“Ugh…! W-what’s the purpose?! Why are you doing this…?!”
The gang boss, covered in blood and bound by thorn vines after losing all his subordinates… or rather, the monster that resembled him, shot a gaze filled with confusion.
The mages had already been torn apart like prisoners on display, long ago ensnared by the thorn vines.
I shrugged my shoulders towards the only one left standing in the Auction House.
“It’s simple. I came here to find someone, and there were too many annoyances, so I just made it a bit quieter.”
“…Just tell me who it is. This area is my domain. I have more underlings than just these guys. Just say the word, and I’ll bring them!”
“Ellie. Lydia. Benny. It’s not about bringing them here but about welcoming them… do you not know who they are?”
“I-I can find them easily if you just tell me their characteristics, even if I don’t know who they are!”
“They’re all much stronger than me.”
“?”
“I must admit, I got a bit flustered and made a mistake. There’s no way to find all three of them in a place like this.”
A random theft event occurs upon entering the Fifth Floor.
There are some plausible rules that apply, one being that it’s typically someone capable of stealing that would actually pull off the heist.
In simpler terms, if jewels were stolen, the culprit would usually be a fence or a pickpocket.
If hidden treasures were stolen, it means they ended up in the hands of someone who could recognize them.
So, if there’s someone who kidnapped Ellie, Lydia, and Benny, they must be a human trafficker or a similar profession, and also capable of dealing with all three of them.
Of course, that would be impossible through sheer strength. These guys aren’t the type to easily conquer the Fifth Floor. Especially someone like Ellie would be far from a target for brute force.
Then that leaves other methods… like poison, drugs, or eloquence; they must be someone who can skillfully use these and land a blow on the three.
The Fifth Floor is crawling with all kinds of bizarre criminals, and I understand all too well that my tricky combat methods sometimes lead to nonsensical results.
With these conditions, there must be someone satisfying them.
However, not in the outskirts but closer to the center. Among the strongest mid-boss-type monsters, it would be possible.
I whispered to the one who was holding onto a thread of hope while chuckling to himself.
“Then bring Selvier before me.”
“…What?”
“Don’t play dumb. I’m talking about Selvier, the Cyclops Gang’s boss who collects eyeballs. You boasted you’d handle this kinda thing, right?”
“That… that’s…”
The guy was rolling his eyes. It’s natural. How could a little pipsqueak playing king among scraps deal with a big shot who commands dozens of cruel criminals?
Eventually, the defeated one ground his teeth and spat.
“Ugh!”
“How dirty.”
Of course, I wasn’t going to take it lying down.
As I casually dodged, he growled as if he had never acted subserviently.
“Just kill me! And better yet, if you suffer a worse fate than dying at her hands, that’d be even better!”
“I was thinking exactly that.”
With that, I stabbed the Unicorn Dagger into his heart.
He trembled for a moment, but soon his breath stopped altogether, and he went limp.
Well. Even if he dies like this, extracting the mana stone will likely bring him back in a few days, albeit with his memories wiped.
I momentarily looked at the corpses piled up in the Auction House.
There are more than I expected. When will I even have the time to loot this…
It’s annoying to deal with—extracting the heart’s mana stone resolves that. But there must be something valuable to find as well.
By the way, since mostly sentient beings appear as monsters on the Fifth Floor, parts like hides or teeth wouldn’t sell for much.
It’s not like you can find such things outside the labyrinth, so generally, it’s the equipment or low-purity old coins. And mana stones are the primary source of income.
I had contemplated resurrecting them as Undead like on the Fourth Floor… but it probably wouldn’t be as effective as I thought.
The monsters on the Fifth Floor, unlike those on other layers, have blind malice, but they can still escape while clinging to that malice.
They either come back later with friends or disappear if they believe they can’t win.
So, it’s challenging to grow stronger Undead based on calmly expanding our size.
Above all, monsters on the Fourth Floor were already processed to become suitable for Undead and the surroundings were shrouded in a fog enhancing Undead abilities.
There are no such elements on the Fifth Floor, making the combat power of Undead drop significantly.
“…No, wait. They have more intelligence; maybe it’s a bit different.”
Monsters on the Fifth Floor have been ensnared by madness and lost their restraint; most either are infamous enough to remain in history… but otherwise, they are no different from humans outside.
They are very bad guys, just people with nasty tempers.
Thus, the existence of Undead might prove effective in a different way.
Since ancient times, people have feared the dead rising from the grave.
…How much more so for those with guilty consciences about their crimes?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from living in the back alleys, it’s that many people obsess over superstition.
“Alright. Let’s do this.”
I squeezed the remaining Divine Power and resurrected all the bodies that remained in this place.
For those who weren’t intact, I would just combine them with other half-dead ones.
Just as I was about to release these cobbled-together yet bizarre Undead outside, a thought struck me about the slaves that might also be held here.
‘Still, I ought to look around, just to be safe.’
As I went underground, I saw a row of iron bars. Inside, various racially diverse mannequins hung weakly.
They must be NPCs who were caught while living their set routines.
However, there was just one exception among them.
In the deepest corner of the cell sat a young man with a shabby appearance.
It seemed like he was an adventurer newly arrived on the Fifth Floor who got hit from behind and ended up sold here.
Had he gone unaware, it would have been different, but I couldn’t just leave him, so I destroyed the iron bars with my greatsword, laden with aura.
*Kra-qak!*
“Huh?”
An adventurer looked up at me, blinking. His gaze mixed expectation and despair, but once he realized I was the one who broke the bars, only relief remained.
…Until he saw the undead lined up behind me.
“Y-you are….”
I wanted to reassure him, but due to the side effects of my ability to summon the dead, I couldn’t get the words out.
So, I silently placed my finger on the adventurer’s forehead.
It felt a bit off that he wasn’t a girl, but since there were no skeletons around, I couldn’t help it.
I gradually wrote a message on his forehead.
– Fight.
Not wanting to linger on the guy’s forehead too long, I left him with a short message.
“F-fight?”
Leaving him behind as he mulled over my message, I headed outside the Auction House. Surely, he’d figure out the rest. After all, he wasn’t just any adventurer; he was a veteran who made it to the Fifth Floor.
As soon as I stepped out of the building, I issued commands to all the Undead.
They were to stick together and kill anyone wielding a mana stone… in other words, anyone emitting a similar aura.
The bizarre Undead took their orders, their eyes half-dazed.
Before long, screams erupted from all directions.
“Gaaah! What the hell are these corpses?!”
“Th-that’s the Madman Waterbomb Martin, isn’t it?!”
“That’s the boss of the Hyena Clan over there!”
Panic began escalating. However, since they weren’t exactly common folk, it didn’t take them long to decide to take down the Undead.
Even if these were hastily made Undead, if they fought properly, it would end with a victory for the monsters… but that’s a tale for when I’m not present.
As the monsters surged forward with high morale, I approached from behind one and swiftly pierced through the back of her neck.
“The Hyena’s territory is now ours, crows……” *Cough!*
Taking advantage of the chaos, I became invisible, so no one noticed me.
Of course, they likely saw it quite differently from their perspective.
If I managed to resurrect the one I took down immediately, it would be even more perplexing.
“They’ve come back to life…?”
“What the hell is that filthy cloak?!”
“…A reaper. It’s a reaper! It’s come to judge us!”
“Someone shut that idiot up. Judgment, my ass….”
As I expected, monsters panicked upon witnessing their comrades die and rise as Undead.
I took the opportunity to blend back into the horde of Undead, hiding my presence, and repeatedly assassinated them one by one.
The noise continued to grow. Yet, death among humans on the Fifth Floor wasn’t as significant as I thought.
So, I unleashed fierce fire magic and began to scorch the surroundings.
At this point, the monsters and adventurers, whether hiding quietly or openly fighting, began gathering in ones and twos.
“That fire… what is it?”
“Is this magic…?! Oh?! That’s Klein, isn’t it? The party that asked us to save him if they found him!”
“No fking way, why are the Undead here again?!”
As monsters flocked in, the situation devolved into complete chaos.
In situations where direct force is essential, adventurers tend to have the advantage, so I wouldn’t need to worry too much.
All I had to do was focus on my task.
Since I had already used all my potions and holy water on the Fourth Floor, this situation would calm down in just about 30 minutes.
So, in that span, I intended to hide as deep as I could.
Come on, after going this far, let’s see if I can just sit back and watch.
Amid swirling flames and far-reaching screams, I swung my dagger.
*Thwack!*
Another Undead was added to my ranks.
I took another step towards the heart of chaos.
