Chapter 101 A New Name and Departure (Patreon)

When the magic power surrounding her dissipated, a woman who looked closely 『Japanese』 with black hair and eyes and wears a witch outfit took form. The woman slowly approached and talked to me.

「I’d like to praise you for doing great, but sorry that the dungeons defence mechanism caught you at the end. Thanks to that though, I’d say I’m lucky that you ended up here. It makes me really happy」

「……Ummm」

「Ah, Sorry about that. I got a bit too excited not meeting anyone for quite a long time. Rest assured because I am currently holding back the system surrounding us. That one is also coming to help you using that string on your wrist. You will be able to return later」

「Umm, who are you?」

I asked the person who suddenly just went on a barrage talking non-stop. After all, it felt like she would just continue on and on without stopping if I didn’t intervene.

「Ah, that was bad of me. For now, let us introduce ourselves」

Is what she said after bowing down realizing her mistake.

「My name is Cerberica Akabane. I am one of the 16 great witches that created this dungeon and is a descendant of a Hero」

Oh, an unexpected character showed up. I didn’t expect to actually meet the creator of this dungeon that the old man mentioned. I wonder if I should be careful about how I word myself……no, I don’t think I need to and I want to hear more about this place.

「……I see, I’m Aidle. I have a lot of other things to ask, but first of all. What’s with the mechanism of the floor after 20?」

「It was my masterpiece」

「No, that was just insanity!! I even thought I would die, you know!!?」

「Fuhahaha, that’s just the privilege of a Dungeon Maker……Sorry about that, but I had to do it. I really have to, anyway…………Aidle, could you handover the Holy Armor for a bit?」

「Eh, okay, here」

After reluctantly taking out the armor and handing it to her, Cerberica touched the armor as if observing it. I could also feel as if she was holding onto something dear to her.

「I see…it has finally returned………yoshi, that should be good enough. You can have it back」

「Are you okay with that?」

「It’s fine, I’m just a bit fond of it. I would like to thank you for purifying it. Now then, shall we proceed to the main subject. That armor would also be quite relevant to you in the future」

The witch then waved her hand and something resembling a video screen appeared. It seems like it was set in the past. It was about the humans that have disappeared from the records of history.

「I was born from a person known as the 『Sage』 and was partnered with the a Hero. During that time, a few Heroes would be summoned but usually they are alone, in order to counter the Demon King. A lot of things happened in this world and the Hero did long for the previous world, but two people fell in love and I was the result. But at the time they fought the Demon King……they died」

「Did they failed?」

「No, it was because they were betrayed by another Hero, it was a real tragedy」

After the fight, black smoke erupted from the remnants of the Demon King and possessed the Holy Armor of the dead Hero.

「Normally, a Holy Armor would lose all of its power in order to not be exploited by others and would only be activated by other Heroes. However, while the holy armor was still in the middle of diminishing its power at that time, the Demon King’s soul possessed it. The Demon King was able to do it because it possessed powerful skills under the Curse Branch. As a result, the Armor was transformed into a hideous monster」

Moments after, the possessed Armor went berserk Killing the remaining heroes one after another and standing in front of the Demon King's throne after murdering everyone.  As the video continued, the view changed into a tattered royal castle and a cityscape full of monsters.

「This is……」

「It was supposed to be a Country, yes. But it has now turned into a dungeon」

「Ah, as I have expected……」

And so in this world where the Hero that was supposed to wield it disappeared, a Cursed Armor was left behind. A pitiful possessed armor that couldn’t rest and would only curse and kill everything that comes near it.

「After that event, the world went into turmoil. None of the heroes came back after all. Everywhere was a hellish picture due to the damage received from monsters. But I wanted to save that armor, the armor that was left behind by my father. It was the only keepsake that remained……that’s why along with my friends, we developed it. The 『Dungeon Creation Magic』 」

「Wait, aren’t dungeons a created via natural phenomenons?」

「That’s right. You could consider a dungeon a mutation of a monster that manipulates 『Space』 and was created by absorbing the surrounding environment into it. In exchange though, a 『Dungeon Core』 would also be created along with it. One won’t normally find it, but there will always be one within it. 」

「And we got a hold of those dungeon cores」 she continued. And then using the altered dungeon core and it’s features, they encapsulated the armor and sealed it in the depths of the dungeon that was created. Never to be seen by anyone again. They then altered the dungeon to make it look like a naturally generated dungeon.

「The 20th layer is supposed to be an area that no normal humans would be able to pass, and would even trouble Heroes unless the possess a skill called 『Trap Removal』at 『EX』 rank. I was really surprised by a small group of people, and with great momentum clearing the area. And with the non-stop momentum even reached the point of defeating that Armor alone. I couldn’t help but laugh at the hilarity being presented to me to the point that my stomach was hurting. 」

「O, Oh, is that so……by the way, why do you call yourselves witches?」

「The answer is sime. A Dungeon is a Monster that is harmful to humans. And we created such a munster, that’s when we got labeled as 『Witches』. In actuality though, there are those who supported us knowing that the people would hate us to the point that they would want to eliminate us. I don’t know how my other friends passed…which is my only regret which I was not able to witness. After all, I used myself to become a pillar managing this dungeon. 」

……Hmm? Managing?

「Eh, wasn’t that the old man’s job?」

Hearing me, her happy expression was lost and became a bit dark. Her tone of voice also changed to that of a depressed tone. She then turned off the video with her hands, and with a voice as if wanting to make a confession to atone, she answered.

「About that kid……it was just an unexpected incident that caused it. There was no way for us to have expected that a fairy would actually manifest in the dungeon core. And because of that happening, the administrative controls that I handle were suddenly taken away from me. Halfway from being born, he was merged with the core and and because the administrative functions was taken away from me, I was not able to interfere or do anything about it」

That’s probably how her biggest miscalculation started and also the beginning of the old man’s misfortune.