“We don’t have any additional time to waste. Shao, do you know where Miki is?” I asked after hearing the limited timing that we had.
“Only that man knows the method of getting to her. You will need to work with him.” Shao gave a displeased look in the direction of Hero.
“I could destroy him and take away his karmic debt.”
“Are you sure you can?” Alysia asked.
I frowned. “What are you implying?”
She raised her hands. “I don’t mean any offense! It’s just if he is how Miki thinks of you, what if she saw you as undefeatable? Then, would you be able to defeat him? He might even be more powerful than a dungeons final boss, depending on Miki’s image of you.”
“As much as the cheap imitation irritates me,” Shao added. “I must admit that she is right. You’ll waste precious time and energy battling him, and even if you do take over his karma so the dungeon sees you like him, you’d be weakening the overall team. Rather than replace it, it might be better if you just make use of him.”
I nodded after considering their argument. It would be convenient if I just took his role. After all, Miki secretly wanted me to fulfill his role and complete this lore created within her mind. However, I’d only be satisfying my wounded pride. It seemed like a smarter decision would be to work alongside this guy, even if it irritated me.
“Then, Alysia, get him moving.”
“I’m apparently just a tag-along in this narrative,” I explained, glancing at Hero. “Since my role is currently being filled by someone else, you’re the catalyst to push this story to a conclusion.”
I had reasoned out a bit about this world of Miki’s. Whatever they had done to her, she had created a means of saving everything. Built into the lore of this dungeon was a way to save all the souls she was taking, and also to save herself as well. It was truly amazing and spoke to Miki’s incredible ability as a spiritualist and her tenacious will. Most dungeons had a goal, but they had no clue what they wanted nor how to achieve it. Miki’s dungeon, on the other hand, had a very clear goal.
Then again, that goal depended on a man Miki believed to be dead. She didn’t believe I would be coming to save her. That’s why the spot that needed to be filled was for someone else. Specifically, she believed that at one point of her friends, one of my former slaves, would come and get swallowed into her dungeon. That’s when the sequence would initiate, and they’d have a chance to complete the lore and save her.
This was why Alysia had drawn Hero’s interest in the first place. She met the criteria of being one of my slaves. So, I would have to depend on Alysia for now. At least, that was my reasoning.
Unfortunately, there was a tiny problem with the plan, and that was timing. I had arrived at the very end of the dungeons feeding cycle, and Miki’s dungeon was on the verge of evolving. I had no clue what that evolution meant, but I did know that a tsunami of miasma would flood this dungeon, destroying every soul in it and resetting the dungeon, much like the Maid’s Lament. Our only chance now was to complete the lore in the next few hours.
I nudged Alysia forward with my shoulder. We had to get moving.