Chapter 348
“…”
I stared at the empty Floor Shop . Though I was expecting it, I was still shocked . I worried for her safety but decided to trust her .
“Sherafina, are you ready?”
There was no reply . But I knew how to get one . I threw my body at the gate to Beyond .
Monsters that began to appear from Beyond’s 41st floor, Elang . They had a unique trait which prevented them from taking damage from non-pure aura attacks .
Furthermore, the way they talked suggested that they knew who I was . Though I wasn’t sure until now, I became certain after obtaining the Demon Lord’s power .
Elangs should be puppets that use Sherafina’s power . From the beginning, she wasn’t trying to hide it .
The 45th floor wasn’t big . It was a tranquil marble room that was extremely silent . Moreover, this room was full of the dungeon’s power .
[I’ve been waiting . ]
A creature with black skin and a pair of white wings spoke .
[I believed you would accomplish it one day . ]
The voice belonged to a man, but I knew it was Sherafina .
“What are you?”
[I’m not sure myself . Too much time has passed for me to remember the past . But I do know that I was once a girl . ]
He… She… Sherafina said that and asked back .
[There’s something I can’t understand . How did Kain Zerahard hide his ability from me?]
“The power he got was the ability to conceal himself and his comrades . ”
[That’s…]
“Yeah, it was to hide from you . ”
For a moment, Sherafina became lost for words . She then asked again .
[How did you enter the dungeon?]
“I can do at least that much . ”
[Not according to my calculation . ]
“95
floor . ”
[So it’s as I suspected . To be capable of deceiving my eyes, was it a dragon?]
I nodded . From Sherafina’s jet-black skin, eerily crimson eyes opened .
[So there was a dragon left alive . I thought I got rid of them all . ]
“What a mistake . ”
[It can’t be described as a simple mistake . It threw off my plan that had an absolute chance of succeeding . ]
“But you’ll still try?”
[The goal I’ve been working for my entire life is now in front of me . Kang Shin, if you were in my position, would you stop just because the chances decreased?]
“I wouldn’t set such an annoying goal in the first place . ”
[Of course, that’s because you were already born with everything . ]
Born with everything, huh . The question I had when I first entered the dungeon remained to be answered . Now, it was time for me to find out .
After taking in a deep breath, I spat out .
“… You’re the one connecting two worlds . ”
[Yes . ]
She acknowledged it straightforwardly .
“You’re also the one stealing worlds’ powers and designating the attacking side and the defending side . ”
[Yes . I’ve been setting worlds without possibility into attackers, worlds with possibility into defenders . ]
“Possibility?”
[Yes, the possibility of you existing . ]
The puppet Sherafina was controlling didn’t show emotions well, but I knew that its current face portrayed joy . I asked again .
“You’ve been doing all of this just to find me?”
[Yes . ]
“You brought countless worlds to extinction, tricked powerful ability users into creating the dungeon, and shared your power with explorers as if you were generous . Everything, just for me?”
[Yes . ]
People would call a being capable of such feat this .
“Are you a god?”
[What is a god?]
“What?”
[On your head, there is a shining power I can’t comprehend . Is that the proof of a god?]
“I don’t know . ”
[I also don’t know if I am a god . But, other existences would indeed call us gods . ]
I chuckled at her words . God . The ones who created this word were humans and other beings with intellect . Zeus, Odin, Hermes, Shiva, Kali, Durga, Ignis, all of them! They were birthed from humans .
Still, to think this is how she would respond to my question . It seemed she really didn’t know .
“Right, you’re not a god . If anything, I’m closer to a god than you . ”
[That’s also what I think . ]
“Do you want to become a god?”
[Not at all . You becoming a god is not part of my plan . That might be where the plan started to go awry . But that’s it . I expected you to have a power or two beyond my understanding . ]
Sherafina sounded surprising calm . Almost as if it didn’t matter how strong I was .
[I have the ability to wield worlds’ powers . ]
“I know . Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to put worlds’ powers into people’s body as you like . ”
[I can’t put these powers into just anyone . They have to be a Hero . ]
In other words, the designation of Heroes wasn’t under her control .
[When the world I lived in became connected with another world, I learned of the existence of worlds’ powers and became stronger from it . Soon, I realized I could freely move any world’s power . That’s how I came to create pathways to all worlds . ]
“And?”
[I wanted to contain all worlds’ powers inside me . I thought it would be possible if I used my ability . ]
The way she spoke sounded as though it was the most natural thing to do . I could already feel myself getting a headache .
“Just because of that… you brought countless worlds to extinction?”
[Yes . The pursuit of power is a natural instinct . Is it not the same for you?]
“I wouldn’t kill everyone I know for the sake of getting stronger! Even if you got stronger, what would you have left?”
[An absolute power . ]
Speaking as though it was a matter of fact, the corner of Sherafina’s mouth twisted into a smile as she stared at me .
[You should know the nature of your ability, and you still say this?]
“Knowing the nature of my ability and destroying other worlds have nothing to do with each other . ”
[I can wield worlds’ powers, but I couldn’t succeed in containing all of them in my body . I didn’t have the ability . ]
“… So?”
[But you have the ability to fuse any power, any number of powers into one . Simply put, it is the concentration of all into one . ]
I shut my eyes .
[After so long, I finally found you . You grew up magnificently and your ability bloomed excellently . Though it might have gone a bit overboard, it is still within my control . ]
“That’s it? The reason you connected different worlds and the reason you created the dungeon?”
[Yes . ]
“Just for that, you made so many people suffer?”
[I only accelerated what was happening regardless . ]
She continued calmly .
[In Earth years, it only took 4,200 years . Even I didn’t think it would be so quick . I was prepared to have the dungeon’s administrators, its form and name change several times . ]
“What made you like this? Humans, elves, dragons, anything! You shouldn’t have been alone from the start! So why?”
[Is a reason required to pursue power?]
“What?”
[No matter what it may be, is there a need for a reason to pursue it?]
“…”
She laughed . Though it was through her puppet, it was the first time I was hearing her laugh .
[Why do you seek a reason? Since when was there a reason for every act? Kang Shin, you are too naïve . I do not question why I am the way I am . I simply do what I wish to do . And that is to pursue power . No matter how many worlds disappear in the process, no matter how many existences perish, that is none of my concern . Why should it matter?]
“You… Don’t you have anyone you cherish? If not now, in the past?”
Ellos’ face immediately popped up . He was a man of passion who was selected to become a First Dungeon explorer . He met his love and lost her to the world’s enemy . For him, a single woman was more important than himself or his world . As a result, he sought to get revenge by pulling me in and died because of it .
I didn’t pity him . The moment he schemed against me, he was no longer my friend . He was just my enemy . But thinking that he was simply toyed by Sherafina, I was filled with nothing but pity for him .
[The moment you place a value on others, you become weaker . ]
She said assuredly .
[And in reality, you split your power to protect your family, friends, and Loretta . ]
“… Ha . ”
“When I tried to secure Loretta, I felt my existence threatened and had to give up . To give Loretta so much power, you must have spent quite a bit of your own . Am I wrong?]
I smirked .
“Rather than my power, it was the axe’s power… but no, you’re not wrong . ]
Where was Loretta hiding? I wondered . In any case, it was good to know that Sherafina failed to secure Loretta . As I was worried quite a bit, I was greatly relieved to hear Sherafina’s words .
Sherafina continued talking . I didn’t know whether she understood what I was thinking .
[As such, no one holds any value for me . No one, except you . As such, I must have you . ]
With that, the puppet finally began to move .
[Of course, I am only going to measure your ability for now . I wouldn’t dare to think I could defeat you with a puppet . ]
“Smart . ”
I reached out with my hand and grabbed the empty air . Above my head, the halo let out a fierce light before the mana of Enigma obliterated the Elang .
“But something like this is no longer capable of measuring my power . ”
[… It seemed I underestimated a god’s power . ]
This time, the voice didn’t come from the puppet . I could feel a slight trembling in her voice . When I grinned, she gave me a surprise .
[It seems I really will need Ciara Kenex’s power . ]
“… What? She should be…”
[She’s in the dungeon . ]
Sherafina said .
[It was smart to try to hide her from me, but you made one mistake . ]
“…!”
[The selection of explorers doesn’t only occur with designations of other explorers . Ciara Kenex is working hard to climb the dungeon to be of help to you . ]
I began to run . Casting aside the restrictive force of the dungeon’s power, I returned to the First Dungeon . Then, without hesitation, I ran up to the 96th floor .
[I will be waiting for you on the 100th floor . If you do not hurry, you won’t make it in time . ]
“Shut it!”
Sherafina spoke in glee .
[Her power is connected to yours . Once I obtain hers, I will get to know you more . ]
“Huaaaaaap!”
The earth twisted and the space distorted as I charged straight through the 96th floor . However, the 100th floor was too far away . If Ciara was really in the dungeon, she was practically in Sherafina’s hands!
[Kang Shin, when the time comes, you will no longer have the qualification to fight me . ]
I ran .
Towards the 100th floor!
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