Chapter 99: Dungeon of Many Mysteries

During their awkward rest, Peace had taken it upon himself to describe the next room and what he saw inside.

He detailed the wandering monsters that came into his line of sight — beings much like the Temple Knights, only clad in heavier armor and roaming alone.

The place itself had some changes in terrain.

Although nothing too substantial.

Four pillars stood equidistant from one another, forming a square when viewed from above — smaller versions of those they’d seen on the lowest floor.

From his description, Dita and Ralph were easily able to identify the zone, rejoicing as they informed the others that the end was near.

’At least one good thing came out of my secret being exposed...’

A common threat bringing people together was a tale as old as time... Or maybe Dita had earned their trust by putting her body on the line to fight alongside them. Either way, she had been accepted as an ally.

There were still strings attached, but it was clear Ralph and the others no longer feared her quite as much.

’Well, two good things came from my admission, actually.’

Peace looked at the core of the Wind Whipper in his hand.

[???] — (condition to unlock: 92/100)

’I can’t believe they actually fed this to me.’

After learning that eating things like this made him stronger, Dita had tossed it his way, reasoning that they needed to maximize their current strength.

Surprisingly, none of them had made much of a fuss about it. Only Ralph had remarked that ’it wasn’t the wisest idea to put gunpowder next to a ticking time bomb.’

Peace certainly didn’t complain.

Not to mention...

[???] — (condition to unlock: 93/100)

[???] — (condition to unlock: 94/100)

[???] — (condition to unlock: 95/100)

[???] — (condition to unlock: 96/100)

[???] — (condition to unlock: 97/100)

They still had the Lesser Earth Golem Cores.

Oddly enough, Peace felt he’d discovered a stipulation governing the condition’s progress.

The cores were more valuable if a Spirit Stone remained inside; however, about half had been shattered completely when Peace stabbed them, causing their Spirit Stones to fall out. They had kept the shards since they were still worth a little...

But when Peace ate those shards, he’d gained nothing. Not a single point of progress.

As for the other half, cracked but still holding their shape with the Spirit Stone inside, devouring them had advanced the condition.

’Perhaps it has something to do with Spirit itself...’

Maybe some latent Spirit remained in the intact cores, whereas the shattered ones had already lost theirs.

’Eh, it’s all a bit too meta for me.’

All that mattered was that he only needed to devour three more monsters to satisfy [???]’s condition.

’I wonder what’s going to happen! Am I, like, going to get a super mega OP ability that one-shots everything?’

Peace felt he deserved something along those lines for all he’d been through.

’Maybe the one-shot poison idea was true! Maybe my half-baked delusional theory was correct, and my dormant powers awakened in that moment to kill Lacan!’

Then again...

’When has this world ever been favorable to me? It’s probably going to be something useless... If it’s something at all.’

Such a fate seemed par for the course for the hapless Night Elf.

Tossing the remaining Spirit Stone to Ralph, Peace turned his head and studied the pillars.

He couldn’t help but notice...

’Those squiggles were words?’

In the game, one could interact with the pillars, revealing a ton of squiggly lines running around their bases.

They hadn’t looked like much of anything...

They still didn’t.

Anyone native to the Immortal Citadel wouldn’t be able to make much sense of them either.

But...

’It’s the language of Catatran.’

The same language Ixion wrote in. The same language Ashren had called ancient.

’What’s it doing inside the dungeon?’

Peace had never heard of Catatran when he played the game. Apparently, it had been a nation that had fallen before the Immortal Citadel was established. It didn’t even seem important. There had been no mention of it or its remnants in the game, at least nothing a player would have picked up on during a normal playthrough.

The only way anyone could identify the text was to be both inside the game and familiar with the language.

Two boxes that could never be ticked from Earth.

’Were players... always meant to be transported here?’

Peace began to entertain a wild thought.

’Is this the true game...? Was Enemies of Corruption just a tutorial?’

Peace swallowed another chunk of one of the glass-like cores.

’Surely not.’

Though he wouldn’t discount the possibility.

Whether Peace was inside a game or a reality based on one, he still didn’t know. But one thing seemed increasingly clear...

’Whatever the truth is... it’s no coincidence.’

Then another question occurred to him.

’What is the dungeon, anyway?’

There were far too many questions to list, but a few stood out amid the nonsense:

Why did falling into a well transport people there? Why were those wells called Wells of Eternity? And where was this dungeon? It couldn’t exactly be nowhere, could it?

’Tch.’

Pushing the existential crises from his mind before they could take root, Peace focused on the words themselves. The nearest pillar to his left bore a phrase repeated around its base: ’The Shadow Runner was one.’

The one on the right read: ’The Apostle of Hope another.’

The one on the far left read: ’The Dawn Knight was one.’

The one on the far right read: ’The Child of War another.’

Peace couldn’t help but conclude that they were titles, and...

’Those titles... seem familiar.’

As though he’d encountered them somewhere before.

Though he couldn’t say how or why.

It was as if he’d known them, then forgotten them.

Well, forgotten most of them. One of the four rang a bell.

’Ixion...’

In the book titled ’Noble Path of a True King,’ Ixion had titled the first volume after the preface ’Child of War.’

For some reason, that was all Peace could recall. But he remembered that it was a title Ixion had bestowed upon himself...

Among various other self-deprecating and idiotic titles.

’I wonder.’

Peace’s eyes focused on the structures themselves.

’Four pillars...’

He wasn’t one to read too far into things, preferring to focus on the moment and what his eyes could see, but perhaps there was something symbolic about them.

Why were the phrases written there...? And why on pillars, in particular?

’I wonder what the pillars below say.’

Unlike the Temple Keeper spawning zone, the basement floor had countless pillars spread across a vast area. The only other structure amid them was the altar room.

Still...

All of those pillars had writing on them as well.

’Come to think of it, I wonder what’s written in the altar room too.’

At the base of the altar itself, where one picked up the Shield of Light, Peace recalled seeing something similar. A plaque with squiggles on it, just like those on the pillars.

’There’s really only one way to find out...’

Thankfully, from here on out, the path was... easy.

While the creatures were stronger on average, most being Tier 9 A-Class, their lower numbers made them much easier to avoid. With Peace’s sight, they could navigate to the altar without much issue.

At least on the bottom floor.

Getting to the stairs leading down was a bit more arduous.

Even though the Temple Keepers roamed alone, there were quite a few of them. The only way through was to carve a path — battle was inevitable.

As long as they fought them one at a time, nothing should get out of hand.

’But we’re really on our last legs.’

The only ones in good condition were Yulis and Peace.

Dita was alright, but her hand was pretty screwed up. She’d used a potion on it, healing most of the damage, but she still seemed to have trouble gripping anything.

Ralph had the same issue, only he had his other wounds to worry about as well as the consequences of taking another potion before the required interval had passed.

Volkar and Maura were both on their last legs.

Even if the Giant insisted he was fine, it seemed one good shove would put him down for good.

Maura hadn’t suffered any more injuries from the mystery attacker, but the ones she’d already sustained had taken their toll on her.

’At least I’m armed again!’

No matter how strong his claws were, they weren’t going to do much against the Temple Keepers.

Peace had slipped his gauntlets back on and was wielding one of the Temple Knight’s swords.

Picking himself up off the ground, Peace took a few practice swings. Despite the harsh winds, he was able to hold the longsword relatively steady.

’Oh, yeah, I’m ready.’

Flexing his muscles and kicking out his repaired legs, he felt a dubious smile spread across his face.

’It’s time to show these sunducking light-glazing temple-dwellers what a C-Rank Terror can do!’