Dungeon.
Tamait and I descended floor by floor in a completely relaxed atmosphere, where the monsters did not react to us in any way. I told her about Tia's life, deliberately omitting her past in Nasuverse.
Tamait listened attentively, asked questions, took an interest in her decisions, and shared her own thoughts on various situations. She was like a child with a touch of maturity. It sounded strange, of course, but that's how it was.
- "That's about it," I concluded my story. "If you have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer them. It's been a long time since I've had such an interesting conversation."
- "I think... me too," Tamait said slowly. "I hope I'm not bothering you? You're the first person I wanted to talk to after the merger, so I was hoping you'd come back. Tiamat trusted you unconditionally, and I guess that rubbed off on me."
- "Oh? I'm flattered," I chuckled. "By the way, from our conversation, I understand that you didn't get any memories. I think that's a good thing, because it gives you some freedom.
- "Freedom?"
- "Of course! Someone else's experience is far from your own," I said. "After hearing about Tia's life, what would you want? What would you like to do?"
She thought about my question. She thought about it for a long time.
- "I... I don't know..." Tamait finally said. "I watched my children. Both those who had found their consciousness and those who had not yet done so and were empty shells. The former want to leave me and go to the surface to explore the world unknown to them, while the latter just want to... do what they're supposed to do? Their desires are opposite, and as their mother, I have to support them. But how? I don't know. And I don't know what I want myself."
I just nodded, hearing the confusion and uncertainty in her voice. After all, she had to find and understand her own desire. Besides, I managed to catch the actual statement that the birth of the xenos did not depend on her.
- "After gaining full consciousness, my thoughts were too... chaotic. There were so many of them, and the more I paid attention to them, the more questions arose. Everything just got more complicated, and I became more and more confused and needed answers."
- "Well, that was to be expected," I shrugged and patted the kobold on the head, which brought something resembling joy to his rather expressionless face. "If there's one thing you have plenty of, it's time, in my opinion. But if you wanted to talk to someone and find answers to your questions, why not talk to the adventurers or, say, the xenos? The former are a bit of a mixed bag, of course, but the latter? I think they'd be happy to help you."
- "Adventurers... They were never an option," she began with hostility. "Every time they came here, they killed my children. Their arrogance and blind faith in the gods made them weak-willed fools who did whatever they were told."
- "Well, that sounds about right," I smiled. "By the way, why don't you like the gods? As far as I know, any use of Arcanum within... you are accompanied by consequences that are not very pleasant for them."
- "The powers of the gods are like... poison. They seemed to poison me, causing pain and eating away at my flesh, and... I don't know why. All I wanted to do was get rid of it all as soon as possible."
I raised an eyebrow.
Oh? The powers of the gods were 'poison' the Dungeon? Now that's interesting. After all, the Dungeon was 'related' to Tia, and from this, one could draw some rather interesting conclusions, the main one being even more interesting.
The gods were unnatural to the Dungeon, which existed long before their appearance, if Hermes' words were to be believed.
That is, the gods were a completely separate race, not tied to the faith of humans, as was the case in DxD and most other worlds with gods, and in principle to the Lower World, and therefore the laws of nature did not apply to them.
This was confirmed by the fact that they could not even have children among themselves. The gods just appeared out of nowhere in some Upper World, and that was it. Well, or the creator of this universe didn't really bother with working out this detail. Heh.
- "Well, if this is an unpleasant topic for you, then let's leave it," I said, patting the kobold on the head again. "What about the xenos? What about them? They're pretty nice guys."
- "I... I'm afraid of something... I don't know what exactly, but meeting them scares me..." said Tamait and fell silent.
- "I understand," I nodded, because I really did understand the reason for her fear, and on that note, our conversation ended prematurely.
We continued the rest of the way in silence until we reached the eighteenth floor, which I had never seen with my own eyes before.
The floor was a very large space with forests and lakes, surrounded by unusually high stone walls, forming a kind of barrier. It was bright here, because there were sparkling white crystals in the center of the ceiling and blue ones around it, as if imitating the sun and the sky, respectively. At the same time, there were other pale blue crystals in the forests that reflected the light from the ceiling and illuminated the surrounding space.
Almost instantly, I found a city where human auras could be felt. It was located on the eastern side of the floor, on an island facing one of the lakes and overlooking a giant tree.
Moreover, there were no monsters here, which I found strange even when I first learned about this place.
- "By the way, Tamait," I began, after examining the floor. "Why is there a floor here where monsters are not born? Considering your dislike of both gods and humans, it seems strange to me."
- "They were created..." she began and fell silent abruptly. "I... don't know... Or I don't remember..."
I raised an eyebrow.
So, my guesses about the authors' lack of attention to detail regarding the world were correct after all. At least, the probability of this increased significantly.
It's not that I blame Tamait for anything, but she is, in fact, the oldest living being. And for her not to know anything about herself? Well, the chances of that were simply negligible.
- "Okay, it's not that important," I shrugged and turned my attention to a scene that was playing out near the entrance to the city. "Let's go. It seems that today will be eventful."
- "No," she said firmly. "This is where we part ways, Romani."
- "Don't want to be seen?"
- "The time has not yet come. I'm not ready," Tamait said calmly and pointed to a space in the air at the very edge of the floor. "Neither are they..."
- "Well, it's your choice," I said, and when the glow on the kobold's body disappeared and he simply walked away, I headed for the city. "It's time to have some fun."
-0-
Griselda looked at the men in front of her and felt... disappointment. Not irritation caused by the lustful glances they threw at her. She was used to that. Not indignation caused by their disbelief in her fighting skills and words. I understood that, because I was a newcomer to this world. It was disappointment.
She, Bell, and Liliruca had come to this floor and this city to replenish their supplies, because they had almost no supplies to begin with, and they hadn't expected to go down so deep. But Griselda suddenly wanted to test herself against stronger opponents, which could be achieved by going down to the lower floors.
She also thought it was a great opportunity to practice using the True Longinus and to gain experience fighting a new type of opponent.
In addition, Bella and Liliruca's company took her back to the days when Griselda was raising Xenovia and other exorcists. She liked their desire to learn and become stronger, which added another reason to continue descending. However, this wonderful journey, which was unexpected for Griselda, was interrupted by disappointment.
- "Either pay or leave," said the guard at the city gate with a haughty expression on his face.
- "But you want too much!" Liliruca continued to protest. "For that amount, you can buy a bunch of potions at Lord Miah's shop!"
- "Well, if you don't have the money, we won't force you," added another gatekeeper with a smirk.
- "What shall we do, Mr. Bell?" Liliruca asked Bell. "Our supplies are almost gone, and we need to replenish them if we want to continue our descent."
- "What do you think, Miss Quarta?" Bell asked Griselda, who smiled reassuringly.
- "You are the leader of the group, Mr. Cranel, and it is up to you to make the decision," she said.
- "Then..."
- "But if you want my opinion, we can return to the surface and take the time to prepare thoroughly next time," Griselda continued. "The most important qualities for a leader are a cool head and the ability to manage available resources. And based on our current circumstances, what decision would you make, Mr. Cranel?"
Bell thought for a moment, glancing at his companions and then at the gatekeepers, and after some deliberation, Griselda saw the answer in his eyes.
- "We're going back," Bell said firmly and led the group to the entrance to the seventeenth floor, which elicited smirks from the gatekeepers. "Miss Quarta is right, and next time we'll be ready."
- "Good," Griselda smiled as Liliruca strode demonstratively from the gate into the city. "Well done, Mr. Cranel."
- "Thank you," Bell smiled back. "But I really wanted to go even lower. With your guidance, I feel myself getting stronger with every fight."
- "Restraint is also one of the key qualities of a leader," Griselda said softly. "And..."
- "And what?" I interrupted her, suddenly appearing behind them and startling the trio. "If you want, we can force our way into the city and take what we need."
- "Mr. Archaman!" exclaimed Bell and Liliruca.
- "And that's just a terrible example of how a leader, or any decent person, should act. You definitely shouldn't follow his example," added Griselda.
- "Come on. This method isn't suitable for everyone. After all, even among the great heroes, there are those who were not known for their restraint," I chuckled, then stopped them.
- "What are you doing?" Griselda raised an eyebrow.
- "Actually, I'm here on business, and you'll be keeping me company."
- "But..." Bell hesitated.
- "No objections!" I exclaimed, and in the next moment, a magic circle lit up beneath us, transporting us to a place on the same floor.
There was a flash of light, and we were all standing on a sandy surface among square houses, blooming greenery, black and gold spires, and a majestic tower that could rightly be called the residence of a queen or empress.
Bell and Liliruca looked around with wide eyes and, approaching the edge of the field, lowered their heads, where the beauty of the entire eighteenth floor appeared before them from a bird's eye view.
- "Are we... in the air?" Bell muttered in a shocked tone.
- "It's so high up here... and beautiful..." added Liliruca.
- "Where are we, Mr. Archaman?" asked Griselda.
- "Welcome to the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis - the Airy Garden of Vanity!" I chanted dramatically. "This residence is the embodiment of the ambitions of the ancient queen who ruled the ancient state of Assyria! It is a floating fortress capable of anything, including storming, subjugating, and destroying cities! Truly a beautiful Noble Phantasm!"
And as if in response to my statement, the spires lit up with a purple glow, and hundreds of winged skeletons flew out from under the Gardens.
Bella and Liliruca's eyes sparkled with admiration, while Griselda was surprised, for she knew about Semiramis.
- "And now this place is not the queen's home, but the refuge you so desperately needed, isn't it?" I continued with a smirk and turned around, where I saw Lyd, Ray, and Gros walking towards us.
- "Yes, you're right," said Lid, while Griselda, Bell, and Liliruca looked at them with surprise and disbelief. "Welcome to Domus Adiutoria. Welcome to our home."
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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