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Legion ~ An Unconventional Dungeon Core Story
Chapter 10 ~ Dungeon Committee (Interlude)

Chapter 10 ~ Dungeon Committee (Interlude)

A man walked down a stark white corridor. There were no visible sources of light yet the room was illuminated in its entirety with no shadows to speak of. His leather shoes clacked upon the ground, disturbing the eerie silence. He passed by white door after white door, each marked with a different symbol, fire, skull, water... The man walked past each entrance without a glance.

Striding past a white door with the pentagram symbol, the man stuttered in his step, tripping forward. Recovering, his head rotated 360 degrees, ensuring there had been no observer to see his embarrassing deed. Nodding in satisfaction, his eyes flickered blue, scanning the door. The once pure white door frame was now covered in blackish smoke, pumped out constantly from the gaps.

A pale white sheen invaded his previously tanned face. His forehead scrunched up. His eyes widened in surprise, his hand grasped the handle and snapped it downwards 90 degrees in one motion.

[PRIVACY FUNCTION has been activated! The host has been Notified! No interference allowed!]

The person's eyes narrowed, his gaze infused with suspicion. His hands clenched in a fist, knuckles white. "What is she up to?" The man's entire body was trembling in rage. After 10 minutes of anxiously pacing up and down the corridor, he heard the door swing open.

A sickly-sweet tone permeated his ears, "Hello Mars! How can I help you today?" The man stared her down in silence, not bothering to reply. Their eyes bore into each other in a deadlock of wills. The tension grew, becoming almost susceptible to human touch.

Mars relented, "Enough of his facade of innocence, Goddess of the Demons! What are you planning! As the minion of death itself, you are surprisingly eager for him to pass judgement onto your soul!"

The woman doubled over in laughter, tears welling up in her eyes. "I keep telling you to call me Lilith, none of this god business. There is no need for such hollow threats. Have you forgotten? The agreement when we came together to forge the system was that all gods no matter their power will have equal rights," the Goddess of demons smirked.

Mars grimaced at being outplayed. He rebuked, "I detected demonic power seeping through the gaps in your door! This can only happen if you are actively manipulating the events of the mortal realm!" His outburst didn't even slightly phase the demon queen, who had been casually fiddling with the bat wings protruding from slits in the back of her red dress. Glancing up, she simply smiled, baring her fangs before asking mockingly, "Isn't that within my rights? Sure, it is looked down upon but so what."

Mars sighed in defeat, "I'll be on my way," before starting to walk down the hallway. He heard her irritating voice call out, "By the way, shouldn't you be decked in battle armour? Suits and comfort clothing are reserved for breaks!" The God of battle waved her off, "I'm off to a meeting with the Dungeon Committee, suits are permitted!" He heard the door slam shut.

Making several turns at intersections, Mars made his way to a plain door, only distinguished from its counterparts by the eye-level outline of a sapphire. He turned the handle and walked in.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

[ACCESS GRANTED!]

Dismissing the notification, he was greeted by the same stark white walls and four people sitting at a white rectangular table. The God of War composed himself and calmly strode to a vacant seat.

[Meeting of the GDC/Dungeon Committee is officially in session!]

Silence. All eyes turned towards the God of Life, who was seated at the head of the table. Clearing her throat, a vibrant, clear musical voice seeped from her mouth. "We are here today to discuss the actions of the God of War on the newly indoctrinated dungeon core known as Cyrus. You are now under an oath of silence, no subject matter from today's meeting will be revealed to the outside world." The five gods raised their hands in the air, "We hereby acknowledge and accept."

[You are now under [God Tier] [Oath of Silence]!]

The same notice appeared on five different screens, visible only to their holders. After a brief silence, the woman continued, "The God of War is under suspicion of corruption. He has given the title of [Saint] despite the subject having unmet requirements. Furthermore, the override of [Article B Section 1] and the prevention of system punishments with no input from the other committee members is a breach of your GDC committee member contract - [Section 24 of Article C1]. That concludes my case." All eyes turned to the man in the suit.

The God of War smiled mirthlessly, having already planned for this exact scenario before he had tinkered with the Dungeon Core's system. He looked around the table before announcing, "Let's address the [Saint] title first shall we?" The gods and goddesses around the table frowned at his unprofessionalism. He continued on, "The main requirement of the title is that he must be utterly pure, devoid of evil, which he had succeeded in doing when he defeated his alternative ego. The second requirement if I remember correctly is that he must have done a deed worthy of the world. While he hasn't done it yet, he will most certainly be doing it in the future. I had conferred with the God of Knowledge. The future is cloudy but she has assured me that he will be at the centre of a great event. What the event may be, she has been unable to tell. That ticks the second and last requirement."

Mars glanced around the table, daring anyone to disagree with him. None cowered or shrank back but they didn't speak, pondering his defence. "That concludes the first part. Now onto the breach of [Article B Section 1]." He paused for effect, "the punishment of this article isn't in effect if the employee in question wasn't murdered no?"

The god sitting opposite him looked at Mars with condensing eyes, "Do you take us for fools?!" He ended the statement with a bang, slamming a small blacksmith hammer onto the table, "But I'll humour you, no, it wouldn't be in effect."

The God of War laughed, "what if I was to tell you the dungeon fairy isn't dead but in soul stasis?" Silence descended upon the room. Carrying on as if not noticing the change in mood, "since she isn't dead, then the article isn't in effect and thus the punishment is null. In fact, I was upholding the good name of this committee by catching the error before the word was spread," puffing his chest out with exaggeration. "Since there was no punishment and I wasn't in the wrong, I deem this case closed on all accounts."

The God of Life glared at him, "that is my job," her voice a brooding storm laced with frost. After looking around the table for any final objections, she declared, "This meeting is over, all accusations against the God of War have been proven false." As the group of gods began to rise from their seats, Mars advised, "When I came here, I found the Goddess of Demons messing with the mortal realm, do keep an ey-"

His words were cut off as the skeleton on the other end slapped his fist into the table, "This is the dungeon NOT gossip committee! Take it outside! Are you suffering from memory loss...because souls are under my jurisdiction! I expect to have words with you in my office later!" Gazing at the source of his interruption, he smiled cordially, "Of course."

The Gods filed out, the door closing automatically behind them. The lights shut off, enveloping the room in darkness.