Deep within the first level of the labyrinth, at the very center of the Sewer Corridor, palm-sized chunks of corpses lay piled across an open space.
Standing before that heap of flesh, the burly Lizardman chieftain clenched his claws. The scales on his face twisted together, making him look like an evil ghost that had crawled out of the abyss.
Wiped out—the entire delegation had been annihilated!
Not a single Earth Dragon Clan warrior had returned, including Okdo, the "Crowned Hero" who had led them. "This is... utterly intolerable!"
Consumed by rage, he threw back his head and roared. The rippling soundwaves crashed violently against the surrounding walls like ocean waves.
Metal pipes trembled beneath his roar, letting out shrieks of strain.
The Lizardman warriors around him were no different, their faces filled with hatred.
They wished they could charge straight into the Demon Lord Territory and skin that heinous bastard alive!
A Lizardman warrior with strange symbols painted across his chest stepped forward, growling furiously.
"Declare war, Chieftain!"
His name was Ze Like. He was an Earth Dragon Clan Temple Warrior and also Okdo's younger brother.
The moment he finished speaking, another Temple Warrior cut him off with an enraged roar.
"Declare war? The war has already begun!"
That cry drew responses from countless Lizardmen, and calls for war echoed throughout the clearing.
"Blood for blood!"
"Forget the Demon Lord! Even if he were a demon god, he has no right to humiliate us like this!"
"Besides, we don't even know whether he's really the Demon Lord! We must capture him and interrogate him!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Feeling his clansmen's boiling fury, Sa Nu made up his mind as well.
"Looks like the Demon Lord has no intention of negotiating."
With that, he turned toward the Temple Priest standing nearby and gave his order in a voice thick with hatred.
"Mo Er La Ge, lead a squad of elites straight into the Demon Lord Territory. Make sure you bring me the Demon Lord's head!"
The elderly priest nodded slightly, and the ornaments hanging beneath his robe clinked together.
"As you command, Chieftain."
His hoarse voice also suppressed a blaze of fury.
A soul with limitless potential—he had only just cultivated Okdo to Steel-level strength, only for him to perish in the labyrinth!
He swore that he would make that Demon Lord pay, and bring Okdo's soul back to the Hatching Pool!...
The earth trembled, and the labyrinth roared.
Nearly a thousand Lizardman soldiers gathered from every direction at the encampment where the horn had sounded. At Priest Mo Er La Ge's call, they formed into ranks and marched grandly toward the Demon Lord Territory.
They were the finest hunters of the Earth Dragon Clan's younger generation, as well as its most battle-hardened soldiers.
Unlike the rabble-like Ratmen, and unlike the beastly Cave Spiders, they were true warriors! Some carried swords and shields, some held spears, while others wielded shortbows and sickles.
Most of those weapons had been seized from adventurers, other kinds of Lizardmen, or farms on the surface.
For revenge against the Demon Lord, the Earth Dragon Clan had spared no expense, staking nearly every resource it had accumulated since the end of the great war. As the Lizardman army marched onward, adventurers entering the labyrinth through Silverpine Town's entrance also sensed that something was wrong from the earth-shaking commotion.
Lying prone against the floor of the Sewer Corridor, a seasoned adventurer listened for a long while before his expression changed slightly.
Five hundred—no! At least a thousand! The sounds made by an army marching in unison were clearly different from the scattered movements of individual monsters.
"The Lizardmen have assembled!"
He growled, swiftly rose from the ground, and shouted at his terrified adventurer companions behind him.
"Get back to the labyrinth entrance!"
The same scene played out throughout the labyrinth.
Meanwhile, having noticed the disturbance underground, the Silverpine Town militia camp began pounding its great bell.
Farmers tossed aside their hoes, and woodcutters dropped their axes as they rushed toward the armory. Under their officers' roaring commands, they nervously grabbed weapons and armed themselves like soldiers.
Silverpine Town had been built directly above the labyrinth entrance. A monster invasion there was no laughing matter.
And judging by the underground disturbance, those monsters were most likely headed in their direction! Sneaking glances at Sheriff A De Lai's tightly furrowed brow, the militiamen whispered among themselves.
"Damn it! Didn't the Demon Lord die? What are those monsters up to now?!"
"There are so many labyrinth entrances... why did they have to choose ours?!"
"Isn't it obvious? They're here to raid us. If not here, where else would they go, some godforsaken wilderness?"
A timid-looking man spoke in a trembling voice.
"I heard... the Demon Lord may have come back to life recently."
"How is that possible?!"
A bald middle-aged man carrying a musket widened his eyes, nearly striking the back of the person behind him with the barrel.
"The Demon Lord was resurrected?!"
An uproar swept through the ranks.
Uncertain expressions filled everyone's faces.
"It was probably some loudmouthed adventurer spreading rumors... damn it, those unemployed drifters never do anything decent all day."
"No... He Ba Er said it. He was on duty beneath the labyrinth at the time and happened to run into an undead creature. He even lost his shield because of it..."
"Undead?! In the labyrinth?!"
Undead appearing in the labyrinth did explain certain things. The rumors seemed to be drawing ever closer to the truth.
The people were anxious and uneasy, yet they still clung to a sliver of hope.
Maybe He Ba Er had seen wrong.
That drunk spent all day hanging around adventurers from out of town, getting wasted before reporting for duty. It was hardly surprising that he had picked up the habit of talking nonsense.
At that moment, the captain standing at the front of the formation suddenly shouted.
"Quiet! Shut your mouths! Can't you hear the bell? Stand at attention!"
Everyone quickly fell silent, every nerve in their bodies drawn taut as they prepared for battle.
Then, a worried-looking middle-aged man walked in through the main gate of the militia camp.
His name was Qie Er, and he was the president of the Adventurers' Guild's Silverpine Town branch.
Earlier that day, he had received notice from his superiors that Silverpine Town's commission priority was being raised. He had not expected trouble to strike so soon.
Seeing President Qie Er approach, Sheriff A De Lai hurried over and asked gravely, "What's happening down there?"
Qie Er lowered his voice. "I heard the Lizardmen have gathered not far from the labyrinth passage... my guess may not be accurate, but you can take it as a reference. Perhaps a new Demon Lord has appeared in the depths of the labyrinth."
A De Lai's eyes widened, a nearly imperceptible flicker of panic rising in his pupils.
Why had the Demon Lord suddenly set his sights on this place?!
During the last great war, Silverpine Town had suffered almost no losses compared to the other towns of the Campbell Principality. The main battlefield had been concentrated around Thunder City.
Compared to that metropolis of a million people, Silverpine Town's population was barely a fraction of it.
Could it be... that the newly arrived Demon Lord had changed strategies, shifting his target from cities to the countryside? A De Lai did not know what impact that would have on the broader situation, nor did he care much.
But if that was truly the case, then he, as sheriff, would sooner or later be ground down by it!
There was only one way to get through this safely: earn merit, then get transferred away—
And that opportunity seemed to be right in front of him.
Gritting his teeth, A De Lai finally made his decision and turned toward the assembled militia behind him.
"Into the labyrinth!"
For a moment, everyone froze. Then the ranks erupted into an uproar.
"Into the labyrinth?!"
"Us?!"
"Are you kidding?!"
It was not only the militiamen. Even the squad captains and officers leading them wore astonished expressions.
As a militia force, their duty was supposed to be defense. Even if they occasionally used offense as defense, it would only be under extremely special circumstances.
"Shut up!"
A De Lai roared, cutting off the complaints of those country bumpkins. In a single second, he found an excuse.
"I'm your officer! And are you planning to fight those monsters in your own living rooms?! Or in your bedrooms and kitchens? Your wives, children, and elders... they're all here!"
"Trust me, offense is the best defense! There's no room to dodge in the narrow labyrinth. All you have to do is load your guns and pull the triggers! Forget a pack of beasts—even if the Demon Lord himself comes, our volleys will turn him into a sieve!"
That wartime speech persuaded some of them.
After the war, they had either built new homes or added new furnishings to their old ones... if possible, they truly did not want to fight on their doorsteps.
Then they would fight in the labyrinth.
Just as Officer Adlai had said, the battlefield there was limited in width. No matter how many monsters came, they would struggle to spread out.
They only needed to form five lines and take turns stepping forward to fire. That would be enough to blast those beasts senseless...
On the first level of the labyrinth, near the entrance to the Demon Lord Territory, the Cave Spider army arrived before the Lizardman army.
Led by Arakdo, Cave Spiders surged forward in vast swarms like an ocean.
There were a full two thousand of them.
As Lord Demon Lord had requested, half were Weavers skilled at spinning webs, while the other half were Diggers skilled at tunneling.
The players at the labyrinth entrance were startled by the sight, unable to make sense of what was happening.
"Holy crap? Are the monsters attacking the city again?"
But the names above those monsters' heads appeared to be green?
That meant... they were friendlies? One particularly large, fierce, and muscular Cave Spider strode forward energetically and called loudly toward the skeletons in the Blood Great Hall.
"I am Arakdo, envoy of the Weave Shadow Nest! Please inform Your Majesty Demon Lord that his most, most, most loyal servant awaits his command!"
The players could not understand what he was saying.
But with You You around, nothing was a problem. Subtitles quickly appeared.
Elsewhere at the same time, Leon sat cross-legged in meditation inside the Magic Workshop, staring unblinkingly at the Faith Points on his attribute panel—especially the entry marked "daily increase."
He had no idea what was going on.
Ever since he had sent away the Weave Shadow Nest's envoy, that value, which had once been as still as stagnant water, had begun climbing rapidly.
It had already risen from just over 500 to 1,200, leaving "daily consumption" far behind!
Just when Leon thought the increase was about to slow down, the number suddenly surged again, breaking through 2,000 in one leap!
Faith Points: 14077 Daily Increase: 2141~2200 Daily Consumption: 499
The average daily net increase had easily surpassed 1,000 points! As long as the number stayed above 1,000 for three consecutive days, he would get another 500 Closed Beta Qualifications. His players would be enough to form a whole regiment! Leon had no idea which genius had fallen in love with him, but he almost wanted You You to kowtow to that person.
He could still attribute the rise to 1,200 to the Weave Shadow Nest, but where had the additional 800 points come from?
"Good grief... who on earth is secretly worshipping me?!"
Before you continue