Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 5 [The Wasteland and the Adventurers' Alliance]

The wind howled, sweeping across the desolate land, stirring up clumps of thorny, charred plants.

The dim sunlight, obscured by the sun, shone on the dark brown earth. The cracked land was littered with scorched, withered plants, sewage, barren soil, gray boulders, and the skeletons of unknown animals.

A massive underground rift spans between two gray-white boulders, like a scar on a barren land.

The underground rift valley is a complex and colorful subterranean ecosystem, filled with exotic underground plants, including fungal wood, pigtail grass, green ferns, bubble trees, bloodthorn, and organ mushrooms. The lush green of moss and lichen climbs along the edge of the rift valley, forming a stark contrast with the barrenness of the surrounding surface.

Several potato-like rotten root balls scurried about in the bushes, their root-like claws clutching half-dried bloodthorn branches as rakes, rummaging through leaves and searching for dead branches and decaying matter.

At the edge of the rift, two heavily armored figures were struggling to climb.

“I’ve never done rock climbing in my past life… This makes up for that deficiency…” Samael plunged his bronze gauntlets deep into the rock face and struggled to drag his heavy body upwards.

The disadvantage of armor lies in this: it is heavy, restricts joint movement and limb flexibility, and inevitably makes movement somewhat clumsy.

“I’ll be up there soon…” Talia, carrying her hammer and spear, gripped the edge with her charred gauntlets, gave a powerful push, and rolled onto the ground at the edge of the rift, her armor clanging and jingling.

“Godfather… Godfather, give me a hand…” A bronze-armored hand emerged from the edge of the rift.

"Why do you have to call me godfather! Just call me Talia!" Talia gasped for breath, grabbed the armored hand and yanked hard, dragging Samael back to the ground with a clatter.

"Wow...why is the surface environment so harsh?" Samael propped himself up on the ground, raised his helmet, and looked around. "The underground environment is so healthy."

“This…this is the Wasteland. It’s also known as the Demon Realm.” Talia sat on the ground, panting, and took off her demon horn helmet, throwing it on the ground beside her, revealing her delicate face and steel-gray hair tied in a short ponytail.

"The Demon Realm is a landform formed after a large amount of spiritual energy seeps into the soil and enters the ecosystem. Spiritual energy can affect and modify the form of organisms, circulating in the ecosystem along the food chain and accumulating in the bodies of predators at the top of the food chain."

"Three-quarters of the continent of Arden is this kind of desolate and harsh demonic realm, including the corrupt wasteland with special soil that cannot be cultivated or grazed, the arid and waterless demonic desert, the swamp full of poisonous miasma and mud pits, the evil sea full of reefs and raging waves, the nightmare forest sealed off by rampant demonic plants, and so on."

"Only about a quarter of the area is sparsely populated with psionic energy, making it suitable for humans, elves, and dwarves to live in. However, the continent of Arden is quite vast, and even a quarter of the area is enough for them. Human kingdoms, elven city-states, and dwarven fortresses are all located in that quarter of sparsely populated habitable land."

"Also, you just said that the underground environment is ecologically good, but that's only true for demons and demonized creatures." Talia looked at the rift beside her, the place where they had just climbed up from the underground ruins.

"Humans refer to psychic energy as 'magic energy' because their natural psychic adaptability is generally low. To use psychic energy, they need to modify their bodies with a large amount of potion products. Humans who have not been modified by potions will find it difficult to live normally in areas rich in psychic energy."

"But demons are naturally highly adaptable to spiritual energy, and this spiritual energy in the ecosystem is almost entirely beneficial and harmless. Demons can not only live normally in the Demon Realm, but for us, this land is a rich land of gold."

"The demons are immune to most of the miasma, toxins, and curses of the wasteland. They are familiar with the ecology and will not be attacked by demonized creatures. This is because the demons are part of the demon realm's ecosystem and are the rulers of the dungeons. We have climbed up without encountering a single enemy because the demonized creatures regard us as the top predators of the demon realm's ecosystem. They will avoid us from afar, hiding or running away."

“But if it’s a race that doesn’t belong to the underground ecosystem, adventurers who dare to set foot in the underground world will probably encounter danger after just a few steps. Some underground plants are safe for demons to touch and even eat, but for ordinary humans, just touching them could lead to poisoning, allergies, parasitism, or psionic curses.” She chuckled and raised her hand, controlling a rotten root ball not far away.

The rotten root ball swayed around twice, then trotted over, carrying a bunch of pale purple pods from the edge of the rift, and handed them to Talia.

“Like these sweet pea pods, they contain psionic toxins. If an ordinary human were to eat them raw, they would die within three minutes, their body swelling up, their blood turning purple and exploding, becoming fertilizer for the pod bushes—enchanted plants love to take root and grow in corpses. Humans sometimes harvest them to make potions.” She picked up a sweet pea and popped it into her mouth. “But for demons, it’s just a sweet, crunchy snack. We replenish our psionic energy by eating enchanted creatures and enhance our psionic talents by hunting and preying on powerful enchanted creatures.”

"There are a large number of mutated creatures both underground and on the surface of the wasteland. Although they will not attack us, it is hard to say what might happen to humans who do not belong to this system. Not to mention dragon vultures, beaked hounds, herds of giant-jawed beasts and filth eaters, even slime monsters and rotten root balls will actively attack humans."

“You might think that [Rotten Roots] are some easy little things to deal with. But in reality, when they grow in large groups and are not enslaved or controlled by the demons, they develop a tribal structure similar to primitive tribes. They can make rudimentary tools and weapons, dig and set traps, and even have simple tactics. They are a terrible scourge for humans, elves, and dwarves. Because they are easy to produce and widely distributed in any climate, and because they cause a lot of trouble when they grow in large groups, the elves even call them the [vanguard of the demonic spread].” Talia gently patted the Rotten Root beside her.

"At the same time, this is the tunnel of the Earth-Eating Demon Worm, and trespassers may disturb the dormant Earth-Eating Demon Worm. If a creature other than the Demon Race disturbs the Earth-Eating Demon Worm in the underground tunnel, it is almost impossible for it to survive."

Talia gazed at the distant horizon.

"However, although these places are not suitable for long-term survival, the mutated creatures can be used as excellent materials, which are very useful in fields such as alchemy, potion-making, magical industry, and magical catalysts. Therefore, every race, every country, and every faction sends out groups of adventurers and mercenaries to collect and search for precious materials."

"In order to provide effective unified logistics and effective infrastructure, under the call and leadership of some powerful adventurers, the adventurers united and formed a loose alliance."

"The Adventurers' Alliance will build small city-states, long-term settlements, temporary camps, and outposts in relatively safe areas of the Wasteland. These will have well-established supply and trade chains, as well as a full range of services related to adventurers. A large number of people who cooperate with the Alliance will live here, providing adventurers with professional medical care, equipment, logistics, loot sales, and other comprehensive services."

“I am a half-demon, and the Wasteland is a rich homeland to me. So when I was searching for ruins in this area, I didn’t rely on any of the Adventurers’ Guild’s supplies.” Talia sat cross-legged on the ground, picked up a stone and drew a map on the wasteland. “However, I vaguely remember that they had a medium-sized Guild outpost nearby.”

"What should we do next? Should we find a place nearby and build an underground city now?" Samael asked.

“No, that won’t do. Other demons are still hunting me.” Talia sighed. “Besides, there are other demon dungeons in this area. Demons have a strong sense of territory, and if two rulers get too close, a conflict will break out. Moreover, my father’s dungeon was destroyed by a joint effort between the demons and the alliance, and I am now wanted by both. If I am discovered by the dungeon rulers here, it may attract pursuers. I cannot easily trust any force.”

“You’re wanted… and you’re wearing that black armor of Sauron, the great villain from Lord of the Rings, and carrying that incredibly imposing heavy weapon that the Great Demon King would love.” Samael pointed at Talia’s armor and the hammer and spear on her back. “Isn’t that easy to spot?”

“Because…this is what my wanted poster looks like.” Talia pulled a huge, folded parchment from a leather pouch at her waist.

“Let me see…” Samael leaned closer and reached out to help grasp a corner of the crumpled parchment wanted poster.

The parchment depicts a girl with waist-length hair and a long dress, cradling an unidentified instrument resembling a solstice as if holding a kitten. Her flowing, princess-style white dress is loose and flowing, and her slender fingers shyly pluck the strings. A sapphire pendant adorns her fair neck, and a lace-trimmed collar completes the look. A pale blue floral wreath graces her head, and her long, grey hair cascades down her shoulders, draped over the waistband of her white dress. She sits gracefully in an elegant armchair, her head slightly tilted. Her clear, sky-like grey eyes gaze at the scene, while the other is playfully half-closed. Her eyebrows curve gently, overflowing with a gentle smile. Light grey bangs fall across her face, making her breathtakingly beautiful.

Below, printed in Gothic font in Common Language, are the words "Princess of Rondoran," with the bounty amount prominently displayed in large, blood-red numbers:

"30000000 Erdrick Gold Coins".

“...They drew it...so beautifully...how many zeros are in this number…” Samael was unsure whether he should look at the portrait on the wanted poster a few more times or count the number of zeros in the bounty first.

He lifted his helmet and looked at Talia, who was dressed in a long, menacing layer of black armor and wielded a mace and spear with an imposing presence. Her short, steel-gray hair, which just reached her chin, was tied in a neat little braid at the back of her head. Her tired and haggard steel-gray dead fish eyes were surrounded by dark circles, and her world-weary face seemed to say, "What are you looking at? The whole world should just die."

"You've disguised yourself very well," Samael praised sincerely. "From princess to... lord. I don't think anyone would recognize you."

"Ahem... Anyway, when I ran away, I cut my hair short, put on the armor my father made for me, and took a weapon that wasn't too light. Demons can use their ruler's psionic energy to search for anomalies in their territory, so they might be able to detect me, but adventurers definitely wouldn't recognize me even if they saw my face." Talia coughed, tugged at the wanted poster, and tried to put it away.

"Wait a minute... let me take another look..." Samael instinctively gripped the parchment, looked up at the black-armored Talia in front of him, then looked down at the white-skirted girl on the wanted poster. "What do you mean by 'not too light'... this is a solid metal hammer spear. Are you Sun Wukong? You think swinging telephone poles and stone blocks in the East Sea Dragon Palace is too light?"

“Half-demon races are indeed stronger than humans—who is Sun Wukong? Is he a demon?” Talia snatched the wanted poster, folded it up, and stuffed it back into the purse at her waist.

"It was a very powerful monkey... Never mind, that's not important. I'll tell you the story another time. Let's get down to business now." Samael watched the portrait of the girl in the white dress with a gentle smile disappear into his purse with lingering reluctance, and couldn't help but glance at Talia's stern face again. "Why are you looking at me?" Talia rolled her eyes.

“It’s nothing… Let me organize my thoughts first. My lord, do you think my understanding is correct?” Samael stroked his chin under his helmet. “First of all, our enemies are the demons and the alliance; both sides want to hunt us down.”

“What lord… never mind, whatever makes you happy.” Talia sighed. “Yes, both the demons and the alliance are after me. However, the demons are much more dangerous than the adventurers’ alliance; they have a larger overall influence and greater strength in the wasteland.”

"You also said that we can't stay here long to avoid being discovered by the demons in this territory because of something like the power of the rulers?" Samael asked.

"That's right. The demon lord who built the dungeon was able to infiltrate his psionic will into a complete ecosystem within his territory, known as the Dominator's Psionic Power. Any outsider would be easily detected. This is one of the important significances of the dungeon."

"It sounds like the demons are much more dangerous than the Adventurers' Alliance," Samael mused.

“That’s true,” Talia replied. “Compared to the Alliance, the demons know more about us and are more ruthless. Demons are warlike, have a strong desire for conquest, and frequently fight amongst themselves. They are also ruthless towards their weaker kin, and often eat prisoners of war, torture them for amusement, or use them as research material and slaves. If you are captured by other demons, it is best to commit suicide.”

“How terrifying…” Samael pondered, “So, our next step is to escape to a more remote place, find an area not occupied by demons, and then figure out a way to settle down and build an underground city to live in temporarily, right?”

“Yes. But it’s difficult.” Talia said with a pained expression, “because most of the desolate places in this world are inhabited by loose demonic forces, unless you go to the vicinity of human kingdoms…”

“This is the continent.” She picked up a tree branch and drew the outline of a vast alien continent on the ground. “It’s almost entirely a desolate land corrupted by demons.”

“These are four human kingdoms, five dwarven fortresses, and four elven territories in the habitable zone.” She picked up four charred branches, five pebbles, and four leaves, and placed them on the outline of the continent.

They vaguely resemble a loose circle.

“And in the wasteland, these… are hundreds of dungeons ruled by demons…” She stretched out her armored fingertips and pressed a circle of scattered, star-like fingerprints on the wasteland outside the circular outline. “Including the islands in the western sea, there are also three demon lords… but these three are relatively neutral and don’t interfere much in matters on land. If any demons can’t make it on land, they can go and seek refuge with them, or become pirates.”

"Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute, Your Majesty, don't think about where to run away if your business fails. We haven't even started yet." Samael waved his hand. "Can you tell me why, in this donut-shaped map, there's such a large area in the center of the continent where there are no humans, elves, dwarves, or demons? What's there?"

"It's just a large, ordinary, corrupt wasteland, a vast plain of barren earth interspersed with swamps and hills, almost stretching as far as the eye can see," Talia explained. "The wasteland is overrun with demonic creatures, and earth-eating worms infest the underground. The land is unsuitable for cultivation or grazing, so it doesn't have much value for humans. It's better to encourage adventurers to develop the demonic resources. Besides, if a country forcibly occupies it, it will likely lead to border contiguous territory, which in a sense serves as a political buffer zone."

“Long ago, this area was a habitable zone, but everyone wanted this core area. Before the Adventurers’ Alliance mediated the conflict between humans, dwarves and elves, various races fought in this region—it was once the largest ancient battlefield on the entire main continent.”

"The battle was fierce. Due to the accumulation of corpses, a plague broke out in the area. Even the scavengers, who were overfed, could not clean it up. The spiritual energy released by the creatures that died in battle or from the plague seeped into the soil. The sheer number of these creatures transformed a habitable human land into a corrupted demonic realm, attracting a large number of dangerous, large demonic creatures to live there. The overflow of magic not only generated a large number of demonic creatures similar to the Rot Root Ball, but also awakened an entire army of undead creations."

"Necromantic creations do not belong to the demon realm's ecosystem. If they are not controlled by psionic signals, they will actively attack all living things, including demons."

"Although demons can also control necromancy creations, control requires spiritual energy, and the total number of demonic creatures that can be controlled is limited. The more powerful the demonic creature, the more difficult it is to control and the more spiritual energy it consumes. A necromancy legion of more than 1000 units is very difficult to control in a normal way and becomes quite troublesome. Even for demons, this kind of place is a rather harsh environment."

"Furthermore, there's another reason why there are no demons here—can't you see? This area was originally a habitable core of the alliance's power, and even though it's now an uninhabited demon realm, it's still surrounded by various alliance forces. Only a crazy demon would take such a huge risk to cross from the outer wasteland to the inner alliance territory to build an underground city on the central plains of the continent surrounded by the alliances... Oh, uh..."

Talia looked at Samael.

Samael looked at Talia.

“You know what I mean, right?” Samael asked.

"Why...?" Talia hesitated. "The Alliance is also after me. Are we going to walk right into their trap?"

“This is called going deep behind enemy lines! Our situation is special; we are currently wanted by both the demons and the alliance, but the demons are more troublesome than the alliance,” Samael summarized simply. “By building an underground city here, we can reduce the two hostile forces to one—and the one that is relatively easier to deal with.”

“During the construction of the underground city, the surrounding alliance forces also serve as a natural barrier for us to resist the demonic forces,” he explained. “In my hometown, there’s a saying: ‘The most dangerous place is the safest place, the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ and something else, I forget what it was. Anyway, I think this is a good idea.”

“It’s a somewhat crazy idea,” Talia pondered, “but… I have to admit, it is indeed a good idea.”

"Alright! Target set! To the center of the continent, to build an underground city!" Samael grabbed a sweet bean pod and planted it straight in the center of the continent. "Where are we now?"

“It’s probably around here.” Talia picked up a purple sweet bean and placed it on the outer edge of the northwest of the continent, at the junction of two charred tree branches and two demonic finger marks in the wasteland. “This is where the northern Erdrick Empire, the western Floren Kingdom, and the outer wasteland meet. If we want to get to the center of the continent, we need to cross a third of the Erdrick Empire’s territory.”

"Alright! Route confirmed! So how do we get there?" Samael drew a short line in the soil, traversing the territory of the northern human kingdom, connecting the purple sweet bean to the bean pod in the center of the continent. "Like this... walk there?"

“Impossible. There are guards at the border checkpoints of the Empire, and any lone traveler with suspicious identities will be checked separately.” Talia shook her head. “However, we can… sneak into mercenary groups, adventurer teams, or merchant caravans, and use the caravans as cover to get in. People with a team guaranteeing them shouldn’t have too much trouble; they’ll just glance at them and let them through.”

"Mercenaries, adventurers, and merchants—which of these three is most suitable for us? And which has the lowest entry barrier?" Samael asked.

“Adventurers,” Talia replied. “Mercenaries don’t need identification, but they usually operate on the borders and within the kingdom’s army, rarely returning to the kingdom itself, which doesn’t fit our route into the Erdrick Empire. Merchants are shrewd; they’ll never hire you if your identity is unclear. Only adventurers are easier to deal with; you just need to register a made-up name at the Alliance’s office.”

"Are adventurers really this perfunctory?" Samael was stunned. "I thought there would be some very professional explorers, like Lord Dawn of the White Flute from 'Made in Abyss' or Leos from 'Delicious in Dungeon'..."

“Most adventurers are just trying to make a living. They hear that adventurers can make money, so they come here without knowing anything and risk their lives for a little money.” Talia shrugged. “There are professional high-level adventurers, but they are most likely in the unknown depths of the wasteland or in the dungeons built by the demons. You definitely won’t run into them in a small place like this.”

"Oh, I get it. It's like in the game of 'Search, Hit, and Retreat,' there are both 'knife-wielding' types and 'gun-wielding' types!" Samael nodded... helmet.

“Okay, so our next steps are—” He pushed himself up and stood up, patting the dust off his butt armor with a clatter.

"The first step is to go to the nearest adventurer's settlement, being careful to stay away from demon territory. We'll conceal our identities, make up a name, and register as adventurers."

"The second step is to join an adventurer party that will soon be returning to the Erdrick Empire and register our identities with them."

"The third step is to cross the Erdrik Empire and build our own underground city in the center of the continent, far from other demon races!"

He stretched and struck a pose reminiscent of the "Praise the Sun" pose from Dark Souls.

Talia couldn't help but smile. To her, he truly was like the sun—dazzling, warm, and full of positive energy, appearing in her darkest hour.

but……

“We need to figure out a way to cover up the gaps in your armor. We also need to find an excuse to explain why you can’t take off your helmet.” She examined Samael’s armor. “Adventurers aren’t stupid. If your armor is empty inside, everyone can tell you’re wearing a cursed knight’s armor.”

(End of this chapter)