“My Apostle was meant to create dungeons by using the malice within these as a catalyst to summon a portion of my power. That is how it should have been done...”
Bitterness seeped into Garna’s voice.
“In that case, Garna, do you always know when a new dungeon is born?” I asked.
“Naturally. It is my own power being drawn upon, after all.”
Yet, she had no awareness of this place. That meant it had been transformed into a dungeon through a similar—yet fundamentally different—method. And the fact that a silverized Pandora Gift was lying here meant...
“So, it’s being turned into a dungeon using power from the Outer World?” Halfa asked, her face twisted in a grimace. Spira and Lowell looked equally repulsed. I likely wore the same expression.
“...Indeed. That is the most likely conclusion.”
Garna didn’t deny it. This confirmed that the Eld Caldia Order was creating dungeons by siphoning power from entities of the Outer World. I’d been nursing a bad feeling ever since I heard that parts of the cult executives' bodies were turning silver, but the situation was even more dire than I’d feared.
“But how did the Order learn to do that?”
That was the real mystery. The idea of using a Pandora Gift to trigger dungeonification had been studied at the Aingurna Dungeon Research Institute, but they had concluded it was impossible, even with a massive quantity of gifts. It was a feat that should only have been possible if the process was amplified by Garna’s divine power.
“I cannot say for certain what their connection to the Order is, but I have a suspicion as to how the knowledge of dungeon creation reached the Outer World...”
The lead Garna mentioned concerned a specific Apostle.
Apparently, Garna had long been uneasy about eastern Zephyrson—the region where the invaders from the Outer World first appeared. It seemed she had dispatched several Apostles to investigate the area even before Badis-san’s group arrived.
This had happened several years ago. One of the Apostles sent to confirm the situation had eventually vanished. As we well knew, becoming an Apostle didn’t grant someone overwhelming strength. They could still be killed by monsters, and Apostles of Garnalava in particular were often hunted and executed as evil cultists. Because of that, Garna hadn't immediately felt a sense of crisis when the connection was severed. However...
“Looking back, those Abominations may have already manifested by then. And those creatures are capable of hijacking the bodies of living beings from this world...”
In other words, Garna suspected that the missing Apostle had been possessed by a Silver Abomination. That Apostle would have possessed the knowledge of how to create dungeons, and the entity would have exploited it.
Perhaps that possessed Apostle had eventually merged with the Eld Caldia Order. Then, the Order—now armed with the power to create dungeons—had cozied up to the Bandelt Group to expand their influence.
The grim realization left us all in a heavy silence. Well, almost all of us. Judging that the conversation was over because we’d stopped talking, Badis-san spoke up tentatively.
“...So, uh, is this really all there is to this dungeon?”
He seemed genuinely disappointed by the meager scale of the place. I could understand his frustration; he’d been all geared up for his first dungeon exploration, only to reach the deepest chamber without encountering a single monster.
“It looks that way. But I wonder what they hoped to achieve with such a tiny dungeon?”
“It is likely a work in progress. They were probably killed by Zeubros before they could finish it.”
“I see.”
The purpose had seemed unclear, but if it was merely unfinished, it made sense. I nodded to myself, and for some reason, Badis-san began nodding along with me, his eyes suddenly sparkling.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Hmm? Well, if it’s a work in progress, that means it’s going to be finished eventually, right?”
“Eh? Oh, I see where you’re going.”
He was looking forward to its completion.
Come to think of it, establishing a dungeon here wasn't a bad idea at all. The people living in the Bandelt Group's territories had actually become quite prosperous thanks to the dungeons the Eld Caldia Order had created. Granted, that was just the people catching the crumbs of the Bandelt Group's growing power. But what if we created a dungeon specifically for the benefit of the people from the very start? It could allow the people of Albiroda to live stable, prosperous lives. And if they were wealthy, they wouldn’t feel the need to raid neighboring countries.
We had originally planned to create a dungeon to train adventurers as a countermeasure against the Abominations anyway. Using this place as a trial run might be perfect. With Garna’s help, we should be able to remodel it.
The real question was whether we could interfere with a dungeon that had inherited power from the Outer World.
“Tort can simply purify it. At this scale, it should be manageable. The difficulty lies in the remodeling. My own power is currently restricted. To exert my full authority, I require the assistance of another deity.”
This was apparently the punishment imposed upon Garna—she was forbidden from exercising her true power on her own. I suppose that was only fair, given her past.
“Should we call Ren-kun, then?”
“Mmu... Him? I suppose it cannot be helped.”
Even though they had reconciled, Garna still seemed a bit reluctant to deal with Ren-kun. But as an Apostle of the Destiny God, he was the obvious choice for me to call upon. Alternatively, I could have Spira call for the Spirit God.
Just as the thought crossed my mind...
“If that is the case, then allow me.”
A voice came raining down from above. I looked up to see a woman with green hair slowly descending amidst a shower of glittering light. She clearly wasn't a normal human; her body was semi-transparent, shimmering like a ghost.
I had never seen her before, but... was she another one of the gods?