Reverse Dungeon

“...?!”

Every iron door in the prison swung open.

And yet the Mamools did not rush out.

They only stood there in confusion, unable to grasp what was happening.

Maybe they’re scared of the werewolf...

Ian gritted his teeth.

“Sema, oil!”

“Yes!”

By now, Sema understood his purpose perfectly.

Sema, the living gas station, found a bottle of liquor the guard had been drinking from and clutched it to his chest. Then he transformed its contents into oil.

“Throw it into the big cell!”

“Yes!”

The liquor bottle Sema threw did not fly very far. It fell short of the large cell.

Clang!

But that did not matter.

Oil was a liquid.

And liquids flowed.

The oil trickled across the floor and seeped into the large cell. Before the Mamools gathered there could understand what was happening, Ian fired a flaming arrow at the spot.

Whoosh!

Flames and smoke billowed up with a terrible roar.

Kiiieeeek!

Driven by survival instinct, the Mamools poured out of the cell all at once.

Ian used his skill to keep them from attacking him.

!

Kyaaak!

The Mamools crashed into one another, biting and clawing as they searched for an escape route.

Good.

No.

Not yet.

The werewolf, still driven by instinct, was relentlessly targeting Louise.

Louise grabbed the werewolf’s arm, flipped over, and shouted, “Lord Ian! I’ll hold it back! You go first!”

“Stop talking nonsense and dodge!”

Sema ran to Ian’s side.

Worn down from being locked in the cell, he could barely hold the girl properly. Her feet dragged along the floor.

Ian quickly lifted her onto his shoulder and shouted to everyone.

“Run!”

The demons seated in the coliseum heard the roar from below.

“The attendants cannot even do their jobs properly. Nothing is going right. How noisy.”

“You are the one being noisy.”

As they growled at each other, the noise did not subside. Instead, the floor began to tremble, sending dust drifting down.

“...!”

Every demon present knew what lay beneath the coliseum.

It was a prison holding Mamools, humans, and dangerous species for their entertainment.

Is it a riot?

Or a trap?

The demons were a suspicious race. They did not even trust one another. Naturally, their suspicions turned to their own master, the Demon Grand Duke, who had gathered them here yet still had not appeared.

Had he known this would happen?

Or perhaps he was the one orchestrating it?

They moved according to their instincts.

“Is this a trap?!”

Among them were those who had long been unable to suppress their grudges against one another.

If it was a trap, then it had to be the other’s doing.

The two southern demons who already had bad blood between them clashed.

BOOM!

The coliseum began to collapse.

Mamools wreathed in flames surged toward the exits in droves. Desperate to escape the semi-basement prison, they charged upward without thought.

Even the few demons who had not yet lost their composure were swept up in the riot as the Mamools climbed into the audience seats.

“How dare you!”

The Grand Duke still did not appear.

Then this had to be a trap.

The demons unleashed their pent-up bloodlust and went wild.

BOOM! CRASH!

From here on, they’ll fight just fine without me using any more skills.

Ian and his party escaped, leaving the exploding coliseum behind.

But the girl slung over Ian’s shoulder started to sniffle.

“Is she crying?”

“Yes, Lord Ian. She’s crying.”

Louise answered with perfect indifference.

“Why is she crying?”

“We have to bring Mister. He protected me...”

“Kid, stop squirming. I feel like my shoulder’s going to dislocate.”

Ian was telling the truth.

“I’m Momisia.”

Even in this situation, the girl corrected him.

“Yeah, Momisia. You’re Momisia, right?!”

Ian nearly dropped her.

“Kyaa!”

Ding!

[Character]

‘Witch’ Momisia (★★★★☆)

Reputation

Witch, Enchanter, Cunning

Skills

Enchant: LV.5

Craft: LV.5

Appraisal: LV.5

⁝

4-star Enchanter Momisia!

She was a playable character.

He had not recognized her because he only knew her adult appearance.

So Momisia was this young in this timeline?

And her greatness did not end there.

The eternal friend of beginners.

The hope of the crafting community.

Momisia.

That title alone explained everything about her.

She was a character perfectly optimized for defense, existing solely for beginners.

And there was another reason she was considered a beginner-friendly character.

It was not only because of her own skill tree, but also because...

Momisia struggled.

“What are you doing? You’re supposed to treat children gently!”

“You’re right... Wait. What was the name of the werewolf with you?”

“Contacca! And he’s not a werewolf, he’s my family! He’s... like my uncle!”

Momisia stopped struggling and answered at once.

“...!”

That’s him!

Ian had not recognized him in his current, monster-like appearance, but it was him.

The 4-star character, “The Last Werewolf” Contacca.

How could a frail enchanter be a beginner character?

Because Contacca was by her side.

In other words, in this game, choosing Momisia meant Contacca came along as her protector.

In short, it was the Momisia & Contacca route.

Starting with two 4-star characters.

Wasn’t it harder to ruin a game with that setup?

Ian thought.

Can I really leave them behind?

4-star heroes?

Of course, if Ian could do that, he would not have been stuck playing this damned game for three years since release.

Ian stopped.

“Let’s go back!”

“Huh?”

“...?!”

Not only Louise, but even Sema looked shocked.

“They’re family, right? Then we should rescue him.”

“...!”

Ding!

[People think of you as a benevolent ruler.]

[People are worried about your mental state!]

“...”

Who was responsible for the second message?

At any rate, Ian brushed away the status window that only irritated him further.

If that full moon is magical, then magic should be able to dispel it.

The system was never wrong.

And Ian’s biological clock, which sensed the system, was never wrong either.

In that case, the full moon had to have been created by some special method.

Even with all the chaos upstairs, the moon neither warped nor vanished. Since it remained fixed in place, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ it had to be either a mage maintaining the spell through concentration, or a magic item.

Find it and smash it. Or defeat whoever’s using it.

Ian made his decision.

“Look at the coliseum! Among the demons fighting in the audience seats, find the one who isn’t doing anything!”

“There are... too many!”

Sema was horrified.

“Find him! He’s the one who saved you!”

“...!”

Sema widened his eyes and concentrated.

was useless here. It could only reflect the appearance of someone he knew. He could not reflect an unknown person or object.

Sema had to search with his own eyes.

Then something odd caught his attention.

A frozen janitor, crouched in a corner and doing absolutely nothing.

“Lord Ian, this terrified janitor... it couldn’t be him, right?!”

Ian stared at Sema with wide eyes.

Sema’s face flushed red.

“Please ignore my stupid comment!”

“Good job!”

“?!”

Ian drew his bow.

Either way, even if he hit the target, it was just a Mamool. Ian had no qualms about shooting Mamools.

Twang!

The arrow flew with force, but it did not hit the janitor.

Not only was Ian’s aim off, the janitor blocked it with his arm.

At that moment, the moon distorted.

“...!”

Louise was the first to move.

He fired black-tipped arrows in rapid succession. The arrows, coated in deadly poison, struck the janitor squarely in the chest.

Thud! Thud! Thud! 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Three arrows hit one after another.

The janitor howled and tore off his clothes.

At the same time, his muzzle stretched forward, his eyes turned yellow and slit-pupiled, and black fur swelled across his body as he transformed into a full wolf.

Awooooo!

The black wolf howled, then dashed down the stairs toward them like the wind.

The wolf jumps and bites.

Ian remembered.

“Lord Ian! Dodge!”

He did not hear whoever shouted.

He had to get closer.

With his lousy archery, he had to shoot from point-blank range if he wanted to bring the wolf down.

Here it comes.

The black wolf charged.

It aimed to swallow its unmoving prey in a single bite.

At that moment, Ian’s arrow lined up precisely with the black wolf’s eye.

The light of gathered at the arrowhead, gleaming like a dazzling point.

Pshh!

A long streak of light pierced the black wolf’s eye.