Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Was I seeing things right now?

Feeling utterly dazed, I spoke to the centipede before my eyes.

“Great Mountain Centipede......?”

[I do not particularly like that name.]

Judging by the fact that it answered, it seemed to be the real one.

I could not keep up with the sudden situation, and I ended up stammering without meaning to.

Was this creature not dead?

I had clearly seen its corpse scatter away, so how had it appeared?

“You were alive?”

[I did die. This is my soul lodged within the Core that you absorbed.]

“Your soul......?”

Could Spiritual Medicine really have such a function?

For that to be the case, Persica, who had absorbed something similar, had never said anything like this.

When I thought about it, the Heavenly Thunder Pill that she had used as a Catalyst should have been an incredible Spiritual Medicine as well.

[I know what you are thinking. Humans know only of the existence of Black Jade, so I suppose it cannot be helped.]

The Great Mountain Centipede tapped my chest with its long antenna.

[The Dragon Jade is a Nucleus that contains centuries of my cultivation in its entirety. It is a Precious Treasure imbued with Spiritual Nature, having absorbed a great deal of the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth. Containing a soul is more than possible.]

“Is it a kind of possession...... or something like that?”

[It is not being possessed, so the concept is somewhat different from possession...... Still, the Dragon Jade has become a complete part of your flesh, so it is not exactly wrong, either.]

Apparently, it could not use the Dragon Jade to control me or anything like that.

It was literally only lodged there. If I had to define it, it was closer to the concept of a tenant.

‘Then is it a parasite?’

Since it was a centipede, the thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I did not say it out loud.

[Of course, I am not the one who did this. The one who saved you, and the one who saved me as well, was the “True Person” who dwells within you.]

“True Person?”

[In your words, a Master.]

Damn it. One of these days, we really had to standardize our terminology.

I scratched my head and replied.

“So Ishara really did help me.”

[Indeed. You were in a Suspended Animation State at the time, so you may not know.]

“Do you know anything? About what happened then?”

[No. I was dead as well, so I do not know the details of the process.]

Then why had it acted as though it knew?

In any case, the one who saved me was Ishara after all.

I did not know what method she had used, but she must have performed a simplified Construction Ritual and settled the Dragon Jade in my heart.

‘Then was Ishara also the one who blew away South Spirit Mountain?’

How had something like that been possible?

Before that, why had she needed to do it at all......?

The Great Mountain Centipede answered the questions that followed.

[I do not know why she erased the mountain, but the power she unfolded was likely the “Descent of the Great Precept.”]

“The Descent...... of the Great Precept?”

[It is the power to rewrite the laws of the space-time upon which one stands. It is a miracle and Authority comparable to the power of God, wielded by those who have reached the seat of a Master.]

Rewriting the laws.

Come to think of it, I had been told that those whose Aura could alter even the surrounding environment were called Masters.

‘Is it related to the large-scale patterns that bosses use?’

Some Boss Monsters in Ethrana Exodus often used large-scale techniques powerful enough to transform the environment.

The game was unkind in its explanations, so it had never given any detailed principles or names, but perhaps this “Descent of the Great Precept” was what they had been.

‘Does that mean a person can learn such a large-scale technique too......?’

In the game, the Aura that users could acquire ended at the level of manifesting each Trait’s effect.

That thing where evasion, defense, and escape were impossible.

But in reality, those limitations seemed to disappear.

“Can I learn that too?”

[If you awaken Aura and master that power, there is no reason you could not.]

“......”

It was not impossible.

Of course, for me, who was still nowhere near even the first step of Aura, it was an impossibly distant realm. For now, however, simply knowing that it could be done was enough.

Ishara had clearly reached the seat of a Master. And my talent was equal to or greater than Ishara’s.

It was entirely possible.

Gripped by a sense of excitement, I continued speaking with my face flushed.

“Is rewriting the laws strong?”

[You ask the obvious. It is the power to erase the laws of the Golden Rule and write one’s own laws anew. It can make a single tiny spark of lightning tear heaven and earth apart.]

“That is possible?”

[In that world, a Master is a god. Since a god has decided it, the world has no choice but to obey.]

“......”

A miracle that allowed one to reign as a god and manipulate the world, limited to the range where one’s Aura reached.

I could hardly believe it.

That such a realm existed.

And that Ishara was precisely such a person.

‘A being who can become either a god or a devil if she wishes......’

I felt as though I finally understood the words that the Thought had used to describe Ishara.

Just how far had Ishara grown in the final regression?

Why had she slept for my sake despite possessing such power?

‘What lies down below, where even someone like you could not reach......?’

If beings with such power existed, why had the dungeon still not been cleared?

A slight chill ran through me.

I had been certain that I understood everything about this world, yet the world I had actually encountered was filled with things I did not know.

[In any case, I will be indebted to your flesh from today onward. I ask that you take care of me.]

“You are not going to harm me or anything, are you?”

[I have neither the intention nor the power to do so. To begin with, the Dragon Jade has already settled perfectly within you and become one with you. It is no longer mine.]

In other words, it could only reside there and could do nothing else.

Even so, the Great Mountain Centipede did not lament its situation, nor did it resent Ishara for blowing away South Spirit Mountain.

It had been a body that should have vanished the moment it gave up the Dragon Jade.

Since it had kept its life thanks to Ishara’s and my consideration, it was not shameless enough to complain.

[If you have anything you are curious about, ask. That is the only thing I can do for you. If it is something I know, I will answer everything.]

Its obedient attitude was rather to my liking.

I first asked about the characteristics of the Dragon Jade.

[If a Spiritual Pill such as the Dragon Jade is used as the Nucleus......]

“Standardize the terms.”

[......If it is used as the Core, Mana will take on a special property. In the case of my Dragon Jade, it is called “Pristine Power,” the purest energy of nature above all else.]

“Pristine...... what?”

[Pristine Power. Because it has no impurities whatsoever, the same amount can produce far greater power compared to ordinary Mana.]

That was insanely overpowered.

According to what it added, the difference was roughly threefold.

In other words, my Mana could produce the same Output while using only one-third of the Mana compared to others.

‘It is as if my Mana Quantity has tripled.’

Of course, my actual Mana Quantity had not truly increased, so the dungeon’s side effects would remain the same. Even so, my battle endurance and instantaneous Output had become incomparably better than before.

And that was not the end of it.

[If you wish, I can use power in your stead. It should also be possible for me to cast Recovery or enhancement Magic on you.]

“Oh. Then can you use the Magic you showed me when you fought me?”

[No. The abilities I had in life vanished when I lost my body. I will have to learn them anew.]

On top of that, it even supported an automatic Skill macro!

Of course, since Skills were not something I could learn recklessly, it would be difficult to use right away, but there was no denying that it was a groundbreaking function.

‘I need to study this slowly.’

If the Proficiency of Skills used by the Great Mountain Centipede in my stead also increased, then even calling it a jackpot would not be enough.

It would mean that the range of Skills I could adopt would expand greatly.

“You are much more cooperative than I expected.”

[Because it is better for me if you become strong. If you die, I die as well.]

“So it is a symbiotic relationship, right? Simple. I like it.”

The Great Mountain Centipede quickly accepted its situation and calmly assessed what it could do.

Its clan had disappeared along with South Spirit Mountain, it had lost its body, and it had barely preserved its life through Ishara’s and my consideration.

Taking all of that together, it seemed to have judged that helping me was in its best interest.

[Survive. Then, even if I cannot ascend...... I may at least see the end of your journey.]

As it said that, the Great Mountain Centipede looked lonely.

It suddenly occurred to me that ascension might not be such an important matter to it after all.

From the beginning, it had seemed to value survival more than ascension.

‘Is there something it is waiting for?’

I did not know what dream it had, but perhaps it had a reason it had to remain alive.

I spoke to the creature, which had grown quiet before I knew it.

“I am going to the end of the dungeon. Because I promised Ishara...... the Master you mentioned.”

[I see. That is a magnificent goal.]

“So once the Golden Rule is restored and Downfall withdraws, I will release you again.”

After all, once everything was over, I would return to Earth.

There would be no reason for me to remain here, so I would have no reason to keep using the Great Mountain Centipede.

There would be no need to keep it bound to this body forever, so releasing it should be fine.

[You will release me......?]

“Yes. I will have to find a separate way to divide you from me...... but the dungeon has all sorts of things, so would there not be at least one method?”

[......]

The creature was silent for a moment, then lowered its head slightly.

[......Thank you.]

“Forget that. What is your name? You said you dislike Great Mountain Centipede.”

[I do not have a separate name, but......]

After thinking for a moment, the creature said.

[My friend called me “Hyeollyeo.”]

“That is a pretty name.”

I was not joking. For a centipede’s name, it was a little too pretty.

When I asked what it meant, it said it meant a beautiful blackness.

Its body was black, and its appearance was imposing, so it seemed to suit it well enough. In my eyes, it was closer to being splendid than beautiful, though.

“More importantly, you had a friend?”

[Long ago, there was one being I could call a friend.]

“Who was it?”

[A human named Jin Ryeon.]

That was another surprise.

To think this creature and the White Cloud Zen Master had been friends.

[He was a friend I made when I was still young. He taught me human speech and the Spell Arts he had learned.]

“......Wait.”

He had taught it human speech.

Something about those words felt strange, so I asked again.

“Do you mean he also taught you terms like ‘True Person’ and ‘Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth’?”

[Yes.]

So you were the culprit!

I had wondered why even the monsters on the Second Floor were like this, but the wrong software had been installed from the very beginning.

“Why was that man like that? Could he not have just used the Common Tongue?”

[From what I heard, he said he was expressing his Enlightenment in his own way.]

“His Enlightenment......?”

[Yes. For example, he would explain the three powers you call Traits through the principles of the Threefold Taegeuk. He said that the moment one took one of them as an axis and reached the ultimate, one would be reborn as a True Person.]

“By Threefold Taegeuk...... do you mean Heaven, Earth, and Humanity?”

[Correct.]

Hyeollyeo nodded.

[Divinity originates from the god who forms the heavens, so it is Heaven. Magic Power reveals principles and sprouts creation, so it is Earth . Mysticism is the will that challenges the unknown, so it is Humanity. He called these three the “Threefold Taegeuk.”]

“......”

It was certainly too meaningful an expression to simply brush aside.

It was a strange feeling, as though I could not understand it, yet I could accept it.

For some reason, I strongly felt that it was discussing the true meaning of Traits.

Suddenly, I felt as though I understood why the Second Floor had become this way.

Perhaps something about the words and records he left behind had exerted a great influence. Perhaps they had been able to harden into a culture of their own.

Just as Hyeollyeo, who should have been nothing more than a monster, had done.

Perhaps the world called the Second Floor itself had “empathized” with him, and that was why it had taken this form......

“Then, one last thing.”

[You are very curious. What is it?]

“What is your relationship with Enlil?”

At that moment, sparks flew from Hyeollyeo’s eyes.

[That insolent creature! She is the Possessor who foresaw my current predicament!]

“Foresaw......?”

[One hundred years ago, she suddenly came to South Spirit Mountain, smashed it to pieces, and called me out! I was so dumbfounded that I went to meet her, and would you believe it? She told me that an Adventurer would come to me one hundred years later, so I should hand over my Dragon Jade to him!]

Something about the opening alone was already ominous.

Although it was a centipede with no real expression to speak of, its voice rose enough for me to tell it was angry.

It was fortunate that no one else could hear its voice. Otherwise, anyone would have come in long ago, given the sheer fury in it.

“She just said that out of nowhere?”

[Yes! When I said I refused, that madwoman smashed my head with the axe she was holding.]

“......”

[I thought I would die at that rate, so I said I would do it and asked her to at least tell me the reason. Do you know what she said then?]

“What did she say?”

[She said I did not need to know! She laughed and told me to wait, because it would happen that way no matter what!]

“......”

[It was truly absurd!]

So it had not even been a deal......

Apparently, Enlil had made a one-sided proposal, and after hearing the story, I could understand why Hyeollyeo was angry.

It was no different from someone suddenly barging in, destroying its home, and demanding all of its wealth.

“Just...... to be clear, I do not know who Enlil is, either.”

[I can tell that much just by listening to you speak.]

Thank goodness it was a centipede with good insight.

Hyeollyeo took a step toward me and gripped both my cheeks tightly with its antennae.

Since it had no substance, my face was not squashed, but I could feel a strange forcefulness from it.

[I do not care about anything else, but you must never become involved with that madwoman. The people who have died because of that blood-crazed wench could form a mountain and fill a sea.]

“......”

Executioner Enlil.

Judging from the Thought’s testimony and now Hyeollyeo’s words as well, she was certainly a dangerous person.

The problem was that this person had been watching me for a very long time.

‘Did she foresee this entire situation from back then?’

The fact that she had said it would have no choice but to happen was the same as saying that she knew the entire chain of cause and effect.

The rise of the Downfall Order, and the fact that they would target Black Jade.

And even the fact that the timing would overlap with my arrival on the Second Floor.

How had Enlil known all of that?

Was she connected to the Downfall Order?

‘Somehow, the things I do not know keep increasing.’

Beings I did not know were maneuvering in places I did not know.

Herman.

Enlil.

Jin Ryeon.

And even the Cult Leader of the Downfall Order.

What had they realized? And what did they desire?

What objective did the “higher” beings have as they moved the pieces on the board?

Every last thing was filled with unknowns.

“......I have to become stronger.”

In the end, there was only one conclusion.

I had to raise my strength, become stronger, and head down into the dungeon.

Because the answers I sought would all be at the end of this abyss.