Chapter 47

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 47

Upon opening the door, what appeared before them was a circular stadium, which was large and spacious—similar to the previous space. Andra simply looked around the stadium. In the distance, there was a stone statue at the top of the audience’s seats. Andra noticed that the statue was of Nera, the god of greed and conflict.

‘Are you going to keep watching?’

Andra turned her head away from Nera and looked elsewhere. There was a hole in the wall opposite where she was. It was like the entrance for a player entering the arena, but it was too huge for that. What would have made it large enough to go in and out of there?

“Let’s go downstairs.”

Andra and Dustin went downstairs to find any clues that might exist.

Passing through the stands and entering the stadium, Andra was disappointed when she saw that the stadium was less grand than she thought. The floor was flat, and there were no patterns or marks like the previous puzzles.

“Andra.”

Then Dustin called Andra. Andra walked towards the middle of the arena where Dustin was. There were small grooves and small ancient letters written in Morgennis. Of course, Dustin, who couldn’t read the ancient script, pointed it out to Andra and said.

“Read it.”

Andra scanned the words with her eyes.

—A fool stole something he shouldn’t have stolen.

“What does it mean?”

“Wait a minute.”

Andra looked at the words again. A fool stole something he shouldn’t have stolen? Was it talking about the fire of the gods that Dean stole and ran away with? Her gaze shifted to the small groove above the words. She felt like she had to put something in it, like a gold coin.

‘Are you telling me to fill it with fire?’

Andra got up, straightened her back and looked around. She could not find any fire anywhere. Then… Bang! At that moment, the door they walked in shut closed. Andra and Dustin’s heads turned towards the sudden noise.

“Andra Avellin.”

Dustin called Andra at the tightly closed door. Andra was well aware of the implied meaning in his calling and hastily denied it.

“I didn’t touch anything this time.”

She didn’t even touch it. Andra didn’t want to touch it, she was afraid of what would happen like before. So this was purely because the dungeon moved on its own. Perhaps the reason they walked here was the beginning of this mystery.

Andra looked around with anxious eyes. Fortunately, there was no reaction at the stadium except for the door being closed. The stadium was still empty, nothing had changed.

‘Did you just close the door? To keep us from leaving?’

Andra leaned her back again and looked at the words. The text remained at one line without any change. Dustin asked Andra.

“What does it mean?”

“A fool stole something he shouldn’t have stolen.”

“Can you interpret it?”

“Well. I think it’s about Dean’s fire, but I don’t know exactly what to do next….”

As Andra’s gaze naturally turned to the groove, Dustin followed Andra and turned his gaze. The groove was empty.

“Stole something he shouldn’t have stolen….”

Dustin, who was muttering to himself what Andra had said to him, frowned as if he didn’t understand. Why shouldn’t it be stolen? What was the fire? Could it be that humans at that time could not create fire on their own? There are many ways to create fire. Even fires have blazed spontaneously.

“I’ve been wondering for a long time, why did it say you can’t steal fire? Fire exists naturally anyway.”

At Dustin’s remark, Andra’s expression distorted as if wondering if he was really asking that question. Did he not listen at all during his history classes? Andra then sighed and began to explain one by one.

“You can’t interpret it that way. Because that way you’re going to have to deny both the myth and the gods. Dustin Airak, there are many interpretations of what you said about fire.”

Andra showed Dustin her three fingers.

“First, because fire was one of the powers representing the gods. Second, because the time for fire to appear according to the order set by the primordial god is still far away. Third, because fire is symbolic of the starting point of the development of races and civilizations.”

“Explain it to me.”

“Fire is the source of life. So, it can be said that it is the power of the primordial god that governs life. From the first interpretation, it can be said that it’s the case of a mere human being stealing the power of God. In the second, it can be seen as an early advancement of the time set by the primordial god. Third, depending on who takes the fire first, that race will rule the world, so fire must have been more important.”

After Andra took her breath for a moment, she continued and began to speak.

“Here, Dean stole fire and gave it to his fellow humans. With that, mankind achieved the development of civilization and, as you can see now, reigned supreme in the world. This alone can tell without telling you how important fire is, right? So it turns out that you stole something that shouldn’t be stolen.”

Dustin nodded his head as if he understood somehow.

“Then, does this riddle have to do with fire?”

“It is highly probable that perhaps we are looking for a token related to fire—”

Tak-tak, tang! Tak-tak, tang!

At that moment, a strange noise resounded in the distance. It sounded like something was coming. Also at a constant rate. Andra and Dustin looked into the hole, the only exit other than the one they came in. The sound was coming from there. It felt ominous.

Suddenly a silhouette appeared in the dark opening.

“Dustin….”

As soon as it emerged from the hole, Andra pulled back and called out Dustin. W-What is that? Her voice was trembling slightly. It was also because the stone statues holding actual weapons were coming in two by two in a row.

Tak-tak, thump! Tak-tak, thump! The sound they made was the sound of their footsteps and the tapping of the shield they were holding. Soon, the sound filled the stadium. Their ears were tingling. Dustin looked at the statues for a moment, speechless.

“Do I have to deal with that?”

“Why are you asking me that? I am not the one who made this place.”

Just how many of them are coming out! As Andra faltered and raised her guard against them, the statues split to the right and left, respectively, encircling the arena. Suddenly, Andra and Dustin didn’t know what to do.

“Are they trying to keep us from leaving?”

“I think that’s right….”

Fortunately, the statues did not attack them. It was just preventing them from going out of the stadium. However, just encircling them like an army with dozens of stone statues the size of an adult male with sharp weapons placed a tremendous pressure on them.

Born and raised in the northern Airak region, Dustin may be accustomed to the army and may well tolerate it, but here, Andra had never seen such a large army, and so she felt sick in the stomach.

Dustin, who found Andra lost in the spirit, quickly grabbed her forearm and shook it.

“Andra Avellin, get ahold of yourself.”

“I know! I’m trying my best. Don’t shake me more than that, I really don’t feel so good.”

Andra patted her chest in frustration. Dustin pointed with Andra’s forearm, which he had grabbed.

“Can you figure out what this puzzle is?”

“I don’t know. Even without clues, there’s not much. I don’t even know what to put in the groove.”

“It has something to do with fire.”

“Who doesn’t know that?”

Do you think I don’t get it because I want to? I also want to solve it quickly and escape from here. Andra, who was not very happy inside, replied sullenly. Ku…. Goooong…. Suddenly, another sound echoed through the opening. Their heads turned to that place again.

‘What is it this time!’

Andra looked at the hole in surprise. THUD… THUD…. Each time it approached, the stadium shook a little. She did not know what it was, but it was clear that it had an enormous size. Otherwise, it couldn’t shake the stadium like this every time it moved. And Andra’s prediction was correct.

Soon, with the sound of big footsteps from the hole, a majestic red dragon appeared. As the dragon appeared, it spread its wings the size of a house.

‘The legendary beast, a dragon!’

In an instant, Andra and Dustin’s faces hardened.

The dragon was covered with fire from its head to its toes. In particular, the fire burning from its back was terrifying to see. If they got any closer, they would catch fire and disappear into black ashes. It was that dangerous.

Andra was completely gobsmacked. Dustin was the same. He was staring at the dragon with his face crumpled. Not long after, the dragon discovered the small dots, the two humans, and opened its mouth.

[ Foolish humans, why do you wake up this precious body? ]

The dragon roared loudly and continued to speak. Each time it did, sharp teeth that seemed strong enough to crush anything were revealed.

[ You both are lucky enough to have come this far, but it will be difficult beyond that. I won’t allow it. ]

After saying that, the dragon flapped its wings as if to show its majestic form. A gust of wind blew on Andra and Dustin. Please don’t say that’s what we’re going to face? Andra bit her lips and looked at the statue of Nera, who was sitting at the top. Again, Nera appeared to be smiling.

‘You damn Nera!’

Andra cried out in anger inwardly. It was clear that Nera was trying to make her and Dustin die here. If not, how can she make the dragon appear right away? They got over drowning to death, but this time they’re getting burned to death. All sorts of dog deaths.

[ Leave! ]

After a while, the dragon’s merciless attack began. In the sudden attack, Andra and Dustin managed to avoid its sharp claws. Then the flying tail rolled over the ground and crawled forward. Dustin, who came to his senses first, raised Andra to her feet. Move, Andra!

Andra started running to avoid the dragon recklessly. Dustin also started running after her. However, the dragon blew out fire in front of them. Fuwwaaa! A pure blue light easily blocked their way. The ground was quickly filled with black burn marks. At the same time, the smoke blazed wildly.

“Damn, if only I had a weapon!”

Dustin groaned. He already predicted that he’d meet the dragon here again. It was clear what kind of difficulty this dungeon had.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────