“I’m ready to abandon Elvenguard if necessary. Just keep that in mind.”
“······!”
Mia’s eyes grow as big as saucers.
For a moment, she looks at me as if wanting to question me, but her mouth just flaps open without any words coming out.
······Looks like there was some misunderstanding.
“Of course, I’m talking about in the worst-case scenario. It’s not that we can’t protect it, but if things get tough, we need to abandon Elvenguard and evacuate the citizens at the very least. I know how important the World Tree is to the elves, but… the lives of the people cannot be prioritized less than that.”
Elvenguard isn’t just a place.
It’s where the World Tree grows, the land of the elves.
I can already imagine the hardships the elves would face if they lost Elvenguard.
But they cannot be sacrificed alongside the World Tree in the face of impending doom.
“Yes. I understand. I’m also advising the citizens to flee and abandon the World Tree in the worst-case scenario. I agree with Yoo Jin. People come first.”
“Promise me here. In the crisis of Elvenguard’s destruction, that you will prioritize evacuating the people above everything else.”
“Yes, well… I’ll do my best…”
Mia responds quizzically.
I’ve gotten her promise.
No matter what happens, we will save the people first.
I doubt a catastrophic disaster with millions of citizens dying would come to pass, though.
“And there’s one more thing we need to confirm here. Who put the curse on the dungeon?”
“······!”
“······?!”
At that moment, bewilderment spreads across the faces of Jill, Yulia, and Yerina.
Seeing that makes me certain once more.
This isn’t something they intended.
But the fact that they react so confused when I mention the curse in the dungeon is proof they were involved, directly or indirectly.
“How did you know?”
“What do you mean, how did I know? Every time I entered the dungeon, coolness wafted out, and the monsters got stronger. It was chaos!”
“Y-Yeah, but… I confirmed that the curse had no effect…!”
“To be precise, it happened every time I entered.”
“Ah…! I-I didn’t mean to…!”
Yulia desperately waves her hands, trying to explain.
Looking at her frantically, it seems she’s the ringleader here.
But she’s also supposed to become a curse caster in the latter part of the story, given her great talent in curses.
So it’s true she intentionally cast a curse on the dungeon.
But she claims it wasn’t intended to hinder me?
The situation feels like it’s getting tangled.
“What do you mean by that? You didn’t intend to? You didn’t cast the curse to stop me?”
“Of course not… I-I was trying to help Yoo Jin… I was, um, initially trying to cast a curse to weaken the monsters in the dungeon… But the demonic energy functioned oddly, so I thought it failed because there was no visible effect…”
After hearing everything, the gist is this.
Yulia discovered she could curse the dungeon one day.
Through that, she aimed to assist me in conquering the dungeon.
Now that they’ve revealed that the dungeon functions to extract energy to send to another realm, and with the knowledge that invaders from another realm are currently attacking, she deduced that I was facing those enemies by conquering the dungeon.
She’s connecting the dots while I was busy running away, not explaining anything all this time.
‘Why didn’t I do this sooner?’
What if I had gathered the three of them earlier and opened my heart to them?
There’s a slight feeling of regret.
Of course, all of us were foolish back then, so this result wouldn’t have come about anyway.
“I’ll hurry and fix it…”
“You can’t. It’s inscribed within the dungeon’s network. It’s impossible unless we cross into the other realm. And even if we do, there’s no guarantee it’ll work.”
“······.”
Fixing it is impossible.
There’s no explanation on how the curse operates.
No idea how long the curse will last.
It’s a strange situation.
Even though curses are an uncharted territory compared to magic, it’s hard to comprehend that the demonic energy acted autonomously, inscribing an unintended curse.
Perhaps the answer lies elsewhere.
‘This is likely Draken’s doing.’
No need to spin it around.
If Draken hijacked the demonic energy from the other realm and applied a curse, that settles everything.
‘I might even be able to use it…?!’
The impossibility of fixing it feels rather despairing.
But on the bright side, there’s an idea on how to utilize this curse.
Of course, I hope it doesn’t come to that in the worst of circumstances.
“I think most misunderstandings are resolved now. There might still be some lingering issues, but let’s put out the urgent fires first and slowly resolve the rest. Let’s all survive and come back together, healthy.”
“······.”
“······.”
“······.”
My words seem too foreboding, and a silence settles in the room.
I didn’t want to say this, but I had no choice.
After all, there are many mighty beings around here who wouldn’t hesitate to throw their life away in a crisis situation…
I may not be brave enough to stand that test myself.
I’m terrified that the main heroines would sacrifice themselves for me.
“If everything ends, but you’re not there, it would mean nothing. Please, don’t think foolish thoughts.”
After taking down the Four Heavenly Kings, I want to have a raucous party with them.
Of course, even after the Four Heavenly Kings are gone, there’s still the threat of Draken.
But for now, getting rid of the immediate threats to my life is cause enough for a celebration.
Then, I’ll join forces with the heroines to defeat Draken.
I want to remain in this peaceful world and spend the rest of my life with them.
That is my dream.
······I believe I need to send a letter to Cornelia.
.
.
.
|The Frost Duchess and Transylvania are outside!|
|Frost Duchess? Transylvania? So what? What’s the big deal?|
|Are you not grasping the situation?! The Frost Duchess and Transylvania joined forces to attack me! I have no way of knowing why, but they are clearly allied with that man against us!|
|······|
The Great Demon, crawling out from the abyss, starts babbling frantically.
In response, Luna remains silent for a moment, observing the Great Demon’s expression.
She seems very frightened.
Having lost the numerous puppets she had controlled for a long time.
Never before has the Great Demon appeared so pathetic, having lost even the protection of Draken.
Once the battle begins, the Great Demon will likely be the first to tuck its tail and run away.
Luna decides not to keep her expectations high.
|Doesn’t matter. Even if the Frost Duchess comes, this place won’t budge. The dungeon itself is like the most solid fortress in the world, especially with the undead army stationed here…|
Even if unleashed outside, the undead army itself is a calamity.
Sure, they are still in the process of being resurrected, so they aren’t a complete army yet.
If we focus on using them for defense, this is truly an impregnable fortress.
There’s no possible way to break or breach it.
It’s not just difficult; it’s ‘impossible.’
Luna can confidently declare that.
Unless a miraculous event occurs where the entire world joins forces, and superhumans reach a consensus to launch an overwhelming assault…
|Presence…?!|
At that moment, the Great Demon jumps in surprise and crawls back into the abyss.
Moving through the shadows, the Great Demon heads quickly toward the dungeon entrance.
At that spot, the sealed stone door slowly opens, light streaming in.
|Frost Duchess! Come in! I didn’t feel like fighting earlier, but if we’re here…!|
Inside the dungeon, fighting means never losing.
As the Great Demon confidently approaches, peering through the open door…
In an instant, the Great Demon’s instincts scream.
|······!|
The judgment was quick.
In a flash, the Great Demon shed most of its demonic energy, diving swiftly to the side.
At that moment, immense amounts of power surged through the gap of the stone door.
A radiant beam of golden light, like a bright illumination!
The holy energy that vanquishes evil soared into the dungeon, obliterating anything in its path.
The demonic energy the Great Demon had just shed vanished without a trace.
The spot where the Great Demon was now lay deep, with no remains of its previous presence.
‘Is this from the Great Mage of the Holy Church?!’
I confirmed that the Frost Duchess came.
I never expected such a strong force from the Holy Kingdom would arrive.
The Great Demon, startled, hid away in a small shadow that was left and quickly formed a seal.
Then, a formation unfolded, creating a wall that blocked all magical power around the Great Demon.
|Demonic energy…?!|
But at that moment, dark energy began to swirl in through the gap of the door.
Demonic energy approached, ready to choke the Great Demon’s neck.
The energy punched a totem into the dungeon and began to spread calamity in all directions.
|Damn it, damn it! Damn it!!!|
If the barrier only blocks magical power, it won’t be a problem, but if it blocks demonic energy too, erecting such a barrier is troublesome.
If the curse caster is involved in the attack, running away is the only answer.
The Great Demon ultimately decided to leave all defense to Luna and the undead army and started fleeing immediately.
“Where do you think you’re going in such a hurry?”
“Hey! You need to settle the score before leaving!”
|Where are all these monsters suddenly crawling out from?!!|
But immediately, four powerful hands grasped the Great Demon’s arms and legs.
Transylvania and the Frost Duchess.
Faced with their gleaming eyes, the Great Demon trembled in fear.
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