Chapter: 612
“How many nightmare scenarios have we overcome? And you’re telling me there are even more outrageous ones out there? Hah! What a ridiculous story!”
Garad didn’t believe Ruel’s words at all.
The wars they experienced weren’t petty land grabs between lords, were they?
No, the battlefields where heroes tread were far grander, stakes higher than those of nations. It was a grand war for the survival of humanity.
In that chaos, the evil gods created every hellish trap imaginable to eliminate the heroes.
But are you saying worse dungeons exist?
“Such things would only come from the delusions of a wandering brat! Even that kid wouldn’t be able to explain it properly!”
“But it exists. Garad. It really does. A war-torn hell that surpasses our understanding.”
Yet Ruel had seen it.
A hell so simple yet far worse than he’d ever imagined. A place where a single wrong step could be fatal. Even if you were aware of everything present, could you truly pass through?
“When I escaped that place before, I reflected. If the peak version of me from my glory days were to enter it, could I conquer it? I replayed it in my mind numerous times, but the outcome was always devastating.”
It had nothing to do with personal abilities. When someone was determined to kill, the chance of survival in their dungeon was near zero.
“What if it were our party? It wouldn’t be any different. We might get a bit further, but we wouldn’t reach the end. Even if we sacrificed ourselves to push forward, it would still be impossible for us.”
“If we can’t do it, who can? Being in this mental realm, we’ve come to realize we have been deemed the best until now. But who really can? Who the hell could conquer such a ridiculous dungeon?”
“That’s what I’m curious about too.”
From behind Garad, Erginius emerged from the shadows with an expression full of disbelief, bursting into laughter.
“Haven’t you heard? I may look this way, but I’m a deity. There’s no way anyone could invade the world inside the mace I created.”
“…This is inside the mace? Not that kid’s mental world?”
“Of course. Think about it. What happens if a different mind occupies one’s own mental world? It gets invaded. You really think I wouldn’t care about that?”
The mace was indeed a divine artifact granted by the gods, but the various additional spells placed on it were from Erginius. Naturally, there was consideration for whoever would wield the mace in the future.
“Of course, saying that sounds like mere speculation.”
“Just because you’re Erginius, doesn’t mean you’re not Erginius?”
“Exactly. My memory got cut off partway. I don’t even know what the later Erginius did.”
The Erginius standing here now, who began as a puppet and became real, only held memories up to the point of his creation.
What he did after emerging to the surface was a mystery to him.
The things contained within Ruel’s mace were similar. Initially, Erginius couldn’t comprehend them.
After gaining divine power, he understood to some extent what lay inside the mace, but couldn’t reach its source.
That was still a principle unrevealed in the realm of mortals.
“The Erginius above must have reached the realm of wielding divine power, right?”
“I’ve heard that too.”
As Ruel nodded, Erginius smiled, and Garad stared back and forth at them, bewildered.
“Garad. It’s only natural that you wouldn’t know. After all, you’re Garad, but not Garad. If we break it down, it’s more like a fragment of your consciousness. You wouldn’t have any knowledge beyond what resides within you. Right?”
“…Yeah.”
After Garad accepted that, Erginius snapped his fingers, and from the shadows of each person, darkness rose to form chairs.
“I know what your power is, but I still find the darkness unsettling.”
“I feel the same. Just a little off-course and it feels like it would swallow me whole. I can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if the queen weren’t here.”
“Wait. The queen? You’re saying the Fairy Queen is next to you?”
“Haven’t you heard? Hahaha! Wonderful, isn’t it? Seeing you, who used to bring women around, now being taunted with stories of ladies! I’m so glad! But let’s save that for later. There’s a more entertaining story at hand.”
As the attention directed to him shifted, Ruel recognized it was about the dungeon they were about to visit.
“You know, a dungeon that’s impossible to conquer cannot be created. Even if it’s the legendary Agra, it can’t engage in such nonsense. Before such dungeons can be formed, their divine powers would likely run out.”
Divine powers aren’t infinite. The strength they possess may seem infinitely lofty from a mortal standpoint, but it doesn’t reach the realm of omnipotence. An end undoubtedly exists.
“If there’s a place even our party in its prime cannot conquer, then it becomes meaningless. Such places cannot exist. If they did, then that’s not a dungeon – it’s some twisted mimicry.”
“Then it must be that warped mimicry.”
Ruel accepted what Erginius said calmly. No matter how much he queried, reality wouldn’t change. That place undeniably existed.
“I’m curious. I absolutely want to see it myself.”
“Then you can just look. It’s coming up soon.”
“There are restrictions. It seems I’m not allowed to view what’s inside.”
“Why is it that the gods have such limited capabilities?”
“If we were to break it down, we’re merely agents drawing upon borrowed power.”
Later, after Erginius departed, the chairs made of darkness melted back into shadows.
And at that moment, Lucy hummed a tune upon facing a barrier blocking her way.
She appeared nothing like someone stepping into hell.
Rather, her steps seemed lighthearted like a child going out to play.
Garad, who found it easy to read emotions, couldn’t understand the situation at all.
If what Ruel said was true, the place she was heading toward now was an hell that wouldn’t allow a single mistake.
A guillotine where one wrong step could mean death.
Yet how could she tread so lightly on her way there?
Lucy wasn’t insane. Though they hadn’t spent much time together, Garad had gotten a decent grasp of who she was.
She was good and noble, yet fundamentally, her emotions weren’t all that different from an ordinary girl.
Fear was fear, and dislike was dislike, and aversion was aversion.
In that sense, her friends might be the extraordinary ones.
So, the reason Lucy could smile while stepping into that hell was because for her, it wasn’t hell.
In other words, while the place might be hell for others, it had become a playground for Lucy.
“Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen you properly explore a dungeon, Lucy.”
“Only that place where your doll used to be.”
“That’s not what I mean. I mean properly.”
Properly? What nonsense is that? The command Lucy Alrn had shown back then was skillful.
Even now, it’s rare for someone to lead people like that, even in the Mythological Era.
Yet they still say it wasn’t proper?
“Oh. Here we go.”
Garad turned his head at the light tone suggesting the curtain was about to rise, seeing Lucy Alrn foot-tapping while humming a tune and traps racing toward her to end her life without pause.
“What the hell is that?”
“That’s a blade imbued with divine power capable of tearing apart any metal. Poison-tipped arrows that kill just by grazing skin. Flames that could suffocate even while dodging them. It’s not uncommon to lose one’s senses or get surrounded by numerous illusions, and curses are a dime a dozen.”
What mattered was not who enters the dungeon, but rather, this dungeon was designed to kill.
No matter how sturdy the metal, how amazing the muscles, or how proficient the magic, this dungeon was tailored to ensure death.
The naive malice of a child carrying a wicked heart would no doubt grin while declaring that people would die here, something that would astound even Garad, who believed himself to be a sage.
“But it doesn’t matter. Because Lucy’s here.”
And Lucy Alrn didn’t lose her composure no matter the ordeal.
The humming she started when first stepping into that dungeon filled the corridors even now.
Using this execution platform known as a dungeon as her stage, she continued her performance.
This wasn’t just reading the future; one couldn’t merely pull off such antics from glimpsing the future once.
It’s a state you could only attain after experiencing an unfathomable number of futures.
“Alright. Garad, will you finally recognize that you lost the bet?”
“Wait a minute. Let’s have a talk first.”
“Don’t worry. It’s the mental world, isn’t it? I can create anything here, even if you were to wear armor!”
*
Truly, the filthy dungeon created by the pathetic god was on another level compared to others.
Even with countless conquests under my belt, I could move somewhat at ease, yet this situation still sent shivers down my spine.
If humanity’s enemy were not the foolish Agra but the pathetic god, perhaps the world wouldn’t have perished.
Lost in such thoughts, I soon came upon the door leading to the end. The door, holding remnants of Lucy’s childhood memories.
Wow, I’m faster this time. I’ve matured way more than during my last visit, so it’s only natural.
As my hand touched the door, I took a deep breath, thinking of what awaits beyond.
Facing Lucy’s memories means confronting those emotions. The emotions of a little girl who wailed after losing her only shield wouldn’t be light.
So, I prepared my heart. To not be consumed by the feelings Lucy harbored.
“Whew.”
The moment I opened the door with both hands, a young Lucy beamed at me from the darkness of the dungeon.
I smiled back.
By comparing it, it indeed became more certain!
I’ve grown a bit taller, huh?
I guess about 0.1 cm!
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