{Nameless Dungeon: First Floor}
"Insolent fool!" Lyra yelled, standing only mere inches away from Kai’s throne.
At the corners of the throne room stood skeleton knights, each one holding blades and shields crafted by none other than the dungeon’s blacksmith himself, Teriam.
However, that wasn’t the main focus in that moment.
Right before the throne, his head bowed while kneeling on the ground, was the Goblin King. His eyes widened in shock at the mere increase in Lyra’s volume.
"I can understand why you would be angry. My men have done wrong. But I beg of you to understand that those involved have already been punished severely," he uttered, his voice calm yet shaky.
To think he, a dungeon boss, would be bowing down to the servant of another dungeon boss.
It was annoying and humiliating.
But at the same time, as a level 90 boss, he knew there was nothing he could do against someone who was several levels above him.
Lyra looked down on him with cold contempt, treating him as though he were trash.
"Your words mean nothing here. And whatever punishment you served your goblins implies nothing as well. Not only did you have the nerve to walk in here demanding forgiveness and a new set of skeletons, but your men, your bloody men, dared to kill and slaughter Lord Kai’s servants?"
Every word she uttered was followed by a rapid increase in her magic output, enough to cause the entire place to shake.
The Goblin King shook in fear. If he could bury his head into the ground to show he wasn’t trying to fight her, he would have done so without a moment’s hesitation.
"Please, I beg you to hear my words. I do not know why my men suddenly attacked the skeleton monsters Lord Kai gifted us himself, but I assure you, it won’t happen again."
Lyra sighed, trying to show the goblin that she was suppressing her anger.
"You foolish monsters. You speak as though you are getting some sort of second chance. My Lord is angered by your actions. His wrath is silent, but his mercies no longer extend to you and the others."
She spoke gently but with finality.
"From this moment on, my Lord has decided to pull all forces from your people and the others you stand with. You shall fight the battle with the human armies on your own. The Nameless Dungeon wants nothing to do with the likes of traitorous mongrels who bite the hand that feeds them."
The Goblin King immediately raised his head to look at her.
"I beg you to reconsider! The human forces are drawing near. We estimate that in less than a few days, they will make their way here and wipe out all the dungeons. We are only strong enough to defend ourselves, not launch an attack."
Lyra glared at the goblin even more intensely.
"You should have thought about that before you betrayed the trust my Lord placed on the likes of you. Be gone from here, and never come back."
As she spoke those words to the man, the skeleton knights that were standing guard at the side rushed in, grabbing the goblin by the arms and dragging him out of the room.
The Goblin King, of course, tried to plead as much as possible, but all his screams were met with deaf ears.
Not a single word he said was taken into consideration.
It didn’t help that there was no way he could overpower the skeleton knights in terms of strength when their levels were not too far apart.
As such, there was little room for him to fight. All he could do was scream as his body got dragged out of the room.
Once they were done, Lyra sighed out loud.
"Having to talk to them without Lord Kai around is really straining. I had to hold myself back from killing them. Honestly, how does Lord Kai even have the patience to deal with these rats?"
She looked to the side, noticing Fanny walking out of the corner, holding her teddy bear tightly.
"Are they gone?" she asked, blinking multiple times with a somewhat shaken look on her face.
"Yes, they are. And it is for the better, too. Besides, you were just as uncomfortable; if not, why else would you—"
Lyra paused, sensing something.
She immediately turned around and noticed the door to the throne room was slightly opening.
Certain there were not supposed to be any more guests, she assumed it had to be the goblin crawling back to beg for mercy again.
"What are those guards doing letting him back here?"
Her words, however, were soon swallowed when the door opened completely. Rather than the goblin walking in, it was Kai, reverted back to his monster form, with Carlotta right behind him.
"My Lord. Forgive me, I didn’t know it was you." Lyra fell to her knees, and so did Fanny as well.
Kai raised his hand, taking slow steps towards his throne.
"It is fine. I can see you were busy?"
"Yes, my Lord. I had just finished the second phase of the plan; the Goblin Boss came here begging for mercy just as you had predicted." Lyra hesitated before her next words, but she asked anyway.
"My Lord, forgive my asking, but why did you choose to walk down the hallway when you could teleport to the throne room directly?"
Kai laughed a bit.
"That is what you are worried about? It is often nice for a King to show his face to his subjects to raise their motivation. Wouldn’t it be nice for the workers to see my face every once in a while?"
"Of course, my Lord. You are right," Lyra replied.
From where he was, she could practically feel the excitement running through the bodies of the maids and skeleton soldiers that must have ran into Kai during his walk.
Finally arriving in front of his throne, Kai sat down, his legs crossed.
Meanwhile, his three summons bowed in front of him.
Their voices echoed in unison.
"We are at your service, my Lord!"