"..."

Charymos glared silently at the child perishing beneath him, his ears listening attentively to the faint breaths he drew. The hairs on his skin standing on end, feeling every of pulse of Kaelen’s fading heartbeat.

"I am not one to be indecisive, but my... What a dillema."

He spoke in a voice so cold and detached that it stirred the Roach’s very soul.

"To think you would go this far with your farce, Kaelen. How truly... Despicable."

Charymos’s lips almost twisted into a smile but he bit down on them as he pondered what the truth could be.

"..."

"Could it be that you were telling the truth?"

He shattered the hardened slime on his right hand and slowly extended his palm toward Kaelen, but his entire arm twitched in hesitation.

[What creature did I splice into your DNA again? Specimen 2946?]

Charymos’s gaze fell to the tattooed serial number on Kaelen’s bloodied collarbone.

"Useless pest."

He addressed the Roach.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Remind me again, what DNA did I splice into Specimen 2946?"

The Roach slowly rose to his feet at Charymos’s question.

"It was at a time when we had run out of material... Kael — Specimen 2946 was without any enhancements during his embryonic stage, however... By sacrificing the souls of my kin, you..."

The Roach paused, remembering how his entire colony had been extinguished to the whims of the Kraken Spawn.

Of the entire colony, the Roach and a few eggs were the only survivors.

Feeling a pang of rage stir at his heart, the Roach paused to gather his words before speaking once more.

"Lord Charymos, you had offered seven thousand of us insignificant creatures’ souls to curry favor from Lord Caelvorn of the Ninth."

"You then used that favor to request material from him. That material you acquired was spent on Kaelen during his fetal stage."

The Roach concluded.

And of course, Charymos had to have given due justification to offer the colony to Caelvorn.

"Ah! Is that so? Kuku..."

"I remember now, and by material are you referring to that vial of spit that he sent us? Hahaha!"

This was no metaphor. For the souls of seven thousand Roaches, Caelvorn, the Governor of the Ninth Floor, had sent back a single vial of mucus and spit.

"Haha! My, I had forgotten about that, interesting is it not? That the one directly below our Ruler merely thinks of your kind as worth spit?"

A malevolent grin twisted Charymos’s slimy face and he continued chuckling as though he’d remembered a pleasant memory.

"..."

The Roach bowed in silence, not letting a single emotion escape him.

[I say that but...]

Charymos returned his attention to Kaelen.

[...You have been, by far, my greatest creation.]

[To think you were the runt of the litter...]

[Whatever shall I do...?]

Charymos pondered, but he knew that Kaelen would soon draw his last breath.

"It seems that there is not sufficient time to come to a concrete conclusion... Hm~ well, I can always just kill you later~"

Charymos adopted a rather feminine posture and placed his hand on his hips before preparing his lips to cast a spell:

■■■ Fountain of Health.■■■

Uwong!

A single droplet fell from his webbed palm and engulfed the entirety of Kaelen, carrying him in the air and glowing in a faint golden light.

"Let us return home. That gluttonoust pork chop will come for us after eating his fill."

He ordered, and aggressively pulled out the spear embedded in Kaelen’s unconscious frame, causing his blood to dye the slime crimson.

"Yes, my Lord."

They ran as fast as they could, increasing their speed as they heard Honyopi’s distant squeals.

//

"Argh! Damn it! Never again will I run from that swine! The next time I ascend to the First Floor will be the last!"

Pow! Pow!

Having already reached the Basement Floor, Charymos threw a fit and hurled punches at the cold walls of the Basement Floor.

Kaelen, still unconscious, floated within the golden sphere that was suspended directly above Charymos’s right shoulder.

"Indeed you will my Lord, the First Floor will soon be yours for the taking."

Proclaimed the Roach.

"..."

Charymos turned to glare at him.

"Are you trying to butter me up? Don’t you dare think that I have forgotten your transgressions, it is partly your fault that Kaelen has turned out like this."

"Trust you me, your punishment will come shortly!"

Charymos shouted and stomped away, his words causing the Roach’s exoskeletal frame to shiver, knowing that Charymos’s punishments were quite literally torture for days on end.

"Yes my Lord, I exist as your folly."

The Roach followed behind his Master.

[That was exhausting...]

Charymos mused, his footsteps echoing across a narrow passageway.

[... Ah I want to bathe!]

[...Hm. Perhaps I shall have a Merman or two join me?]

His eyes became ablaze with lust and he stuck out his black, forked tongue to lick his lips.

And just as those thoughts crossed his mind...

"Huff! Huff! Lord Charymos!"

[!!]

... Speak of the devil. One of said Mermen came running through the narrow passageway and collapsed at his feet.

"What’s the matter?! What happened to you?"

Charymos asked worryingly, the Merman’s entire body riddled with lacerations that allowed its bluish-purple blood to flow.

"I-it’s..."

"Speak damn it! I asked what happened!"

"It’s an envoy from the Eighth Floor! He came as soon as you left the Specimens in our care. He attempted to take one of them, and when we tried to stop him, he became violent and started attacking us!"

"What?! How dare he?!"

Charymos roared and charged forward with the Roach and Kaelen in tow.

Before long, they made it through one of the many passageways —Well, they were more tunnels than passageways.

Having been in the darkness for a brief moment, Charymos’s eyes stung slightly as they adjusted to the light of the open space.

"Oh?"

Grunted a man with long blonde hair, a pair of crimson eyes and fangs. He wore an attire that was reminiscent of medieval nobles.

" Welcome back, Lord Charymos."

The Vampire bowed and offered Charymos a greeting, but despite his courtesy, his voice was laced heavily with a condescending tone.

"You!! What the hell is this?! Have you lost your mind?!"

Charymos roared and exuded a tangible bloodlust.

"Calm yourself Lord Charymos. Trust me, you do not want to pop a blood vessel near a creature such as myself."

The Vampire wiped the streaks of bluish-purple from his lips and smirked provocatively.

"Was that a threat?!"

Charymos nearly lost his sanity, he wanted nothing more than to rip the Vampire apart.

"I must say Lord Charymos. A seed has sprouted from beneath the earth, one whose trunk will surpass the clouds and whose fruits will nurture the heavens. Those words were not at all an exaggeration! Lord Veladreth is pleased!"

The Vampire quoted the words from Charymos’s letter and lifted up the Homunculus he strangled in his grip —Veylith.

"What a marvelous thing you have created! My Lord has decided to make this creature one of his concubines!"

The Vampire proclaimed, not even concerned that Veylith was suffocating to the point where her complexion was turning dark blue.

"Put her down this instant! Have you seriously lost your mind?!"

[You think you can decide to just take my possessions without giving anything in return?! To hell with that!]

[I will kill you so horrendously that even Veladreth won’t be able to recognize you!!]

Charymos had made up his mind. He would kill this Vampire despite the repercussions. Surely he had enough justification.

"M-my Lord, behind us!"

Warned the Roach.

"What is it now?!"

Turning his attention to his rear, Charymos saw two Elementals. One was a bipedal creature made purely from ice, and the other from fire, and they stood side by side.

Their appearances were as one would imagine: they looked like if fire and ice became sentient and morphed into humanoids.

"We are envoys from the Sixth Floor of our Ruler’s tower!"

Not even allowing Charymos to process everything, they spoke in unison.

[After not saying anything, you dare come here unannounced?!]

Charymos felt like he was losing his mind. Should he just kill everyone here and be done with it? No —He must calm himself, these are pieces that he himself had prepared.

However, both the envoys of the Ninth and Sixth Floor being present at the same time was not in his plans!

Nor had he accounted for the volatility of these creatures he merely thinks of as pieces he wishes to use to ascend to greater heights. Strange isn’t it? How ambition can blind even the most ingenious of minds.

"We have come to announce the arrival of our Lord, the Governor of the Sixth Floor, Lord Skadi."

They stepped aside and bowed at each side of the tunnel’s exit.

[W-what?! He came here personally?!]

Charymos felt a shiver caress his spine and his heart beat like a war drum.

Even he was no match for the Elemental King Skadi.

The difference between the two of them was like heaven and earth, even if there existed five of him, Skadi merely needed to sneeze and Charymos would cease to exist.