บท 79: Chapter 78: The betrayer.
Rigel created a fireball made of Anima magic and condensed it until it reached its limit. He threw it like a pitcher in a baseball game at the golem's chest. When it made contact with the fireball, its body disintegrated and collapsed to the ground, trembling the ground heavily.
"Hmm, that's amazing, but it's not enough," The young man said as he looked at the golem.
As soon as the young man said that, the golem's body that had been completely destroyed was recovered because of the sand. It healed up rapidly and went back up like a new golem, and then smashed its hands to the ground.
Rigel created an Anima barrier and protected himself from flying debris. The golem created a sandstorm with its massive body by spinning around, and every grain of sand that flew around was enough to scratch the statue. If a human skin made contact with the sandstorm, their skin and flesh would be ripped apart.
"What are you going to do? You can't just stand here doing nothing," The young man looked at Rigel with curiosity. "But, seeing how strong you are, you must have something planned," he added.
"What's wrong with doing nothing? I don't think the golem would keep spinning forever," Rigel asked back as he got a new idea for a magic spell that could recreate the strong sandstorm that could rip a human's body.
The young man hummed and kept staring at Rigel with his broken face. Suddenly the sandstorm stopped and the golem stopped spinning after it could barely stand still because he spun too much.
"See, I told you," Rigel released the barrier and held his spear tightly as he charged at the golem.
Rigel knew the only way to kill the golem was to destroy its Core, or at least take it away from its body. He created the same fireball and threw it at the hole as he flew toward it with wind magic. The moment the golem's chest exploded, he flew in unnoticed and sensed the Core even in the thick smoke.
He held the spear and threw it right at the direction of the Core energy. He heard a cracking sound and at that moment the golem collapsed and its body crumbled. He looked at the core that was as big as his body that had been shattered by the spear, and then he absorbed it.
Before he tried to understand the ability he absorbed, his body felt weird to the point he could modify his own body. He felt every missing cell and part of his body itching, and that was when he regenerated his eye and ears when his Healing Flame reacted to the new ability.
He removed the bandages that had wrapped his head and he had forgotten how to see with 2 eyes. He could hear more clearly and became more sensitive to whispers and voices around him.
"I only heard rumors, but it appears the time has finally come," The young man said as he looked at Rigel. "Back when Asarti inflicted fear toward Players, now there's someone else that could shake the whole tower," he added.
"You, how do you tell the time? You're stuck here and you said that you discovered this dungeon a hundred years ago," Rigel looked at the young man with a confused look.
"Hmm? How hard can it be? I can just ask those souls that follow you around. You can't see them because they're attached to you. Only others can see them," The young man explained as he pointed at Rigel's shoulder.
Rigel looked at his left shoulder and yet he couldn't see or hear anything. He had been thinking about that when Kiko and Quaz told him about it. It felt like he was left behind, but at the same time he was glad those lingering emotions that were attached to him didn't bother him.
"How did you die?" Rigel asked and didn't bother to correct the young man, believing that he was a wandering or a lost soul.
"Curse," The young man answered as he walked past Rigel. "Not by the dungeon, but by the Gods for disobedience. They took everything I had," he said.
"Is it truly yours when they were the ones who gave them to you? They were lending you their blessing, those powers weren't yours to begin with," Rigel responded and followed the young man.
"I should have known. I realized that the moment I died and found out the truth. The things that Players did in the tower were nothing but greed and hunger for illusory power," The young man nodded in agreement. "A mere chess piece thinking they have unlimited growth and freedom," he scoffed.
"What's done is done. Regret means nothing when you're already dead," The young man sighed. "Anyway, since you have completed the challenge, I'll show you the secret," he looked at Rigel.
Rigel furrowed his eyebrows and found the young man's statement quite intriguing. If the young man found the secret after completing the challenge, that meant the young man in front of him defeated the golem when his level was around level 50. He wondered how a level 50 Player could defeat the golem since the dungeon didn't seem like it could be cleared even with hundreds of level 50 Players.
"The door should be around here..." The young man looked at the sand underneath his floating feet. "You can start digging," he looked at Rigel.
Rigel used wind magic to dig the sand and it took him a whole minute until he found a ground made of black stone. He thought it was the ground, but when he dug deeper, he realized he was standing on top of the door. He blew the sand away until he reached the bottom and realized the door was 5 meters tall.
"I hope you're prepared with what you're going to see," The young man said as he stood behind Rigel. "Ready when you are," he added and he sounded excited.
Rigel pushed the door open and there was no sound inside, only an ambient sound of sand that moved on top of the ceiling. He entered the dark hallway with the young man behind him. He walked for minutes until he ended up in a big hall where 6 big pillars made of marble stone, supported the place from massive sand above it.
"I forgot how magnificent this place was," The young man said.
Rigel found the similar altar from the hidden dungeon with the same podium with words carved on it. He looked at the podium and read the words out loud since he was alone.
"May the light brighten the paths or the darkness hides the wrong paths. Either light or darkness, they will help those who believe in her," Rigel read in the writings. "The all-seeing eyes hidden beneath the veil. It is said that those who have seen them will find the answer to everything. In the name of..." He stopped when he realized the name was scratched and made it impossible to read.
"She who has seen everything and knows everything. She is merciful and merciless, and will bring down judgement to those who go against her. The prophecy is nothing but a plan that she made and those who betrayed her by joining the other Gods will taste the endless suffering," Rigel looked at the last paragraph.
"Those who betrayed her..." The young man said. "Do you understand what that means?" He looked at Rigel.
"The ones who worship her are Non-Players, so that means there are Non-Players who have changed sides and become Players... Or at least that's what I think," Rigel answered as he looked at the name that had been scratched up.
"Yes, that's what I thought, but unfortunately I couldn't find out the truth because I died the moment it was revealed," The young man nodded in agreement. "Also, this. It wasn't me who did this," He pointed at the scratched up part.
Rigel hummed with understanding and realized that the young man who was believed to be the one who discovered the dungeon was false. Someone had discovered the dungeon long before him, and got rid of the name. The culprit that they both could think of was the one who betrayed and did it.
"If I could leave this place, I would look for them, but unfortunately I'm stuck here forever," The young man saddened. "My only guess is that the ones who betrayed are the ones who made Players win against the 6 heroes during the Big War," he pointed out
"Do you have a hunch who those people are?" Rigel looked at the young man.
"The one who knows would be the Executives since they have lived for hundreds of years," The young man answered. "This is just one of the many dungeons that are purposely hidden from Players. You'll find more the moment you climb up the tower, so, if you did, would you be kind enough to tell me the truth?" He looked at Rigel with a pitiful expression.
"You helped me find this, so I'll repay you later. But I don't know your name," Rigel furrowed his eyebrows.
"Grun, the genius child," The young man answered. "That's what they called me," he smiled.
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