Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 32

Chapter 32: The Scream of the Goddess

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I advanced deeper into the dungeon. While maintaining the wall of golem intact, I pushed straight ahead. The dungeon, constructed from the same parts used for the floor that housed the night demon type monsters, was relatively new and not particularly well-designed. As a result, it stretched endlessly in a single, unbroken path.

There were no more monsters appearing. Even so, I kept the golems with me as a precaution. I had no idea what awaited me at the depths. If that cost-obsessed goddess had gone to the trouble of orchestrating such an absurd parade, then she must have been in such a hysterical state that she was no longer thinking rationally. And in times like that, anything could happen.

While the cost restrictions on the dungeon were lifted during the parade, the cost required to revive fallen monsters and the cost to summon new ones remained the same. I didn’t know what exactly the goddess was sacrificing to pay for these expenses, but considering how much she loathed the idea of pushing out more cost, it might have been something equivalent to depleting her own maximum magic reserves—if I were to compare it to my own abilities.

And if that stingy, thoughtless goddess had really been pushed that far, then what exactly had she unleashed? It seemed I had arrived at the final chamber. The grand hall, constructed from what I had dubbed the “Night-Demon Block,” was completely empty. For a moment, I thought that even the final boss had been sent outside…

『Dorajirou!』

A voice suddenly echoed through the space.

『Ah, if it isn’t the goddess herself.』

『Why are you still alive?!』

『Well, wouldn’t that be thanks to your divine will?』

『As if!』

『Then perhaps I simply found a path to independence on my own. I suppose I’ve finally learned to stand on my own two feet.』

『Ugh… You’re all so insolent!』

“You’re all”…?

It seemed someone else had also been defying the goddess. Not that I had intended to, of course. Judging by the situation, it was likely either the god or goddess responsible for the opposing dungeon in this parade.

『…Hmph. Well, whatever.』

Oh?

Though she still refused to reveal herself, it seemed she had decided to rein in her anger.

『Dorajirou. I’ll give you a chance. Return to me. Join the parade and unleash your power to your heart’s content.』

What an outrageous proposition.

『Why?』

『Why⁉︎ I, your creator, am forgiving you! You should be weeping with gratitude!』

『I see no reason why I should seek your forgiveness.』

『KIIIIIIIIH! It was you who ruined the dungeon I raised!』

The dungeon I raised.

So that’s how she wanted to frame it.

Technically, she wasn’t wrong. But…

『I cannot accept that claim. Yes, the ownership may have been yours. But the one who raised that dungeon was me.』

I was the one who worked hard to raise it. I was the one who shaped it with my own hands. For a hundred years, I was the one who protected that dungeon.

『I was the one who lost that dungeon. You took it away without understanding what we, dungeon monsters, were doing—you just ruined it. All because of your incompetence!』

『Wha—?!』

『From the very start, you never even taught us dungeon monsters how to become stronger.』

I had to figure out everything on my own. The reason the Black Minotaur never used the experience points he had accumulated wasn’t just the arrogance born from being strong since birth. A major factor was that the goddess had never taught him how to use them.

『You let everything run wild, and it just happened to work out by sheer luck. You’re nothing more than a goddess with power—an utterly incompetent one at that!』

I said it. I hadn’t realized it before, but perhaps I had been bottling up my frustrations as well.

『Oh, is that so?』

The goddess’s voice turned ice-cold.

『You dare to speak so freely, to ridicule me, the great Goddess Piroane?』

Piroane, huh?

『This is the first time I’ve ever heard your name. I suppose that means we were never even worth telling it to, were we?』

『Silence! That does it! I’ll make you witness the true terror of a goddess!』

At that moment, the space around us expanded. I could no longer see the end of it. Which meant—she was about to summon something enormous.

『I’ll use this to strip you of everything—and I’ll take Shenhari’s dungeon as well!』

『Ah, that reminds me.』

As the space raged with the manifestation of her power, I clapped my hands once.

『Before we begin, I have one question.』

『What?!』

It didn’t matter how angry she was. This was truly my final question. I had to ask it—no matter what.

『Did you know what this world really was?』

『Huh? What are you talking about?』

『What it meant to me.』

『How should I know?!』

I see. She truly had never seen me as anything more than a mere pawn.

『Then that is enough. I have no mercy left for you.』

『That’s my line! Appear before me, O Seed of Ruin!』

In that instant, every hair on my body stood on end. A freezing dread swept over me. My instincts screamed that I could not face this in human form. Within this now vast, boundless space, I released my true form. The Luminous Glorious Majestic Invincible Supreme Dragon…  The EX Magnifique Dragon. Before my dragon eyes, space itself cracked open—revealing the monster the goddess had summoned.

『H-Huh…? W-Wait a minute…?』

A massive jellyfish with aurora-like tendrils. Or perhaps, an eight-armed evil god lurking within the rift between dimensions, waiting for its prey.

『H-Huh?! It won’t stop! I can’t stop it!』

A being that devoured stagnant darkness, as if a fragment of the cosmos had been severed and given form.

『M-My power—My power is being drained awayyyyyyyyyyy!』

With that final scream, the presence of the Goddess Piroane vanished. And then— that thing finally fully emerged on this side.

『A world-ending god of destruction? Is that what you claim to be?』

I asked in the universal language. It did not answer.

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