Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World - Chapter 686

686: Dungeon Complete – Stabilising The Dark Energy!

686: Dungeon Complete – Stabilising The Dark Energy!

Asmodeus and the party soon recovered from their exhaustion from fighting.

The biggest surprise for Logan after regaining his son was the huge amount of treasure and materials that appeared after defeating the boss.  “Oh my!

This is the best metal I’ve ever touched.” Logan tapped the silver metal with his hammer.

After Asmodeus drained all the abyssal energy into his divine shard, the metal became just another metal.

“How can it store this much magic!?” Nerim also helped him as she poured her water mana into the metal.

Its colour gradually became blue, and formed small mermaid scales on the surface.  To Asmodeus, who could see the nature of things with his god’s eyes…

he found it quite amazing.  [Tethium (Water Enchanted)] [Tethium ore] [Tethium plate] The ore was called Tethium, but Asmodeus didn’t know more about that.

Instead, he found that if one poured their elemental mana into ore, ingots or a finished plate or panel, it would take on the same characteristics.

Deng!

Deng!

Deng!

Logan hammered it with all his force, and a tiny dent appeared in the ore, but when he tried it on the plate…

nothing happened.

“Ack!

What an amazin’ resistance.

Son!

This is a metal worth using.” “Dad, won’t it be hard to smelt, since it absorbs mana?”  The two carrying dwarf blood soon devolved into a theory and discussing of the usage and methods of smelting this new material, blessed with high mana efficiency and hardness comparable to a diamond.

“Should we decide the shares?” Nerim called out while looking at Zahir and the others.

Ever since she and Ryuji changed, the mermaid tried to avoid locking eyes with him.  “Sounds good, but the Lad did most of the work, we cannae take more than we deserve.” Despite his crafting desire, Logan didn’t get greedy and voted for Asmodeus to get most of the material.

“You did so much for me, I can’t speak for the others but I owe you my life…

no more than that!” “Forget it, I promised you right?” Ryuji just smiled back.  ‘If I act humble, they’ll give me more later.’  Ryuji didn’t need the material for armour, because he’d already checked its strength and found it weaker than the current mana-enriched metals they produced in the demon empire of Lumeria.  “No way…” Logan looked truly let down.

“Then how about this…

you know I need money so how about you take my share and craft things to sell at the auction house, can you do that?” Ryuji believed this was the best way to get Logan to accept, and because Thorim refused any loot too so they split the treasures equally.  “Tsk, you are stubborn as a mule, Lad!”  However, Logan agreed to this, Zahir seemed to ask for a new set of blades, and he would take a few silver pieces from the reward that he took.  “What about you Nerim?

Do you want anything from the treasure?” Ryuji worried about the mermaid for several reasons.

From the moment she transformed, the amount of abyssal energy that flowed around her increased slowly with each passing moment.

He could see the dark abyssal aura flowing into her from the dungeon walls and beyond.

‘If it just passed through it’d be fine but…’  The abyssal aura started to collect inside the divine shard he granted her.

He glanced down at his abdomen with shimmering eyes…

the divine vision showing him a shocking sight.

His own divine shard became pitch black with hints of purple, and yet his divine core remained pure white.  ‘Confusing, I need to speak with Serena or one of the other gods about this.’ Because the Divine shard was like a battery, it stored aura for combat and temporarily filled itself over time.

Ryuji didn’t understand why the core feeding it divine power couldn’t purify the shard.  ‘Is the Abyssal Aura truly related to the divine?’ He shook his head.

‘Forget it.’ Right now wasn’t the time to ponder these things.

He was here to find Brando and his lost crew.

The dungeon and strange energy appearing were just side quests on his current path.

“We should head back soon.” Ryuji glanced at his party.

He would observe Nerim, but staying here might lead to more complications.  “You sure?

We could always take more time.” Logan seemed greedy for more of the metal.

“Have you forgotten what happened to your son, there’s no promise that won’t happen again to all of us.” Ryuji then pointed to the portal behind the boss.

A massive blue light flickered in the small cavern.

“The exit isn’t far either.” “Tsk.

Yer right.”  “Dad, stop being so greedy, okay?” Thorim wasn’t like his father.

He spoke with a softer tone.

Not to mention, he wasn’t short either.

His height could be average for a human, but with a dwarf parent, it was quite impressive.

The party moved toward the portal, the pulsing blue light washing over the cavern walls like a heartbeat.

Each step closer made the residual abyssal pressure thin out, though not fast enough for Ryuji’s liking.

‘It’s over but why does it feel like something isn’t right…’ Nerim walked near the rear, clutching her spear.

The scales on her forearms shimmered between their usual aquatic blue and a faint violet that didn’t resemble a mermaid at all.

She kept her head lowered and her mana tightly restrained, but that only highlighted the problem: the shard inside her was pulling in more abyssal aura, not less.

Zahir’s eyes flicked across the dungeon, his hand clutching both blades.

“Strange Aura.” He didn’t speak often, but Ryuji understood what he meant and hoped that the desert warrior would leave it at that.

“What a waste…” Logan and Thorim stopped at the portal’s edge, not yet stepping through.

The old dwarf took one long look back at the cavern, at the scattered remains of the boss and the ore that seemed to hum silently within the stone.  “Don’t be greedy!”  Thud!

Asmodeus kicked him in the back.

The huge bag, filled to the brim with ore and strange minerals, was bigger than two Logans, and he still complained. To this, Logan’s greedy eyes and expression faded as his desire became hesitation and then resignation.

“Lad, Yer right…

This place…

this place is just wrong.”  Asmodeus understood what he meant, because he also felt the artificial desire to take more, to smash the walls using a mining pick and use magic to transfer the ore to his empire.

‘It’s as if the walls themselves are casting illusion and charming spells.’ “You’re right, it’s strange.” “The ore and dungeon, it feels artificial…” Logan muttered.

“The ore, the aura, the boss… it all feels made.” “Artificial?”  Asmodeus frowned while glancing back as he tried to remember the dungeons of the past.

“Aye.

Like it didn’t grow here naturally.

Like something built the dungeon around it.

As if someone wanted miners or adventurers to carry this metal outside.” “Or to die inside and nurture them.” Zahir’s clear voice broke through Logan’s as he stepped ahead.

“There is something foul in the air.” “Then maybe we should get out of here sooner?”  Nerim’s voice caused the group to glance at each other and nod.  Ryuji considered it.

Logan and Zahir weren’t the type to chase a conspiracy unless something truly set off his instincts.

And given the shard corruption he was seeing, the dwarf’s suspicion didn’t seem far-fetched.

“Ngh…”  A sudden pulse of violent abyssal energy flowed through the cavern.

Nerim immediately gasped and bent slightly while clutching her stomach, the violet and dark veins throbbing beneath her tanned skin.

Ryuji moved instantly, grabbing her shoulders and speaking in a whisper only she might hear.

“Nerim.

Breathe.

Push the aura outward.

Don’t let it sink into your stomach.” “I can’t…!” Her pupils contracted, shifting into a slit like a deep-sea predator.

Water mana gathered around her, forming spirals that mixed with streaks of abyssal purple.

The others didn’t notice as they stepped into the portal.  Ryuji quickly placed his hand on her abdomen, pressing against the smooth muscles as he sucked the violent abyssal energy towards his palm.

“Hnnng!?” Her sweet voice echoed through the cavern as she slumped against his chest.

The more pressure he applied while sucking the violent energy from her shard, the more Nerim lost control of her voice.  The water spirals around her, cracked with flashes of violet, then folded inward as he dragged the excess into his body, the cooling water of her magic pleasant as it spread through his abdomen.

A deep throbbing spread from her lower body as she bit the cloth of his bag.

Nerim’s legs weakened, pressing against him to keep herself upright, but the moment his hand steadied her, her body reacted on instinct.

A soft tremor ran through her spine, her fingers clutching the fabric of his coat as her scent spread through the cavern.

“R-Ryuji… it’s too much…” The pain from her voice vanished, replaced by something he knew all too well, the feeling of him devouring the violent aura and pouring the calmed aura into her would obviously have the same effect as dual cultivating.  The abyssal saturation wasn’t hurting her; it was twisting her senses, heightening everything.

A dangerous side effect that Asmodeus hadn’t accounted for.

The energy inside her raged one last time, as if to resist him.

He pulled harder, forcing it down into his palm, feeling her abdomen tighten under his touch.

“Finally…” He sighed as she panted against him.  Her warm breath tickled as it brushed against his chest.

Her head dipped against his shoulder as she clung to his arm, trembling with an involuntary shiver of relief and other awkward feelings.

But finally, the energy of the dungeon stopped pouring into her.