148 CHAPTER 136. Dark Truth.

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Everything that lives is designed to end.

We are perpetually trapped... in a neverending spiral of life and death.

Is this a curse? Or some kind of punishment?

2B

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Today's meme is here. [ ]

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'Tsk.' Jin lightly clicked his tongue, and as if Esil was a little kid, picked her up and made her stand straight. And then, he stared at her face again.

Maybe she got scared of the unannounced physical contact, he heard her heart rate quicken noticeably. Not minding that, Jin asked her again.

"I'm asking you if you hear a whisper of someone busy telling you to kill humans."

"Oh…." Esil hesitated and pondered for a moment before opening her mouth.

"No. But, we do hear a different voice all the time."

"Okay. What does it say?"

"It tells us to… protect the space we're residing in."

Esil spoke cautiously while being extra mindful of Jin's reactions. 'The purpose of the instant dungeon's monsters is different from monsters of the regular dungeons?' The sole purpose of the monsters from the regular dungeons was to kill humans, while the monsters of the instant dungeons were to guard where they were. The nature of the two camps' aims were quite different from each other.

Was Jin-Woo a monster-like existence to these monsters of the instant dungeons??

Esil's complexion was still quite pale after bearing the full brunt of his skills: 'Intimidation', 'Blood Lust', and 'Despair Aura I'. A combination of three skills with Killer's Eye is enough to kill an elephant with just looks. He couldn't help but feel a wee bit of pity for her. Just a tiny bit, though.

"How long have you been hearing that voice?"

"It's right after we opened our eyes in this place."

Sigh… 'After opening their eyes in this place, is it? Just as expected, not something I wanted but nothing could be done here.'

Didn't that imply that she and others were living in another location before this? No, whether that was genuine or a fake memory, that's what was left imprinted in her brain.

Jin continued with his questioning.

"Okay. Then, where have you been before waking up in this place?"

"We were in the Demon World. We just woke up one day and found ourselves stuck here."

"And what were you doing back in the Demon World before that?"

"We were…. getting ready for war."

"War, you say?"

"Yes."

Did she recall the memories of back then? Esil's expression no longer had any traces of fear from when she was begging for her life, now only filled with grave determination.

"We were in the situation of preparing for war against a horrifyingly powerful foe that necessitated every demon scattered around in the Demon World to unite…."

….And that's where Esil's words were cut off.

"…"

"..."

«…»

No, accurately speaking, Esil was still talking. Her lips were clearly moving up and down even now. However, Jin couldn't hear her voice at all. Instead, he was blessed with the monotone mechanical voice spat out by the System.

[You have exceeded the allowed information threshold, therefore this conversation has been blocked.]

[You have exceeded the allowed information threshold, therefore this conversation has been blocked.]

[You have exceeded the allowed information threshold….]

Right until Esil's explanations came to an end, that exact same message played over and over again.

Jin's eyes gleamed suspiciously.

'Had you left it alone, I wouldn't have suspected anything, actually.'

Indeed, he might have thought of Esil's explanations as a backstory for the monsters of this place cooked up by the System or some such. In a way, it was cooked by the architect.

Leveling up, instant dungeons, quests, quest rewards, penalties, and even the process of getting his Class….. But even then, it wasn't a normal system or story. It was modified, not only by my skill but also the being who sent me here.

,

He was faced with one situation after another that resembled video games, so if monsters had a game-like backstory as well, it wouldn't come across as strange at all.

However, the moment the System forcibly intervened, Jin became sure of one thing.

'Talking to her might solve the problem with time, in other words.'

The System made a clear and definite mistake here, just now.

"Did…. Did I make a mistake somewhere?" When Jin's expression became graver, even Esil's own expression darkened.

This unknown foe the demons were supposed to fight? Or the reason for the war?

In order to figure this out, he narrowed down the scope of his next question.

"What was the identity of those horrifyingly powerful foes?"

However, at that moment…. Like a toy with a dead battery, Esil froze up on the spot. But that lasted only for a little while. She suddenly lost consciousness and powerlessly collapsed to the floor.

Jin quickly snatched her and carefully laid her down on the ground. Seeing that her breathing was steady, it didn't look like she was in any danger. But just in case, he used True Drak.., but it didn't seem to work.

However, there was a frown on her face; she felt a bit uncomfortable somewhere. She seemed to be having a bit of trouble breathing properly, too.

In order to help her rest more easily, Jin began ripping her armor off.

Riiiip.

Her armor came off rather easily. He also tore the mantle on the back of the armor, rolled it up, and placed it under her head like a pillow. It sure was a lot of work for a monster, but he didn't think this was him being too nice at all.

Because she ended up in this state, he got himself yet another clue, that's why.

'The foes demons fought….'

The System reacted way too sensitively towards the identity of this known foe, no it foes.

'Could those beings be related?'

Plop.

Jin sat down next to Esil. And until she woke up, he thought of the grim fate that they had.

In the Light Novel, when you get to the end and realize she was never alive to begin with... she was a made-up creation from memories of who she used to be from the puppet master.

But wouldn't she be in Jin's army in the future? Given that she used to be part of the King of Demon's army.

Was she raised by the Shadow Monarch? Even though I'm not sure we know the history, it was hundreds of years ago... I think…

It's possible that the previous Shadow Monarch raised her during his battle with the Demon King and after the original army joins Jin-Woo, they reunite, but the LN never mentions it, and she would be dead regardless, so it's still sad.

The only one of the shadows in the army from that section was the wyvern, because he was in the original army; all the others were creations.

And that alone brings up an interesting philosophical point... if the "creations" can be created into shadows... which is what happens... do they have real souls and are actual living beings.. as we understand living beings to be? This would mean Esil is real! But if they're really all dead and not real... then how could they be shadows. It's a paradox!

Also, hypothetically what would happen if I shadowed a soul, say of Esil and she's part of the original shadow army... then what would happen if I entered a dungeon with the "creation" Esil... would we get a time or temporal paradox?

Or are the souls copyable and it's not the original living Esil?? Then theoretically Jim could enter a dungeon and keep copying multiple shadows of the same being... albeit he'd theoretically have to enter the same dungeon instance, which I know is possible from the Angel statue... man, this is wild.

Then there is another theory. At one point before the first war Esil most likely was alive but then died a long time ago and the fragment of her being was recreated in the dungeon. Thus she couldn't or any one for the fact of matter be turned into a shadow because she died SO many years ago. Kaisel on the other hand was in the original shadow army and was given to SJW so he could get around

she was created by the system. If you remember during the flashback memories of The Shadow Monarch, The Original Monarch killed The Demon King and all his followers back then. That entire gate was created by the system, and likely disappeared after I am going to kill The Demon King again to complete it.

And for the fact that Esil had a whole conversation with Jinwoo after the demon king was killed and even invited him back to her floor for a banquet

The gates are active up to 3 hours after the boss is killed, but it gives you 1 hour notice to get out. The system was still active at that time, and what just happened remember the system jammed my senses to stop her talking. Think of her talking as well as the others as magical script.

So it's too bad she was dead all along. And I am not even sure she is part of the Original Monarch's army.

But I will know once I get them.

Jin thought while looking at the burning orange sky of the Dungeon.

"….Uh?" Esil quickly raised her upper body.

Sensing another presence nearby, she looked to her side and found the totally wordless Jin sitting there. Her shoulders flinched a little, just then.

She realized she was sleeping on his lap as well as his hand was on her head. Which causes her face to be a bright tomato. As she deeply blushed.

'S-so, I wasn't dreaming….'

Slowly getting to terms with her new reality, Esil took a look around her. And there were huge piles of dead Superior Demons found nearly everywhere. Her brows shot up immediately. Demons with little intelligence didn't treat other demons with intelligence as their kin. So, an unconscious demon like her would've been seen as a tasty meal. However…..

The only reason why she was unscathed like this was….

"Were you protecting me all this time?"

Rather than answering her, Jin placed her head aside from his lap, raised his body up, and then extended his hand out to Esil. Esil looked as if she was profoundly moved, and after holding onto his hand, cautiously stood up from the spot.

"Thank you."

"How long will we take to get to where the Entry Permit is?"

"It's not too far from here. I'll take you there."

Esil then presented Jin with both of her wrists.

"…..?"

"…??"

Jin and Esil stared at each other in confusion. Feeling a bit frustrated, Esil opened her mouth first.

"I'm your hostage, so aren't you supposed to bind my hands first before moving out?"

"Don't wanna."

He was confident of stopping her from resisting or escaping even without the aid of restraints. Besides, way too much time had been wasted already for him to waste even more on something useless like that.

Jin spun Esil around and pushed her slightly on her back. Maybe she was still scared of him; he could clearly hear her heartbeat getting faster, but Jin didn't mention it. Instead, his gaze shifted over to the horses the demons rode on.

"What about them?"

"I'll take them along."

With a slightly flushed face, Esil took the reins of the horses and took the lead. Jin quietly followed her from behind.

Just as Esil said, they didn't have to travel far before arriving at a location where the Entry Permit was likely to be present. And it just so happened to be a large castle.

'A demon's castle inside the Demon's Castle, and with every floor having its own castle is it ...?'

The Demon's Castle was only a 'castle' in name and was actually a tower, but the one in front of his eyes seemed to have taken quite a lot of inspiration from the ancient castles of medieval times.

The soldiers guarding the castle gates became tense instantly after seeing Jin, but….

"He's a guest."

Esil spoke disinterestedly and pointed with her chin, causing the guards to quickly open the castle gates. Soon, a group of knights came out from the inside of the castle to greet her.

"Lady Esil. We were waiting for your return."

"Where is my father?"

"The lord is waiting in the audience chamber."

"Understood."

One of the knights glanced at Jin and asked.

"Lady Esil…. This gentleman is…?"

"He's an important guest, so do not forget to mind your manners."

After hearing Esil's solemn tone of voice, knights quickly parted ways and lowered their heads.

Jin wordlessly followed after her and entered the deeper part of the castle. After a long walk down a wide corridor, he found himself entering a very large chamber that looked like a boss room in a dungeon.

'So, this is the audience chamber? I never bothered to look when I was in Akame Ga Kill, but now it looks pretty good.'

Jin scanned his surroundings. Other than tall stone pillars reaching up to the ceiling situated at regular intervals on either side of the chamber, it was pretty much wide open and empty. It was as if this whole place had been prepared for potential battles that could break out.

'If I were to fight my way here, then I guess I was supposed to face the boss in this chamber, huh.'

Which meant, the male Demon Noble sitting on a huge throne atop a rostrum located on the other side of the audience chamber was the boss of this place.

Esil and Jin stopped before the 'boss'.

The boss was the first to break the ice.

"Esil."

"Father, this person is…."

Even before listening to Esil's explanation, the boss met the gaze of Jin, and its brows shot up high as it sank back down, sinking even deeper in his throne. The irises of the boss were quaking visibly now.

"Y-you!! Just who did you bring before me?!"

"F-Father, this man is a guest…."

Esil desperately tried to explain, but the boss's agitation didn't seem to lessen at all.

"A guest?! Just what kind of a guest invades the home of the inviter with an army?!"

"Pardon me?!"

Esil quickly shifted her gaze over to Jin. Just where was this army her father was speaking of here?

The boss, meanwhile, kept his eyes firmly fixed on Jin and spoke with a frightened and trembling voice.

"Esil, do you not see it with your own eyes? Can you not see the countless soldiers hidden in that man's shadow and an abomination I never saw?"

Jin's glare sharpened up a notch. Flinching from the sudden change in the atmosphere, Esil quickly took a step back. Meanwhile, Jin was somewhat surprised by this development.

'I guess he's got pretty good senses. But it's pretty rare for someone to know this; I am sure he's the real deal, making it even easier for him.'

It seemed that the boss was able to 'see' the soldiers hidden inside Jin's shadow.

'Not sure whether I can call this a good thing or not, though.' He had recalled all of his Shadow Soldiers and stored them back in his shadow to prepare for battles, just in case, before arriving here.

"How dare you bring soldiers into my house?!" As soon as the boss roared out, many knights rushed inside the audience chamber.

"Father!" Esil cried out to her father in a loud voice of her own.

The boss was now standing up from his throne, glaring down with anger-filled eyes. Staring silently at the developing situation until then, Jin finally opened his mouth.

"We made a promise."

Failing to sense any form of tension whatsoever from Jin, the boss's brows quivered greatly as he felt shadows would soon crawl out of his shadows and it would turn into a bloodbath.

"What kind of promise did you make?" He asked quickly, as he didn't want to die, sensing that an abomination in Jin's shadow came out alone, enough to demolish them.

"The Entry Permit." Jin took a step forward.

"As long as you hand over the floor entry permit, I'll quietly leave this floor."

The boss swallowed his saliva nervously. 'The man who hunted down demons at a frightening pace while climbing up the floors must be him. The man who's killing every demon on every floor he passes away, and the last floors are nothing but desolate wastelands.'