Epilogue

"D*mmit! We were too slow! Iron Shark gave us the information late and now, he is going to reap all the benefits for himself!"

The elites of Blue Lagoon rode their horses toward the Musclewood Tribe. The sun was already setting in the distance, but they would need to travel a few more hours before arriving at their destination.

"Tssk! That selfish guy! I am sure he already reported it to the higher-ups. He wasted our time here! We could have been grinding and I would have already leveled up," complained a player called Narwhal.

"He thinks the combat team can just be ordered around like that? If there is no dungeon there, I'll teach him a lesson. He thinks that just because he will soon have a status equal to an elder, he can just order people around?" The leader of Blue Lagoon's elite team, Finless grinned.

They were all in a foul mood after receiving the message from the elders of the guild. Iron Shark had just notified them that the battle at the Musclewood Tribe had already taken place. Basically, the elite team traveled for days for nothing!

"Let's just set up our camp here. Since we are no longer in a hurry. We should just hunt around and look for quests. Maybe we'll find something interesting. Very few players ventured that far in the barbarian territory," suggested another player called Sea Lion.

Finless nodded. "I approve. Iron Shark can just wait for us. Why do we need to hurry if he can already do everything by himself?" sarcastically said Finless.

At that moment, Narwhal caught sight of a lonely figure standing in the distance. "Who is that? An NPC?"

The large team changed direction and approached the woman. As they got closer, the players heard the woman complaining:

"You can stop looking at me with these eyes! You know it is hard to judge the distance and the direction when traveling underground. At least, I am not completely lost, I am in the barbarian territory. Now, all we need to do is to look for a settlement and ask for directions. It should not be too hard!"

"Stop saying I have a bad sense of direction. You are even worse. You wandered around for an entire month before finding me. If you are so good, why don't you find that dungeon's location? You should be able to smell it."

"What? You can't? So stop ranting."

As they got closer, the players saw that the woman was not alone. On her right arm was a snake. It wrapped around her limb and docilely looked down, feeling wrong. It looked like a pet but hearing her conversation, the players believed that she could speak to the snake.

"Excuse me miss. Did you say you were looking for a dungeon?" Finless courteously smiled at the woman. Finless was a handsome young man; the main reason he was chosen as the leader of the elite team was not because of his talent in fighting, it was because of his charms. He could easily get his way with NPCs and managed to increase his strength behind the back of the guild.

The woman was startled. Her eyes shone as she looked at Finless. She blurted out, "Oh! A pretty boy. It has been a while since I've seen someone like that."

Finless almost fell off his horse. Were women in the barbarian territory that straight forward?

"Miss. I heard your earlier complaints. Do you need some help?" said Finless, ignoring the woman's comment.

"I am looking for a dungeon. Do you know where I can find one nearby? It should not be very far," said the woman. She looked at the players as her beautiful eyes blinked. Finless was attracted by her eyes; they looked like two large dark gems.

"We are coincidentally going to a dungeon. Would you like to join us on our journey? We are going to set our camp here. Maybe we can enjoy a meal together?" suggested Finless with a sweet smile that could melt any woman's heart.

But to his surprise, the woman's reaction was:

"Food?" Her eyes shone as she started to think about the delicacies available at the townsmen's cities.

"Sure. I'll join you."

The players set their camp and invited the woman to join them. Finless was the only one interacting with her. She laughed and chuckled occasionally but so far, Finless had not been able to obtain any quests from her.

The first thing that came to his mind was that a lonely NPC like this would provide quests but so far, nothing. Nevertheless, Finless was delighted to spend some time with the woman. He did not know her name yet, but it did not matter. She was pretty and had a very attractive figure; the only thing holding him off was the snake that never left her side.

Finless saw the snake as a thorn in his side, preventing him from approaching the woman. 'Tiny reptile! You dare c*ckblock me?'

"How is the food? Would you like some drinks too?" asked Finless. He had been accompanying the woman since the start of the meal and so far, she had already devoured ten people's worth of food! He felt exasperated when he saw that the woman stopped listening to him as soon as she was served food. She now only reacted when food was mentioned in a sentence.

"Drink? Alcohol is disgusting!" said the woman as she chewed on the chicken thigh. She completely disregarded the bottle of wine.

Finless was not discouraged. "I see that you are a cultured woman. Of course, alcohol alone cannot suit your palate. We need to make a cocktail first. Watch." Having worked as a bartender in real life, Finless swiftly grabbed a few metal shakers and started a small show. His movements were fluids and caused the woman to shift her attention away from her food for a moment.

At the end, the woman was presented with a shiny glass full of a colorful liquid. A single cocktail was separated into several layers, each having a different color, texture, and taste. "This is my version of the rainbow cocktail. Please have a taste."

Finless was proud of his cocktail. The woman's eyes shone as she took the glass and took a sip. "It's good!" She quickly downed the cocktail, breaking Finless' heart. All the hard work he put into the cocktail was gone in just one second. Nevertheless, he maintained his gentlemanly appearance. 'After a few more, you'll be mine!'

The meal went on. The players already felt bloated and tired but the one person still eating was the woman.

Suddenly, she stopped and stood up. "Did you feel it, little guy? We have to go!"

"Hisss Hisss."

"What? You don't even recognize your great-great-great-grandfather? I am certain I felt his aura. he disappeared decades ago during the war at the central plains. But he is still alive? I only felt his aura for a second, let's quickly go before he leaves. It's in this direction!" The woman excitedly placed down her plate but before she could leave, Finless grabbed her wrist.

"Where are you going? Are you leaving us so soon? The night is still young. We can go there together tomorrow?"

The woman froze. She stopped and turned toward Finless. "I am sorry, but this is very urgent. I might miss this opportunity if I don't go right now. Maybe we'll meet again in the future?" She pulled her hand but Finless refused to let go.

He had spent so much effort on that woman and now, she was thinking of dining and dashing? Finless used to be an average person but when he entered New Earth and joined Blue Lagoon, he got a taste of power. He was appointed as the leader of the elite team. He could get anything he wanted; from money, items and women.

He did not even need to ask as many women would throw themselves to him to win their favor. However, he soon realized that the real treasures were those who would resist him. At the time he was working as a bartender, he had seen countless women getting tricked and as he replicated the methods used by the despicable individuals, he was able to get his hands on anyone he wanted. The guild would always turn a blind eye to his actions.

Adding on to the frustration of his long journey, he now felt betrayed as he saw the woman wanting to leave after receiving so many things from him.

"Do you know how much I wasted on you and you want to leave just like that? You think you can just play with me like that?" Finless stared at the woman but then he received a system prompt:

[System prompt: You have been slain by ???, Level -2, applying death penalties]

Finless froze. When he looked around him. He found his body lying on the ground, split in half. He was in etheral form symbolizing that he indeed died but he did not even understand how that happened.

The woman in front of him looked disappointedly at the corpse. "So weak. He cannot even handle a simple slap. I thought he would make a great toy in bed, but I guess I overestimated him. Alright. Time to go."

In an instant, the woman disappeared underground, leaving a large hole in the middle of the players' camp.

...

At the Fire Pit, the dungeon of the Bramble Deer Tribe, Stargaze, the Dungeon master smashed a table and cursed. "That d*mn b*tch! She dares to come here to wreak havoc!"

Flint stood in front of his master in silence, not daring to meet his gaze. The dungeon was in flames, literally.

"Leave. I need to contact the Storm Alliance."

The monsters hurriedly left the throne room as Stargaze sat back on the throne sculpted in Firestones.

The air fluctuated as a screen appeared. "Mentor. The plan has failed, and I faced the consequences. The other dungeon master sent his most powerful monster and almost destroyed my dungeon. If I did not use the Clock of Tiber, I would not have been able to report this incident."

The Clock of Tiber was the item Stargaze acquired at the auction. It was one of the first items auctioned. Its effect was to refresh the cooldown on the revival of the Boss Monsters. Regardless of when they died, the Boss Monsters could all be revived immediately when used.

It did not sound very impressive but if used correctly, it could effectively double the number of boss monsters protecting the dungeon. It was only by sending all his Boss Monsters in a suicide attack and using the Clock of Tiber that Stargaze was able to repel Harriet. When faced with two waves of powerful Boss Monsters, despite her high level, Harriet was forced to retreat after suffering from the collective debuffs of the monsters.

Unfortunately, although the cooldown was refreshed, the cost still remained. Stargaze had to pay a hefty price to revive his monsters. Let alone reviving all the regular monsters that died under the Harpy Queen's hand, his losses amounted to more than 600 thousand DP.

The screen shook as an old man appeared, "What? The other dungeon is much stronger than we expected. To not only push back ten tribes but also be able to fight back. You wasted the artifact but I believe you should have obtained some information. I cannot intervene in the struggle of the new generation of the dungeon masters, but I might be able to help you. I can send a few tribesmen from the central plains. It won't be much, but they should help you to protect your dungeon for a while."

"Thank you, mentor! I know the approximate location of his dungeon now and I think you will like what I found next. I think that he is the dungeon master that swindled Kroff of his Harpy Queen. The Boss Monster of that dungeon was a Harpy Queen!"

The face of the old man on the screen lit up. "What a coincidence! Looks like he is worth quite a lot. Let me report this to the leader. I'll be back soon."

...

In another dungeon somewhere in the Arstan Empire.

"Hello, mentor."

"Farsight! There has been some news about a potential target for the Challenger Gauntlet."

Farsight recollected his thoughts and focused. He knew his mentor was about to give him a critical piece of information.

"Do you remember a person called Kroff from the Cyclone Alliance? We talked about it at the meeting about how he lost his Harpy Queen to his disciple."

"I do. What does it have to do with the Challenger Gauntlet?" asked Farsight.

"Simple. Your target will be his disciple. It turns out he was the one that took out two of our members in the Sylvester Empire. We already know the location of his dungeon. When you challenge him and win, not only will we enact revenge, you will also have the opportunity to get a powerful monster like a Harpy Queen."

"But isn't the Harpy Queen a powerful monster? How am I supposed to deal with her?" Farsight was sceptical.

"Didn't lord Amon send you his monster a few weeks ago? He should be enough to deal with her. She is the only threat. The rest of his dungeon is subpar," said the dungeon master on the screen.

"That winged man? I know he is level 60 but he spends the entire day with women. I have never seen him fight. Are you sure he will be up to the task?"

"Don't look down on him. He is just being affected by your Core of Lust. When the time is right, you will see how strong he really is."

"Alright. I will trust you on this one," said Farsight.

"Prepare well. Don't underestimate your opponent. Be ready to use the Challenger Gauntlet right after the third trial. It will be the period where his dungeon will be at its weakest. He is not weak by any means. We have reasons to believe that he is one of the dungeon masters that bought the 'Answers' at the auction. According to Ali, the dungeon master that bought the 'Answers' with him had a harpy at his side and it was the same one that was spotted next to Kroff during the auction."

Farsight frowned. "Then, doesn't he have an ally. I remember Ali saying that the two dungeon masters knew each other. What if the other one act against us afterward? Should we get rid of her too?"

"No! No matter what, do not touch that woman! You will bring a disaster to the Storm Alliance. She might be weak but do you know who her mentor is?"

"Who?"

"Lord Brann. You should have never heard of him but every old-timer like me knows about him. He did not join any alliances, but no one dares to cause him any trouble. He wields enough power to destroy an entire alliance by himself. He is one of the supreme elders of the magic council of the Millenium Empire. The strength of the magic council rivals that of the church. If he is truly angered, all our dungeons will immediately be attacked!"

"But the scariest part is himself! He is known within our circle as the Dungeonless. He is not forced to stay in a single spot like us and can cause trouble everywhere. Furthermore, his unique title give him enough power to summon an endless army of monsters. No matter what you do, do not anger that person."

Farsight gulped down as he listened to his mentor. Seeing how terrified his mentor was despite his strength, Farsight understood that Lord Brann was somebody to avoid.

"Alright. We'll end this conversation here. I need to talk to the others too and warn them about Lord Brann in case their disciple does something we will all regret."

"Thank you, mentor."

Farsight heaved a sigh of relief as the screen disappeared in front of him. In the corner of his eyes, he noticed a moving silhouette.

"You are here? You heard the entire conversation, didn't you? I hope you will prove yourself during that battle," said Farsight as he sneered in disgust.

A winged man stood in the shadows, completely naked and holding a winged woman in each arm. He did not bother to hide his erection as he stood in front of his master and allowed the winged women to continue pleasing him.

"You don't have to worry. As long as you summon a few more winged women, I'll get rid of all the troubles that come your way. I'll crush that other dungeon for you and if there is anyone that I fancy, I'll even mate them right in front of that dungeon master. You cannot blame me for my behavior. As your mentor said, it is not my fault. Your core is changing me," answered the winged man.

Farsight furrowed his brows. He could not bring himself to argue with the winged man, nor did he want to watch the obscene scene taking place right in front of his eyes. 'The Core of lust is really too much...'

"I really hope you are as strong as you say, Ivan. I sure do hope so."