CHAPTER 1993  APPROACH

"Oh, is it time?"

Kane watched Rui sky-walk towards him.

He had been done a little sooner than Rui, left bored as he waited for Rui to finish his two domain projects. "Yes."

Kane's grin lit up at not just the affirmation but the aura of power that enveloped Rui. The darkness within Rui's eyes stirred as a steely determination flickered within their depths, the depths of the void. "So…" Kane began. "I'm guessing we finally approach him?"

Rui nodded wordlessly.

"Gotcha." Kane leaped to his feet. "I'll leave all the talking to you. Thank you for the effort."

Kane was more than happy to toss this responsibility on Rui. Rui simply turned around and began jogging at superspeed towards the Divine Doctor's humble abode.

In the past two years, Rui and Kane avoided him. With their senses, it was easy to make sure that they basically never ran into him. Only now, when an entire plan had all but been ready except for the Divine Doctor, did they finally endeavor to speak to the Divine Doctor a second time.

Rui had prepared long and hard for this conversation and had modeled different possible scenarios for their second interaction. Unfortunately, he didn't know how the Divine Doctor would react. The man was as opaque as a slab of concrete. He was utterly inscrutable and had the emotional expression of an RPG character.

Unfortunately, he had to make do with what he had.

STEP

They arrived at a small hut.

Within it stood the Divine Doctor.

Before him was an unfolded portable table upon which a series of flasks, canisters, test tubes filled with various substances, and a variety of other tools that one might find in a chemistry lab. It appeared that the array of instruments, artifacts, and tools that hung across his entire body were not for show; he had truly come prepared with anything he could ever need.

Not that Rui was surprised, of course. He would have never been able to process all the fear from the Forest of Fear had he not had some amount of portable chemical processing and production folded down into one of the many items that hung from his attire.

"I was beginning to think you would never come." His mirthless tone was devoid of welcome, beating Rui to the first word.

"…I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised you expected us." Rui heaved a soft sigh. He had anticipated the possibility that the man might have predicted a second plea for help.

"You, black hair, have a seat there," the Divine Doctor murmured impassively. "I've painstakingly prepared potent anesthesia, so we should be able to commence the invasive neurocranial examina-"

"-I haven't accepted your offer, Doctor Kar," Rui interjected coldly. "I have not changed my mind in that regard."

The Divine Doctor stared at him with a frozen smile. Disappointment flashed in his inhuman eyes. "...Shame. Yet, surely you're not dull enough to believe that vainly pleading for my help is going to be of any use. I can only infer that you have a different proposition in mind, then."

"I do." Rui met the Divine Doctor's inhuman gaze with impassive eyes. "It's rather simple. We help you get out of the manifold, and, in return, you heal my father."

"A rather curious proposition." The Divine Doctor's interest lingered. "How do you posit to be able to help me get out?"

"It's simple," Rui replied calmly. "We destroy the source of the manifold at the center of the dungeon."

Unfortunately, the Divine Doctor didn't appear impressed. "Tell me, why do you think that, in all the time that I spent here, I never ventured into the dungeon to do exactly that?"

"Because of the hive of tranced beasts that lay within its depths, protecting the source of the dungeon at the behest of the dungeon." Rui's steely voice rang with certainty. "The strategy that you used to tame the obsidian wyverns is entirely ineffective in this dungeon, rendering you unable to use the tools that you prepared for the Beast Domain.

The Divine Doctor's frozen smile thawed, growing wider. "…Correct. The dungeon has arranged itself such that the deeper one goes, the more precious and nourishing resources there are. Thus, all creatures experience a powerful desire to go deeper into the dungeon. A drive to migrate to the core of the dungeon. This allows for a very natural hierarchical security system that grows stronger the deeper one goes. And consequently, at its core—

"—lies a Master-level beast, yes, I know. I figured that out two years ago," Rui cut in again. The Divine Doctor's eyes flashed with clinical interest.

"…Then it all but begs the question of why you believe that you can reach the core of the dungeon," the man curiously remarked. "Unless, of course, you are arrogant enough to think you can defeat a Master-level beast as a Martial Senior."

"I don't believe that I can fell a Master-level beast, no," Rui replied. "However, there is a high probability that I can survive, and that will be enough."

The Divine Doctor mirthlessly laughed. "Even if I were to believe that exceptionally highly unlikely claim, that yet would not open a path for us to the source. The Master-level beast protects it from all danger." Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

"Rest assured, it won't be at the core," Rui informed him with certainty. "My proposition is a bait strategy. I will draw the Master-level beast out of the core of the dungeon to the other side of the manifold by posing an existential threat to the dungeon, or, at least, fooling the dungeon into thinking I pose an existential threat to it."

The Divine Doctor stared at Rui with a frozen expression and smile, considering Rui's words. "…And just how would you go about doing that?"

"A technique that allows me to fake an illusion of Master-level power by subconsciously embodying it and non-verbally conveying it to onlookers," Rui replied. "I have confirmed, on two occasions, that dungeons evaluate threat in a manner that will be fooled by it. The Serevian Dungeon and the Shionel Dungeon."

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