Chapter 88: The Dungeon Core

“My king, are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked, looking in the direction Vell was coming from. She had met him face to face, and the experience had been etched into her bones. The king, however, took her words as an exaggeration, at first.

“Hmm… We are going to die. I did not expect a human to defeat that monstrous woman.” He looked at her, seeing the fear in her eyes. “I am sorry. There is nothing we can do to escape our fate.” She looked at him with sadness in her eyes.

“It is okay, my king. I will serve you even in death. There is nothing that would make me more proud.” Her eyes showed that she was serious about not leaving him.

He smiled. ’She has been with me since the beginning. I have grown to care for her so much… I should at least try and save her. My life is not important.’ He looked at the dungeon core behind them. ’I am sure he is after that. Maybe I can make a deal?’ As his thoughts ended, Vell appeared in front of them.

His expression was calm, just staring at them and then at the core. ’So he is here. I should try-’ Vell appeared right in front of him, grabbing him by the face and slamming him to the ground.

He turned his attention to the girl, smiling. “So, we meet again, huh? How have you been?” He let the king go and stood up, no hostility behind his eyes.

“I am fine?” She was confused. Why was he not killing them? Her guard was still up until she noticed that his eyes were more focused on the core than on them.

He pushed her aside and walked over to the core. “So this is the thing sucking up all the power from the forest. Holy shit, it has so much mana that I cannot see an end to it.” He turned back to them. “Are you the one that placed this here?”

The king got up, holding his hurt face. “No, it just appeared out of nowhere. We also do not know its purpose, but we did notice that new monsters appeared and that we were cut off from the rest of the world.” He pushed the girl behind him, nervous that Vell might attack again.

’Cut off? Strange. Is this how all dungeons are made?’ He looked back at the core. “Interesting. It seems the gods are playing with everything, not just humans, but that was obvious, I guess.” His sword appeared in his hand. “Okay, time to die.”

The king’s eyes widened, a flicker of terror replacing the false bravado. He scrambled back, his hands trembling as he tried to put more distance between himself and Vell.

“Wait!” he cried, his voice cracking. “Please, just… just wait.” He pushed the girl further behind him.

To their surprise, he actually waited. “Okay, say what you want. You have about three minutes. I cannot waste time here.” The tip of his sword rested on the ground, ready to strike.

The king swallowed, his throat bobbing nervously. He glanced at the girl behind him, then back at Vell, his eyes darting around as if searching for an escape route. Finding none, he took a deep breath, trying to steady his trembling voice.

“Please, we… we do not want to die,” he stammered, his gaze fixed on the sword. “We did not choose this… this corruption. It just… happened.” He gestured helplessly at the dungeon core, his expression a mixture of fear and desperation. “You can take the core and kill me, but please… spare her. She has done nothing wrong.”

He watched them, his expression unreadable. The king’s words, though desperate, seemed genuine enough. He could sense the truth in them, a truth that resonated with his own experiences. He knew what it was like to be trapped, to be controlled, to be forced into a situation not of one’s own choosing. But still, something did not quite add up.

“You say you did not choose this,” he said, his voice low and thoughtful. “But you also did not try to stop it, did you? You let this… corruption spread. You let those monsters roam free, terrorizing everything around you.” His eyes narrowed, his gaze piercing. “Why? Why did not you try to destroy the core, even if it meant your own death?”

The king flinched, his eyes dropping to the ground. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He looked lost, defeated, like a man who had been carrying a heavy burden for far too long.

The girl, who had been silent until now, stepped forward. Her movements were hesitant, but her chin was raised. “Because he could not,” she said, her voice surprisingly steady. “The core… it holds this place together. If it is removed or destroyed, this place and everything in it will cease to exist.”

’Oh right, I forgot that dungeons disappear after they are cleared… Hmmm, so they will all be erased, huh.’ He rubbed his chin, his sword disappearing in a flash of light. “So, destroying it means goodbye to everything here? That includes you two, all your little monster pets, and well, this entire underground… ecosystem, I guess?” He looked around, a thoughtful frown on his face. “That is… inconvenient, but there is nothing that can be done.”

They did not answer. There was no answer or counter to what he just said. He tapped his foot. “So, option one, I take the core, and everything goes poof. Option two… well, there is not an obvious option two, is there?” He looked at the king, a sardonic smile playing on his lips. “Unless you two have a brilliant idea?”

The king’s face paled further. “As I have said before, all I want is for her to survive. My life is not important.”

The girl did not want this. “I refuse to be saved. If my king is going to die, then I will join him.”

“But-”

The king tried to say something, but she cut him off. “I do not want to hear it. I have made my choice.” The king looked at Vell, a nervous smile on his face. He really wanted her to survive, but she was so stubborn.

“Then we are done here,” Vell said, turning around and walking towards the core.

“Huh-” Their bodies were sliced in half, falling to the ground with a sickening thud. He did not even look back, his focus solely on the pulsating core in front of him. He reached out, his fingers brushing against its smooth, cool surface. A jolt of energy surged through him, making him gasp.

’Incredible,’ he thought, his eyes wide with awe. ’This power… it is beyond anything I have ever felt. It makes sense since the queen’s power is also inside.’ He smirked villainously. ’She is so fucked.’

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