VIP Chapter 468: Interlude: The Conspiracies of the Masterminds (3k)
“So… why did you stop the dungeon clear just like that? It’s so boring. I was waiting for a rival’s death for so long. And now it’s gone?”
Death Hall.
Floor 230.
The final floor.
Daisianwei sat on the far side of a dining table that stretched across the entire hall. The table was laden with various gruesome “organs,” each representing a “death” from a different disease.
The lungs were black and riddled with holes, looking like those of a long-time smoker. The heart was full of blood clots, its outward passages blocked, making it seem as if blood could not be pumped from its core. The liver appeared greasy and grimy, as if just dredged from a sewer.
But…
Daisianwei, holding a fork, licked her sharp fangs, looking ravenous.
“I apologize for interrupting your meal. But a pause was necessary. Because in a few days, it will be Empress Treya’s birthday banquet.”
“…”
Upon hearing the word “birthday,” Daisianwei tilted her head unhappily. A “snap” like a broken neck accompanied her movement, and the fork in her hand snapped at a 90-degree angle.
“I don’t like hearing the word ‘birthday.’ It signifies ‘life,’ not ‘death.'”
Daisianwei seemed to be in a rage. She twisted her head back and looked at the broken fork in her hand. Carver, at the other end of the table, smiled with narrowed eyes. He seemed to have deliberately said those words to provoke Daisianwei and watch her get angry.
“Because, on her birthday, perhaps the most prestigious people in the ‘entire world’ will be present,” Carver said slowly. “Whether they are nobles, esteemed guests of our Adventurer’s Guild, or even foreign dignitaries, they will all come to celebrate her.”
“And so?”
“On the day that symbolizes one’s ‘birth,’ to expose the ‘secret’ of Entak in front of everyone and bring about its ‘demise.’ Don’t you think that has a certain aesthetic appeal?”
“…?”
Daisianwei’s earlier displeasure melted away, replaced by a grin at Carver’s words. She waved her hand, and the fork she had just broken reassembled itself as if brought back from the dead.
“Interesting, interesting! Very amusing! It was indeed a huge profit to lend you my trinkets and items~” She happily cut off a side of the blood-clot-obstructed vessel of the heart before her. The knife sliced vertically, and the vessel burst. The thick, black blood choked from the heart’s interior, staining the white tablecloth. The heart, which moments ago had seemed freshly cut from a living being, shriveled.
“It’s just, M~r~ C~a~r~v~e~r. We’ve never clashed with Zero Demon City ‘before this.’ Have you figured out its capabilities yet?” Daisianwei popped a valve of the heart into her mouth and asked Carver, who sat opposite her at the other end of the table, in a spoiled tone.
“We’re figuring it out during the current dungeon clear. It seems to be not much different from ordinary monster-filled dungeons. If I had to say… similar to other Demon Cities, there are some illusions involved.” Carver’s smile faded slightly as he spoke.
“Their ability seems to be… illusions? Dreams? Sounds like nothing special,” Daisianwei shook her head. “What’s the point of indulging in illusions? The first demon of Zero Demon City actually sold its position as ‘Emperor’ to merely survive in such a place, unwilling to face ‘death’ head-on. I can’t understand it.” Her tone was plain, but her eyes were filled with anger.
“And to have dug a dungeon themed around ‘illusions’ for two hundred years, reaching as deep as floor 333. Alas, the most important thing is that ‘Reviers’ didn’t discover it…” She chewed as if eating a sweet cake, seemingly indifferent to the腥气 of the pus-filled heart.
“Miss Daisianwei, aren’t you also ‘fearing’ death, thus becoming fixated on the Death Hall?” Carver teased. Despite his words intended to provoke, his deep blue eyes beneath his gold-rimmed glasses showed no fluctuation as he met Daisianwei’s gaze.
“An interesting notion. I don’t believe I ‘fear’ death. On the contrary, I love it too much.” The usually mercurial Daisianwei did not become enraged by his words, nor did she lash out at Carver. She merrily cut the heart before her into four equal pieces and ate them.
“So, the purpose of the Death Hall is to fixate death… even death in this world… at the moment of dying.” Daisianwei’s slender fingers twirled the silver fork before plunging it fiercely into the heart before her. She squeezed out the last bit of dark sauce within. “Forever… to forever experience the moment of ‘death.'”
Carver simply watched Daisianwei, his eyelids drooping, a hint of sadness in his expression.
“What? Mr. Carver, aren’t you my colleague? Don’t you also wish for the entire world to stop at the moment of death?”
“Me…” Carver looked at his fingers. The silver ring on his ring finger gleamed, though the platinum band itself appeared somewhat tarnished, as if worn for a long time. Then, he resumed his usual inscrutable, merchant-like smile. “Perhaps not for that reason. You enjoy the moment of death, but I simply don’t want to ‘live’ again.”
“Sometimes, I feel like I can never see through you, nor can I ever understand you,” Daisianwei expressed her annoyance. “But, never mind. Speaking of which, why are you holding meetings here now? Isn’t your office better?”
“This…” Carver glanced around the final floor. The pure white, sacred Death Hall on the 230th floor was as quiet as if one could hear a bug hitting a wall. He narrowed his eyes slightly. “In the Adventurer’s Guild, someone didn’t properly complete my mission. They ruined my plan, for example… by letting someone live who shouldn’t have at this time. Therefore, there are some things I don’t want them to hear.”
“Even the Hysterm Family has moments of failure. I never expected that,” Daisianwei raised a nearby goblet and took a sip of the viscous, “blood-like” red wine. “Do you need help? Just send the adventuring person who messed up to me, and I can make sure they never return silently.”
“No need. I’ve already handled it. That kid should be running around.”
“Is that so? Then all is well. Gulp.” Daisianwei swallowed the last piece of heart and wiped the black blood from the corner of her mouth with her finger. “Only when Zero Demon City is completely dead can I truly exist in this world as the deepest dungeon explored.”
“We’ll stop here for today. After all, a grand banquet awaits me.”
“Farewell.” Carver stood up, picked up a black hat from the side, and bowed respectfully to Daisianwei. Then, he exited the small final floor through the “non-death” entrance—an elevator leading to the bright sky.
“As expected, even Mr. Carver, who has been cooperating with me for so long, doesn’t share my ultimate goal. Sigh…” She rose and pushed away her chair. Behind her was a pool sculpted from flesh and blood. Under her gaze, the pool suddenly began to tremble violently.
“It’s becoming difficult to suppress. How troublesome. Floor 230 is still a safe number.” Daisianwei said this and then picked up a box from the side. The box resembled an urn. Carver had brought this box as a gift after conquering the dungeon known as The End Ash—a dungeon with a somewhat unruly Fire Dragon.
“I can only alleviate it temporarily like this.” Daisianwei opened the box, and the dust within blew out and dispersed. She lowered her head, tucking her silver hair with one hand to avoid touching the pool, and used her other hand to scoop out half a box of ashes from the urn into the pool, like using a spoon.
“It’s truly not easy to maintain ‘death.’ Ah… no, to be precise, I haven’t truly reached death yet.” She then glanced with disdain at the “statue” in the pool. “Reviers. The dungeon you created still has many problems… waiting to be solved. Next time, please be a better architect and don’t create so much trouble.” She spoke as if talking to a “mirror.” It was like someone staying up until two in the morning, rubbing their face repeatedly in the mirror and emphasizing, “I must sleep early tomorrow, but today is past redemption.” After speaking, she snapped her fingers in the air. *Snap.* The lights in the pure white “church” extinguished, plunging into unfathomable darkness.
And the one who snapped their fingers and turned off the lights – the vampire empress’s scarlet gown, and her long silver hair, turned to dust at the sound of the snap, scattering into the pool. Dust to dust, earth to earth. Even the vampire queen, Daisianwei, the symbol of death, had to return to her original form for her nightly “sleep.”
However… this church, from the very beginning, did not belong to her alone.
“…Have they fallen asleep already?” From the darkness, Shuna slowly emerged, her footsteps clearly audible on the floor. “The conversation between the two was encrypted with magic, I couldn’t hear anything. As expected… perhaps Will’s survival made Carver suspicious of me. But… if he suspected me, why did he tell me those things last time?”
“No, could it be that…” Shuna suddenly had a guess. The plan Carver had told her last time, wasn’t it intentionally meant for her to relay to Will? This way… Will would definitely find a way to get to Treya’s side. Carver wouldn’t have to search for him all over the world. And the conversation he encrypted with Daisianwei today was what he truly wanted to say.
