Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Shelf Life
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Beyond the borders of the Cyrus Empire lay seven abysses that no one had conquered in hundreds of years.
People called them the Demon God's Dungeons.
The powerful demonic energy leaking from the dungeons corrupted nearby lifeforms into monsters, eventually beginning to devour even human territory.
To stop this, the empire sent countless raiding parties, but only a tiny fraction ever returned alive.
In the end, the empire made a decision.
Instead of sending armies, they would raise armies.
The core of that plan was Luidel Academy.
The empire's premier talent incubator, built in the capital Luft to train raiding parties capable of conquering the Demon God's Dungeons.
Its goal: to forge a hero who could pierce the heart of the Demon God.
Of course, not everyone who enrolled in Luidel became a raider.
The diploma itself was the empire's highest honor, so plenty aimed to enter just for the prestige.
What set Luidel apart was that, despite being a noble-centric imperial academy, commoners could enroll too.
This stemmed from the founding emperor's grand principle: "With the Demon God's threat before us, there's no need to divide humanity."
As a result, discrimination based on background was virtually nonexistent at Luidel, and anyone with talent could enroll.
And now, Luidel Academy's board of directors was reviewing the list of prospective enrollees for the year.
This year's freshmen could be summed up in one word: the golden generation. The best in history.
"The most famous is undoubtedly Saintess Mine."
The empire's saintess, Mine Rose.
She was the first person to open the door to a boss room in a Demon God's Dungeon.
Of course, she opened it without any preparation, leading to the raiding party's annihilation at the time, but that didn't change the fact that she held the key the empire needed.
Only two people could open dungeon doors right now, including her.
"The twin ladies of the Ren family have also submitted enrollment papers."
The empire's foremost sword clan, the Ren family.
The twin sisters from that house, Senia and Cecilia, were both famed for their sword prodigy talents.
Especially the elder sister, Senia, who was hailed as the greatest talent in the family's history, while her younger sister Cecilia boasted skills no less impressive.
"The Grace Family's next head is here too."
"They're said to already surpass most instructors in mana capacity, right?"
The pinnacle of the magic world, the Grace Family.
The only daughter of the prestigious house that had produced imperial magic ministers for generations was set to step into Luidel this year.
On top of that, the eldest son of noble faction leader Count Raigal, the son of Tech Development Director Baron Crust— this year, an unusual number of prominent noble heirs were gathering at Luidel.
The commoners weren't slouches either.
"The commoners are no joke."
"You're talking about Ellie Walker, right?"
Ellie Walker. Son of the empire-renowned craftsman and head of the Walker Workshop.
Raised in the workshop famous for Abyss Core production, he was already known to possess considerable equipment crafting skills.
"There's Ran Fen too."
Famous for smashing through border dungeons, she was the direct disciple of the legendary fist master, the Fist King.
A near-complete warrior with dungeon raiding experience at a young age, she was a talent the empire kept a close eye on.
"But the one I'm paying attention to is this person."
"Seventeen years old and wielding the Extreme God Single Sword... Master Jin has finally drawn his blade."
Extreme God Single Sword.
A swordsmanship said to be usable only by a certain hermit swordsman from decades ago.
Even the current imperial knight commander, an inheritor of the Extreme God Single Sword, had become a sword master without exception.
And this year, the old swordsman's final disciple, Aren Bright, knocked on Luidel's gates.
"Master called him the one who would bring the sun to the empire."
The thick roster closed, and the conference room fell silent.
"This generation is definitely different."
"The term 'golden generation' isn't undeserved."
"At this rate, we might live to see the Demon God's Dungeons conquered."
All eyes turned to a corner of the old map hanging on the wall.
Seven red dots.
Toward the sites of the Demon God's seven great dungeons.
As everyone wore expressions of eager anticipation, one board member suddenly spoke up.
"By the way... Princess."
"Cough?!"
Princess Alicia Cyrus, quietly sipping her tea, spat it out.
"Wh-what is it?"
"About... the second key Your Highness endorsed."
"Ah, yes. The Dirge Sword... was it?"
As her attendant quickly wiped the stain, Alicia caught her breath.
"So, what about it?"
"What has he been up to lately?"
Truth be told, the golden generation weren't the only ones the board had their eyes on.
Three years ago, a boy who opened the boss room of a Demon God's Dungeon—something no one but Mine could do—and single-handedly defeated the boss monster inside.
A boy who proudly proclaimed his self-created swordsmanship, Halibal Style, and named his finishing move after himself.
Yet he possessed a devoted heart that prioritized others' bodies over his own.
Dirge Sword, Halibal Belder.
But his name wasn't on this year's freshman roster.
Sure, the application period wasn't over yet, but the problem was that there hadn't been a peep from him in the past three years.
"No recent activity at all, right?"
"No news of any beast dungeons being cleared either."
Alicia snorted in response.
"You lot have been away from the front lines too long. Do you think a Demon God's Dungeon, unbroken for centuries, falls that easily?"
"That's true, but... we haven't even heard his name lately."
"Hah! Don't you know the saying 'a crouching dragon hides its claws'? A crouching dragon!"
As the board members awkwardly nodded, Alicia's leg trembled under the table.
Why hasn't there been any word from Halibal?
She was the one most anxious about that fact.
'What the hell is he doing? After all the name-dropping I've done...!!'
For the first time, Alicia was gripped by doubt.
What if the shining gem she'd so carefully cherished in her jewel box was actually just roadside coal?
"Just wait a little longer. You'll hear some jaw-dropping news soon enough."
"Yes..."
"What..."
She prayed inwardly.
Please.
⁎⁎⁎
Three years had passed since defeating the chimera.
╔═════════╗
◈Abyss Core - Rene◈
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▸ Equipped Shards: 16/16
□ □ □ □
□ □ □ □
□ □ □ □
◆ □ □ □
╠═════════╣
□ = Red Shard x14
□ = Red Shard II x1
◆ = [Black Cloud]
╠═════════╣
▸ Stat Bonuses
Attack Power 16
Mobility 8
╚═════════╝
Its shelf life had expired.
Fuck.
In wuxia terms, you could say I'd "hit a wall," but it was a bit different.
There were three ways to grow stronger in [Apocalypse Academy].
Leveling up, gear, and Abyss Cores.
Right now, all three had hit their ceilings for me.
I hadn't seen the exact numbers for my level, but I could feel it in spars with Adelin—my strength just wasn't keeping up anymore.
"Huff... huff..."
"Hmm... You're off your game today. How about calling it and resting?"
"One more round, please."
The gains from training in strength and agility had maxed out.
Just like how no human could run 100 meters in 3 seconds no matter how hard they tried.
Gear was the same. Stuck in the military unit, new equipment resupplies were a pipe dream.
But the biggest issue was the Abyss Core.
In Apocalypse Academy, Abyss Cores weren't gear—they were specs.
If a kid crushed enemies with a core fitted with 16 special shards, it wasn't chalked up to gear; the kid was just strong.
Shards weren't easy enough to obtain that money alone could solve it.
So, here's the common question that arises:
"If everyone equips the same shards, don't they all have the same specs?"
Surprisingly, no.
Because there are special Abyss Cores imbued with unique abilities.
These special cores grow independently of their 16 shards—the core itself levels up.
What's really unfair is that named characters like protagonists or heroines all have custom cores, while extras use standard-issue ones.
Wealth begets wealth; poverty begets poverty.
As a player, no worries, but for Halibal? Thunderbolt from a clear sky.
In that sense, my core "Rene" was standard-issue.
Cecilia confirmed it for me.
What kind of top-tier core would a mere nanny have carried, anyway?
So "Rene" had no further growth potential.
But the final boss of the beast dungeon, Barhatan.
This guy was designed around the protagonist character.
With a protagonist custom core and some tier-1 shards wrapped around, it was a boss you could take down with decent control.
Charge in with a standard core?
Even with Black Cloud, it was impossible.
Black Cloud didn't offer much beyond first-turn advantage in turn-based fights anyway.
That's why I tried tier-2 shard builds.
Problem: Tier-2 shards normally dropped starting from the dungeon after the beast dungeon.
As dungeon difficulty rose, shard quality improved, so to get them early, you'd have to farm elite beasts like chimeras or roadblock bosses.
For reference, after my first chimera fight, I spent three months in recovery.
I got beaten to the brink of death; without luck, I'd have died.
Every one of its attacks was brutally lethal, its claws three times sharper than a mantis shrimp's.
And it could fly.
Shard farming against that?
It wasn't just inefficient—it was insane.
But I did it.
Hell, what choice did I have?
After tweaking my shard setup and going in, I managed to pull the turn count down to nine.
But I only took one hit less.
Three months recovery, same as always. First time I saw Adelin explode in rage, and Mine sobbing too.
And the shard I got?
[White Shard]
Fuck. Give it to Cecilia or something.
Not even a tier-2.
Gave up on chimera, cycled through the other four dungeons, grinding shards obsessively.
Result: Enough tier-1 sets to outfit 16 people and then some.
So now what?
Content overflowing, but feeling like a forced rabbit princess.
Spent three years like that.
Not a total waste, though.
Trained daily, sparred consistently.
But no sign of new arts emerging.
Tried stripping all shards and weights, diving into dungeons bare.
Killed foes with just Brake, dragged turns long on purpose to tank hits.
Spammed Return Light nonstop, even exposed weaknesses deliberately.
But maybe because I was forcing risky scenarios, no sparks of arts inspiration.
Couldn't hit other dungeons either.
The others were sealed by vicious demonic energy until the beast dungeon was cleared.
Eventually, the whole unit realized I'd hit a wall.
Sometime after, the "genius" labels dried up.
"Hey, Halibal. Chin up."
"You're plenty strong. Way stronger than us."
"There's lots you can do without even entering dungeons."
No pressure was nice, but the pitying looks increased subtly.
I glanced at the Luidel Academy enrollment papers beside me.
"Time to submit these, huh."
And proceed as originally planned.
Yeah. Sounds good.
Honestly, getting this far was pretty good, right?
In the original story, Halibal Belder becomes a Demon God cultist, turns into a monster, and gets killed by the protagonist's party.
But me now?
Snagged the over-the-top moniker Dirge Sword, earned the empire's trust. No cultist turn.
I could live quietly sucking honey as intended.
Just sit tight, and the protagonist crew would handle the Demon God. No more pain.
Pure honey.
With that thought, I looked down at the battered sword in my hand.
"Time to ditch this soon too."
⁎⁎⁎
"Ah, Lady Adelin! Big trouble!"
A messenger bursting with ragged breaths dashed into Adelin's office.
"What now?"
"S-Sir Halibal... has entered the beast dungeon boss room!!"