CHAPTER 266: PAST AND PRESENT

"I can now confirm some things. Eboncrypt and Umbracrypt did clash at their academy after the Lord of Eboncrypt went in to collect their surrender," Kagerou said much later in the evening when he got back from intelligence gathering.

Their new meeting room was the dining room, and while they were not using it for eating, they would use it for their meetings.

The relevant people were already gathered. Harkon, as usual, stood behind Vacuse.

Lady Slave was there as well, sitting silently to his right. Then there was Kagerou, Amros, Devour Bandit, Magus Arch, and two other Magus.

Yukata followed the captain of logistics, as his insights as a guide were always refreshing and welcomed.

Kagerou continued, "The thing is, the whole academy castle has been sealed off by some power after the battle, and no one has been able to enter or go out for some weeks now."

Vacuse frowned as he digested the news. He turned to look at Lady Slave, and she shook her head.

She also didn’t know what was going on?

Vacuse’s frown intensified. His plan was to go into the Umbracrypt academy and break the binding, but now... he sighed. "Kagerou, keep a tight eye on the happenings there."

Captain Amros turned to look at him. "What’s your new plan, Lord Vacuse?"

What was his new plan?

Vacuse wasn’t going to hold back just because he was bound. He would have to look beyond that, and that meant shifting his objective for a while.

"We are going to make the Dragon Hunters strong. Very strong," Vacuse declared.

His new plan was to focus on breaking the Dungeon. And since that wouldn’t be easy, he might as well start preparing for it while he waited for his binding and a way to break it.

Captain Amros hesitated. "What do you want us to do?"

"We will get that hunting right, and then serious recruitment will start. We will start actively getting into the Dark Wilderness to hunt and get stronger while making money. The money will then be used to upgrade the hunting team."

When Vacuse said all of this, everyone fell silent and watched him. They were all contemplating what he had just said. In a normal hunting party, the hunters didn’t get paid monthly, and even if they did, they didn’t get upgrades!

Vacuse was actually thinking of using his own money to upgrade the hunters. Was he really getting that cautious about the future? Why else would he go to such lengths?

"Anyone have a problem with that?" Vacuse thought with a smile. The others looked from one to another and couldn’t find anyone with a problem with his plan.

Vacuse clapped. "Good, good! Let’s get to it then! I’ll give the hunters some days to recover and readjust, then serious work will start! That goes for all of you as well!"

They all stood and bowed to him, leaving the meeting room one after another, while some waited behind. Harkon, Captain Amros, and Kagerou all stayed.

Even Lady Slave had left.

After a while, it was Harkon who spoke. "My Lord, I really do not understand the Great Dungeon at all. Are all these people real? They feel so real, and yet we are in a Great Dungeon. They should all be reflections of past history, right?"

Kagerou nodded. "Or a twisted past. Or isolation. In our time, back in the real world, the Cold Barren Continent is an extremely hostile and dangerous place. In fact, the cluster continent of Shattered Mass regarded them as a no-go area. It is also the reason why nobody dares to practice necromancy anymore."

They all turned to look at Kagerou. Just when did he get so knowledgeable about all of this? When Kagerou saw the way they were all looking at him, he glared. "What? If I’m to do my work properly as the head of intelligence, then I must be involved and know what’s going on!"

Vacuse cleared his throat and did his best not to feel guilty. "Why doesn’t anyone dare to practice it?"

"Because any necromancer will suddenly feel the compulsion to head to Cold Barren. And the thing is, they never return, and nobody knows what’s going on down there."

Vacuse frowned. "That’s all?"

Kagerou shook his head. "And while the necromancers, or whoever is in Cold Barren, won’t come out, they always send their undead, who are highly aware and intelligent, to negotiate with other continents, even those especially far from their own."

Vacuse shifted on his seat and cleared his throat, consoling himself not to feel so guilty since he promised to learn all he could when he returned.

"What are they sending their undead out for?" Vacuse asked.

"To negotiate and trade. They are always interested in buying high-quality dead bodies and living beings. It could even be said that they are the favorites of black markets. They are also interested in anything necromantic.

"They buy Dungeons and Great Dungeons in great numbers—books, historical sites—they buy it all. And a lot of times, they get aggressive if they don’t get their way. Many speculations point to the fact that they must be searching for something, and it must be why the continent is how it is."

Suddenly, Vacuse didn’t have a good feeling about things. "I don’t remember... did any Cold Barren come to buy this one? The Great Dungeon that we are in?"

Now it was Kagerou’s turn to shift uncomfortably, and he cleared his throat. "I don’t know if they approached or not. But maybe that was because there wasn’t much love between Cold Barren and our continent, and specifically, our empire."

"Ah... why am I not surprised. And it’s going to somehow lead to the Vorrakyns," Vacuse said flatly.

Kagerou winced. "Well, the Vorrakyns were a superpower that threw their weight around. We even interfered in matters of the continent.

"Anyway, our family had singlehandedly fought off the Cold Barren before when they wanted to claim our Dark Wilderness in the continent, since lots of necromancer Dungeons were found in them. It was even during a civil war in our family!"