Far away, deep beneath the Guild.
Ouranos sat before the altar, watching the events unfold on a glowing screen of divine magic.
He stared silently for a long while before speaking in a low voice, "Fels, tell me. If Leon had been there back then, would Zald still be alive?"
Fels was silent for a moment. Then he murmured, "…If Leon had been there, it wouldn't have been up to the Zeus and Hera Familias to handle the three great quests. They would've been destroyed long ago. There wouldn't even be a one-eyed Black Dragon left."
Ouranos closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes. If only Leon had been born in that era, the world might have been spared so much pain."
"But it's not too late." He continued, opening his eyes again.
"Leon has finally arrived at Orario and in time. Lucifer's long search is finally over. With Leon, the three great quests will be ended."
"And perhaps, finally, the Dungeon itself will be brought to an end."
Fels was quiet. Then he looked at Ouranos and asked slowly, "I've always wondered something but never dared to ask. Today, I want to know."
"What exactly is the Dungeon?"
Ouranos turned his head slightly, a solemn expression on his face.
"You want to know?" He asked.
Fels nodded. "Yes. But I won't tell a soul."
"Very well." Ouranos replied. "I'll tell you. But keep this secret, Fels."
"Of course. My lips are sealed."
"…Good."
Ouranos said, "The Dungeon is… a god."
Fels blinked. "A… god?!"
"Yes." Ouranos confirmed. "A chaotic evil god that was born alongside us, when the world was created."
"But unlike the gods who descended from the heavens, this one was born deep within the earth."
"For a long time, none of us knew it existed. We remained unaware until thousands of years ago, when the Dungeon first revealed its claws."
"And only then did we realize the truth, that a chaotic god had been slumbering in the depths all along."
"That is no ordinary being." Ouranos began slowly, his deep voice echoing through the underground altar.
"It is a chaotic god, an aberrant existence that broke through the boundary between worlds at the dawn of creation."
He turned to Fels, gaze solemn as he spoke, "It concealed its aura well. Because it entered this world during its very birth, it was able to obtain an identity as part of this world. It wasn't rejected. And then, it merged with the earth itself."
He continued, "That thing slumbered deep underground, absorbing the power of the planet for eons, becoming an existence too terrible to imagine."
Fels held his breath.
"We only discovered it existed hundreds of thousands of years ago."
"By then, the Dungeon had already matured into a self-contained system, a kingdom beneath the earth."
He added with a faint sigh, "At the time, the gods above were still immersed in boredom and chaos."
His tone shifted, dark amusement flickering behind his words. "Especially Loki. That troublemaker constantly incited disorder, stirring the heavens into unrest. She didn't just wreak havoc in the Norse Pantheon, she infected the entire divine realm with her mischief."
"Compared to us gods, the Dungeon was differen. It wasn't born here. It entered this world from beyond, and because it gained a divine identity, it could evolve."
"Unlike us, who exist in a fixed form, unchanging and immutable beneath the sun."
Ouranos's expression turned grim. "But the energy of the earth no longer satisfied it. That being… it craved more. It set its sights on devouring gods."
"And it acted when the heavens were in turmoil. But we weren't helpless."
"The gods rallied and we dealt it a grievous blow, forcing it back into the depths of the earth, where it hid."
"But that battle changed everything. The Dungeon was left with an intense hatred for the gods. Its reaction to divine power became violently repulsive."
"That war put many gods into a deep slumber. They didn't awaken until thousands of years ago."
"And the Dungeon, over hundreds of thousands of years, slowly recovered and re-emerged into the world."
"That was when we realized something terrifying."
He said darkly, "The Dungeon was producing monsters, a never-ending tide of them, bursting out from the deep to ravage the surface."
"We pitied the mortals who lived above and sent many divine servants to aid them. That marked the beginning of the Heroic Age."
"That age lasted until a thousand years ago, when it finally ended with Albert and the Black Dragon."
He paused. "During that time, we gods discussed endlessly: how do we stop the Dungeon?"
"And so, falna was born."
"Since the Dungeon could grow endlessly, while we gods remained unchanged, the only way to counter it was to help the mortals grow instead, to turn them into something greater."
"To create heroes. To let them become gods."
"But… we failed."
"Our blessing allowed mortals to become powerful, yes, even demigod-like. But in the end, they remained subordinate deities, unable to match the true divine."
"Just when despair began to take root, the Dungeon made the first move. It approached us and proposed a contract."
Fels widened his eyes. "A contract?! With the Dungeon?!"
Ouranos nodded. "A binding agreement, witnessed by the World itself."
He lowered his voice. "The terms were simple. The Dungeon would create the Three Great Quests—Behemoth, Leviathan, and the Black Dragon."
"Our task was to cultivate heroes capable of defeating them within an agreed timeframe."
He said gravely, "If we succeeded, the Dungeon would be bound by the laws of the contract. It would lose the ability to absorb energy from the earth and it would be forever restrained."
"But…"
"If we failed…" his voice grew even heavier.
"If the monsters weren't defeated in time, the gods would be forbidden from interfering in mortal affairs."
"We could descend, yes but we'd no longer be allowed to form familias or develop our followers."
"Mortals would be left to fend for themselves."
Fels clenched his fists.
Ouranos continued, "To ensure humanity had a fighting chance, many gods who still cared for the lower world combined their Arcanum and gave it to me."
"That's why I remain here. I pray constantly, suppressing the Dungeon from this altar. Thanks to this, the monsters it creates are confined to their respective floors. They can't move freely to the surface."
He added, "Of course, not all gods joined us. But those who descend now are still bound by a tacit agreement. They are forbidden from abusing their Arcanum in the lower world."
"And if any god dares break that rule…" Ouranos's voice turned sharp, "we ensure they are stopped."
As Ouranos finished, silence fell in the chamber.
"…So that's the truth." Fels muttered, stunned.
"If we defeat the Three Great Quests… the Dungeon will truly be sealed?"
Ouranos gave a single, solemn nod. "Yes. That is the final condition. The final chance."
"Over a decade ago, we came so close…"
"But Zeus and Hera's Familias failed."
He said bitterly, "We should have told them to wait. To hold back, to grow stronger first but they rushed."
His eyes dimmed, a flicker of fatigue and guilt swimming beneath their surface. Then, he lifted his head.
Hope returned to his gaze as he said, "Fortunately, this time, Leon has appeared. With him, I believe we can complete the contract."
"Lucifer… I don't know much about him." He admitted. "But that man searched for Leon across the lower world for hundreds of years. His efforts are not in vain."
Fels nodded, still absorbing the flood of revelations. "Indeed. With Leon's growth rate, he'll surpass even the legendary heroes."
"Even the Black Dragon's corruption didn't affect him like it did the Empress, Maxim, or Zald."
"If it's Leon, he can do it."
But even as he said this, a troubling question tugged at the back of Fels's mind.
"But, Ouranos, wouldn't it be better if the Dungeon just stopped creating monsters altogether? No monsters, no battles, wouldn't that prevent more deaths?"