Chapter 556: Dungeon
Bright moonlight spilled into the dilapidated Zijing City, where a single flicker of firelight could be seen beneath the still-standing statue of a goddess.
A bonfire was CRACKLING nonstop. Its orange-red glow cast a ruddy light on the cheeks of a young boy and girl as they ate.
They greedily snatched meat skewers from the grill with both hands. This lack of restraint quickly led to trouble—Kemisi slapped his chest, eyes rolling back, as he obviously started to choke.
“Here.” Fatir handed them each a bottle of fruit wine.
The Snake-man youth’s face flushed. It was clear he wanted to refuse this meal offered by a Human Abomination, whom he saw as a Demon. But he and his sister were just too hungry. As crawlers in the Dungeon, they could only dig for earthworms to eat and had never tasted such delicious food.
“Th… Thank you,” he stammered, taking the fruit wine.
“A’a~” The Little Snake Maiden also opened her mouth to let out a few syllables, her small face blushing.
“To be honest, I’d really like to know if there are others like us in this world,” Levi asked, seeing that the two were slowly letting their guard down and deciding to strike while the iron was hot.
“I don’t know, but I heard from Nanny Milan that Human Abominations disappeared a long, long time ago. You’re the first I’ve ever seen,” Kemisi said frankly.
‘This was bad news. It meant the true natives might have been completely wiped out, and this Trial World could now be occupied by the descendants of the Fallen Divine Servants.’
Levi hadn’t considered whether the original Fallen Divine Servants could have survived until now. Without Elemental Power, they couldn’t possibly live for thousands of years—a span of time that even a Giant Dragon would find significant.
“So, how many people are in your Dungeon?” Levi asked while handing a peeled apple to Buji on his shoulder. ‘This would give him a rough idea of how many enemies he might have.’
“I… I don’t know,” Kemisi said, looking a little awkward.
As a Divine Servant from the very bottom rung of society, arithmetic was undoubtedly a profound field of knowledge for them, to say nothing of statistics.
“Then tell me more about the Dungeon and the Divine Abominations. And why do you call us Human Abominations? Is it just because we’re human?” Levi tried to avoid sensitive topics, not wanting to destroy the trust he had just started to build with them.
He couldn’t guarantee that the other members of the Divine Servant Clan would be as easy to handle as the Snake-man youth before him.
“The Dungeon is where the entire Divine Servant Race lives. It’s underground and very vast. Divine Abominations are mindless monsters dozens of meters tall, clad in golden Armor. They spend their entire lives roaming the lands, hunting down and killing members of the Divine Servant Clan.” Having eaten his fill, the Snake-man youth coiled his tail on the ground and sized up the two of them before continuing, “As for Human Abominations… anyone who doesn’t have a Divine Image bestowed by the Divine Lord is a Human Abomination.”
After speaking, he pointed to his own cat ears and snake tail. “These are Divine Images. They are parts of the Divine Lord’s body. We are the children of the Divine Lord, but unfortunately, my sister and I only resemble the Divine Lord in two places, so our status in the Dungeon is the lowest.”
At this, even the Little Snake Maiden lowered her head, her mood sinking.
Levi and Fatir exchanged a glance. For some reason, they felt that the “Divine Lord” Kemisi spoke of was very likely the Fallen Divine Servants.
Based on Igo Saint’s description, they knew that the Fallen Divine Servants had once been powerful figures in the Multiverse. They had been granted the glory of entering the Divine Kingdom to serve at the side of the Gods they worshiped. However, for some unknown reason, they ultimately betrayed their faith. As a result, they were struck by a Curse from the Gods, and their appearances became grotesque, as if they were pieced together from multiple different Races.
“Can you take us to your Dungeon to have a look?” the Lord asked proactively.
‘If he didn’t know what his trial mission was before, he now had a vague feeling about it. He felt that he had to go see this Dungeon.’
Besides, Kemisi clearly had a low status and didn’t know much. He and Fatir had just arrived and were completely in the dark about this world, so they were in desperate need of intel.
A civilized society was bound to have relics of its historical progression.
“Well…” Kemisi hesitated.
The worldview that had been shaped over a dozen years told him that these Human Abominations before him were vicious Demons. But this short time together made him feel that they were different from the stories he had always heard.
“Ababa~” The Little Snake Maiden hurriedly gestured at her brother.
Levi watched with a smile, ‘though he cursed this useless system for not working a little harder and loading in a body language translator.’
“Alright, I can take you, but you have to wear hoods. Otherwise, the Blood-colored Warriors of the Dungeon will recognize you immediately.” After a long hesitation, Kemisi finally agreed. A smile appeared on the Little Snake Maiden’s face as well.
“Okay. Then you two can find a place to sleep. We’ll set off first thing in the morning,” Levi said lightly. Having grown accustomed to sleeping at a regular time, he was already eager to crawl into bed.
“Father, I’m sleepy too.” As a pure Magical Creature, Buji’s energy had clearly waned since arriving in this world, and it had become extremely drowsy.
Unfortunately, their plans were doomed to fail.
“No! The Divine Abominations appear on the surface during the day!” Kemisi said, his face full of terror. “We have to get into the Dungeon before dawn.”
The Little Snake Maiden nodded hurriedly, confirming her brother’s words.
“Fine,” Levi agreed without hesitation.
Although he and Fatir hadn’t seen a single one of these so-called Divine Abominations on their journey, the youth spoke with such conviction that Levi figured he wasn’t making it up.