My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem - My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1277-1279

Chapter 1277

Shao’s body landed somewhere near where I was getting to my feet. With a shout, I ran over to her. As soon as my hand touched her, I started trying to use healing spells. Yet, this was a soul dungeon. She didn’t have a physical body, so what exactly was I trying to heal. As I left her head in my hand, I prepared to send some of my life into her. Just as I was about to do this, Shao’s hand whipped out and grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

“Stop.” She declared, her eyes fluttering open. “Your Shao… is still out there.”

“E-even so…”

“I know her… Deek. I’m based on her. As much as Miki’s creations were created at her whim, she wasn’t a fool. Her mastery of mind and magic led her to understand us in ways we didn’t understand ourselves.”

“What are you saying?”

“Shao… is in trouble.”

“What?” I responded. “She’s on Earth.”

“Even so… you were the rock that ground her. When you died, the world would have fallen out from under her. I know her, and I know you. So, save her next… please.”

“I will… in fact, we can both save her together.”

She slightly shook her head. “My purpose is over. It’s time for me to leave. As long, as you don’t forget… I’ll always, be inside…”

Her hand gently touched my chest. Then her head fell back, and her eyes began to film over. In my arms, her body began to dissipate into smoke. After a few seconds, there was nothing left.

“Do you understand now?” Hero asked in an arrogant voice. “Some people can’t be saved. Some people don’t want to be saved. Sometimes, it’s better to just let them die.”

Hero was speaking, but he was only speaking out Miki’s will. My hands clenched into fists, and I slowly stood up, my body shaking. Hero had remained unmoving since he had attacked Shao. The fake Lydia had already disappeared into miasma, and even though he has been close enough to attack Miki, he had waited for me. Perhaps, there was some kind of guilt there or an approximation of honor. Alysia was still fighting Terra and Celeste. With only the two of them, she was holding her own much better, but with Celeste’s speed, it was only a matter of time.

I glanced at Miki, who had her head down in a way her pale blonde hair blocked her face. It was as if she was hiding from the world. There was something off about it, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on things. There was still a part of the puzzle missing.

As I thought about it, I started laughing. I threw my head back and laughed. The Hero frowned, not understanding what the joke was.

“I understand now,” I responded, lowering my eyes back on him. “I understand everything.”

“Then, I will end her life now-”

“You were created based on me, at least the me that Miki felt that she needed.” I cut him off. “For the longest time, I had felt that I wasn’t good enough for the girls. I felt that if I just became better, and stronger, and more capable, that I would one day become everything they wanted me to be. I would become the man that deserved all of these women. That was a mistake.”

“You are powerful, but in this place, I will have the advantage.” Hero declared.

“You misunderstand… I’m not saying that I’m not powerful enough. I’m just saying that the mistake I made was thinking that I needed to meet their expectations. It was meeting their expectations that was the problem. Miki was convinced I had died. Perhaps, Celeste being the smartest in the party was accurate, because she was the only one who had faith that I didn’t perish. For the rest of you, you couldn’t imagine a me that survived. As our time was short, you likely were always thinking somewhere in the back of your mind there was a time when I would leave you. Even as you smiled, and held onto me, you feared, no… expected that this time wouldn’t last!”

“What are you saying?” Hero demanded.

“I thought I had to meet the expectations of the women of my life. I thought I had to be good enough for them. I was far too modest. I had to be better than that. I needed to be a stable rock that would never fail and would always come, no matter what. I’m no longer satisfied with being enough.” I pulled out another blade from my inventory. “I will be the best!”

Chapter 1278

I exploded toward the Hero, the ground under me splintering. As I moved, the tattoos on my body began to glow. I adjusted my dungeon points to concentrated on speed and strength, then began to attack him savagely. I had previously been fighting him reservedly. I had been holding back and reserving my strength. I saw no reason to do that now.

I was a white mage. I could heal any damage I received. Even after all this time, it had been instinctual for me to avoid damage. This Hero, who it was anyone’s guess if he even felt pain, would naturally fight to the death for Miki. As for me, I had been avoiding taking damage, because even if I could ignore pain, it wasn’t like I’d just sit back and allow myself to get hit. I changed my strategy, allowing myself to be hit if I could inflict damage on him as well.

When I needed to, I backed away and healed, and then went at him again. My attacks were more aggressive now, and the Hero’s mocking smile had slowly turned into concentration. It was hard to think which one of us took more hits, but I healed after each of mine, while his wounds started to accumulate.

“We’re running out of time.” He declared. “You’re wasting time!”

“Then, die already!” I snapped.

His body glowed and he used a powerful attack. This was similar to the attack he had used when my blade had broken. Knowing this, I went to receive the attack, but at the last minute, I brought the third sword from my inventory and attacked with that. Finding my body phase-shifting through his attack, he lost balance, and a moment later, he lost an arm.

We split, and his arm fell to the ground. I wasn’t able to do that without taking a bit of a hit. I ended up spitting out some blood. However, I was already healing myself and preparing for the next attack. The once gentle and flirtatious smile on Hero’s face had become sinister and angry.

“You think you’ve won?” He snorted. “You seem to be misunderstanding something. You believe that Miki is somehow in control here. If Miki had things her way, do you think she’d allow you to be hurt?”

“I figured it wasn’t all Miki,” I responded. “After all, there is always a bit of a disconnect between the dungeon and the dungeon master. Since Miki’s soul is taking the place of this dungeon core, then naturally, who was the one protecting it?”

Hero grinned. “So, you realized.”

“The one thing I didn’t understand was why you would go about destroying Miki. The dungeon boss exists to protect the dungeon. While dungeon bosses have been known to concede their dungeon, they would rarely act so self-destructive. Of course, if you never intended to destroy the dungeon in the first place…”

“Hahaha…” He laughed, his voice changing slightly, and it sounded strangely familiar to me.

Miasma rose around him and all of the damage on his body was healed in an instant. For just a moment, I could feel something about him that was off and combined with his voice, I put together the part I had been missing.

“The head scientist!” I took a step back. “I should have known you’d be here. You were the dungeon master when she absorbed it. The lore had to have an imprint of you on it.”

“Ah? So, we have met? I should have guessed when you took my secret tunnel down here. If it’s any consolation, you were supposed to be the dungeon master, but I managed to infect her creation. I’ve been given this new, powerful body, and soon I will have complete control of this dungeon too!”

Chapter 1279

“My original plan was simple. I was going to cut off just a piece of the core. Miki’s head… or rather, her mind and will. I had even convinced her it was her idea. Using the power of the souls we had absorbed; I’d expel all of you and lobotomize her. Except, Miki’s dungeon wouldn’t be destroyed. She’d be reformed into my puppet. Then, I would be able to use her as I wanted.” The scientist explained before his expression turned slightly ugly. “I would have succeeded if you didn’t suddenly try to be a hero.”

“You don’t want the dungeon to evolve either.” I hypothesized. “If the dungeon is stronger, you won’t be able to control it as cleanly.”

“Leave it to another dungeon master to understand my woes.” He shrugged in the insolent way I remembered. “Once I have Miki under my control, then I will take over Dioshin using her body as my puppet. Consuming a few million more of those wretched animalkin, and evolving together, I’ll become unstoppable!”

That was the final piece of the story, the part that didn’t make sense to me. Miki’s curse would have been an extension of her will. No matter how angry or desperate she was, she’d still have some sense. Yet, her suicidal plan, while altruistic, wasn’t exactly clever. The answer was simple. Miki didn’t have complete control of herself.

This is why she didn’t kill the foxkin when she left the dungeon. At the time, she was still forming her dungeon. At the time, she was still in control. Even once the dungeon was formed, that didn’t mean she’d go crazy. There were plenty of dungeons, like Matty’s Dungeon and Gram’s Dungeon, who had their own logic and weren’t nearly so destructive. The reason behind all of this had been her first act, to absorb the dungeon lore of the laboratory.

I had been right from the get-go. She was being imprisoned by the head scientist all along. He was the one putting her in chains. What I hadn’t realized is that he was continuing to deceive her. From the moment she walked into that laboratory until now, she had been tricked into thinking she was doing the right thing. A copy of the scientist I had killed had been created, took over my clone, and immediately started leading her down a dark path where she couldn’t see the light. Perhaps this was why my alleged clone was an animalkin and didn’t even really look like me.

I glanced at Miki, and her dull eyes that seemed to see nothing made more sense. Her mental psyche was shaken when it was suggested I was still alive, but rather than her being able to use that to break from her emotional turmoil, this guy had used it to cement his power. Now, we were the only thing standing in his way.

“So, you understand now…” He grinned. “I am Master!”

“Master…” I raised an eyebrow, feeling a strange sensation deep inside me. “You’re Miki’s master?”

“I am…” he responded, lifting his sword. “Now, leave this dungeon!”

“Miki… only has one master.”

“And it’s me…”

I shook my head, clarity forming in my mind. “I am Miki’s master. I have always been her master. I will always be her master. Her body and her soul are mine. If Miki is a dungeon, then the solution is clear! I am her dungeon master!”

I slammed my sword down into the ground with a force of power that erupted outward. A portal ripped open behind me.

“Wh-what’s happening?” Elaya’s voice cried out from beyond the portal.

“I’m going to war.” I announced.

“Again!?” She cried out. “How about a warning next time? Assemble the troops!”

“That won’t be necessary.” I grinned, lifting my hand. “Don’t worry… I’ll take care of things this time!”

Alysia let out a cry as she turned into light and then flew toward me. My dungeon was connected to theirs now. I was no longer bound by their rules.

{You are a rival dungeon master. You have declared war on this dungeon. Defeat the dungeon master to claim the dungeon as your own.}

“I plan to,” I growled as I lunged forward, the power of my dungeon behind me.