Reject Humanity, Return to Monke

[]

[]

[]

I looked upon the band of strikingly visual reinforcements Oshurkova sent me. The primates, Catalina, and her band of demi-humans also tensed up when these three figures exited the portal.

'Whoever they are, they are not to be trifled with.' The Dungeon Menu notified me of an incoming call from Oshurkova as I glanced at Catalina, who was looking at the three figures with fear evident in her eyes. I accepted the call and regarded the quite haggard vampire Dungeon Master lady with a raised eyebrow. "Hell, Oshurkova."

"Hello, Jionni. I assume the group of Sweepers I sent have reached you?" I raised my other eyebrow at her statement. She calls them Sweepers? They look more like Hunters.

"Yes, and they're… visually stunning, so to speak." Oshurkova laughed at my words, and I couldn't help but chuckle along. Catalina beside me noticed me talking with Oshurkova, and marveled at the holographic screen.

"… Jion, what the hell is that?' She pointed at the holographic screen that was hanging right in front of me. I tilted my head in confusion.

"… The Dungeon Menu…? Lina, what's wrong?" Her mouth hung wide open as she looked at me with pure shock. Behind her, Tigre was tensing up even more, ready to pounce at the cause of Catalina's evident shock, which was me. "Uh… Lina? You there…?"

I waved my hand in front of her face, which elicited no response. Tigre was already about to pounce, before he was held back by an awed Catalina.

"That's… So cool! How the hell do you do that? Can you teach me? Please?" Catalina had practically glued herself to my front, her starry-eyed eyes staring deeply into mine, a huge grin forming on her lips.

"… Uhh… Just… Open the Dungeon Menu…?" I replied with a bit of confusion. Is there something different with how we access our Dungeon Menu…?

"I'm in your Dungeon, Jion. No way I am opening my Dungeon Menu at this time. Plus, my Dungeon Menu isn't that transparent." She let go of my shoulders as she paced back a few feet. "My Dungeon Menu is a book, and my communications is a crystal ball. Totally different from how… transparent and easily accessible yours is."

"… Ah, I get it now." I sighed in realization. Turns out different Dungeon Masters have different systems on how to operate their Dungeon. Take for example Catalina here. From what I can gleam from her words, her Dungeon is operated by a Dungeon Menu in the form of a physical book, and her communications is a crystal ball.

As opposed to mine, which is everything in one holographic window. Maybe a Dungeon actually makes the process on how to operate a Dungeon familiar to the Dungeon Master, so that they can quickly get used to it.

A plausible theory, if I do say so myself.

'Now, how the hell do I teach her the way of holographic panels…?' I scratched my chin as I brainstormed ideas on how to teach my possible future lover the easier way of accessing the Dungeon Menu, only to be cut short from the approaching steps of the three Sweepers and Oshurkova's giggle.

"Ahh… Never change, Cat. Never change." Oshurkova snickered as Catalina took on a slightly pink hue on her face with a pout. Seeing the adorable look on the catwoman in front of me, I couldn't help but pat her head and scratch her cat ears, which caused said catwoman to purr in delight.

As usual, Tigre behind her was glaring at me with murderous intent. I, of course, ignored it, fully focused on caressing the head of this Catalina, who continued to purr at my touch.

Until I was cut off once again by a fake cough from behind me. Looking at the culprit, I see the lead figure of the three Sweepers looking at me with a stoic gaze.

"You Jionni?" I nodded, and he nodded back, "As of today, me and my group of Sweepers will be under your command, until the current threat to your Dungeon has been eliminated, as decreed by our Queen of the Night, Drac Oshurkova."

From within my communication screen, Oshurkova looked at me with a slight blush, before she craned her gaze backward.

"You heard nothing." I chuckled at her embarrassment, which caused her face to flush even more. Behind me, I could see the lead figure of the Sweepers chuckling to himself as well.

'So, he teases her as well. Maybe she gets teased by her local inhabitants as well… Noted.' I looked at the blushing vampire with a grin.

"Don't you dare." Oshurkova snarled at me, while my grin grew wider. Beside me, Catalina picked up on the current situation, and grinned menacingly as well.

"So, Queen Oshurkova, I thank thee for your humble support in my time of need. As promised, you can call in a favor whenever you want, as long as I am not in a sticky situation, if you know what I mean." My grin grew to higher heights when Oshurkova's face took on a more reddish appearance, while the figure behind me was now visibly chuckling, along with the rest of his group.

Catalina, meanwhile, was on the floor, laughing like a madman as tears continued to cascade down her cheeks due to too much laughter. Oshurkova was now beet red, and was totally embarrassed by my incredibly formal voice and gesture.

"… I'm ending the call. Remember what you promised, a favor I can call in whenever." And with that, Oshurkova cut of the call, and I chuckled briefly. Catalina, meanwhile, was trying her best to regain her bearings as she struggled to stand up.

Behind me, the three figures' chuckling slowly died down, and they regarded me with appreciation, as well as a tiny bit of respect.

"Anyway, nice to meet you, Jionni. I am Wulfstan. These two are Constantin and Cecilia, fraternal twins." The two in question waved their hand, but said nothing else. "Forgive them, but unfortunately, they were born mute."

"Oh… That's… Sad to hear, nonetheless, it speaks volumes about their capabilities." I gave them a respectful nod, which they appreciated in turn. There's no way I would give them pity or sympathy, that would just be outright mean. Instead, I'll give them my respect since they were able to survive this long with difficulty in their lives. "I'll be glad to have them on our side for the time being."

"As you should." Wulfstan gave me a smile, before patting me on the back. "Now then, shall we get going? It appears we were the only ones left, and fortifying your Dungeon might take some time to complete."

"Ah, about that. I've already set up countermeasures, but a few more couldn't hurt." He gave me a nod, while Domino looked at the interaction with a raised eyebrow while still perched on my shoulders.

Come to think of it, how did she not fall when Catalina grabbed me? Meh, I'll ponder that later. For now, I need to lead these group to the Monster Town.

[]

[]

[]

~ Third Person POV ~

"AARRGGGHHHH!!!"

"MOMMMYYY!!!"

"IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!!!"

"FUCK YOU! FUUCK YOUUAARRGGHHH!!!"

Screams and shouts echoed throughout the building. The source of these screams were various humans and demi-humans in their cells being tortured. There were no exceptions. Young, old, male, female, none of them could escape the torment that they are currently undergoing.

Some had already succumbed, their corpses being brought out of their cells and fed to the dogs that had a taste for human and demi-human flesh.

"MOMMY!! MOMMYYY!!!" One particular demi-human that was being tortured was a female child that was no older than 10. She was strapped to the table as various bugs crawled around her bare torso, all of them dangerous and poisonous.

Her body shuddered as her cries slowly got quieter, until no more sound could be heard from her. Only the sound of the crawling insects digging into her skin to lay their eggs could be heard from the cell.

The eyes of the child were wide open in horror and anguish, the eyeballs rolling over the place. Her mouth hung open in a permanent scream, while her body spasmed slightly due to her fresh death.

Behind the bars, apathetic eyes gaze disinterestedly upon the corpse of the demi-human child.

"Filthy. May Phoemis cleanse your soul, vile demi-human." The female knight, who was still chasing the heretic that eluded her so, scowled as she left the dungeons where screams and cries of torment reigned supreme.

It didn't matter who they were. Once they were inside the dungeons deep within Kazanpan, all they could hope for was a swift death under this new leadership.

"Ma'am. We've gathered all the resources needed to pursue the heretic. We assume he's heading for a Dungeon. For what purpose, we do not know, but it cannot be anything good." Her underling, another knight like her, but lower in status, reported their findings.

"Very well. We leave at dawn." The female knight commanded and the lower knight saluted, before moving on to do her bidding. The female knight sighed, then took a pose of prayer.. "Goddess Phoemis, may your guiding light shine upon the heretic, and your judgment be swift with his cries of regret."