Chapter 106 - Scathach of the Aquarius (3)
Chapter 106: Scathach of the Aquarius (3)
Eligos also looked around and moved a lot. Catalina also did the same. Even though she was aware of the existence of the Labyrinth of Greed even before Yong-ho’s confession after hearing relevant stories while coming and going to the arena, she wiggled her tail violently in excitement.
It was only Skull that remained calm. Actually, it was so calm that it was rolling on the ground
It was quite a scene Yong-ho saw after a long time.
“As you all have experienced, there are many dungeon monsters. Some more might be in hiding, so you have to be careful of their traps, too.”
There were almost no records on the Labyrinth of Greed in the archives of the Mammon family.
Since they had to hide the identity of the Labyrinth of Greed, the successive owners of the House of Mammon handed down its information to their descendants only orally.
It was obvious that the relevant records were missing. What was handed down to them until Kaiwan’s era was the existence of the Labyrinth of Greed, as well as the twelve spirits of the Mammon family somewhere in its depths.
Catalina and Eligos became nervous at the word ‘trap’. If this was the “first floor”, it’s supposed to contain the most traps, to say the least, because it was the first line of defense against the enemy infiltrating the dungeon.
Yong-ho smiled bitterly at Catalina and Eligos when they erected their tails as if to show they were extremely nervous at the moment. Then he looked back at the owner of the third tail, who was moving it cheerfully.
“Don’t you think the traps won’t work properly, do you?”
“Maybe not. That’s why the dungeon monsters were moving around in droves like that. Of course, we can’t afford to let our guard down,” said Ophelia.
Having said that, she caught her breath calmly. She knew she was going to embark on exploration, not tourism. What Yong-ho needed now was not a girl with twinkling green eyes, but a veteran tavern hostess.
Eligos said, “Skathach has another name, ‘Aquarius,’ in addition to her different name “Immortal Witch”. Accordingly, she has so many anecdotes related to water. I may take things easy, but if there is a residence for Scathach somewhere near here, it might be a water-related place.”
Although there were few records on the Labyrinth of Greed, the records on the twelve spirits of the Mammon family were overflowing. They were powerful demons that left their names in the history of the demon world even before they became the spirits of the Mammon family.
Scathach in the legend was a witch, who handled water and life. She was so deeply related to water that it was not an exaggeration to say that all the records about her started and ended with water.
Yong-ho nodded and said, “That makes sense. Let me keep it in mind. Good job, Eligos.”
Eligos smiled in satisfaction at his praise. Though he was not as pleased as Catalina, his wagging tail showed he was happy.
‘I think I have to praise him more often.’
Yong-ho made up his mind like that then turned his gaze to Ophelia to seek her opinion, too. But Skull came into his eyes again when he did that because the way he rolled on the floor was somewhat different than usual.
“Skull?”
“Skull, Skull,” Skull responded, raising his body. It still couldn’t understand Yong-ho, but they could barely communicate as the dungeon head and his subordinate. Yong-ho could understand its meaning roughly.
When Yong-ho approached and checked it, there was moss sprouting through the cracks of the floor.
“It’s moss,” said Ophelia, who had approached him before he realized it. Catalina also nodded.
Finally, Eligos looked at Skull before turning to Yong-ho in no time.
“Yes, it’s moss.”
Indeed, it was moss. There was nothing unusual about it.
Yong-ho narrowed his eyebrows and soon understood why Skull paid attention to the moss.
The moss was growing in only one direction of the crossroads.
There was no moss in the center of the hall. No moss could be found in the other three directions. There was moss growing in only one direction, and the farther he looked, the more moss he could see.
“Moisture,” said Yong-ho. Skull nodded with a hearty laugh.
Even a little bit of water was needed for the moss to grow.
Yong-ho thought for a moment then looked up and asked Lucia, “Lucia, can you tell me where the source of water is based on where you’re standing now?”
[The same direction as the moss is growing now. ]
The waterway on the first floor of the dungeon of the Mammon family used groundwater as its source. Be it the Labyrinth of Greed or groundwater, it was certainly located under the first floor. If Scathach was in a water-related place like Eligos said, it was most likely to be near the source of the water.
Of course, the situation would be different if Scathach built a waterway as she did on the first floor of the dungeon to supply water to other places.
However, Yong-ho shook his head. The first basement floor had been sealed for nearly a hundred years. Even if there was a waterway or any other facility, it was unlikely that they were operating properly.
“Ophelia, what do you think of what Eligos said?”
“I agree with my brother’s opinion. It’s highly likely that Scathach is residing in a watery place.”
She replied immediately. Smiling at Skull, Yong-ho nodded again this time and said, “Nice job!”
He now realized why Skull rolled on the floor.
Skull laughed in satisfaction. He was as happy as Eligos.
“Okay, shall we start?”
Now, Yong-ho located the direction where there was the source of the water. He closed his eyes and activated the power of greed.
What he wanted was Scathach, the Immortal Witch.
He specified her images as much as possible and put together all the information he knew about her.
His wild greed, exploding in all directions, converged into one. Then he went forward without hesitation.
Catalina and Eligos pulled out the lighting equipment for dungeon exploration to brighten the place. They started exploring the Labyrinth of Greed.
About five minutes after their expedition began, Yong-ho and his subordinate spirits were quite embarrassed because the path was too simple.
It was just a straight path. There were no crossroads, which were so common, let alone corners.
The traps that they were worried about in the first place were the same. There were entrances leading to small rooms on either side of the path, but they only looked straight.
Another five minutes passed, and Yong-ho reached the end of the corridor. They stopped at a door almost as large as the width of the corridor.
It was a door with a large tree embossed on it. Ophelia and Eligos grabbed the handles of the door, respectively, while Catalina and Skull stood on both sides of Yong-ho.
Yong-ho also embodied Aamon in case of any danger.
They exchanged glances quickly. When Yong-ho nodded, Ophelia and Eligos, who exchanged glances lastly, opened the door.
Light poured out from inside. Moreover, the light greatly embarrassed them.
It wasn’t just light or lighting.
“Is it sunlight?” Yong-ho blurted out before he knew it, and Ophelia, frowning at the sudden light in the dark, sniffed about. It smelled like water as well as dirt. The fragrant smell of grass tickled her nose.
A meadow spread out inside the door. How could anybody imagine they were inside a dungeon? Swallowing, Yong-ho took a step inside the door.
The wind blew. It was a wind with the smell of grass.
There was a sky on the high ceiling that seemed to be at least thirty meters tall. It was the blue sky of the human world, not that of the demon world mixed with various colors.
“Is it biosphere?”
It was an artificial ecosystem that could be seen in a movie.
It was weird, indeed. He could recognize that there was a ceiling, and the sky clearly stretched out in it.
‘Then, is that an artificial sun?’
Warm sunlight was pouring down from a pile of light, shining in the middle of the sky.
He never imagined that he would see such a spectacular sight in a dungeon like this.
Suppressing his excitement, he looked around calmly.
It was vast, first of all. It was a space that seemed to be hundreds of meters in diameter. There was real dirt on the ground, with even bugs and small animals on it.
Catalina pointed to a corner with a blank expression. Yong-ho, who looked at it, also blinked.
There was a lake. Since it was such a vast place, the lake was far from small.
And there was an island in the middle of the lake.
It was an island covered with ice as if to ignore the temperature inside, which was warm enough to be spring weather.
Yong-ho again focused on greed. As expected, greed stretched toward the ice island.
Turning Aamon back into the shape of a bracelet, he stepped toward the ice island.
He hesitated for a moment in front of the small wooden bridge connecting the edge of the lake and the ice island, but he soon made a decision.
Confronting Mammon’s 12 Spirits carried a big risk.