As the battle raged outside, I cast various spells on Carmine, but she didn’t wake up again. My brow furrowed. It looked like I would have to do this without her help. That was fine. It was always going to be Xin finishing this battle, anyway. Since the moment I saw the Demon King move a few days ago, I knew there was little I could do in a fight of that level.
Thankfully, we were safe in this room. Even Bernard probably couldn’t find this room, given how much he was under the dungeon’s control. As for Carmine, she never would have entered this room if I didn’t carry her directly into it. The result was that she had been rendered unconscious. Unfortunately, I couldn’t wait and see if she got back up.
I glanced around the room, looking at the final kiosk. According to Xin, there was no last trial in the 50th room. Once you had made it into the Demon King castle, you had already progressed far enough into the dungeon that it didn’t really make sense to delay you longer. I also took a look at the mural. It was as expected, depicting the prince battling his father. However, he did not have the Silvthril sword, since it had failed in the original story. This time would be different though.
I started to put on the armor, one piece at a time. It was a very strong armor, plus there was a synergy by having all the pieces. I also had a feeling that I would need it to survive. I guess I would end up being the knight in shining armor that Carmine had wanted all along. Looking down at her, I could only give a wry smile. There was another boom, and the castle shook again. This time, the castle continued to shake long after. I could hear battle occurring outside my door.
“Master… the Demon King has retreated to his sanctum in the throne room. He’s protected by a hundred knights.”
“What about Bernard? The Demon Prince?”
“He’s a no show! He took off! He seems to be looking for something!”
I couldn’t help but make an irritated noise. I had thought the dungeon would end up forcing Bernard to do what he did historically. It looked like I underestimated the young hero’s obsession with Carmine. He’d likely never find her as long as she remained in this room, but we needed him.
“Can Xin get the sword from him?”
“Maybe… he doesn’t have it on him.”
I made an irritated sound, although this was actually the best news. If he left it somewhere, then we might have a chance of getting it. This was definitely not the Demon Prince who had wanted to kill his father. This was Bernard who was obsessed with Carmine. He had planned to marry her and worry about defeating the Demon Lord after. Well, with the sword and Xin, we just needed to push into the King’s sanctum, defeat him, and then jump through the portal. Bernard could stay behind and rot in this collapsing world.
“Then what’s the problem?” I asked.
“That shaking you’re feeling? The castle isn’t under siege with explosives or catapults!” Garnet responded.
“That’s the dungeon. We only have a few hours before the clock resets and a new cycle begins.”
“I thought we had the entire day?”
“There isn’t enough mana left. Your presence has caused that to fall apart. The dungeon can’t reach the next cycle, so it’s starting to fall apart!”
“What are you saying?”
“The elites are holding us up. Xin can get through, but by the time we fight our way through and defeat him, it may be too late!”