Chapter 349
From its birth, the dungeon was deeply tied to Sherafina and undoubtedly belonged to her . It was Sherafina who chose what monsters appeared on the dungeon’s floors .
That said, there was one rule she couldn’t violate . The dungeon had a clear end and she couldn’t increase or decrease the number of floors as she wanted . As the dragon and the Death Lord showed, she couldn’t control all aspects of the dungeon either .
Thinking about it closely, the dungeon actually had many flaws . For example, the escape of a single administrative guild master could halt the dungeon’s operations .
Sherafina surely had the ability to interfere, but she maintained an eerie silence . Because of it, I felt even more rushed .
Not to mention, the 96th floor was too big . Even if I could ignore magic spells, mechanical traps, and monsters that lied in it, it still took me a long time to break through .
Having spent five minutes to rush through the 96th floor, I headed up to the 97th floor while gritting my teeth .
Even though I strongly told Ciara not to become an explorer, she went into the dungeon when she was ‘selected’ . It was vexing to no end . When Ciara couldn’t be located at the time Kuneē activated, I should have known something happened .
Sherafina was right . I told Ciara not to enter the dungeon because I didn’t want her power to be nullified by worlds’ enemies . That was a lie . The truth was I didn’t want her to be exposed to Sherafina .
Her innate Evil Eyes were already surprising, but carrying countless abilities in her body and creating new ability users, that was something even Sherafina couldn’t do . Like mine, this authority of hers was an absolute power that had never existed before .
Though Ciara herself might not be aware of it, she was deeply tied to me . There certainly was a reason that she was born in the same world as me .
Sherafina said that I was connected to Ciara . Was it because Ciara had part of the world’s power of Earth? Perhaps, but that was unlikely to be the only reason . A Hero with the power to concentrate all powers into one . A Saintess that appeared on Earth only . Though I didn’t want to admit it, her existence had to have been prepared for me .
Not by Sherafina, but by someone else .
I broke through the 97th floor and immediately went up to the 98th floor . 13 minutes had passed since I completely conquered Beyond .
“From now on, it’ll only be a matter of seconds…”
I murmured impatiently . I did everything I could and that made me more impatient, as it meant I couldn’t do anything more than that . Sherafina was an enemy in a league of her own, and I couldn’t easily estimate the limits of her power .
At that moment, the dungeon stopped . The monsters appearing here and there all disappeared, and the traps activating endlessly also ceased their function . This could only mean one thing .
“It’s as I thought . ”
Sherafina was absorbing Ciara . Ciara’s authority was truly powerful . Sherafina, who didn’t have the ability to concentrate all powers into one, couldn’t control the dungeon and absorb Ciara’s authority at the same time .
If that was possible, Sherafina would not have needed me . Thus, the dungeon was bound to stop the moment Ciara entered the dungeon .
There was no need to hesitate . I charged through the silent dungeon as if my life was on the line . With no monsters or traps to get in my way, it became much easier to break through each floor . 98th floor… 99th floor… I hoped Sherafina wouldn’t finish absorbing Ciara by the time I reached her, but it was fine even if she did .
I arrived .
“…”
For a moment, I stood still without a word . The 99th Floor Shop . Looking at the empty storefront, my worry for Loretta grew . I didn’t think she was in any danger with what Sherafina said, but without seeing her with my own eyes, I couldn’t feel at ease .
“… See you in a bit, Loretta . ”
Beyond the storefront was the staircase to the 100th floor . Wasting time here would only benefit Sherafina . Throwing off the remaining worry and hesitation, I climbed the final staircase .
A place I had visited before was waiting for me .
The place I had visited from Fairy Garden with Loretta . As the dungeon’s challenger, I had entered Sherafina’s realm .
“You’re here . ”
She turned towards me . It was definitely Sherafina, the one I remembered meeting before . However, what she said next made me freeze in place .
“Hero-nim . ”
“… What?”
I rebutted with a frown .
“Sherafina, I would rather you not imitate Ciara . ”
Sherafina, who became my enemy, was imitating Ciara who I originally hated . Consequently, I was feeling more uncomfortable .
Hearing my words, she widened her eyes before suddenly breaking out into a joyous smile .
“Oh my, my apologies . I’m still in this form . ”
Then, she changed into Ciara’s appearance . At a loss for words, I asked .
“I know you have a transformation ability . What’s the point of doing this?”
“Sorry, Hero-nim . I just forgot to change back to my appearance after checking out this new body . Don’t be so angry . ”
At that moment, I realized that the girl in front of me was the real Ciara Kenex .
I couldn’t tell with the energy I could feel from her . Ciara’s energy was incomparably lacking compared to Sherafina’s . However, my intuition, which became strengthened to a level of absolute correctness after obtaining the halo, suggested that the existence in front of me was closer to Ciara than Sherafina .
“… How did you survive?”
I asked in a dumbfounded voice .
“Did you think I would get eaten or something?”
“Yeah, I did . ”
“Of course not . We’re in a completely different League . An old hag who could not even embrace worlds’ powers and at best move them among Heroes . Me who can distribute abilities among people . It’s obvious who’s superior!”
Indeed, Ciara had the power to distribute her power to people who weren’t Heroes . However, the scale of the power they wielded was too different .
But Ciara said this imposingly .
“Hero-nim, a stream wanted to devour an ocean and ended up becoming one with it . Then should this stream now be called a stream? Or an ocean?”
“What… Are you saying Sherafina is the stream? Someone who had such boundless mana and lofty League?”
“The amount of mana one has means nothing . Even if Hero-nim has no mana, Hero-nim will still be a Hero . ”
She spoke as though it was the most obvious matter of fact .
“It’s the same for me . Even if I have no mana, I am a Saintess . A Saintess, whose task is to support Hero-nim by his side and eliminate all who dares to get in his way . Although my League is shabby compared to Hero-nim’s lofty League, I still wouldn’t lose to a mere Irregular . ”
If what Ciara was saying was true, everything Sherafina had done was in vain . Even if she managed to defeat me, she would have failed in absorbing me . I would have just absorbed her back . But of course, there was no way to test this hypothesis at this point .
No matter how absurd this situation seemed, I couldn’t say it didn’t happen . The girl in front of me was certainly Ciara Kenex and she certainly had Sherafina’s power in her body .
I didn’t expect this at all . Really, I didn’t think Ciara would be the one waiting for me here . What I expected was Sherafina who obtained Ciara’s power, that was it .
I couldn’t stay silent forever . From what she explained to me just now, I picked out the phrase that weighed the most on my mind .
“Did you say Irregular?”
“Yes . She suddenly barged into my and Hero-nim’s plan . What else would I call her?”
“Plan?”
At my follow-up question, she answered with a confident smile .
“Didn’t I say it from the start? That Hero-nim will be the one to rule everything in the end! The plan is to ensure that happens! The plan to concentrate all worlds’ powers into Hero-nim alone!”
“What…”
Whenever I heard her say this, I thought she was simply being a kid .
“No, wait, isn’t that strange? Sherafina created this plan over 4,000 years ago . What do you mean she barged into ‘our’ plan?”
“What are you talking about, Hero-nim . It’s only been 4,000 years ago! Hasn’t Earth existed for billions of years?”
Ciara said as she tilted her head .
“That woman only realized that the number of worlds’ powers were decreasing and tried to snatch them . She’s a bug that shamelessly flew in the middle of our plan . Without her, our plan would have gone much smoother . ”
“You, just how much do you know?”
“Well, of course, I know everything there is to know about Earth!”
She answered as though it was a simple question .
“I wasn’t like this at first, but Hero-nim helped me open my eyes! Literally! Uhuhu, I still can’t forget the moment when I first opened my eyes . To me who only knew the reason for existing, you gave both power and direction . With these eyes, I came to know everything that happened on Earth and everything that will happen on Earth in the future!”
“You tricked me . ”
“It was for Hero-nim . ”
She spoke without batting an eye .
“Hero-nim is too kind . You care for even the tiniest insects that have no value . That will only delay our goal . Do you remember, Hero-nim? What happened in Antelope Canyon . I was really shocked . I only did what I did for Hero-nim…”
“Ha . ”
When I sighed at a loss for words, I suddenly remembered something . It was because she mentioned Antelope Canyon .
Not too long ago, something similar had happened, except on a completely different scale .
“Land transmittance . ”
“Huhu, that’s right . I knew everything, of course . But if I stopped it, all of humanity wouldn’t be worshipping Hero-nim like they are doing now . ”
2 . 3 billion people had died . If Ciara really knew what would happen, everything she told me and showed me had just been for show .
“I, I knew Hero-nim would give me a kiss if I did that!”
“…”
I thought Ciara had changed . That she was narrow-minded because she was young and grew up in a sheltered environment . I believed she could change as she spent more time with us .
But I was wrong . She hadn’t changed at all . She was the same .
Now, I knew .
When 2 . 3 billion people died from land transmittances, all resentment was centered on Revival . But strangely, none of the resentment was directed at me, Revival’s leader . Instead, I was treated as a messiah who would solve everything . Frankly, it was too unnatural . But now I knew why .
“It was you . ”
Someone had designed it to happen . That someone was in front of me .
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