Louise Merdin, Recapturing the City (4)

As Evan entered the castle and joined Louise after defeating all the demons outside, she seemed exhausted.

“Ah…Master.”

He was aware of the facts through Maybell, who was secretly supporting Louise’s party. The Mahwa Tribes were really bastards. But since the ring helped in spotting them, Evan decided not to punish Rose.

“Master…”

“Good job, Louise.”

“…Master!”

Louise couldn’t bear it anymore, and she jumped into Evan’s arms. In that instant, few of the members flinched as they hesitated whether to stop her or not, but their compassion halted them.

“Mission…accomplished, Master.”

“Yes, I know. Great work.”

“As you mentioned, the Mahwa Tribe revealed their appearance, but we’ve defeated them all and reclaimed the castle. Can I now become the ruler of Merdin?”

“Of course.”

Although the people who filled the vast land were all dead…but, as long as there was land, people would gather around. With Evan’s help, the land would once more become prosperous in about ten years. Moreover, they had the undead dungeon.

“This was all thanks to your support and not casting me aside, Master.”

“There’s no reason for me to abandon you.”

“Hehe…only the Master would say such things for me, I know.”

Louise wrapped her arms around Evan’s back and hugged him tightly. Evan felt her body shivering a bit, but he understood. Although it was the Mahwa Tribe that took the form of her mother, she killed it with her own hands. Actually, having her standing still was a miracle in the first place.

“Master…ah, Master. For me now, I only have you…”

“…Louise?”

“Ahem, shall we move on to the next stage…?”

Shine bluntly interrupted Louise as she repeatedly used the word ‘Master’ and dug deeper into his arms. Still, he stepped back as he was daunted by the scary look that Louise gave him.

“You are tactless.”

“Shine, you just crossed the line there.”

The others criticized Shine while mumbling to each other. Shine shivered, thinking it was very unfair. As if he was really tactless, he just wanted to stop Louise from crossing the line when many people were watching! Evan tapped on Louise’s shoulder carefully and pushed her away from him, understanding Shine’s intent.

“It’s not over yet. We will rest later.”

“Then, the reward…will you give it then?”

Louise stared at Evan’s lips as she lingered on her emotions. Her sensuous eyes showed a blunt desire.

‘…Huh? Wasn’t she in agony because of the shock that she killed her mother?’

“Sure, of course. Just wait a bit longer.”

“Yes. As you wish…”

Louise stepped back with an unsatisfied expression. And Belois was silently watching her leave. Evan knew what that look meant. It was the expression that the Bloody Witch from Yo-Ma Great War 3 made when she analyzed enemies. It was a face that she made before incinerating everything to the ground. Evan prayed for the internal conflicts to subside, and he led the members in the meantime.

“Are you done with looking for survivors?”

“Yes, and there are none. The living are all Mahwa. We’re spraying the medicine, so they’ll be done soon.”

The medicine which Bernard came up with and Evan altered destroyed the Mahwa Tribe’s spore. It weakened and pressured those that already took over the body of a human or monster. It was a miracle cure that didn’t harm humans and monsters while harming the Mahwa Tribes that only could survive through parasitism. On a side note, Rose became an existence that no longer fell under the category of Mahwa Tribe, so it wouldn’t harm her either.

“Good, then we’ll head to the dungeon.”

It was because of the dungeon that Evan tried to recapture Merdin in the first place. The resurrection ritual for the Demon King would become possible once the Merdin dungeon was completed.

“The dungeon is this way, Master.”

“Yeah.”

Louise, who found her composure to some extent, led them. There was an entrance to the dungeon a few minutes from the lord’s castle. Still, surprisingly, there was a vast barrier throughout the area. It had a similar structure with the barrier that locked up Merdin…and as its scale was minimized, the intensity was far stronger.

“As expected.”

Evan was certain when he looked at it.

“They wanted to seal the dungeon. At least, this was their intention.”

“Then, are you saying the Mahwa Tribes didn’t share the same idea?”

“No, that doesn’t matter. The Mahwa Tribes weren’t involved in sealing Merdin in the first place.”

It seems that the Mahwa Tribes waited until the right opportunity came, and they went all-out attacking the demons once the barrier over Merdin was set up. There was a high possibility that they just went on a rampage when the environment was favorable to them without knowing anything at all. So, they weren’t the ones behind this incident.

“Demons…and moreover, the Demon King.”

That’s right. Evan felt the strong presence of the Demon King from this massive scale of a stage. Why on earth would the Demons do things to this extent to seal the dungeon for the sake of the Demon King? Evan would never know…but if it were part of the plan by the Demon King, it would be his duty to crush it to the ground!

“Lin, Lan. Are you ready?”

“Commander, if we undo this barrier, the dungeon might crumble apart.”

“The barrier and the dungeon are tied into one.”

If those two experts on barriers say such, then it might be true. Well, as they had destroyed the barrier on Merdin and came all the way here, whoever cast this barrier wanted to stop the intruders from entering the dungeon even if they destroyed the barrier.

“Then, there won’t be any other method.”

Evan bit his lips and maximized the Devil Rune’s output after concentrating all the miasma from his boots. All members around him felt the chill in the atmosphere.

“Master…I feel pain in my body just by standing next to you.”

“It’s because of the high physical power.”

“Then, the physical power could affect others even without touching them.…huh? That’s not a new phenomenon, isn’t it?”

Evan ignored the nonsense and stretched one of his arms. At that moment, the barrier that covered the dungeon with its light started to crack.

“So, it seems this won’t suffice…but anyway, the worst is over, I guess. Lin, Lan. You can destroy the barrier now.”

“How did you do it, Commander Oppa?”

“I’ve stopped the barrier and the dungeon as a whole.”

“…Hmm?”

“Yeah?”

The members heard what he did, but they didn’t understand what just happened. Evan didn’t speak in a foreign language!

“Considering how the barrier didn’t completely break after stopping the mana flow in it, this is definitely the work of the Demon King. But it’s now easier to destroy.”

“It might break after touching it lightly.”

“But then, the dungeon destruction magic will activate…hmm.”

“It might work if we do it like in this order.”

The twins gathered their heads together and raised their arms to summon forth the holy magic of the void god. An intense light poured out from them and surrounded the barrier…shattering it.

“Whoa, it’s done!”

“It’s all right now, Oppa!”

“Great!”

Evan smiled and let go of the object he was holding. Then, right after, they were warped inside the dungeon.

[Welcome.]

“Hmm!?”

[Although the others informed me, I didn’t expect them to clear the dungeon this way.]

“Huh!?”

Evan regained his consciousness and realized where he was while hearing the voices in his head. He was inside the dungeon! And it’s the reward room…considering the impressive interior, it probably was the reward room for the lowest floor of the dungeon!

[Anyways, thank you. The world will find its order with your help…although your existence might destroy the order itself, that’s a different problem.]

“Excuuuse me, are you perhaps?”

[I’m the God of the Merdin dungeon. And let’s say I have the highest authority among all.]

As expected! But why? Evan just destroyed the barrier!

[Are you saying it wasn’t intentional? That’s more surprising. Not knowing that you’ve achieved the unachievable. Well, that sounds more befitting for you, though…]

“Can you explain in detail, please? I have no idea why I was sent to the reward room so suddenly.”

[It’s simple. Are you aware of the dungeon’s mechanism?]

“It’s not even a mechanism. Enter the dungeon, destroy the monsters on each floor, receive God’s blessing, then gain the right to proceed to the next level. Am I right?”

[Great intuition. There are plenty of humans that don’t understand such a simple structure…then, do you know what you’ve just done?]

‘Do what? I just held onto the dungeon and crushed the barrier. Probably I put too much strength into it. And if there were weak monsters within the area, it wouldn’t be weird for them to get crushed…’

“…Huh?”

[That’s right. You’ve killed the entire undead within the dungeon in one swoop. Every one of them from the 1st Floor to the 100th Floor. Although it’s supposed to be impossible, you’ve gained the permission to proceed to the next floor every time you’ve eliminated all the enemies on that floor…and you’ve repeated it 99 times, so you’ve earned the right to enter the reward room after eliminating all enemies.]

“I was outside the dungeon, wasn’t I!?”

[Surprisingly, it doesn’t matter where you are as long as you kill the monsters inside the dungeon. Even the Devil didn’t expect such a phenomenon to happen.]

“It’s really ridiculous!”

There were many deadly traps or expel magic circles throughout the Merdin Dungeon, so it would take more than several months to explore the area properly. Still, Evan ignored them all and arrived at the lowest floor.

[I was amazed by your strength, which can be regarded as absolute power. You sure live up to your reputation.]

“Am I that famous!?”

[And you are shameless on top of it. Well, anyways. It’s time for your reward.]

“Reward?”

Evan tilted his head for another reason, unlike before. Reward, it sure wasn’t a physical reward, so was God planning to give out his blessings? But that was also weird. Evan had already completed the dungeon and maxed out his level. He never heard that one could gain extra blessings after maxing out their level of skills.

[Supposedly, it would make sense that there won’t be any new blessing you can receive since you’ve fulfilled all the possible achievements while completing the integrated dungeon of Sherden and Pellati.]

“Did I?”

[But now, you’ve come up with a new accomplishment. It’s dungeon clear within one second.]

“Is there such an achievement!?”

[Oh, so you are well aware of the achievements. Yeah, well, there’s that. When the humans decided to apply for the Devil’s suppression, a crazy bas…being came up with an idea jokingly when all the gods gathered around to come up with the accomplishments.]

[It’s obvious but completing a dungeon within one second is impossible. All the gods shared the same opinion, but they thought it wouldn’t be a problem to add up the impossible achievement.]

[And you fulfilled that achievement. In fact, the god who came up with the accomplishment is supposed to bestow the achiever with part of his power, so…that god would probably lose all his power to you.]

“Nah, I don’t want to receive an uncomfortable power…”

[Too late. You have the power to challenge the authorities of the gods, so that can be strengthened.]

“But wait, that’s…argh!?”

At that moment, Evan felt a heavy pressure on his entire body. Evan was familiar with this sensation. It was a blessing indeed! And the blessing had far more power than those he had received so far!

[Congratulations! From now, your Annihilation skill…]

Evan trembled as he felt the intense power flowing in his veins. The god whispered into his ears.

[Became Annihilation 2!]

“Forget it!”