Chapter 1835  Dungeon Master

Mythralor realm, Dungeon Master's Keep

It was a room, and yet it was no simple chamber but a sanctum of command. Every brick, every tile, every shadow and every glimmer of light, all of them were filled with a radiating majesty of unquestionable authority.

In the heart of the room lay a board atop a grand table, though calling it grand might have been insufficient. It was not made of wood or marble, or even crystal or glass. Instead, it seemed to be made from the heart of a world itself! Its surface shimmered with deep greens and molten golds, veins of magma frozen beneath the polished top as if their motion was forever caught in time. The legs, solid, sturdy things, were made of compressed rocks and minerals, as if they were designed to hold the weight of the world.

The table was as if a representation of a world's mantle, and it made sense why it would be so, for atop it laid a board. Much like the table itself, the board was far from simple. The board depicted a vast realm, carved as if out of shifting stone and living light, with rivers of silver and highrising mountains covering it. Cities pulsed faintly, as if filled with the light of millions of souls, and borders rose out of the ground, as if they were the very fabric of the realm itself. Biomes, many natural and unnatural, covered the board, and in certain regions, it was almost as if it was an entirely different world.

In front of the table, in a highchair, sat the Dungeon Master, watching everything with interest. With one of his many hands, the Dungeon Master rolled three dice and began noting down the numbers on a piece of paper with a simple pencil.

A figure appeared behind the Dungeon Master and immediately kneeled on the ground.

"Master, I have returned from an auction and have interesting news," the figure spoke subserviently. The peak Celestial Immortal dared show no arrogance in the presence of a Dao Lord - especially one as renowned as the Dungeon Master.

"Oh? Do tell. I've been looking for some inspiration for my next campaign," the Dungeon master said casually.

The Celestial shared everything he knew about the Midnight Inn, and to be more specific, the Midnight tavern.

"A tavern that can travel as and when desired, filled with powerful staff, and an Inn that can summon guests to it… Hmm, yes, this has some potential. Alright, when this campaign ends, I will go to the Midnight Inn myself, and pay this Innkeeper a visit. Let's see if we can… avail his services."

The Celestial merely nodded, and then was teleported to the board, returning to play the role that he had been assigned. Of course, he hadn't really been transported to the board. No, he had been transported to the Mythalor realm. The board was merely a reflection of that.

*****

"For the love of all that is good and holy, stop turning my food into gold!" Longbeard exclaimed as he glared at Goldilocks.

The duck, in return, only stared at the gnome, tilting his head as if he didn't understand the cause for so much aggression.

"Quack?"

"Amhattabha, you should donate your food and meat to me, instead of devouring it yourself," said Monk, who had inflated up like a balloon. The bear cup looked ready to hibernate for a hundred winters let alone one.

No longer paying attention to the group, Goldilocks began eating the now gold food as if it belonged to him all along.

"Do you… do you guys really think this is the time to be focusing on such things?" asked Bobling 3 with a hint of hesitation in his voice. Beside him, Bobling 1 and 2 were practicing their Bob-styled speech.

No one in the room paid attention to Bobling 3, so the poor fellow just looked outside the porthole.

The Jolly Rancher was traveling across a sea of raging silver, and a massive strom overhead was not improving the conditions. To make it worse, there were dozens of ships chasing after them, trying to shoot them down across the distance. Fortunately, Tiny-Sparkles was flying around the ship, using Pebbles' body to block all incoming artillery.

But even with that, the situation did not look so good, for soon they would be encircled, and there would be nowhere to run.

"I don't understand. With the great and magnificent Bob on our side, why are we always on the run?" Bobling 3 asked, as if he were the only normal person in the situation. Of course, whether he was a person or not was entirely uncertain, for the Boblings bodies could not be seen at all.

As if to answer his question, Bob's voice resounded across the sea.

"Pitiful I say! To hound our glorious selves with such feeble display of effort is an affront, a stain upon our very prestige! At least summon some unholy beasts or unspeakable evil. Only through such devout zeal in our pursuit will you achieve a modicum of success! I dare say-"

Bob's words were cut short by Ollie, who dropped Bob in a case of Immortal Jello, freezing his body in the delicious treat. But it was too late.

A massive head akin to a starved dog emerged from the silver waters, a jagged horn sticking out of its undead forehead. Its hollow eyes turned towards the Jolly Rancher, and whatever it saw clearly enticed it greatly.

It bellowed, cracking the very fabric of the realm with its voice, before it launched itself towards them.

The crystal alligator, who was originally supposed to be manning the cannons but had taken over the steering wheel instead, suddenly started to sweat crystal as the situation was getting out of hand.

Normally the captain would save their behinds in situations like this, but they were supposed to be attracting everyone's attention so the captain could go do some sneaky stuff in the enemies base. It seemed they were doing a better job than any of them had imagined, or hoped.

This was already the third realm they had gone to on their crazy mission, and one would imagine that all of them would reveal new sights. So then why did they always end up getting chased regardless of the realm they went to?

As the crystal alligator sat upon a throne of spirit crystal, originally a divine throne for the emperor turned to crystal by him, he struggled to understand how they always ended up getting in trouble. Maybe one day, they'd come across some reasonable people. For now, they had to continue running.