'N-no!'
Des did not believe it.
'No, that's not possible!' He didn't want to believe it.
'Nearly twenty years? And she's lost track of counting? How is that even…? No… that can't make any sense!'
Even dismissing the fact that the wild, yet attractive woman before him looked to be in her mid twenties, it was utterly impossible for anyone to survive in a Dungeon for that long! Even Trailblazers couldn't do that.
A few months was the highest record—about four months and a week—and that wasn't without several sacrifices being made by the Party.
No single individual could do it—EVER!
"Y-you're… joking, right?"
"What makes you say that?" The lady turned at him, a broad smile on her face.
Her expression really scared him.
"N-nothing… nothing…" He tried to look away again, but the skulls that stared at him prevented him from averting his gaze from her. Even when he tried not to look at her face, he ended up staring at her naked body.
"E-erm… why are you naked?"
Des knew it was a foolish question, but he blurted it out anyway.
"Hm? Why can't I be? You're naked too."
"N-no! I'm wrapped in bandages." He responded, but quickly realized that the woman would have had to see him naked before treating him.
Hence, that wasn't the flex that he thought it was.
"Nope! You are naked to me. I can see through those bandages anyway, so there's really no point." She shrugged.
Firstly, that really creeped Des out.
Secondly, how did her logic apply to the initial question? Des could not comprehend her thought process in the slightest.
'I can't see through anything, so she won't even be able to… also, how is that even… ahhh… I shouldn't get worked up over this…'
There were more important things that had to be addressed—including whether or not he was going to die at the hands of this woman.
He had tried his best to skirt around the issue, but right now he saw no other way out.
"C-can I ask you something…?"
"What's with you? You've been asking me stuff already, and now you think to ask for permission like a stranger?"
'We are strangers… but good point.' His mind trailed as he groaned, closing his eyes to prepare himself for the tough decision he was about to make.
"A-are… you going to eat me?"
"...."
The woman's smile vanished immediately, and she gave Des a rather blank expression. The sudden switch made him even more afraid, as her exposed eye widened quite a bit—almost as if she was shocked by his question.
'Is she surprised that I figured it out? Will she kill me quickly so I don't resist? I… did I make the right choice?'
Right as Des was struggling with his mortality and impending demise, he heard a rather serious voice echoing within the room.
"Why would you think that?"
"E-eh…?" One look at her face showed she was quite puzzled by his deduction.
"W-was I wrong? I mean… the skulls… and the fact that you've been here for a long time… and also… well, y-you look healthy, so you can't be starving, so I thought… y-you know…"
His words were disjointed, and that was because, with every few words he uttered, her expression kept changing—and it really creeped him out.
It changed from shock, to mild surprise, to fascination, to relief, to more relief, and finally—
"Pffft! Hahahahaha! I see, I see! So that's what you thought! I get it now!"
Des didn't know if he was out of the woods yet, or if there was even safety in store from him, but he struggled to let out a bit of laughter so he didn't appear too out of place.
Whatever this woman's game was, he had to play it.
His life was in her hands.
"Relax, man. I'm not gonna eat you or anything! Hahahaha! Well… not in that sense, anyway. Kekeke!" She chuckled to herself, almost like she was making a joke that only she knew the meaning of.
It made Des both frightened and curious, but he chose to be silent.
"Those skulls belong to the people that were here before you and me. I gathered them to one side, as well as the other things I met in this cave when I was making my base."
"O-ohh… ahh… so there are others?"
"Yup! Yup! They're long dead, though! Been dead since before I even arrived here."
"T-that can't be…" Des murmured, taking another look at the skulls.
From what he could observe, they looked fresh—almost as if they had just died. If the strange lady was telling the truth, that meant the bones had to have been around for over twenty years, which meant they would have aged and weathered quite a bit.
'So is she lying to me? Or—'
"Ah, I see what you're referring to. You're quite sharp, aren't you? You noticed the bones haven't aged quite a bit, right? That's because I treated them upon my arrival here. They were a lot more wretched, but… I figured out ways to make them brand new as part of my experiments."
"Experi… ments…?" Des repeated in a rather confused tone.
'Is that even something that can be done in a place like the Dungeon? Aren't those sorts of things done in controlled environments—like a lab, or something?'
He wanted to ask more, but he figured there would be more avenues to request for more information after going through the more pertinent issues at hand; the issues that concerned him directly.
"Where are we exactly?"
Once again, the woman fell silent, looking at Des with a rather confusing expression to describe. It felt like a mix of amusement and also concern—as if she didn't want to tell him, but also couldn't wait to reveal the truth.
"J-just tell me…" He mumbled, already bracing himself for the very worst.
"We are at the very bottom Floor of the Citadel Of Graves."
Des' expression remained calm through it all—but only because he didn't want to scream out of his lungs, and he didn't even have the strength to cry.
The Citadel Of Graves—also known as An Explorer's Graveyard—was one of the world's deadliest Dungeons. Even after decades since its discovery, no one had made it past the 12th Floor.
Trailblazers had been on it for Months, yet the 12th Floor was yet to be conquered.
Yet… YET…!!!
"We are at… the bottom Floor?"
"Yup! I don't know how far down it is, but I know this is the last Floor."
As he swallowed the details, Des felt like throwing up. This was a lot worse than he expected.
Dungeons were different, so it was pretty impossible to estimate how many Floors a Dungeon had. Still, by computing the number of Floors other Dungeons had in order to make a prediction, it was likely that this Dungeon had at least 50 Floors.
And they were at the very bottom!
"H-how do you know all these things?" Des faced the strange woman, his body too weak to even make any more unnecessary movement.
Her wide smile no longer creeped him out, and he kept his eyes fixed on her face.
"Well… I came here the same way you did, and arrived at the same location as you." Her voice grew louder and her mood brightened as she uttered those words.
Des felt his heart race and tighten at the same time.
"Just like you, I lost everyone in my Party and survived by myself for all these years."
"You were a Dungeon Explorer too?"
"Hehehe! Not just a Dungeon Explorer, man!" She rose to her feet, arms folded and her head lifted high in pride.
Des followed her movements and noticed the proud look she had on her face.
"Never forget this! I am a Dungeon Explorer and an Architect!"
With a smile as broad as the woman's, he nodded and replied with the first thought that came to his mind.
"What is an Architect?"
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[A/N]
Thanks for reading!
I'm enjoying their dynamic already! Hopefully, I'm not the only one.