Hephetrius Hydrus was exhausted. Inside and out.

He didn't know exactly how long he had been in this cursed and yet blessed Dungeon, but it felt like it had been more than a day at least. The difficulty of the puzzles of the Dungeon were a mixture of super easy - due to the hints provided by the goddess’ sparse influence on her prison -, only doable by following the lead of the locals who had tried it before, and confusingly hard.

The centaur still didn't know why so many followers of the broken goddess had failed the mental puzzle in the room under the trapdoor. Or what happened to them after they disappeared…

“Ahh!” Hephetrius screamed in surprise as the leading elf woman had forced plants to appear from solid rock right in front of him, revealing yet another one of those blasted ‘fiery flying serpents’ this Floor was so full of.

Which Floor is this even?

Shouting broke out from behind. And not just the surprised sound of a winged serpent being revealed, nor the frustrated shout resulted from the kobolds repeated arrivals from behind. No, both of these the cardinal would have ignored due to their commonplace nature.

Turning around as quickly as his centaur body allowed, Hephetrius saw the mass of heathens filling into the room. It was a somewhat big room for a Dungeon, probably about 40×50 meters. And as they had just been through two other rooms of roughly the same size, this was likely the last room of the Floor.

Depending on exactly what number it was of course. From what little Hephetrius understood about Dungeons, every five Floors every Floor would be bigger than before.

The heathens were joined in battle with the kobold pests, as well as countless other Dungeon creatures, which only confirmed their heathen natures.

But the sheer number of enemies meant that Hephetrius couldn't spare a single fighter to instead solve the door puzzle he had just discovered.

Of course, as Hephetrius wasn't a fighter himself, he would have to be the one to solve it. He knew the heathens were simply trying to distract them, after all.

“Defend me from the savage heathens while I get us closer to our goddess! She must be freed!”

With the sounds of battle once again ringing in his ears, the centaur turned to read the riddle on the door:

I can make bread turn brown and make water boil. If you squeeze me, I'll die. If you look at me, you'll die.

The riddle began. Hephetrius didn't waste time reading through it all before he began solving it.

‘Bread turn brown’ and ‘water boil’. Sounds like fire or heat or their elemental counterparts.

An arrow hit the ground closer than what was comfortable. He ignored it the best he could.

‘If you squeeze me, I'll die’ means it can't be the elemental versions.

… Unless the ‘you’ refers to something made of elemental mana themselves.

The loud bang of a weapon hitting a solid shield rang through the space, distracting Hephetrius for a moment before he continued.

‘If you look at me, you'll die’. Never heard of a mana type that could do that.

Maybe it's actually a creature made of the Heat element or it's stronger Fire variety. Yes, they can heat things up and can die if squeezed while you're-

A wall of plants appeared directly behind the cardinal, protecting him from an attack from behind, but also distracting him from his thoughts. What kind of attack, Hephetrius didn't know, but he could hear the thud of something hitting the plant barrier.

What's next?

I turn wolfdrakes white, and I will make you laugh. I make boys eat, and girls run in forests.

… What? Wolfdrakes don't turn white! Right? Or maybe I just assumed they were born that color…

Or hatched…?

Either way, wolfdrakes live in the cold, so what does their white fur have to do with bread turning brown and water boiling?!

And you'll make me laugh? Again- where is the connection?!

‘I make boys eat, and girls run in forests’? That doesn't?! What?!

The plant wall started vibrating violently all of a sudden, like someone had grabbed it and started shaking it for full force.

Just read the rest, maybe it'll make sense then.

I make scholars look like idiots and children look like geniuses.

Can you guess the riddle?

‘Make scholars look stupid and children look like geniuses’? So, maybe something so obvious that scholars will think it's a trick…?

The top of the plant wall fell, only to seemingly dive straight towards the centaur's human half, only to straighten back up into a wall again.

“Can you guess the riddle?” Hephetrius read mockingly out loud as his body stiffened in reaction to the wall's odd behavior. “No! I can not! Not with all this distraction around me!”

The door opened.

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Emerald Young karmic mimicking elemental dragon - Forest Level 39

Sprout Young karmic mimicking elemental dragon - Forest Level 39

Where Sprout and Emerald had had the size of a particularly large cat when they were fledglings, these days they were the size of a big pony. And their control over foliage had gotten much better.

But unfortunately not good enough to completely counter the mind controlled Zina.

Apparently it was much more difficult to take control of someone else's Forest mana than to work with your own.

And of course there was the level difference.

I don't want anyone to die if we can avoid it. But I can't help but think we would have won by now if we had gone for the kill…

For while Zina, the Sheriff, the deputies, and the ram riders were among the highest leveled people in Karmaria, they were vastly outnumbered. Like one to eight kind of outnumbered.

But in their mind controlled state, they were aiming to kill and maim, while we only sought to restrain, knock out, and capture. Or to distract and delay if capture wasn't possible.

And of course, for none of our own to die in the process.

We would still win the battle, that much became obvious after the first minute of combat. But it would take significantly more time than if our goal had simply been to kill them.

Lionheart, Nerok's kirin steed, you would think was quite the powerhouse due to all the karmic creatures - all the Heroes - dying. The temporary boost to his Ability Scores was like he had leveled 24 times at this point.

… Which, due to how rarely Nerok and Lionheart went deep into my Dungeon - where they would have gotten better EXP - only equaled to level 55. Which was still powerful! But without any actual Skills to back it up, most 5th tier sapients would have no real trouble defeating him.

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No! How?! No!

The cardinal had somehow solved The No-Geniuses-Allowed Puzzle Door. The riddle on the door had no actual answer and most of the latter half of the ‘facts’ simply described how I imagined people would react to it. Specifically the solution.

For the answer to the riddle was ‘no’. ‘No’ as in ‘I can't solve this riddle’. As the question the riddle asks was essentially ‘can you solve the unsolvable?’.

It's barely been three minutes! How did he get it this quickly?!

It had taken Emerald's Party 41 minutes before Begdar had frustratingly shouted that she gave up because it was impossible to solve.

Which naturally solved it.

The other members of her Party had already come to the conclusion that they couldn't solve the riddle. But as they assumed Begdar could, they hadn't said this out loud.

And now there was nothing left in between the cardinal and my Fake Core.

Well. I hope you like surprises.

Ready?

Affirmative! Came the reply.

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There she is! Hephetrius thought to himself in glee, having spotted the crystalline shard of his broken goddess on a pedestal of black marble.

She was beautiful! A white diamond of the finest quality in a perfect octahedron shape. The clear nature of the shard revealed the complete absence of flaws and fractures.

Perfect, like only the divine could be!

Even if the shard's beauty was partly hidden behind the glossy black bars of an Enchanted Dungeon Core Cage, which encaged it snuggly.

If only Melanie had been here to witness this.

Sadness swallowed Hephetrius for a moment, causing him to stumble as he walked towards his goal.

Melanie had been the only friend he had left.

And with no friends, he only had the cause.

The crusade.

The goddess.

At least she died for her faith.

She died fighting for her cause.

The cause of the goddess!

I can't let her death have been in vain!

With that thought, the centaur laid his hand on the diamond's crystalline surface.

The Dungeon Core offers your Party personalized rewards greater than elsewhere in its Dungeon in return for mercy. If you accept you and your Party will receive said reward before being teleported back to the Surface World.

Do you accept this offer?

Yes/No

No. Hephetrius replied as his touch tightened into a grab.

Are you sure?

Yes/No

… What? The confusion caused him to pause his movements. You're not supposed to ask twice…

The System message simply flashed in response.

Yes, I'm sure. It's for my goddess! Your soulmate!

Then suffer the consequences!

An unknown person shouted in his head in the scariest, deepest voice he had ever heard. Simultaneously the shard of the goddess opened four tiny eyes and an impossibly big mouth, much bigger than its body. As it opened its mouth, the Cage surrounding it broke into two halves with the top half subsequently falling off. It chumped down on the hand, which had previously been placed on its head, and swallowed it in the same instance.

Then a single leg, consisting mostly of a foot, rose the octahedron body up, before it launched itself 10 or 20 times its own body height into the air. While flying the creature and its impossibly huge, open mouth filled with several rows of sharp teeths grew in size till its mouth could swallow a horse whole.

… Or a centaur.

Less than two seconds had passed from when the mimic had opened its mouth till it closed it the second time.

Alone in the room again, the Dungeon Core mimic resumed its previous position and camouflage.

There was nothing left of the sapients which had once been in the room. Not even The Song of Liberation had been left behind.

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As the Enchanted Dungeon Core Cage broke off, I received a System message:

System Alert

The Rule “Eavesdropping on the Warden” is deactivated till a new link is made to a sapient with the ability to hear.

Aw… That's annoying. Understandable, but annoying.

Then, just after my EXP reward for killing the cardinal, a much more welcome System Alert appeared:

System Alert

All members of the cult known as 'The Order of The Broken Goddess’ with the rank of ‘cardinal’ have either renounced their membership or been killed. With Luvenia Mein's original 22 Brainwashings no longer in effect, the cult known as 'The Order of The Broken Goddess’ will slowly cease to exist.

Oh. Awesome!

Due the sizable work done on your part for this to happen, you will be given the Achievement “Divine Hero”.

New Achievement: Divine Hero: You have done the world an incomprehensible service. Condition: Do the world an incomprehensible service. Reward: A reward of your choice.

Select your Reward: A 25% longer lifespan.

I'm already immortal.

A 50% bonus to all Ability Scores.

Cool, but I don't have Ability Scores myself. Just my creatures, and it doesn't sound like they're covered in this.

200% EXP gain.

Useful in the long run, but I have quite enough EXP at the moment.

10 levels.

Cool, but I much prefer rewards, which keep doing something for me. Not just one time things like this.

The Ability “Hero's privilege”: People you meet want to please and honor you.

While that certainly sounds nice, I think I can do that on my own.

Sorry, I mean: I'm already doing that on my own. No need for an Ability. I'm already being worshiped!

The Ability to bend luck in your favor once a week.

I already do that too!

The list went on. But it had become clear to me that this Achievement was meant for sapients, and that as a Dungeon Core its rewards simply weren't compatible.

I'm sure the System will adapt whichever one I pick to fit me and my Dungeon Core nature like it has done before. But I would have much preferred something more specific to Dungeon Cores.

The closest thing I can find in this list is the extra mana regeneration and the larger mana bank, but I don't see much of a need for either. I'm immortal, after all. And with the cult out of the picture, I doubt I'll ever be in a hurry again.

…

Knock on wood for me, please. The kobold in question did.

But what exactly do I want or need the most? Now or in the long run.

… Do I even need anything right now? I don't think so. In the long run I would like to be able to tier up easier. Preferably without having to rely on bad people entering and dying in my Dungeon.

Reward selected.

Huh?!

Divine Hero: You have done the world an incomprehensible service. Condition: Do the world an incomprehensible service. Reward: Sapients with more than 25% in karma level who live in Karmaria counts towards your next tier up. Once a sapient is counted towards your tier up they can't be subtracted again. Each sapient can only be counted towards your next tier up once.

That's…

That's perfect! That not only gives me a third way of reaching my next tier up, but it's another nonkilling one! I just have to grow my Town now!

Wait. No. I don't even have to do that. Just keeping it this size means that new people will be born here and count as a new person!

As long as the place doesn't end up completely overrun with bad people! Which it won't! I'm sure of that!

I could feel an immense sense of relief coursing through my Core.

I'm no longer reliant on bad people being near me while trying to make sure no bad people even exist!