“So, I’ll ask again, why are you here?”
“I had all but given up on the creation of that sword. Forget the sword, even the dagger would have changed the game.” Xin sighed. “Yet, the sword is made, so we need to get our hands on it.”
“You’re much stronger than Bernard, and he wouldn’t let daddy dearest see the sword. I’m surprised you don’t march into the castle and take it for yourself.”
“It’s not so easy.” She responded. “We have to wait-“
“Until the day of the wedding?” I asked wryly. “Yeah, I’ve heard.”
The dungeon seemed extremely caught up on that final date. That was also the date that the cycle reset and the portal closed. That meant we only had one chance to defeat this dungeon and get free. Perhaps, the dungeon couldn’t be completed unless we waited until that date. Then again, I didn’t care about completing the dungeon. Defeating it would be enough. At first, I had to consider completing the story because I didn’t see any way of defeating Aberon. However, with the powerful Xin and this supposed magical Silvthril sword, we should be able to manage it.
“Then, you know.” She nodded. “I fear with everything that’s changed, this dungeon won’t last another cycle. The interference of you and the otherworld invaders has diminished this world’s miasma reserves to the point where the integrity of the dungeon will start collapsing in the next cycle.”
“Ah… sorry, I’ve been in this dungeon too long.” She touched her head for a moment. “Dungeons are a sort of space or world onto themselves. In there, the rules don’t necessarily need to match the real world. The creatures inside of it, or more specifically the Dungeon Master, sees those that enter it as world invaders. It’s their name for Dungeon Divers.”
I suppose everything had a counter, actions and reactions and such. Perhaps, the demons up north saw humanity as the plague that had to be defeated. In many ways, they were invading our world from their plane, a place simply known as hell that sat under the dungeon castle.
“This place, what is it based off of? I thought it was built off of Aberis, but now I’m not so sure.” I decided to ask her.
“I suppose, if we’re going to be working together, you should know. This bubble speaks of the first war. The humans come from the Imperial Cloud Meadow, and the demons come from the Demon’s Castle itself. This valley resembles the beginning of the demon realm.
“I always imagined the demon realm as being blighted or dark. I mean, that’s how they draw it on maps.”
She snorted. “They would. After all, they wouldn’t want humans going to the place, let alone befriending the demons.”
“So…. those created by the dungeons… they are like us, aren’t they?”
She hesitated for a moment and then spoke slowly. “The things that are created by dungeons… they are threats to our world. That’s all you need to know.”
I lowered my head and nodded. “I see.”
“You are… quite wise.” She spoke a second time. “Few I have met have ever gotten far enough to ask these kinds of questions. For the vast majority, it is enough that dungeons are bad and must be destroyed. I feel like you and me… we might not be as different as I originally thought. I don’t know why, but I feel like we share something important.”
“Ah! That… nothing… I mean… maybe it’s time we finish this threat, right?”
She didn’t seem to notice my flustered appearance. She hadn’t spent a lot of time with other people in ages. When she said that we shared something, my mind immediately came to a thing we both had shared. Alleya! If she knew about my relationship with her former lover, that was another reason she’d kill me. I came to realize just how fragile this alliance between us was.
“Very well.” She nodded, accepting my words without question. “In that case, you’ll need her.”
She turned back, and my eyes followed until they landed on a woman walking out of the forest. Garnet stopped and slammed her hammer down on the ground.
“You miss me?” She smirked.
“Garnet!” I cried out, having not even realized she had approached me despite the bond. “What are you doing here?”
“Well… you’re building an army, aren’t you?” She asked. “In that case, they’ll need some good armaments.”