Moloch pressed for more information, and so Jin called upon Lord Wolte to enter the discussion too as he was not too sure about the ability himself.
Once a reigning Duke in King Baal’s ranks, the clanky metal anthropomorphic tank was delighted to see that he was in part of some seemingly important meeting especially with all the big shots around.
“The Phantom Soldiers are as what they are. Ghostly kind of beings which can do damage and only be killed with magic. I used it once and damn, it brought swift deaths to the adventurers while I distracted their wizard.” Wolte was excited to speak in front of everyone and continued to ramble on.
“The Dungeon Core utilised the freshly dead souls and used them as to our advantage. The only problem about these phantom soldiers is that they are ethereal in nature and require a lot of soul essences to make one strong enough to hold a metaphysical body.”
“Therefore, I used this ability something akin to cavalry charging formation. I summon the phantom soldiers temporarily and cause havoc in the front lines of the adventurers, later disappearing five seconds later. That was enough to wound both their body and mind.” Lord Wolte described the procedure and subsequently explained to the rest that the broken Dungeon Core he obtained, had previously controlled a graveyard of the Dungeon World.
“Graveyards? There are graveyards in your world as well? I thought everything was recycled. I mean resurrected again and again.” Jin then openly queried whether it had to do something about the Harbinger issue they brought about a long time ago.
“In a way. It was introduced after the 2nd Harbinger Catastrophe and most Dungeon Graveyards are a place of desolation handled by Gravemancers. They are an occupation that siphoned soul essences in order to make sure that those monsters or even adventurers who did not have a place to belong…ehhh …They give them a peace of mind.” Moloch knew a thing or two about the Graveyards.
“Yeah, and those monsters and adventurers can even go into suspended animation for say 5 years, and the Gravemancers who siphon their soul essences would return a majority of their soul essences as a transaction in terms of dungeon dollars. It’s all very transactional, but it also significantly reduced the chance of a Harbinger appearing.” Lord Wolte added that adventurers who did this were looked down upon as outcasts, too incompetent to earn their living through dungeoneering.
For the monsters, They acknowledge it was a desperate measure for those who did it since their society was based more than just meritocracy and being a competent monster.
“Ahh..then with cash, they could find a place to stay and start anew or something like that?” Jin asked which both the lords nodded their heads (for Wolte, it was his turret.)
“Guess it feels like our society.” Qiu Yue sighed at the similarity and discrimination of their culture.
“Anyways, as I was saying, the Gravemancers sell those soul essences to live as well by exchanging it with the dungeon core. Thus most adventurers and monsters respected the Graveyards as a neutral zone.” Lord Wolte said and Qiu Yue realised where the story was going.
“Yet, that did not mean they cannot attack it.” Qiu Yue surmised, and Lord Wolte gave an approving grunt, which allowed them to conjure how he got this particular dungeon core.
“So, what does this Graveyard thing had to do with this broken dungeon core?” Jin roughly guessed the connection but preferred to get a confirmation answer.
“Dungeon Cores in a way can develop a sort of …you could say attribute. Or in looser terms, personalities. A Graveyard Dungeon Core would no doubt be able to utilise soul essences better than the dungeon core that I was governing currently.” Moloch stated that his Dungeon Core was significantly capable of making other materials, especially after its upgrade to Dungeon City Fortress.
“So Lord Wolte’s dungeon core could make phantom soldiers, my dungeon core can make monsters or adventurers who die into …mini treasure chests. Literal treasure chests” Moloch added that when an opponent dies, it had the chance of becoming a treasure filled with raw materials or items that the adventurer/monster was holding on.
“I don’t exactly remember that happening when I was fighting with you,” Jin asked as he tried to recall seeing any chest lying around.
“That is because it was just a Dungeon Fortress. The treasures are all generated to the treasury room. Now, this is a city, it does not have a treasury room per se, but you can assign one, and those treasures will pop in there.” Moloch said, and Jin immediately looked at Qiu Yue.
“Understood. Loud and clear.” Qiu Yue smirked when their eyes connected, knowing what both parties want. Lord Wolte, on the other hand, was a bit confused when the Red Panda Cultivator statement but he was ignored thoroughly.
“Does treasure appear in King Baal’s treasury room too when its army killed our comrades?” Jin questioned once again, which Moloch shook his head.
“If it is a defensive fortress setting, yes. Because it is made that way, both parties only had two definite outcomes. Win or lose. So, when the attacking army lost, they received resources too, just not much and those come from the coffers of the Dungeon Fortress.” Moloch answered and later added on that City setting was slightly different.
“However, for us, it’s of a different predicament. Cities are not meant to besieged on a daily basis like fortresses because the aim of invading armies for cities was to fight for territory, rather than resources. Hence. cities earn rewards from invading armies because they needed the resources.”
“Other cities would have their own unique attributes too, but not many have the similar attribute as mine since we converted this into a city from a fortress dungeon core. But this brings a flaw too.” Moloch said with a lower, slightly depressed tone.
“Lesser resource regeneration as compared to a Dungeon City fortress?” Qiu Yue, who had to study a lot to know what she was governing in the future, gave an answer she was hoping that her readings paid off.
“Aye. That is why it’s also good in a way that the System took over half of the ownership. It aided a lot, and the incoming assault would definitely prove to be a bountiful supply for us too.” Moloch replied.
“Okay, and I think we sidetracked a lot from the main conversation. If Lord Wolte said that the phantom soldiers needed a lot of soul essences to make a metaphysical being, how would it be a good thing for us?” Qiu Yue inquired, and Jin laughed.
“I do not know how to say this, but it was a blessing in disguise to have the foresight to make those clay statues?” Jin did not directly answer her question, but she managed to figure it out. Those phantom beings the dungeon core produces upon the deaths of the invading army could be used to animate the clay statues and made them more potent.
“I never think of that. Would that make Jespa’s runes obsolete?” Qiu Yue asked as she looked into the detailed hologram to see the variation of clay statues in the area.
“Nope, it was also because of Jespa’s ‘Animate Dead’ runes that made this combination work. Ayse research team had managed to put the mass produced basic ‘animate dead’ rune and the clay statue into test while using Lord Wolte’s broken Graveyard Dungeon Core. It worked spectacularly, and the System was the one controlling it without a hitch.”
“That means we have a reproducible fodder army!” Moloch was delighted, and the other two System Users were holding their laughter at the Minotaur Lord’s odd choice of words.
