Chapter 364 Volume V - Chapter 82: The End of the Dungeon
Silence is perhaps the thing that exists most in this huge place, along with darkness...
Now, it had fallen heavily once again.
Adrian's words were a real shock to Lucia and me. Even more shocking... Attracta didn't object to anything.
On the contrary...
"Well done, I didn't expect that much."
She was approving him.
"True, I prefer the coldness of death to being trapped here any longer. And... true again, I am the being this dungeon considers the boss. So, if you kill me, you can actually get out."
But Adrian was not finished with his questions.
"I'm curious about one more thing."
Attracta took Adrian's request with understanding. Even if she didn't say anything, she nodded her head slightly up and down and gave him permission.
"Does the death of a Lord... cause troubles? After all, you are a god..."
Attracta's lips curled upward.
"No, the Lords are not 'gods' in the way you humans think of them. They are merely... beings who have control over the various concepts themselves. They don't keep things balanced or working as they should."
It was a surprising piece of information. Because... Lords were known as gods all over Lunerra. There were even people who worshipped them. But what was known about them was so limited that there were even those who were skeptical of their existence.
"So... what will happen to Sue? Will the powers you gave her disappear?"
"No. An apostle's power comes from the binding of their soul with a specific concept. It is not wrong to say that the Lords are the source of their power, but it is wrong to say that it is completely dependent on them. The source of her power is the concept of Attraction itself, which I control. I... merely linked them together, and gave myself a place in that connection so that we could communicate."
Adrian nodded. His expression had become very serious ahead of what he was about to say next.
"Why were you really imprisoned here?"
Attracta's lips curled even higher.
"That's one of the things I won't say... human. The knowledge of some truths does not bring good, but harm. Ignorance is bliss, it is a truer and more incomplete saying than you think. If the answer to your question is something you will have to learn when the time comes... then you can be sure you will when that time comes."
Adrian did not seem satisfied. Still, he didn't press further. He must have run out of things to ask because he was silent for a while. In the end, he could only heave a deep sigh.
"So... how do we kill you?"
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye as he said this, Attracta's eyes had also turned from him to me.
Her previous words were as much on my mind as they were on theirs.
I... was the only one here who could kill him.
But how was I going to do it?
Attracta was silent, she didn't answer Adrian's words. She was just looking straight at me. As if... as if I already knew the answer.
But I didn't.
As the seconds ticked by, I felt myself starting to sweat. I opened my status window again, looked at my abilities in the Apostle of Attraction tab.
The Shroud of Perception was useless here. So... the only ability I could use was Absolute Voice.
As I read the description of the ability, I thought.
Absolute Voice was an ability that allowed my voice to gain authority and be recognized by the world. The description was rather vague, but it wasn't hard to guess what it did.
It probably allowed my voice to influence other people. Not that similar abilities didn't exist in the world, this... was just a more advanced version of them.
But... something so simple could not have enabled me to kill a Lord. So there had to be more to this ability than meets the eye.
The authority of my voice means the authority of my words.
I don't think I can tell a Lord to die. No matter how powerful the ability, there must be limits.
Then...
While I was thinking, I studied my surroundings. I looked at Adrian. Then, I looked at the spear in his hand, I dwelled on it for a while.
Could it be...?
I thought for a while longer, other things came to mind.
I looked at Attracta again, her eyes and expression were still the same. Even though she could read my mind, she wasn't giving any confirmation.
She was really leaving it all to me.
I took a deep breath, read the description of the ability one last time.
I focused on the mana inside me, imagined activating the Absolute Voice. Then I cleared my throat, opened my mouth to speak.
"Adrian, the spear in your hand... can now kill anything my power allows."
With each word, a huge chunk of my mana reserves diminished, all the mana around me calmed down. Then... it was drawn toward the spear in Adrian's hand, it began to glow.
It was just as I had predicted. The ability made my words not only affect people, no... it made them 'real'. That was the meaning of the word authority.
My power was the only thing that could kill Attracta in the first place. So... using it to give a weapon the same effect should also work.
At least that was my guess...
"Well done, you have learned how to use your power."
At Attracta's confirmation, I relaxed, let out the breath I had been holding. I was going to deactivate the Absolute Voice, but then... I realized that even though I wasn't saying anything, my reserves were still running low.
Huh, so I need to keep the ability active for the effect to continue... I see.
"Adrian, you have almost... thirty seconds. My mana won't last much longer."
Adrian nodded quickly, turning to Attracta as he gripped his spear tightly. Attracta simply smiled.
"You have much to learn about your abilities, my apostle. But... be careful when you return to your world. If my enemies learn that you are my apostle, they may act without giving it much thought. No, they will. It will be up to you to convince them."
I nodded, said nothing more, and that's when Adrian took a deep breath.
Attracta was now at the strength of a B+ grade. So... it was enough for him to make an attack that would kill someone like that. Still, with only twenty seconds left, he didn't want to take any chances, so he gave it everything he had.
First, a blue glow enveloped his body, then all the mana around him began to be drawn toward him. His hair grew long and fell over his shoulders as his eyes began to sparkle. Golden runic letters appeared on his arms, then a glow of the same color surrounded him.
Adrian began to spin his spear slowly. With each turn, more and more mana flowed into him and into the spear. His arms holding the spear trembled slightly each time, as if they were beginning to strain, and then returned to normal. It was as if... the spear in his hand was getting heavier and heavier.
Like that, I only had ten seconds left of mana.
Adrian stared at Attracta, and all the mana in the surrounding area was drawn to him with great speed at that very moment. The mana around him was so dense, and kept getting denser, that it was hard to breathe.
And... with three seconds left of my mana, he disappeared. He appeared in front of Attracta's body, swinging his spear with a simple move.
A dazzling light spread around, the sound of an explosion filled my ears. I could only try to... protect myself as all the mana around us came crashing down on the duo in an attack.
I ran out of mana at that very moment, but the effects of the attack lasted for a few more seconds. We had to wait a while for the blinding light to fade, and a couple more for the dust cloud that followed to dissipate.
When I finally started to make out some things... the first thing I could see was Adrian standing on one of the chains in front of Attracta. Sweat was pouring down his forehead, his clothing was in even worse condition than it already was. But the runic letters on his skin had receded, and his hair was shorter again. He was back to his normal self. His spear in one hand, staring at the Lord before him.
Attracta, on the other hand... had a huge gash in her body. A golden liquid watered the chains on her, spilling onto the floor. Her expression was... still the same. Only... the riot of color in her eyes was slowly fading.
"I wish you success... all three of you..."
Those were her last words, as her whole body was enveloped in a golden light, slowly turning to dust. As the chains around her fell to the ground one by one, Adrian jumped backward, landing on the ground with a simple movement.
But... even though he seemed to be in good shape, he couldn't keep his balance, staggering a few steps as if he had slipped. He could only stand with the support of his spear.
Lucia ran to his side and helped him to stand.
Just then, Attracta's whole body turned to dust. One by one, the golden-yellow dust spread out and disappeared into the atmosphere. Immediately afterward... a system notification appeared in front of me.
<<------------------------------
Congratulations! You have cleared a B grade Recta-type dungeon!
Your achievements are being listed...
You have killed a higher-ranked main boss than yourself!
You are the first party to complete this dungeon!
There is a difference of three grades between you and the recommended general level of the dungeon!
…
------------------------------>>
There were a few other things at the bottom, but I couldn't care what they were. The notifications kept flowing.
<<------------------------------
Prizes are being shared...
------------------------------>>
There was a very short, two-second wait in between.
<<------------------------------
For your achievements in the dungeon, you have earned additional rewards!
--Rewards--
Items: [Ancient Chain Fragment] -- [Skill Cube: Light Fragments (A)] -- [Necklace: Golden Renewal]
Statistics: [Mana Efficiency(+1)] -- [Luck(+1)] -- [Apostle of Attraction, Connection(+1)]
You can summon your rewards at any time!
------------------------------>>
The notifications went off after a few seconds. Behind the silence and darkness that descended on the entire boss room, a blue glow suddenly appeared. Then it grew and grew... slowly taking the shape of a dungeon gate.
I turned around and looked at Adrian and Lucia, who seemed to have finished checking their notifications.
But... for a moment, they looked at me with such a blank expression that I realized something was wrong and paused.
"W- what?"
Lucia sighed deeply, looking at Adrian out of the corner of her eye. Adrian sighed without saying anything. Immediately, the bracelet on her arm glowed slightly, and a blue glow appeared in front of it and grew larger.
But... this time, it took the shape of a jacket. Adrian picked it up and threw it toward me, not turning his eyes in my direction.
"Put it on..."
Then I remembered, that I was naked...
Moreover, the piece of vine I was holding just above my chest had been blown somewhere randomly during the explosion.
I took the jacket without saying a word and put it on quietly.
A strange silence fell between us. I felt like I had to say something.
I looked at the gate waiting for us, and my lips involuntarily curled upward.
"We... made it, huh."
That finally came out of my mouth. Because I... I didn't really believe we could do it.
From the very beginning, no matter how much I tried to keep hope in me, I was sure that we would die at some point.
And... that's what happened to me, actually.
I was just... lucky, that's all.
"Shall we go?"
At Lucia's question, Adrian let out a deep, really deep sigh. He fixed his emerald-green eyes on the open gate.
"Let's go."
I slowly stood up and walked over to them.
We didn't say anything more, just walked side by side with slow steps toward the gate.
The dungeon where we had spent every minute of almost two weeks struggling to survive... was just behind us.
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