Dungeon Clear
Sally had poured every last drop of her remaining spirit power into Bagan before being reverse-summoned back to Harmonia. Instead of the dreary, oppressive landscape of Pandemonium, he found himself in a familiar, warm home. Yet Sally’s heart was anything but at ease.
“Bagan!”
She called out desperately, but there was no way her voice could reach him. With no spirit power left for communication, her words simply couldn’t connect.
“No matter how much you beg, it cannot be helped.”
A mature voice spoke from beside her. Sally turned.
“Lady Spia.”
It was Spia, who had been staying briefly in Sally’s room.
“Why are you here, if I may ask?”
“This is my palace. Is there some reason I shouldn’t be allowed to enter?”
At Spia’s pointed remark, Sally bowed her head, unable to contain the emotions swirling inside her. She scolded herself for speaking so rudely to her own goddess—the one she served.
“I’m sorry.”
“More importantly, it seems you struggled quite a bit.”
What Spia said next caught Sally completely off guard.
“Were you watching the entire time?”
“Mm. More precisely, I simply knew.”
Spia was the goddess of all spirits and of space itself. She was also the deity who oversaw dungeons. There was no way she wouldn’t have been aware of what happened to one of her own child-like spirits inside a dungeon.
“Are you worried?”
“Yes. Without me, Bagan will…”
“Then go back to him.”
“But I have no spirit power left. I can’t manifest in Pangea using him as a medium anymore. What should I do, Mother?”
Sally had been so earnest that she called her “Mother” instead of the usual “Lady Spia.” Perhaps that sincerity reached her. Spia opened her mouth without hesitation.
“Being together isn’t something that only happens when you’re physically side by side.”
“…I don’t understand what you mean.”
Seeing Sally’s bewildered expression, Spia sighed and twisted the empty air. The space warped, revealing the current states of the four Spirit Kings who governed the primal elements.
“Ifrit was born cradling roaring flames. Elion was born cradling flowing water. Silian was born cradling gentle breezes, and Noas was born cradling solid earth. And you—you were born cradling a sword that cuts through sin.”
“A sword that cuts through sin…”
As Sally struggled to grasp the meaning, Spia spoke with clear frustration.
“A sword cannot cut by itself. It must be held in someone’s hand to slice even through iron.”
Having said her piece, Spia turned away as if the conversation was over and began playing the board game in Sally’s room. It was Janggi—the strategic game Bagan had recommended to her. Whenever she played it with him, time flew by without her noticing.
“Are you still here? If you have nothing better to do, you could always play with me…”
Spia smiled faintly, clearly urging her to leave quickly.
“You were originally my sword, but just this once, I’ll lend you to your contractor.”
With those words, Spia gently stroked Sally’s head, pouring power into her.
Shwoooosh!
Sally vanished. Alone in the room, Spia murmured to herself.
“Hmm. It’s going to be boring again for a while.”
Anticipating Sally’s return, Spia called “General!” inside her mind. Even though she was playing Janggi by herself, she had opened with the blue pieces. The red pieces, moving second, were now in checkmate.
“Since those two have regained their strength, you’ll be in checkmate soon too.”
Thinking of someone in particular, Spia returned the pieces to their starting positions. She was preparing for the next game. She deliberately chose not to capture the king even though it was already trapped. That was the true way to humiliate an opponent.
‘I feel way stronger than before.’
Their bond had reached its peak, and his abilities had risen accordingly. Condemnation was a kind of buff that grew stronger the greater the sin it faced. It enhanced not only physical ability but also mental fortitude and even the capacity to wield mana.
Since he was currently purifying mana through his core, the difference wasn’t immediately obvious. But if an ordinary mage had received this buff, their mana recovery rate and casting speed would have increased tenfold.
With that kind of buff active, standing before Leviathan didn’t feel intimidating at all.
Boom!
“Still, this is getting annoying.”
At some point, the creature had begun gathering waves of heat and firing them off. Thanks to that, Bagan couldn’t even get close. He was too busy blocking or dodging.
“You scurry around like a damn rat! How long do you think you can keep dodging?”
Leviathan grew more and more furious. Naturally, the heat waves he fired became even more powerful.
Bagan ignored the taunts and calmly searched for a way to break through.
‘Sally’s cheering for me with everything she has. I need to repay her.’
He couldn’t allow himself to be reverse-summoned like last time, or look weak in front of a demon while bearing the name of Condemnation.
‘In the end, I guess I have no choice but to use that.’
Bagan’s thoughts converged on a single answer.
Justification.
The power that made the impossible possible. It was Bagan’s greatest card.
The only concern was that it required using demonic energy…
‘This is the intersection between Pandemonium and Pangea. There’s plenty of demonic energy here.’
The foreign power he had been refining in his core all this time—it was demonic energy. In other words, the ingredients were more than sufficient.
‘Time to finish the dish.’
Having made up his mind, Bagan first activated Acceleration (C) to speed up his thoughts. Thanks to that, he could dodge all of Leviathan’s attacks while organizing his plan.
Next, he used the power of the dragon to form a Draconic Sword, then ignited it with the flames of Condemnation.
Fwoooosh!
The white-burning Draconic Sword twisted the incoming wave of heat.
Shiiiing!
The heat singeing his ears was unavoidable. But with a single twist, he created an opening in the enemy’s defense. He had calculated exactly when the next attack would come.
“?!”
Leviathan’s face twisted in shock. He clearly hadn’t expected Bagan to close the distance.
Thanks to his accelerated thoughts, Bagan could see every movement clearly.
‘He’s planning to meet me head-on.’
Judging that his own physical durability was sufficient, Leviathan charged forward. But that was exactly what Bagan had anticipated.
“Stop!”
Piiing!
Thud!
Dragon Fear and the Language of Power were used simultaneously. Leviathan’s body froze in place.
“W-what is this?!”
Leviathan reacted in a way that didn’t match his massive size.
“You’re still a creature of Pandemonium, after all.”
Dragons stood at the apex of all living beings. Before the power of a dragon—which could deceive every creature—Leviathan had no choice but to suffer the same fate.
‘I twisted it using Justification, but…’
He had adjusted it with the thought that it might only work on creatures of Pangea.
Stab!!
The white-burning Draconic Sword plunged into Leviathan’s abdomen, which had boasted incredible toughness.
“Ugh!! You bastard!!”
Normally, he would have twisted his body to avoid a fatal wound. But with his movements restricted, he had no choice but to take the full force of the blow.
Bagan gave the furious demon a relaxed smile.
“If you’re that mad, go beat a dragon and come back.”
“Kuaaaaaah! I will definitely crush you!”
Leviathan could no longer maintain his sanity. He glared at Bagan, seething with rage.
“Do as you wish.”
“Gaaaah!!”
While Bagan remained composed, Leviathan vomited something foul from his mouth and grabbed the Draconic Sword with both hands, trying to yank it out. Bagan nearly lost his grip from the brute force.
“Looks like you can move again.”
Bagan knew better than anyone that the dragon’s power had a limited duration.
Clack!
Crunch!
He stepped back and drove the Draconic Sword into the ice. Because—
‘His rage is about to explode any second now.’
If this were a raid, they had just entered the final phase.
Leviathan’s skin burned red as if drenched in blood. An unbearable heat radiated outward. He was so furious that tears of blood streamed from his eyes.
Bagan immediately changed the shape of the Draconic Sword embedded in the ground.
‘Just as I created a sword, I can make a shield too.’
And not just any shield—a massive one large enough to cover his entire body. Bagan waited patiently behind it, like an infantryman bracing for a lance charge.
‘If I can endure this, I win.’
Victory was already certain. All that remained was the enemy’s final desperate struggle.
As if on cue, Leviathan began charging.
“I will rip you apart and kill you!”
Thud!
Spouting meaningless threats, he slammed into Bagan’s shield.
Thud!
But he couldn’t break through the solid defense.
(The more he does that, the more he drains his own stamina.)
Bagan thought the same. Just like with the sword, the shield was also wreathed in the flames of Condemnation.
“I’ll kill you!”
Bang!
“Die!”
Bang!
“I will never forgive you!”
Bang!
“I’ll trample your corpse and invade Pangea!”
Bang!
Leviathan kept smashing against the thorny wall, unaware he was tearing away at his own life. The things he said were ridiculous.
Because—
“Sorry to break it to you.”
Bang!
“Even if it wasn’t me, you were going to die anyway.”
Whether one called them numerous futures or countless pasts, as far as Bagan knew, Leviathan always lost. Since the demon had no way of knowing that, he could boast so proudly about taking countless lives.
It was a foolish thought, fitting for someone often called naïve.
“Ugh…!”
His heat slowly began to subside. It was time to counterattack.
Bagan changed the shape of the shield. He made it smaller and held one in each hand.
Then—
Wham!
“If you’ve committed a sin!”
Wham!
“You should be punished!”
Wham!
“And take the hit!”
Wham!
“Like you deserve!”
Wham!
Having exhausted all his stamina to the flames of Condemnation, Leviathan couldn’t block the shields Bagan swung. He was beaten from every direction, and parts of his body began to disintegrate under Sally’s power.
The fist that struck the shield had already vanished. The face that took the blows transformed from an alligator’s snout into a fish’s. The horns on his head were split in half, unrecognizable. His tail had been severed, now only half its original length.
“U-uaaah…”
The roar-filled cries had turned into groans. The red body slowly returned to a deep brown. Even his size had shrunk. He had once been twice as large as Bagan, but now they were almost the same height.
“You… Just what the hell are you…?”
Leviathan finally revealed the terror buried deep in his heart. His face was filled with fear as he stared at Bagan.
In response, Bagan formed the Draconic Sword once more to finish the fight. Since Sally’s power already dwelled within the blade, there was no need to go through the full process of Condemnation.
“This guy deserves summary execution, right?”
(Yes. His sins are heavier than any I’ve seen so far.)
With Sally’s permission granted, Bagan channeled power into his front foot. He was about to unleash the swordsmanship he had trained relentlessly—the very style of Reinhardt.
He raised both hands holding the sword high into the sky, then brought it down with all his might, as if to cleave the world itself.
It was true overwhelming pressure. The time it took for the sword to fall felt like an eternity.
Kugugung!
It wasn’t a sound a sword should make, but it was the unique hallmark of Reinhardt’s swordsmanship that no other style could replicate.
As the Draconic Sword descended toward his head, Leviathan thought of one thing.
‘Lady Ira…’
There was no after.
And so, the Demon of Rage, Leviathan, returned to nothingness.
“Huff! Huff!”
The stamina consumption was worse than any fight before. It had been the most difficult battle he had ever faced.
Bagan scanned the spot where Leviathan had disappeared.
“…This is?”
(Why? Isn’t it over?)
Sally asked, curious about his reaction. As expected, she couldn’t sense it.
It was the same energy he had seen in the Chamber of Condemnation. The only difference was that it had felt gentle then. Now it was utterly repulsive.
“Absorption.”
As soon as he used Absorption on that energy, Bagan felt something filling up inside him.
“As I thought.”
It was the trait Leviathan had left behind—Rage.
Bagan immediately tested it. The activation was simple. All he had to do was get angry.
Then—
Fwoooosh.
Just like when he had possessed the Blessing of Flames, heat erupted from his body.
“It’s the same ability Leviathan used.”
“Exactly. I didn’t expect this to remain either.”
“It’s a power of sin. Are you sure it’s okay?”
“I’ll have to use it as little as possible. As you saw, if I can’t control my anger, I’ll end up destroying myself.”
After finishing his conversation with Sally, Bagan stopped using the ability. He returned to his normal state.
Selena and Arien approached.
“Sir Bagan, are you alright?”
“Yeah. What about you two?”
“We did our best to protect our bodies from Leviathan’s heat.”
“Good job.”
“I really thought I was going to die.”
Selena looked utterly drained. Seeing her expression, Bagan no longer felt like staying in this dungeon any longer.
“Let’s destroy the dungeon and get out of here.”
At Bagan’s words, Selena’s face brightened.
“Shall we?”
Even though she tried to hide it, the corners of her mouth kept rising and refused to come back down.
And so, Bagan’s party shattered the Dungeon Stone, collapsing the artificially created dungeon that had forced the collision of layers. They emerged once again into the cave where Selena had lived.
Whoosh!
“Oh, we came out here.”
“New information acquired.”
“Ah, I just want to rest now.”
Each of them spoke their thoughts, melting away the exhaustion of the long, grueling battle.