Chapter 25: Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
DUNGEON: COMPLETE
Why?
This was the thought that was on loop within Dionysus' mind as the man ensnared in chains before him investigated him on all sides. It seemed that Dionysus wouldn't be getting off easily, or at least that's what he thought of the situation.
He was still curled up into a tight little ball and refused to open up, so the man in chains took his time and inspected him from all angles. After some time passed, he stopped moving around and stood right in front of Dionysus.
Dionysus scrambled to make it so that he wouldn't have to look at the man, but the man's hands were on his shoulder before he could even realize it. Following right after, he crouched down and looked deep into Dionysus' eyes.
"A glint of insanity is there, but it hasn't matured in the least bit . . ."
Although Dionysus didn't want to see the man, he was forced to look at him, and upon closer inspection, confusion could be seen on his face.
'I should be the one confused, why is he acting like it?'
Dionysus was slightly less afraid than he was before, but the shivering was still there, and the feeling of wanting to immediately shut his eyes was not going anywhere. At some point, the chained man stopped inspecting Dionysus and stood up, only to continue to look down into Dionysus' eyes.
"I can't find it, so you tell me. You're not insane, and you haven't been corrupted. Yet, you're not good, and certainly aren't anyone to scoff at. You're no average being either, and the word neutral doesn't fit you. So, what are you?"
The man's only arm lied by his side, and the long black cloak that he wore concealed nothing as Dionysus quite literally couldn't make out any skin from him. Every single location that Dionysus could think of was covered in scars. The scars were also not from only one thing. There were claw marks, clear stab wounds, lightning strikes, and so on.
'How could someone take that much and live?'
The only part of his body not covered in scars was his face, but even then, just barely any of it could truly be made out.
"I-I . . . I live how I want to l-live. T-That's all."
Dionysus answered as honestly and honesty could take him. He was in no position to lie to the man before him, who could most likely sniff out the truth from hundreds of miles away.
"Huh. I suppose you are neutral, so much so that I can't sense it."
The chained man seemed slightly taken back by Dionysus' answer, not so much so that he couldn't utter words.
After saying some words, Dionysus was starting to feel more and more confident in himself. Slowly, he unwrapped his arms from around his legs, and then proceeded to stand up just as slowly. During all of this, the chained man continued to look down at Dionysus as he completed the process and finally stood.
"Spectacular."
CLAP CLAP
The chained man clapped for Dionysus. Although he couldn't understand what was going on, Dionysus put on a smile as if he knew what was going on.
'It seems I was somewhat incorrect. Within this man, insanity truly does live . . .'
"Now then, let me explain to you your final trial. You lie atop a pyramid, and at the bottom, two beings will try to rise at the top. Do not let them stay at the top of the pyramid for more than half a minute, or else you might be in trouble. If both of them manage to stand atop the pyramid for thirty seconds at the same time, you'll lose. If you can survive for ten minutes, it'll qualify as a victory."
After saying this, the chained man walked back, once again on air, to his chained throne, and proceeded to take a seat. As he began to disappear, his image wavering in reality, Dionysus could make out one last thing before he was gone for good.
'Was that a humongous heart behind him . . .?'
Although he couldn't truly make out what the object behind the man was, it truly did look like a humongous, throbbing heart. It might have also been leaking blood, but Dionysus wasn't as sure about that.
"Wait, two beings at the bottom of the pyra . . ."
As if the chained man had just said those words, Dionysus finally acknowledged that he said them. He looked at the bottom of the pyramid, and did, in fact, see two black-hole like things.
CHING
CHING
CHING
'Don't tell me I have to fight him, please. I'd much earlier commit suicide than fight him.'
The sound of the chains scared Dionysus. He still didn't know why he was afraid of the chains from the chained man in particular, as he had seen and heard many others in the process of living within the Gratnian kingdom. It was just that, whenever he tried to imagine his past, it was usually foggy and unclear, as if he was intentionally being locked out of it or something.
Fortunately for Dionysus, the man who he had just been confronted by did not come out of either portal. Unfortunately for Dionysus, the two that came out didn't look like they'd be easy opponents either, although they wouldn't be as hard as the chained man.
"Wait, what?"
The duo that had emerged were nothing shy of odd themselves. One of them was a black silhouette like creature, and no facial features were present on it. If Dionysus were to compare it to something, it would be a living shadow.
However, the creature that concerned Dionysus wasn't the silhouette-like thing that he had just inspected, but instead the one on the opposite side.
". . ."
He continued to stare, trying to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Yet, no longer how long he stared, he could see no difference.
'Is that . . . me?'
Before him stood nobody other than himself. It was the spitting image of himself. The black, short hair, and the stature replicated himself to utter perfection. The clothes that he wore were different, but they weren't what mattered.
It was the eyes.
"Golden eyes?"
He stared deep into the eyes that stared back at him. It was oddly comforting to stare into them, as a nostalgic feeling set in as he stared into them. It was as if he was staring at someone who once really mattered to him, perhaps a dead relative that he had missed.
'Or, at least that's what I think it feels like, since I don't know about any family. Yet . . .'
He couldn't stop. There was an immaculate beauty within the shining gold eyes with the pupil at the center. He swore that if he looked close enough, the universe itself would unfold within them.
'Stop, get ahold of yourself. It's just a clone of me to try and weaken me mentally. I won't fall for it.'
Dionysus finally gripped his mental state and yanked it back into place in time, as the duo were both running up the stairs. Both of them were quiet, but it seemed as if they were coordinated in some way.
"Sorry, but I've got to stop you both. I don't know if you're simple manifestations of this dungeon or not, but . . ."
He stomped his feet into the ground, quite literally imbedding himself into it.
"You aren't going to make it up here."
A confidence emerged out of nowhere, even though the situation was horrendous. If one were to look from the outside, yes, he would be at a disadvantage, considering it was two versus one, but that wasn't the issue, and was absolutely not why the situation was horrendous.
There was absolutely no negativity from either of them. None of them carried ill intent within them, which confused Dionysus. It meant that they either genuinely didn't carry any negativity within them, which was just shy of impossible, or that they were not going to attack him. It could also mean that he couldn't sense the two's emotions, which might very well be the case.
'If I were to gamble on the fact that they don't plan to attack me, what do I do?'
All that he could do was wait for them to arrive at the top, considering that he imbued his feet into the ground, but he had absolutely no issue doing exactly that. After all, leaving the top of the pyramid to rush at them, who were down below, seemed stupid to him since he knew nothing about what was going in within their heads.
'At the pace that they're going, they'll both reach the top at around the same time. They'll most likely both aim a hit at me, and in that moment, I'll dodge out of the way and let them hit one another.'
It seemed like a sound plan within Dionysus' mind. They were on opposite sides of one another, so the chances of them hitting one another if they missed was actually semi-decent. The only thing that scared Dionysus' was the fact that no negativity was emanating from them, even at this close a range. However, he couldn't see many other ways out of the current situation.
"Come at me!"
Both of his opponents had reached the top of the pyramid, and were standing at the edge of the top. Dionysus' ability to perceive the world was superb, and his battlesense was intense. Yet, the two were moving in a weird way that he couldn't describe.
'It really does feel like they're coordinated, but that most likely isn't the case.'
Now, however, wasn't the time to think about any of the stuff running through his mind. Now was the time to counter both of them.
"W-Wha-!"
It was all going well until the final moment. They both stood right outside of Dionysus' range for a while, and no negativity was leaking from them. However, all of a sudden, a large burst of negativity emerged from his replica, though the silhouette didn't show any whatsoever.
'What perfect control of his or it's emotions. To make it so that it didn't release any negativity whatsoever, it ran up the stairs with only getting to the top in mind, not to actually attack me!'
Dionysus finally understood why he had sense nothing from them until now. Since the silhouette was unleashing absolutely no negativity, he dedicated his focus to his replica, who was currently throwing a punch at him. The fist that was flying at him did, indeed, contain a lot of force, but Dionysus felt that he could curve it.
'AGAIN!'
He parried the blow from his replica's right fist, but he was expecting the left fist to come next. Despite that, the left fist wasn't coming at all. It was still just guarding the replica's face, which threw Dionysus' senses off.
'Is he planning on tackling me? He seems to be in a position to do so . . .'
He immediately steadied himself, and held both hands out. He prepared to take the tackle that he expected to emerge head-on as to stop it right then and there. In spite of that, however, no tackle came.
WHAM
Everything was frozen. It was as if the world was paused. It all felt like nothing, yet everything at the same time. Dionysus was in pain, and an extreme one at that.
'A-All th-that for th-this . . .'
There was a fist. It wasn���t his, nor did it belong to his replica. Instead, it looked like the fist of a shadow.
The silhouette had struck a fatal blow.
"H-HOW?!"
Blood poured out of his lips while roaring it. As of right now, a fist that belonged to the silhouette, which he still didn't sense any negativity from, was piercing through his chest. Yes, the silhouette had punched him from behind while he was focused on his replica.
'I didn't sense any negativity, and the intent to attack someone is negative, even more so if it's full of intent to actually kill the person . . .'
He couldn't understand it. The two beings before him were something he couldn't unravel. The silhouette was a mystery on it's own, but the replica that he was beginning to suspect wasn't actually a replica was also something enshrouded in a mist he couldn't see through.
'It . . . doesn't make sense . . .'
The fist was pulled out from his chest, and in its place was a large hole through which blood spurted out. His lungs, or what was left of them, felt tight, really tight. Breathing slowly became a hassle, and the blood continued to compile on his throat, allowing him to infinitely choke on it.
'Damn . . . I really didn't do much.'
THWUMP
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