Chapter 376

There is currently no sense of a war crisis due to the demon forces, but humans are once again engulfed in fear of demons as they carry out guerrilla warfare in various places. The reason for this fear is that students returning from winter vacation are increasing the population of the temple, which is seen as a safe haven. However, they are unaware that the demon king they fear the most is watching them from the temple. The teacher, Epinhaus, mentions the artifact Akasha and the Order's plan to take the risk of bringing in the Kantus Magna to finally end their long history. The assistant agrees to cooperate with the Black Order. Epinhaus remains silent, possibly due to his involvement in the events related to the death of Duke Granz. "That's not a question as a member of the Black Order, but a question as my teacher," I replied to his question, looking down at the hill in silence. I saw many students returning to the temple to spend the remaining winter vacation because of this chaos. "Well," I continued, "what should we do now?" "A Lich's tomb was discovered in Darkland," Epinhaus said. "Lich?" "Yes. Adventurers will naturally flock there." The adventurers in Darkland were still exploring various places, and the cursed Tiamata was also discovered there. During the process of discovering something and finding new treasures, the dungeon of Lich was discovered. "The Kantus Magna will explore the magic books in Lich's tomb... Is that so?" "That could be possible, but Lich couldn't have developed a great potion. Of course, he is a powerful magician who is different from ordinary people. However, it is not at the level that the Kantus Magna can explore." Looking at Epinhaus, who called Lich "such a thing," I thought he knew how much the Black Order and the Kantus Magna were interested in magic. "But the important thing is that it was only a week ago that it was known that Lich's tomb was discovered, even though it was two months ago." The first discoverers of the dungeon would have been killed by Lich without reporting the discovery or died in the dungeon. They would have explored in the direction of missing adventurers and finally found out that there was Lich's tomb. "The Order plans to strengthen Lich's tomb." "Strengthen it?" "Yes. We plan to make it known that there is something more than Lich there. We will manipulate it to make it more mysterious and strange. We will create a maze barrier around the dungeon, cause strange phenomena, and release ominous summoners, chimeras, and homunculi. They are legendary creatures, but it would be great if adventurers thought that Ark Lich had appeared." They will spread the bait, the name of Ark Lich. "Adventurers will flock, and some survivors will receive magic books that do not exist in the world. It's a great discovery, but it's too dangerous." "...." The Kantus Magna will not covet the gold books in Lich's tomb. Therefore, the Black Order sets traps to make the discovered Lich's dungeon appear as a more powerful and dangerous place. Even the books that miraculously survived and were brought back by the survivors would be a great discovery in the magical world. It was a statement that they would artificially spread gold or magic to the world. If a few books are that much, what kind of magic or treasures are sleeping in the depths? The rumors will spread like wildfire, and then the Kantus Magna will surely find out. "Wait. Then it won't just be the Kantus Magna, but other adventurers and wizards who will be drawn to the tomb."

Epinhaus stares at me as he speaks.

"I already told you, the Order has decided to take a huge risk in this matter."

They are prepared for the influx of many adventurers. Even if they lose their lives, they won't care.

Of course, it's also a problem if adventurers who are blinded by the prospect of striking it rich go there despite knowing the danger.

Until a real giant like the Kantus Magna is caught, people will continue to die in the structure.

A Lich's tomb has been discovered.

But apart from that Lich, the tomb is disguised as the tomb of a very powerful being.

"Then what about the Lich in that tomb... the situation seems strange."

Isn't it strange that external forces are causing chaos while the protagonist is just quietly studying magic in the tomb, and suddenly adventurers are banging on the door?

"There's no need to worry about that. We've already agreed to cooperate."

"Cooperate?"

"Yes, the tomb needs an owner, so we didn't kill it."

No.

It's like going into a Lich's tomb and saying, "Hey, I'm going to use this place for a bit."

"It needs to be expanded, and we need to work on the barriers and magic around the dungeon. While we're talking about this, the Order is still working on it."

They bring in the Kantus Magna.

The Black Order is even prepared to release countless spells into the world for this purpose. They plan to expand the Lich's dungeon to make it more complex and dangerous than its original structure.

"It's like... running a dungeon to attract the Kantus Magna."

"In a way, that's what it will become."

Running a dungeon.

Of course, it's not me but the Black Order who's doing it, but the means to achieve their goal are a bit messy.

A Lich's tomb has been discovered, and they're suppressing the owner and forcibly expanding the tomb to make it an even more dangerous place, waiting for the real prey to come.

When the heart of the dungeon is revealed, the dungeon will lose its value, so no one should ever break through to the heart of the dungeon. So the dungeon must continue to suck in adventurers, and sometimes let them escape with treasure.

But in the process, there is a high probability that a group of strong explorers from an unexpected group, rather than the Kantus Magna, will be dispatched.

So the Black Order is trying to erase the Kantus Magna from the world forever, knowing that this is a very dangerous thing that will cause a continent-level aggro and many adventurers will die.

"But... wouldn't it be easier to disguise ourselves as a genius with a lot of magic or a hidden wizard than to do this?"

Is there really a need to go down this path? "If we proceed by presenting the reclusive archmage who has developed numerous spells after years of research, wouldn't that be better? Then we wouldn't attract unnecessary aggro. But then we would be hunted down as a black mage with numerous gold coins. They would eventually end up fighting too, and the scale of the fight would be even greater. Ah. Among the adventurers who come one by one to seek treasure and the reclusive archmage who appears after developing numerous spells, the latter is more dangerous. The Mage Guild could threaten to release research materials, and if that fails, they will hunt us down as a guild rather than just adventurers. Epinhaus's words that going down the path of attracting aggro as a human mage would lead to a larger scale of fighting were eerily convincing. The events in Darkland take place beyond the boundary of the human world. Because of that psychological distance, many humans turn a blind eye to whatever is there. But if there is a dangerous black mage within the human world, they will stamp it out like a fire on their heels. Epinhaus's perspective that building a dungeon is a way to spill less blood was understandable. The Black Order creates a fake dungeon as bait for people. But it will be much more dangerous than a real dungeon and will contain powerful treasures. But the Black Order will not suffer losses while doing this. We also had something we wanted. "If there is any magic that can affect the dungeon structure or the external environment on your side, please support us with anything." "Yes." "And the most important thing." Epinhaus looks at me. "The original owner of that place, the Lich, is a powerful mage and has agreed to cooperate with us, but we need one powerful force to prepare for any similarities. The Order will have one person stationed there, but it would be nice if you could provide one person as well. In other words, think of it as having one person in charge of the dungeon, either you or us." The statement itself was not wrong. But in the end, we were talking about this and that in the owner's house, regardless of the owner's intentions. It felt like something more than garbage. "Let's discuss it." The plan to attract the Kantus Magna. Operating a fake dungeon. I don't know what will happen with this, but if we want to attract the Kantus Magna, the rumor needs to spread as quickly as possible. And one person who can act as a guardian of the dungeon. But is there anyone who can do that? * * * Goseong Epiax. "I'll do it." Antirianus readily accepted after hearing the detailed story, making everyone surprised. He immediately answered with a summons to the Vampire Council, which was scary. It was good that the council was summoned after a day of delivering the request to Lucinil, but... "It seems like everyone except Antirianus is taking a misstep? Elelris, Galarsh, Le Ruin, and Lucinil were all staring at Antirianus. 'Why are you like that again?' They had such expressions. '...Isn't this decision too hasty?' Antirianus laughed lightly at my question. 'I think it's actually a very good position.' 'Good?' Lucinil raised her head. 'First of all, the idea of tempting the Kantus Magna to a fake dungeon that is more dangerous than a known one is interesting. But didn't you say that you would throw countless baits for him?' The Black Order was willing to take risks and leak numerous gold and magic, and I also thought that I would support them if there were any magic books that could help in the bunker of the Demon Castle. 'You can read as many visions that will be used as bait, so I don't know why you don't want that position.' Ah, was that the concept they approached? 'Black Order's vision... Of course, it would be limited to certain fields...' Le Ruin nodded as if it was possible, and the rest understood. The dungeon manager was not a troublesome position, but a place where the Black Order could see numerous gold and visions that they could throw as bait. Since they had already decided to throw them as bait in the world, it was not a place where Antirianus could not see them. It was a place where you could steal Black Order's visions, not a dungeon guard. So it meant that there was no special intention other than just taking advantage of it. But really... He was so honest that there was a subtle liking, or something like that. It's still a bit awkward. Antirianus, are you really not thinking anything? 'Then I understand that it will be entrusted to the Gaju of Tuesday. We will inform you of the date and place where you need to meet with the Order later through the Gaju of Wednesday.' 'I'll be waiting happily, great being.' I was expecting that Elelris or Lucinil would eventually do it because they were bickering about who would take it, but the greedy old man readily took it, so the matter was resolved without any further discussion."