[Sol Date: Unknown | Location: Unknown | Unknown Entity]

He was supposed to awaken today. She was excited. Many had come and gone. Many had promised to help. None had succeeded.

But none were like this one. A warrior who did not only revel in strength. A tactician of the highest order and a mind, unlike anything she had seen before.

"Maybe I should do something to thank him in advance. My children always enjoyed seeing their departed loved ones." She thought this to herself as she called up the record of the man she hoped would be her savior.

"Oh my, no wonder he is the way he is." She said to herself, reading the long log of life events that comprised Marcus Terno. "To keep fighting for so long after losing so much, no wonder we have to manifest him in the plane of Will. He would have to be a monster of Willpower to keep on going."

The woman closed her eyes, and a divine glow formed around her. She spoke to herself as she looked into what could have been. "He would have been an excellent father and an even better grandfather. But it was all taken away, and in that moment, his enemies forged him into a monster unlike anything they could have prepared for. That also explains why he is joining us now rather than later."

She chuckled at the irony. He would rather die than suffer one of his enemies win over him. She felt a tumultuous energy begin to build. "I will let him see a visage of his daughter. I hope he appreciates it." she thought as the plane of will seemed to embrace this newcomer unlike any before.

She watched as he stood up and looked around momentarily, the raptor gaze of a killing machine taking in every detail possible. Then his gaze locked on her and softened, tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.

He spoke, "Adriana?! Adri? Its... Its dad. What... Why are... HOW?!"

She responded, knowing he would want answers but needing to get him to agree to her proposition, as she had limited power. "Marcus Terno, welcome to the plane of Will. Please take a seat. I..."

Her voice faltered. Her eyes widened. The realm itself was manifesting his anger. The cold, calculated tone that came from his mouth broached no argument. "You are not my daughter. Explain or die."

She swallowed audibly as the plane of Will vibrated in rage as the Hammer of the Gods focused his entirety on her. She opened her mouth when a flash of divine light distracted Marcus, followed by a voice that carried as much weight as his.

"Legatus Legionis Primae Legio Solaris! That is enough. Kneel to your god." The Goddess who revealed herself oozed military might. Bellona, Goddess of War, turned to the woman wearing Adriana Terno's appearance. "And you, Elina Goddess of Avardum, I would recommend you not toy with this particular mortal."

Elina nodded and suddenly was no longer a young girl. She was a woman who appeared tired yet beautiful. "I apologize, Marcus Terno. I did not mean to toy with you. My children generally interact with me in the form of a deceased loved one."

Marcus, who had not knelt, was looking over Elina and Bellona. "That is fine. However, I do have many questions."

Bellona laughed, "As you should, Legatus. My husband, Mars, and I are thankful to you. In an era of godlessness and disbelief, you and your First Solar Legion have made us the most powerful entities in existence, at least that we know of. In return for this good fortune, Mars and I do what we can to help the other Gods and Goddesses. Which brings us to Elina."

"So that prayer was heard," Marcus said, laughing. "I am glad that I am not the only one that could benefit from the death of the Swarm."

"As am I," Bellona said with a smile. "You have died, Marcus, and taken a massive amount of enemies with you on your way out. Any other soul would be granted eternal rest. But we have a request. This is not something that we can demand or something that we can force. If this is to happen, it must be of your own free will."

Marcus fell into parade rest. "What is it?"

Bellona gestured at Elina, and she stepped forward. "Marcus, I am not like Bellona. And the world I have sway over is not like Earth. The world, more accurately, my world, is created and controlled by me. On this world, there is magic and things that you would consider to be fantasy. All of this is powered by something called Mana; it is, for all intents and purposes, the lifeblood of the world, and seeing as my well-being is tied to the wellbeing of the world, it is my lifeblood as well. There is also a sickness that corrupts mana called nullmana. My world has less than a year before all mana on it is obliterated. After that happens, it will take a while, but eventually, My World and Myself will die."

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Marcus nodded, "So you are looking for someone or something to help. But how does this affect me?"

Bellona stepped forward again. "The only way to help Elina is for someone to willingly become what is called a dungeon. Dungeons act as filters. They take in corrupted mana, nullmana, and many other things and release mana. The residues they purge from the mana are converted into energies they can use. Most use them to create multitudes of levels, monsters, and loot to entice adventures to come and challenge them, sometimes to pass the time, but often to kill said adventurers for various resources. In your case though, we would change the systems in place to allow you a different path. Rather than creating a challenging labyrinth, your purpose would be two-fold. Firstly, you would need to construct as much as was needed to purge nullmana from the world at a rate faster than it accumulated. I warn you this is not something you would achieve lightly. And Secondly, you would be asked to transform part of yourself into a city designed to house the remaining followers of Elina."

It was Elina's turn to speak once more. "About the time that my previous dungeons began to die, and nullmana flooded the world, something strange happened. A group appeared that denounced me as a god and began slaying my followers. Once, my world had a thriving population in the billions. Now, it has nearly a hundred million. And of those, only about two million still follow me. Mostly in secret lest they be captured as heretics and killed or enslaved."

Marcus was about to speak when everything froze. Time itself seemed to freeze. Even the two goddesses froze. A third being stepped into reality. Marcus looked at this creature, and every instinct in his body screamed at him to run. "What are you?"

The being looked at Marcus and smiled, chilling Marcus to the bone. "Fear not, little mortal. I am here to encourage you to do as the goddesses ask. As to what I am, well, I am everything. I am the first. Before reality existed, I was here. You may call me Ah-Nu."

Marcus nodded stiffly, doing everything he could to not cower from the strange entity. "I hate to be presumptuous, Ah-Nu, but why would something as powerful as you, a being who can freeze time and space and gods at will, want to converse with me?"

Ah-Nu laughed. "That is the question, is it not."

Suddenly, the room dropped twenty degrees, at least that's how it felt to Marcus, as Ah-Nu's tone turned to the malicious. "Something is corrupting Gods and Goddesses, corrupting the mana of the universe. And. I. Do. Not. Like. That."

Marcus stood frozen, even with as much strength as he felt in this realm. He knew without a doubt this strange entity could wipe him from assistance easier than he would kill a mosquito. Ah-Nu took a breath, calming down, and the room rose back to the temperature it was. "I want you to accept. They are going to do everything they can to aid you, but I will offer something as well, something that they will not know about. I can not tell you what it is, lest that push your decision one way or the other. But just know that if you accept, you can look forward to being the first and only entity ever to receive my blessing. I also would ask you not speak of me to anyone unless I state you may."

Marcus nodded as his eyes were met by Ah-Nu's. The strange being smiled again. "Good! Now, I will let you return to your discussion. I hope you accept Marcus, and I hope you like my blessing once you receive it."

Without any warning, everything went back to normal. Ah-Nu was gone, and time had seemingly resumed. Marcus took a breath and calmed himself. Then, he looked up at the two goddesses. "So, long story short, you need me to agree to become a Dungeon, and then you need me to purge the nullmana from the world, create a safe haven for your followers, and ideally purge the strange sect from the planet. Does that about sum it up?"

The two goddesses nodded. Marcus looked at them both with an appraising gaze. "Why is this something I must consent to?"

Bellona locked eyes with him. "You would become a dungeon, more accurately, a Dungeon Core, essentially a mana-infused gemstone. You would be unable to move under your own power. There are several limitations and restrictions, but the power you gain is nearly godlike, at least in your domain. You would also effectively become immortal. You could live for millions of years. That is why we must have your consent."

Marcus thought on this for a moment. "Then let us negotiate; let's work something out as far as how we do this."

Bellona smiled. "Very well."

For what felt like hours, the three of them discussed various things. The results of the conversation were easily summarized in six bullet points:

1. Anything agreed to in the discussion would be in addition to whatever they were already going to provide him with.

2. Marcus gets to keep his AI molded after his wife. Instead of being an AI, it will be what is called a dungeon fairy. It will also retain all information and local capabilities it had while Marcus was alive.

3. Bellona will provide what ongoing support she can to Elina, allowing her to provide better support to Marcus.

4. Elina will never again take the form of Marcus's daughter.

5. Marcus is free to kill any he deems necessary to achieve his goal.

6. Marcus will begin to worship Elina alongside his continued worship of Bellona and Mars.

Marcus nodded as Bellona read the finalized list of things they had agreed to. There were numerous other small points of concession made on both sides, but these were the main points. And Marcus felt that both Goddesses were going out of their way to accommodate him. He thought momentarily before nodding and facing Elina before snapping to attention and saluting. "Legatus Marcus Validus Terno, At your command, Ma'am. I agree to these conditions and wish to begin immediately."

Elina smiled a genuine smile, radiating love, caring, and joy. "Thank you, Marcus."

Bellona smiled and looked at the two of them. "Very well then. Let us begin."