Chapter 187: Chapter 58. The Sacred Area (2)
I could not help but frown, because what Tashumal just said sounded like nonsense. Seraphs were the strongest angels, and they were on the top of the pyramid. They were very hard to see, and even I had seen one only once during the previous life. And now, Tashumal was telling me that a Seraph was going to come to Earth soon.
The fact that Tashumal knew about the visit was also strange. When an angel came down to this world, he or she could not return to the Celestial World until the entire race of demons was wiped out. In addition, once an angel left the Celestial World, he or she could no longer keep in touch with other angels in the Celestial World. Based on this information, I thought that Tashumal could not know what was going on in the Celestial World.
“Are you sure?”
“I received a ‘revelation.’ ”
“You’re a fallen angel, aren’t you?”
I slightly laughed at the angel. The laws of Celestial Worlds were very strict, and fallen angels were no longer angels. Tashumal transformed into a fallen angel because of me, a demon, and I expected that other angels would treat her like a demon.
And this fallen angel was telling me that she received a revelation. In other words, Tashumal was saying that the God of the Celestial World spoke to her directly. I did not know that this God was so generous. If he was so generous, why didn’t he step in to save his angels, when so many of them were dying in the previous life?
Tashumal noticed that I was doubting her, so she continued speaking cautiously.
“The revelation is real. The day when the Sun absorbs the Moon, Karmiel will come.”
I watched Tashumal closely. I was her Dungeon Master, and I doubted if she would lie to me. However, if what she told me was true, it would be nonsense, too.
“Karmiel. Oh, Karmiel,” I thought.
I had heard that there were seven Seraphs in the Celestial World. The one Seraph that I had seen was ZadKiel, and I saw her before the Last Battle in my previous life. She was extremely powerful, and she burned many demons, including three counts. And Tashumal was now telling me that an angel, who would be as strong as ZadKiel, would come to this world soon.
“The balance will be lost,” I thought.
The demons had not reached their full potential yet. They had just started to get larger in number. Once Karmiel came to this world, even the archdukes would not survive.
“What do you mean by when the Sun engulfs the Moon?”
“I don’t know. Revelations are often very abstract. However, I do remember that the scene I saw was terrifying. The world was coming to an end…”
Tashumal’s voice grew quieter. She looked a bit nervous.
“You don’t know exactly when it will happen.”
The most important piece of information was when the Seraph would come down. It was a shame that Tashumal did not know that.
After considering several different and possible scenarios, I got lost in my thoughts.
If the revelation was true, Karmiel was coming to this world. In this case, I wanted to know in advance where the angel would arrive at. If the Seraph appeared in random places, I would not be prepared. I needed the Seraph to show up in places that I would be expecting her to.
Giving the dungeon to Tashumal would be a good idea for this scenario, because Karmiel would appear in Tashumal’s dungeon. There was a problem to this solution, however. Once Tashumal received the dungeon that I just conquered, angels would gather around this dungeon first. I wasn’t sure if I could have such a large number of angels under my control. I did not want the angels to get stronger than me.
“Is Karmiel strong?”
Zadkiel, the other Seraph that I had seen in my previous life was very powerful. She was even more powerful than I was in this life. Furthermore, the angel’s body was so large that it almost covered the entire sky. Zadkiel was also not just a normal angel. She looked like a sphere and could continuously shoot very powerful rays of light. The rays were so powerful that each could burn an island.
I wondered if Karmiel was as powerful as Zadkiel.
“The Seraph is immortal. She accompanies one million and fourteen thousand angels, and the Seraph will never die unless all of her companions vanish.”
“One million and fourteen thousand…?”
I was surprised at such a large number. The number of angels was so large compared to that of my monsters; I had only a few thousand monsters in my dungeons.
There was no way that I could eliminate all of the Seraph’s angels and defeat her.
“Are you saying that Karmiel will be coming with all of her one million angels?”
Tashumal nodded.
“You are correct. She will come to punish the Sun, which engulfs the Moon…”
“Wait, I thought the purpose of her coming was to vanquish the demons?”
Tashumal had told me that the Seraph would appear when the Sun absorbed the Moon. She had also told me that the purpose of the visit was to punish the demons. However, now she was saying that Karmiel would come to punish the Sun. I got confused and wanted some clarifications.
“Unfortunately, this is all I know. I cannot tell you more, even if I want to.”
Tsk. I clicked my tongue.
The information that Tashumal gave me was confusing.
In any case, killing Karmiel would be extremely challenging, because I would need to first get rid of her one million angels.
“I don’t want such a large number of angels to spread out in this world. I must assign the new dungeon as a sacred area,” I thought.
The number of angels was very large, and if they scattered all over this world, it would be very hard to track all of them down. I wanted to make sure that they were all inside the new dungeon.
Although I was giving the new dungeon to Tashumal, I was not going to give it away for free. I decided to prepare a plan, so that I would get notified, as soon as Karmiel appeared.
Most importantly, I made up my mind.
“I’m going to get Karmiel. Getting rid of her would be a wonderful achievement, which will help me become the Dark Lord,” I thought.
Should the angel come down, it would not be right now. There was some time left until her arrival, and I decided to get even stronger in the meantime. Then, when the angel showed up, I would get her. No archduke had achieved something like this before. If I could get this angel, then I would write a new history. Karmiel was one of the seven Seraphs, and getting her would make me the Dark Lord. I expected that no one would dare challenge me when I became the Dark Lord.
And at the same time, I got curious. I wondered if I, who went a step further than just entering the realm of transcendence, could defeat a Seraph. Zadkiel, whom I saw during my previous life, was very powerful. If Karmiel was as strong as Zadkiel, the fight with her would be spectacular.
“Fine. I will declare the new dungeon as a sacred area. However, I want to have some of my angels in that area, too. Is that possible?”
“All of your angels have transformed into fallen angels or gotten corrupted because of the mana of the dungeon. The only pure angel that you have is Hashi. Other angels will not doubt or mistreat Hashi.”
“Hashi? Isn’t she too young?”
The angel was born only half a year ago. She could barely speak a word. I wanted to put some of my angels in the sacred area, because I wanted to use them as spies. Hashi was too young to become a spy for me.
“None of your angels is eligible. Do not underestimate the angels. They are very sensitive and observant. If they start doubting you, they will eventually attack you. Once they figure out that you have tried to breed angels, they will not forgive you.”
I could not quite trust Tashumal, but I did not have any other option.
“Hmm… Then try to train Hashi as much as you can. As soon as the dungeon is declared as a sacred place, I want Hashi to go in.”
Declaring the new dungeon as a sacred area would take only several months at the latest. The baby angel would have to go through harsh training, if she could be useful by then.
“I will try my best.”
Tashumal did not look so confident.
Even though everything grew more quickly in dungeons, there were limits as to how fast they could grow.
Now, that limit would depend on Tashumal’s abilities.
When I turned away, Tashumal bowed shortly and disappeared. It seemed that she would start training Hashi immediately.
“The sacred area, Karmiel, and the Sun that engulfed the Moon.”
The revelation was indeed very shocking, and I could not predict what would happen if the Seraph did come in the future. If the angel did come, all of the demons, including myself, would go through dramatic changes.
At least I was better off than other demons, because I was informed about the coming of the angel. I wondered how other demons, who did not know the advent of the Seraph in advance, would react, once Karmiel appeared in front of them. Imagining their reactions was somewhat entertaining.
“Hmm…”
I could hear someone groaning quietly.
The sound came from not far away, and I realized that Kim Youra had woken up.
***
“Minji!”
Kim Youra sat up upon waking. She was crying out for her younger sister, who had sacrificed herself to protect her. Then she realized that she was in a place where she had never been before.
“Where am I…?”
The place was dark. There was a candle, but it was not bright enough. The place was also very humid and soggy. Kim Youra could see what looked like rocks.
“Wait, my voice…,” she thought.
Kim Youra opened her eyes wide.
She was surprised that her voice came out right. Her gums had melted, so she had not been able to speak properly. The girl realized that her body had changed while she had been asleep; she could clearly pronounce her sister’s name now.
“Ah…”
Kim Youra could even move her legs.
She had long been on a wheelchair, because her legs had been paralyzed. Sitting on a wheelchair, Kim Youra had not walked much, and she expected that her legs would be very weak. However, the girl’s legs were full of muscles, and Kim Youra could not fathom how her legs gained so much muscle despite the lack of usage.
Then she quickly touched her face with her two hands and checked it.
Her face felt smooth. The burns and wounds were gone.
“What happened?” she wondered.
Kim Youra frowned and put one of her hands on her forehead.
Then she started to remember what had happened.
She remembered that a vampire had attacked her and her sister. Then her young sister sacrificed herself to protect her. And a man appeared.
The man asked Kim Youra if she wanted to save her younger sister. When she said yes, the man offered her a potion in a bottle, and she drank it.
That was the end of her memory. No matter how hard she tried, Kim Youra could not remember what happened afterwards.
“You woke up.”
Kim Youra heard the voice of the man who saved her and her sister.
“Who are you? And where is my sister?”
I smiled slightly at her question. The girl was bold enough to ask me that question as soon as she woke up.
Kim Youra was also resilient. She woke up in an unknown place, but she managed to hide her emotions.
“You will find the answers soon. Before trying to find the answers, why don’t you take a look at yourself?”
When I flicked my fingers, the dungeon became bright. Lights appeared and lightened up the entire dungeon.
Kim Youra looked surprised, and her eyes widened. The girl took a hand mirror and looked into her own reflection.
“This is… me?”
Kim Youra was shocked to find herself changed.
Before the transformation, she had terrible wounds and burns on her face, and she looked horrible.
Now, they were gone, and her skin looked flawless. Humans had similar standards of beauty as demons, and Kim Youra now looked very pretty.
It was no wonder that she was so surprised. She had transformed from a girl whose face was covered with wounds into a beauty.
I let her cherish her changed appearance for a moment and spoke to her.
“You have transformed into the Holy Woman of Harmony. However, during the transformation, you could not control the power inside you. Fortunately, I was able to control it and save you. As a result, your life belongs to me now.”
“Wait, wait. I want to clarify. Who are you? And where is my sister?”
“My name is Randalf Bruciel. Some call me the savior, and others call me the dungeon master. Your sister is safe and she is recovering, too. Don’t worry.”
I did not hesitate to tell her everything, because the contract between her and I was in effect. She would not be able to get away from me, even if she wanted to.
“S-savior! Are you the real savior?”
It seemed that Kim Youra was not paying much attention to the latter part of the information. The fact that I was the master of this dungeon was more important than that of my being the savior now. However, the girl seemed to be only interested in the savior part. From her response, I could see that the savior was much talked about in Korea.
Humans always listened to whatever they wanted to hear. Kim Youra wanted to confirm that I was what the others called the savior. I thought that it would not hurt to not deny that, so I nodded.
“They call me so.”
“Ah…!”
Kim Youra suddenly started trembling.
Clenching her fists, the girl continued talking.
“Savior, please let me see my sister. I beg you.”
“Follow me.”
Locking my hands behind my back, I took the lead. Gaparam was trying to make Kim Minji a new pair of legs. He needed to get some information from her and was asking her the necessary questions.
Gaparam’s laboratory was located quite a distance away from the Dungeon Core. On the way to the lab, Kim Youra and I encountered many monsters, and she became frightened.
“A-are we… in a dungeon?”
“You are correct.”
An Orc Lord was leading hundreds of orcs.
When the Orc Lord saw me, it approached me. Instead of attacking me, the monster looked at me and banged its left chest with his right hand.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The rest of the orcs followed their leader.
Banging chests was an orc’s way of showing respect to their master.
When Kim Youra saw the orcs, she was puzzled and asked me a question.
“Why aren’t the orcs attacking? It seems that they are saluting…”
The girl must have missed the latter part of my introduction.
I hated saying the same thing twice, but I had to remind her about who I was.
“Didn’t I tell you? Some call me the dungeon master. I am the master of this dungeon.”