Chapter 108: Scathach of the Aquarius (5)
Although the passage of time was ambiguous, she was different from Gusion, who was always awake in the arena while she had been asleep.
“Gosh, it seems that time has passed much more than I expected.”
She barely opened her mouth, but she was obviously embarrassed.
Maybe the smile that she had shown to him until now was a little exaggerated.
She closed her eyes once. And when she opened her eyes again, she smiled a bright smile like before and said, “The Labyrinth of Greed has a total of thirteen floors. As you may have already noticed, each of Mammon’s twelve spirits is in charge of one floor. The 13th floor belongs to Mammon.”
She was not done yet. She stopped talking for a moment then pointed to Yong-ho’s arm with her eyes.
“Aamon has no floor to take care of because that guy is a little special.”
Yong-ho looked at the bracelet anew. So, he asked what came up to his mind naturally.
“Which floor is Gusion in charge of?”
“7th floor. His own arena is there. Other floors are unique, but his floor is especially unique. Well, you can call it a totally different space.”
What she said made sense. That was what Yong-ho always felt whenever he passed the long corridor leading to the arena.
Yong-ho looked around for a moment. There were many large windows in the small temple—Scathach’s residence. The sunlight pouring over the window was warm.
“You said it was a garden, right?”
“Yes, the garden of life. Since the Labyrinth of Greed is the residence of Mammon, the King of Greed, isn’t it natural that the first floor should be a garden?”
The garden of life wasn’t just a symbolic name.
So, Yong-ho responded instinctively, “Oh, that’s why there was no trap...”
“Yes, it is none other than the garden of the King of Greed, which leads to his palace. Wouldn’t it be a good place if we didn’t talk about any dreadful stuff?”
There were no traps on the first floor. It was literally a space open to people who came to the garden or the house.
The most thorough defense of the dungeon’s entrance was the basis of the dungeon’s defense. However, the Labyrinth of Greed, Mamon’s residence, completely ignored the basics completely.
‘So, this is the king’s garden?’
As the residence of the greatest king in the history of the demon world, it symbolized his act of differentiating himself from other kings, which was arrogant and imperious.
That was why it was appropriate for the king, Yong-ho thought.
Scathach looked into Yong-ho gently then grinned with her arms folded.
“Okay, I like you, little master. So, let’s talk a bit officially. Congratulations on passing the first test!”
“The first test? That means you have a second test?”
“Well, of course. Did you think you could be the master of this place by simply enduring a near-death experience?” She said with a smile.
However, the moment she finished talking, a huge magical power filled the palace.
It was a magical power with a terrible chill that seemed to freeze everything in the world.
And Yong-ho realized that it didn’t just fill the palace. The magical power was tightly controlled. The magical power released by Scathach surrounded only Yong-ho, giving him a sense of pressure as if the whole world was collapsing.
He might have died from suffocation in the past, but not anymore.
He found the flow even under the pressure of magical power that seemed to allow for any loophole. Instead of resisting her magical power, he released the flame of greed and adapted to the flow. He mixed it with her magical power.
The magical power that suppressed him naturally dissipated.
His whole body was soaked with sweat. Although it took only a dozen seconds, he felt like he consumed more than half of his mental power.
She was still looking at him. Then she withdrew her smile and slowly closed her eyes.
She bowed to him and said, “Forgive my rudeness, head of the Mamon family. You, the descendant of the great family!”
The flow was similar to Gusion’s but different.
Yong-ho replied relatively calmly after taking back the flame of greed.
“I forgive you.”
He didn’t care about his croaky voice when he said that to her. Scathach understood why Gusion used the title “Little Master” for Yong-ho. She stretched her back to stand up and said cheerfully, “Since you have passed the first test, the Garden of Life is now yours, Little Master. You can do whatever you want here. Besides, you can freely use this island, the sanctuary of healing.
Her change of attitude was very swift. So much so that Yong-ho might have been curious if he had not forgiven her.
As if she already noticed the subtle change in his look, she continued quickly, “This is the palace that the King of Greed has presented to me. In this palace, I can share my overflowing vitality with others. As long as you were not killed, I could heal your wounds, though it would take some time. This would be no exception even if any part of your body was amputated. I can also shake off your mental fatigue. Your spirits, who have fallen, will be healed here cleanly, so don’t worry.”
Indeed, it’s exactly what Gusion said to him.
This was a place that would be of great help to the Mammon family with no proper therapist.
“I saw a crossroad in the middle. Can I see the same space like this one even if I go another way? Just like the Garden of Life?”
“You’re supposed to, according to the original design. But I’m not sure because hundreds of years have passed already, as you said. I think I could keep this place because of my magical power, but don’t you think other places were devastated?”
“Then, all you have to do is supply magical power to restore them.”
But it was more easily said than done. He couldn’t feel Lucia as if he entered the arena.
Perhaps, the area that Lucia could control at the moment was only the first-floor’s hall.
“What about the rooms attached to the corridor?”
“Aren’t they almost like a warehouse? I basically can’t go outside this garden. I don’t know what the previous family heads had renovated here.”
She shrugged her shoulders then sat down on the chair again. She then said while gently picking up Gusion’s letter, “Therefore, let me announce the second and final test.”
Then the letter in her hand pointed to the floor. Her action carried an ambiguous meaning.
“Bring my sweetheart here. Then you can be my new master. Can you do it?”
Gusion could not leave the arena, so there was only one way to get him out of the arena and bring him here.
It was for Yong-ho to be the new owner of the arena and free all the spirits out of it.
“It will take some time but I can.”
She laughed at his answer and said in a gentle voice, “I really hope it won’t take much time, seriously.”
Although she was laughing, she was obviously concerned. Yong-ho seemed to notice her embarrassed look when she realized that hundreds of years had already passed.
Did Mammon trap his Twelve Spirits in the Labyrinth of Greed because he was greedy?
If that was true, why did they still show unchanging affection for Mammon?
Aamon or Gusion didn’t answer his question. He felt Scathach would not either.
Instead of facing her, Yong-ho turned around and looked out the window.
There was a lake shining brightly under the sunlight and a fertile land beyond it.
It was an affluent land that could not be easily found in the demon world.
“Have you decided what to do in the Garden of Life?”
Scathach asked from behind his back. Yong-ho nodded slowly.
“Hey, you know this is the Garden of “Life”, right?”
“Of course.”
Two days have passed since Yong-ho became the owner of the Garden of Life.
As soon as he met with Scathach, Yong-ho, who had access to the virtual space of the dungeon merchants, looked at the “farm” with a proud expression. A dozen of skeleton soldiers he acquired were slowly plowing the field.
Until now, the House of Mammon has purchased all the ingredients from the virtual space. In fact, the House of Mammon didn’t do this. Almost all the dungeon heads in the southern areas were dependent on food from the dungeon markets.
The lands in the demon world were barren. Growing grains was not easy.
But the Garden of Life was different. The land was fertile, there was plenty of sunlight, and water was right next to it.
It was impossible to achieve complete self-sufficiency here, but it was possible to considerably lower dependence on dungeon markets’ food.
Besides, farming was one of the tasks that could help him accumulate evolutionary EXP.
Scathach made a long face when she looked at the undead, a symbol of death, farming in the Garden of Life.
Covering her nose with one hand, she complained, “They stink.”
“They are sleeping all day anyway.”
“Well, that’s a different matter.”
When Yong-ho wasn’t there, she sat back in her chair and fell into a deep sleep.
It seemed like she hadn’t had a lot of sleep from the beginning. Also, she seemed to have consumed a considerable amount of magic power to maintain the Garden of Life.
Yong-ho said with a laugh as if to ignore her complaint, “Anyway, you can make grains grow faster, right?”
She pouted but didn’t say she couldn’t.
Yong-ho looked at the farm again happily. He was really happy to see Eligos’s face, who stood in the middle of the farm, commanding the skeletons as if he owned the whole world.
“Well, this is my first time seeing the House of Mammon’s head in a thousand years.”
Not caring much about what she said, which he actually seemed to have heard from Gusion, Yong-ho left her place.
He got the healer in Scathach and acquired a farm that he didn’t expect, but he could not afford to be complacent now.
Embrio was coming from the west. So, Yong-ho had to be prepared to stop him.
His next goal was to secure a dungeon of the House of Randolt, which he would use as a shield to protect the west.
Yong-ho stepped forward to get out of the Labyrinth of Greed.
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