I could have run all the way to the top. I could have flown like a bird in the sky. I could have even warped there with Tuby’s spell, however, what I wanted to do was to experience the most mundane of activities… I wanted to walk.

For the first time in centuries, I was taking a walk. There was no beautiful scenery to accompany me nor were there friends and family with whom I could have a pleasant chat. It was just me, the steep ramp, the cold walls of a lifeless tunnel, and my own thoughts.

To be whole again was something that words could not describe. It was a sensation that encompassed my whole being. I felt that now I was truly capable of doing everything that I wanted to do. I was unstoppable. I was in full control of myself more than I ever was.

The black cat was now gone, she vanished at some point, however, I did not need her guidance anymore. She helped me enough… As for who she was, I could only guess that she may have been a goddess of some sort. No one else could reach out into my Inner Mind like this, no one could know me like this.

Kasimir Azafassar Teruk Despino, the Crown Prince of the Despino Republic, the one who led the united army through Yandrea’s dungeon for the Ritual of Suppression. He was the hero of the negvar elves, the undisputed royal who would one day lead his country. He was also the terrorist who wanted to harm my wife and destroy the home she built.

We were his stepping stone towards his glory. We were his opponents that should have been defeated with ease.

The Core World was once a peaceful and beautiful floor. It was considered by many, including myself, as the crown creation in this entire dungeon. After I built the Hidden Floor, however, it became the second best. Now, it has been transformed into a deadly area where we could unleash our powers to their fullest without worrying about the destruction they would cause.

It took the punitive army eight months and two weeks to reach the Lands of Giants, however, to call it an army was an exaggeration. Of almost two million forglore, negvar elves, and reiss combined, only a little over 200000 were left alive. A proud well-equipped force that would not have stained the pride of the royals who led them was now marching through my dungeon like an oversized pack of bandits. Only bits and pieces remained of their original armors and weapons. Most of them were forced to improvise their equipment out of the remains of monsters. The only exception were the princes and the high ranking commanders, who could not afford to appear before the soldiers in rags and patched up armors. It was not pride that made sure they were still well-equipped but rather their cunning use of strategies. Instead of fighting on the front, they preserved their strength and left their soldiers on the front line to handle the monsters and traps on their own.

The world was at my feet!

Everyone, no matter their bloodline, was below me!

Even within the Despino Royal Family, I was the greatest!

Born to a prophecy that foretold my greatness, I was destined to be the chosen one to make the Domeris Republic the strongest country out there! And in time, return it to its former glory as the Despino Empire!

I got my hands on the artifact that could harm a Godlike Dungeon, the Silver Chains of Submissions. I could hold it in my palm, however, the moment that I inserted even the tiniest bit of Magic Energy in it, powerful complex spells would activate and begin to act upon Yandrea. They tied her up and forced her to follow my will. It was an unpleasant spell that smelled more of Black Magic than it did of Dark Magic...

In my younger days as an adventurer, there was a time when I felt like I had the whole world at my fingertips. Drunk with power, I began to think that I was on the path of glory and that the feeble washed-up sparks I could conjure up were some amazing and incredible flames the like of which the world had never seen. I was delusional... and because of this, one day I made a big mistake.

Six years had passed... There was only one year left before the appointed time for the Ritual of Suppression. Just one more year until we would have to face the anger of the surface kingdoms.

There were countless changes that were made to the World Core and the Hidden Floor below it. From the way the people who lived there interacted with each other to the layout and details that made it so unique. One of them became the grand theater of the battle that was to come, while the other was turned into a new home for those who had been forced to live apart for so long.

Our emotional explosion was unexpected, a miracle that made me realize the horrible truth that I was hiding in my heart.

Who knew that I would need to be reborn in a different body and allow myself to ponder such deep matters time and time again in order to finally see what my foolishness had been trying to hide? Now, free of it, I felt like there was no more burden on my heart and that I could finally look forward towards a different future.

My curiosity soared, this time in a better and a healthier direction.

Old age was something that caught up to me unexpectedly. By the time my beard grew long and glorious, wrinkles and white hair already started to adorn my face.

I can remember even now how one day, I was looking at my reflection in the calm waters of Lake Noknuwn perplexed by the old man looking back at me. When I realized that it was my own reflection, sadness and powerlessness overwhelmed me. I was old and wrinkly; my youth had faded away.

The moment we sat back down at the conference table, I looked up at Yandrea as various thoughts and questions took form in my old mind.

This entire dungeon, this mega structure she built with her own energy, which she spent decade after decade building up brick by brick... could she abandon it? Could she leave it if needed be to flee from those above? Moving her Crystal Body was not as difficult as it seemed, there were countless Dungeons who upon feeling threatened by adventurers would often hide in some hole they made for themselves like a turtle pulling their head into their shell. As long as another group din not find their air hole on the surface or the attackers inside did not smash through the wall protecting them, it was impossible to destroy the Dungeon.

History has told many stories. Some turned from a simple tale of success into a legend or myth, while others vanished without a trace. Within the annals of history, there were many moments which could be considered as major turning points, when the victor turned into the loser and a kingdom seemingly about to vanish without a trace, through a twist of fate, become the strongest force known at that time. Whether the death of a tyrant was actually the fall of the hero or the other way around was something that only future historians could argue about. When you lived in that time, the side you chose was that of the hero and the other one that of the tyrant.

Exhausted mentally and physically, upon returning to her Inner Mind, we both went to bed and allowed ourselves a much needed and undisturbed rest. There was enough time to clear up any and all misunderstandings between us. For now, she knew I was not going anywhere unless she sent me away by force.

My gaze, filled with fear and regret, followed the Watchers from afar as they left this floor. Their joyous laughter and carefree attitudes… how I both hated and envied them.

A single mistake, a wrong step, an accidental trap discharge was all that would take to end them. The pain in my Crystal Body was enough reason for me to pursue this action. It stung and hurt as ripples of pain were sent throughout it.

Yandrea brought me in a hurry to a place that was hidden deep beneath the big pyramid in the middle of her lowest most dungeon floor. There was no exit from this place, no corridor that connected it to the upper floors. It was completely disconnected from Yandrea’s Dungeon Territory, which meant that it functioned on its own Magic Energy reserves.

The Godlike Dungeon who rules over this vast dungeon was in a way three different individuals... There was the Yandrea that those who lived on the surface knew about, the tamed pet of the royals. There was the Yandrea that Tuby knew, the domineering and powerful Dungeon Lord who held everyone at her fingertips. And lastly, there was the Yandrea who only a few knew off and out of them... none had lived to tell the tale.

Where I sent Tuby right now, that was the place where this third one could be found... the one who was locked up behind lock and key deep inside my heart.

The conversation of those three kept repeating in my head as I made my way back home. Instead of heading up, I took a moment to rest and calm down. I sat down next to the golden stairs of the pyramid and got lost in the scenery.

From time to time, there were the guards who passed by, whom I greeted with a weak smile. Looking at them, I could not help but wonder if they were there to protect my wife or if they were there to keep her in check? Various thoughts and ideas were forming rapidly in my mind; many of which were doubting absolutely everything that she had told me so far.

One would think that there was not much to do on a single dungeon floor and that in a couple of days, at best, they would be able to learn it by heart, however, this was only the case for a regular one that was almost mathematically calculated to end up like this. In case of this place, however, you would be forgiven if you believed that it was the result of a natural formation.

A relationship built on lies was one that would often find itself crumbling down faster than a tower of cards during an earthquake. The truth always had the uncanny ability to poke its head out of even the most forgotten sealed tombs. Even if thousands of years would pass, in the end, some way or another, it would reveal itself.

In a similar manner, my old age and wisdom was also once revealed and expressed towards the world by my magnanimous beard that was lost to the ages, forgotten like a majestic hero that once ruled the battlefields... ah, my poor beard!