.

This entire process repeated and evolved continuously. The survivors grew stronger, leaving their dominant DNA within the ghoul. The weak were eliminated, but not before leaving their DNA, ensuring their legacy remained.

Finally, amidst all this chaos and destruction, a new order began to form.

“Guooor…”

“Kyaaa!!”

Even now, the ghoul was shoving a new monster into its mouth. It seemed that a complete establishment of the new order was still far off.

====

***

====

The group of dark wizards dreaming of the evil god’s resurrection, Eclipse. The young leader Sharia and the vice-leader Lucas were climbing the rugged mountains.

“Huff, huff… Lucas, are you sure this is the right way?”

Sharia, unaccustomed to mountain climbing, asked while panting heavily. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead. Lucas paused for a moment and carefully examined the old map in his hand in response to Sharia’s question.

“Yes, Leader. This is definitely the right direction,” Lucas replied confidently.

In truth, it would have been much easier to climb the mountains through the Sael kingdom. However, Sharia and Lucas were dark wizards. Given that the White Order was closely monitoring the Sael kingdom, there was a high risk of their identities being exposed. Therefore, they chose to travel through the mountains wedged between the Free City Alliance and the Kalen Empire instead. The terrain was more rugged, but the rumored treasure and the hope of the evil god’s resurrection fueled them with tireless energy.

“Ugh!”

As Sharia grabbed onto a rock to climb, her strength suddenly gave out. She lost her balance and was about to fall backward when Lucas fortunately caught her hand.

“Leader! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine… just a bit dizzy…” Sharia replied, a weak smile on her lips as she panted heavily.

In truth, Lucas was no different. Both of their expressions were far from good. They were currently experiencing dizziness due to hunger and exhaustion. Before climbing the mountains, the only thing they had eaten was a piece of moldy bread, which they had shared with the other members of Eclipse. With Eclipse’s impoverished state, even buying a piece of dried jerky, let alone a piece of stale bread, was a struggle.

Although the members had managed to beg for something resembling pig slop, it wasn’t right for the leader and vice-leader to take their food. As a result, Sharia and Lucas hadn’t eaten anything since entering the mountains.

Of course, the mountains were filled with various fruits and animals, but they had avoided them as much as possible, fearing they might be poisonous.

“Lu-Lucas… I’m so hungry…”

However, they were now reaching their physical limits. Sharia wanted to close her eyes and eat the unknown mushrooms growing in the crevices of the rocks. As she unconsciously reached for the mushrooms, Lucas stopped her.

“Hang in there. We should find something edible soon.”

Lucas was also hungry and exhausted, but he supported Sharia and encouraged her. He knew better than anyone why they had to endure this arduous journey—for the goal of resurrecting the evil god, they had to overcome this hardship.

It was then.

“Guooor!”

A strange roar that cut through the wind startled them, making them look up. The sound echoed beyond the jagged rocks, carrying an aura reminiscent of death.

“What is that sound…?”

Sharia’s eyes trembled with fear.

“It seems to be the roar of a monster, but…”

Lucas trailed off. It was indeed the roar of a monster, but the aura emanating from the sound suggested it was no ordinary creature.

“Guooor.”

The roar grew closer. Of all times, why did this have to happen when they were completely drained? The two exchanged glances and nodded. Sensing danger, Lucas scanned the surroundings and prepared for a defensive stance.

Sharia also suppressed her fear and prepared to cast a spell.

“……”

The sound grew closer. Finally, they could clearly sense the aura.

“Lucas, this aura…”

Sharia swallowed hard, her expression turning serious. It was a familiar aura.

“Yes, I feel it. It’s faint, but there’s definitely a presence of death.”

This wasn’t just any presence of death. It was an aura akin to the bottom of hell, where souls fought and devoured each other. It was a dark, abyssal aura that seemed capable of consuming the souls of the living. It was a power of death so profound that even death itself would tremble.

At first, they thought it was just their imagination. But as the aura drew closer, they could tell for sure. The roaring monster exuded a deep power of death.

As dark wizards who wielded the power of death, they couldn’t mistake it.

“This power…”

Moreover, Sharia’s talent as a dark wizard was overwhelming, allowing her to sense it clearly. She reached a conclusion in her mind.

“…It’s His power.”

Such a profound power of death couldn’t be wielded by just anyone. This aura belonged solely to the evil god, Him. A smile blossomed on Sharia’s face, which had been weary just moments ago.

Lucas nodded slightly in agreement with Sharia’s words.

“Yes. Only He possesses such power.”

The only being who governed death was the evil god.

However, the aura they felt now was very faint. It was likely a fragment that had broken off from the vast power of death. This meant that the source of the roar was undoubtedly a being that followed the evil god.

Realizing this, Sharia and Lucas immediately sprang into action. As dark wizards belonging to Eclipse, who wished for the resurrection of the evil god, standing idle when such an opportunity presented itself would be disloyal.

“Guooor.”

With a mix of hope and fear, Sharia and Lucas ran towards the source of the roaring sound. They had long forgotten about the rumored treasure. The chance to witness a trace of the evil god was far more important than any treasure.

“Guoo…”

Finally, they could see the roaring being.

“Th-that’s…!”

Lucas couldn’t help but be astonished upon identifying the creature.

“…It’s a ghoul!”

But this ghoul was not ordinary. Its decayed skin had turned a dark purple hue. Hard exoskeletons had grown over its skin. And that wasn’t all.

“Are those… plants?”

Plants that looked like stems were growing all over the ghoul’s body. It was a creature entirely different from a normal ghoul. Most importantly, the aura of death it exuded was on a completely different level.

‘Just watching it is this overwhelming…’

As a dark wizard, Sharia had faced countless deaths, but this abyssal terror was a first for her.

Therefore, Sharia was certain.

“Indeed, it must be an apostle of the evil god.”

The ghoul’s status had suddenly been elevated to that of an apostle of the evil god. Otherwise, such a ghoul could not exist in this world. As Sharia and Lucas stared at the ghoul, the ghoul also noticed their presence.

“Guooor.”

(They are living humans.)

The ghoul had only rummaged through the belongings of unconscious or dead humans, so living humans were of no interest to it.

“Guooor.”

The ghoul lost interest and turned away. It was short on time and needed to find the Death Knight quickly. It had to move more diligently. However, Sharia interpreted the ghoul’s actions differently.

“Lucas, it seems the apostle wants us to follow.”

Even as dark wizards, they couldn’t understand the ghoul’s words. Sharia merely interpreted the ghoul’s actions as it spoke and started moving.

“It seems so. Let’s follow.”

Lucas also misunderstood the ghoul’s words. Thus, an odd scene unfolded where the ghoul led the way with Sharia and Lucas following behind.

As the ghoul moved forward, it noticed the humans continuing to follow and turned around to speak.

“Guooor?”

(Why are you following me?)

Of course, Sharia couldn’t understand the monster’s words. She only interpreted them in her own way.

“Yes, apostle! We will follow you to the end!”

“Guooor guoo.”

(Strange Humans)

The ghoul soon gave up and went about its business. As it walked, it came across an adventurer lying under a tree. Approaching naturally, it rummaged through the adventurer’s belongings.

“Ah, as expected! The apostle of the evil god is merciless!”

“Guoo?”

The ghoul tilted its head at Sharia’s praise. It didn’t feel bad.

“Guoo…”

The ghoul handed the gold coins it found in the adventurer’s belongings to Sharia.

“Th-this is a gift from the apostle…!”

Sharia, moved, bowed her head to the ghoul. Lucas, standing beside her, also bowed, expressing his gratitude.

“Guoo, guoo.”

A small smile appeared on the ghoul’s face. It was the first time it realized how pleasant it could be to give to others.

“Guooor…”

The ghoul looked up at the blue sky. The world seemed particularly beautiful today.