Chapter: 612
“How many battlegrounds have we crossed? And you say there are even more outrageous things? Hah! What a ridiculous laugh!”
Garad completely dismissed Ruel’s words.
Was the war they fought just some petty land-grab squabble between lords?
No. The battlefield that heroes stepped onto was far greater than wars that decided a nation’s fate. It was a grand war for the survival of humanity.
In the midst of it, the Evil Gods created all sorts of hells to lure the heroes in, hoping to eliminate that variable.
But now there was a dungeon that was even more dangerous?
“That sort of thing is something a road-going child would dream up! Even that child wouldn’t be able to explain it properly!”
“But it exists. Garad. It really exists. A battlefield beyond our perception.”
Yet Ruel had seen it.
A hell that simply surpassed the worst he could imagine. A place where just one wrong step could lead to death. A scene where, even knowing everything that exists here, it was doubtful if one could truly pass through.
“When I escaped from there before, I thought about it. If the me from my heyday had gone there, could I have strategized? I’ve replayed that scenario countless times, but the result was always disastrous.”
It had nothing to do with individual ability. If the creator of the dungeon was determined to kill no matter what, the chances of surviving were next to zero.
“What if it was our party? It wouldn’t have been any different. We might have gone a bit further, but we wouldn’t have reached the end. Even if we sacrificed individual lives to move forward, it would still be impossible for us.”
“If we’re impossible, then who is possible?! While being in this mental world, I realized we’ve been called the best until now. But who is possible? Who on earth can strategize such a nonsensical dungeon?”
“That’s what I’m curious about too.”
Emerging from the shadows behind Garad, Erginius burst into laughter with a look full of bewilderment.
“Didn’t you hear? Despite my appearance, I’m a Deity. There’s no way I can’t invade the world inside my mace.”
“…Is this inside the mace? Not in a child’s mental world?”
“Of course! Think about it. What would happen if there was another mind in one’s own mental world? You’d be invaded. You think I wouldn’t care about that?”
Ruel’s mace itself was a divine artifact, but it was Erginius who had added various additional magics to it. Of course, there would also be considerations for whoever would wield the mace in the future.
“But that’s just a guess about what I think would’ve happened.”
“You’re Erginius but not really Erginius?”
“Exactly. My memories stopped midway. I don’t even know what Lord Erginius did afterward.”
The Erginius present here, starting from a doll and becoming real, only had memories that ended with its creation.
What happened to the Erginius who went to the earth afterward was unclear from his perspective.
The same went for what was embedded in Ruel’s mace. Initially, Erginius couldn’t comprehend this.
After gaining the Authority of God, he became aware of what was contained in the mace and understood it to some extent, but he couldn’t reach its source.
That was a law not yet dragged down to the realm of humanity.
“The Erginius on the ground must have definitely reached the realm of handling Divine Authority. Right?”
“I’ve heard that too.”
As Ruel nodded, Erginius smiled, and Garad looked back and forth at the two with a blank expression.
“Garad. It’s natural you don’t know. Because you’re Garad, but you’re not Garad. To put it simply, it’s more like that notion. You can’t possess knowledge beyond what’s embedded in you, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Once Garad came to that understanding, Erginius smiled and snapped his fingers. Shadows rose from each of them to create chairs.
“I know it’s your power, but the darkness still feels eerie.”
“I’m no different. Just a little deviation, and I feel like I’d be eaten. Who knows what would’ve happened if the Queen wasn’t by my side?”
“Wait. The Queen? You have the Fairy Queen by your side?”
“Didn’t you hear? Hahaha! It’s great! The day would come when I could make a woman joke at you, who always had girls by your side! I’m really happy! But let’s put that on hold. There’s a more interesting story right now.”
Noticing the stares directed at him, Ruel realized they were talking about the dungeon they were about to visit.
“You know. A completely impossible dungeon can’t be created. Even the Agra of our prime couldn’t pull such a trick. It’s faster for their Authority to run out than for such a dungeon to be made.”
The Authority of God isn’t infinite. Although the power they possess may seem infinitely elevated from a mortal’s perspective, it doesn’t mean it reaches the realm of omnipotence. There’s surely an end.
“If even our party at the height of our powers wouldn’t be able to strategize there, that says a lot. Such places can’t exist. If such a place does exist, it’s not a dungeon. It’s something eerily similar.”
“Then it must be something eerily similar.”
In response to Erginius’s words, Ruel replied calmly. No matter how much you question it, reality doesn’t change. That place truly exists.
“I’m really curious. I want to see it with my own eyes.”
“Then just look. It’s coming soon.”
“I’m restricted. It seems like I can’t look inside.”
“Why are Deities so limited in what they can do?”
“Well, if you think about it, we’re just proxies borrowing power.”
After saying he would come back later, Erginius left. The darkness that made up the chair melted back into the shadows.
And at that moment, Lucy began to hum upon seeing the barrier blocking her path.
Her appearance was far from that of someone walking into hell.
Rather, Lucy’s steps seemed innocent like a child going to play.
Garad, who easily read her emotions, couldn’t grasp the situation.
If what Ruel said was correct, the place she was heading was a hell that allowed not even a single mistake.
A place where one wrong step would lead to immediate execution.
Yet how could her steps be so light going to such a place?
Lucy wasn’t crazy. Though they hadn’t spent much time together, Garad had gathered some understanding of Lucy.
She was kind and noble, but her fundamental emotions weren’t much different from those of an ordinary girl.
What’s scary is scary, what’s disliked is disliked, and what’s avoided is avoided.
In these aspects, her friends must be even more extraordinary.
Thus, the reason Lucy could smile as she stepped into hell is that it’s not hell for her.
In other words, the place that is hell for others is a playground for Lucy.
“Thinking about it, I’ve never seen you properly strategizing a dungeon, have I?”
“Well, if it’s the place where your doll was.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I said ‘properly!’”
Properly? What nonsense is that? The command Lucy Allen showed back then was adept.
Even during the Age of Myth, there weren’t many who could lead people like that.
Yet that wasn’t considered proper?
“Oh. It’s starting now.”
Garad, turning his head as if the play was beginning, saw Lucy Allen humming and moving her feet while traps relentlessly rushed to kill her.
“What’s that?”
“Blades capable of tearing through any metal infused with Authority. Poison-tipped arrows that will kill upon a mere graze. Flames that will asphyxiate even if you evade them by burning the air. Sometimes you might lose your senses, and at times be surrounded by numerous illusions, and curses are so common.”
Whoever enters the dungeon has nothing to do with it.
Solid metal. Amazing muscles. Outstanding magical skills—none of those matter. This dungeon is designed to kill, no matter what powers one possesses.
The pure evil of a child harboring malicious intent is so twisted that it could horrify even Garad, who once prided himself as a sage.
“But it doesn’t matter. It’s Lucy we’re talking about.”
However, Lucy Allen doesn’t lose her composure against any hardship.
The tune she hummed when she first set foot in the dungeon still fills the corridor.
She continues her performance on the makeshift stage that is this execution platform known as a dungeon.
It’s not merely a matter of predicting the future. One can’t perform such extraordinary conduct just by glimpsing the future once.
This requires experiencing countless innumerable futures to reach this pinnacle.
“Now, Garad. Will you admit it? That you lost the bet?”
“Wait a minute. Let’s talk first.”
“Don’t worry. This is a mental world. We can create anything. Even if you armor your mouth.”
*
Surely, the dungeon made by the Shoddy God, the vile nuisance, stands apart from others.
Having attempted to strategize this place countless times, I move with some ease, but even in this situation, a chill occasionally rises.
If humanity’s enemy weren’t the foolish Agra but the Shoddy God, would the world not have already perished?
Thinking this, I soon spotted the door leading to the end. The door that bore the memory of young Lucy.
It’s faster than before. Is it natural given how much I’ve grown since my last visit?
Placing my hand on the door, I took a deep breath, thinking about what would await on the other side.
Facing Lucy’s memory means facing her emotions. The feelings of a girl who cried out after losing her only shield cannot possibly be light.
So, I prepare my heart. To not be consumed by the emotions Lucy held.
“Hah.”
The moment I opened the door with both hands, the darkness of the dungeon revealed a smiling young Lucy.
I laughed along with her.
In comparing this, it’s even clearer!
I’ve grown a little taller!
About 0.1cm!
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