Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 311

Dungeon Journal – Episode 312

The night’s presence, constantly trying to consume him, was a definite threat. He had resolved to embrace even the monster’s insatiable greed, but it wasn’t easy.

It felt like holding a ticking time bomb, and he couldn’t relax.

“If not now, you’ll never get another chance. You’re certainly an interesting being, but the Subterranean won’t offer this opportunity twice.”

The Duke of Depravity insisted that this was his last chance to eliminate the monster’s threat.

“What nonsense…”

With his mind sharpened, Kim Jin-woo glared at her through the excruciating pain.

“Don’t you understand? This is your last chance to remain yourself.”

She smiled brightly as she approached.

“So, choose.”

Angela blocked the Duke of Depravity. The Nagas desperately stood before her as well, struggling against the Subterranean’s oppressive divinity. But despite their efforts, she quickly reached him.

“Master!”

A shrill scream pierced through the intense pain and the Subterranean’s divinity that threatened to crush his consciousness. He barely managed to raise his head.

“Will you embrace that terrible monster and live in constant anxiety?”

A pure white face suddenly appeared, whispering in his ear.

“Or will you expel the night within you?”

It was what he desperately wanted. He was currently suppressing the monster’s nature by refusing to absorb the High Lord’s power, but he knew the situation could change at any moment. If he could eliminate the monster now, he had to seize the opportunity.

“I’ll help you.”

She held out her hand.

“I am also a High Lord, like you, and the night will gladly transfer to me.”

Her pure white hand looked as inviting as when he had fearlessly taken it in the dark cave.

“So, give me your burden, and you can finally rest in peace, my little Jin-woo.”

Her voice was as gentle and warm as he remembered.

“Kuh…”

His vision blurred, not from the pain, but from the overwhelming divinity that crushed his very consciousness.

Soon, he wouldn’t even be able to think clearly in the face of this immense, unknowable power.

“Come, take my hand. Then it will all be over.”

His willpower, once an iron fortress that had withstood even the monster’s greed, was now crumbling like a sandcastle before an irresistible force. All he could hear in that abyss, where his very existence was fading, was her whisper.

“You will become a faithful guardian, protecting the Subterranean and receiving its divine blessing. The monster will completely disappear from within you.”

Her words were incredibly tempting. If he simply reached out and took that small hand, he could escape this terrible pain and fate. The thought filled him with desperation, like a traveler in the desert who had stumbled upon a spring.

“Ugh…”

No longer able to discern reality, he unconsciously reached out his hand.

***

“Master!”

Dominique screamed. The connection with her master, once so strong, was now fraying, with only fragmented thoughts reaching her. And those thoughts were filled with nothing but pain, pain, and more pain.

Her master, whom she believed could face anything with confidence, was collapsing under the Subterranean’s mystery.

With a desperate heart, she tried to run, but her small body remained rooted to the spot.

“Eek!”

She saw the usurper approaching her master. She wanted to rush forward and block her path.

But with the Subterranean’s will intervening, she felt as if her entire body would collapse simply from standing in the presence of that hostile divinity.

“Angela!”

Unable to even cast a simple ice spell, she looked at the golden-haired vampire with her last hope.

“Ah…”

The vampire, who had boasted of her ability to traverse the inner layers [dangerous areas within the dungeon], shook her head in despair.

“Eek!”

Her last hope shattered. But Dominique refused to give up.

Despite the agonizing pain that felt like her heart was melting, she managed to move her body against the overwhelming will.

But it was only for a moment, as dozens of roots suddenly erupted from the ground, binding her body and refusing to release her.

“Let go! Let go of me!”

The scales on her beautiful tail were broken, and her skin was torn. Even in that battered state, she continued to struggle.

Angela, watching her desperate efforts, said, “It seems the Subterranean doesn’t want us to leave this place.”

She knew. There was no way the Duke of Depravity, merely a High Lord like herself, could restrict her ability to cross the inner layers.

The reason she was trapped here was not the usurper, but the will of the Subterranean.

All she could do now was watch.

“But Master!”

Dominique shouted sharply at Angela.

She saw the back of the usurper. The being whose name she had heard countless times was in the form of a girl and appeared surprisingly kind.

But the small back she saw now was as sinister and greedy as a snake eyeing its prey.

She felt dizzy with apprehension.

Nevertheless, there was nothing she and the Nagas could do. The Nagas were barely enduring the hostile divinity, and the Einherjar [undead warriors], who had swept through the battlefield, were staring blankly at the sky like puppets with severed strings.

It was a complete exclusion, enforced by the will of the Subterranean, forcing them to become bystanders.

“Ah…”

She saw black wings sprouting from the usurper’s small back. The sight was like a snake finally baring its fangs.

“Masterrrrr!”

The master, who had been bowing his head, barely raised it. There was no trace of will in his hazy eyes, and his slowly rising hand moved jerkily, like a broken doll.

“Will you embrace that terrible monster and live in constant anxiety, or will you expel the night within you?”

The usurper’s whisper echoed.

“I’ll help you.”

The usurper knew exactly what the master desired.

“I am also a High Lord, like you, and the night will gladly transfer to me. So, give me your burden, and you can finally rest in peace, my little Jin-woo.”

Dominique shouted repeatedly at the warm but insincere whisper. She kept yelling at him not to listen to those words.

“Come, take my hand. Then it will all be over.”

Unfortunately, her voice didn’t seem to reach him. The master, having raised his head, was only looking at the usurper.

“You will become a faithful guardian, protecting the Subterranean and receiving its divine blessing. The monster will completely disappear from within you.”

A whisper that clearly revealed terrible greed and ulterior motives. Dominique finally understood the usurper’s purpose, the one the master had been worrying about, saying he had no way of knowing. She finally realized.

What the usurper wanted was the power of ‘Night’.

“Come now, don’t hesitate any longer. I’m here to share your burden.”

A voice that had become even warmer, as if tightening the noose, and the master reached out his hand.

“Yes. That will end all your hardships.”

But perhaps unable to conceal her greed until the very end, there was a sinister undertone in her slightly trembling voice.

“Master! You must never listen to those words!”

The usurper wanted to become a monster herself, and Dominique didn’t know what she would do with that power.

But it was clear that destruction would befall everyone because of it. So, Dominique desperately called out to her master again and again.

Could it be that her earnestness finally reached her master? The master’s hand, which had been moving slowly but steadily, stopped.

“Tsk.”

The usurper glared at her with clear eyes, as if her mood had been ruined. The small spark of hatred in her perfectly clear eyes was terrifying. Dominique felt breathless, as if she was being strangled by the blatant murderous intent and malice. No more sound came out.

“How dare you…”

When Dominique fell silent, the usurper quickly turned her gaze away and began to whisper to her master again. And the hand that had stopped began to move once more.

“Finally!”

The two hands finally touched. The usurper’s black wings, which had been shyly folded, spread out with a whoosh, and her slender waist twisted with joy.

“Ah…”

In a desperate situation, Dominique and Angela sighed at the birth of a new monster, one that held the hatred and madness that had been passed down since ancient times.

“Hmm?”

But something was strange.

“Why! Why is this happening!”

The usurper shouted in a shrill tone, clearly different from her calm demeanor, in confusion.

“Why isn’t it coming to me!”

The usurper, having removed the mask of benevolence, was ugly, and her voice was no longer warm or kind. It was simply sinister and cold.

“Why indeed.”

A small but powerful voice intervened.

“Because I’ve already picked out a house to move to. I don’t need a new house.”

“Master!”

The master, his face pale, was looking down at the usurper, having regained his usual confidence.

The usurper was unable to accept the situation and was revealing her confused inner thoughts. Her face was no longer the kind Sohee he had known, but just as greedy and ugly as the other High Lords.

“I have a friend who has been with me for a very long time.”

Kim Jin-woo said, looking at her, and held out one hand. But the hand he held out was dyed black, as if he was wearing a black glove.

“It’s been so long now that even I sometimes forget that they exist.”

His gaze briefly left her and turned to the huge ash tree. The pouring divinity and great will were still there, but the sacredness was no longer uncomfortable.

“How could such a thing…”

“How could such a thing be possible?”

Kim Jin-woo looked at the usurper again. She was still repeating the same words over and over, her face full of disbelief. He liked the exposed expression so much. He felt a thrill all over his body at the sense of accomplishment, knowing he had finally begun his revenge.

“Because I made it that way.”

But the revenge was not over yet, so the real beginning was from now on.