＜ 10. There are no bad dogs (1) ＞
A far-off abyss, Andrea sank into a deep, deep darkness. Other senses faded like old memories, and only the weight that led to the floor remained clear.
At one point, he came out of the darkness and was thrown to the ground. Strangely, I hit my back on the floor, but it didn’t hurt. Andrea looked up and carefully observed the scenery around her.
Rocky gray background. There were no special decorations, only a huge hand bone-shaped throne. someone sitting on it.
Black, jet-black, waist-length hair, a black dress tucked into the night sky, slightly raised eyebrows, pale skin, and a sharp nose with a thin shadow.
A woman of impossibly beautiful appearance sat with her legs crossed proudly.
Andrea almost stopped breathing. As far as Andrea knew, she was one of the most omnipotent, majestic, and secretive beings in ‘Dungeons of Infinity’.
Shadow God, Khalisis.
Khalicis was somehow looking down at the person below with a bitter look.
“Do you not regret your choice?”
The person kneeling at the foot of the throne was wearing a black hood, so I couldn’t recognize who it was. It is only possible to infer that he is a man based on his body shape.
“I have decided not to look back at my shadow any longer.”
Andrea opened her eyes wide. It was a familiar voice. Somehow, a voice that sounded very similar to his own voice now.
Callisis continued to speak in a detached voice.
“I feel indebted to you. To put it bluntly, your sacrifice won’t have a big enough impact on my plan.”
“The glass never overflows without the last drop.”
“Even if you had to give all your blood to squeeze that drop?”
The kneeling man raised his head. I couldn’t see his expression because of the shadow, but his voice was filled with doubt.
“You must have already seen through my intentions, so may I ask why you are asking this?”
“To let others know. To the one who will visit us someday.”
Silence came. The kneeling man quietly turned his head towards Andrea. However, her gaze was subtly misaligned as if she couldn’t see Andrea.
Callices tapped the armrest lightly with her finger to divert her attention.
“Anyway, if you’re determined, there’s only one thing I can tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Thank you for trusting me. A God who is incompetent and eccentric like me.”
“You are still overly humble.”
Callices raised a corner of her mouth and smiled bitterly.
“Yes, lowering me would also lower the level of you, my first apostle.”
“I didn’t mean it in that sense.”
“Know. But my second apostle might think so.”
“Is he here now?”
“Looking at you right now, no. But my now and yours are different.”
Seon dialogues that were difficult to understand continued. Andrea realized with some difficulty that ‘Second Apostle’ might be what she was referring to.
At that moment, Khalisis turned her head towards Andrea.
“It’s a pity that I can’t tell you everything clearly. I’m waiting for the time to meet again in a deeper place.”
After that, something jumped out and pulled Andrea’s ankle. Andrea sank to the bottom as if she were submerged in water.
Swimming again in the deep darkness, Andrea felt her consciousness fade.
*
As soon as I opened my eyes, what I felt was a nausea that seemed to turn my whole intestines upside down. On the day I was discharged, the terrible pain that seemed to be four or five times the hangover I suffered after drinking too much alcohol. Andrea hit the floor and vomited violently.
My mind was confused. I felt like I had seen something I shouldn’t forget, but I wasn’t sure. Thoughts that gradually fade. Andrea eventually forgot that she had seen anything.
The first thought that came to my mind was this.
‘What, did it end well?’
It was a stupid question to even think about. If things didn’t work out, I wouldn’t even be alive in the first place.
‘Marco, what about Marco and Trisha?’
Andrea summoned Marco with a trembling hand. Like Andrea, Marco also had a very poor complexion. It’s not because of the physical condition.
“… is that bull monster dead?”
“Yes···. as you see.”
The Minotaur was a miserable figure with one arm cut off and its chest pierced through. Marco’s expression was that he couldn’t even guess what he had done.
“I’m really glad. I’d love to hear how you did it, but I’ll have to take care of other things first.”
Andrea lowered her gaze and nodded slowly. In fact, not even Andrea knew exactly what had happened. Marco got to the floor and barely got up.
“Follow me, Tricia is in the woods.”
The two hurriedly walked. I couldn’t figure out how long I’d been unconscious, so I felt impatient.
‘The next floor is the waiting room, so I don’t want to die. No matter how fatal an injury is, Arpan can heal it all.’
Even when I thought about it inwardly, the uneasiness did not go away easily. The ghastly appearance immediately after using the explosive potion shimmered. One arm was completely torn off, and life would be in danger if the bleeding wasn’t properly controlled.
Trisha was in a crevice overgrown with bushes. Up close, the condition was even worse.
About half of the exposed skin was scraped off like a skin. In some places, the clothes and skin were stuck together and it seemed impossible to remove them.
The severed arm was bound with torn cloth, and the floor beneath it was wet with blood. Marco seems to have given first aid, but it seems that the bleeding did not stop properly.
“Damn it!”
Andrea hurriedly put her finger under Tricia’s nose. I could hardly feel my breath. When I checked my pulse, I felt a slight pulse as if it would cut off.
He first took out the medicine and poured it all over Tricia’s forearms and skin. It was not the time to waste the medicine. At this rate, I didn’t know if I would really die before I even reached the waiting room.
Afterwards, Andrea tried to carry Trisha on her back in a hurry, but the sharp pain from the broken ribs caused her to stumble and almost fall. Marco stopped him and went out.
“Tricia will be on my back.”
“···please. I will follow you, so please go to the waiting room first.”
Marco nodded, and rushed off with Trisha on his back. Andrea stumbled and barely followed Marco.
There was a large portal in the clearing at the back of the forest. Marco went through the portal first without looking back. Andrea arrived late and gasped for breath.
As before, there was a large golden treasure chest next to the portal. Two this time.
‘I’ll just have to get the reward and look at it in the waiting room.’
Andrea opened the treasure chest at the same time and stuffed the items inside into the subspace pocket. The brilliant light that came out when I opened the box aroused my curiosity, but it wasn’t when I was looking at it leisurely.
After collecting all the rewards, Andrea left the castle guarded by the monster and escaped through the portal.
*
“Ah, Trisha-sama seems to have fought quite fiercely.”
These were the words Arpan said as soon as he saw Trisha in rags. Marco laid Trisha on the floor and asked Arpan to heal her quickly.
Arpan’s eyes, which radiated blue eyes, changed sharply.
“Shut up, foolish mortal. Do you think you and the like dare to command me?”
“…”
Marco was at a loss for words. I had forgotten about it for a while because I was with Andrea, but he was an uninvited guest in this dungeon. The fact that I couldn’t do anything alone gave me a terrible sense of helplessness.
Fortunately, Andrea soon arrived through the portal. Andrea, like Marco, demands that Trisha be healed quickly.
Arpan was very happy at this moment when he was able to control the situation.
“Couldn’t you be more polite, Andrea? Requests should be done much more politely than they should.”
‘Damn the head of a goat…’
Andrea bit her lip and glared at Arpan. If I had come to the waiting room anyway, there was no way they wouldn’t treat me. Because that’s what a guide in a dungeon does.
Here, there was an option to sarcastically tease Arpan or touch his weakness. But Andrea chose to lower her stance.
“request. I apologize for my rude words and actions.”
This was not the time to waste time unnecessarily. Andrea was free to let go of her pride when the lives of those around her were at stake.
Arpan had an expression that he quite liked Andrea’s attitude when he was seeing it for the first time. He raised one corner of his mouth and spoke in a sarcastic tone.
“Well, it can’t be helped that Andrea-sama comes out with this attitude. Let me treat you right away.”
Arpan hit the floor with an iron rod. The sixth star was drawn under Trisha, and the complex runic spells were filled in between them.
Brilliant green light, skin peeled from burns regenerated, arm bones sprouted like bamboo shoots, and flesh wrapped around them. It was quite a grotesque scene, and Zira Andrea and Marco couldn’t help but drool.
‘I should say it’s rather fortunate that I lost consciousness.’
After a while, Tricia’s burns healed completely and her arm was fully restored. Andrea then sighed. My legs gave out and I slipped and sat down on the floor with my back against the wall.
Still, Arpan cast a healing spell on Andrea as if he hadn’t forgotten his responsibility. The nausea was gone, my stomach felt much better, and the pain in my ribs disappeared as if it had been washed.
Suddenly, Marco came and sat down next to him.
“I’m really glad things went well.”
“Thanks for your efforts. If it wasn’t for Marco-san, it would have been a big problem. Marco, are you okay?”
Marco waved his hand as if there was no problem. Although pretending nothing was wrong, Andrea saw the fear and fatigue in his eyes.
This is already the second death. Three times, including the injury on the 24th floor, which was almost dead. The gap between the body that is regenerated every time as if nothing had happened and the spirit that experienced death was not something that ordinary people could easily endure.
Marco soon realized the meaning of Andrea’s confused look at him. Marco changed the topic of conversation, hiding the emotions that had leaked out without his knowledge.
“Come to think of it, what was the reward for this floor? He went through all that trouble… No, it was a boss monster, so of course there must be a great reward, right?”
Andrea tried to say something else, but then pushed it back into herself. If Marco wanted to hide his feelings, it might be a consideration to respect him.
“I was in a hurry so I couldn’t take a good look at it, so let’s take a look together.”
Andrea put her hand in her subspace pocket. The first thing I took out was Trisha’s reward.
One unique-grade artifact and one unique-grade equipment card. Andrea picked up and examined the unique grade artifacts first.
‘This···.’
A blue complementary color that has many cracks and looks like it will soon be destroyed at first glance. In reality, there were no cracks, but the pattern of the jewel itself was like that in the first place.
It was one of those trap artifacts that had a fatal penalty that quite a few characters didn’t even think of home. However, it is a relic that shows the gap that there is no penalty at all for some classes.
Andrea was dumbfounded and burst into laughter.
‘It’s fortunate that Trisha, the hunter, got this.’
＜ 10. There are no bad dogs (1) ＞ End