“All we were able to find in there was the maid.”
“Hmph… still, an elf. My lord won’t be displeased.” The Xin stand-in declared. “At least, she’s a docile slave, so obedient.”
“What would be the point in running?” She responded. “I’ve already lost everything.”
The Xin stand-in frowned, but then nodded her head. Two soldiers grabbed her and started to pull her down the street.
“Come on, Elaya, tell me how this ends?” I asked through the Slave Communication.
Although she took the potion, that wouldn’t cause her to die. That only trapped her soul in her body, setting up the conditions for a permanent death. In reality, she could still be resurrected if someone appeared and cut her soul from her body. I could do such a thing easily with Alysia. I suspected that Elaya had done the same, which means that she’d have seen Faeyna’s body.
“It ends with water.”
“Huh, water?”
“That’s right. I had to fish her out of a river. It wasn’t easy. She had died when her body struck various rocks. I was able to resurrect her.”
My eyes danced around wildly looking for her plan. My eyes eventually shot to a bridge that was coming up. That had to be it. I vaguely recalled that this bridge passed over a river that had some pretty fast and deep waters. The undertow was supposedly deadly. Even if I fell in it, I would likely get sucked down and die. Everyone who fell into it found it impossible to escape. They usually just resurrected them. If such a place existed in my world, they’d probably just cover it up or bury it, but since resurrection existed, they just used guard rails.
This also made it the perfect spot for Faeyna. If she leaped into those waters, then she would disappear, and after wiping out the rest of the evidence, they’d never be able to resurrect her. The group of them made it on the bridge. The story was running out of time. The ground started to shake.
“Wh-what is that?” I looked around from right to left, that’s when I saw a black substance that resembled water flooding down the river. “When did this happen?”
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The entire city was flooding. Anywhere the dark water touched was destroyed. It was a twenty-foot-tall tidal wave crushing the city.
“It’s a miasma purge. Every time there is a cycle, it shoots out the mana spring. It’s what happens at the end of the story. It’ll just reset again. This is why I didn’t want any of the citizens getting trapped in the dungeon. It’s certain death at the end of the cycle. Ah… I guess it’s impossible to change things now.” Elaya sighed.
“You could have told me that earlier!”
“Relax, I’ll get you out of there. Now that you’ve seen the end, we can figure some way to finish the lore in the next cycle.”
“Finish?”
“Mm, this is how it ends. She jumps off the bridge. You can’t change that. However, once we can get her to recognize your existence…”
As if to make her point, I slammed into an invisible wall as I tried to step onto the bridge. At that moment, Faeyna lets out a cry. She managed to knock away the guards, catching them by surprise. She ran for the edge rail of the bridge.
“No…” I tried punched the wall, but it was as impassible as always.
“I’m sorry, Master. This is just the way it ends. It’s really a shame that you’re not in any of these memories.”
“I’m… not… I’m not in this dungeon!”
“Master?”
“This dungeon is a curse? Why wouldn’t I be in this dungeon?” I demanded. “Because… I was there!”
There wasn’t a memory of me buying her, or us fighting Shao, or any of it. Faeyna didn’t consider those curses. Even if she felt jealousy, or fear, or unhappiness… from the moment we were together until the moment we were apart, not a single memory was part of her curse. The rumbling of the water was growing now, and the wave was getting closer.
“What are you saying?” Elaya asked in confusion.
“She’s been recognizing my existence this entire time,” I stated as Faeyna climbed up the railing, turning around.
The guards took a step forward, but they remained hesitant, as they didn’t want to get pulled off the cliff with her.
“You mean-”
“She’s… been trying to incorporate me in her lore. She wanted me to be a part of her story. She didn’t try to cast me as anything else. She’s been wanting me here all along. I may be the darkness in her heart, but I’m also the cure.”
My body began to glow as I accessed my dungeon store. I changed what I had equipped. I knew what I had to do now. The final boss wasn’t her brother, and it wasn’t Faeyna. It was these damned walls! I pulled back my fist as Faeyna lifted her arms. I had to get to her, there was no other choice.
“Master, this is the dungeon lore that already happened,” Elaya spoke helplessly. “You can’t change the climax.”
“Watch me!”
I let out a roar and punched with all of my might. The wall resisted my fist, but I knew that I couldn’t fail here. I wouldn’t let Faeyna face it one more time. The water rushed forward, and Faeyna started to fall back.
“Faaaaeeeeynnnnaaaaa!” I screamed as I forced my feet forward.
The invisible wall shattered, and I went flying onto the bridge. She had already fallen back too far. Faeyna’s eyes locked with mine. She let out a gasp.
“Master!”
And then she continued to fall from the ledge, unable to stop herself.