Chapter 600: [ Romeia Luminous Eltrade ]

“What?” Laura tilted her head after hearing Allen's answer. Then, Allen slowly walked towards the open window and slowly pulled the curtain to the side.

There, he saw outside, filled with lights, noises, and music and people in the courtyard of the building they were in. The peals of laughter, the music, all of them reached his ears accompanied by a melody of harmony. And so, this should be the real place for the gathering.

Judging from the fact that Allen could apparently see a mountain range in the distance and not just the ground, Allen concluded that they were up fairly high. When the light from the outside passed through the window, it somehow lit up the dark room. And as he had seen a while ago, this room wasn't too small as one imagined and was designed to have an ancient classical look to it.

The floor laded with a smooth fur red carpet, and a large bear-like monster's entire fur along with its head still intact, lying at the very center. There were red lanterns hung at the door. The ceiling seemed to be supported by four pillars standing at each corner and had unfamiliar and strange drawings on it.

There were mysterious drawings like an Egyptian mural art. The mural was about 10 meters in height, there was a person with androgynous features that had an aureole in the back that looked like a halo and long flowing blonde hair with a slight smile on the mural. A grassy plain, a lake, and mountains are drawn in the background and the person had both of their hands extended out.

It is a beautiful mural. It is a great mural nonetheless. However, Allen felt that the eyes were somewhat odd… sorrow, desolation, regret, longing, sadness…such feelings were evoked to those who saw it.

Suddenly at this very moment,

“You’ve come…but can I ask you to close the curtain back?” a familiar voice rang out.

?! Allen, frowned and turned towards the source of the voice.

“Who’s there?!”

“Show your face!!”

Laura and Mireya immediately sprang into action the moment they heard the voice and both of them released their auras while standing at vigilantly on each side of Allen.

Their faces showing terrifying expressions—Laura’s body emitted dark tentacle-like shadows from behind her while a pale bluish white light surrounded Mireya’s body. The air around her seemed to have been frozen by the light as ice particles floated around her body, followed by icy cold air.

“Calm down, I meant no harm nor I can even if I wanted to—against that master of yours, I fear that even if I exhaust all my remaining life force, it would still not be enough to scratch him. So relax, I won’t do anything—I only want to meet him personally…”

The voice muttered as shadows suddenly slowly materialize around the room.

Seeing this scene, Laura and Mireya furrowed their eyebrows in astonishment. Even though they can now slowly see the shadows appearing out of nowhere, for some unknown reason, the two of them still yet to feel anything or anyone present—as if, there’s nothing there… what is going on here...?

As for Allen, he felt different from Laura and Mireya. Using not his ordinary perception and senses, he sensed the world’s aura and so, he could faintly sense that there were four obscure auras within the room. Although they were not as strong as him or the Dragon King, they could not be underestimated. After all, these four auras were quite stronger when compared to Laura and Mireya who were among the peak existence of those around him. Of course, these four people had yet to breakthrough to the Middle God class. They were merely at the peak of the Lesser Deity at most.

A slight relief within Allen’s heart appeared after he sensed the strength of these four auras. As long as they were not elite Mid Gods or High Gods, he would not need to be afraid. With his ability, there should not be many people in the Middle God class who would be able to retain him.

A faint light suddenly appeared after the four shadows completely materialize. Four figures immediately appeared in Allen and the others gaze within that spacious room. People of varied ages—one looks like a fourteen-year-old girl, two were within twenty to thirty years and lastly, a middle-aged woman around the early thirties to mid-thirties of her years.

The oldest figure in the room opened her eyes after she seemed to have sensed Allen's eyes, her gaze turned towards his direction. Triangular shaped eyes were locked onto Allen and the others like how a poisonous snake would study its prey, causing a chill to rise on one’s skin. But Allen just responded to her with a faint smile, though not the two girls beside him, their vigilance strengthened.

The remaining three people also suddenly opened their eyes after she did so. Four dark, cold auras rose before finally gathering together. Their auras actually agglomerated into an enormous translucent black python above them. The enormous python’s emotionless eyes stared intently at Allen and an invisible pressure quietly rose. Finally, it turned into a thousand kilogram-force that clustered around Allen’s body.

Laura and Mireya immediately went into action but Allen held them and his aura also burst out. A beautiful white silhouette appeared behind him, her expression icy cold but her beauty was ethereal.

She had a beautiful and pure face that should not exist in the mortal world. Even if one only had a glimpse of it in an extremely short instant, without a doubt, it would still leave a long-lasting mark and will be engraved in the depths of one’s soul. No matter who saw it, her beauty was impossible to forget for an entire lifetime.

When she appeared, the atmosphere in the room instantly froze over. A gust of bone-chilling blizzard arrived howling as it covered and erased the terrifying pressure from the translucent Python monster. However, the four people had already turned wide-eyed in surprise. The Python had even stopped in place as they stared at the translucent silhouette behind Allen.

A woman that seemed to have walked out of the fairy realm. Once they clearly saw her face, the four women’s consciousness suddenly blanked out for an instant, not daring to believe the image before their very eyes… because they didn’t dare to believe that such an incomparably beautiful face existed in this world. One could search their own memories forever, yet still couldn’t come up with any words to describe how this face looked like.

The figure wore a luxurious snow-white garment. This was not the first time they had seen a white one-piece dress, but her dress was even more gorgeous than the one they had seen before. Even the famous architect among dressmakers; Madeleine Vionnet back in Earth might not even capable of producing such quality and beauty.

However, even if this extravagant outfit was seen someplace else, it would leave one dumbstruck, yet would never attract this kind of attention. It was only capable to have such brilliance because the one wearing it—indeed ‘Clothes makes the man’ but sometimes, especially in this case, one would be able to say, ‘The woman makes the clothes fashionable’

Their eyes fixed on the woman’s face, incapable of moving away. Especially her beautiful eyes… they seemed to billow like blue ripples, condensed inside her dreamy, illusory pupils, becoming an illusory, poetic, fairy-like dream. However, they are too cold—like staring at it make one encased in a frozen mountain without exit—it expresses her emotions quite well!

It was angry..!

Extremely angry…!!

Touching Allen was like touching a Dragon's reverse scale...even if it means just playing with him.

“Was this a grand welcome or something…? Romeia?” Allen muttered indifferently.

When he did, the freezing blizzard that circulated within the room instantly vanished, leaving a room encased in ice.

“… …” That terrifying pressure that was created by the four women immediately and completely disappeared. That enormous dark-black python seemed to have been affected as well as it became much more illusionary.

Other than the three who returned being callous and indifferent after being surprised by the Ice Queen’s appearance, only the middle-aged woman’s lips curled upwards.

“So you noticed?” The middle-aged woman responded with a faint smile—though her eyes kept on glancing at the figure of the Ice Queen, vigilant. She then noticed that the coldness in the Ice Queen’s expression has already swiftly disappeared. Her eyes revealed a gentleness that had never existed a while ago as she looked at the person before her.

Truly fascinating…

Is that a spirit…?

A guardian spirit…?

“Noticed what? That you’re the Romeia that was always been with me all along, pretending to be a spirit or the Dungeon System? Nah, probably being a Dungeon System is not a pretense because your soul had integrated into this dimension completely—Domain…is it not?”

“… …??!!!”

“…Or probably the fact, that your real body has long been gone and now you are in the form of that huge translucent Python Spirit behind you—for some unknown reason I’m still yet to be certain.”

“…Or the fact that these four women, in all ages, is you. In addition, you’re controlling them through that spirit body of yours and these bodies are all false body—in other names called Homunculus…” Allen spoke with a slight smile. Then, he stepped forward, slowly walking towards Romeia’s direction—“Not either? Or perhaps… …the fact that this Domain we are currently in is one huge trap that is set-up for your own survival…?”

“… …?!!” The Middle-aged woman, no, not only her but also the huge python spirit made a shock expression. “…you even noticed that…?”

A bitter expression appeared on her face. Probably, the Middle-aged woman was currently her real body.

Allen smirks as he walked towards the couch at the corner of the room, and sat there nonchalantly. Mireya followed while Laura remained standing behind him. “Why would you think I wouldn’t notice it?”

Allen smiled faintly but his eyes were cold.

“… …”

“What do you mean husband? That this entire Dungeon is a trap? Then she is—” Mireya turned her gaze towards Romeia, her expression menacing. Shadow tentacles also appeared behind Laura, seemingly prepared to fight at any given moment.

“…she’s an enemy…?”

“… …”

The atmosphere solidified and Romeia turned silent and solemn.

“…you should have known right? Or probably it slips out of your mind that I am a Monster King…? My ability to perceive magic power and the essence of the world is not as simple as all of you do—we are considered children of our world, after all.” Allen crossed his left leg at the top of his right leg, his right elbow propped on the couch armrest and chin supported by his palm. He was smiling faintly, like a boss devoid of any suspicion or vigilance.

“When I came into this world, I couldn’t ascertain it properly because I didn’t focus on it nor did I think that it was like that. A Domain that was in the form of a Dungeon…there are really many kinds of Domains or world out there—especially like this one that possesses extremely strange absorption ability.”

“…Of the total magic energy released by a human being within the Dungeon, at most 10% of the energy will be silently absorbed. This absorbed amount of energy will be used to support you and this world, isn’t it…?”

“In addition to this, this Dungeon was like a game, with all the souls of a large number in beasts and monsters have been bound to it. While they exist inside this world, they can be reborn infinite times after being killed. Only after their soul’s essence has been completely used up will they truly disappear.”

“…people inside here, when they leveled up or become stronger, the amount of experience from killing monsters—80% of it will go towards the player while 20% goes towards you. And if a pitiful soul of a player died in here, that will be your lucky outcome as you will be able to consume all of their magic energy and essence…what an elaborate scheme, indeed…” Allen explained softly.

“That’s right…” Romeia smiled wryly. She shrugged his shoulders while sighing. She waved her hand and a chair, as well as a table with sweets and drinks, appeared in front of the couch. Sitting on the chair, Romeia poured a tea on the cup and placed it in front of Allen. In this, Laura frowned and took the cup before Allen could react and took a sip—

“It doesn’t have poison or anything so rest assured,” Romeia smiled bitterly from this exaggerated vigilance.

“…Who can be assured? I’m the only one who can brew my master’s drink—even if it’s little, I won’t ever let my master’s life be in danger!” Laura responded strongly.

“…so strict… you really have good servants, don’t you—your excellency?”

“They are not my servants, but family instead—please do change it. And although I did feel that she was too overboard it as well—”

“Master…” Laura made an expression that she made wrong but Allen grasped her hand and smiled, “…but that’s also why I love them so much. If it meant their happiness, then I’ll just let them do what they want.”

“What blessed people,” Romeia sighs. A hint of jealousy could be heard from her tone. Laura and Mireya immediately showed a proud expression, their eyes sparkling with happiness.

“…though if you really realized I was an enemy, I expected you to be a bit…vigilant. Not like this… is this a composure of a true King…?”

“…hm, whether it was composure or not, I just don’t feel that you had evil intentions on us. Even what you did a while ago was nothing but a test, probably just curiosity in your side—‘How do I have such mortal essence when I possess this kind of power.’ you are curious about it, isn’t it? Especially when what you absorbed from me were not just a mortal essence but—Celestial and Demon that you hated so much as well as other essences of a terrifying caliber such as…Dragons...”

Allen was a person who had been in innumerable life and death situations before, his perceptiveness and wariness were no less inferior to anyone. Thus, he could tell with a single glance if someone possessed evil intentions or was conspiring against him. However, he couldn’t find any trace of malice or conspiracy on Romeia.

“You’re really outstanding…your Excellency…” Romeia bitterly. “Yes, indeed, I want to see the real form of your magic power. I had always been observing you up until now—even with your fight with the Dragon King, I still can’t see them properly—like something was putting a veil on them—though I surely lost you when you activated the domain so I couldn’t continue my observation—so I played this little prank, please don’t mind it…”

“Don’t call me your Excellency to spite me. I may be a Monster King but in regards to people in this world, I’m just a lord from a rural area…nothing to speak of when in this world.” Allen smiled wryly.

“But master… for this dungeon to have such a trap isn’t she evil then…?” Laura frowned as she voiced out her concern. She would never allow any ambiguous stance around her master that might harm him.

“Calm down, Laura. Although what she did is truly wicked. However, it is not over the top. It’s more to say that she was nothing but a thief—what she stole from us was just little energy that barely affects anything and those from the dead—take my energy, I don’t need it or something like that. In any case, it can also be regarded as a payment for using this world and its functions to increase their strength through life and death battle. Nothing is a free meal, after all,”

“… …”

"Most people thought that they are advancing rapidly because of the experience they obtained from killing monsters but it was not as simple as that. Although indeed they absorb the Monster Essences of those they are killed, they never realized their own growth were also added as well in that increase. Taking a bit of them is acceptable as payment for this kind of opportunities," Allen patiently explained as he received a cup of tea from Laura.

It wasn't the same as Romeia's though as Laura was the one who personally brewed it.

“…but husband, you said that monsters souls and essences were bounded into this world. Don’t you think that it would be better to absorb all that than this kind of roundabout way of doing things?” Mireya asked curiously.

Allen shrugged. He turned at Mireya and responded, “…probably, but just like her, if I was in the same position, I will also do the same. After all, monsters here are not infinite; they would be depleted in just a short amount of time. Luring and baiting all the elite people from all the Thousand Worlds to challenge this Dungeon by using rewards is much better and efficient as well as safe compared to this action."

"...One can even say that she is exploiting the greed of the people to make a living. Though there was also the fact that she made them overestimate their abilities to challenge even higher leveled monsters. Thus, causing lots of people to die within this Dungeon and get their magical energy and essence absorbed thoroughly—that is the wicked aspect of it. Even still, you can’t pin the entire fault on her, it’s also the fault of those who had died—after all, they possess responsibility for their lives.” Allen smiled faintly. And his tone was so light and blameless as if he was talking about a very simple thing.

“…the energy and essences she was taking from us is minuscule and can be disregarded. Though there is also the fact that, she can’t absorb too much of her breasts and monsters essences…isn’t that right, Romeia?”

“Nothing can bypass your eyes, doesn’t it? Though, that kind of thing shouldn’t be commonly known by people—especially when you entered the Dungeon from the Divine Martial Continent, where absorbing monsters essence straight to their cores is the norm.” Romeia let out a sigh of astonishment.

"...You are really a monster..."

“Nah…as a Monster King, knowing this is also normal…” Allen grinned.