Dungeon Reset

* * *

Past.

In the Witch's house, Rich Bahamut of Darkness is struggling with a group of rabbits that just barged in.

Especially Alpha.

“Kneel, ominous creature. How dare the existence of darkness stand still in front of the Dragon of Life? ”

[Kuhaha! The intruders are talking crazy...!]

Chuck.

[... Khh! I'm angry!]

When I came to my senses, Bahamut was strangled by an Alpha and forced to lie down in front of Erthea.

The Alpha was strong, but too strong.

The first apostle of Erthea, her doppelganger Alpha, was able to handle the Book of Life (a copy) given to her at birth.

Bahamut grits his teeth with a rebellious glance at an alpha that looks exactly like his masters.

[Hehe. I'm angry! How humiliated by the treachery of the witches!]

“You stop saying that. Even Erstea can hear the voice of the Richie of Darkness. ”

[That much!?]

Bahamut looks baffled.

[That's too much! You have no minimum respect for prisoners!]

“Nothing.”

Alpha silences Bahamut's words without hesitation, kicking his ass and saying,

“Stop talking and show us where the witches are right now. ”

[Don't be ridiculous! Why me?]

“Or I'll burn this whole place down. You want to see your masters burn to death? ”

[…… I will guide you.]

In the beginning, Bahamut was just a servant of the witches, and there was no way to deal with the former witch, Alpha.

Even the dragon of life Ertera, who came with her, had not yet stepped forward.

However, Bahamut felt a tremendous‘ brawl ’from the dragon of life, and he had a cool story just to watch.

In the end, Bahamut led them to the room where the witches lived, walking in front of the maze's hallway.

He asked.

How the hell did you find this place? This place must be completely hidden from the light of life by the Shadow Seal.]

Erthea, who was held in the arms of the rabbit, nods.

“Yeah, that's why I worked so hard. I didn't even use the moonstone against the sunstone to cover my eyes. I wouldn't have found it all my life without the rabbit's advice. ”

[Ahem.]

The rabbit raises its nose with a proud expression.

It's always dark under the lamp.

If the dragon of life was a light, the witch's house was completely hidden in the shadows.

It was a place where light could never reach, so it was possible to avoid the attention of the dragon of life, Hertia.

Until the rabbit advises.

[Hehe. Of course, I never imagined at first that the Witch's house would look like this. But who am I? You're the genius bunny! Me-ha-ha-ha!]

Bahamut was puzzled by the funny-looking rabbit and asked Alpha.

[But what's with the noisy doll?]

“You don't need to know. ”

[...... I can't believe it.]

Alpha didn't want to mix words with sinister beings without any business.

[Just down these stairs is the lab. It's where the witches gather to study magic.]

The magic of the forbidden?]

Bahamut laughs at the rabbit's words.

[Withdrawn? What's so important about a world that's already ruined?]

“That's right. And if my doppelgangers break the taboo, it's my fault, too. ”

Erthea pushes forward with a bitter look on her face.

“Come on, let's go down. Maybe everyone's just waiting for me to come. ”

Hmph.

Bahamut stares at her in surprise.

[Did you know? Since when?]

“I knew it from the moment I stepped foot in here. The whole place is an altar to the Dragon of Doom. ”

“Ugh! The Dragon of Doom!? ”

The alpha stands guard, startled by her words.

“Sacrifices come to the altar, but the priests won't notice. I had no idea my doppelgangers were the Apostles of the Apocalypse. ”

Ever since I realized the unbelievable reality, Ertera's expression has been black.

On the other hand, the rabbit remembered that the 'Witch's House’ was a dungeon where there were no altars.

In other words, the entire witch's house is an altar.

So the participants were actually dedicated to the altar from the moment they entered it.

But when the dungeon game had not begun, the rabbit could not have imagined that it would already be an altar for the dragon of the Apocalypse.

[No way. Is that true? Why would the witches want to be the Apostles of the Apocalypse?]

“That's right. It's hard to believe. Now they're scattered, but once they were all united to fight the dragon of the Apocalypse. ”

“…… let's ask him why. ”

Erthea stares resolutely across a staircase of dark shade.

As they go down the stairs and take a short walk down the hallway, the giant lab reveals itself at the end.

And the Doppelgängers who resemble her are gathered in one place, just like Erthea said, waiting for her.

But... the atmosphere was a bit noisy.

“Hey! Who's eating the cat today? He's hungry!”

“What else are you looking for? If she cries, you give her some! ”

“It was your turn to say that! ”

“No? No? You're confused, aren't you? ”

“You look just like him anyway! Hurry up and feed him! She's crying!”

“Shut up! We got company!”

“Ah? You're here already? I haven't had enough tea yet! ”

“Hiya! Nice to meet you! Long time no see!"

“Yay! A real dragon of life! I've never seen it with my own eyes! ”

……?

Unlike what I expected, the lab was filled with a whimsical atmosphere.

“W-what? ”

Ertera, Alpha and the rabbit couldn't hide their confused expressions.

All of the Doppelgängers had their faces on them when they were human beings of Ertera.

But the same thing was only a face, but his expression and speech were very different.

Some doppelgangers were wearing round glasses and writing things on their notes with an academic look.

Some Doppelgänger looked at himself in front of the mirror, pulsing a white robe.

Another was wearing a black robe, serious expression, and he was wearing a black cat and a Cesse.

When I think about it, it was obvious.

Not only did the Doppelgängers inherit appearances and memories from Hertera, but their personalities and identities were completely different.

The rabbit mutters with a frown.

[Heh, that's a lot of work for a psychopath. Is this normal, considering they're just a few years old?]

He rebuked Alpha with a grumpy expression.

“Doppelgängers count by the age of the body, rather than by the time they wake up from their eggs. ”

[Why not? You think I'll grow old?]

The two of them tried to gossip again, but the Doppelgänger with a solemn expression approached them as a representative and politely greeted them.

“Welcome, Hertesea, Dragon of Life. I didn't want to see you, but welcome. I represent the witches. ”

“You guys are really……. ”

Erthea's expression is disdainful, and she can't forget what she said.

I was strangled.

The Doppelgänger notices what she's about to say and nods softly.

“Yes. As you may have noticed, we all serve the Dragon of Doom. ”

“Why did you make such a foolish choice? ”

Alpha stares at her coldly.

But even in her rage, the Doppelgängers only smiled faintly.

“We just... wanted to live. Please understand our situation is mere mortality. ”

Erthea is furious with her reply.

“If you wanted to live, you could have come to me. If you are my apostle, I will give you life energy...! ”

“You're gonna die anyway. ”

“ ……. ”

Boom.

That meant selling the heart of Ertera.

Because it was true.

The Doppelgängers are giving it to Erstea, who lost her words.

“The world is no longer a new life. It's a disaster. ”

“There is no way for you to recover your power, the dragon of life, in a ruined world like this. I'm just slowly dying. ”

“ ……. ”

It was true.

Ertera is unable to give you any answers.

“Besides, nowadays they even reset the food supply for people? Life energy will continue to be consumed every time, but there's no way to replenish it. ”

It was true.

“If we offer sacrifices harvested from the reset land, the total amount of life energy remaining in the world will only be consumed. And as soon as that energy ran out, it was scheduled to end. ”

It was true.

“But the more the world like this, the more powerful the dragon of the end will be. It is what it is.”

It was... all true.

“So we decided to become apostles of life rather than the Apostles of the Apocalypse. I'm a little sorry for who we are. ”

The Doppelgängers stare at Ertera with a slightly shy look.

[I'm sorry, but you have no regrets.]

The rabbit claps as it breathes heavier atmosphere.

[Okay, great. We heard what they said. So how is Apostle Wellness these days? Decent to eat?]

The rabbit became an Apostle or Helper of the Apocalypse in the distant future.

That's why I felt like I was seeing the early days of a company that was going to become a big company.

In the rabbit's question, the Doppelgängers pulled out one knife at a time from their arms.

Oh, is that a knife?]

The rabbit glitters.

“At the moment, the Dragon of Doom cannot afford to give us life energy. But instead, he taught me how to extend life on my own. ”

The knife they pulled out was the Butcher's Knife.

“If we kill other doppelgangers with this sword, we can take each other's lives. ”

“So we make maple out of each other in life these days, and we find and hunt doppelgangers who are born in new eggs. ”

[It's the creation economy.]

The rabbit gives a hollow look.

The Doppelgängers had no sense of ethnicity or loyalty to each other.

The goal of life is just to live every day. They have increased the life span of each day each time they kill their own kind.

“Maples and newborn doppelgangers, of course, attack people in the process, but I don't think that's possible. ”

“We need to start living right now. Isn't your life the most precious thing in the world? ”

“But we don't kill each other. Because you're no longer human, the Doppelgängers with the Book of Life have no way of increasing. ”

“Lies.”

Erthea, who was listening to them quietly, opened her mouth.

“You didn't kill each other? Then what are the books behind you? ”

“ ……. ”

Sharp point, this time the Doppelgängers are silent.

Behind their backs was a bookshelf with the lost owners' books of life (copies) tucked away.

“…… This is a tomb. ”

The Doppelgänger in round glasses opens his mouth heavily.

Not all the Doppelgängers in Erthea have fallen to the Dragon of Doom.

Many disagreed with it.

“We won after so many arguments. ”

“And the losing side of the debate took all of our power and turned it into a book and stuck it in a bookshelf. ”

“ ……. ”

The Doppelgängers, who had always had a pure-looking look from the beginning, no longer seemed pure.

No, in a way, it was damn pure.

Pure evil.

“What do you think? ”

The Doppelgängers of Ertera, who were called witches to the people.

“We're witches anyway. ”

Now he was not hesitant to call himself a "witch."

“And since you're here.... ”

Creepy!

Suddenly, a pure, dense life begins to erupt from the witches surrounding Erthea.

“Can't you just give us a little lifespan and die? ”

“What do you think? He'll be dead soon anyway. ”

“This is the altar of the Dragon of Doom. If you die in here, the Dragon of the Apocalypse will be very happy, right? ”

[Ow! How long are you going to talk boredly? Why do you fight with your words when you have a good fist? If we're gonna fight, let's fight!]

A rabbit stumbles into their words.

The rabbit said to the Alpha escorting Ertera with a fierce vigor.

[And Alpha! Even if you fight, save one Witch with the smartest glasses.]

“What's the reason? ”

[I like the title of the research that's been sticking to the notebook since earlier.]

The witch in the glasses is stunned and hides her notebook backwards.

The rabbit smiles and looks at her.

[There is no competition. When you're done fighting, can you teach me that magic?]

“Why this……. ”

At the top of it was the title, "Shadow Consolidation."

She was a Doppelgänger who cast a shadow over this witch's house.