Chapter 298: Choosing the Reward

"Since the beast outside has been defeated and the sacred trial has been officially completed, this entire place will soon cease to exist," the maid girl stated, her voice as calm as ever despite the impending destruction.

"You need to leave this dungeon before that storm reaches the city walls. Otherwise, you will be permanently trapped here for eternity, absorbed as a forgotten part of this dimensional time fragment."

Solomon watched the massive wall of sand churning in the distance. ’So this place really was a designated trial dungeon,’ he thought to himself. ’The books mentioned that trial dungeons are designed to completely disappear from reality once they are cleared. That also explains why there are no natural resources, monster cores, or mineable ores here compared to standard dungeons.

But the books also explicitly state that the reward for clearing a trial dungeon is supposed to be incredibly great. Yet, I am basically walking out of here with nothing. Even though I told the temple slave I didn’t care about the reward, it was still promised to me. It feels like a massive rip-off.’

He let out a heavy sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. ’Should I just run back into the temple and try to haul that colossal crown out of here? I literally cannot take anything else of value from this place. I probably cannot even lift the crown an inch off the floor in my human form, but maybe I should at least try. I have nothing to lose.’

Solomon turned his head and looked at the maid girl. She was standing perfectly still, staring back at him with those dark, emotionless eyes.

He slowly opened his mouth. "What will happen to you when this place disappears? Where will you go?"

"I am a maid," she responded simply. "My sole job is to serve the guests who arrive at this sanctuary. I will simply wait in the void for the dungeon to manifest again in another era, and then I will serve the next guest."

"What if this dungeon never manifests again?" Solomon asked, his brow furrowing. "The trial has been officially cleared. The boss is dead. There is no reason for this trial to ever reopen."

"I am a maid," the girl repeated, her tone entirely devoid of hope or despair. "That is my assigned duty. I was ordered by the ancient giants to maintain this city and welcome the challengers. Whether it takes a hundred years or ten thousand years, I will simply close my eyes and wait in the dark until the doors open again. It does not matter if the sanctuary crumbles or the trial is forgotten. I will remain here, because I have nowhere else to go and no other purpose to fulfill."

The sheer, tragic hopelessness of her existence hit Solomon harder than he expected. She wasn’t a person with dreams or desires. She was just a forgotten tool left behind by a dead civilization, programmed to wait in a dark void for an eternity that might never come.

The apocalyptic sandstorm crept closer and closer. Although it was still miles away from the city walls, it was moving at a terrifying speed. If Solomon didn’t start running toward the exit portal right now, the storm would easily outrun him, and he would be permanently trapped inside the collapsing dimension.

Solomon made up his mind.

’My primary goal for entering this dungeon was simply to clear the anomaly and stop the monster break from destroying District Six,’ Solomon reminded himself. ’I have already achieved that. The reward was just supposed to be a nice bonus. It would have been great if I had gotten a new weapon or a magic artifact which I could sell, but it is fine. I completed my actual mission.’

Solomon looked directly at the maid girl. "I do not need a reward. I am going to leave now."

The maid girl stared at him for a few seconds, her expression completely unreadable. She finally offered a slow nod. "That is your choice as the champion. Please, follow me."

She quickly escorted Solomon through the wide cobblestone streets, leading him directly to the towering city gates. She pointed toward the swirling blue exit portal waiting a few miles out in the desert.

"You should hurry if you want to leave safely," the maid advised, the wind from the approaching storm already whipping her dark hair around her face.

"I am leaving," Solomon said, stepping out past the gates. "But..."

He suddenly spun around, reached out, and firmly grabbed the maid girl’s wrist.

"...you are coming with me."

The maid girl’s eyes widened in genuine, unprecedented surprise. She tried to pull her hand back, digging her sandals into the cobblestones. "I cannot leave! I am a maid, and my job is to—"

"To serve the guests and wait in the dark for an eternity," Solomon interrupted, flawlessly imitating her flat, emotionless tone to finish her sentence.

He dropped the mocking tone and looked at her with absolute seriousness. "You told me that I could take absolutely anything I wanted from this city. You said there were no restrictions, no hidden terms, and zero conditions. You said that as long as I can physically carry it, I can take it with me."

He tightened his grip on her wrist. "So, I am choosing you. I am taking you out of this forsaken place so you do not have to rot in some forgotten fragment of time and dimension."

"You cannot do this!" she protested, her voice finally cracking with real panic as she struggled against his grip. "I am bound to the sanctuary! I do not belong in the outside world! I do not know how to exist outside of my duties! I am just a slave! You are wasting your reward on a broken tool!"

Solomon had had enough of her tragic, self-deprecating arguments. He didn’t waste another second arguing semantics.

He pulled her forward, scooped her up effortlessly, and tucked her securely under his arm like a sack of potatoes. He ignored her frantic squirming and muffled protests, anchored his boots against the cobblestones, and began sprinting across the desert at top speed, racing the apocalyptic sandstorm toward the glowing blue exit portal, which seemed impossibly far and out of reach.