My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1271-1273

Chapter 1271

“Would it be a good time to absorb his karma?” Alysia asked.

“To what purpose?” I frowned. “That still leaves Lydia, Celeste, and Terra unable to see the entrance. I’m not sure about Shao.”

I glanced over at her, and she gave a small shrug. “I’m aware of its existence because you’re aware of its existence. However, if I want to go down it, I’d have to follow the fake one.”

So, if I took his karma, Shao would be able to follow because of her nature, but there was no guarantee the others would. I scratched my chin. This was another aspect of dungeons that was like a video game. Mobs had boundaries that they were locked inside. In a standard dungeon, there was a particular group of mobs on each floor, and they rarely crossed. Of course, there were exceptions, such as during a dungeon flood or when the dungeon master allows it, but in general, mobs couldn’t do certain things.

One of those things was passing safe rooms. They couldn’t see them, and if you put a mob in a safe room its connection to the dungeon would be cut. This could cause a myriad of effects. The mob could go nuts. Alternatively, they could gain lucidity, if it was the dungeon causing them to go crazy. If the monster’s power was based on miasma, it might start taking damage, and they would certainly become weakened and vulnerable in such a room.

This is why dungeon masters usually didn’t go into the safe room after you. They could… but their greatest strength was always their connection to the dungeon, and they wouldn’t be able to access it in a safe room. Other mobs that gain intelligence could also know about and enter a safe room based on their will, however, if a dungeon wanted them to leave it’d usually make an alternative exit around the safe room. What I was looking at before me was one such alternative exit, although it wasn’t created with the intent of mobs moving through, or maybe I should say the lore of this dungeon didn’t plan for the hero to reach the boss room through this shortcut, and thus these NPCs didn’t have such a program.

“I’m sorry, I have no clue what you’re looking at.” The Hero spoke with an awkward smile on his face.

“Should I just pick him up and toss him down.” Alysia offered.

“I just had a thought.” I shrugged and lifted my hand. “Portal.”

I was a bit surprised, but a portal began to open up. I turned to Shao for confirmation, but I didn’t need it because I could see the other party members making noises of surprise.

“Where does this lead?” Alysia asked.

“The boss room.” I sighed. “I’ve already been in this dungeon, so I’ve already mapped out our route to the boss room. Technically, this is a new place in a new location, but it’s an exact duplicate created by the original lore. It stood to reason that the mana signature between the two would be the same.”

That’s not saying I could have created a portal to this location when I first came to this world. First off, I didn’t even know that this was the inevitable end location. Secondly, the dungeon wasn’t in the same place, so I wouldn’t have been able to locate it to portal to it. However, from within the dungeon, following the same path I had followed that scientist, I was able to create a portal directly to the boss room. While the hero’s party couldn’t see the shortcut, it looked like they could at least acknowledge portals.

“Master, we’re going through!” Alysia declared, shoving Hero through.

I glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. “If you were just going to toss him anyway…”

She stiffened. “He smiles too much… it was just getting on my nerves.”

It seemed like even Alysia was getting tired of this Hero. I didn’t take offense. That just told me there could only be one of me.

Chapter 1272

After the Hero was nudged into the portal by Alysia, the other girls let out cries and leaped in after him. He was the Hero, so him going first was just fine. I nodded for Shao to go, and then Alysia and I jumped through last. We ended up in the familiar experimental room where the scientist was trying to kill me. I half expected that he would be the final boss. I was wary of him throwing out that death curse again. I didn’t have Alysia in sword form to casually cut it in half again. I planned to let Hero take the curse and die, then take him out while he was recovering. That solved two problems at once.

However, upon entering the familiar room, I didn’t see the scientist at all. In fact, rather than being covered in light, the majority of the room was dark, with a single bright light shining on us.  It was the same place, but a completely different atmosphere than the last time I had come here. As the portal shut behind me, the Hero was already walking to the edge of the darkness with a considering look on his face.

He lifted his hand and created an orb of light. Then, he tossed that orb into the darkness. It winked out as soon as it passed from the light to the darkness. I was sure Hero had also tried his light spell, but I wasn’t in his party like Alysia, so I didn’t get to take advantage of it. I cast my light spell, and just as I predicted, the light didn’t spread out into that suffocating darkness.

“Mmm! Mmmmghmmmm!” A muffled voice came out.

Hero helped Celeste out. “What is it?”

“The light is shrinking! The darkness is closing in!”

The movement was imperceptibly slow, but she was right. After entering, the ring of light was slowly growing smaller and smaller.

“Is this a trap?” Alysia asked anxiously.

“I don’t know,” I responded. “Let’s check.”

I pulled out a piece of meat from a previous meal out of my inventory and tied it to a string. Then, I tossed the string out into the darkness. After a few seconds, I started rolling the line in and bringing the meat back into the light. An empty string appeared, completely devoid of the bait I had attached to the end.

“It’s gone.” Alysia’s eyes widened.

“Well, that’s not reassuring,” I muttered.

“Should we retreat?” Offered Alysia.

That was one option. I could make a portal and return to the hallway. As I was considering my next choice, the Hero spoke up.

“This is a test. My love will guide me!” He took a step directly into the darkness.

The girls all let out cries of surprise, but none of them followed him. As soon as he stepped out, I noticed the light stopped shrinking. I didn’t hear anything from Alysia and I glanced at each other. Then, I looked back at Shao.

“Should we go?”

“The party can’t follow.” She explained. “This part you’re meant to do on your own.”

I let out a sigh. “Seriously… we didn’t need the party after all?”

She chuckled, putting her hand over her mouth. “Whoever said Miki was a skilled storyteller? This is the final part… the part where the hero will prove his love and free her. The question is, will it be him or you who frees her?”

I shot her a small smile, reached out and grabbed Alysia’s hand, and then stepped into the darkness.

Chapter 1273

“In the end, it’s only miasma.” I spoke quietly.

After being plunged into darkness, I felt something attempting to attack, but it was a miasma attack. If I didn’t have a god soul with miasma affinity, this might have been a challenge, but neither I nor Alysia would be affected by it. When I spoke, I noticed my words didn’t come out. I repeated them with Slave Communication.

“This darkness seems to be blocking all of my senses. Do you know where we are going?” Alysia asked in response.

“I’m sure this is some kind of test. Stumbling through the dark, having to find Miki even though you can’t see or hear her.”

“How are you supposed to find her then?” Alysia asked.

“I don’t know? With your heart?” I joked.

“Heart…” Alysia repeated thoughtfully and then perked up. “Do you think there might be something left of the bond between you and Miki?”

“That bond was destroyed by the Illusory Sword Realm,” I explained. “I can’t track her with my skills anymore.”

“I know that… I meant, is there a chance you still can feel something? Miki wouldn’t have designed this to be unbeatable. If you were right and she expected one of the other girls to be in my place, then she had to believe they’d have some way of reaching her. Furthermore, only a former slave of yours should be able to find her. It’s a means of keeping anyone else from completing this dungeon.”

“Can you feel anything?” I asked.

“No… but I wasn’t your slave when Miki was still connected to you. You have to consider she’s a spiritualist. Her sensitivity toward such bonds would be many times greater than others. It was possible she didn’t realize just how hard this bond would be for them to follow.”

I closed my mouth. She might be onto something. Just considering what Miki’s intentions were, she might have expected it to come to this. I slowed to a stop, and then closed my eyes. Rather than plunge forward aimlessly, I started feeling my way I was trying to pay attention to anything. An inclination, the tiniest tug. I didn’t know how long I stood there in the dark, but Alysia didn’t say anything nor move an inch. She was used to silently being by my side as my sword. If anything, this dark environment where all she could feel was me was natural to her.

“All… she can feel is me,” I spoke into the nothingness.

I felt something. I didn’t know if it was imagined or not. It felt like the most imperceptible tug. It felt like someone I cared about was reaching for me. It was a tug not at my body, but against my soul. Compared to the kind of pulling at my soul that brought me to this place, it was nothing, but I believed I felt it. I took a step, and then another. I slowly began to move forward through the darkness. The more steps I made, the more certain I became that I was heading in the right direction. I didn’t know how long I walked through that darkness. It could have been as long as an hour. Time was running short, but I couldn’t panic. I had to reach her.

Light struck my eyes, and I opened them to reveal I was standing in front of a massive cage. Within that cage was Miki. She was wrapped up in chains. Standing next to her was Hero. He was looking in our direction with a sad smile on his face.

Miki’s eyes opened. “Thank you for coming this far. I’m sorry for all the evil I have done. You might have come here with the hope of saving me. However, I do not want to be saved.”

“What are you saying?” I demanded.

She didn’t seem to see me. It was almost like this speech was on a recording. She had no awareness I was in the room with her. The real Miki was still imprisoned.

“I thought I could bring Master back if I became close enough to death. I’ve examined the souls of so many, and yet detect Master’s soul in the beyond. As time passes, the likelihood of saving him only drops. At this point, I must accept that I could not save him.”

“You foolish girl, you didn’t find me because I’m not dead,” I responded.

“I’ve brought you here because as one of Master’s women, I couldn’t stand if you became hurt too. I no longer have control of the monster I’ve become, and while I have rivers of blood on my hands, I couldn’t allow you to be one of them. That’s why I planned things this way. You will be sent out of this dungeon and spared, and I will meet the fate I deserve. I love you all, but I can no longer exist in a world without him.”

“Master!” Alysia warned.

The Hero lifted his blade as Miki lowered her head.  He lifted it over her. I had been wrong. Miki didn’t design this lore to save herself. She designed it as her execution!