Dungeon King: The Hidden Ruler
Chapter 77: [The Heir of Thornspine 9] What Remains After Silence

Chapter 77: [The Heir of Thornspine 9] What Remains After Silence

[Accept Dungeon Quest: Thornspine Estate — Sever the Corrupted Heart (1/1)]

[Optional: Silence Resonance Nodes (3/3) ✓]

The system banner faded.

The green glow dimmed from the ceiling vines. The Deathsong had ended.

And for the first time since they’d entered Thornspine Estate, the air was still.

Eldryn’s footsteps echoed lightly as she stepped into the ruined chamber, arms slightly raised as if expecting danger.

[SYSTEM CUTSCENE ACTIVATED – DUNGEON BOSS: LADY OSTREVA]

In the center of the ruined lab, Lady Ostreva reappeared.

Her eyes opened slowly.

She wasn’t looking at Raven.

She was looking toward the heir of Thornspine Estate, Eldryn.

"You did it," Eldryn whispered, her voice cracking. "You actually... you really did it."

The matriarch didn’t move. But her eyes fluttered—dim, no longer monstrous.

Eldryn stepped closer, hesitant at first, then with growing urgency. She dropped to her knees in front of the kneeling figure.

Lady Ostreva’s lips parted.

A rasp of breath escaped her.

"Eldryn..." she whispered. "My daughter."

Her voice cracked—not with madness or venom, but age. Memory.

"I wanted to save us all," she continued, eyes flickering with fading luminescence. "I thought... if I could reshape the pain, refine it... something beautiful might grow."

A trembling pause.

"I was wrong."

Eldryn lingered for a moment longer. Her eyes shimmered—not from magic, but exhaustion and something older. Grief she’d buried under purpose.

She reached out with both hands and brushed the ash from Ostreva’s robes. The gesture was careful, like tidying up after a storm. No words passed between them, but Ostreva’s eyelids twitched faintly—perhaps in recognition. Perhaps in regret.

For the first time in years, Eldryn allowed herself to breathe—not as a steward of duty, but as a daughter. Just for a moment.

Then she turned to Raven and bowed her head low.

"Thank you," she said, not to her mother, but to Raven.

The system tone chimed again.

[Dungeon Cleared]

[You have obtained: Archivist’s Mantle of the Severed Line (Mythic | ORANGE)]

Archivist’s Mantle of the Severed Line

Mythic Robe

+42 Intellect

+35 Spirit

+18% Status Resistance

Passive: Veil Between Eras — The first time the wearer drops below 30% HP in combat, gain a 4s phasing state: cannot be targeted, cannot cast, regenerates 6% HP per second.

"They carried the records of sins not their own. And bore them in silence."

Raven didn’t reply. He stood in the haze of burning spores, the chain still coiled loosely around his wrist.

At his feet lay the scythe of NekoNekoNyan—or what was left of her latest body. Her weapon, familiar to millions, had clattered free during the final blow.

He crouched. Picked it up.

[You have obtained: Helix Scythe — Sponsored Relic]

Helix Scythe

Unique Weapon (Not Class-Bound)

+30 Agility

+20 Critical Chance

Passive: Spiral Echo — If user scores a critical hit, create an echo illusion for 3 seconds that mirrors basic attacks (50% damage).

Cosmetic Tag: Helix Media Partnership Item — Streamer Sponsored

Raven turned the blade over in his hand. Lightweight. Streamlined. Built for flair.

He tucked it away into his inventory without a word.

Eldryn remained on the floor, brushing ash off her mother’s robe.

"She won’t wake for a long time," she said, quietly. "But she’s no longer connected to the Deathsong. The root system’s been severed."

Raven didn’t answer.

He turned toward the far end of the lab. Duskrunner waited in the shadows, crouched but alert. No threat remained—but it hadn’t lowered its guard.

There was always a next fight.

But for now, the dungeon was quiet.

Not empty.

Just quiet.

Raven gave a final glance toward the fallen Ostreva, the ashes of dead clones, and the fractured glass tubes around them.

Then he walked away with a faint smile. Even though this is scripted scene, to see this sight brings a satisfaction feeling of clearing the dungeon.

Behind him, only Eldryn remained.

Tending to what was left of her family.

Raven didn’t head straight for the exit.

Instead, he walked along the far wall—where thick vines had collapsed around a vine-carved archway, mostly hidden behind shattered glass vats and scorched roots. Most players wouldn’t have paid it much attention.

But Raven knew better.

For normal players, that door led to a Secret Room—a hidden chamber with a gem cache or bonus lore entry. Maybe a rare herb node, if they were lucky.

But for him?

It was something else entirely.

The moment he stepped within range, the air shifted.

[Secret Room Discovered]

[Access Override — Dungeon Sovereign Class Detected]

[Redirecting to: Dungeon Control Room]

The arch pulsed.

The gem-lit doorframe unraveled like peeling bark, revealing not a storage room—but a twisting corridor of smooth, silvered roots.

He stepped through.

The corridor coiled behind him and sealed.

Inside, the temperature dropped. Lights flickered across bioluminescent ridges. Screens unfurled like petals, hovering in midair with pulsing system glyphs. The interface wasn’t built—it was grown.

[Dungeon Sovereign Control Interface — Thornspine Estate Node #07]

Status: Cleared

Primary Host: Lady Ostreva (Cooldown Phase)

Functions Available:

– Environmental Editor

– Spawn Regulation

– Crafting Allocation

– Dungeon Messaging

– Node Expansion (Locked)

Raven approached the glowing console. Ostreva’s icon blinked in red—dormant, but alive.

That was enough.

He opened the crafting protocols and queued her into alchemical operations. Her affinity data was extreme: toxin structuring, regeneration chemistry, mana-based fermentation.

"High-tier potions. Venom recipes. Anything potent," he muttered.

A new list populated—available blueprints, reagents, production queue.

The Thornspine Estate would begin producing assets immediately, hidden from the outside world. It would operate under her hand, even in slumber.

A dormant matriarch. A quiet lab. A new arm of the hidden empire.

And just one of many to come.

The glow of the Thornspine interface dimmed as Raven stepped back. Production was queued. Control was secured.

Time to move.

He retraced his steps toward the sealed passage—back through the living corridor of roots. When the threshold reopened, it did not return him to the dungeon’s interior.

Instead:

[DUNGEON SOVEREIGN TRAVEL ROUTE DETECTED]

[Zone Link Confirmed — Serravelle Verge: House Seravin]

The world shifted again.

One step forward—and the suffocating green of Thornspine gave way to the cliffside opulence of Zone 4.

Stone plazas. Ancestral banners. Air perfumed with mana orchids and incense meant to impress.

House Seravin.

A manor so vast it had its own postal district, its own trials court, and of course... its own merchant square.

Raven’s eyes scanned ahead. Towering above rows of ornate shops and vaulted galleries stood an old sign—

Frayed Ledger Guildhall.

Sure enough, inside the guildhall’s cluttered merchant office, Theo stood behind a wide terminal filled with ledgers, buy-orders, and flashing graphs. His armor was polished but his posture was all leisure—until he spotted Raven by the entrance.

"Ah! Partner! Just in time," he grinned, pushing off the counter with both hands. "I’ve got good news... and bad news. Which you want first?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Let’s start with the good."

"Your drops? All sold out." Theo’s grin widened. "Fastest turnaround I’ve seen this week."

"That is good," Raven said, stepping closer. "And the bad?"

He grinned. "Careful now—your gold pouch’s getting fatter. Might start jingling in real life."

Raven gave a slight nod. "I might have a problem for you to solve."

"Oh?"

From his inventory, Raven pulled the Helix Scythe.

Theo’s face went blank. Then twisted in alarm. "Oh my g- what the. That is .. that.. Is that... Is that hers?"

Raven let the silence answer.

Theo leaned in, lowering his voice. "Helix Media’s golden cat girl weapon? You do realize this thing is fricking hot, right?"

"I figured."

"And we will hunted down and burned down to ashes because everybody know her trademark scythe, right? I mean she’s a famous streamer!"

"Yep." Raven give a nonchalant shrugs then continue, "So what would you suggest? I disassemble it, sell the raw materials. Quiet, clean."

Theo raised an eyebrow. "And tank the value by eighty percent? Might as well burn gold in the plaza."

Raven shrugged. "Safe though."

Theo leaned back slightly. His usual casual dad-mode flickered—replaced by a sharper gleam in his eye. The kind that knew spreadsheets like a gambler knew dice.

"Not with that much drop, partner."

Raven tilted his head, intrigued. "Then?"

Theo’s reply was instant. Crisp. Almost too casual.

"Money laundering."

Raven pulled out a chair, sat with a relaxed slouch. "Hm. Now that sounds interesting."

Theo’s tone shifted again—half excited, half conspiratorial. "Everyone can disassemble items, right? Break ’em into base mats. But what if we take hot items—sponsored, unique, notorious—turn them into their most valuable essence... then reforge them?"

"You mean recycle dirty gear into fresh high-grade equipment," Raven mused.

"Exactly. New name. New tag. No heat."

Theo leaned forward, tapping the ledger screen beside him as if the numbers were already recalculating in his head. "We make new pieces that just happen to contain high-tier components no one can trace. Players buy ’em thinking they’re fresh from a raid drop."

Raven tilted his head. "And Helix?"

"Never mentioned again. Gone."

He grinned again—this time with the air of someone who’d just solved a financial crime for fun.

"You wanted a shadow empire," Theo said, his voice low. "Welcome to asset laundering, guild edition."