Rosa purified the potato chips with her holy spell. She also removed the earthworms with a flick of her fingers. She then got straight to the point.
"Master, Gawain and I were discussing something earlier. We’re wondering if we can pool our Aether with yours to enable you to create a dungeon core for us."
Carn’s expression grew solemn. "I need 10,000 silver marks to do that. Do you two have enough?"
"How much are you short, Master?"
Carn paused, then raised his left arm. He activated a faint glow, scanning the silver marks stored in his arm. To his surprise, his balance was higher than he remembered thanks to Rosa’s contributions yesterday. Clearing his throat to mask his embarrassment, he muttered.
Visit ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience.
"A bit over 7,000."
Rosa and Gawain’s faces lit up with excitement. Gawain immediately offered a solution.
"How about the Inquisitor and I each contribute 2,500 silver marks? It’ll be tight, but our reserves should suffice to cover the gap."
Rosa calculated and hesitated if that was too much. With a personal reserve of about 4,000 silver marks, losing 60% of her energy pool would severely weaken her for some time. However, the prospect of recovering Aether by slaughtering humans in a newly created dungeon outweighed the temporary setback. After a moment, she nodded.
"Fine. I’ll contribute."
Carn raised an eyebrow, impressed but cautious. "If you’re offering, I’ll take it. I promise I’ll repay both of you when we return to the Aether World. But…"
Carn shifted his attention to Gawain and smirked, "Shouldn’t you have a little extra Aether to spare? Didn’t you return to the Aether World a few days ago?"
Gawain admitted with a dry laugh. "Yes, my lord. As I mentioned, I visited the Mother Tree to seek her aid. That’s how I managed to bring you those three branches."
"And how much Aether did you breathe in while you were there? Don’t play dumb. We all know just existing in the Aether World is enough to refill your reserves."
Rosa’s glare pinned Gawain, and the knight raised his hands defensively.
"M-My lord. I didn’t have enough time to accumulate Aether because the rift was several hundred kilometers away from Mother Tree! I did gather some, but it’s not as much as you think! I used a lot just getting those branches."
"Convenient excuse," Rosa scoffed.
Carn chuckled, "Don’t worry, Gawain. Your contribution won’t go unnoticed, assuming you’re actually contributing and not just hoarding."
Gawain sighed "I’ll contribute 5,000. Please forgive me."
Rosa felt better, "Good. Now, Master, let’s get this dungeon core created before someone breaks down the walls of this house."
Carn stood, stretching as he prepared to start the process. "Alright, transfer your Aether to me so that I can get started.
With that, the trio began the ritual. Rosa and Gawain put their palms on Carn’s shoulders, transferring their Aether into him.
The process was quick. In five minutes, the energy transfer procedure was completed. Carn rechecked his balance and discovered that his total Aether was slightly over 14,500 marks, enough for a big spell.
Although he could easily close a rift with 10,000 Aether marks, Carn chose to prioritize creating a dungeon core to protect his family and comrades first.
"We wait for nightfall. We need to draw a grand magic circle."
Gawain and Rosa cheered. They were looking forward to their dungeon.
Meanwhile, Merlin was jobless. He observed the group while he pretended to be a regular book on a coffee table. He sighed, "Ah, must be nice."
.
.
At 7 PM, the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky into darkness. Carn prepared himself to search for an isolated yard suitable for drawing a grand magic circle. Meanwhile, Rosa and Gawain teleported and reappeared underground beneath a neighbor’s house, avoiding detection and staying out of Carn’s way.
Carn teleported to the neighborhood near Oiler’s mansion, searching for a quiet location to serve as a temporary workspace.
However, the area was still swarming with police activity. Squad cars idled on the streets, and undercover agents perched on rooftops, scanning the surroundings with thermal goggles. The once serene neighborhood was now busy.
Carn clicked his tongue in irritation as he observed the agents. Realizing that he could no longer use the area as a hideout, he looked for another place. His attention shifted to the unexpectedly quietest place in the area—Oiler’s mansion.
The cartel mansion, once the center of chaos, was the only house without lights on. Police had ransacked the property, collected evidence, and removed the petrified victims for inspection. With no officers or agents stationed there anymore, the estate had become as silent as a graveyard.
Sensing an opportunity, Carn infiltrated the mansion with a flicker of teleportation, ensuring he evaded the thermal scans of the agents outside. He reappeared inside Oiler’s bedroom.
The room bore signs of footprints, unorganized furniture, and traces of the investigators’ hurried work. The drugs and tools that Oiler had used had all been collected. Even the giant safe in his closet was emptied.
Whatever cash or items were in there, the police might have either pocketed them or stored them as evidence.
Carn wanted to explore more. Unfortunately, time was against him, so Carn refrained from investigating the scene further. Instead, he decided to sow confusion among his pursuers.
With a wave of his hand, he teleported every piece of furniture in the bedroom to the empty villa across the street, scattering potential clues to mislead any returning investigators.
Once the room was barren, Carn knelt and began his work. Focusing his Aether, he let silver energy course through his left hand. With his glowing index finger, he traced intricate lines on the floor, sketching the foundations of a grand magic circle.
Drawing was not an easy task, yet Carn created a perfect 3-meter diameter circle with ease. He then wrote sigils on the borders, drew another inner circle, and created strange lines on top of what he had drawn.
Two hours later, the magic circle was completed, and Carn already spent 5,000 Aether on the ink alone. Calmly, he canceled his gargoyle form, reverting to his human appearance. He bit his left thumb and, drew his blood.
Dripping his own blood onto the center of the glowing magic circle, Carn whispered an incantation under his breath while he pictured the dungeon core he sought to create.
Suddenly, a deafening BOOM shattered the silence. The magic circle erupted in a surge of crimson light that shot into the sky like a beacon, obliterating the mansion’s ceiling. The beam’s sheer force tore apart the third floor, sending debris flying in every direction. A moment later, a massive shockwave rippled outward, reducing the remaining walls to rubble and exposing Carn to the agents scattered throughout the neighborhood.
The agents, startled by the explosion, immediately noticed the crimson light and the figure standing in its midst. Shouts echoed across the streets as they scrambled to respond, but their efforts were already in vain.
Bathed in the brilliant crimson glow and strong wind, Carn poured 5,000 silver marks of Aether into the magic circle, completing the ritual. The intricate symbols and runes of the circle lifted off the floor, floating mid-air as they orbited around Carn with increasing speed. The spinning sigils formed a vortex of energy, their momentum building until the Aether condensed into a fist-sized, glowing crimson egg.
The egg hovered toward Carn, pulsating with the power of the Aether and his own blood. He reached out and grasped it, feeling its warmth.
This was his creation, a dungeon core, which was bound to him alone. As it was created with his own blood, only Carn could utilize its true power and realize its potential.
As he admired the dungeon core, the sound of approaching footsteps and vehicles grew louder. Fifty agents from the neighborhood rushed toward the ruined mansion. Overhead, the rumble of rotor blades announced the arrival of an ECD support helicopter. Its searchlight illuminated Carn, and three red laser dots marked his forehead as snipers from nearby buildings had him locked in their sights.
Carn glanced at his would-be captors and chuckled. The chaos they brought was meaningless now.
"You’re too late. It’s already over." Carn mocked them out of spite.
With that, he activated the dungeon core. Crimson light flared once more as he infused it with a potent combination of Aether and holy power. A reverse shockwave rippled outward from the core. Everyone within a one-kilometer radius was caught in its pull, sucked into a surreal, isolated domain.
The world around them warped and dimmed. The colorful lights of streetlamps, vehicles, and flashlights drained into shades of gray. Agents collapsed to their knees as the oppressive energy of the domain sapped their strength. The air grew thick. Their movements grew sluggish, and panic spread through the ranks.
In the center of the domain, Carn and the dungeon core radiated an untouchable aura of power. He looked down at his foes. With a triumphant grin, he whispered, "Unfortunately, I don’t like this neighborhood. Once I pick a better location for my base, I’ll invite you people, alright?"
In a flash, Carn and the dungeon core vanished, leaving the domain to collapse in on itself. The agents and their surroundings snapped back to reality, disoriented but unharmed. As they regained their senses, they scoured the ruins of the mansion, but Carn was nowhere to be found.
.
WHOOSH
Carn returned to Gwen’s house with the dungeon core in his hand. Upon return, he sent a telepathic message to Gwen and Rosa.
"Come back after you wash off the dirt and remove whatever parasites on you. If better, take a bath. You two stink."
No response came back, as if the two had been taken aback by Carn’s message.
Carn also preferred to be clean. He took a bath and cleaned the dungeon core while he was at it. He also called it a night and fell asleep while he held the dungeon egg in his arms.
Before falling into his dream world, he wondered where he should set up his dungeon.
Here?
Central Park?
Other country?
The collapsed ECD base?
Decision, decision…