Chapter 20: Julius
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 20: Julius
"It’s actually here?"
Edward was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Cecilia’s seemingly joking deduction to be correct.
Seeing the certainty in Cecilia’s eyes, Edward approached the edge of the well.
"There’s a buffer magic circle at the bottom. You can jump down safely."
As Cecilia leaped in, Edward followed suit.
After they jumped, the buffer magic circle at the base quickly and gently caught the two of them as they were about to land. Once they regained their footing, they found themselves at the bottom of the well.
Within the cramped space stood a rusted iron door.
Click.
Cecilia used a key to unlock the iron door, revealing the scene inside. It was a bedroom thick with the stench of decay, looking as though it had been abandoned for a very long time.
Navigating around various dust-covered junk and cobwebs, Edward arrived at a bookshelf.
"Hmm, a diary?"
Edward saw a stack of diaries piled upon it.
*
[Step 2: Open the secret door under the well. Inside is a bedroom where you can find a bookshelf filled with the diaries of the dungeon story’s protagonist. As long as you read them all, you can learn the entire truth and earn twenty-eight achievements in one fell swoop. Pretty simple, right?]
[Step 3: Finally, following the records in the diaries, find the protagonist’s grave and dig up the tombstone used to suppress it. This will release the protagonist’s frenzied resentment—the Dungeon Boss. Defeat it to clear the dungeon.]
[Alternative Plan: If you feel this ending isn't quite right, there is actually a way to unlock the Good Ending. You must defeat the twenty-eight mini-bosses hidden throughout the dungeon in a specific order. You will learn the truth from each of them while simultaneously earning twenty-eight achievements. These mini-bosses are powerful undead transformed from the people who once persecuted the protagonist. If you kill them all, the resentment will be laid to rest, achieving the Good Ending and clearing the dungeon immediately. However, this method is extremely tedious and doesn't increase the rewards, so I don't really recommend it—unless you truly are far kinder than I thought and enjoy taking the long way around for nothing. I have no words for that. Below is the guide to finding the twenty-eight mini-bosses: 1. At the center of any crossroads, place thirteen yellow leaves, and then...]
If one ignored the alternative plan, this was indeed an incredibly simple dungeon guide.
However, after Xie Bai finished reading it, she felt something was off. According to the guide’s description, the entire dungeon was born from a powerful resentment and had absolutely nothing to do with the Soul Guardian.
The Soul Guardian seemed more like an outsider who had come to the abandoned village—which had already become a dungeon—and taken on the role of a protector.
Furthermore, this parchment scroll referred to as a "guide" was highly suspicious. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed to have been written by a player who had farmed this dungeon repeatedly. After all, only a player would view a dungeon as an entity with game-like properties.
If an NPC within the game were to "clear" a dungeon, they would be resolving the situation at a narrative level. It would be impossible to play through it repeatedly.
Thinking of this, Xie Bai couldn't help but complain about her own "traits."
Having transmigrated directly into the game, she should have been a native resident, categorized as an NPC. Yet, she simultaneously possessed a Player Panel, making her a hybrid type—half-player, half-NPC. This unique identity made the world feel like a game and reality at the same time.
The problem was that this identity determination was truly frustrating. For instance, when entering a dungeon, she was judged as a player and had to manually click the entry option. But when clearing the dungeon, she was treated as an NPC driving the plot, which meant the dungeon would be completely and permanently resolved.
In short, she suffered all the inconveniences while enjoying very few of the perks.
Setting aside the issues with the guide and her own traits, Xie Bai decided to follow the guide properly. Regarding the choice of strategy, her gaze lingered on the words "Good Ending" for a moment.
To her, this was also a world where people truly lived. A world where endings could not be changed.
"A Good Ending, huh? That’s a bit of a hassle..."
*
After Edward and Cecilia finished reading all the diaries, they learned some of the truth but found no clues for the next step. Instead, they had wasted a lot of time.
It wasn't until they found a stack of well-preserved alchemy research manuscripts behind the bookshelf that they felt their efforts weren't entirely in vain.
After climbing out of the well, Cecilia was the first to speak.
"Do you think we investigated the wrong direction? The most dangerous thing in there was a stack of failed research manuscripts. They don't pose any threat at all."
Hearing Cecilia’s doubt, Edward also felt something was wrong.
"This village indeed lacks the capability to destroy the Empire. Could it be that there is something within this village that doesn't belong here?"
At that thought, Edward looked back at the research manuscripts in his hand.
[Singularity Technology Research]
By compressing energy to the extreme through specific methods, a qualitative change is achieved, forming a special energy body: a Singularity.
Singularities possess the trait of indestructibility. If integrated into alchemy, the resulting alchemical products will also possess this indestructible trait.
However, the indestructible nature of a Singularity touched upon the domain of the gods.
Based on Edward’s deductions from the diaries, the background of this story took place at least thirty million years ago. At that time, the continent had not yet escaped the rule of the gods, and churches were scattered everywhere.
The alchemist researching Singularity Technology had been a member of the resistance. During an escape from the Church’s pursuit, he had fled into this village. This alchemist had once helped the village survive a massacre by the Church and led them onto the path of resistance.
Unfortunately, lured by the Church’s promises, the villagers eventually betrayed the alchemist, and he fell into the Church’s hands. His subsequent fate went without saying.
The final records in the diary were somewhat blurred, but they seemed to say that the alchemist had accepted the temptation of an Evil God. He cursed the village and the surrounding Church army to death, ensuring that not even their souls could leave the village by a single step.
Edward reflected for a long time but couldn't find anything he had missed. Just as he was about to pick up the manuscripts to study what this Singularity Technology was all about, Cecilia, who was lying on the ground, suddenly snapped her head up.
"Maybe some other people who shouldn't be here have come to this village to cause trouble. Might even be people from the Chaos Church."
Edward was puzzled by her guess. "How did you suddenly come up with such a detailed guess?"
Cecilia pointed into the distance. "Well, don't you think that big black cinder over there looks a lot like a Chaos Cultist?"
Edward blinked. "Huh?"
Suddenly, a massive figure came crashing toward them. Cecilia was quick; she leaped up, kicked Edward out of the way, and quickly jumped to a safe distance.
BOOM!
As the dust settled, the two of them finally saw the massive figure clearly. It was a Gray Horse Knight, five meters tall including his mount.
Seeing his presence, Edward couldn't help but be shocked. "Is this really a being from this village?"
The art style was far too jarring.
Before Edward could confirm the situation, a more startling figure stepped out from the settling dust.
"It seems you aren't as terrifying as I thought."
Edward saw the newcomer clearly. It was the "big black cinder" Cecilia had mentioned. Or, he could simply be called by his name:
Julius.
After the Gray Horse Knight stood back up, he looked at Julius with fury. "Despicable intruder! The souls here are not for you to touch. To ensure you are punished, I shall cast you into the eternal, restless Cage of Death!"
With that, gray flames erupted across the Gray Horse Knight’s body as he leveled his giant spear at Julius.
Facing the Knight’s threat, Julius spoke unhurriedly. "You are clearly an outsider as well, yet you insist on guarding this place and refusing to let go of so many souls. This is not the work you should be doing."
Julius’s words were blunt, accusing the other of doing something futile and utterly meaningless.
Then, Julius looked at the giant spear in the Gray Horse Knight’s hand. "However, I didn't expect you to actually possess a Divine Artifact. A pity that a being who hasn't reached the level of a Demigod cannot yet wield such formidable power."
As he spoke, Julius raised the pitch-black heavy sword in his hand. Beneath his black mask, a faint pressure emanated.
"Soul Guardian... no... Gray Horse Knight. Right now, you are not qualified to use this power that does not belong to you."
Julius pointed the pitch-black heavy sword at his opponent.
"You are not worthy of mentioning death in my presence."