I am the Demon King of the Dungeon!

Dark Hemkas, third level.

As Arthas descended the spiral staircase, the sight before him forced him to acknowledge the Balrog's performance.

The central lava pool was still scorching hot, the slide was almost finished, and the goblin craftsmen could be seen doing the final checks. On the open ground beside the pool, fire slimes were neatly arranged, and there were several larger slimes in front of them.

They appear to be training.

A leading fire slime stood in the center, its body stretching and contracting, making rhythmic "poof" sounds.

The other fire slimes followed the rhythm, bouncing, rolling, and lining up in unison.

"Interesting." Arthas hadn't expected the slime to be trained so well in such a short time.

Because slimes lack a complete language system and are generally not very intelligent, he would agree to adopt them, also because these soft and sticky monsters are very popular among adventurers.

Can these little guys really understand instructions?

Alsace, still skeptical, continued onward.

On the other side of the lava pool, seventeen mineral monsters crouched by the wall, disguised as ordinary rocks. Their arrangement was clearly designed, with one every three steps, staggered and covering both sides of the passage.

No matter which direction the adventurer comes from, there will always be a mineral monster right in their blind spot.

The rotating cup is built on the other side of the lava pool.

The enormous obsidian cup is fixed to a circular platform that rotates slowly, causing the cup itself to rotate as well. The cup is decorated with flame patterns on the outside and has armrests and a backrest on the inside, making it look quite impressive.

Arthas looked up at the cave's dome, where an unfinished roller coaster track led to a transparent observation deck for adventurers to rest.

The changes in the BOSS room are more significant than I imagined.

The stone gate at the entrance has been replaced with an open archway, with a fire slime crouching on each side.

In the center of the BOSS room, the protruding rock that was originally guarded by the Lava Wyvern has now been transformed into a circular platform.

A low railing surrounds the edge of the platform, and in the center stands a stone chair covered with a golden cushion.

throne.

It's high-class enough.

Alsace was very satisfied.

"Demon King!" The little fire demon ran over excitedly and asked, "What do you think?"

"good."

"Really?!"

"Hmm. It's better than I expected."

The little fire demon happily spun around twice, then pulled out a small wooden plaque from its pocket, with the four characters "Flame Paradise" engraved on the front.

"I want to hang it on the door of the BOSS room! Is that okay?"

"Can."

"Then I'll hang it up now!" The little fire demon stood on tiptoe, trying to hang the wooden sign above the archway, but it wasn't tall enough and couldn't reach it even after jumping twice.

Seeing this, Arthas reached out and took the wooden sign, then gently raised his hand and hung it in the center of the archway.

"Thank you, Demon Lord!"

"You're welcome. Hang whatever you want."

"My Lord, should I prepare a welcoming ceremony for the adventurers who are coming tomorrow?" The little Balrog turned to look at Arthas, its gem-like eyes sparkling.

"Just play normally."

"What about the slide? Can they play on the slide?"

"able."

"What about the spinner cups?"

"able."

"What about the roller coaster?"

"They can play if they want."

The little Balrog's flames leaped even higher, then it turned and ran towards the lava pool, shouting, "Craftsmen! We need to hurry! We have to make the third level even more fun!"

The goblin craftsmen responded with low groans, hoisting their stones and continuing their work; the fire slimes all bounced up in unison, as if applauding.

Arthas stood at the entrance to the BOSS room, watching the wooden sign sway gently in the wind.

Flame Paradise opens tomorrow.

……

A flash of white light appeared.

Back in Greystone Town, it was still dark.

Ryan's snoring came from the next room, still even and long, showing no sign of waking up.

Arthas had no intention of sleeping; the three life cards in his arms were already half burned, signaling the end of his life.

Humans...

Fragile humanity.

This incident was like a small thorn stuck in Arthas's heart, not out of sympathy, but out of annoyance.

As the progenitor of the dragon god, the ruler of the dark Hemkas, and one of the legendary five great demon lords...

How could they let humanity disappear right under their noses?!

I pushed open the hotel door.

Alsace walked into the empty streets.

The early morning in Graystone Town was quiet, so quiet that he could hear his own footsteps. He wandered aimlessly along the stone path. When he passed the Adventurers' Guild, the gate was tightly closed, and the griffin statue at the entrance cast a blurry shadow in the morning light.

As he passed the tavern, which was not yet open, a wildcat jumped down from the eaves, glanced at him, and quickly ran away.

Hoo~ Hoo~

Arthas didn't know how long he had been walking. He heard the rhythmic sound of a knife being sharpened, and he stopped, finding himself standing in an alley he had never been before.

There is a blacksmith shop at the end of the alley.

The shop was small, with stone walls, a chimney on the roof emitting blue smoke, and a half-closed door through which orange-red flames shone.

Arthas had only intended to take a quick look and leave, but he stopped at the door.

Inside the blacksmith's shop.

A young man sat in front of an anvil, holding a rusty sword in his hand, repeatedly sharpening the blade with a whetstone. His movements were very focused, and he sharpened it very carefully each time, as if he were treating a precious work of art.

Arthas's gaze fell on the sword.

Although the sword was rusted, he could tell at a glance that it was made of dragon teeth.

In such a remote town, there are actually dragon teeth?

Furthermore, they forged the dragon teeth into swords...

Dragons are among the most powerful creatures on the continent of Ashu. Each dragon tooth is a rare and precious find, and blacksmiths capable of forging dragon teeth are few and far between.

Alsace pushed open the door of the blacksmith's shop.

The door hinges made a slight creaking sound. The young man raised his head slightly, but his hands did not stop moving.

"It's not open yet."

"If you want to forge iron, come back at dawn."

"I don't forge iron. Where did you get that sword?"

"This rusty sword? Is there something wrong with it?"

I want to buy it.

"Not for sale."

Why?

"Because this was left to me by my father..."

Arthas did not speak.

He looked at the sword in the young man's hand. The rust on the sword was not ordinary oxidation, but rather grayish-white mottled marks caused by the natural aging of the surface keratin layer of the dragon tooth due to the lack of magical nourishment over a long period of time.

Ordinary blacksmiths don't recognize this kind of rust and will treat it as ordinary rust.

"You can't get rid of it by rubbing it like that."

The young man paused, looked up at Arthas, and frowned slightly.

"What did you say?"

"You can grind it until you die, and you still won't get rid of the rust."

How did you know?

"Because I've seen this material before."

Silence fell over the blacksmith's shop.

The young man gripped the sword tighter, his knuckles turning white.

Arthas broke the silence first.

"What's your name?"

"...Cole, Cole Graystone."

The surname Greystone is very common in Greystone Town, from which the town gets its name. The Greystone family has also produced many famous adventurers and blacksmiths.

Looking at the young blacksmith in front of him, Arthas had an idea: since the round-faced youth's team had gone missing during an escort mission, could they find them by following the same route?

"My name is Dick Reynolds. I have a way to remove the rust from this sword. If you'd like to try, you can go to the Adventurers' Guild and post an escort mission to Holy Light City."

"Holy City? You're an adventurer?"

"That's right."

Arthas lifted the corner of his robe, revealing two black iron badges at his waist. The badges gleamed in the firelight, and the griffin pattern on the front was clearly visible.

"Black Iron?" Cole's tone held a hint of doubt. "Does a Black Iron-level expert even know this?"

"Believe it or not, it's up to you." Arthas turned and walked towards the door. "I'll only wait for you for half a day. Come when you've made up your mind."