“What now?” Garnet asked. “We defeated the Demon King? Where is dungeon core?”
“Where is it, indeed.” I said, looking around the room in confusion. “We defeated the Demon King… but not the Dungeon Boss.”
“What do you mean?” Bernice demanded, still staying uncomfortably close to Carmine. “Are you saying we’re going to die?”
I knew I had been missing something. However, as my eyes looked around the room, it suddenly all became abundantly clear.
“Xin.” I looked at the woman, who was sitting with her back against the wall.
“You finally figured it out.” She sighed.
Garnet gasped. “You’re the Dungeon Master! B-but… you have no place in the story.”
“She didn’t… in that first cycle. Aberis had tossed you into this dungeon, creating your prison. However, you were powerful, and you did everything possible to get out. You fought your way through every boss, every enemy, and even defeated the Demon King. Yet, when the dungeon core presented itself and you destroyed it, there was no way out. You found yourself trapped in this dungeon.”
“I died…” Xin responded bitterly. “I had raised up the new Demon Lord, and despite fighting, and getting so far alone… I died.”
“You broke the original curse, only to replace it with itself. This dungeon was never about the war, it was about you, in a never-ending cycle to escape this place. Except… you’ll never escape, because you’re integrated into the lore.”
“How did you figure it out?”
“Too many things didn’t make sense. You didn’t take notice of me until I started taking some of the dungeon from you. The fact that you were the only one to remember things after each cycle. Your ability to create unique spaces within the dungeon. Never mind your ability to change the dungeon’s lore over time.”
“I was hoping… if you became the Dungeon Master, maybe, I could leave? Yet, when I touched the Silvthril sword, I knew it. Normal Silvthril is harmless, but once forged by a dwarf, it gains an intent. It saw me as the enemy, because I’m the Dungeon Master, connected to the miasma of this place. I won’t be able to escape.”
A sad expression formed on her face and a tear ran down her cheek. Meanwhile, my mind started to work. I remembered how Miki was able to manipulate soul energy. Since I could manipulate karma, then couldn’t I take hers?
“Xin… I can take you with me.”
“I don’t have time to explain. I’m a Mimic, I can manipulate karma. Trust me. I can absorb your corrupted soul, and then take it with me.”
“You… would save me?” Her eyes widened.
I nodded. “I’m a Dungeon Master of my own. I have a Dungeon. You can come to it. In fact… I might even have a body for you.”
I remembered the Xin giant. Would her miasma jump to the giant like the princess’ to the mermaid or Bernard’s miasma to Aberis?
“The castle’s collapsing… we have to go!” Carmine said as the ceiling started collapsing.
“Xin?” I asked, my eyes only on her.
I grabbed the holy sword from Carmine. “Okay, I’ll have to strike.”
“I won’t resist.” She responded, closing her eyes. “Oh, Deek…”
“Promise me, you’ll bring Aberis down.”
I struck her with the blade in the same manner that Aberis had done. However, as I did it, I also began to use Mimic to pull out her Karma. I pulled it out of her, sending it into an empty vial. The light in her eyes went out, and she collapsed dead.
“It’s done.” I sighed, putting the sword away in my Inventory. “Let’s get outside. Maybe… I can Portal out of here now or something.”
Just as I was saying that a light shone in Xin’s chest. It started moving out, appearing as an orb floating in the air. My eyes shot down at it, and then I suddenly had a bad feeling.
The orb shot at me, slamming into my stomach. I collapsed to the ground in pain as the building collapsed on top of me, and the world collapsed all around us.