Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 246

Dungeon Journal-246

# 246

Dungeon Journal

Episode 247

“Since this item came from the High Lord’s prized vault, it undoubtedly possesses extraordinary power. However, without knowing its purpose, I’m hesitant to use it.”

Even as Kim Jin-woo spoke, he didn’t fail to observe Mimir’s reaction.

The imp, usually annoyingly inscrutable, appeared desperate, his characteristic slyness nowhere to be seen.

“Judging by your expression, you know what this item is.”

Normally, that single sentence would have alerted him to his mistake, prompting him to mask his expression.

But Mimir, seemingly oblivious, asked again how he had obtained the item.

“Isn’t it more important to know what this item is used for, rather than how I got it?”

Of course, that was only true from his perspective, but given the situation, Mimir didn’t argue.

“If I answer your question, will you answer mine, my Lord?”

Now somewhat composed, Mimir proposed a deal.

Since he hadn’t obtained the item through any particularly secretive means, he agreed and urged him to explain with a look.

Mimir, still unable to take his eyes off the Mask of the Hypocrite, opened his mouth after a long pause.

“That being should not be here.”

Hatred, fear, greed, and longing—conflicting emotions were deeply embedded in Mimir’s low voice.

“Being?”

Kim Jin-woo couldn’t help but repeat the word, taken aback by the imp’s unusually somber tone.

Instead of answering, Mimir recited a gloomy tune as if singing a song.

“The one-eyed giant who sought truth had his only eye plucked out and skewered on bars, and the song of the woman who revered death became a wail of hatred and sorrow. The lake where fairies sang became a swamp of rotting corpses, and the crimson symbol of life ceased to flow and hardened into blackness.”

The gruesome lyrics sent a chill down Kim Jin-woo’s spine. Regardless, Mimir’s song didn’t stop.

“The youth who often shifted into a hundred and twenty-two forms of beasts fell, his legs broken, and the golden dragon left not a single scale. The iridescent radiance faded and turned cold, and the giant who stood tall, bearing the world on his shoulders, knelt and could not rise again, leaving only a night of depravity after the twilight.”

He had never heard of the dragon, the youth, or the giant, but he had heard of the One-Eye and the Wailing, as well as the names of the lords.

Mimir’s song was a subterranean history of the old lords who had fallen at twilight.

“Is that a song about the ten ancient lords?”

“Indeed.”

The song ended, and Mimir nodded, his face flushed as if he was out of breath. Kim Jin-woo tilted his head, looking at Mimir.

“But why nine, not ten? The One-Eyed, the Wailing, the Fairy, the True Blood, the Youth, the Dragon, the Radiance, the Giant, the Usurper. Am I missing one?”

The song only mentioned nine lords, and he couldn’t find the missing one even after thinking hard.

“You are not missing anything, my Lord. This song has only ever told the story of nine lords.”

“Why is that?”

“Because the one who created this song is missing.”

Mimir’s gaze returned to the Mask of the Hypocrite.

“He is the last High Lord not mentioned in the song, and the one who caused the twilight.”

A sense of unease crept up from his fingertips, tightening around his neck.

“He is the original owner of the mask in your hand.”

***

Deeply buried in his throne, Kim Jin-woo found himself craning his neck, completely engrossed in Mimir’s story.

It was no wonder.

He had only asked what the Mask of the Hypocrite was, an item of unknown use, but unexpectedly learned a subterranean history that stretched from ancient times to the present.

He couldn’t help but be amazed.

“The Lord of Depravity—it wasn’t the Usurper who started the war.”

A bitter taste rose in his mouth, and he spat out a word.

“The Usurper was indeed the direct instigator of the war. However, no matter how great the Lord of Depravity was, and no matter how many people supported him, he couldn’t have won against eight High Lords, could he?”

Mimir said that the Usurper had concluded the war, but the original owner of the mask had created the spark and made the situation such that the nine lords had no choice but to lose.

He had heard the story of the real culprit, but questions still remained.

The power of the High Lords was immense. Kim Jin-woo knew that fact better than anyone. Although he hadn’t properly inherited it, nor had he fully obtained that power, it was enough to swallow a powerful duke without much effort.

What on earth did the original owner of the mask do to make the eight lords have no choice but to lose?

“Ironically, he was the most trusted being in the Underworld. Perhaps the lords who deeply trusted him confided in him about their weaknesses.”

Unfortunately, Mimir didn’t know the exact reason either.

After all, a vault keeper who merely ran around the battlefield after the fighting was over to collect spoils couldn’t possibly know the secret history of the Underworld that no one else knew.

“I can’t understand it.”

“You wouldn’t understand. The Underworld of that time valued honor and pride above all else, unlike the Underworld of today.”

It seemed that the Underworld of the past was very different from the current Underworld.

“In any case, the reason I called that mask a being is because of that original owner.”

Mimir, perhaps not wanting to dwell on the past any longer, changed the subject somewhat abruptly.

“Before the twilight came, no one knew he was hiding such evil intentions. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have made some terrible arrangements in his traces.”

It was unsettling. Kim Jin-woo hadn’t yet heard how the original owner of the mask had weakened the power of the lords.

He couldn’t even understand why the last High Lord was being singled out as the culprit.

But as a result, he couldn’t ask that reason. Because the story that came out of Mimir’s mouth was so unexpected.

“The original owner of the mask, the epithet of the one who caused the twilight, is the Wanderer. Nothing could hold him back as he roamed the Underworld like the wind. Not even his own body.”

Mimir said that the original owner of the mask had visited the One-Eyed Lord several times, borrowing the bodies of completely different beings.

“If that’s the case, he might have put his soul in that small mask.”

A chill ran down his spine. The messages that had repeatedly urged him to wear the mask flashed through his mind.

“So never, no matter what happens, you must not wear that mask. In the worst case, you could lose everything.”

At Mimir’s words, Kim Jin-woo involuntarily looked at the mask. He felt a strange tremor in his fingertips at the weight of the mask, which he had never felt before.

In the end, he didn’t hear what the mask was for. But Kim Jin-woo readily told him how he had obtained the mask.

“Something seems strange.”

After hearing the whole story, Mimir wore an unusually serious expression.

“The Vault of Eternity is a precious object that thinks and judges for itself. It is a vault, but it is a living being. And as rare as it is, it is proud and has a nasty temper.”

According to Mimir, the Vault of Eternity was not the kind of being that would kindly give a gift to someone it didn’t recognize as its master, especially someone who had resisted its temptation.

Nevertheless, the Mask of the Hypocrite in his hand was real, and what happened that day was real.

“Perhaps it’s just a whim, but the fact that the item is such an ominous thing…”

In the end, there was no answer to be found in the Great Labyrinth. But that didn’t mean there was no way to know the answer at all.

“Let’s go and check together.”

Mimir nodded at Kim Jin-woo’s words.

***

The surging flashes were a subtle purple, and the color of the tangled threads covering the eerie light was red. The Vault of Eternity was not much different from when Kim Jin-woo first saw it.

The only difference was that the surface, which had been pulsating like a small universe, repeating expansion and compression, was as still as hardened cement.

“This is its usual appearance. It seems the Vault of Eternity had been planning it from the start that day.”

Mimir explained how greedy the Vault of Eternity was, and how appetizing the unbloomed seed of the High Lord would look to such a vault.

“That’s why I asked you so earnestly that day.”

“I remember it clearly.”

He nodded, recalling Mimir’s words, who had repeatedly told him that if he showed even a little bit of an opening, he would be swallowed up in reverse.

Looking at the entrance of the vault, which had changed so drastically, he seemed to feel the vault’s slyness, which he hadn’t realized at the time.

Even now, it was quietly hardened and not showing its insides, but he somehow had a feeling that the Vault of Eternity was watching his every move.

“Hmm.”

The more he felt that way, the more bitter the Mask of the Hypocrite felt in his hand.

Whether it’s this guy or that guy, they’re all eager to devour me.

The Great Labyrinth, the Vault of Eternity. Everything related to the High Lord was always eager to devour its master. That fact felt quite unpleasant, and he cursed the old lords in a small voice.

“I guess you didn’t like this tension, you perverted bastards.”

“What did you say?”

Mimir, who had a long stick in his hand from somewhere, tilted his head, looking at him.

He brushed it off, saying it was nothing, and examined the stick in the imp’s hand.

“What are you planning to do?”

The material seemed similar to the shaft of Gungnir [Odin’s spear], but subtly different. The identity of the strangely shaped stick was a fishing rod.

“If there’s something wrong with the Vault of Eternity, it would be crazy for me to go in and check myself.”

A vault that even the vault keeper feared—it was a ridiculous sight.

“Could you give me the mask?”

“I understand.”

Kim Jin-woo decided to watch what Mimir was doing for a while.

“My Lord?”

But for some reason, he was holding the mask tightly and wouldn’t let go, as if he was about to hand it over right away.

“My Lord?”

Mimir frowned and called him again. But strangely, his face, holding the mask, was full of embarrassment.