Chapter 93 – 093. Official Expedition (3)
After clearing the dungeon with rapid progress, Eunhyeon’s party was able to reach the deepest part of the dungeon.
The deepest part of the labyrinth, which was reached after clearing the layers and descending the stairs, was empty compared to the vast space.
There was only a huge white-silver door that stood out in the center of a place piled up with huge rock walls, and there were no dangers such as monsters or traps in the deepest part.
“At las…”
In front of the entrance to the deepest part, in front of the huge door, looking up at the door, Yuria murmured.
Previously, she was a place that had a special feeling for Yuria, who had come to this place.
It was full of joy, pride, and regretful feelings that were different from expectations.
It was because it was not he who led the party and led them to this place, but a man named Eun-hyeon standing next to him.
“I will go in alone next time.”
“Are you okay?”
“In the first place, you cannot enter the ordeal beyond this gate alone. The test to select Archis’ successor must be taken alone. Yes. Princess?”
“… Yes.”
Unable to erase her sad expression, leaving YuRia nodding her head for confirmation, Eunhyeon looked at the party members and opened her mouth.
“Currently, this is a safety zone where monsters do not come out. So let’s set up a tent here and rest. Fortunately, there seems to be no one besides us, so I don’t think we need to be vigilant. Please put your mind at ease.”
All the party members nodded at Eunhyun’s words.
When the order was given, the party members set up the tent smoothly and immediately went to rest.
However, when Eunhyeon continued to stand in front of the door without taking a break, Erin put on a puzzled expression.
“You want to go right in?”
“Uh. It was because my body was relaxed and I was moderately heated. I think it will be better now.”
“… Be careful.”
“Nothing. Who am I?”
Eunhyun smiled and joked to relieve Erin’s anxiety, but Erin’s expression did not ease.
I know very well that Eun-hyun is stronger than anyone in this party.
But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t worried about stepping into a dangerous place in a dungeon.
“I’ll be back.”
“Huh…”
“I don’t know how long it will take. First of all, if everyone eats equally, I brought enough for three days, but if I can’t come out within two days, escape this labyrinth right away.”
“Hey. It’s a bit harsh to say this, but I was able to come this far thanks to your strength, and if you fall out, there’s a good chance we’ll be isolated again like then?”
In her memories of Yuria, this place where her own misjudgment endangered herself and her Royal Guard Knights who had followed to escort her, was her trauma as well.
Missing Eun-hyun, who is no different from her core power, came as a factor of anxiety to her, so she couldn’t stand it and said it out of her mouth.
“I know that it happened because of my fault, but I don’t want to go through that experience again. Besides, at this party… You still have children.”
YuRia glanced at Erin and Eira with a worried look, and she said.
Eleanor, a priest, participated, and it was said that the composition was better balanced than before, but excluding Eunhyun, two of the seven party members were newbies among newbies who had never even experienced a proper battle with a demon.
If something happens to the two girls, the balance of the party will fall in an instant.
“The monsters inhabiting this dungeon are of a high level, but the self-healing ability or production of monsters is not as fast as expected. As I descended to the deepest part at high speed, I got rid of the monsters in the dungeon, and I came in while dismantling all the traps. I think it will last for at least 3 or 4 days. At least it won’t be a big problem for everyone in the party to leave the dungeon safely.”
“Okay.”
As if convinced, YuRia nodded her head.
From the beginning, she organized all the demon beasts and descended to the deepest part in a few hours, so maybe she was prepared for this.
It was natural to feel that way.
“Then let’s go in.”
After that, Eunhyeon pushed the huge door open with all her might.
A pure white light came out from beyond the door, and it began to wrap Eunhyeon as it was, and the party members could not overcome the intense light, so one by one, the party members covered their eyes with their hands to protect them.
After a while, when the time passed and it became calm, the party members opened their eyes and stared at the huge door that was firmly closed.
The door that let Eunhyeon in was closed again without a sound.
As if it had never been opened in the first place, when I think about it, it was amazing that I didn’t hear a single noise or vibration even while the huge door was opening.
The only change that occurred when the door was opened was the pure white light emitted from inside the door.
[Confirm entry]
“Huh… ?”
“”””Uh?””””
All the party members were looking at each other with expressions of incomprehensibility at the sound of the thin girl’s voice coming from the air.
[Confirmed the position of the challenger.]
“Uh… Is that the voice from above?”
Erin’s words made everyone stare upwards.
[Activate the streaming function for the party waiting for the challenger’s return.]
The first to respond to those words was Yuria.
The way they spoke as if guiding them was also nerve-wracking, but what bothered them the most was none other than the ‘words’ mentioned by the voice.
“Streaming… ?”
At the mention of a word that obviously brought back memories from her previous life, Yuria muttered the word and asked again.
As if responding to her words, I began to feel a tremendous amount of mana flow from the side of the huge silver-white door that swallowed Eunhyeon.
Alex was the first to notice the change.
“Everyone beware! Stay away from the door!”
“… No, this is not offensive magic.”
“Princess?”
Looking at YuRia muttering blankly, Alex asked back, but YuRia wasn’t looking at Alex.
She was just staring blankly at the magic circle that appeared in the huge door.
“This… If my expectations are… It’s not an offensive magic. Perhaps it is magic that shows the inside.”
As if proving that Yuria’s guess was correct, a figure began to appear in the center of the magic circle.
It was as if they were looking in a mirror, but what they saw was not themselves, but Eun-hyeon’s back with silver-white hair.
Alex made a surprised expression when he noticed that the magic was showing them in real time, as if he was seeing Eunhyun’s current situation with his own eyes.
“This… Is it magic?”
“It must be magic. Maybe…”
Hearing the word ‘streaming’, I immediately thought of it as science and technology using the earth’s image recording and transmission, but here, on the continent of Arcena, the concept of ‘science’, let alone mechanical civilization, did not exist properly.
If so, it would be a good guess to think that science and technology of Earth were reproduced here using magic.
‘Well, with that man already appearing, the assumption that I was the only one reincarnated has been broken for a long time. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were reincarnated people a long time ago.’
YuRia nodded her head after convincing herself of her guess.
“Hyunah… Can’t get hurt…”
She looked at Eunhyun beyond the video with a worried expression and saw the muttering girl, and Yuria also stared at Eunhyun’s figure being streamed.
◆ ◆ ◆
“It’s amazing. It is also Archis.”
Just as she entered the labyrinth from the continent of Arcena, Eun-hyeon was impressed when she saw the place that was transferred to another space through the dimension shift.
It is the same logic as artificially creating another dungeon within a dungeon.
However, it must be someone other than Archis who installed these magic skills in the dungeon.
“After all, you’ve unlocked the secret of dimensional magic after research.”
Recalling the existence of her great sorceress who had achieved her own long-cherished wish, Eun-hyeon praised her feat that no one else knew about.
Because now she knows herself.
[What kind of child was that child named Archis?]
“Archis was not a person. He was a doll.”
[That he wasn’t a person?]
“Should we call it a doll with a human heart?”
Her body had the same skin and flesh as a human, but there were no bones and no blood flow.
Simply put, they are not living things.
It is a product of magic engineering that combines Earth’s science technology, which can be said to be a magic machine that operates semi-permanently with mana produced from the magic stone, which is like the heart of a doll, and magic technology from the Arcena continent.
The first doll and the last puppeteer to have a human mind in the doll’s body and think for itself and form an ego was ‘Puppeteer Archis’.
“But since the Goddess has been watching my journey, I thought she also knew about Archis, right?”
[It is true that I watched the children of the underworld from a third person’s point of view, but that was nothing more than watching the children from someone else’s point of view. How a child has thought of that child is something only a child can say. I was curious about that. What did that doll mean to the child?]
“Archis told me… He is a friend and the only friend with good memories that I can recall without getting sick.”
Most of Eunhyeon’s colleagues did not have a good end.
Being captured as a hostage and choosing to commit suicide, refusing to destroy one’s body to kill the enemy and eventually facing the end, resisting demons and monsters together, and in the end, being unable to avoid death and not being able to find the body. After sending many of her colleagues away, Eun-hyeon En was left alone.
Among them, Archis was one of the few beings who met the end in the form he wanted.
Arcis, who spent a lot of time fighting with Eun-hyeon, was an immortal being who, like Eun-hyeon, was not bound by the yoke of time, and unlike Eun-hyeon, who was entrusted with the mission of being an apostle of the goddess, he was able to choose his own death. Archis made a place to welcome his successor and chose to go to rest.
Eun-hyeon was very envious of Archis, who was able to make the choice to enter the rest.
[I see.]
Belldandi gently wrapped her arms around Eunhyun’s neck.
[Are you still struggling?]
In response to Belldandi’s question in a slightly trembling voice, Eunhyun smiled slightly and shook her head.
“No.”
I don’t think like that anymore.
“Because there is a Goddess now.”
[Ai’s words make me very happy right now.]
While talking to the goddess like that, I walked inside the newly transferred dungeon.
The interior of the huge building, which is about 70m long, 10m wide and 15m high, is a sight reminiscent of the interior of a grand palace.
I found coffins hanging on the walls side by side, a colorful chair in the center at the end of a long road, and a girl sitting on the chair with her head bowed.
Wearing a gothic dress in dark shades of black and navy blue, the young girl with light blue hair and short bobbed hair looked like Eun-hyeon’s old colleague whom he hadn’t seen in about 400 years.
“It’s been a while. Archis.”
The doll girl, which has now stopped working, did not respond at all even after hearing Eunhyun’s greetings.
As if responding to Eun-hyeon’s voice, a voice composed solely of emotionless magic resounded inside the labyrinth of Archis.
[The challenger’s position has been detected.]
[Before the test begins, we will check the eligibility of the challenger.]
[Challenger’s labyrinth clearing time, 51 minutes. Pass.]
[Measurement of the challenger’s magic ability, pass.]
[Whether or not the challenger’s successor to the puppeteer is proven, disqualified. Check for errors.]
[… Kid?]
Thinking that something might be going wrong, Belldandy sensed something ominous and called Eun-hyeon.
However, Eun-hyeon just stared at the drooping In-hyeon.
“Sorry. Archis. Originally, I wanted to officially visit your heir and bring him here, but things have changed now.”
Until now, Eunhyeon had been the one who made and led heroes.
But from now on, it’s different.
Eun-hyeon, he made up his mind to become a hero himself.
He is determined to take all the necessities for himself and put his people first.
No one else could say anything about it, and the goddess, the only being who could put restrictions on him, allowed it.
“The successor of the puppet master. Even if I don’t deserve it, I’ll take it by force.”
This was the beginning of Eunhyun’s first step towards becoming a hero.
[Attempting to check with the set blacklist.]
[Check result. Check the intrusions on the top risk list. If you do not leave the labyrinth within 30 seconds, you will be annihilated.]
[30… 29… 28… 27.]
[Oh! What are you doing! Come on, get out of here…]
Belldandy hurriedly urged Eun-hyeon, but Eun-hyeon still did not move.
And after realizing Eun-hyeon’s thoughts, he realized what he was trying to do.
[Really… You still choose only the reckless path.]
Berdandi sighed and realized that further persuasion was futile and gave up.
[0. Blacklist ‘Eunhyeon’ is regarded as an ‘intruder’, not a ‘challenger’ or ‘guest’. Extermination begins now.]
As soon as the girl’s guidance, which was close to a warning voice, ended, the coffins lined up on either side began to open.
[Dominus troops. Check the target. Extermination mode is activated.]
Dozens of emotionless puppets with red eyes all stare at Eun-hyeon.
