Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Repairing the Dimensional Relay
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Whirrrrr—
Pat pat pat!
The mechanical hand was dusting the lab. It used a small broom-like tool to clean the corners, of course, and even swept away the spiderwebs from the ceiling. With an apron made of strange fabric tied around it, the sight was quite serious.
“Dust is flying everywhere, so do it later.”
Whirr—
The eye on the mechanical hand looked at Amon, nodded with its hand, and stopped cleaning.
This was Amon’s secret lab.
Amon lay sprawled in an awkward position on a sofa padded with cloth and leather procured from Liudira atop hard stone.
Whirrrrr—
One of her mechanical hands brought a single grape to her mouth.
“Ah~”
Plop.
The juice burst forth, delivering a sweet sensation to her tongue.
“But… did you wash your hands?”
…Whirr.
“…Go wash them.”
This fruit had also been airlifted from Liudira.
It was probably the last fruit remaining in the dungeon now.
“Fresh ingredients are running out fast. All because I do nothing but lounge around.”
The pulp from moments ago had been sweet.
Ahh.
“A delicacy one can hardly taste in Hell.”
Suddenly, this Solaria continent felt dear to her.
“Where…”
Sniiiif…
Amon savored the air through her nose.
“…It’s been ages since I breathed this land’s air.”
Damp air, somehow musty.
The air carried the characteristics of being underground, but the dungeon setting amplified the feeling.
Eerie and chilling.
She didn’t dislike the quiet.
“Not bad.”
Whirr—
“There… that’s where it’s sore.”
The mechanical hand latched onto Amon’s shoulder and kneaded her body diligently.
“Yawn…”
Amon yawned, her eyes half-lidded.
“The Solaria I remember is all gone…”
She muttered in a drowsy mumble, dredging up extremely old memories.
“The sky has turned upside down. If the demons are extinct… the king’s bloodline severed too?”
Well, Hell had changed just as much.
Before long, Amon began nodding off.
Slacking off was her daily routine.
People often said demons were beings made of desire, but she was one of the rare exceptions.
It had been ages since she’d felt interest in anything. Or had she ever truly desired something to begin with?
Even such trivial questions failed to pique her interest.
She was a snake that had shed its skin repeatedly, a cicada greeting new summers thousands of times through endless metamorphoses. To her, who had endured the ages, emotions were nothing but obsolete consumables past their replacement date.
She had become merely refined, distilled—a symbol of the power embodied by the name Amon. A girl of brilliant inspiration and intellect, numb to anything else.
…Boring. Tedious.
Knowing such days would continue forever was akin to a curse.
Immortality. Eternity.
Forever noisy, yet forever alone.
That was the nature of demons. The seventy-two named demons all lived bearing the loneliness of their existence.
Even whether they had once cherished their contractors was now a faint memory. And Amon’s memories were fainter still than those of the other demons.
…Amon had only one contractor in all of history. After his death, she had never set foot in Solaria again.
—We believe she crossed the Hell Gate of her own accord…
Crossed on her own… Not wrong. Hell’s situation had taken a dire turn, but half of it was an excuse to come here.
An ugly deviation. The thought that someone else’s desire might awaken her own long-dormant longing.
‘Pathetic.’
She wasn’t the only one mired in ennui. All the Great Demons likely were.
Amon stood out even among them. Drawn by a faint but unmistakable wave yearning for a demon, she had seized that light.
So, had she been freed from all boredom…?
Not in the slightest.
“……”
Step…
Step…
But then,
“Amon.”
Swipe…
“Phenex’s subjugation team has secured the rift. Come.”
Smirk—
“…Of course.”
There was still unripe evil here.
That tiny, bumbling momentum suited the phrase “crashing about” and stuck in her mind.
Amon intended to watch it slowly, taking her time… At the very least, she wouldn’t be bored.
* * *
[All threats in the Very Ancient Ruin have been removed.]
[Surveying the Very Ancient Ruin.]
[All spoils belong to Dungeon: Rotten Roots.]
[Construction of the Dimensional Gate Relay is now possible.]
I’d seen many unsurveyed areas of Rotten Roots, including in the flesh, but this was the first place as bizarre-looking as the one before my eyes.
That said, I didn’t let my gaze wander distractedly. Because the subjugation team was kneeling right in front of me.
Of course, Phenex alone wasn’t used to it and stood by herself. Her bright, sparkling eyes seemed expectant of praise.
Ahem…
Stroke…
I placed a hand on her head and brushed past.
“Good work.”
Her face said, *Huh? That’s it?* before breaking into a sunny smile. She was the picture of a puppy.
Brushing coldly past such a creature took some effort in itself.
“Amon, we’ve secured the place as discussed.”
“Hmm… Follow me.”
Amon strode toward the center of the ruin.
Phenex shot a sharp *glare!* at Amon’s back, but Amon showed no reaction. Phenex looked a bit forlorn.
“You lot too. Come along.”
- Gruuu?
“I’ll let you see with your own eyes what you’ve obtained.”
This was a reward of sorts.
A rift shimmered in the exact center of the ruin, with a device engraved with strange patterns below it. It didn’t look much like machinery—more an integral part of the ruin itself.
Amon tinkered with it briefly, then her eyes gleamed as she spoke.
“The device is ancient. This rift passage has completely burned out. Hmm… So that’s what happened.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The previous user must have fled through this rift passage. Hmm, looks like the device malfunctioned back then.”
What? A problem?
This was bad.
“But we can salvage a few coordinates. That should be enough.”
“This device is what creates the dimensional gate you mentioned?”
“Of course. A weapon born to slay more lives.”
“A weapon… Hmm… Why call it a weapon?”
“Do you know why dungeons were born into this world?”
I only knew from a few lines of lore. The devs had never properly expanded on it.
So I basically knew nothing.
At least, it wasn’t enough to bluff in front of this eternal historian and walking library.
I said I knew roughly, and Amon began explaining obligingly.
“The first dungeon was born from the demon high ranks.”
“Hmm…”
“At the time, demons and humans didn’t see their differences as dividing species… but as marks of hierarchical rank.”
…Had something shocking just flown by?
“Wai… What did you say?”
“Exactly that. Humans and demons were originally one. Among them, those exceptionally gifted with mana became the ruling class—that’s the demons of today. Black hair and black eyes, just like you.”
“…How do you know that?”
“Wouldn’t it be stranger if I didn’t? We Great Demons were the very first demons to set foot in Solaria.”
“……”
A barrage of shocking revelations. I wanted to probe each one carefully, but Amon’s interest didn’t last long.
“Just listen. You’ll learn it all eventually anyway. The demon high ranks back then possessed especially immense mana and potential… No wonder they contracted with Great Demons.”
I knew from her lore that Amon had only one contractor in all of history. Probably one of those early Solaria demon high ranks.
“Those who possess much are always targeted by those around them. They summoned me and my siblings from Hell and set our feet upon this land. Ages ago… So long ago that no one in Solaria remembers now.”
A new emotion seemed to glisten like dew on Amon’s face for the first time.
- What do you desire?
“Reminds me of what he said to one of my siblings.”
- …Protect this place.
“The birth of Maertan, called the first dungeon, was thus. It was made to safeguard something precious.”
…Who knew this would turn into a history lesson?
“Much time passed after that, and the very purpose of dungeons began to shift. From safeguarding the precious… to places for testing weapons forged for war…”
Amon’s expression hardened.
“And… after an immense span of time… they became places to gather countless souls.”
“Gradually corrupted, huh.”
“Who knows… Whenever it happened, it was probably inevitable. It originated from evil, yet amusingly, it’s the thing saving your life right now, isn’t it?”
“……”
A dungeon for absorbing souls. Rotten Roots was undoubtedly optimized for gathering them.
And the device before my eyes had surely been born for the purpose of acquiring even more souls.
Did it disgust me to no end? I answered inwardly with a calm smile.
*‘Not at all.’*
No agitation remained.
“Wait…”
Amon suddenly whipped around to face me, as if she’d just realized something while fiddling with the device.
“I got carried away and made it this far, but why should I help you? What’s in it for me?”
She’d scarfed down that mandragora, so fair question—but I’d prepared for this. One of the yields from my latest gacha session.
“……”
I whispered to her ear that I’d hand it over. It held little value to me, but something else entirely to Amon.
Her lips curled into a smirk as she heard me out.
“An early prototype, huh… Not a bad deal.”
Sloooowly…
She placed her hand on the device.
Whoooooom—!
[Beginning repairs on the Dimensional Gate Relay.]
[Beginning repairs on the remaining rift coordinates in the Dimensional Gate Relay.]
……
Unfamiliar mystical script floated into the air above the ruin.
Whoooooom…
Tzzzzzt…
Tzzzzzt…
Was the device overloading? Sparks flew from it, and the ruin let out a strange wail.
Rumble…
Roooar—!
Drrrrrum…
Drrrrrrrrrum…
The ruin began shaking violently.
It was hard to even stay upright, but given the power levels of everyone here, maintaining balance was the bare minimum.
It suddenly hit me: If I hadn’t recruited Amon, who would have repaired this Dimensional Gate Relay? Me, maybe?
Amon’s back was that of a small girl, but I knew better. She was undoubtedly a Great Demon.
Kaaaaaaa—!
Light flickered.
[Repairs on the Dimensional Gate Relay complete.]
[The Dimensional Gate Relay can now summon more intruders to the dungeon.]
[Great Demon Amon performed the repairs directly. Additional rift coordinates repaired.]
[Tip: Certain facilities like the Dimensional Gate Relay show no change even when labor is invested.]
……