Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World - Chapter 681

681: Key to the Dungeon?

681: Key to the Dungeon?

Asmodeus raised his arm and slashed the monster’s neck.

The blade of the Blood Reaper sank into the stone as if it were tofu.

With a sickening twist, he removed the blade and glanced up at the injured Logan and sleeping Zahir and smiled.  “It’s fine, this thing is dead.”  Hssss!

Black ichor erupted from the wound, spraying across the damaged floor and walls, and yet none of it touched Asmodeus or his axe.

The barrier blocking the way out faded with the monster’s life, and when Asmodeus checked inside the wound, he found a small green crystal the size of his fist.  “I think we can take a moment to rest, before heading out.

What do you all thing?”  Logan just glanced back with a pale face before leaning against the walls and closing his eyes, the exhaustion clear.

Asmodeus tossed two health potions to Nerim, who was nursing her bruised arm.

“You rely on that drill technique too much.” He then threw a small pot of cream.  Nerim caught the pot and twisted the lid.

Inside, she found an apricot-scented cream, and after sniffing, she swiped it with her finger.

The mermaid then spread it across her bruised muscles, hissing slightly when it touched the open wounds.

“Ahh!

It stings.” She bit her lip as the cream sizzled as it seeped into the wounds.

“Eh?” Her eyes widened after seeing that her bruises and cuts immediately faded.

“Does it feel better now?”  “M-Mm…”  Asmodeus turned away and sat beside Zahir.

He placed a hand on his chest and, using his aura to spread it through the boy’s body, checked his wounds.

‘A broken rib, damage to his organs…

this kid went all out.’  With a slow breath, he used his divine aura to stimulate the boy’s natural healing and sealed the slight tears in his liver and stomach.

“I don’t think Zahir will fight for a while.”  “Will he survive, Lad?” Logan’s face remained pale, but drinking the potion brought a bit of colour and energy back to his eyes.  “Of course, what about you, old man.

Need any help?”  He watched the dwarf while peeking at the crater from the explosion.

That level of damage without magic was useful.

‘But wasn’t the mixture to make dynamite really complex?’ Asmodeus didn’t really pay attention during science lessons, so he could only guess and would never attempt to make it himself.  ‘How those guys in novels just start creating things magically in their new worlds always amazed me.’  After helping treat everyone with emergency first aid, he sat beside Nerim, who was maintaining her spear.  Flick!

Sparks shone as she sharpened the blade with an old black stone.

“When will we leave?”  Asmodeus peeked at the mermaid before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Not sure.” He could leave now, but the other members wouldn’t be able to help or walk, and yet staying here felt like a pain in the ass.

Because inside the dungeon, he couldn’t teleport to visit his wives when they slept, nor could he get any decent practice in, as it would cause a cave-in if not careful.  “You should get some rest, Nerim.”  “What about me, Laddie?”  Logan’s gruff Gaelic accent echoed through the cave as he stroked his beard.  “Let’s just get a rest.

Monsters shouldn’t spawn in here because it’s a boss room, the boss won’t respawn until we leave the room either.” Asmodeus once became curious about the dungeon monsters and tested their respawn times.  ‘Normal monsters can respawn at any time during a full day’s rest, but boss monsters spawn again with less of their soul each time after the victor leaves the room.’ He shifted his thighs and began taking out camping gear from his item storage, a spark set of blankets, quilts and dried food.  “Don’t eat the rations on you, we don’t know how the miasma of the first floor affects food.” He tapped the food he brought inside, and its colour became slightly purple as indicative of the miasma that transformed people into Taken.

“Ill make some soup.”  Asmodeus quickly set up a small fire, which brought heat, and the delicious scent of a beef soup with stock and various vegetables.

He watched the three members, who each slept for a while after cooling the baked potatoes and beef stew.

The silence that followed was heavy but peaceful.

The only sounds were the soft crackling of the fire and the faint drip of water from the ceiling.

Asmodeus leaned against the wall, staring at the flickering flames.

His reflection in the polished blade of the Blood Reaper flickered in the ember light.

A sharp, unfocused glare watched him.

‘The mural…

What kind of meaning could it have?’  Even now, the memories of the first mural, where he suffered and lost to the divine beings that came from the sky.

Yet the second mural, with his wives and this mermaid who loved to dance, remained.

‘Does she really have something to do with me?’ He thought, looking at Nerim, who curled herself up against his thigh.  However, Asmodeus couldn’t sleep because of the sense of something watching their movements.

It was lucky he could trace the energy of the enemy and the surroundings.

Also, he didn’t require any sleep.

So he would wait until the team recovered fully.  He forced himself to exhale.

“It’s just a prophecy.

A guess.” Still, part of him didn’t believe that was all.

Because the ruin, runes and even the crystal he pulled from the serpent’s body carried a unique but familiar scent.  The entire thing felt deliberate.  “It’s like something trying to guide us down a single path…

but I refuse.” Nerim stirred beside the fire, scales glinting faintly blue.

“Hm… are you still awake?” “Couldn’t sleep.” Since they left the chamber together, things became strange for Nerim and Asmodeus.

It was a little awkward, but the two didn’t want to beat around the bush.

“Thinking about that door?” she asked quietly, rubbing her eyes.

He gave a faint nod.

“Yeah.” Nerim couldn’t push further; instead, she shook her head and leaned deeper onto his thigh.

There wasn’t any need; she could just wait for him to open up or something to happen on the coming dungeon floors.  He glanced at her but didn’t answer.

Instead, he turned the green crystal over in his hand.

It pulsed faintly, almost like a heartbeat.

“This is the same material as the veins in the walls.”  When she touched the smooth surface, she instantly recoiled.

“Ahh!

It bit me!?” Her finger oozed with blood, the red ichor dripping onto the ground before seeping into the cracks.

‘Hm?’ Asmodeus couldn’t think about why the item rejected her, but then realised that the monsters hated humanoids no matter what race.

His eyes narrowed.

The green crystal pulsed faster, drinking the blood Nerim had spilt.

A faint hum filled the chamber, low and resonant enough to make the air tremble.

“Don’t touch it again,” he said, slipping the crystal into a pouch lined with sealing runes.

The pulse slowed but didn’t stop.

Nerim rubbed her finger, frowning.

“That wasn’t normal.

It felt like it wanted to eat me.” “Well, it kinda did, right?” He looked at her wound and smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry it for the next part of our task.”  The two began to discuss the stone and what it could be, or why it bit her.

“It’s probably trying to absorb the mana in your blood…

But it didn’t absorb enough.”  She pulled her knees close.

“Then what happens if it gets too much?” Asmodeus didn’t answer immediately.

He stared at the pouch, thinking while rolling the crystal in his palm, and gently began to stir the mana covered by his divine aura to test whether this crystal would absorb his blood, too.

“Is it to activate something, or devouring the mana for some other reason?” The faint heartbeat-like rhythm became faster as it synchronised to Asmodeus.

The longer he let it eat his mana, the more honest and useful it became.  The sound of Logan’s snoring broke the tension for a moment.

The dwarf slept sitting upright, hand still gripping his hammer even in dreams.

Zahir hadn’t stirred once, but his chest rose and fell shallowly, still mending under divine aura.

“Sleep, go on.

I’ll keep you safe.”  Nerim’s scales became deep blue as she turned away and wrapped herself in the blanket they shared the nights before.

“It’s comfortable now, hehe.”  ‘Well whatever…’  Asmodeus knew he was too soft on her and that the tanned mermaid was growing on him, although he doubted the monuments.

If she had anything to do with the future painted on the doors, he needed her.

Without waking the other’s he slipped out of camp and stepped before the huge double doors at least 5 metres wide, with faint inscriptions like a poem or hymn engraved on each side, but he couldn’t read them.

Only the single word that she revealed once.  ‘Creator’  That word came up several times and left Asmodeus with a feeling of dread.