Even among the monsters, those otherworldly creatures are divided into three categories.... There might be many that I don’t know of or that we haven’t encountered yet.

Keeping that aside, the three divisions that are prominent all around the new world are... monsters, demons, and devils. Devils are often called daitya by the people of the northern continent.

I’ve exhausted all my favors to get my hands on a few very detailed books on ancient cryptozoology, and I must say I’m not one bit regretting my decision.

Coming back to the topic, what I was saying is that all throughout history, from the first epoch, monsters have been ever-present. But the same couldn’t be said for the demons and devils.

The sightings of demons, mainly vampires and their archnemesis lycanthropes, only began at the end of the first epoch. It is ever a mystery as to how the demons first spawned in our new world.

For devils, no single cryptozoologist is certain of their origin.

Some say they appeared at the end of the second epoch, some say they appeared along with the demons. I dare say that one author had even mentioned that these Daityas are the very first creatures to roam our world.

That the Daityas were the ones born from the fire and raised by the ashes.

That is preposterous, and I know this as much as you do. It was as if even with all the knowledge of the world, the man didn’t know the simple history of our own planet. So, I sat and wrote and told the tale we all heard from our grandparents.

How the first beings to roam our world weren’t devils but angels. The divine creatures sent by the gods themselves. With their power to create, the angels molded beasts out of earth.

But from there you all know the, those bastards... no, I should refrain from cursing ’Them’. Even if he is from a cult, ’They’ are still divine, and a mortal shouldn’t utter these words.

We all know how some of ’Them’ got tempted by lust and mated with the beasts. This unholy fusion birthed monsters in our world. The power of the divine and the ability to rapidly propagate — because of the beasts — let them fill the world in a matter of decades.

Soon, there was nothing but monsters roaming the new world.

This angered the gods, and thus they created humans in their own image. Only after that did the world heave a sigh of relief.

No matter how many times I told him this tale, all that the man would say was that this was wrong. A lie propagated by the chur- well, you all know what I’m about to write, so let’s refrain from mentioning it here.

After some exchange of letters, from him and me, I was sure the man was high on drugs. The things he would write me would make any sane man question the reality they are experiencing.

After all the bullshit he had spewed, I decided to forget about him and began my research on the origin of demons. But somewhere deep within myself, a spark had been ignited by that man.

Still, I refrained from keeping any contact with him. Until one day, I got a letter from him.

’I have proof... if you dare, come to this location. Then we will decide who is the real fool.’

Along with this message was a location attached.

-Excerpt from the diary of an unknown author.

******

A few seconds later, the golden light subsided, and Dhruv could see numerous monsters kneeling on the ground.

’They are my army... the men I will lead...’

At the thought of leading again, he couldn’t help but remember the pain of a bullet piercing his chest.

’I won’t let that happen again...’ Gritting his teeth, he made the decision to only put those around him whom he could trust with his life. And unlike previously, earning this trust wouldn’t be easy, not that it was in the first place.

Looking at the very front of the formation were the monsters with the largest quantity. They were the goblin warriors. Almost all of them were about two meters tall.

’I can see where they got their stamina stats from..’

From a single glance at their hide, it was apparent that a sharp weapon was needed to make them bleed.

Behind the warriors were the small groups of archers, thieves, scouts, and the mages. They weren’t imposing compared to the warriors, but Dhruv knew better than anyone not to judge by looks.

Everyone knew that in the world of crime, being seen is almost treated as a sin. The less attention one attracts, the more likely they are to be underestimated, and the better their chances of surviving the battle.

’It’s a good thing they spawn with weapons, or else there will be a massive decrease in firepower...’ Dhruv was once again fortunate to have this blessing of the cube.

Archers have bows and a quiver full of arrows; he could see daggers hanging from the waists of the scouts and thieves, and the mages were carrying staffs in their hands.

It wasn’t just weapons; most of the goblins were wearing armor. Calling it armor is a bit of a stretch, as it was nothing but monster hides. Still, it was better than nothing.

’And those must be the warlords and Matriarch...’ he thought, looking at the very end of the row, where three monsters towered over the rest of the group.

The warlords were almost twice the size of normal goblins. Their bodies were made of a mass of scarred muscle. Their hide was so thick it looked impenetrable. On top of that, they wore leather armor, and these ones seemed to be made by a craftsman.

Both of the warlords were carrying a great battle axe, and from their waists, battle horns were hanging.

And at the very end, looking at the entire horde of goblins, was the Matriarch. She wasn’t any bigger than the warlords, but still looked massive because of her bloated figure.

Her skin was pale compared to the other goblins, and she didn’t have any weapons, nor did she wear any armor. One more big disadvantage with her was that she didn’t possess any fighting capability.

Still, Dhruv had chosen to summon her, and there had to be a reason, and there was. Of the two skills she possessed, one immediately caught his attention: a passive ability called [Progeny], which worked like this.

[Progeny: Every 30 minutes, the Matriarch automatically spawns a new Goblin to defend the nest. The rate of spawn will increase if the mother is well-fed. She has a 90% chance of spawning an Adult Goblin, 10% for a Goblin Warrior, and a 0.05% chance to spawn a Warlord.

The summoned Goblin will not evolve like a normal Goblin and will despawn if the Matriarch is killed.]

’It’s a shame that the monster isn’t permanent, but if she is hidden well and given enough time, she would easily be worth more than the points spent to summon her.’

Having inspected the soldiers, he looked at the most peculiar goblin. Out of all the monsters, only this one appeared to have the most consciousness. When all the other monsters were kneeling without moving a single muscle, this goblin was curious enough to take a look here and there.

And from the appearance, Dhruv was sure the monster was none other than the Blacksmith he had summoned.

’Let’s see if they can understand me or not...’ Thinking, he looked at the horde and shouted, "All of you stand up..."

Suddenly, the monsters moved. A single command had awoken the dungeon. The moment their collective gaze landed upon him, Dhruv couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down his spine.

’Shit!!...’

From his experience with Lucian, he was sure that they wouldn’t attack him, but still, the sight was overwhelming enough for him to sweat a few drops.

’Seeing the monsters on screen or paper and looking at them in reality is really two different things...’

Trying to appear unbothered, he took a curious glance at Lucian, and sure enough, there wasn’t even a hint of fear in the demon’s eyes. Instead, it was looking at them with a grin.

"So what are we thinking here, Lucian?" he asked.

"Nothing, Master... It’s just that now we can start conquering the world and give it to you."

Lucian replied with the most genuine smile there was. It was as if this was the only thing that mattered to it.

’What the fuck is it on...’ It was such a ridiculous statement that Dhruv didn’t even try to discourage it or anything... ’Let it have a try at this...’

Smiling, he replied, "Sure, buddy, why not... let’s just go with this plan."

Nodding, Lucian looked at the horde and pointed toward a certain someone, "Come here..."

’They can understand words, it seems...’ Nodding his head, Dhruv diverted his attention from the two and looked at the panel that had been floating in front of him for a while.

[You have performed the first Summoning.]

[Skill Mass Teleportation has been awarded.]

"What do you think about the weapons of the goblins?" While Dhruv was understanding the workings of his new skills, Lucian was busy trying to gather information.

"...passable..." the goblin replied, moving his head.

"Do you like them, and are you summoned with tools as well?" he asked, pointing toward the weapons the goblins were carrying.

"Yes..." The blacksmith replied, pointing toward the pouch that was hanging from his waist, "Here... carry... tools..."

"In this small bag?"

"Magic... enchanted... small area... big space..." the blacksmith replied to the best of his ability.

"Good..." Thinking about the great potential the pouch held, Lucian asked, "...can you improve their weapons... I mean, make them better?"

"Knows sharpen sword, dagger, axes... no learn staff... try will bow..."

"When can you start the process?" he asked.

"Here... not... a good place..." the blacksmith replied, shaking his head.

Chiming in between their conversation, Dhruv replied, "Well, I have a solution for this." Saying this, he looked at everyone present in the room and shouted, "Don’t move for half a minute..."

The teleportation skill requires 10 seconds to cast, and even then, the targets have to stay without moving for half a minute for it to work perfectly. Ten seconds later, he cast the skill, and half a minute later, all of them had teleported to the main area of the first floor... The Jungle.

As the dungeon only had a single floor, all the rooms were present here, and after the terrain modification, Dhruv had added a few more traps and diversions between the Entry sigil and The Jungle.

Looking at the horde of goblins, he looked at the countdown that was going on.

[The Entry/Exit sigil will be activated in 45 hours 10 minutes.]