Chapter 348: Guwon’s Counterattack
Chapter 348: Guwon’s Counterattack
“Diana? What’s wrong?”
Seeing Diana’s unusual reaction, it seemed she’d figured something out from this giant Magic Stone.
Could this be a clue directly related to the purpose of the dungeon’s creation?
While I was hopeful, I also felt a little anxious, and I tried not to let it show as I spoke.
“Hmm…”
But Diana remained silent, her brow furrowed as if she didn't want to believe what she had discovered.
Don’t make that face. You’ll get wrinkles on your pretty face.
When I gently pressed her brow with my index finger, Diana looked surprised for a moment before smiling softly and stroking my head.
“I see. Do you remember what I said about the giant Magic Stone in the ant nest?”
“Ah, most of it, I think? What specifically?”
“That the giant Magic Stone was created by someone with magical knowledge surpassing my own, by manipulating a mass of mana that exceeds even a Dragon Heart, a thing now only heard of in legends.”
“Oh, yeah. I remember. You did say that. So, are you surprised because this one is the same?”
After all, she seemed to find it unbelievable that someone with greater magical knowledge than her existed.
Didn’t she say it was as if a god had made it?
Honestly, I was leaning toward the hypothesis that the Goddess created this dungeon.
Though that raised another question: if she made it herself, why would she bring me, someone from another world, all the way here to clear it?
“No, that’s not it. From the moment I saw another one existed, I expected it to be similar. It seems this Magic Stone was also created by the same person who made the one we found in the ant nest. It has been treated with advanced magic that infinitely surpasses my own knowledge. Furthermore, the magic it contains even surpasses the one we saw in the ant nest. This is only a hypothesis, but if the one we saw before was the foundational stone for the entire ant nest, then this one seems to be the foundation for the entire 3rd Floor. The larger the scale, the greater the magic contained within the stone, I suppose.”
“Ah, so you were surprised because the magic contained in the stone is so immense?”
But even at that, Diana slowly shook her head.
“No, that’s not it either. Of course, it is astonishing to see an object containing such a vast amount of mana, but that is not the issue. What surprised me the most is that the nature of the mana in this stone seems to be a perfect match for the mana in the stone we saw in the ant nest.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“It means there’s a possibility that the stone from the ant nest and this one were extracted from the same living being. Can you believe it? This is an overwhelming amount of mana, so much that not even the dragons of old could compare. Take this stone alone. I can’t be certain, but it contains enough magic to rival hundreds… no, thousands or even tens of thousands of Dragon Hearts combined. And yet, even this stone might be nothing more than a part of some creature. Do you really think that makes any sense? I simply cannot believe it. Something like this is impossible!”
Hearing Diana’s words, a hypothesis popped into my head.
“…Unless someone chopped up a god’s body and scattered the pieces, right?”
“That’s… Don’t tell me you…!”
It seemed Diana had also realized what I was about to say.
Right. It’s a fairly common trope in mythology.
The story of a god’s body forming the land.
What if someone twisted that cliché, and this dungeon was made from the body of a god?
Of course, it wouldn’t be as simple as the myths where a god falls and their body becomes the earth.
After all, Diana said the Magic Stones had undergone incredible magical processing.
In other words, it’s like this.
The Goddess used the body of another god to create the dungeon.
That god was probably one hostile to this world’s Goddess—in other words, something like a Demon God.
But a god probably doesn’t die that easily.
The Goddess divided the Demon God’s body into many pieces and sealed each one separately.
And those pieces are the floors of the dungeon.
Assuming this hypothesis is correct, what’s the reason the Goddess summoned me to this world?
It’s obvious.
She doesn’t just want the Demon God sealed; she wants it completely annihilated.
Well, this hypothesis does raise several questions.
The first question that comes to mind is, if it’s possible to annihilate the Demon God in the first place, why would the Goddess summon someone like me to do it instead of doing it herself?
And another thing. If the goal really is to annihilate the Demon God, what’s the method?
Is it over just by reaching the end of the dungeon?
I couldn’t imagine it would end that simply.
Besides, if these giant Magic Stones exist on every floor, don’t we have to do something about them?
After all, just killing the Floor Boss allows them to resurrect eventually.
But the Goddess I met before seemed quite satisfied with my actions so far.
I even skipped the 2nd Floor’s boss and went straight to the 3rd Floor through the ant nest.
That means I don’t need to do anything to these giant Magic Stones.
Don’t tell me there’s something like the Demon God’s core on the final floor that I have to destroy?
I could accept having to face a Demon King, but a Demon God? Come on, not a Demon God.
All sorts of distracting thoughts swirled in my head.
To be honest, I had anticipated a similar development to some extent, but now that evidence supporting it was right in front of me, my heart felt heavy.
What made my heart even heavier was the fact that I was in a position where I had to unconditionally obey the Goddess’s command.
What if I refused her, and she took away all the abilities she gave me, like this game system and the Saint job?
No, it would be better if it ended with just that.
The Goddess said I came to this world after making a contract.
Of course, given the personality of the Goddess I met, it doesn't seem likely, but she might demand a price for breaking the contract. A price like my life, for example.
Even if not, she could just undo everything and send me back to my original world.
To think that I might have to go back now, after I’ve come to love so many people in this world.
It’s funny for me to say this, since I didn’t suffer much mental damage when I came from my original world to this one, but the thing I fear most right now is being sent back.
I have to avoid that happening, no matter what it takes.
“Guys, I guess the reason the Goddess sent me to this world is…” “I know what you are thinking. But I do not believe that is the case.”
I must have been making a serious face that didn’t suit me.
Diana placed a hand on my head and stroked it gently, as if to soothe me, as she spoke.
“You don’t think so? What do you mean?”
“Think about it. Did the Goddess not give you the ‘Saint’ job and send you to this world?”
“Yeah. So?”
“If she had summoned you for the purpose of combat, don’t you think she would have given you the ‘Hero’ job, not ‘Saint’?”
As Diana said that, Sara, who had come up beside me and was looking at my face with a worried expression, flinched.
I see. That’s one way to look at it.
“So you think the Goddess sent me here as a Saint for a different reason?”
“Mm. They’ve completely vanished these days, but originally, there were quite a few outsiders in this world besides you. I myself have met a good number of them, but none were ever given a special job by the Goddess. Yet she specifically gave you the ‘Saint’ job before sending you. There must be some special meaning in that.”
Maybe Diana was just saying that to comfort me.
But her words gave me some small measure of comfort.
Right. In terms of pure combat ability, the Hero job was overwhelmingly better than the Saint.
While the Saint might level up faster, the Hero could also level up through hunting, so I didn't think it was that much of an advantage.
“That’s right. Don’t make such a serious face, it doesn’t suit you. And so what if you were summoned for combat? Whether the enemy is a Demon King or a Demon God, I’ll always be by your side, Guwon.”
Sara said, hugging my arm.
The way she emphasized the words ‘Demon King’ and smiled playfully was probably because she remembered the misunderstanding I had a long time ago.
The misunderstanding where I said I’d defeat the Demon King with her, for her sake.
I never thought our roles would be reversed.
“That’s right, Guwon. Even if it’s not a mission from the Goddess, wherever you go, I will always be with you.”
Leia said, hugging my other arm.
Honestly, if I really had to fight a Demon God, I would never want to bring my girls to such a dangerous place, but their feelings alone gave me strength.
“Yeah. Thanks. Well, we don’t even know if I was really summoned to fight a Demon God in the first place. I’ll just ask her the next time we meet, and if it’s true, I’ll worry about it then.”
I forced a bright tone, trying to sound as if I hadn’t a care in the world.
Honestly, the thought that I might have to fight a Demon God wouldn’t leave my mind, but you never know, right?
I decided to force myself to relax.
“For now… shall we head back to town?”
Even so, I no longer felt like exploring the dungeon right now.
A lot of time had passed since we entered the dungeon anyway.
Excluding the time we spent hunting while staying in the town on the 2nd Floor, this might have been our longest expedition ever.
“Since we’ve come this far, I thought for sure you’d suggest we take a look at the 4th Floor before leaving. This is unexpected.”
Diana must have understood how I was feeling, as she spoke in a slightly teasing tone, trying to act as normal as possible.
“Ah, that’s true. Is the path down long?”
“No. It’s incomparably shorter than the paths between other floors.”
“Really? Then shall we go take a look?”
Honestly, the thought of possibly facing a Demon God made me a little reluctant to go deeper into the dungeon, but it’s not like I could avoid it.
No, if a Demon God is the enemy, then I have to go deeper and get even stronger.
After all, I can’t refuse the Goddess’s request.
“I won’t stop you if you insist on going, but I wouldn’t recommend it right now.”
“Huh? Why?”
“You wouldn’t want your equipment to rust, would you?”
“Wait a minute. What’s that supposed to mean all of a sudden?”
“The entire 4th Floor is filled with water.”
Diana said it so casually.
“What? Then what about breathing?”
“That is why, from the 4th Floor onward, it is essential to have a mage or an elementalist in the party. Unless you have an expensive magic item that allows you to breathe underwater.”
“…”
I was left speechless by Diana’s nonchalant explanation.
I’ve been thinking this since the 2nd Floor, but doesn’t this dungeon torment people more with its harsh environments than with ferocious monsters?
If the Goddess really did create this dungeon, it seems she really wanted to keep people away.
No. If the hypothesis that the dungeon is made from parts of a Demon God is correct, should I think the problem lies with the Demon God used as the material, rather than the Goddess intentionally making it this way?
“No. Still, that means we can go, right? You said the equipment will rust? What do we do about that?”
“It needs to be coated with a special material to make it waterproof. The blacksmith’s shop up in town should be able to handle that.”
So we have to go to Hanna’s blacksmith shop again.
It’s been kind of awkward to face them since that last incident.
Well, I was planning on going anyway, partly so I don’t lose them as a regular spot.
And so, we cleanly gave up on looking around the 4th Floor and decided to return to town for now.
We just got our gear nicely enhanced; I can’t let it get rusty.
Let’s decide to go to the 4th Floor only after we’ve gotten all our equipment waterproofed.