Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 109

Chapter 109: The River of Blood

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

We increased our pace and dove deeper into the dungeon.

“This place is pretty deep.”

“How many years old is this dungeon?”

“I’m not sure. But it looks like it’s over ten years old.”

“Ten years… That means this dungeon is quite dangerous then. It’s strange there hasn’t been an Overload until now.”

“The dungeon we went into before was twenty years old, right?”

“Well, if Jiro could clear that one, this might not be a problem for him… But for us, we’re already a burden as we talk right now.”

Come to think of it, it seemed the memories of these two had been completely wiped clean of anything regarding the Kingdom of Peschel. However, the memory of having conquered a dungeon that produced orichalcum together still remained firmly intact. That part must have been impossible for Claire to forget, since it was tied to a family matter for her.

From the way they spoke, the event was now framed as something that happened in a dungeon on some island in Western Europe. It was an effect of the memory rewrite I had performed when I left. Since there were many other Awakened present at the time, perhaps the gods’ system that handled cleanup after a dungeon’s destruction had adjusted in my favor.

What exactly is my position among the gods? Is it something common? Rare? Or… A complete irregularity? Whichever it is, what kind of countermeasures are in place afterward? I usually try not to think about it, but there’s a lot of things that bothers me.

Dungeon monsters appearing outside was something that happened due to events like an Overload emerging, or through skill-based changes in control such as with 【Monster Master】.

But could complete independence happen without me? 

Surami had almost reached that point, but in the end, couldn’t break free from the dungeon’s constraints, and its magic power had begun to leak. If Surami hadn’t become an ancestor class vampire, its magic would have dispersed much earlier, causing it to vanish.

What state am I in right now? A miracle among creatures. Seiji Hamashiro called me that, didn’t he? Maybe his creator, Shelheim, might know something.  It might be worth asking as part of my payment for this job. As for Piroane? No—she was shocked to know I was still alive. She couldn’t possibly know anything. 

“Hey, isn’t the color of the water changing?”

While we were walking along a path free of monsters, Claire’s voice rang out.

“You’re right. It’s kind of red. Let me check.”

A thin laser emitted from Seraphim’s head, piercing the water’s surface.

“It’s blood.”

“Ew, what the hell!”

“But the analysis shows that’s what it is.”

“That’s a horrible taste in décor. Why would something like that be here?”

So that laser had an appraisal function. Still—blood?

“Blood of the Defeated.”

The words slipped from my mouth before I realized it. It was one of the materials needed for a curse resonance core.

“What kind of disgusting name is that?”

Ah, the communication unit must have picked that up.

“It’s related to the request, so I can’t explain in detail.”

When I thought about it… This dungeon clearly had no intention of letting Awakened in to take magic stones or drop items back with them. So far, the monsters we’d encountered matched the depth we’d reached, but there wasn’t a single magic stone vein in sight.

If no Awakened had entered, any location designated as a magic stone vein should have over-accumulated and blocked passages by now. But there was no sign of that. In the first place, the entrance was built to keep people out. They even had guards posted outside. 

Even a normal dungeon’s purpose was unclear when you thought about it, so it was only natural for a world encroaching dungeon to wield an even greater mystery. 

Still, putting that aside… What if this dungeon was building its interior for an entirely different function? If everything so far had been just a wall for security, then was the area ahead…A curse resonance core factory?

No… If I’ve already gone this far in my thoughts, I might as well take it further. The client is Shellhaim. A goddess. What if curse resonance cores weren’t accidentally created from the extensions of Earth’s original curses or magic, but instead were made with a purpose from the very beginning? If so, then the one giving the orders would be someone on the same level as the client… A god.

“Jiro-san?”

Heko’s voice snapped me out of it. I’d gotten too caught up in my thoughts.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. But…”

Would it really be okay to take these two with me any further?

“My guess is that what’s up ahead is going to be quite a horror scene. Are you okay with that?”

“Eh—”

The unpleasant sound came from Claire.

“You’re kidding… Right?”

The remaining materials were Condensed Resentment and Womb of a Witch. I couldn’t even imagine how the former would be collected, but the latter was obvious. A natural train of thought could only lead to one conclusion.

“Ah, Claire’s bad with horror stuff.”

“To be precise, I’m bad with gore or painful stuff. Zombies are fine, but sometimes in those movies, humans start doing painful things to each other, right?”

She must mean zombie movies.

“Ah, because zombie panic settings tend to focus on human drama.”

“Exactly. And the incidents in those dramas look painful. I just can’t stand that.”

“It’s fine, let’s go.”

“Heko!?”

Ignoring Claire’s protests, Heko spoke in a bright voice.

“Claire may be bad with it, but she’s the type who gets scared and still watches, so it’s fine. I’m the one piloting anyway.”

“If you say so…”

As for me, I’d seen and caused scenes where human bodies were blown apart or had parts sticking out countless times as a dungeon monster, so it didn’t bother me at all.

“If it’s the pain you can’t handle, then how about the Final series?”

“Oh, those are intense.”

“Stop iiiiiiiit!”

“…How about this? If we make it out safely, why don’t we all watch a movie together?”

“That sounds nice.”

“All together.”

That means I could invite Mio and Piroane too, right? I wonder how Mio would react to a horror movie viewing party. 

Grateful that my thoughts had lightened after starting to get too heavy, I pushed onward into the depths.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー