[Judgment]

[Judgment: Dream]

Finally!

A finned crab is the latest deceased to turn to ash.

Ci-cin.

Around me, there is only the mass of black and homogeneous ash.

No more hills of the dead.

No more working at a depriving pace!

This silence—I'm no longer used to not having the sounds of rubbing, gasping, and gurgling around me.

My shadows remain in the ash and no alien sewage impregnates it.

Well!

“Open!”

The grimoire appears in my hand. It marks that a new level is available and then I proceed with the ritual.

I bite my thumb and let the green blood drip onto the page. The latter blackens as it oxidizes and the ink swirls until it takes on the shape I am familiar with.

[lv: 57] [xp: 698978]

[name: N]

[type: Eldritch Entity]

[class: Bakenekro]

[priority: Magic]

[job: Empress]

[hp: 24761]

[s: 2][c: 4]―[d: 7][i: 6][a: 1][…]

[ap: 46721]

[c: 4][i: 6]―[d: 7][s: 2][a: 1][…]

[ip: 72461]

[d: 7][s: 2]―[c: 4][i: 6][a: 1][…]

Ooh!

I got Mircalla's [a]! My stats have increased significantly!

I decided to delve deeper into the voice.

[a], or [aura], is a value that can only be acquired by attuning to an object with an aura. A living weapon so to speak.

By having undead Mircalla use the Atmosphere-eater, I must have obtained this ability.

Wow! I'm very strong!

And I don't have to do anything!

I close the grimoire and look at the sky.

No rain in sight!

Ci-cin, Ci-cin, Ci-cin, Ci-cin!

I skip joyfully towards home. I entered the desert but [Leviathan] hill is also visible from here. The house is not visible, I can't say whether due to the distance or because it is covered.

Hmm, now that I think about it…

[Dungeon path]

The [Leviathan]'s tapered eyes peer at me. A long time has passed and its body has not yet fully regenerated.

Normal… if pieces of it wander in the cosmos, they will never decompose, it will remain in this state forever.

“You're done, then.”

Ci-cin!

«Fsss!»

I feel my gut twisting from the depth of that voice. My tail stands on end in fear.

I guess now I have to judge it.

[Judgment] has reached [8] and I can now judge any being except [lv: 100] or whose total sum of [lv] does not exceed [99].

Yet I'm a little scared. What if this monster doesn't want to be judged? It certainly has the resources to nullify me, after all, it holds the same [job] as me.

“Eh-eh… yes-yes, yes, yes, he!”

“Do not be nervous. I had to level you up. A miserable being like you didn't have the strength to judge me.”

The strength of those sounds forces me to crouch on the ground. The more it talks, the clearer it becomes to me: it must be a [skill] linked to its voice. No deceased has ever put me in these conditions, not even Kirlh'iau who, however, managed to kill me.

“Yes-yes—but, I have to take you to the last room. I imagine if you were alive, you could enter the Ocean, but like this…”

It blows. A whiff of ash rises. “Correct. You must take me beyond the Golden Doors.”

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I lower my head and ears in reverence. I have to recover and do my job properly. The dead in my presence are all the same.

Death is the great leveler. I cannot be intimidated by a deceased being. I would be disrespectful towards it, otherwise, it is also towards me and my ancestors.

Well.

“And Golden Doors be it!”

“Wait.”

Ci-Cin!

“AGH!”

Nothing, it scares me too much… what a shame…

“Do not rush. I waited until you were ready so as not to distract you, but we need to talk about some things. I don't think there will be another opportunity.”

Oh, right! It's been so long that I completely forgot!

It has some things to tell me. If nothing else, at least how it died and how the extinction event occurred.

Hmm… that «were ready» sounds like bad news coming.

“Right. You're right… so, if I can ask right away. Why do you have the same job as me?”

“Because it was assigned to me by the System once I reached level twenty-one.”

Hmm… that's a bit disappointing as an answer. Yes, okay, the [lv: 21] but it doesn't tell me anything about the reasons or the will why it became like this.

“How come there are two of us holding this position? And, subsequently, why only the Bakenekro judge the deceased and are in the Underwasteland?”

The [Leviathan] exhales again.

“My role is emergency only. It was, at least. Now that I'm dead it's time to rest.”

“Oh, well, please be clear.”

“There are things I don't know even after millions of years.”

Ci-cin.

It's annoying. But the influence of its voice is easing my body has adapted to its presence.

“What can you tell me about the System?”

“It created the universe and organized the rules that emerged. Furthermore, the System is not living. It's not smart. It doesn't have a will. This is unlike me, you, and most of the living.”

“Hmm… you're not much help.”

“Ask me what interests you. Leave metaphysics to mortals. An immortal and an undead should take care of other matters.”

I look around and shrug my shoulders as if looking for an answer that isn't there. What should we cover?

On what topic that concerns me could this ancient deceased help me?

Hmm…

Ah, of course!

“You have lived for eons! Can you tell me who it was or how the God of Wisdom died?”

“I don't know the answer. The God of Wisdom was already dead when I was born.”

“HUH!? How is it possible that a god who has been dead for so long still has a following?”

“This is because dead does not mean inactive. You should know that.”

It is true.

The dead beyond the Golden Doors are placed beyond precisely to prevent them from acting on the world with their dreams. However—

“Is the God of Wisdom beyond the Golden Doors?”

“You're not asking me the right questions. I thought you knew about the empty throne.”

The voice of the being darkens and the earth trembles.

The empty throne?

“Of course, I know about the empty throne! It is the one created by the System that… oh… of course. If the System has no will, no intelligence, no life…”

…the throne must be for someone else.

“I see you understand.”

“Yes… no, I mean—are you telling me that you want to claim it?”

I seriously don't think it's the solution. I don't know what to think. I'm confused by its words and I'm not understanding where it's going with this.

“My domain has been destroyed. I'm dead, I just want to rest. But it's my role, that of Emperor. I was destroyed to prevent me from taking over you. Someone started acting earlier, but it was only after your father's disappearance that it started to act openly. You are the weakest, the easiest to eliminate.”

“So, is there anyone to destroy the Underwasteland? But why!? Here the dead rest… I mean, not even the Devil attacks us! It's part of the System.”

“There is no worse enemy than an immortal. There is no easier way to become one than to die. Your enemy is my murderer. It is dreaming of bringing to itself this world of which it is not a part. It is dead and dreams of the throne. I saw it, when you are expert enough you will see it too.”

Oh, well! This hermetic language!

Ci-cin!

I kick a cloud of sap that flies towards a prehensile fin.

It's a childish and useless gesture but—but!

That anger!

“How do you think I can defend myself if you're being vague like that!?”

My outburst has no effect other than making the [Leviathan] breathe.

Ci-cin, Ci-cin!

I end up submerged in ash and cough. I shake myself and straighten my skirt.

It will no longer speak.

First, it wanted me to level before talking to me. Okay, annoying but I'll give it a pass. But now?

Its hideous eyes don't tell me anything. What am I missing to know? What should I do as [Empress]?

Am I in danger like its progeny?

Will the Underwasteland end up like the sea it dominated?

…

No response arrives.

Nor do I think it will come.

“Okay… I'll take you to rest.”

♦

I rest my hand on the creature's vast tentacled fin.

Ci-cin.

The emotion makes me waver. It's the first time I've judged someone so important.

It's the first time I've passed the Golden Doors.

Will I be up to it? Must I fear these dreaming dead?

Oh, bandaging my hands before I get burned is silly. I will act according to the needs of the moment. I defeated a creature much stronger than me with the help of the dungeon and resolved the crisis of an extinction event.

The dungeon is my ally.

I am its [Empress].

[Dungeon path]

Darkness.

The roar echoes and a cold jet of water makes me fall to the ground.

[Will-o'-the-wisp]

Some street lamps light up at the foot of the enormous steps. I'm on the Ocean pier, the [Leviathan] has fallen inside the dark water and is looking at me with its enormous head on the side of the pier.

I don't understand… why did I come to the Ocean?

I should have appeared inside the hall of Golden Doors. Did I take the measurements wrong?

“Sorry. I think I was wrong. This is the first time I've tried to get in, a moment please.”

I turn towards the staircase that disappears into the darkness.

I have never entered the room, but I have reached the doors again and again.

[Dungeon path]

As suspected.

I can't access the room directly.

I'm in the dark. Reaching out, I feel the cold metal doors.

[Will-o'-the-wisp]

Lanterns cut into the door light up, coloring the pure gold blue to the point of being white.

In the distance, I hear the noise of the Whirlpool, otherwise quiet.

I pass my hand over part of the surface, testing the roughness and cavities of the reliefs and ornaments.

The doors are a masterpiece and the person who made it was certainly a superior talent. Or those, I don't know anything about it. As with the rest of the dungeon…

The scenes depicted are cosmic and are not clear to me. I associate them with the stories of the deceased since the sky of the Underwasteland is populated only by bodies, lightning, and the membrane.

I'm looking for the lock.

There must be a lock.

Otherwise, I should be able to use [Dungeon path]. What if I'm wrong?

My father's ten thousand years are few compared to the life of a being like the [Leviathan]—what if he had never entered here either? What if he had just passed down ancient knowledge to me, without knowing that further requirements were necessary?

The smooth, shining surface caressed by my hand reveals no crack, no hole, no lock.

It's an airtight seal.

I have no way to open it from this side.

Hmm…

[Shadow wall]

Ah!

No way!

Even using [Shadow wall] I can't get through it. Plus, it's a slippery surface, as if my magic was struggling to stick to it.

Ci-cin.

Ugh…

[Dungeon path]

At the dock, the [Leviathan] lets out a deep gasp and tilts its head towards me.

I lower my ears and head, disheartened.

“Well… I can't access the room.”

I'm psychologically ready for the scolding. After all, I have a task and I can't finish it. I can imagine the frustration of a deceased and—

“I imagined.”

“I'm so sorry, I—maybe I need a skill or…”

“That part of the dungeon is no longer yours.”

Oh… one of those deceased creatures must have taken it.

“What can I do?”

The being does not respond.

It takes off and sinks. “Enter from the other side, if it exists.”