'I expended 12 Mental Energy when he went into overdrive.' The Slave Harem System sighed, 'There is still a long way to go before obtaining that treasure. Based on the one-off Skill of Treasure Location that I used at the start, the treasure is in the hands of the Dungeon Boss. I'll need to set aside enough Mental Energy to purchase appropriate abilities to be used against it during the confrontation.'
"What shall we do now?" Rikune asked, grunting as they arrived at the river shore, gazing at the unconscious figure of Regriel.
'That power he exhibited before, it was on the level of a Transcendent.' Rikune thought, gazing at Regriel, 'Just who are you, Regriel? You are becoming more and more mysterious every time I see you.'
"When Regriel carried us, I saw Princess Raecha flying in the opposite direction as the Haggons constantly hurled projectiles at her. Even if she wanted, she wasn't able to come to our rescue." General Artica said, sighing in the end, "So, I informed her through sign language that we'll meet at the designated location on Level 3. With Chikon and Wakuta, she won't have any problems in surviving."
"Indeed," Rikune sighed in relief, calming her thumping heart, "With Wakuta to help her, she won't have to worry about her Darlac expenditure."
Suddenly, General Artica laughed, "I thought you hated Wakuta. But it seems you trust her more than you show."
"I have a high opinion of her ability, not her." Rikune snorted, "I just hate how haughty she is. I wonder what Regriel saw in her mannequin-like face. She's no different to a Puppet that can talk."
"Right, right." General Artica laughed, annoying Rikune. In the end, Rikune stomped the ground and walked away, resting atop a boulder by using it as her seat.
General Artica looked around, seeing that their location was discrete enough, situated near a cliff. She then looked at the sleeping face of Regriel, patting his cheeks once before sitting cross-legged beside him, closing her eyes as she sensed the positions of her three Iron Puppets.
As they were heavy, Regriel hadn't enveloped them within the energy barrier while in their hurry. Had he done so, the energy sphere wouldn't have even been able to leave the ground. After all, each of her Iron Puppets weighed around 600 kilograms.
Now, she tried to sense their positions, intending to judge their state, frowning immediately when she realised that she was unable to even sense two of her Iron Puppets.
And, the moment she sensed her final Iron Puppet, she frowned, seeing through its sight, gazing at the figure of a Haggon that used the Iron Puppet's head like a football to send it flying into the face of another Haggon.
Irritated, the Haggon grabbed the Iron Puppet head and threw it onto its attacker. And during one of the throws, she noticed through the Iron Puppet's eyes at the body parts of her Iron Puppets scattered around, being used by the Haggons to poke one another.
One of them used an Iron Puppet's hand to poke its nose while another used it to clean its ear.
They were actually playing around with the Iron Puppets after dismantling them to pieces, causing her to mutter after a sigh, "They were tremendously tough Iron Puppets. My Artica Family spent a fortune to make them."
"What happened to your puppets?" Hearing her mutters, Rikune arrived, asking with a frown, "Are they alright?"
"No," General Artica sighed, explaining everything that she saw.
Rikune nodded, speaking with a serious tone, "As expected of a Level 5 Dungeon. These Haggons are simply too strong to face without support from the army."
…
"Trash!"
"Lazy scum! The Kingdom's scourge!"
"The man without any masculinity!"
The vicious screams from various people resounded in his mind constantly, forming a cacophony as he was being torn apart by their remarks, damaging his already frail psyche.
Finally, unable to tolerate them any longer, he shouted, "Enough! What did I ever do wrong? Why am I being subjected to such criticism?"
"You really don't know?" Suddenly, the figure of Ephemella appeared, holding the severed heads of his siblings, "You've spent the Kingdom's wealth on the brothels where the women originated from other Kingdoms. You've basically poured our wealth into the coffers of our enemies. They created numerous channels to siphon our wealth through you and weaken our Kingdom."
She snorted, expressing hatred, "And, all you did was happily dance to their tune. You, your siblings, and the King too, all were utter fools."
"I never realised that!" Regriel shouted in retort, being slapped in return.
Ephemella cursed, "And that's entirely your fault. If you took the Royal education seriously, you would have been able to notice such machinations. But, you didn't. All day long, you simply tried to make moves on the maids in the Palace, those that were doing their jobs religiously."
"Not only were you a waste of resources, but you also harmed and prevented many women from doing their work. You are simply a blood leech that has to be rid of for the Kingdom's stability." Ephemella said, disappearing after a remark, "Don't return to Entropica Kingdom ever again."
Regriel stared in anger as the innumerous voices began to hurl curses at him once again. Suddenly, a voice among them caught his attention, for it was way too familiar, causing him to gaze in the direction when he stood rooted to the spot in shock.
"A-Artica?" He stammered, noticing the anger-induced expression of General Artica.
She stared at him with an expression of looking at someone worse than scum, speaking, "You defiled my mind and used it to defile me many times. I have never seen trash worse than you in my life."
"S-Stop it…" Regriel muttered weakly, tearing up.
"Did you forget that I hated you?" General Artica said, arriving before him, "If not for your Slave Harem Skill, did you seriously believe I would ever treat you like a human, when all you did was hinder me from doing my work, harassed me and my subordinates many times, and even enacted vicious punishments on them?"
"Stop it, please!" Regriel shuddered in fear, trembling, "I…wasn't myself back then. I didn't realise the extent of my actions."
"How old are you? You are too old to offer this excuse." General Artica said, "All my subordinates did was lay down their lives for the betterment of our kingdom. And, what have you done to them in response? Whip them and harass them until they regretted pledging their loyalty to the crown."
"Remember this," She said before disappearing, "I have only been forced to be with you. Neither I nor any of your companions have joined you of their own volition."
