Chapter 80: The Ruins of Avsdrakdu (3)
Agaro and the others set out to defeat the lich.
The party going to subjugate the lich consisted of Agaro-san, Narcissus-san, Seed-san, and Dokkas-san.
Miles-san was a non-combatant, so she stayed behind.
As for me, I had used up almost all of my trump cards.
Juicy-san, who had exhausted her use of [Fenrir], stayed behind as Miles-san’s bodyguard.
This place couldn’t be considered completely safe either. If something happened, it would be too late to react afterward.
On top of that, it was decided that I was exhausted from defeating that thing.
“Take it easy and rest—we’ll handle the rest,” they said.
I do have an undead-slaying elixir, though…
Well, I can’t imagine a future where Agaro and the others lose, so it should be fine.
“…………”
Miles-san was in the rest room.
Juicy-san was in the shower room.
That left me alone in the control room, quietly thinking.
Now that the end was in sight, some questions came to mind.
First—how did the bandit group get in here in the first place?
The 44th floor is a special floor. You can’t enter it by normal means.
And then there’s this Avsdrakdu Ruins, where that thing was sealed.
Even if it were recreated within a dungeon, could something like that truly be reproduced as well?
No—impossible. No matter how powerful a dungeon is, it shouldn’t be able to recreate that itself.
Which would mean these ruins are the real thing.
Agaro-san hadn’t been informed that there was a town here.
It’s hard to believe the Guild simply forgot to mention something that important.
Originally, there was no town on the 44th floor, but it must have been transferred here by some means.
There’s even a chance it was transferred together with the bandit group.
“That’s right. There’s a pedestal here too.”
Fortunately, no one else was around.
I immediately began operating the pedestal’s console.
First, I checked the archive.
“An energy circulation research facility…? This is…”
There is positive and negative energy in the world.
Positive energy is life, holiness, and righteousness.
Negative energy is death, magic, and corruption.
Worlds overflowing with life are filled with positive energy.
Worlds where life is dwindling are filled with negative energy.
If positive and negative energy are not properly circulated, the world will perish.
A world biased toward only one side is on the brink of destruction.
“However, that doesn’t mean mass slaughter is acceptable. So they sought to extract only negative energy from worlds overflowing with it, and instead send positive energy into those worlds… A research facility aimed at achieving proper circulation, huh.”
They were doing something outrageous.
At first, it seemed to be working.
But something unexpected happened.
No—more accurately, there was no way it could ever have worked.
“Abstract materialization. An enormous amount of negative energy gained will and became a life-form. That entity was… ‘Death Abstract.’ From that point on, the research facility, together with the surface above, became a massive sealed city. And yet, the research continued? At the same time, they researched converting the manifested entity back into energy—but that’s essentially the same as killing a living being, isn’t it?”
The later archive entries confirmed it—they failed.
Then…
They planned to create a will-bearing life-form from positive energy and pit it against Death Abstract.
However, the risk of annihilation caused by the collision of positive and negative energies arose, so the plan was canceled.
The predicted scale of destruction at the time: half a continent erased…
Yikes. I guess continuing the seal was the only option.
They even sought the power of the Seiho Church back then, but it seems that didn’t work either.
“Hm? During the process of re-sealing experiments due to seal degradation, the chief researcher was absorbed by Death Abstract. However, by making use of her, a kind of control device was created. Ah—so the female upper body attached to its head… that must have been Edda. The chief researcher’s name was Lunierika Eldorado… That’s quite something.”
I didn’t know how to feel about that.
Eldorado—she must be an ancestor of Munieka-san.
Now that I think about it, her facial features and build did resemble Munieka-san somewhat.
“She really was beautiful, though.”
I gave a wry smile.
The archive was vast, but it ended abruptly.
Several dozen entries before the end, there were records suggesting the outbreak of war.
It probably fell to war in the end.
“Come to think of it, in the research archive—here it is. Worlds overflowing with positive energy experience a sudden drop after reaching a peak. The primary cause is war. The cruelest, yet most effective method.”
However, war is a potent poison.
Negative energy can surge, and positive energy can also diminish.
And even in worlds where energy circulates properly, wars still occur frequently.
“…It’s like chronic drug addiction symptoms.”
An apt metaphor, but a harsh one.
I wondered what the current world was like.
When I’m in Hydrangea, it feels like positive energy is overflowing.
But it also feels like there’s a fair amount of negative energy present as well.
Still, it doesn’t feel like proper circulation.
There’s something distorted about it—though I can’t quite put it into words.
“Come to think of it, there’s nothing here about dungeons or relics.”
Nothing about vessels of the soul either.
Maybe I should look harder.
Hm? A fragment of a god? A sword?
I’m not interested in swords—I can’t use them anyway.
…No luck. I can’t find it.
It must be somewhere in this enormous archive.
“Phew…”
Exhausted from searching, I stepped away from the pedestal.
I’d searched quite a bit, but found nothing.
I didn’t feel like continuing anymore.
Still, I felt like I’d gained some important information.
Though I didn’t yet know how it would be useful in the future.
“Oh, right.”
I inserted a memory plate into the pedestal.
A separate window displayed a map of the “treasure.”
I overlaid it with the ruins’ map.
“Basement Level 36. Research Wing. Chief Researcher’s Office…”
So that’s why the name Edda was written there—because she was the chief researcher.
“W-what… a-are you d-doing…?”
Miles-san looked at me standing by the pedestal with clear wariness.
I realized I couldn’t really dodge the question, so I answered honestly.
“I’m looking something up.”
“Y-you can… o-operate that…?”
“Well, actually… I’ve used something like this before.”
I explained that my real name was Wof, that I was a witch’s apprentice, and why I had used a false name.
“I-I see… a w-witch’s… t-the Night King…”
She peeked at me nervously through the gaps in her hair, staring.
So she really did know about it.
“Ah—ah, um! I feel all refreshed now, woof. Thank you so much!”
Juicy-san came over, cheerfully drying her hair.
“That’s good to hear, Juicy-san.”
“Yes! Woof!”
“U-um, s-so… th-then, w-what w-were you d-doing, W-Wof-dono?”
After glancing briefly at Juicy-san, Miles-san asked again.
Being an introvert, she seemed uncomfortable around the very extroverted Juicy-san.
“I was investigating various things, and because of that, I found somewhere I want to go.”
“Um, um! Wof-sama, are you going out for a walk somewhere? A walk?”
Juicy-san perked up her ears, wagging her tail energetically as her eyes sparkled.
“I suppose so. I’ll just go there briefly and come right back. So I’m counting on you to watch over Miles-san.”
“Um… woof. Okay.”
Her ears drooped, her tail lowered, and the sparkle vanished from her eyes.
It was obvious at a glance how disappointed Juicy-san was.
I’m sorry. But I can’t just leave Miles-san behind.
And then Miles-san spoke up.
“W-w-where are you g-going? I-I’m… c-curious…”
“Um, um! Wof-sama, let’s all go together!”
“Y-yeah… okay.”
Pressed by the two of them, I nodded before I could stop myself.