Dungeon Overlord: Monster Girl Harem!-Chapter 194: The Empress and the World Eater

The flickering message hung in the air like a bleeding sigil.

[Unauthorised observation attempt detected.]

[Source: Unknown. Interdimensional layer breach – Blocked.]

[Response protocol: Passive Trace Deployed.]

Leonhardt leaned back, hands steepled under his chin, eyes locked on the glowing interface. The energy lingering in the air wasn't divine. Not system-based either. Something older. Cruder. Someone had tried to tear a hole in the dungeon's reality and peek through it with their bare hands.

It had failed.

Barely.

"Who the hell tries to bypass the System?"

[Someone arrogant.]

Ifrit's voice was quiet, a hint of caution and anger flickering along with her golden flames.

(Or maybe a crazy stalker...)

Dravanna made light of the situation, but her small body hugged Leonhardt tightly while stroking his cheek as if to reassure him like a mother.

[Analysing magical residue...]

[Cross-referencing known data points...]

[Classification: UNKNOWN ORIGIN – WESTERN VEIL]

[Probability of Dungeon Master Source: 0.00%]

[Affiliation: NULL]

Leonhardt closed his eyes with a sigh because things seemed more complicated.

Western veil.

A dangerous place.

That wasn't church territory. Nor was it beastkin, human kingdoms, or any of the core dungeons. There were no known powers on that side of the world with the means to reach through the System without alerting it.

Unless they weren't using a System at all.

He reached deeper, triggering the active layer of the passive trace—a burn of DP in exchange for clarity.

The interface hissed.

His vision blurred.

Then refocused into darkness.

Just for a moment.

A flicker of motion, painful pressure behind his eyes.

Then the beginning of something he wasn't sure he was supposed to see.

The list compiled itself slowly.

Leonhardt sat silently as the system filtered traces through every known authority with interdimensional surveillance capacity.

[Cross-matching known breach-capable entities...]

Dozens of names flickered across his vision.

Velka, The Mirror-Eyed Matron – Dungeon Master of the Glass Labyrinth.

Cardinal Granito – Church of Radiance, High Ritualist.

The Chained Prophet – Independent psychic parasite, formerly human.

Queen Maevarin – High Elf Matriarch of the Eastern Verdance.

Lord Ghaz'rek the All-Taster – Exile Tyrant of the Southern Flesh Coasts.

Each name came with a small red marker.

[Flagged: Monitoring Leonhardt Van Arlet]

[Status: Inactive]

"They've all been watching," Leonhardt muttered. "But not recently, or rather something removed their access the moment I swallowed the world eater's core."

[My dear partner, I can't have you in danger.]

'So it was Ifrit? She always protects me in silence...'

He swiped again.

Unfamiliar names loaded. Many were obscured.

[UNKNOWN] – Dungeon Master class: Obscured by veiled contract

[UNKNOWN] – Tagged as "Sleeper of the Ninth Floor"

[UNKNOWN] – Magical architecture implies eastern divine blood

His brows furrowed.

Too many blanks.

Too many variables with just enough power to be threats, but none match the trace pattern. What Leon felt earlier wasn't systemic or divine. It had a pulse, but not a mana core signature. Something colder. Sharper. Like winter caught in the lungs.

He stared at the final line.

[Observer Classification: Not Dungeon Registered. Not Church Bound. Origin Point – Western Veil Territories]

Dravanna stirred inside him.

(That's not a name you find in the system.)

[That's a warning.]

Leonhardt stood, strolling toward the window. The stars above Embervale pulsed faintly. His hand rose to the glass, fingertips cold.

"So someone's out there?"

"Someone the System doesn't know."

[Because they aren't using a system built into this world, this existence is stronger than I thought.]

(Well, a few can peek at the system without being a part of it...)

Leonhardt returned to his throne and brought up the Dungeon Core interface. The glow illuminated his face, and sharp angles and glassy eyes caught the data before it fully resolved.

[Trace complete.]

[System visibility: 0%]

[Passive trace result: Obstructed.]

[Entity remains outside registered chains of power.]

It didn't matter.

If someone was watching, they were close enough to try.

And that was enough.

He pulled up the [DEFENSIVE PROTOCOLS] tab and began rerouting energy.

[Reinforce: Dungeon Core Veil] – 4,000 DP

[Activate: False Signature Projection] – 1,500 DP

[Deploy: Decoy Evolution Beacon] – 3,200 DP

He approved all three with a single swipe. The room pulsed once as mana redirected, layers of magical interference weaving around Embervale like a shroud.

Let them chase illusions.

ChatGPT said:

Excellent. In Part 3: The Response, Leonhardt acts—not with panic, but with calculated aggression. He'll prepare countermeasures, activate defensive protocols, and lay traps using his evolved mind and dungeon resources. This shows his readiness to match high-level threats without rushing blindly.

Part 3: The Response

~375 words

Leonhardt returned to his throne and brought up the Dungeon Core interface. The glow illuminated his face, and sharp angles and glassy eyes caught the data before it fully resolved.

[Trace complete.]

[System visibility: 0%]

[Passive trace result: Obstructed.]

[Entity remains outside the registered chain of power.]

It didn't matter.

If someone was watching, they were close enough to try.

And that was enough.

He pulled up the [DEFENSIVE PROTOCOLS] tab and began rerouting energy.

[Reinforce: Dungeon Core Veil] – 4,000 DP[Activate: False Signature Projection] – 1,500 DP[Deploy: Decoy Evolution Beacon] – 3,200 DP

He approved all three with a single swipe.

Mana surged through the walls. Crystal veins glowed faintly. Layers of shadow magic slipped over Embervale's dungeon core like invisible armour, while a crafted decoy pulse, false, exaggerated, burst outward through the System's registry like a flare.

Let the world see what he wanted them to see.

Let the real danger remain buried.

He opened the Observation Layer next. Not through a messenger. Not through the staff. Leonhardt didn't need anyone else involved until he knew what he was facing.

Ifrit's flame flickered lower, dancing in a tight spiral over his shoulder.

[You're making a lot of noise for a man who just evolved.]

"Can you blame me?"

(But something still touched you, Leonhardt.)

Dravanna's soft voice sounded concerned, different from her usual playful tone.

(Even with all these barriers, they looked in.)

Let them chase illusions.

Leonhardt exhaled.

The World Eater Core throbbed once beneath his sternum, still adapting. It was risky to project strength too soon, but showing weakness was suicide.

Yet he could still feel the strange pressure; the person was still watching him, but through this, he learned they didn't see his system or powers. They were only watching Leonhardt himself and nothing else.

He tapped the interface one last time, submitting a command for the dungeon to reroute all security feeds directly to his throne chamber. He'd see it personally if anything slipped past the outer veil again.

Still, something gnawed at the edge of his instincts.

Whoever it was… hadn't looked at him with greed or aggression.

He couldn't quite describe it, but...

'If felt like when Zafira looks at me...'

***

??? POV

***

The ice didn't crack despite the explosive power surrounding the figure.

She sat unmoving upon her throne, back straight, fingers draped lightly across the armrest carved from frozen bone. Her armour shimmered with a glaze of eternal frost, silver in places, dark blue elsewhere, reflecting the pale glow of the moons above the chasm.

Below her, the wind howled across the monster continent's northern scar. No light reached this place. No life dared linger near her court.

Except her.

The woman on the throne.

Eyes like hollow glass stared forward, watching—though there was no scrying mirror, divine orb, or projection crystal—just ice.

A shard hovered inches above her palm, perfectly still, reflecting nothing. Not the stars. Not the sky.

Not even her.

Only him.

Leonhardt Van Arlet.

"World Eater..."

The woman's voice was delicate and cold as her sharp teeth peeked from her glossy lips.

She watched his evolution, and the ripples in the world's energy caught her attention several times. It wasn't using a system... or mana.

The cold goddess watched him by piercing the weak points in the veil, tracing his will and shape through what he discarded. The way he twisted the cores inside himself. The tar he vomited. The storm he swallowed to become something half-monstrous and half-refined.

It wasn't just this time she watched...

"He's growing faster, but is it enough?"

'The way he looks so desperate... but now I finally know his name, Leonhardt~ such a cute monster, the only monster not under my control.'

Her breath didn't fog the air.

But the mere touch of her finger created a frozen domain where life faded.

Her voice was soft. Cold. Feminine, but dry—like ice catching fire.

"Your Majesty, are you watching that Chimaera again?"

Another feminine voice echoed with a question.

"Can you blame me?"

She tilted her head, letting her long silver hair tumble over her plated shoulder, catching pale blue reflections from the walls.

"I only saw what he let me."

And yet...

She pressed her palm gently to the shard.

Leonhardt's image shimmered within it for a moment—still, powerful, glowing faintly with residual magic.

The Empress smiled.

Not like a conqueror. Not like a rival.

But like a woman who'd found something rare.

Then she blinked—and the shard dissolved into dust.

"When can we meet, strange little monster?"

Because when she stood from her throne, her height was over seven feet.

A Gigante from the western continent.

Empress of monstrosity.