Chapter 29: The final countdown

[Kleo's point of view]

"Hm, it appears there are some strange individuals coming our way. One is a Paladin and the other an Unawakened dragon, but he is quite strong." said the man as he looked at a crystal ball the size of a human head floating in front of him.

From where I was sitting, I couldn't see clearly the image reflected inside it, but I had a good guess about who he was talking about. The only two individuals who were next to me when I got sent here were Alkelios and Iolaus. If it was my sister's lover, then he would certainly come over to save me, but the Paladin was probably aiming at severing his ties with me… for good.

In the past few hours since I woke up in this place, I came to realize a couple of things.

First of all, these shackles were powerful enough to keep my magic at bay and sturdy enough to resist when I pulled on them with all of my strength. Although I could easily bend a human's steel sword, I was unable to rip these shackles apart.

Second of all, this necromancer wasn't controlling the dungeon. In fact, it was actively trying to destroy him, but he welcomed the attacks. Using a strange spell, he sent all the groups of monsters aiming for his life somewhere else.

The first time I saw it was not long after I woke up. Two skeletons rushed into this room, but he simply held out his hands towards them and spoke in a strange language. In that moment, I felt the flow of Magic Energy shifting, and the monsters vanished. This event was repeated time and time again, but I never found out where exactly they were being sent.

The last thing I found out was the reason as to why he wasn't killing me immediately. If he didn't want to destroy his own Magic Energy channels, he had to give himself time to adjust to the energy he absorbed before trying to repeat the process. In other words, my time was limited if I didn't free myself from these shackles or someone came to save me.

On the bright side of things, he was planning on absorbing my Magic Energy only two days from now. It was more than enough time for my friends to come over and rescue me. Even so, I wasn't planning on sitting quietly until they did, I kept struggling with the shackles in an attempt to loosen them up a bit. My wrists hurt from my struggles, but even if I were to break them, I didn't plan on giving up.

"Maybe I should send a boss their way?" the man pondered.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him.

"Why should I tell you?" he snorted and then looked back at me. "Nothing is 100% certain, dragon. They may still have a trump card up their sleeves, that's why I won't reveal any information regarding what I did and what I plan on doing. If you can guess, so be it. But I won't either confirm or deny it." he smirked back at me.

This man wasn't planning on letting me know anything. He was careful and saw our lives as nothing more than a way to boost his own power. As such, I didn't have any sort of doubt that he was the type to mercilessly kill all of us to obtain what he desired. My only worry was whether or not we were powerful enough to defeat him.

[Alkelios' point of view]

It's been a couple of hours since we were transported here. My [Dragon Tamer] tracking function would have been a good thing to use if we were on an open field, however, there were two problems with using it. On one hand, it was set to track Seryanna, and on the other hand, it was useless in a maze. At the moment, it was pointing behind me… at the ceiling.

"Aren't you tired yet?" asked Iolaus as he leaned on a wall while I was picking up the loot from our recent kill.

"Not really…" I shrugged.

"You are a monster, and you aren't even an Awakened yet." he shook his head.

After our last bout, which resulted in me pummeling him into the ground, he kept quiet most of the time and when he spoke, he said things like that.

"I'm done. Let's go." I said as I began to walk deeper into this dungeon.

The dragon groaned and whipped his tail in the air to show his annoyance. I ignored him and continued to march through these never-ending tunnels.

The monsters varied from time to time, but the basic groups were formed of zombies, skeletons, and if we were lucky maybe a Lich or Dullahan. The other type of monsters we encountered were the giant undead scorpions, the undead snakes, and a drunk skeleton piano player. That last one was no joke. We actually encountered a drunk skeleton who played a song for us on the piano, and he was quite good too. We didn't kill him, just quietly walked around him.

As for bosses, there were none. We did arrive in what could be called a boss room, but it was empty. The chests were all empty along the way too, almost as if someone already went through this place and looted everything that could be looted before we got here. Besides the nuggets and black dust, I didn't bother with collecting anything else because there was nothing else to collect, not even a rusty sword or damaged shield.

Another thing I noticed was how often we encountered these undead groups. Instead of finding them in each room, we were lucky if we found a group once every 4 or 5 rooms. As for the tunnels, they were mostly empty. This led me to believe that maybe if not surely, we were quite lucky to have found those two groups when we got teleported here in the first place.

"Hey, Paladin Iolaus, did you ever visit another dungeon besides this one?" I asked him.

"While this may be the first time I entered this particular dungeon, I am experienced with other dungeons." he declared proudly.

"Really? How often did you encounter monsters in those dungeons?" I asked him without looking at him.

"Quite often actually. I am a bit surprised by the scarcity of the groups here. Normally, you don't find only one or two groups now and then." he said as he looked down at the remains of the last group we killed.

"How many then?" I asked.

"You know… I don't get it. You are incredibly powerful, yet I can tell you never stepped into a dungeon before." he said and then shook his head.

"Aaand that matters why?" I asked raising an eyebrow back at him.

"Well… It's just that from what I know, an Unawakened dragon can't get that powerful without training in a dungeon." he explained and narrowed his eyes at me.

"I lived in the Seculiar Forest until now." I told him immediately.

In the few days I spent away from Seryanna, I did wonder what I was going to tell those dragons who didn't know my secret, bot who kept asking how I got so strong. One option was to say that I was trained in some far away dungeon, while the other was to say I lived in the Seculiar Forest. That place was known by all species to be one of the most dangerous places in the explored world. If it was the MOST dangerous in the whole world, this was debatable. Judging from what Seryanna told me about that Neutral aligned species who created dungeons, it was highly likely that on their continent, they had something far scarier than the Seculiar Forest.

Iolaus didn't say anything else after I told him that. We continued to walk through the dungeon and killed off any monsters that popped up on our path. For most of the time, I was worried for Kleo's safety. With Kataryna up on the surface, I was certain my redhead dragoness wasn't going to get into too much trouble on her own.

The village was probably safe as well, for the time being, but something felt terribly off about this entire dungeon. The number of monsters outside was outrageous, and they kept popping up one after another. They were like an endless wave, but why were they attacking in the first place?

Why now? I thought after I destroyed another group.

"Where could Thraherkleyoseya be?" asked Iolaus, and did I actually sense a hint of worry in the tone of his voice?

"Not here by the looks of it. She's probably deeper within the dungeon…" I said as I picked up the nuggets and ignored the dust.

"Why would a dungeon abduct someone from the surface?" he asked.

"Doesn't stuff like this happen often?" I asked.

"No. Never! I have never heard of anything like this!" he shook his head.

"Is that so? Then maybe it wasn't the dungeon who did this…" I thought and scratched the back of my head.

While looking at the path ahead of me, I began to wonder if maybe this dungeon also felt that it was in danger and was trying to attack the other threat. If that was so, then it was wasting a lot of energy fighting against us here.

Letting out a sigh, I looked up at the ceiling.

"Can a dungeon understand our words?" I asked.

"I don't know… What are you thinking?" Iolaus asked as he moved away from the wall he was leaning against.

"Something… strange." I replied.

If this works, then I'm a genius, if not… at least I tried. I wish for this dungeon to help us find Kleo. I closed my eyes as I expressed that wish, letting the 100 Luck do its job, when I opened my eyes, I looked at the path ahead of me.

"Shall we go?" asked Iolaus.

"Not yet." I then took a deep breath and shouted at the top of my lungs "Dungeon! I know you can hear and understand me!" I stopped and narrowed my eyes at the path ahead.

"What are you doing?" Iolaus asked.

"Sh! Don't interrupt me." I shooed him away.

The Paladin crossed his arms and leaned on the wall next to me.

"Fine! Be crazy on your own." he scorned.

I ignored him and shouted at the dungeon again "We are not your enemies! We wish to retrieve our friend, the black-scaled dragoness and leave this place! If you clear a path for us, even if it's next to your core, you have my promise that I won't try to destroy or harm you!"

"You maybe." Iolaus commented with a smirk.

"You too, if you don't want me to rearrange the bones in your body." I threatened him.

"Ugh… fine… me too." he looked away and muttered something inaudible.

I continued "If there's someone down there who keeps her against her will and at the same time is using your monsters to attack the surface, I will try to defeat him or her! So, will you let us pass and show us the way, dungeon?"

This was my plan, but also a very long shot in the dark.

Of course, who would believe that someone like me could talk some sense into an artificial creation with the only purpose of trying to eradicate all the adventurers brave enough to challenge it? Well, I was sort of betting on the idea that maybe… just maybe, this dungeon had an intelligence of sorts that could balance out the threats. If our status was changed from Enemy to Ally, then it would focus all of its energy on aiding us, not killing us. Of course, it could also just ignore us, but that was fine as well.

A few minutes later, Iolaus let out a sigh.

"See! It didn't work!" he scoffed.

"Let's wait a little longer… maybe it's thinking." I told him.

"How to kill us maybe?" he smirked.

"It's better than nothing…" I groaned.

"Well, I'm telling you, you are crazy! Something like talking to a dungeon is prepooaAAA!" Iolaus wasn't able to finish his sentence as the wall behind him suddenly vanished and he fell on his back.

"You were saying?" I said as I walked over to him and showed him a smirk.

"This… This can't be! I never heard of anything like this!" he said a bit bewildered as he got back up on his feet.

"It's a bit logical if you think about it. We aren't technically the dungeon's enemies. We only want Kleo back not to conquer this place." I shrugged and walked ahead.

There was a straight path leading down. The walls were straight, barely illuminated by fluorescent crystals, but there were no traps or monsters on it. We still kept our guard up, but it was clear that this path was made for us in order to reach the one who was currently identified as an Enemy. My only question was if we were confronting a single individual or a group.

"Be on your guard, Iolaus… We don't know what's up ahead." I told him.

"That's Paladin Iolaus, and I know what's up ahead, a trap… I'm certain you led us straight into a trap!" he scoffed, but I ignored him.

To be safe, I did use my 100 Luck.

I wish we'll get out of this place safely. Although I hate it, I also wish for things to be resolved between Kleo and Iolaus. This hate between them is nonsensical… just like my lack of desire to further Advance and Improve my [Dragon Tamer] skill. I thought.

[Kleo's point of view]

"NO! Where are they?! Where are they?!" shouted the man as he grabbed his crystal with both hands.

It appeared as though he had lost track of the two adventurers inside the dungeon. They certainly didn't die, they just vanished from within the tunnels, or maybe they just found out that he was tracking them and somehow managed to avoid his spell?

Inside my cage, I could only show a mocking smile. If it was indeed Alkelios who was inside this dungeon, then this man was definitely underestimating him. He was the one and only human with an ability through which he could borrow the power of his dragon friends. I was one of them, but so was my sister, who was recognized as a Royal Knight, and Kataryna, who already achieved her Breakthrough. There was also the power borrowed from my grandfather, but what was amazing and simply mind blowing about this ability of his was the fact that he didn't steal this power from us, he copied it.

In other words, the stronger we became, the stronger he became.

The only thing I could worry about was the fact that this man before me could hold a similar ability as him, after all, he was able to bring me here against my will.

"This is strange… I can't locate them. It's like the dungeon swallowed them up!" he spoke in a clear tone of anger.

I said nothing.

Eventually, he grew tired of searching after them and moved away from the crystal. There was no point in trying to locate them if they found a way around his spell, but this in itself meant that they were more or less aware of the fact that they were being watched. Since I had no idea how exactly that spell of his worked, I didn't know what the possible ways of interfering or dispelling it altogether were.

"And we're here!" I heard Alkelios' voice coming all the way from outside of this room.

"It can't be…" the man looked worried and thought about what to do next.

His gaze moved towards me and then back to his desk. Walking over there, he put on a [Purse] ring and absorbed the entire lab. He proceeded to do the same with everything else in here, paying special attention to his papers written in some foreign language. He left nothing behind to be traced back to him. I alone was as his sole witness.

"Hmph!" he turned around and walked towards the exit.

A mage staff appeared in his left hand.

What's he up to? I wondered.

"Detonate." he said before he left.

A chill ran down my spine. The shackles around my wrists began to glow in a strong violet light, and strange characters appeared on them. They changed every second, counting down to something.

"No… What is this?" I asked surprised and tried hard to get out of my chains.

I didn't know what it was, but it was scary. The Magic Energy that gathered in them was no joke, so I tried desperately to set myself free.

"Ugh! I can't… I can't get them off…" I said struggling and struggling until my wrists began to bleed.

I heard someone approaching me, and I stopped for a moment to look back. There, in front of me stood Iolaus. His sword was drawn.

"Thraherkleyoseya…" he said as he looked into my eyes.

Fear rushed through my whole body as I understood why he was here… why any Paladin would stand before a chained Necromancer with his sword drawn.

"No, please…" I squirmed back away from him and closed my eyes.

[Iolaus' point of view]

This absurd monster was out of his mind with him calling out for help from the dungeon, but who was I say otherwise? Compared to him, I was weak. I could do nothing to stop him, but then again, no dragon ever tried something as crazy as this before, at least as far as I knew.

This dragon did say that he gained his absurd strength by living in the Seculiar Forest, which was renowned for the terrible dangers hidden within it, but I found it to be rather absurd. No one could survive on their own in that place! One of my seniors tried to challenge it before, but he failed miserably. He had a Power Number of 146, yet he returned without a hand and a terrible scar across his face. Even his own wife didn't recognize him. It cost him everything, yet this Unawakened fellow claimed to have lived there?

Maybe… his strength could claim truth to his words, but something inside me made me unable to believe him.

"We're almost at the end of this tunnel… " I said as I walked behind him.

"Yeah. Wait one moment." we both stopped, and he closed his eyes. "[Kitty Eyes]!" he called out to one of his spells.

His pupils turned from normal ones to those of a relliar. They were slit horizontally.

I had no idea what he was trying to do, but I waited patiently. Maybe it was some sort of scouting ability of his? If that was so, I never heard of a spell with such a weird name before.

A few moments later, his eyes returned to normal.

"Here's the plan. You stay quiet, and I'll try to distract the black-hooded fellow who kidnapped Kleo. While I pull him out of there, you will sneak past him and free Kleo." he told me.

"Why should I trust you, and why would you trust me with Thraherkleyoseya's life?" I asked him while looking into his eyes.

"Well…" he looked away from me.

"What if I want to… kill her?" I asked him, but those words weighed heavily on my soul.

After what this Unawakened dragon told me earlier today, I couldn't feel the same desire of killing my former lover as I did in the past. His words turned all of my morals upside down, but it wasn't the logic of those words themselves as much as the strength and confidence he put behind them. Maybe I was a failure as a Paladin?

"You hesitated now. That's why I'm certain you won't. Besides, I wished for her not to get harmed and for us to rescue her safely. You certainly won't kill her and if you try to… you will die. I guarantee this." he told me with such a strength and confidence in his words that simply bewildered me.

How can any dragon put so much faith and trust in an unknown future? I wondered.

"We're here… Let's go." he ordered.

I nodded and unsheathed my sword.

He moved ahead of me and turned left. I went right and hid inside the shadows of the labyrinth. There, I found a Skeleton Warrior. I stopped and gulped, raising my sword up. The monster looked at me and rattled his bones. It didn't attack, which was odd.

"And we're here!" shouted Alkelios.

I heard him, but I feared that if I were to attack this skeleton or be attacked by it, then the one inside that room would certainly realize that I was here.

I pray to Lumenya, the goddess of Light, and Lumenos, her husband that what he said about the dungeon being our temporary ally is true… Then again, what was that dragon's name? By the gods, I will die following a man whose name I couldn't even remember! I thought in my mind while I stared into the dark, empty holes of the dragon skeleton before me.

Surprisingly, it didn't move. He didn't attack me.

While a bit bewildered by this fact, I noticed the hooded man leaving the room. I knew that was my cue, so I ignored the monster here and rushed inside. It didn't give chase after me.

There, I found Thraherkleyoseya… Her wrists were bleeding from her struggles to break free from her shackles, which looked enchanted for that matter.

How much did she struggle to end up like this? I thought and a chill rand down my spine.

The blood kept flowing from her wounds and for now, she didn't seem to be aware of me, but the more I looked at her, the more I saw the dragoness who was my former lover trying to break free of her chains and not so much a fierce necromancer who had to be put down.

I stopped in front of her cage, and it was then when she noticed me.

Looking up at me, tears ran down her cheeks. She was frightened.

I thought necromancers are heartless monsters… Darkness corrupts them… So why… why are you crying? I asked myself as I felt my heart waver.

"Thraherkleyoseya…" I called out to her, but I stopped.

What am I going to say? No… whatever that dragon said to me is a lie! I have to kill her here! In the name of my gods… I have to kill her… I have to kill this… this… I thought and gripped the hilt of my sword.

"No, please…" she squirmed back until she touched the wall.

With her hands up and closing her eyes, she trembled and tried to protect herself from me.

Blood flowed down her wrists, her skin was cut and ripped apart from her attempts to free herself from those strange cuffs. Tears were rushing down her cheeks, and her whole body was trembling.

While in front of such a dragoness, I held my sword in my hand ready to kill her.

"Please… please don't hurt me, Iolaus…" she whimpered.

My heart froze in that instant.

My own hand trembled as I opened the gate.

"Please…" she begged me.

My gods demand the death of all necromancers… They demand me to slay you… to kill you, Thraherkleyoseya, for justice, for peace, for… love… I thought and then raised my sword up. Love? I thought again. I remembered that dragon's words. I remembered what he said about what it means to love. I remembered my own words. No! I shook my head and clenched my jaw and fists. My whole body was tense and trembling, but not out of fear but from indecision. If she didn't have this power… then I would have kept loving her… I still do… the old her, but… I stopped and grabbed my face, struggling with my thoughts.

"I can't use magic… These chains will kill me anyway… If I'm to die… then at least I'll die by your hands…" Thraherkleyoseya said something unthinkable.

Lowering her hands and crying rivers, she looked up at me with an expression that sent countless spears of guilt and pain stabbing through my chest. It appeared as though she was at wit's end. She saw no escape. Her only chance, the Unawakened dragon… wasn't here.

Instead, I was here, the man who betrayed her… the man who loved her…

"Thraherkleyoseya…" I said and raised my sword up.

She closed her eyes and waited. The runes on her cuffs were changing faster. Now was the moment of truth… my final choice. She was right here before me, defenseless, easy to kill.

I can't betray my gods… The gods of Light! The… I stopped and then I remembered… the god of Darkness Nocturnia. The gods… the stories… No, why am I thinking of such? I shook my head, but the memory returned, the story of two ancient lovers Lumenos is the husband of Nocturnia as well… She is his second wife, but while the Temple of Light views her as an impostor, a thief, a liar, Lumenos doesn't. How can a god of Light share his love both with a goddess of Light and one of Darkness… unless… I remembered what the Unawakened dragon told me again about love, about what it meant to truly love someone…

"AARGH!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and swung down my sword.

My decision was made, but through it… I couldn't help but wonder whether or not I just betrayed my gods?