I was sitting by the table in the Core Room of the Matata Dungeon. On the other side sits the Golem, a doll made of hardened yellow-brown mud with an... abstract humanoid shape. Its eyes are emerald-colored marbles, but they look no different from normal eyes. "He" has no mouth, and is dressed in a dark-brown robe that makes him look like an old-fashioned magician. 

"Then, what is all this about?" I asked the Golem while petting the tiger-cub that had found its place on my lap. Ah, so soft... ah! This ain't the time to be charmed! Sharpen up, sharp as a razor... sharp as Mira's instinct for a good gamble... no, that won't work... anyway, stay sharp!

"Yes... thank you again for listening to my pleas." 

"No biggie." - Garami

Despite being a Golem, this guy's voice is damn smooth. That's impressive for a naturally formed Golem.

If my memory's not failing me, Carion told me before that a natural Golem is birthed when a rock is affected with enough aether for it to act as a core for a Golem, was it? Human-made Golems make use of an artificial core, so they don't have a will of their own, but they work smoother than the natural kind. This guy, however, is as smooth as a pearl.

"Very well. My name is Karnel Gigantes, one of the Golems that used to live on mount Gigantes, located on the continent of Luxuria." - Karnel

He's from Luxuria... Kinda logical when you think about it. Normally he should either be from this island, the archipelago to the south, or one of the two continents. There's no reason for people from places other than those to travel to this island. It's more like a rest stop on the highway than anything. 

"As for why I am here... correction, why I have taken the ownership of this Dungeon, is... well..." - Karnel

"You're soft on animals?" - Garami

"...Correct. Those little ones are so cute..." - Karnel

Hey, nothing to be ashamed of there. I also love those cute little fuzzies. Still...

"He's got a heart...-*punch!!!*-guuh!?" - Lily

I gutted the true heatless chimera that had arrived at the inner-most room after I had Karnel deactivate all the traps. The penguin is still outside, as I'm not trusting him 100% yet.

"It is nothing to be mindful about. People are always curious about us natural Golems, so I have gotten used to questions like that." - Karnel

"*Cough*, I see... my bad..." - Lily

It really is!

"As for why I am here... my brethren can be called... how should I name it... 'warmongers'? Or 'battle-obsessed?" - Karnel

Think I get his point here.

"Truth be told... I do not like combat. I would rather live peacefully and plant flowers, so I left my home in the hope of finding a quiet place to live in." - Karnel

"And that's this island?" - Lily

"That is correct. Then I encountered the many animals on this island. The flora that grows here is unique in the way that it can sate even the carnivores, making the island a peaceful haven for many species, so there is close to no violence... normally. That changed when the 'Frenzies' started to appear." - Karnel

"Meaning you built a whole Dungeon just to protect the local wildlife against the mutated one?" - Garami

"No, it already existed before I had arrived on this island. From what the locals told me back then, this island has been here for 15 years already, and I arrived 2 years ago." - Karnel

Hmm, meaning the Dungeon Master died somewhere and no one found the Core until then?

After hearing Karnel's story, I learned that the Dungeon had always been a gauntlet of death-traps, but Karnel's specialized in barrier-type magic, so he managed to steadily make his way through the Dungeon. There, he took over the owner-less Dungeon and allowed the weaker animals to use it as a refugee if they needed it.

Karnel never summoned any monsters due to him having the animals for company, and he disliked the idea of summoning them just to use them as disposable pawns. The high rank in Facility comes from this place not expanding in floors like my own Dungeon but in zones. Most of the jungle on this island is within the Dungeon's Territory. Karnel never developed anything in those zones except for the main zone we're currently in, which resulted in that trap-hell at the entrance.

An idea started to form in my head, and after evaluating it for a while (thank you, [Thought Super-Acceleration]), I decided to go for it.

"Hmm, in that case, how about letting us watch over this place. Truth be told, our Guild is also in the ownership of a Dungeon, and a much higher level as well. If you let us add this Dungeon to ours, we can add more traps or improving the ones already here, making this place even more secure than before." - Garami

"Really!? Then please do!" - Karnel

"Ehm... as I said, you need to relinquish your ownership of the Dungeon, meaning you'll lose your home..." - Garami

"That is nothing to worry about. I used to have a hut close to the village before I moved. I'm just returning to where I started from. And if this helps you to save those people on the ship that you talked about before, then there are no reasons left for me to decline." - Karnel

...What a... what a good guy!! I could never make such a decision for someone other than me, even more so for strangers! Damn, my eyes are sweating...

"*Sniff*, boss, can't we help him somehow?" - Lily

"...Karnel, are you capable of holding some secrets?" - Garami

---

Sometime after the Dungeon transaction:

"Pedal to the metal, Garn! We gotta find those bastards by yesterday!" - Garami

The Volcanic Wyvern and the ace of Damavand, Garn, let out a roar of approval as we flew over the Matata Island in search of those no-good pirates.

Garn's a huge wyvern with wings for arms, a long tail that ends in a sharp thorn-like appendage that it can use as a sword if needed, and he's big enough to allow a party of six to easily ride on him... plus some luggage. His scales are ashen-grey while his eyes have the same red color as magma. Honestly, he's a little scary, but it's just fitting for my current mood!!

We've already sent two Clans' worth of monsters led by Phire the Malpherus and Rald the D.Goblin Pack Leader, including the five Party's worth that's currently in a Clan with my Party! Karnel and Garn are also included in my Party, just to add some more firepower to the wyvern, and in the hopes of the Golem getting some levels as a small payment for all the trouble we've put him in. Seriously, that guy's too good for this crapsack world...crap, the sweat's back...

The man of the hour himself is currently looking at the new camera-like functions added to the Dungeon in the hopes of locating the pirates to no luck. I kinda expected that. A Dungeon shouldn't be able to enter the Territory of another Dungeon... if rules still apply. Honestly, just the idea of a moving Dungeon is beyond my wildest dreams. The maintenance costs must be outta this world, and maybe other worlds too. 

Just getting a birds-eye view's not enough. We've been looking for that stupid ship for so long that it's already past midnight... ah! That guy could-!

I had Garn get closer to the small mountain that's located on the island's north side and... there! Get 'em, boy!

Garn swooped down and picked up the guy in question who was until a second ago working together with a group of the locals searching for the pirates.

...Ah. We left his weapons behind...eh, whatever.

"Iron, give a call if you see something funny down there," I shouted to the Phantom Mail that's being held in Garn's claws at the moment.

"......So now I've been reduced to a simple search tool..." said Iron with a depressed voice. Hey, you wanted to have a specialty outside defense? Try going the scout route.

"...And I found them." - Iron

"Eh!? Already!?" - Garami

Garn's also looking at Iron with disbelief. Phew, it wasn't just me.

"Over there. It's anchored to that large reef." - Iron 

Hmm... I see the reef, but I can't see any ships.

"You sure about that? Can you see it?" - Garami

"No, but there is a large lifeforce-signal over there." - Iron

"That [Soul Detection]-whatever... sure it's not a sea monster or something?" I asked with doubt in my mind.

"You told me what the penguin said." - Iron

Huh... ah! The whole story about the monsters in the area's a bluff! I forgot about that! Plus, isn't it already known that this island's not attractive to sea monsters? There's no reason for something to stay so close to it! Unless they're those bastards!!

"Garn, permission for volcanic bombardment is granted!" - Garami

It looked like the Volcanic Wyvern's eyes gleamed for a moment before he started to shower the area around the reef with balls of magma. Those are something similar to a dragon's breath in that the magma-balls come out of Garn's mouth, and its firepower is equal to said breath. Even if we can't see them, we'll be able to smoke them out by boiling the water around them! Mwa-hahahaha!!

The ocean soon became a boiling pot with steam reaching even our height. Damn, C-rank monsters are horrifying... I wanna become one too! And there's the ship! Is that... static? Like what appears on old videos? Some kinda camouflage? Damn, that's why we couldn't find it! Good thing we picked up Iron... rather, ain't he better than me despite me being the one with a Scout-line for my Main Class... gotta improve my Perception Skills later.

"Pirate ship located. I repeat: pirate ship located! They're in the waters east, south-east of the island! Get over here as fast as possible!" - Garami

["Roger!!"]

After reporting to the others with the Dungeon Terminal, I could dedicate my whole attention to those bastards below.

"Okay Garn, show them hell!!" - Garami

Not wasting a second, Garn started to really bombard the ship with all the tricks in his arsenal, including the deadly [Magma Rain] skill. Yeah! Go get'em!!

"...Shouldn't we at least try to go down and force the user to dispel their Extra Skill?" - Iron

"There's not enough violence in that solution so I'm vetoing it." - Garami

Despite the intense downpour of violence and magma though, the ship's not getting caught on fire... as much as I hoped. It's still burning in some places, but it's still floating. As expected, sinking a Dungeon is impossible, huh.

"Tch. Got no other choice then. Garn, get down on the deck. We're going for a massacre!" - Garami

"*ROAAAAAR*!!" - Garn

"...Someone is not happy today." - Iron

Garn started to descend to the ship when a gigantic tentacle emerged from the sea beside the ship-, wait, what!? E-evasive maneuvers, Garn!

My steady partner noticed the tentacle ahead of time and flew outside its reach while giving it a ball of magma while dodging. As expected of my ace! But... are those tentacles regenerating? Ugh, seeing the flesh grow back rapidly is enough to make me, the Necromancer, lose her lunch...

*Crash*

...Garn, did you drop Iron while dodging that tentacle? Don't try to look away, mister. I can clearly see Iron crashing onto the pirate's ship... that's about to leave for open waters!? 

"Garn! Drop me down there too! And then focus on making a boiled squid outta that guardian or whatever it is!" - Garami

Garn tried to take me as close as possible, but several of those tentacles appeared again. I decided to jump off there and let Garn escape to safety while using the tentacles as ramps and slide down to the ship... a perfect landing! I should participate in competitions.

The scenery down here... ain't nothing to write home about. Unless you live in a Lovecraftian world. I didn't notice due to the distance, but this ship's not made out of only wood. It's made out of flesh... no, still-living souls!? The "fleshy"-parts emit a sound close to wailing. I can't understand what they're saying, and I don't wanna anyway, but it's prolly not something good if you wanna keep your SAN points.

That bastard-captain, did he take the souls of his victims and use them as "batteries"? Since they're not dead, they'll prolly continue to form some sorta energy until they expire... that's just sick! This place gotta have both Undead and Heretic as attributes.

Grr, I wanna kill that bastard of a Dungeon Master right now... where is everyone? I did hide behind some containers, but there are no one around. Even if this vessel is around the length of a cruise ship, there's gotta be someone on guard when you're receiving a rain of lava from some intruders.

I looked out of my hiding place... and saw Iron fighting a group of pirate/horror monsters. And winning. In style. Hot-burning style. His whole body is covered with [Magma Touch] and he's using grappling moves to scorch the pirates as they get too close since we left his sword and shield behind. Some guys are trying to use magic or long-range skills, but Iron created a sphere of magma in his hands and lobs it at them... which then explodes with a loud bang that spreads more magma, burning the other pirates to their deaths.

C-crap, Iron's taken a note from Garn's book. And he's getting an A+ grade for it! I gotta take notes myself. One that has "never get on Iron's bad side" written on it. 

I could see a fancy-clothed octopus-pirate commanding..., or forcing, the other pirates to fight Iron, each of his eight arms holding a saber that he threatens his crew with now and then. 

Let's leave this to Iron and get to this ship's bridge. 

It wasn't that difficult sneaking past the pirates, as their attention was drawn to the knight of molten magma, so I arrived at the bridge without any problems. There were three pirates taking care of things... but a  few Assassination Arts ended them without anyone noticing the deed.

I steered the ship back to the island before breaking the wheel... I can't. Damn Dungeon-rules. In that case, let's barricade ourselves. I threw lots of webbing on the doors leading to the bridge and prepared myself for any intruders that may try to force themselves in here. Some people did arrive, but the webbing that blocked the door was too much for them, so things were pretty uneventful for me…. until we crashed into the island. 

The impact shook everyone off their feet, but I managed to get back up first. I saw the pirate captain lying on the deck from the bridge's windows, so I took the Dragon Claw Dagger and threw it at the octopus-captain's head... again with Dragon Soul!? You're not living up to your probability, mister!

Hmm... let's use Unification on the Dungeon, and release the souls. I'm gonna have nightmares about them if I don't. And the penguin's crew might be among these guys...

EH!? And some people say that doing good deeds never pays off!

As the Messages popped up, the ship started to fall apart. The wood making it up started to rot away, while the fleshy parts disintegrated into pale blue lights. The constant wailing also stopped. ...Did they pass on to the next life? If it's ever gonna be my turn to do so, for real, I hope I'll have a better end than this...

I met up with Iron, who was standing in the middle of a small sea of burned corpses around him, the identity of said corpses being the horror pirates that had attacked him. You don't need to take the fire-part of firepower that literally, you big idiot! But, you did an awesome job, so congrats!

I could see Garn standing on something that is floating on the surface of the sea... a giant squid? A Kraken? From how haughty Garn looks, he must have defeated it before I used Unification... 

Before deciding what we're gonna do about the corpses of all these freaks (those that can still be considered as such), let's go and make sure that everyone on the ship is alright. Please, please let them be...

---

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