Chapter 50: Over and Over Again

Gabralter Ashburn stood in front of a large mirror in the private mansion of his father, Asland Ashburn. Also known as Duke Ashburn, city lord, or dungeon lord. Lagoon Porter City and all the surrounding lands were his duchy, assigned to him by King Wallanther XII himself for his feats on the battlefield.

He studied his curly golden locks and twined them in his fingers, inwardly sighing to himself. He was 25 this year, the remaining traces of his youthfulness finally fading from his face.

"It begins again..."

This wasn't the first time Gabralter had stood before this mirror, on this exact same day. He had lived through hell and survived, only to be thrown back to the beginning for no reason whatsoever.

What was to take place in the future could only be described as a scene from hell.

Lagoon Porter City was located in the south east part of the Maple Dragon Kingdom, but it wasn't so close to any of the borders of the kingdom they were at risk if an invasion were to happen.

The main purpose of this city was to be a watchguard of the Abyssal Forest, an extremely dangerous forbidden zone within the kingdom's borders. Should a beast rampage occur, the purpose of this city was to send a warning for the kingdom to prepare while holding off the monsters for as long as they could.

One year from now, several regiments of the Neth'rite Demon Kingdom, whom had been at war with the Maple Dragon Kingdom on and off for centuries, penetrated deep into the kingdom's lands through a less guarded area.

They had avoided any significant conflicts in several southern areas of the eastern border, where their kingdom's touched, in order to let the kingdom believe they were not dangerous areas. There was very little conflict in those areas for decades, making it a comfortable place to live.

Once they saw the opportunity, they attacked with an enormous army, breaking through what thin defense was present like a pack of wolves through a flock of sheep. City after city fell as rivers of blood seeped out of their walls.

Eventually, the demon army reached Lagoon Porter City, and while his father had fought valiantly, he eventually toppled from the city wall just like any other dead soldier.

Gabralter was a <Lv. 26> Second Step ranker by then, his class a Gladiator. He had charged out and fought off as many demons as he could, but people screams still filled the streets and giant sacrificial arrays were set up in public squares, where anyone not a demon was tortured and killed.

They used to sacrifices to summon demonic fiends from the lowest reaches of the abyss, and once those monstrosities were summoned, all hope was lost for the humans within the city.

Gabralter would have died himself, too, but he was rescued in his final moment by the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. His perspective may have been skewed given the circumstances, but that was the moment he fell in love with the elf known as Therina.

She was reclusive in that she didn't talk with him much. They had escaped the city and were fleeing from pursuit of the demon army. One night however, he went to sleep while leaving Therina to take the first watch for the night. When he woke up, he was back in his father's mansion, a year before the demon army attacked.

After finally comprehending his situation, he had set out with determination to change the future.

He had found Therina in the city much earlier, warning her of the coming invasion the same he did his father. The elf woman was much more receptive of the information, compared to his father who didn't believe him.

It was during this timeline that he discovered Therina's ties with some unknown illegal dungeon lord, who used her body for all kinds of vile deeds.

Should this have been his previous life, he would have immediately told his father and had him take care of it, but he was like a bull who had seen red. He gathered a group of loyal Second Step guards and charged into the dungeon seeking vengeance, only to have everyone die to a swarm of blood crystal bees.

He returned to the beginning once again, this time through death. It made him think of the possibility he died during the first time too, but he had no evidence, and he would have awoken should there have been an attack on their camp.

In his third life, he was much more calm headed. He got all the research he needed on the dungeon, finding out as much about it as he could. He also made preparations for the coming demon army, sending fake letters of aggression to the border lords in the demon script, demanding the surrender or face death.

He constantly met Therina on arranged dates. Each time, he did his best to try and bring Therina away from the dungeon and into the safety of his custody, but she only shook her head and responded that she can't.

He learned of her past, the mercenaries that had raided her village and enslaved her friends, and her narrow escape, eventually to land in the hands of a rogue dungeon lord. There were reasons she always had to return, but she never explained them to him no matter how he pressed.

He had wanted to charge at the mercenary group who caused the elf's pain, but they had not done anything illegal according to the kingdom's laws, so he could only grind his teeth together in frustration.

The attack from the demon army still came, and it turned out his father had believed him more than he thought. During the attack, he had fought side by side with the elf he was in love with over several timelines, the cities defence force successfully repelling the demon army.

Heavy losses struck the city's guard, adventurer and mercenary forces, but the city wasn't filled with the stench of sulfer and blood.

After the battle, he had successfully convinced Therina to escape the dungeon lord who kept her tied to him through unknown means.

She was adamant she wouldn't be able to stay near the city and had fled late at night, which the people he assigned to watch over her safety had reported back to him immediately.

He chased her out of the city, but had come under ambush by a group of masked figures. He was much stronger than his previous life as he dedicated more of his time to training his skills, but he was no match for these masked figures and collapsed in a pool of his own blood.

He had died once again, and regressed to his younger self once again.

This was now his fourth attempt to do everything right.

"The only question is… is there a limit to the number of times I will revive? A certain number of chances I get?"

He was no longer confused at waking up in his younger self, but had a will of steel after going through a battle such as the demon army invasion twice.

~~~~~

⠀

"Dad, there's been rumors about a new dungeon appearing somewhere near the city," Gabralter spoke to his father, the duke, during dinner.

The duke had neatly cut hair and a sharp golden blond beard, the same color as his son's. His mother sat beside him, a beautiful yet regal woman with dark brown hair pinned up with a pair of long wooden hairpins.

His mother gave him a curt glance and stated, "Dear, you are still only a <Lv. 17> Brawler. A rogue dungeon raid is far too dangerous for you."

The only person who knew his father better than him was his mother. The duke wouldn't personally move against the dungeon himself, but Gabralter knew that he needed his father to take an active approach in eradicating the illegal dungeon lord if he was to free Therina.

"Your mother is correct, it is far too dangerous for you. Countless people die in capturing most dungeons. Not to mention, we have no need for the money."

"Dad, that's not the concerning point. The rumors are that there is an illegal dungeon lord behind it. They are using women to breed all the monsters in the dungeon."

A light clinking sound was heard in the otherwise quiet dining room as the duke placed his cutlery on his plate.

"There have been no reports of a single person going missing. A rogue dungeon can also use monsters or wild animals to achieve the same thing. Until something has been proven to have harmed our citizens or be an immediate danger to them, leave this to all the companies and raid parties currently seeking their own fame and fortune."

Gabralter knew that women were indeed being used because of his past life knowledge, but he couldn't prove that and it sounded highly doubtful to anyone listening when he had no evidence.

If he could get even one of the women who were used to come forth, he would be able to make use of their story to cause an uproar. The problem was that he couldn't find any no matter how he asked around, and while he knew Therina came to the city from time to time, her presence had always been like that of a ghost.

"There are also rumors that the dungeon lord controlling it is a demon."

"Gab, please do not go on another tirade about demons again. Superstition will only drive people in a downward spiral of insanity."

"Dad… let me prove it to you. Next week is the annual flower festival event, during which the flower devils will be more vicious than ever. Cold Rock City deep in the Dragon Canyons to the west will suffer a beast raid during the same time and have their walls collapse."

"…"

"I already send a warning to Duchess Euklid, hoping for her to increase her city's defenses in preparation."

Duke Ashburn sighed and pinched his brow, "Gab, you know that you can't just make accusations or warnings like these without any evidence, right?"

"…I'm sorry, dad, but I couldn't see any other way. I can only hope that you will believe me."

~~~~~

⠀

The following day, Gabralter secretly contacted a reporter of The Relevant, whom he leaked some secret information about the dungeon that he learned in his previous timelines. He specifically made it into a more public issue so as to force his father to make a move.

Once the reporters placed pressure on him publicly about why he is doing nothing to put a stop to a breach in the kingdom's ethics, he would have to do at least something.

Gabralter knew that if his father dug further into the truth behind the dungeon, he would have all the evidence he required.