Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 312

Dungeon Journal- Episode 313

# 313

Dungeon Journal

Kim Jin-woo had been contemplating this for a long time. Ever since the night tried to consume him, he’d been searching for a way to escape its grasp.

And he finally found a clue.

The Parasitic Worm.

This tiny creature can’t survive without a host. It’s inherently loyal, willingly using all its abilities to ensure its host’s survival.

What would happen if the night were transplanted into such a Parasitic Worm? Just as Valishus, the lion king who refused to yield even after swearing servitude, ended up serving the Naga magician’s body after being subjugated, wouldn’t the night also be bound by the worm’s limitations?

It was a plausible hypothesis, and he thought it was worth experimenting with. But no matter how much he considered it, he couldn’t figure out how to force the proud night into a tiny worm.

Then, an opportunity arose.

[The Mystery of the Underground is a blessing that countless beings living in the Underground yearn to encounter, but it is not applicable to everyone.]

[The night is also one of those exceptions.]

[The Mystery of the Underground is especially harsh to the exiles of the Abyss. And the night is the ruler of such an Abyss.]

[Naturally, the Mystery of the Underground doesn’t want the night roaming around this Underground.]

[The night also knew this, and therefore hated the Mystery of the Underground. But because the difference in their existence was so great, the night feared the Mystery of the Underground even while hating it.]

[The fact that the Mystery of the Underground was showing interest by pouring out divinity right in front of it was a terrible thing for the night.]

He came into contact with the divinity of the Underground Water.

[The Underground Water was very interested in your existence itself. You, who possess the energy of the King of the Watchers, the one-eyed monarch who has devoted himself for a long time, are a welcome presence to the Underground Water.]

The attention of the Underground Water, which he gained unintentionally, wasn’t entirely pleasant.

[The Underground Water has noticed the impure existence within you.]

[The night, which had swallowed all sorts of High Lord’s energy and completely changed, was completely different from before and had become more secretive.]

[But as the Underground Water has become very interested in you, that secrecy is of no help in concealing your existence and the night’s.]

[The Underground Water felt the energy of the night and began to reject you.]

In the pouring divinity, he felt the pain of his existence collapsing. A feeling that his ego was collapsing and he himself was being swept away by a huge law. To make matters worse, the Underground rejected and excluded him, and even a wisp of air wasn’t allowed near him.

Only after being threatened with his existence did he realize why the night and the Evil Gods craved the power of the High Lords so much. It was the only way to blind the Underground Water.

[You were lucky. The Underground Water noticed that you were still properly controlling the night and appreciated your mental strength that had not been eaten by that terrible greed.]

[That is why you, who should have disappeared along with the night who has not yet regained his original power, survived.]

Contrary to the favorable message, the Underground Water stubbornly didn’t stop the test. Exposed to overwhelming divinity, he was still dazed and in a precarious state.

The only small consolation was that the air, which had been scarce around him, returned to normal, and he could barely breathe again.

But the pain was still there. And that pain was more fatal to the night than to him. Realizing this belatedly, he attempted to fuse the Parasitic Worm and the night, which he had previously given up on.

And he succeeded. Perhaps because the night sensed that he would be destroyed by the divinity of the Underground Water, it moved to the Parasitic Worm so easily.

Perhaps the night was thinking of hiding in a small worm and finding another host.

But he had no intention of letting it go.

Although the night had moved to the Parasitic Worm, the power he possessed hadn’t disappeared, and the authority of greed remained intact. He used the authority left to him to devour the Hypocrite’s Mask, which was a fragment and trace of the Wandering Lord.

In that way, he obtained a part of the Wandering Lord’s authority.

The bizarre power to transfer existence by plundering the body, the unique authority of the Wandering Lord that deals with existence itself.

And he used that ability to fix the existence of the Parasitic Worm to himself so that it couldn’t find another host and possess it.

[The night is trying to manipulate the Parasitic Worm to find the nearest host. The Lord of Depravity is in front of him.]

[The night is trying to escape you by using the Parasitic Worm’s possession ability.]

[The Parasitic Worm’s possession ability is not activated.]

[The ability to settle existence that you have performed has completely rendered the Parasitic Worm’s ability useless.]

[The Parasitic Worm is an existence subordinate to you. No matter how powerful the night is, it cannot completely overcome the restrictions related to the origin of the species.]

[The Parasitic Worm, which had been manipulated by the night, has regained consciousness. The night’s instigation no longer works.]

[The night is trying to escape the Parasitic Worm.]

As expected, escape attempts continued. But the night’s escape wasn’t successful.

[The Mystery of the Underground has intervened. The settlement of existence, which was unstable due to the manifestation of immature abilities, has been completely stabilized thanks to the intervention of the Mystery of the Underground.]

[The night could not escape the Parasitic Worm.]

Immediately after the message appeared, his blurred consciousness became clear. The pressure of divinity that seemed to crush the soul itself was no longer felt.

“Why aren’t you coming over to me!”

At that moment, the sharp shout of the Usurper was heard.

“It seems that the Mystery of the Underground is trying to give me a chance.”

At Kim Jin-woo’s words, the Usurper distorted her face like a demon. The warmth and kindness that seemed fake could no longer be found on her face.

“Could it be that you were aiming for it from the beginning?”

The question she asked after a long time, the sweet whisper was now the hatred of a sinister schemer. The expression of the Usurper, who revealed her true colors, was quite a sight.

Looking at that figure, Kim Jin-woo felt the corners of his mouth rising without realizing it. He didn’t bother to hold back the cynicism that kept coming out.

“I wasn’t aiming for it from the beginning. The situation wasn’t that simple.”

Too many things had happened since the restoration began. The ancient spirits were revived, and their dreams came to reality again.

Caught in the cracks of the many events happening around him, he was struggling just to keep up with the flow.

In that situation, guessing her inner thoughts, which were full of lies and deceptions, was nearly impossible.

Because she was a cunning schemer who knew how to cleverly mix one truth among nine lies.

“But thanks to that, I found out what you want.”

Among all the lies that confused his eyes and ears, he focused on one thing: what he had and she didn’t. The truth was hidden inside.

And the answer was surprisingly simple.

The night, a heavenly punishment that threatened him, and the biggest foundation that made him stand in this place, that was the only unique power that only he possessed in this vast Underground.

“Originally, greedy guys hate it terribly when someone touches their things. So you have to constantly think about what the other person is aiming for. If you lose your mind, you’ll be robbed in an instant.”

And he was the greediest guy in the Underground. That’s why he was able to quickly realize what he would have coveted the most if he were in her position.

“Well, anyway, thanks to the Mystery of the Underground that you brought in, I was able to completely control the night. Although it’s a trivial worm, the Parasitic Worm is quite loyal.”

The Usurper’s face became even more distorted at Kim Jin-woo’s relaxed attitude.

“And now that the night is tied to the Parasitic Worm, it has to lend me its power whenever I want until it finds a new host. That’s what the Parasitic Worm that it settled in is like.”

And the night wouldn’t be able to find a new host. As long as he had a foothold in the Underground, the Mystery of the Underground would never allow the night to escape.

“Oh, right. I forgot an important story.”

His eyes, speaking with exaggerated clapping, flashed and spewed blue light.

“Now that the night is tied to the Parasitic Worm…”

His blackened hand was suddenly stretched out.

“I no longer have any restrictions.”

The Lord of Depravity, who didn’t understand his words at that moment, reflexively took a step back and belatedly realized the meaning, hurriedly spreading her wings.

“Should I say thank you?”

But it was already too late; the black energy was grabbing her ankle as she soared.

“Thanks to you, I was able to fix my picky eating habits.”

A face filled with despair, fear, and anger, Kim Jin-woo smiled brightly as he looked at that figure.

“I just didn’t want you to suffer from that terrible monster.”

The Usurper, who had revealed her true colors, put on the mask of a kind girl again. She begged him, even shedding tears, that all of this was for him.

“Living with a monster that might steal your body at any time is a terrible thing. I didn’t want you to live in such pain.”

It was so earnest and affectionate that even a man with an iron heart wouldn’t be able to resist.

But that wasn’t the case for Kim Jin-woo. He didn’t take away the eyes full of blue light, and he had a twisted smile on his lips the whole time.

She said several times that it was true that she was greedy for the night’s authority, but that wasn’t all.

Not only that, but she even brought up the past, lamenting how they, who were as good as siblings, ended up meeting as enemies.

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been able to survive in the first place.”

It’s pathetic and cramped. It was too humble for the High Lord who had reigned under the name of the Usurper for a time that he couldn’t even imagine, but it wasn’t incomprehensible.

However, it was understandable that she was desperate, since she had watched the Beast King, who had been dealt with before her, being absorbed in terrible pain.

However, the more pathetic she looked, the more he felt disillusioned with himself for being deceived and manipulated by her.

“Stop. I don’t want to hear any more.”

So he couldn’t stand it anymore and cut off her words.

“Rather, die as a dignified monarch.”

“You’re really cold-hearted.”

The Usurper retorted to that word, which was like a death sentence. But her expression was somehow different than before.

“Does a dignified death even exist in this Underground? What about you? Can you be indifferent in the face of death?”

The attitude of desperately clinging to him was nowhere to be found. She was already looking at him with a relaxed face.

“I don’t know because I don’t have the ability. I don’t have the power to lead you to the threshold of death.”

That change in attitude was subtly annoying, and he was about to do something, but she suddenly said.

“But I can create a similar situation.”

Before he could even realize the meaning, someone appeared from one side of the forest.

“I wanted to get along with you like before. But you don’t listen to me at all.”

“Why are they here!”

The appearance of those who should never be here made Kim Jin-woo shout in an unusually excited voice. Looking at him, the Usurper whispered softly.

“It was you, Jin-woo, who refused the opportunity to restore everything to its original state.”