It’s Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

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– 1 –

[Yeah. That’s unfortunate.]

The moment Libertus’ last words fell, two of the things present there vanished.

Thunk – !!

One was Libertus’ left arm.

Boom – !!!

The other was the upper body of the Arachne King.

The body of the Dungeon Lord was soon one of the most magical offerings in this world.

With that knowledge, Libertus sacrificed her own arm to amplify her magical power and used the ‘darkness’ she summoned to blow away the Arachne King’s body.

[… Cough!!!]

The concentrated power obliterated the Arachne King’s torso before he could prepare for what was coming.

Bigger and stronger than what he had done to the Ant Queen not long ago.

Slap!

[That trash… Get rid of it… I don’t want to see it.]

This was the first instance where Libertus voluntarily sacrificed her own body to amplify her magical power.

[W-wait! I-I’m sorry!]

Although she didn’t finish him off due to some ‘guilt’ she held, later realizing it was a mistake, her execution of that violent impulse stayed with Evangeline like a brand.

– 2 –

Thus, that scene did not manifest in this world.

“Die.”

The concentrated attack aimed at the Arachne King, who was laughing devilishly with his arms raised.

Crash!

“What in the world…?”

However, it was relatively easily blocked.

The Arachne King was also elite-level—much stronger than Xue, having had more time to accumulate strength.

But upon realizing the ambush, he had to retreat and prepare for the next attack.

Xue’s attack was meant solely to ‘fix the direction of his head.’

Zwoosh!

“… Cough!!”

Caught momentarily halting his movements to block Xue’s attack, Evangeline took advantage; in a blink, she sliced at his head first, followed by his heart.

With just two strikes.

As if there were no armor, or flowing like water, she slipped between his carapace in the blink of an eye.

Before his body could even sense her presence.

“Cough – Gag…!”

“You guys…?”

Just before Libertus’ fury boiled over completely, the Arachne King faced a death crisis due to her summon.

While based on sheer specs, he qualified as an elite entry-level, achieving something utterly unfathomable for the two summons still regarded as ‘high-level’ by the system.

The amount of magic he could use at once differed according to the ‘acknowledged rank’ of summons, and as mentioned, he was elite-level with a well-established presence.

Chirp!!

It’s the enemy!!!

Realizing their king was dead, spiders began pouring out from every corner of the cave.

Of course, they couldn’t reach Libertus.

Though the Spider King’s lair was clearly spacious, the entrance was too narrow for so many spiders to fit through.

Thud!!

Clatter!

As the elite of the dungeon lined up behind the skeletal mage’s summoned bony wall, it was more than enough to stop the surging spiders.

“I will protect this place.”

“I’ll help too!”

With Xue joining, no one could enter this area, and even the mage Serha quickly adapted to the situation and started moving.

“W-what… Musun…!”

Meanwhile, the Arachne King, with his head on the ground, was still alive.

Due to the toughness and magic of a king of monsters, his body had ceased activity, but his mind had not stopped thinking.

The Dungeon Lord received the gruesome head that Evangeline brought to him.

“… That’s too bad, Tigris.”

That expression was incredibly calm.

It was hard to believe she had just felt intense anger and hatred moments ago, triggered by trauma.

This was the result of having better understood her master’s feelings than last time, making it a perfectly timed act.

Having successfully resolved her anger just before her feelings twisted in fury once more.

“Just a moment ago…!”

“Yeah. The atmosphere was nice. That’s what made it all the more regrettable.”

Whatever the cause, she had made up her mind to kill him, and it had ended like this.

Therefore, it was only right that the subsequent cleanup should be done neatly.

Suddenly, a simple idea came to mind: using the rampaging spiders to deal with the ants and diminish the queen’s standing.

But…

‘Simplistic methods always come with risks.’

She discarded that route immediately.

As she said, although she didn’t intend to actively preserve her humanity, neither did she want to completely abandon it either.

So now, it was time to instill fear in those who had been enemies to avoid giving up something larger.

With that, Libertus raised one hand and aimed at five eyes.

What ensued was frankly horrific.

Pop -!

“Gaaah!!! Aahhh -!!!”

“Your eyeballs fit just like they were perfectly matched to my five fingers. So convenient to hold.”

She pierced her fingers into his eyes like lifting a bowling ball and secured his head in her grip.

Using necromancy and healing magic simultaneously, she regenerated the nerves while carefully adjusting to ensure his head wouldn’t die, and with raised hands, Libertus pointed at the king’s wives and children.

“Come forward, you all.”

It was a result of her subordinates acting on their own, but nonetheless, the past was the past.

Libertus did not confuse the order of what needed to be done.

‘Who would be suitable?’

What she needed to do now was to settle these spiders, not to interrogate or praise her subordinates.

Before the other spiders regained their senses and began to shout they were kings or generals.

– 3 –

Despite my orders, the Arachne royalty didn’t react very quickly.

“… The king…”

“Is dead…?”

“No, not completely dead yet, but…”

“That’s hard to call alive…”

Some baby spiders stood gazing blankly at the Arachne King, whose head and heart had disappeared right before their eyes, as if unable to comprehend reality.

Seeing they referred to Tigris as ‘that’ made it seem like he had quite a poor reputation.

“Hey, everyone. Let’s move.”

“You called us, Dungeon Queen?”

Fortunately, not everyone behaved that way.

Among them, the three oldest female Arachne began leading the other family members.

‘Those are…’

I noticed the black fur covering their spider-like lower bodies.

This was something familiar.

In fact, some might have preferred this appearance over the original blue, leading to doubts on gifting that spider to acquaintances.

If these Arachne had inherited the characteristics of their original species, that color would be a marker of the oldest female from the ‘Guti Sapphire Ornamental.’

“You must be the queens.”

“That’s right. Your Majesty.”

So, this meant that at this very moment before the first Arachne King died, this color marked them as the highest beings in this cave.

That they were the most likely candidates to become rulers over the cave spiders or might even create a rival ruler.

This meant they were exactly the targets I needed to bring under control first.

“Y-you’re the queen…?”

“Dungeon Lord…? We’re not going to die, are we?”

“You’re not going to kill us all for nutrients… Dad said that…! That’s what kings do!”

“… You’ll be alright.”

Of course, just because those queens could ensure the complete stability of other entities didn’t mean they were a sure thing.

But it was certainly better than being frozen and unable to move.

“You are now mine. Not your biological father, but I have decided.”

Therefore, I declared it in a way that would be most familiar to such spiders.

Those who had lived their lives owned and bound to someone else often found relief in such relations instead.

“…”

As expected, the Spider King’s spouses were silent, watching me with learned helplessness, so I naturally proceeded to instruct the queens.

“You all, step forward first.”

““Yes.””

The Tigris queens showed no resistance and knelt before me with a respectful posture.

Had he seen this, he might have cried bloody tears and pleaded not to steal away his belongings.

“Grrrr…”

His head was already in my grip, excreting the blood tears he should have shed, so he couldn’t take in his surroundings.

“Starting from the eldest.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Arachne woman in her thirties with black hair stepped forward first.

Like a species that lived a beastly life, her hairstyle and skin were messy, but already her base form showed a certain beauty, suggesting Tigris had an eye for aesthetics.

The other wives also possessed their own ‘human-like’ beauty.

The Arachne, aside from the three eyes on their forehead, had eyes resembling humans, so just looking at the upper bodies posed no discomfort.

“‘Child of the demon, do you swear allegiance to me, Dungeon Lord Libertus?’”

“I swear.”

“‘You vow loyalty and devotion to me, while I provide you with desire and survival. Here and now, a contract forged by the Demon Lord Candidate has been established.’”

Whoosh -!

Contracts with these inherently demonic beings were much simpler than those with humans.

No need for the Demon Lord’s guarantee; the contract from the Demon World itself was unnecessary.

It only required the act of binding those who had surrendered or voluntarily wished to join the Dungeon Lord’s ranks through the action of magic.

This involved fewer compulsions in action than contracts with humans but maintained itself for a long time without a significant drain of magic.

“First, you need to calm the other spiders down. I have something to discuss with your children.”

This was my first order.

The necessary changes could slowly manifest later, and for now, I needed to reduce unnecessary sacrifices.

““Understood. Your Majesty.””

The queens completed the contract, began conversing with each other, and started to move in different directions to calm the spiders.

Chirrup…

Swoosh…

Eeeee…!

The pace was undeniably slow, but it would gradually increase.

Simply put, as long as the Spider King was alive, they had no reason to activate the pheromones of a ruler, and since they had liberated him, the queens would soon adapt.

Watching for a moment reassured me, and now I turned my gaze toward the king’s children.

“Will it be okay…?”

“If it weren’t okay, then their mothers wouldn’t have contracted with us…”

Seeing their mothers’ safety guaranteed, they were already in a much calmer state.

Thanks to that, the atmosphere became appropriate for conversation.

“Among the Tigris’… No, simply, the oldest among you come forward.”

Eight sons and ten daughters. The king’s children total eighteen.

Among them, one son and two daughters stepped forward.

It seemed they instinctively realized what I intended for them, and they looked quite tense.

One of the two daughters, overwhelmed with anxiety, nearly stumbled as she stepped forward…

‘No, she has a physical disability.’

“You. Step forward.”

“Y-yes? Me?”

“Yeah.”

The woman approached hesitantly, as if unable to believe her luck.

Her largest set of eyes, positioned like human eyes, sparkled, and the other three eyes embedded above were black and glistening, cautiously observing me.

Come to think of it, I had read something about spider eyes being for detecting danger.

Remembering that ‘danger detection’ notion, I recalled Evangeline’s previous strikes.

“So, Xue’s attack locked the direction her head would go, then launched the attack from directly behind.”

The Arachne’s three eyes, besides the largest, were all spread out at angles.

Probably meant to perceive threats from all directions besides straight ahead. This may explain why the Arachne King could use multiple spells simultaneously without becoming confused.

‘In other words, I had precisely exposed the Arachne’s weaknesses…’

So, to target that vulnerability in danger detection, I approached directly beneath his head and struck first.

‘… As if I had already fought him. … And as if I knew what I might do.’

Had I erupted with the rage I felt earlier peacefully, I might have lost my cool, and I wouldn’t have been able to settle these spiders in time.

Even if I had been in that state, Evangeline or Xue might have tried to manage the situation, but without the Dungeon Lord’s contract, they wouldn’t have been able to keep them perfectly contained.

That might have led to someone among the surviving spiders developing alternative thoughts.

“Evangeline.”

Snap!

Thus, Eve’s actions had been executed at a very opportune moment.

Even so, it must be said.

“Be prepared to get scolded when we return. What would happen if you went ahead and sliced off the head of someone I hadn’t ordered to?”

Clap!

Evangeline accepted my words a bit gloomily.

Yet there was no trace of resistance or defiance. Instead, only joy and a slight relief that she couldn’t fully hide.

I patted her on the side of the head and continued speaking.

“… Good job.”

Snap!

She responded as always, merely pleased by my praise…

‘As I thought.’

Her simple assumption had now transformed into a firmer conviction.

The reason for stepping back and observing…

That question still lingered.