I am the Demon King of the Dungeon!

On the other side of the underground city.

Raine was squatting on the ground bandaging the injured man, muttering words of comfort, while Oris stood aside after bandaging the injured woman, her gaze still scanning the depths of the passage.

Arthas leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, and suddenly his eyelashes trembled slightly.

The clones dissipated.

"Dick?" Renn noticed Arthas's unusual behavior and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Don't rush in alone next time."

Why?

"Because you can't beat them."

Renn paused, then scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly, "You're right, but..."

"I will still flush. If I don't, they will be really finished, and I can't accept that."

Arthas looked at Renn, recalling the past.

At that time, he had just transmigrated into the body of the Demon King, and the dungeon was in chaos. One day, a young goblin fell into a crevice in a lava pool, and no one bothered to save him, since monsters could be resurrected after dying in the dungeon anyway.

But one brave goblin, knowing how dangerous the lava pool was, still climbed down and dragged its cub out, only to have half its arm burned off by the lava.

Later, Arthas promoted that goblin to be the leader of the first level, the same goblin leader who now collects tolls with a beaming smile.

When Arthas saw Renne's simple-minded smile, he suddenly realized that the two "idiots" were quite alike.

While bandaging his wound, Ryan muttered, "I often get scolded, but I just can't stand it."

"Then you shouldn't have become an adventurer." Arthas had seen too many adventurers die not from monsters, but from their own. "Adventurers must act within their capabilities..."

"That's not right." Renn turned to Arthas and said seriously, "Adventurers should challenge the unknown. If everyone only acts within their capabilities, who will challenge unconquered dungeons? Who will face monsters that no one has ever defeated?"

Upon hearing this, Arthas fell silent.

That sounds... kind of plausible.

"Before that," Oris's voice drifted over coldly, "couldn't you first learn how to avoid being trampled on by bronze-level thugs?"

Ryan opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"...That was an accident."

"Was it an accident last time too?"

"The same thing happened last time."

"And the time before that?"

Rein fell silent after being rebuked, lowering his head to continue bandaging, his movements noticeably more forceful. The man being bandaged gasped in pain, but seeing Olis's expression, he wisely kept quiet.

Arthas leaned against the wall, watching this scene, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Oris was cursing, but when Rein rushed out, she had drawn her bowstring taut. If Rut had really intended to kill, that arrow would have pierced his throat instantly.

Swearing doesn't mean you think you've done something wrong.

They were afraid something bad might really happen.

Arthas closed his eyes again.

Oris turned her gaze from the depths of the passage to Arthas, where it lingered for at least a second.

"What's wrong?" Arthas felt the probing gaze and slowly opened his eyes.

"...It's nothing." Oris withdrew her gaze and said calmly, "You should get some rest."

In no time at all.

"Alright!" Ryan clapped his hands and stood up. "You two wait here. Go out when you feel better."

The male and female adventurers nodded repeatedly, shrinking against the wall and not daring to make a sound.

Arthas followed behind, and as he passed Oris, her voice drifted over softly.

"There seemed to be a magical fluctuation just now..."

Arthas paused.

"What kind of magical fluctuation?"

"It's nothing. Maybe I'm just overthinking it."

Oris turned and walked toward the bone gate.

Arthas followed her forward nonchalantly, watching her back with his eyes slightly narrowed.

This woman is indeed extraordinary.

The passage in front of the bone gate was narrower, with stone coffins stacked on both sides to form a wall, and the sound of iron chains swaying overhead sounded like some kind of whisper.

Raine walked ahead, his short sword held in reverse, his breathing already steady; Oris followed half a step behind, an arrow nocked on her bowstring, her gaze sweeping to both sides; Arthas brought up the rear, his hands in his pockets, looking as if he were taking a stroll.

"Don't you guys feel...?" Renn asked in a low voice, "It's a little strangely quiet here?"

The voice just fell.

A low, chanting sound came from around the corner ahead.

Oris's expression changed: "Skeleton Mage!"

Three skeleton mages emerged from around the corner, clad in tattered black robes, with purple flames flickering in their eye sockets and dark green orbs of light gathering between their bony fingers.

"spread!"

Oris's arrow shot out first, piercing the skeleton mage's chest. The purple flames in his eye sockets flickered but did not go out. The silver arrow was far less effective against the skeleton mage than against an ordinary skeleton.

The second skeleton mage raised its bony arm, and a dark green orb of light shot out.

Raine rolled to the side, the ball of light grazing his shoulder and striking the stone coffin behind him. The coffin lid instantly corroded a large hole, with pungent white smoke billowing from its edges.

"Corrosion magic?!"

Ryan's eyes widened. "This thing can kill someone instantly!"

The third skeleton mage finished a longer incantation and slammed his bone staff on the ground.

boom.

The stone coffins on both sides of the passage exploded simultaneously, and six skeleton soldiers crawled out, their empty eye sockets locking onto the three people.

"From both the front and the back!" Oris shot down two skeleton soldiers with two arrows in quick succession, but her quiver was almost empty.

Raine was attacked from both sides by two skeleton soldiers. He parried one rusty knife with his short sword, but the other was already slashing at him.

"clang."

Arthas thrust his longsword in from the side, precisely locking the blade in place. With a flick of his wrist, the rusted knife flew three meters away and embedded itself in the sarcophagus.

"Stay close to me."

Arthas stepped to the side, his sword tip slicing through the skeleton mage's neck; the purple flames extinguished, and the skeleton shattered. With a backhand slash, he severed the second skeleton mage's bone staff along with its wrist. The third staggered back two steps, attempting to chant—

Arthas's sword was already pressed against its eye socket.

"Your casting speed is too slow."

The sword tip was gently pushed forward, and the purple flames were extinguished.

Without the mage's blessing, the remaining skeletons were noticeably sluggish, and Rein and Oris quickly cleared them out, restoring quiet to the passage.

Renn leaned against the wall, panting, his gaze towards Arthas becoming fervent: "Those few sword strikes you just made... a newbie really couldn't do that."

Arthas sheathed his sword: "I've practiced."

"Have you trained? For how long?"

"One hundred years."

"...Are you kidding me?"

Ryan suddenly felt a sense of relief. He had only thought Dick was a little lonely, but he never expected to accidentally run into a "big shot".

If I can break through to the third level in one go, then returning to the Adventurers' Guild might allow me to advance to the Silver rank.

It's true, when you're away from home, you rely on your friends...

"Don't overthink it." Oris's voice instantly interrupted Renn's immersive dream.

"What?"

"You think he's here to carry you to new heights?"

"Huh?" Renn was taken aback, then awkwardly touched his nose. "How did you know? I think..."

"Be careful, he's not a simple person."

"Nonsense, of course I know it's not simple. A complete newbie can one-shot a skeleton mage? That's outrageous!"

"I'm not talking about strength. Don't you find it strange? His purpose in coming to the dungeon doesn't seem to be conquering it at all."

"What are they here for?"

"I don't know." Oris shook her head. "But he clearly possesses great strength, yet he disguised himself as a newbie and mingled with a bronze-level team like ours. Either he has some reason he can't say, or..."

"Want it?"

"Either he has other motives."

"Sister," Ryan suddenly became serious, "tell me honestly, why did you agree to take him with you in the first place?"

Oris grabbed Ryan's arm, and the two walked slower and slower.

"Because he's lying."

"……What?"

"He said he was a novice adventurer, but he never asked a single question that a novice should ask."

"He didn't ask about the dungeon's rules, the monsters' weaknesses, or how we should cooperate. He didn't ask anything."

"When you put it that way... it does seem to be true."

"A real novice would be nervous, scared, and keep asking questions, but he wasn't. He was even calmer than the two of us combined."

"So you figured it out from the beginning?"

I guess so.

"Then why did you let him come with us?"

"Because I didn't sense any malice, and if he hadn't intervened, it would have been troublesome to deal with Lute and his group. On the contrary, you didn't seem to notice anything unusual at all..."

Renn awkwardly scratched his head and gave a sheepish grin.