[Saved]

Shine!

A bright light illuminated the void, and Aldrich's body turned into bits of light, disappearing.

The rays of light merged into one and reappeared elsewhere. His body floated as warm green light enveloped him.

Burn marks slowly faded, evaporated blood regenerated, and melted skin reappeared.

His pale body gradually returned to normal. Though his armor wasn't recovered, a robe similar to the one he wore before once again covered him.

"Hmm…" He slowly opened his eyes. "Where am I?" He asked while shielding his eyes from the intense green light. His eyes felt heavy, and even moving a finger was difficult.

"Don't even try. Just lay down there. After an hour or so, you will recover."

A voice resonated in the place, sounding divine, as if belonging to a mythical being. The voice was neutral, devoid of any emotion, akin to a mechanical voice.

'Who are you?' Aldrich thought, unable to move his lips.

"I am... the will of Earth. You can call me Gaia." A figure appeared in Aldrich's view.

The figure lacked a gender, with a human-like body covered in greenish grass-like foliage. Trees sprouted from its head, and water flowed from head to toe like a river. Its eyes emitted light like the sun, devoid of mouth and nose.

It exuded immense pressure and seemed filled with life.

"Gaia?" Aldrich recalled the name from Greek mythology. "Where am I?" He inquired in his mind. Given the nature of the world filled with skills and superpowers, reading mind was least surprising.

"It's my personal space, you could say. A void from where I observe the world." Gaia glanced at the countless screens surrounding them, each displaying humans, dungeons, monsters, and the wasteland.

"Why... Why did you save me?"

"Because you are the only one who can save me."

"Save you?"

"Saving Earth essentially means saving me. I am the will of the Earth. If Earth is destroyed, I will be destroyed too," Gaia explained, devoid of emotion.

"Oh," Aldrich gazed into the dark expanse. "What was the monster in that dungeon? And the prism…"

"The core of the dungeon," Gaia replied.

The word caused Aldrich's heart to pound. "Core?"

"Yes. Destroying that will destroy the dungeon."

"That... means dungeons are destroyable?"

"Yes."

"How?" Aldrich felt excitement coursing through him. Who wouldn't want to destroy the dungeon and end the apocalypse? Who wouldn't yearn for peace and prosperity?

"That's a tale for later. With your current state, you can't achieve it. Your strength is still very low."

Aldrich didn't speak. He stared into the void, clearing his mind as the pain receded from his body.

After an unknown amount of time, Gaia's voice resonated. "The monster is the guardian of the dungeon. Its strength is ten times greater than an S-rank monster."

"Greater than an S-rank monster?" Aldrich found it terrifying. A single S-rank monster required more than five S-rank Supers to beat.

Monsters' physique and skills were more powerful than humans'. A single D-rank monster was twice as powerful as a D-rank Super. Monsters surpassed humans in every aspect, except intelligence.

"Don't dream of destroying the dungeon. Dungeon cores are the sturdiest material in the world. Even if you explode 1000 undead, you may not be able to destroy it."

"Seriously." Aldrich knew the effects of an explosion. The explosion of 1000 undead could destroy a town, turning a 10km area into a crater.

In the dungeon, he had used nearly 70% of the undead, over 12,000 undead in the explosion.

That much explosive power was enough to wipe out a city.

No wonder he had nearly died. If he hadn't been in a hurry, he wouldn't have dared to do it. But at that moment, his mind had been buzzing with the threat of death, so he had decided to take the enemy with him.

Fortunately, he hadn't died immediately thanks to his armor and defensive robe, but he had been gravely injured.

If it hadn't been for Gaia, he would have died.

"What should I do?" Aldrich asked.

"You should take back the continent. You have seen the Lich. As long as you kill him, I can use my power to recover the continent. After that, we can destroy the dungeon."

"But... What does the dungeon do?" Aldrich wanted to know the purpose of the dungeon. Was it simply to destroy the world? If so, why hadn't S-rank monsters invaded at the beginning of the apocalypse?

If those beings had attacked, humanity wouldn't have survived.

"That... I don't have enough time to explain. It's very complicated. Your body has recovered. I will send you back."

Before Aldrich could reply, a bright light surrounded him. Before he could blink, he was already standing in front of the Imperial City gate.

"Hah... I need to work pretty hard," Aldrich muttered, scratching his hair as he walked through the city.

________

[Titan Domain]

Gandolf strolled around with his staff, wearing a nonchalant expression as he surveyed his surroundings.

Thud! Thud!

The ground shook as two 3 meter-tall beings approached him. While resembling humans, they lacked intelligence and emotions.

With a sole intention to kill, the Titans, wearing fabric cloths around their waists, rushed toward Gandolf.

"So boring," he spat on the ground and raised his staff.

"Rain of Curse Needles." Dark clouds formed above his head and zoomed towards the Titans.

Needles rained down, stabbing every part of their bodies. Though it didn't cause much damage, the curse affected them.

They froze in their tracks as weakness spread through their bodies.

Gandolf wasn't just a mage. He approached them with his staff and struck them.

The demonic staff's sturdy and strong material bashed their heads, crushing their skulls.

He repeated the process with another Titan. As an S-rank, not only was his mana high, but his strength, speed, defense, and other attributes were also S-ranked.

The two cores fell into his hands. "Come and be my slaves," he commanded.

The cores trembled and floated. Bones ejected from it stacked upon each other to form humanoid bone undead.

The two Undead Titan bowed their heads.

"Good," Gandolf, with no emotion visible in his eyes, moved forward.

"Gather the monsters," he ordered.

The undead Titans rushed immediately, while Gandolf followed with slow steps.

"100,000 bones... Time to grind the dungeons for 24/7."