Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 275

Dungeon Journal-Episode 275 (275/319)

# 275

Dungeon Journal

Episode 276

97. Ancient Wraith

The forgotten ancient fortress had been revived.

Even the most ferocious creatures that had survived the disaster were terrified and hid in the darkness, and the labyrinths of the deep locked their doors, refusing to venture outside.

Both inside and outside the labyrinths, a terrible fear reigned, and even the mighty dukes were equally terrified.

It was only natural. From the dukes’ perspective, it was as if the enemy they had torn to pieces and scattered in all directions had returned as a wraith, so they couldn’t possibly be at ease.

Moreover, the revived ancient fortress was filled with hatred and rage. The fortress cried out incessantly with terrible sounds, and the Einherjar [warrior spirits chosen to fight in Valhalla], who had newly become residents of Valhalla, also wailed along with the fortress.

“Hmm.”

Angela, who had appeared in the center of the fortress, frowned at the ghostly wails that seemed to suck in souls.

Even for her, who had ascended to the High Lord and gained an unwavering spirit, the roar of this maddened fortress and the screams of its inhabitants were unpleasant to hear.

But she had no time to delay. She knew well the source of the fortress’s hatred.

“Master!”

Seeing her master sitting on a throne carved from golden ash, she hurriedly moved forward but stopped.

“Ah…”

Clearly, all that was visible was golden radiance, each piece splendid and beautiful, but darkness seemed to descend only around her master. The deep darkness made it impossible to approach rashly.

“Master?”

A feeling as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping her heart, she squeezed out a call to her master.

“Ah, Angela.”

She had been worried that she might not reach her master, who appeared faintly as if existing in another world, but fortunately, her master responded immediately, albeit in a parched voice.

Barely relieved, she tried to approach her master again, but belatedly noticed her master’s eyes, which were raised.

Self-mockery, hatred, and a chilling radiance flickered within her master’s eyes.

“Ah, fortunately, I succeeded in obtaining Valhalla. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought, because the test ended simply by sitting here.”

Unlike the dry voice, her master’s eyes were still flickering with madness.

“Ah…”

Angela’s face turned pale, and she involuntarily took a step back.

“This fortress, it’s truly an absurd thing. I thought there couldn’t be anything more wondrous than your Red Castle, but it seems I was wrong.”

Regardless, her master muttered to herself like a madman.

“The walls, made of soft gold, cannot be destroyed by anything, and the Mjolnir [Thor’s hammer] of the spire is so powerful that it can tear even a count to death in an instant. And do you see this throne? This seemingly insignificant throne is the most ridiculous of all.”

Her master, who was chattering as if boasting, had a face that looked as if she would collapse at any moment, contrary to her words.

“This thing, you see, is a treasure that allows you to survey the underground thousands of miles away even while sitting. And I was able to see many things while sitting in this chair.”

“Wh-What…”

It wasn’t that she was curious and asked. It was just that she felt she had to say something, so she barely squeezed out her voice.

“Ah. What did I see? I saw my past.”

But it seemed the question was wrong. The eyes that had been shaking with madness were completely submerged in it.

“I, you see, am a dungeon baby born and raised in the underground. My father was a groundling who stole treasures from the underground and disappeared. As a price, I lived most of my life like a slave, carrying dirt in smelly caves. So I was desperate to survive more than anything else. Becoming strong and taking someone else’s belongings was just a means to an end.”

Bitterness, sorrow, loss, and hatred swirled.

“But, you see.”

The more she spoke, the lower her master’s voice sank.

“If all of that was meaningless, what would you do?”

It was an incomprehensible question, so Angela couldn’t answer. Her master didn’t expect an answer either, so she didn’t force her to answer.

“In fact, everything was determined from the beginning. It didn’t matter what I experienced or how I lived.”

Clack, the sunken voice was so hollow it was chilling.

“From the start, I was just a wraith.”

As she muttered that, her master suddenly reached out her hand.

“Come closer. Weren’t you worried about what might happen to me? Come and examine me. I’m fine.”

But Angela couldn’t approach her master.

“Why? Why are you making that face? It’s as if you’re afraid of me.”

A vampire who, by nature, could only live by plundering the power and life of others. And her master had lived by taking away the lives and power of many others as much as she had. Therefore, her master’s energy was grand yet turbid and greedy.

When that greed was directed entirely at herself, she felt utter terror.

If she got too close, she would be swept away.

Angela instinctively realized that fact.

“I am your master. The master you adore and cherish so much is me.”

The face of her master, who had been feigning composure, cracked. Fierce hatred lost its direction and pressed down on all sides.

“Agh!”

Although there was some loss to maintain the blood contract, she was the master of the Red Castle and the ruler of the reverse side. Even she couldn’t look straight at her master in this state.

“Do you also see me as just a shell?”

At her master’s question, Angela bit her pale lips.

She had to answer. Behind her master’s imposing manner, which seemed as if she would tear her to pieces at any moment, she felt impatience. Behind that cold mask, she saw the figure of a boy crouching and fidgeting.

“Ugh…”

But her voice wouldn’t come out properly, as if her throat was blocked.

Like a herbivore in front of a predator, she trembled.

Her master is the natural enemy of all living things. A monster that steals life and plunders power, and finally chews up and swallows even its existence, leaving no trace.

The fear of an unavoidable natural enemy gripped her throat tightly and wouldn’t let go.

If she could, she wanted to run away to the Red Castle right away. She wanted to hide in the reverse side where no one could harm her and shake off her fear.

But the reason she couldn’t run away despite that was because he was her master.

The sense of duty that she, at least, had to stay by her master’s side, even if everyone else feared and rejected him, held her back.

“Mas…”

Gathering her strength again, she tried to put strength into her throat and call her master. The pain as if thousands of blades were tearing apart her uvula. She gritted her teeth and opened her mouth again.

“Mas…”

“Master!”

Just as she desperately managed to utter the first word, a clear voice interjected. The clear voice that finished the word master so easily, which she couldn’t bring herself to finish, was so terribly surreal.

“Master!”

Again, a clear voice called her master. Only then could Angela find Dominique, who had appeared at some point with a face that looked as if she would cry at any moment.

And the moment she found her, her legs gave way and she collapsed.

***

When Dominique arrived at the center of Valhalla, she could see a scene that was not much different from what she had expected. However, one thing that was different was that the damage to her master’s soul was greater than she had thought.

Right now, her master looked as if she was about to break, as fragile as cracked glass. Her master’s thoughts, which were spewing malice in all directions as if isolated alone in enemy territory, were conveyed to her intact.

Her master was a seed planted by the ancient lords, a fragment of a failed idealist. Like the fragments of the ancient lords, she was a puppet who could only walk along a predetermined path.

A failed idealist, a dreamer who caused the twilight of the underground, a fragment of lingering attachment left by the wandering lord in the underground was the very source of her master.

But was that all? Dominique was the only woman allowed to commune with the king, the consort of the Dragon King. She found a piece hidden deep within her master’s turbid inner self.

“Dominique, can you answer? Who am I? Am I still your master?”

The soul of her master, which had barely maintained its form, began to crack.

If left alone, her master would run wild with terrible loss and hatred, once again donning the guise of an evil dragon. And this time, unlike before, she would never be able to return to her original form.

There was not much time. She answered her master’s question without delay.

“You are the one and only king of the Nagas [a race of serpent-like beings], the sole master of the Frost-Laden Great Labyrinth.”

Her voice was too small and insignificant to raise her collapsing master again.

“My King!”

But another echo was added to that small echo.

“The one and only Dragon King!”

And again, an echo was added there, and countless echoes reached his collapsing soul.

***

[The Naga Queen has used her unique ability, ‘Herald of the King’.]

[Transcending time and space, the King’s loyal army has gathered here.]

Clusters of light gathered from all directions and soon became Nagas. The Nagas who appeared in that way all sent unwavering eyes that showed no wavering whatsoever.

Kim Jin-woo felt the malice and confusion that had been running rampant gradually subside in those confident gazes.

“Even though everything I have achieved is a false victory and accomplishment, do you still call me king?”

“Who in the underground would deny the name of tradition and the achievements of conquest! Moreover, even if they deny it, there will be great glory in the path that the King will walk, so what is so important about the glory of the past!”

At Quantus’s answer, he asked again.

“I am a hypocrite who plunged the glorious ancient underground into a sewer. Someday, the seeds I sowed in the past may bring another terrible disaster to the underground. Will you still follow me even then?”

This time, Dominique answered.

“If you make this world hell, we, the Naga, will gladly become demons.”

The unwavering gazes sent by hundreds of pairs of eyes became a small hope to hold onto, and Kim Jin-woo did not let go of that hope.

“Hell…”

Anger and despair were still there, but he quietly gathered all those emotions inward, inward.

Now is not the time to express this hatred.

He forcibly sealed the torn and festering wound. Even if the emotions that he could not release someday gnaw at his soul and rot from the inside, he will hold all of this inside until the time comes.

He will gladly spit and throw dirt on the noble sacrifice of the usurper who remained alone in the underground with the stigma of betrayal for the sake of the ancient promise.

The moment he set a sword in his heart like that, the real test of Holidscape was over.

[Holidscape pays its respects to you for overcoming the harsh truth.]

[Holidscape has revealed its true name. The true name of this golden ash chair is ‘Throne of Truth’.]

[You can now use the true power of the Throne of Truth.]

As soon as the message ended, Holidscape, the Throne of Truth, began to emit a brilliant light.